Dorset Companions’ Delicious Dinners Part One

If we’ve already met, you’ll know by now that I am a massive fan of hearty home cooked dinners. I am always on the lookout for new recipes and experimenting with dinners. I always go for ones that can feed the family easily, with the least amount of fuss. I’ve got some tasty ones that I would just love to share with you. Read on for a couple of my favourite recipes!

Check out the download links below- where you can download and print off a recipe card for each of the recipes below.

Mouth-Watering Chicken and Leek Pie

Usually, I’m not a huge fan of leeks, onions or anything in that particular vegetable family, however I have found that the leeks break down so beautifully in this pie that you will hardly notice they are there. This is perfect if you have fussy children!

You can use fresh chicken, frozen chicken, chicken leftovers or any substitute you think will go well. If you see anything you don’t like in the ingredients, then just leave it out or replace it for something similar. This is a really versatile recipe.

Ingredients:

• Chicken
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Puff Pastry (Buy in a pack- let’s face it, we need time saving quick and easy meals)
• White Wine (If it’s not already been drunk!)
• Stock Cube (Preferably Vegetable or Chicken flavour)
• Small amount of flour
• Milk/ Cream
• Seasoning
• Oil
• Small amount of milk or egg wash
• A crockpot that can go on both the stove top and, in the oven.

Method:

1. Put your oven on to warm up, around 180c.
2. Grab your crockpot and stick it on the stove on a medium heat. Pour in a little oil, I personally love a good knob of butter too! Then add some salt, pepper, a teaspoon of garlic and mixed herbs.
3. Chop up some leeks and put into the pan, covering them with all that seasoned goodness. You will notice that after a few moments, the leeks will start to break down.
4. If you are using chicken that you have already cooked, wait until near the end to add it in otherwise it will break down too much. However, if you are using uncooked chicken or a substitute, then now is the time to put that in, in good sized chunks.
5. The important bit- pour yourself a glass of white wine and then put another half glass into your pot. Let that burn off for a few minutes and then add your mushrooms.
6. Using a teaspoon at a time, sprinkle over the flour to make the pie filling go nice and thick.
7. Make up your stock (around 500ml) and add that to the mix.
8. Add some milk or cream into the pot and stir.
9. Leave it to thicken, occasionally stirring otherwise it will stick to the bottom of the pot.
10. When the sauce is nice and thick (you don’t want it too runny or else it will ooze over the top of the pastry and ruin it- speaking from experience!) you can take it off the heat of the stove.
11. Lay the pastry over the top of your pot and push it onto the sides, if it is slightly above the pie filling that’s great as it won’t get soggy!
12. Give it an egg or milk wash- whichever you prefer- and pop it into the oven. You need to leave plenty of room for the pastry to puff up above it.
13. Cook for around 20 to 30 minutes. Once the pastry is puffed up and golden it’s ready to eat!
14. Serve up with mashed potato and vegetables of your choice, as well as plenty of gravy!

If you would like to download the free chicken and leek pie recipe card, then click here. You can then print it off and pop it on the fridge or in your recipe book.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Tray Bake

Now, who here loves a sweet treat? We loosely followed a peanut butter and jelly tray back off of the BBC Good Food website, however we amended it to create our own yummy treat masterpiece.

Ingredients:

• Chocolate spread- 3 heaped tbsp
• Crunchy/ Smooth peanut butter- 3 tbsp
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 170ml whole milk
• 2 medium sized eggs
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• A dusting of icing sugar for decoration purposes

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160- 180 c. Grease a baking tin/ baking dish with a little butter and line with greaseproof paper.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl and whisk well.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk, eggs and oil.
4. Whisk the mixture together until you have a thick batter. These steps can be done in advance and the batter can be placed in the fridge overnight.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared brownie tin and spread it out evenly.
6. Take spoonsful of the chocolate spread and spoon them in sporadically, then do the same for your peanut butter.
7. Using the end of a spoon, swirl the blobs of peanut butter and chocolate spread together to create a lovely marbled effect.
8. This then goes into the oven for 10-15 minutes. You can tell when it’s done as the pancake won’t look wobbly anymore but will look shiny.
9. Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool.
10. Sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into squares. Enjoy!

If you would like a free print out of the peanut butter and chocolate tray bake, then head over to this link. Feel free to print this off and add it to your recipe collections.

I hope that both of these recipes have given you inspiration for a dinner and pudding this week. They are both delicious and my daughter absolutely loves eating them, as well as joining in with the cooking and baking too!

One of the most common complaints for my clients is time. Sometimes, it really is impossible trying to fit in cooking a hearty home cooked meal into the day, and it’s all too easy to fall into the routine of opting for takeaways or cook from frozen ready meals. Thankfully, I have the answer.

My batch cooking service and my basic recipe coaching can help transform your dinner times and happiness. Get in contact if you’d like to find out more.