Cranberry and chicken curry with egg-fried rice!

After writing (half) an Irish essay about eating healthy and being all self-righteous about cooking for yourself instead of getting a take-away, I decided to throw together an easy, cheap meal that absolutely anyone can make. :P This meal tastes great and will leave you feeling a lot better than anything you'll get from the take-away! :L I just threw in any veg. I could find in the house so be sure to add in whatever you want! I got the idea for trying out the egg fried rice from my brother, it turned out really well, giving the rice an extra bit of flavour! :P


Cranberry and chicken curry with egg-fried rice:

Ingredients:

• 150g Cranberries
• Enough Rice for 4 people (approx. half cup per person)
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Yellow Pepper
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Onion 
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 Chicken stock cube
• 1 Lemon
• 2 sections Garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp Curry Powder (I used medium!)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 eggs

Method:


To start, we'll prepare a few things before we get into the real cooking, this will just speed up the process later. Put the cranberries into a bowl and pour in a large mug of hot water. Leave this to one side to soak. Next, put the rice into a pot and pour in enough water so that the rice is covered. Have that to one side and ready to cook. Finally chop up all of the veg and have all that ready to rock too. :)


Now that all the preparations are out of the way, throw the three chicken breasts into a large pan with some oil and fry them until the outside is cooked. Cut them up into little pieces and fry until all of the chicken is cooked. Dissolve the chicken stock cube in a mug of water and pour it into the pan with the chicken. Squeeze the lemon into the pan and mix in both the curry powder and cumin. Finally, add the veg. and the cup of cranberries and water. Let this all simmer in the pan and put on the rice.



Cook the rice according to the instructions and then drain it off. Take the mix that was simmering in the pan and put it in a bowl, to one side. Now put half of the rice into the pan and crack in the two eggs. On medium heat, fry the rice, mixing it thoroughly so that all of the rice gets coated in egg. Add the rest of the rice and mix it all through. This shouldn't take too long, so the chicken mix will still be warm! Serve up the rice and then the chicken mix.


 Enjoy! :D

Soundtrack to this recipe:  
Rihanna- Shut up and Drive
Hypnotic Brass Ensamble- War

Chocolate Brownies

I usually object to brownies because they are just pure sugar :L But I have to say that these are a favourite! My friend requested that I put up the recipe for some "Slutty Brownies."  The first thing I thought was "Jesus what is she on about" :L But then this recipe came to mind... because its incredibly easy! I got the recipe in transition year in our home-ec classes. When I made them, I halved the amount of each ingredient and it turned out fine. If your using the whole amounts, your going to need an 8x12 inch baking tray. My baking tray was 4x6 inches and I ended up having to bake them for an extra 15 minutes because they were so thick. They turned out fine in the end but when your making them, ensure that the tray your using isn't massively deep. You'll see from the pictures that I tried adding a white chocolate icing (which tasted delicious!) but I made the mistake of putting it on before the brownies were totally cooled :L:L It just melted!! I'll include the recipe for that icing, but make sure the brownies are COMPLETELY cool before you put it on! Your also going to want to use a fairly hight quality white chocolate, I used Green and Blacks (expensive but worth it!). This brand had vanilla in it so I didn't add any extra for the recipe. These Chocolate Brownies are incredibly easy to make and really, really yummy so be sure to give them a go! :D

Chocolate Brownies:

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 370g Caster Sugar
• 1 and a half tsp Vanilla essence
• 220g Butter (melted) plus extra for greasing
• 4 Eggs , lightly beaten
• 110g Plain Flour
• 85g Cocoa Powder
• half tsp Baking Powder
• 220g Walnuts or Pecans or broken up chocolate (optional)

White Chocolate Icing:

• 175g White Chocolate
• 75g Butter
• 115g Icing Sugar
• 90ml Double Cream
• A few drops of food colouring
• Some chocolate sprinkles, to decorate

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and start off by making the Chocolate Brownies. Mix the vanilla essence into the melted butter and then add the caster sugar. Stir this thoroughly. Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mixture. Then, sieve in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Mix well and then fold in the  Walnuts, Pecans or broken up chocolate. Grease the 8x12 inch baking tray with butter and then dust with flour. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray and bake for about 25 minutes, until just set in the middle. Depending on the thickness or depth of your brownies, you might have to bake them for longer, just insert a knife into the centre of the brownies and if it comes out clean, they're done.

For the White Chocolate Frosting, melt the butter and white chocolate together, stirring every few seconds until they are totally combined. Sift in the icing sugar, a little at a time and mix well. Finally blend in the cream and food colouring until you achieve a good spreading consistency. When the brownies are completely cooled down, cut them up into little squares or bars and spread the icing over each one. Shake on some chocolate sprinkles and enjoy!

Soundtrack to this Recipe:
Rita Ora- RIP ft. Tinie Tempah
 Adele- Rumour Has It

Delicious Chocolate Icing :P

Two things led to the making of this recipe :L Philadelphia have collaborated with Cadburys to make a chocolate cream cheese that I've been DYING to try... and it was a good friend's birthday (and she LOVES chocolate :P) So I decided to make her a lovely cake with a delicious chocolate icing, by using the new cream cheese. Also, for all you sceptics out there, the Philadelphia is GORGEOUS! It doesn't taste like cheese at all! Just chocolate :P For the cake, I used the basic sponge cake recipe that I posted here:  

http://stephenconlan.blogspot.com/2012/02/birthday-cake-d.html

(Without the blueberries) I was blown away by how nice the icing was, you could use it for anything really, on top of a cake or muffins or even as a side with ice-cream or strawberries!

Chocolate Icing:

Ingredients:

• 2 packets Cadbury's Philadelphia ( I think they were 160g each?) at room temperature
• half tsp Vanilla essence
• 60g Icing Sugar
• 160ml Double Cream

Method:

First, you have to have your muffins or cake or whatever ready to be iced, it has to be totally cooled down! In a mixing bowl, beat the Philadelphia until smooth. If you have an electric hand mixer, use that for the whole recipe, on a low enough speed. Add the half teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix in the icing sugar, a little bit at a time until its all incorporated. Pour in the double cream and continue to beat with the electric mixer until you achieve a good thick consistency for piping or spreading with a knife. You can pipe this mix onto muffins or cupcakes or you could spread it onto a cake, like I've done in the pictures. Here are a few videos for inspiration!

Betty Crocker cake decorating tips

Allrecipes.com: How to Frost Cupcakes