Before I start this blog this is my foray into recipes, as suggested by some of my readers and my editor friend Karen. So I would really appreciate your feedback and if you could rate the posts using the star rating system at the top of each blog. Thank you in advance….. on to the post…….

During Karen’s visit (see post from August) we decided that my method of cooking is very Witchy Poo, (or when I am dancing twitchy poo!!)  I add a bit here, and a bit there, a bit of this a bit of that and voila!! I come up with something good to eat. So I will henceforth call myself the Witchy Poo Cook when it comes to the recipes I post on my blog.

So lets start with Karen’s favourite we are going to call it Karen’s Chicken Parmejano because she made me cook it for her twice!!

You will need:

Chicken breasts (obviously!!)

Olive oil (preferably with garlic infused but it doesn’t matter)

My previous recipe of chopped up garlic and parsley

Some garlic granules (yes there is lots of garlic involved here!)

Salt and pepper (again this is obvious but, just in case)

Basil (fresh preferably)

Sugar (three to four teaspoons)

Mozzarella (2 balls, don’t buy the expensive one folks, you are using it for cooking after all!)

Two tins of tomatoes and a carton of passat – but this is dependent on how much sauce you want and how many people you are catering for; we like loads of sauce so if we were cooking for four for example we would use two tins of tomatoes and two cartons of passat, and perhaps add another ball of Mozzarella, get it?

A lidded pan that can be used on both the hob and in the oven preferably, but if you don’t have one then cook it up and then transfer to a lidded oven proof casserole dish once the preparation on the hob is complete.

And last but never least (given the name of the dish is Parmejano!) Parmesan cheese

So….

Let’s Witchy Poo:

Put the oil in the pan and if it does not have garlic in it add at least half a bulb of garlic (yes half a bulb folks I live in France!!) If you have made up my wonderful parsley and garlic mix then add a couple of tea spoons of that as well. Make sure it is a good glug of oil.

Let it all start to brown

Then add the tomatoes (chopped up) and passat.

Add salt and pepper, some more parsley and garlic mix, the sugar and sprinkle garlic granules in as well.

Stir it!

Taste it!! Add more of whatever you feel is necessary. Always remember, as my mum used to say, you can always add but you can’t take away!!

Then after about 5 mins break up leaves from at least half a basil plant and stir in, let it all simmer for another five mins.

Remove the sauce from the pan into a jug.

Heat the oven to 150 degrees (about gas mark 5 I think but you will need to look it up as I don’t have a gas oven!)

Chop your chicken into small pieces.

In the same pan, and this is very important: With the residue of the sauce remaining in the pan, add another glug of oil and garlic, and parsley.

When it starts to sizzle add the chicken and it is important to make sure that the chicken browns because this adds to the flavour of the dish.

When the chicken is brown add the sauce back to the pan and stir. (if you have to transfer to an oven proof lidded pan now is the time to do it before you add the sauce back to the dish.)

Turn off the heat to the pan.

Break up the balls of mozzarella and plop into the pan all over the dish.

Liberally sprinkle Parmesan all over the top.

Put the lid onto the pan.

Put it into the over for about 45 mins.

Serve with pasta and a further liberal sprinkling of Parmesan, a green salad, and crusty bread to soak up that lovely sauce.

An alternative could also be to cook the chicken breasts whole (one for each person) and then follow the recipe in the same way, but this time serve with crispy roast potatoes, sprinkled with Parmesan, a green salad and crusty bread.

You could also serve with garlic bread, look out for my recipe for that in the next few weeks.

Enjoy

Moisy