And Now For Something Completely Different

I know I promised you slightly-complicated-crochet pattern, but since I can't find the bit of paper it's written down on, it'll have to wait. Tomorrow there will be crocheted kitty toys instead.
It's still colder than a well-diggers arse here in North Lincolnshire. Yesterday it was -13 at 7am. Today -10. So that must mean that things are getting warmer, right? Also, the boiler leak has been located - hurrah! At some point this week the lovely Malcolm will come & fix it. Hurrah!

I have to confess, I have a terrible addiction to cooking shows. I blame my student days, when my housemates & I would slump on the floor of the room with the biggest TV in our student hovel and watch Fern Britton mumsy her way around wall-eyed 'celebrity' chefs (this is back when Ready Steady Cook was actually about teaching cooking techniques & recipes, rather than a backdrop for Ainsley Harriot to do... whatever the hell he's doing*). These days I'm more of a River Cottage & cuddly, soft-focus BBC half-hour long programmes kind of fox.

So I was slumped on the sofa with a cup of tea watching Nigella Lawson wafting around her soft-focus pseudo-kitchen making Chicken With 40 Cloves Of Garlic, and really wanted to try it.** This doesn't mean that I instantly abandoned my vegetarian principles & really wanted to tuck into some bird carcass (ugh! I haven't eaten meat in over 20 years, and I wasn't a fan of it to start with), or that I missed the flavour & texture of meat. But that it had been so long since I had eaten a hearty, warming casserole, something that required a knife and fork, and maybe some mashed potatoes on the side. Most of my cooking is stuff that can be eaten with just a fork or a spoon.
I remembered my pumpkin turkey roast success from November, and thought it can't be that hard to make something similar, but in smaller pieces. Anyway, I can't resist a pun, so:

Chickain't Pieces

Doesn't that appetising does it? Trust me, it's delicious! What? You don't believe me? Okay, what about this then?


Chickain't casserole with courgette, mushrooms & peas. It was delicious.

So how do you make it? It's pretty much the same as the Pumpkin Turkey recipe, only you divide the dough into 8 pieces. Wrap each piece in foil, squishing into whatever shape you fancy, then steam for 30 minutes. Then place in a baking tray & add a little hot water, just enough to cover the tray (so nothing burns) and bake 20-30 minutes. Leave to cool wrapped in the foil, and then unwrap. They freeze well, and you can bake them, fry them, roast them, slice them & stir fry them - anything you can think of really!

Om nom nom!

*Like a horrible mash-up of Baron Samedi from Live & let Die & The Swedish Chef from the Muppets.

**My actualy thought process was 'Hubb-hubba, ding-ding-ding, baby you got everything. Shame on me.