Sunday Samples, Breakfast of Champions

For this Weeks Sunday Samples I am showing you something a little different, Breakfast. This is a great breakfast to have when visitors are over or as a Sunday Brunch as it's a little more filling than a bowl of cereal.
Banana Crumpets with fresh fruit and yogurt. This crumpet method is definitely a family favourite and has been ever since my sisters and I were little. It has since been passed down to the next generation and Amina absolutely loves them.

You Will Need:
8 oz Plain White Flour
2ox Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Tsp of Bread Soda
8 fl oz Milk
2 Eggs
1 oz Butter
1 Banana
Fruit of your choice

Sift all your dry ingredients into a large bowl

Rub in your butter

Make a well in the centre of your dry mixture and add the eggs

Mix in Well and add your milk

Mix the ingredients all together until smooth then add your mashed banana

Heat your pan on a high heat. Once the pan is hot put your mixture in and reduce to a medium heat

When the mixture bubbles flip them over to cook on the other side. They are ready once both sides are lightly browned.

Add whatever you want to these crumpets. They can be eaten with sweet or savoury toppings, it's up to you. Look at my sister's version over at Bluebells and Bunting where she makes the crumpets with blueberries instead of banana and oats instead of flour. Any version is possible. Enjoy

Sunday Samples Lasange

This lasange is a fail safe method and always able to satisfy any hunger pangs that anyone should have. It's great if you're cooking for a family or any number of people and is delicious, I promise. You will need
A pound of minced meat
An ounce of butter
Some plain flour
Milk
Mature Cheddar Cheese
An Onion and 1 large or two small cloves of garlic
A tin of chopped tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato puree
You can also add some bell peppers and mushrooms if you want

The spices you will need

Heat your olive oil and add onions. Allow to simmer on
low heat for 5 minutes, until translucent

I was asked by a friend the other day about how to make sure that the pasta sheets are cooked through and don't have that crunch. This is my trick for ensuring a soft and fully cooked lasange

Soften your pasta sheets in a dish of boiling water

Melt your butter on a low heat so it doesn't burn

Once butter is melted add flour a little at a time
to soak up the butter

Once ready for milk it resembles a dough

Add your milk and stir until all lumps of flour are gone,
then allow to simmer on low heat and for the flour to cook

Add your mince and garlic to the onions and
add your flavourings

Once the mince is cooked through add the table spoon
of Tomato Puree

Ensure it is all mixed in fully

Add your tin of chopped tomatoes and allow to simmer on a low heat

For me there's nothing much worse than a dry lasange so I always ensure that there is sufficient cheese sauce. If your are worried about how bad this recipe can be use low fat or not fat milk like I do and you can also use a low fat cheese.

Check your sauce, It should now look like this above once mixed. Add milk
and stir until at your desired thickness

Add a handful of grated cheese and stir in until melted

Add salt and pepper to your taste

Take your mince and place a layer on the bottom of your dish then
add a layer of the pasta sheets

Add a layer of the cheese sauce and repeat the 3 layers again

Add a sprinkling of cheese and cover with tinfoil.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes

I like to let the top brown a little so I will always put it in the oven without the tinfoil for another 8-10 minutes.

Your final product ready to be devoured

Do you like lasange? This is a great version and is so much better than any of those packet fillers available. If there are any other dinners/meals that you like and are unsure of how to cook, let me know. I have quite a good variety of amazing recipes ready to put up here for ya'll. And that cheese sauce recipe is a brilliant one to master as you can use this for so many different things. Stay tuned for more recipes to use this sauce for there will be another one next weekend. Enjoy and be sure to let me know if you try it out.

Sunday Samples Buttermilk Scones

These scones are super yummy, they're a great little treat to have with a cup of tea or as a brunch. I make them with a small cutters so they are suitable for Amina and also it makes me feel less guilty when I have 2 of these instead of 2 larger ones. They're gorgeous straight out of the oven, still piping hot with a little butter on them. They're great too English "high tea" style with some whipped cream and raspberry or strawberry jam. Super indulgent, delicious and very naughty so I only indulge in the scones this way very occasionally. So here's my method for Buttermilk scones

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees celsius.

Sift 10 1/2 oz of Self Raising Flour, A Teaspoon of Baking Powder
and a pinch of Salt into a bowl. Add 2 oz of Cubed Cold Butter

Rub the butter into the Flour with your fingers
until it resembles fine breadcrumbs

Take 10 Fl.oz of Buttermilk 

Add 1 and 1/2 oz of Golden Caster Sugar 

Mix your buttermilk into your mixture

Sprinkle flour onto a dry clean surface to ensure your mixture won't stick

Roll out to form a dough about 1 and 1/2 inches thick
and start to cut your scones

Place your cut scones into a greased baking dish

Rub milk onto the tops of the scones to give a nice golden finish,
 easy enough for a child to do.

Put in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden, then enjoy

It's literally that easy to do. Only take a few minutes to prepare and are so yummy you may even find yourself making a second batch. Hope you like

Sunday Samples Chicken Fahjitas

So today is the first of my Sunday Samples. It is another part of who I am. I love to cook. I have always cooked. It is one of the things I take alot of pride in, being able to throw something together that tastes really yummy. I am not a cook, I have never taken a class of a course to learn how to cook however growing up in a traditional household my Mum always thought it was very important to teach us girls how to cook. It's healthier, It's cheaper than eating out all the time and it's seriously enjoyable. I promise :)
Being a wife and a mum I thinks it's very important to be able to have home cooked meals every day and it is something that I will also pass on to my daughter when she is old enough. Although she is already helping when it comes to putting together her dinner. She gets the ingredients from the fridge and she helps to break eggs and mix things and she has also started helping me to flip her pancakes. For a two year old this is highly exciting. Chicken Fahjitas are one of my favourite things to cook. They are delicious and are seriously great for dinner parties and when we have friends over as they are quick to cook and leave people nice and full. I cooked this a few weeks ago and took the pictures to see how it turned out. Because of college and my exams I'm only getting the chance to do the post now. I really hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

5 Chicken Fillets cut into medium sized cubes

Half a green, red and yellow bell peppers, cut into cubes

An Onion choped finely and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed

Take your pan, or wok and splash about a tablespoon of olive oil in and spread around the pan so the ingredients don't stick. Place on a high heat until the pan is hot and then add your onion. Coat all the onion in olive oil and reduce your heat to low and allow to cook for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Then add your peppers

Peppers added to pan

 Allow to cook for a couple of minutes until the peppers have slightly reduced in size. I don't like them to be too raw but others like to have a little crunch in their fahjitas so cook until you feel they are ready. Add your chopped mushrooms and allow to reduce.

Allow the veggies to be cooked, but not overcooked

Throw in your garlic and mix, Remove all ingredients from the pan after the garlic has cook for 1 minute. Any more than this and the garlic loses it's flavour and begins to burn. Remove all vegetables from the pan and Place in bowl for later. Take your chopped chicken and put into your pan on a medium to high heat. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Toss your chicken until sealed/white all over.

Coat the chicken and allow to whiten all over

Take your spices, I use as you can see from the picture, Oregano, Garlic Granules, Hot Chili Powder, Cumin, Cayenne Chilli Pepper, Garlic Salt and Paprika. In our house we like it very hot and spicy but if your tastes aren't the same you can use a more mild chili powder or leave that out altogether if you wish. I don't use table salt or sea salt either, the garlic salt, I find is tasty enough and is literally my secret ingredient for everything.
Sprinkle each of your spices over the chicken and stir in until the chicken is fully coated. I don't have measurements either. I am so used to making it at this stage, I kind of just sprinkle and go.

The Spices

Once all the chicken has been coated it begins to infuse the flavours as it is cooking. Put your vegetables back into the pan. Add a large tablespoon of tomato puree and stir in to the mixture. Allow to simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. The way I test to see if it's fully cooked is I find the largest cube of chicken and cook in half. If the chicken is fully cooked it will be white throughout. It takes about 5-8 minutes

Allow to Simmer

Meanwhile, take your flour tortillas and heat. Whatever brand you buy will always have instructions on the back of the pack on how to prepare and heat them. Follow these instructions as every pack is different

Tortillas

As I have aid already, I am always cooking for a child. This means that every meal I prepare has to have a method to ensure my 2 year old can eat it. Beacuse the fahjitas are slightly messy for a child I prepare it slightly diffently on the tortilla. I take a the tortilla and place the chicken and veg on one side. I add a little sour cream so it's not too spicy for her and then place 2 slices of cheddar cheese on the mixture.

Preparing 2 year old friendly

I fold the tortilla over on itself and heat it until the cheese melts. This makes sure that the mixture stays in the tortilla when she's eating it. I slice it up once cool and she adores it.

Ready to Eat

Any additions to the fahjitas are all a matter of personal taste. We use iceberg lettuce cut into strips, sour cream and grated cheddar cheese.

Toppings

You can add other things like salsa and guacamole. I don't use these in the fahjitas as I find the tomato taste of the salsa can over power the taste of the spices and the chicken and i don't use guacamole as it can get super messy. However both salsa and guacamole are favourites in my house and are made quite regularly for other meals so I will in the future be posting my methods for them.

Final Product, ready to Enjoy

This is not an official recipe, it is my method on cooking fahjitas. They are one of my household's favourite dishes and always go down well. This method allows for 4 people to eat, 2 fahjitas each and Amina to have hers too. I hope you like it and sorry about the photos, I have an old camera, my kitchen is badly lit and I am most definitely not a photographer. Let me know if anyone tries it, I would love to know what you think.