Cajun Chicken with pineapple rice

From BBC Good Food April 2002

Serves 4 ~ Takes 25-35 minutes ~ Easily halved for 2 ~ Add more or less spice to taste ~ Easy

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
200g/8oz frozen sweetcorn, or 340g can sweetcorn, drained
2 tbsp Cajun spice mix
250g/9oz long-grain rice
1 chicken stock cube
227g pineapple chunks in natural juice
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1. Get the rice on. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a heavy-based with a lid. Add the diced pepper, sweetcorn and 1/2 tbsp of the spice mix and fry for a couple of minutes. Tip in the rice, pour in 700ml/1¼ pints water and then crumble in the stock cube. Bring to the boil and stir. Bring to the boil and stir once, then lower the heat, cover and simmer very for 15 minutes until tender.

2. Rub the remaining spice into the chicken breasts. Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken breasts over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

3. Finish. Gently stir the pineapple and juice into the rice, then cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Put the chicken breasts on top of the rice and serve.

PER SERVING 524 kcalories, protein 40g, carbohydrate 71g, fat 11g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 2g, added sugar none, salt 1.26 g.

Or! Chop the chicken breasts, cover them with all of the spice and fry them in a heavy casserole. After a few minutes add the pepper and sweetcorn and fry for a few minutes more. Then tip in the rice, stir, and finish as above.

Betty Crocker Southern Sweet Potato Pie

One-Crust Pie plain pastry for 9" or 8" pie

1 cup/240 ml/110 g sifted GOLD MEDAL flour
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup/80 ml/75 g shortening
2 tbsp water

Sweet Potato filling for 9" pie {8" pie}

1¾ cups/420 ml strained mashed cooked sweet potatoes {1¼ cups/300 ml}
1 tsp salt {¾ tsp}
1½ cups/360 ml milk {1⅛ cups/270 ml}
2 large eggs (½ cup/120 ml) {2 eggs (⅓ cup/80 ml)}
1 cup/240 ml sugar {¾ cup/180 ml}
1 tsp cinnamon {¾ tsp}
½ tsp nutmeg {⅓ tsp}
½ tsp ginger {⅓ tsp}
1 tbsp melted butter {¾ tbsp}

Preheat oven to 424°F/220°C (hot oven).

Pastry: Mix together flour and salt, cut in shortening with pastry blender and sprinkle with water. Gather dough together and press firmly into a ball. Roll out into a circle 1" larger that pan all around.

Fit pastry loosely into pan. Avoid stretching to prevent shrinking.

Trim off ragged edge with scissors leaving ½" overhanging edge of pan

Fold extra pastry back and under, and build up a high fluted edge to hold a generous amount of filling. Do not prick pastry!

Filling: Beat ingredients together with the rotary beater. Pour most of filling into pastry-lined pan. (For crispness, have bottom pastry little thicker than ⅛".) To prevent spilling, place pan on rack in oven. Pour in remaining filling. Bake 45 to 55 min, until a silver knife inserted into side of filling comes out clean. The center may still look soft but will set later. Serve slightly warm or cold.

Best Ever Brownies

From BBC Good Food November 2009.

Cuts into 16 squares ~ prep 30 mins ~ cook 40 mins ~ moderately easy ~ you can freeze it

185g/6½oz unsalted butter, cubed
225g/8oz good-quality plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
50g/2oz milk chocolate, chopped into chunks
85g/3oz plain flour
40g/1½oz cocoa powder
3 large eggs
280g/10oz golden caster sugar

1. Tip the butter, plain and milk chocolate into a medium bowl. Sit the bowl over a pan of hot water, ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water. Over a low heat melt the butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool (HV: or use the microwave)

2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and position a shelf in the middle of the oven. Press 2 x 7-8cm wide bands of folded foil across the base of a 20cm square tin to form a cross shape to stick up 5c, above the rim on all sides, so you can lift out the brownie when cold. Put a square of baking parchment on top, then butter the sides of the tin and foil. Now sift the flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl.

3. Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they become pale, look thick and about double the original volume - about 3-8 mins.

4.Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then very gently fold together with a spatula, without knocking out the air. Re-sift the cocoa and flour mixture over the cake mixture and lightly fold it in until the mixture looks gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should be doing, as you don't want to overdo this mixing.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, level the top and bake for 40 mins. Open the oven, and gently shake the tin, it's ready when the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.

6. Leave in the tin until completely cold. Take out of the tin and cut into squares. Will keep in an airtight container for 2 weeks and in the freezer for up to 1 month.

PER SQUARE 294 kcals, protein 3g, carbs 32 g, fat 18g, sat fat 10 g, fibre 1g, sugar 24g, salt 0.06g

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Multiculturalism for Steampunk: FF: I Do (Love This Dress)

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Theo Jansen

Kunst gemaakt van wegwerpartikelen en alledaags materiaal blijft fascinerend. Kinetisch kunstenaar-uitvinder Theo Jansen maakt lopende strandbeesten van PET-flessen, plakband en het soort pvc-buizen waar mijn broers en ik vroeger mee pijltjes gingen schieten. Voortgedreven door de wind op het strand lijken het inderdaad levende wezens.





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