Monthly Archives: April 2014

Long Weekends

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It’s been a cracking Easter out here in the country. Not that we did a lot, you understand – enjoying the time and days off has been great. Spending time with the in-laws and have someone cook has also been a bit of a change.

Saying that, I did manage to get through a wild mushroom risotto, a batch of ragu, a batch of zuchinni and garlic soup, and put together a beef curry in the slow-cooker. Not bad for a “no cooking” weekend! Those all will feature in posts coming up, but since my camera is out to grass at the moment, the pictures are sadly lacking! It’s also been a weekend of cupboard clearing. Here at Casa Schönau there’s a lot of experimenting that goes on with food, and there are plenty of nameless jars containing all manner of preserves, gelee, and whatever knows what in there. Clear out and testing time!

So what are my first 5 things about Easter? Given that it’s a religious holiday, there’s been very little church deeds or doings around here, but then again, I’m not that religious. Saying that, I’m able to look out around me at the brilliance of nature and the kindness of others, and that’s enough for me. This weekend has been one spent with friends, loved ones, and keeping in touch with friends and family that are not here.

  • Time with family
  • Time with friends
  • A chance to rest, relax and re-charge
  • A time to clear out and make space
  • A time to notice nature growing, and also respect the work that goes into food on the table

Enjoy the weekend!

 

 

Chicken Bake

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IMG_0294

At Casa Schönau, this is a favourite. Colourful, healthy and easy to make, plus you get a pretty free reign with what you want to include. I use a mix, along with 4-6 chicken breasts on the bone, with the skin on.

  • Pre-heat the oven to 200 C.
  • Wash the vegetables you want – Peppers (I don’t like green ones so much so tend not to use them), Zucchini, Aubergine, tomatoes.
  • De-seed the peppers
  • Peel a red onion; break 4-5 cloves out of a bulb of garlic. Leave the skin on.
  • Chop everything into chunky pieces and throw into the roasting dish
  • If you have fresh rosemary, wash and roughly chop a couple of sprigs, depending on how much you like the stuff.
  • Sprinkle the rosemary over the vegetables, along with salt and ground black pepper
  • You’ll need a couple of glugs of olive oil over the lot, and then get your hands in to mix it all together
  • Take the chicken breasts and lay over the vegetables, skin side up. Season with salt.
  • Whack the lot into the hot oven. Check after 40 45 mins to see if the chicken is cooked through.

I usually bring it to the table pretty much as is. The chicken can be taken out when it’s cooked and left to rest. Just use your noggin and decide how you want it to look. Optional additions are mushrooms, chilli, or change the vegetables according to season.

I’ve used oven sliced potatoes in the picture above, but again these could be sweet potatoes or whatever you want. If you’ve friends over who are on a low carb diet, this is an ideal dish for them.

 

 

 

A New Start

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After years of saying that I’m going to start a blog…. I’m actually going to start a blog. I’ve no idea where this is going to go as my first thoughts were primarily to do a blog about the stuff I cook up in the kitchen out here in the country. That will be a big part of it, but I can see other stuff creeping into it too. So let’s see how it takes me.

It’s a new start in quite a few ways, but I’ll leave that for another time. The main thing is that I’ve started… and I’ve a few recipes already with pictures that I can make a start with.

Right now, it’s a play time with WordPress…. let’s go….