Flying Solo....

In my bid to try new things in life and to explore the wonderful world of food I have decided to try something different at least every week and that includes main course and desert which for me involves unfortunately a lot of whisking, blending, and beating among other things and is costing me a sizable sum since making each meal seems to come at a cost of $20 (no pound sign). What exactly is motivating me you might ask... in all honesty I have no idea; it is actually a combination of things.... I am currently fed up of eating West Indian, every Sunday I know what I am going to eat and I have had enough for the moment... another is the fear that my husband whoever that may be will desert me for not being able to cook properly.... or maybe it is a fear that when I do venture out on my own I will suddenly balloon out because I don't know how to and can't cook for myself and will have to resort to fast food which I don't particularly like. However, we all know that whilst I may dislike fast food desperate times will call for desperate measures... I intend to not get desperate so...

I Danielle Samuel at the ripe old age of 27 has decided that I need to finally learn to cook.

Since making this decision I now find myself perusing the cook book like it is a gripping and thrilling novel... mesmerized by and salivating at the sight of the pictures shown of the finished meal... reading up on the ingredients required and trying to familiarize myself with and improve my knowledge of foreign ingredients....

Last week I decided to treat my immediate family to a meal prepared by yours truly. Based on past experiences I'm actually surprised that they all came. And there began my efforts to cook for others besides myself.

I saw this lovely recipe for crispy stuffed chicken breast…sounds good right? In my opinion and that of my ever so critical family it was good, I must admit I cheated and didn't make the stuffing myself, instead I used a packet of Paxo Sage and Onion stuffing. I eagerly went shopping and purchased myself a container of chicken breasts, parmesan cheese, parmaham and bread crumbs, the only missing ingredients.

The chicken was fairly easy to cook and proved to be worth the extra effort. I firstly washed and seasoned my meat and left it to marinate for a bit, I then coated it with butter, added my stuffing and pinned it with cocktail sticks to ensure my stuffing stayed in place and coated each breast with a topping of parmesan, bread crumbs and finely chopped and fried parmaham (can substitute for bacon rashes). This was then baked in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

To compliment this I made a starter of stuffed potatoes with humus and spring onion, (a lot of stuffed food I know) this recipe I found by off chance and have now made my own by adding soft cheese and a sprinkling of parmesan. For the ever picky and fussy twin brother it was a hit, a self confessed hater of humus, he actually relished it.

As an adage and particularly to please my twin brother and nephew I made a Macaroni cheese pie, and this certainly went down well, my brother declared it to be the best pie he has had in a while and even complimented me further today by asking his girlfriend to call me and find out what I had put in my pie, which for all intents and purposes was nothing extra. I made a small helping of Basmati Rice for my nieces who both seem to adore white rice and roasted vegetables; we mustn’t forget our helping of greens.



They were all then treated to a desert of Tropical fruit cheesecake, and I must say that for my first attempt at a cheesecake whilst it wasn't perfect it was reasonably tasty.


I think these culinary skills are here to stay and so with that “Roll On” Sunday where I will attempt to make Cannelloni Al Forno and a desert of Pineapple and Stem Ginger Pavlova and homemade Coconut Ice-Cream... must have that weekly splash of Caribbean if only by the use of one ingredient.

Updates to follow...