Lunch in office

So I cooked lunch for the fellow foodies in office. I missed it but heard it was a resounding success. Keeping in mind the holiday season I made stuffed chicken, apple and date crumble and lasagna. The chicken and crumble were adapts of recipes I have found on this brilliant website www.taste.co.au. The recipes are given below so are a few cooking tips.

Apple & Date Crumble Ingredients

• 6 crisp apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 1 tbs butter
  
• 150 gms dates, pitted, chopped
• 1 tetrapack orange juice
• 2-3 1 inch pieces of cinnamon
• 50 gms margarine (I prefer Nutrilite)
  
• 2 tbs shredded coconut
• 3 tbs Cornflakes
• 2 tbs brown sugar (you can use white)
• 2 tbs maida
• 4 digestive biscuits
  
• Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Sautee apples in butter and then add dates, orange juice and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 2-3 minutes or until just tender.
2. Discard the cinnamon stick and place mixture at the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
3. Crumble together margarine, flour, sugar, digestive biscuits, maida and coconut. Sprinkle over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Stuffed roast chicken

Ingredients

• Whole chicken with skin on
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Olive oil
• Butter
• For the stuffing
• 1 pkt bacon, cut into cubes
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 pkt mushrooms, only the top, diced
• 3 slices stale bread, made into crumbs
• Hand full parsley, chopped
• 10 leaves basil, chopped
• 1 egg
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. To make the stuffing sautee bacon bits in oil till slightly coloured but not crisp. Add onions and garlic and cook till soft. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 mins. Remove from the gas and add remaining ingredients. Season as required.
2. To prep the chicken, cut the wings at the second joint, cut off the tail of the chicken (it tends to taste a bit off) and rub salt, pepper and olive oil inside and all over the chicken*. Stuff the chicken till full and then close the hole by tying the legs together either with cooking string or then just with aluminum foil.
3. Heat a pan and add a touch of olive oil at the bottom, place the chicken breast side up and once it sizzles put it into the oven for 20 mins. Then cook on either leg for 20 mins, at this point sprinkling rosemary and thyme on the chicken. Now remove and melt butter on the breast and baste the chicken with the chicken juices. Repeat the butter and basting on both legs and cook after the butter and basting for 10 mins more on each of the sides.

If you don't understand this, call me and I will make it for you!! *Chef's tip: add more salt that you think you need, most of the salt falls off at the time of cooking it