mmm recipe time...

I cooked this up the other night for some friends.  The original recipe comes from the sophie dahl cookbook, but I have changed it a little to add some extra zing.  It is such an easy, tasty recipe.  Great for winter and summer.  Enjoy xxx

chicken stew with green olives

ingredients
- one chicken, cut into pieces, or chicken breasts (small chicken breasts cut into two pieces, for large chicken breasts, cut them into three)
- olive oil
- two cloves of garlic
- one fennel bulb, cleaned and peeled then roughly chopped
- one cup white wine
- one can of chopped tomatoes
- one cup of chicken stock. try and fine ‘reduced salt’ as most chicken stock cubes, including ‘reduced salt’ here are quite salty.
Note: this bit about 'salty' stock cubes is for Dubai peops, as most supermarkets here stock very salty stock cubes.
- one cup of pitted green olives. either freshly bought or in a jar (I used waitrose pitted olives)
- handful of fresh chopped basil

The night before…
Cut the chicken up into pieces and place in a flat deep dish. Chop up one of the garlic cloves, finely and throw into the dish. Add a few lobs of olive oil and a dash of the white wine, then mix it into the chicken with your hands. Cover the dish with cling film and place in the fridge to marinate overnight.

Approx forty minutes before serving…
In a large pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and add the chicken (poor any liquid from the dish into the pan as well), cooking until it has browned. Remove from the pan and set aside in a covered bowl. In the same pan, sweat the garlic and fennel in a little more oil for a few minutes. Pour the wine over, add the tomatoes and cook for another ten minutes on low. Put the chicken back in to the pan and cook on low for around thirty minutes, adding the chicken stock little by little. Season with pepper. Put the olives and basil in for approx ten minutes, then serve with crusty bread.

For an extra taste of summer, cut up some lemon pieces and place in a bowl on the table for guests to drizzle on the stew.

things to love this week...

Here are a few things that are making me happy this week.

smell...

chloe eau de fleurs, lavende.  this is sooo beautiful.  I normally wear the original, but will be moving to this one.

see...

if you have not heard already, lady gaga is now the creative director of polaroid.   I cannot wait to see whats in store, especially with the re-launch of instant cameras.

link to polaroid

hear...

new album for xavier rudd and izintabab - koonyum sun.   aussie music at its best.  impossible not to move your feet to this one.

link to xavier rudd

taste...

homemade guacamole.  so easy to make, so tasty. what's not to love.

touch...

hugs.  living away from home, it's the one thing you miss from your family.  never enough hugs in the world xxx

swimming pool? elephant? no wait, the train!

A few nights ago I was at a friends house for dinner. After an hour or so of banter (Oyster Bay, Chardonnay banter to be exact), we started talking about Women's Weekly cookbooks and just how darn good they are.  We agreed on the best cookbook ever - THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY CHILDRENS BIRTHDAY CAKE BOOK. And to my amazement, she pulled out an original copy from her bookcase. SO MUCH EXCITEMENT! For a moment I was frozen back in time…early 80s, as I turned each page another amazing cake awaited. I can still remember the cakes my Mum made, and the cakes I only dreamed about!  My favourite? Barbie doll with a skirt made of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream. Yum!