Sticky Lime Chicken

This is another recipe that my chic-a-dis and I made during spring break. I love being in the kitchen with them cooking and experimenting (playing) with recipes. We were working with ingredients that we've already got in our pantry and fridge so there was no need for a trip to the grocery store. My babies love dishes that are savoury and citrusy. Oh, and did I say sweet? Well not too sweet just a hint of it if it's not dessert. The honey in this recipe gave it just that. So what I'm getting at is that my little one's love savoury, citrusy, salty, sweet combination.

Ingredients

4 skinless and boned chicken breasts
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
1 1/2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place the chicken breasts in a roasting pan. Mix together the lime zest, juice, honey, oil and garlic in a small bowl. Pour the mixture on the chicken and season with pepper. Place in the oven and baste every 10 minutes. Cook for 35-40 minutes until the chicken is tender and there are no pink inside. As the chicken cooks the liquid in the pan will thickens, it will give it that sticky coating. Once the chicken is cooked rub the chicken on the pan to get the rest of the tasty sticky juice on both sides.

Serve it with veg or rice. Better yet serve it with both.

Enjoy! : )

Churros With Cinnamon Sugar

It was spring break last week and my darling daughter was home from school. My chic-a-dis had a craving for churros, so we were in the kitchen making our very own instead of going out to a restaurant and ordering them.

A churro is sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut and in France choux pastry. It's quite popular in Spain, France, Philippines, Portugal, Latin America and the United States. They can be eaten for breakfast, snack or dessert with hot chocolate, coffee or tea. Well, just about anything you want to drink it with really. There aren't any rules. We like to dip ours in melted dark chocolate.

You'll need a piping bag and a large star shaped nozzle tip.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, whisked
pinch of salt
vegetable oil to fry them in

Cinnamon Sugar

6 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Method

Place sugar and butter in 2/3 cup water in to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the flour and salt to the boiling water remove from heat and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture has turned into a soft moist dough. Let it cool.

Add the beaten egg a little at a time. Cover and place in the fridge until completely cooled. Fill a large saucepan with vegetable oil. Just enough oil to submerge the choux or churros. Use the wooden spatula and place the dough in the piping bag. Squeeze out any length you want out of the piping bag into the oil and snip with scissors. Fry until golden brown and set it on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.

On a separate plate mix the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the churros around the cinnamon and sugar until coated.

Enjoy! : )

Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova

Here's another strawberry recipe that we love. This has been a favourite dessert that my two sweet chic-a-dis love to make. This is the second time they've made this dessert for me. The first time was for my birthday a year and a half ago. This recipe was inspired by Nigella's chocolate raspberry pavlova. We love it with strawberries. My children made this last week with very little supervision. My daughter beat the egg whites, added all of the ingredients and chopped up the chocolate chips. My son beat the cream into a nice whipped cream to be added once the meringue has cooked and cooled. I helped them place it in the oven and remove it from the oven. It was nice and perfect! Soft,chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Ingredients

for the meringue base:

6 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

for the topping:

2 1/4 cups heavy cream
a small carton of fresh strawberries chopped
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated bittersweet chocolate (we had small chocolate chips that we couldn't grate so we it was chopped into smaller pieces.

Method

Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until satiny and peaks form. Beat in the sugar spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Add in the cocoa vinegar and chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound onto a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 9 inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300F and cook to about an hour or an hour and fifteen minutes. When it's ready it should look crispy around the edges and be dry on top. The center should feel soft. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly and let the chocolate meringue cool completely.

When you're ready to serve. Place it into a flat plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue then scatter over the strawberries and rain over with the chopped chocolates.