Quick And Simple | From Patty's Pantry

Rocky Road Bars Recipe

London, Make Your Own, Sweets 1 Comment »

Mar 052013

Why in the world we don’t seem to have these bars in the US? I see them everywhere here, so simple and how can you go wrong with chocolate, marshmallows, and digestive biscuits? Almost Impossible. The British version does not have nuts, but since in the US and I am American, Rocky Road Ice Cream has nuts in it, I decided to add peanuts. Plus I had leftover honey roasted peanuts so I thought they would make the perfect edition.

Rocky Road Bars

Rocky Road Bars Recipe

18 oz of milk chocolate

8 digestive biscuits broken up but not ground/graham crackers would also work (about 4-5)

150 grams or 5.2 oz of Mini Marshmallows

3/4 Cup of Honey Roasted Peanuts or a Nut of your choice

Optional you could add 1/2 cup of raisins or dried cranberries- I did not want to give these any nutritional value so mine did not have them!

8×8 inch baking dish- line the bottom with greased parchment paper.

Rocky Road Bars

In a Double Boiler melt the milk chocolate. Once the milk chocolate is completely melted remove from heat and let cool slightly for 2-3 minutes. Then add your ingredients and mix together with a large spoon until all the biscuits, marshmallows, and peanuts are covered. Pour the mixture into the dish and evenly spread out. Refrigerate it for 2-3 hours until the chocolate had harden. Now ready to cut and serve.

It is great to eat on its own, but I took a little with some chocolate ice-cream to make my own version of rocky road ice cream!

Bacon Cucumber Salad

London, Sides 2 Comments »

Feb 262013

If you can’t tell, I love bacon. I made this last night as a side dish to some Pho Soup. Neil was a big fan of it and I was a fan of how simple it all came together.

3/4 Cup of Lardons (or thick pieces of bacon)

1 whole Cucumber de-seeded , cut lengthwise into quarters and then into 1/2 inch slices

1 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns

1/2 of a red chilli without seeds sliced

1 star anise

1 Tablespoon of ground nut oil

1 Tablespoon of Shaohsing rice wine

1 Tablespoon of toasted Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar

Right before serving

Juice of 1 Lime

1/4 Cup of fresh Cilantro

1/4 Cup of honey roasted peanuts

Heat a wok with the ground nut oil and add the peppercorns, star anise, and red chilli and let cook for about 1 minute. Then add the lardons until nice and crispy. Add the Shaohsing rice wine, rice vinegar, and sesame oil and cook for 30 seconds and add the cucumbers and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from wok and place in a bowl, drizzle with lemon juice and top with Cilantro and roasted peanuts. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blonde Brownies Recipe…Chewy Blonde Brownies

London, Sweets 3 Comments »

Feb 252013

I feel these are coming back into vogue. I have always loved them and sometimes forget how simple they are to make. Seriously, it is merging the best of two worlds a brownie and chocolate chip cookies! And the best part, they are so much easier than a chocolate chip cookie since you spread the batter out into a pan and dont have to make individual cookies and wait for one sheet to be done before the other sheet goes in!

Blonde Brownies

: Chewy Blonde Brown

Heat Oven 375

1 Cup of Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup of Melted Butter

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla extract

1 Cup of Flour

1/2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

1 Cup of Chocolate Chips ( I used a mixture of white chocolate and semi-sweet dark chocolate)

In a mixing bowl add the dark brown sugar and melted butter and mix until combined followed by 1 egg and vanilla and mix for about 1-2 minutes. Sift in the flour baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix on low until evenly combined and then mix in the chocolate bits.

Grease a 8×8 inch square pan and evenly spread the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a nice light brown crust has formed on the top. Let cool slightly before serving. I think these are great to serve as dessert and could spruce up with some chocolate sauce and ice cream, as an addition to a lunch and served on own or as I made them for a care package since they pack really well!

Pork Meatballs

London No Comments »

Feb 202013

Since I don’t buy ground beef here making traditional meatballs is difficult. I don’t buy it because every time I have, I have been disappointed with the taste. And especially now because of the recent horse meat scandal across the UK.

I make a chicken burger using more asian influences and decided to do the same with these meatballs. They are simple and taste great.

Pork Balls

1 pound of ground pork meat

1 egg

1/2 Cup of chopped Cilantro

1/2 Cup of finely chopped water chestnuts

1/4 Cup of chopped Scallions

1 1/2 Tablespoons of finely chopped fresh ginger

1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce

1/3 Cup of Panko bread Crumbs

about 1/2 Cup of Cornstarch to roll the balls in.

Vegetable oil for cooking

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients together until well combined- except the cornstarch and vegetable oil. Now depending on how you are serving, as an appetizer, or as part of main will depend on the size you make your meatballs. I used a larger ice cream scoop since I was serving them as part of a main. Form each ball and then roll around in cornstarch.

Pork Meat Balls Covered in Corn Starch

Heat oil in frying pan, you need enough oil to cover half of the meat ball. Cook for 3 minutes on each side. Serve with Soy Sauce or Duck Sauce.

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

London, Mains 1 Comment »

Jan 232013

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

I love when I can throw a group of ingredients into a pot and walk away for an hour + and return to something amazing! The only difficult part is preparing the the garlic and I shouldn’t say difficult more time consuming. The chicken came out perfectly juicy, this is a fantastic weekday meal.

Preheat Oven 375

40 Cloves of Garlic skinned and crushed

6 Chicken Thighs with skins

4 Stalks of Celery Chopped in 1/4 inch slices

1 Tablespoon of fresh chopped Tarragon

8 sprigs of Flat Leaf Parsley

3 Bay Leaves

1 Teaspoon of Salt

1 Teaspoon of Pepper

1 Cup of White Wine

5 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Dutch Oven- Serve with Long Grain Rice, so it can absorb all the fabulous juices of the chicken from roasting.

Heat oil in a dutch oven and add Chicken thighs, skin side down and lightly sear the chicken flip the chicken over and remove from heat. Add the remain ingredients and cover with tin foil (see picture below) Put the lid of the dutch oven on and place in oven for 75-90 minutes. Remove from oven and ready to serve.

Popovers

NYC, Sides No Comments »

Jan 122010

Happy New Year! I know this past year I did not update as much as I would have liked. I am finally getting my home together again. I seem to be bed bug free and now have a working refrigerator 1) that works and 2) that is not filled with trash bags filled with clothing. Most importantly, I have started the transformation of turning my apartment; into my own little craft studio. I am tickled pink about this transformation. It is now only being referred to as the Studio

So, I have decided I am going to start the year off with something that reminds me of lunches with my mom. When I was in pre-school waiting for my sisters to be done with school, we always have lunch together and most times there was a popover with strawberry butter involved. My sister over thanksgiving served popovers, strawberry butter, and salad for her first course and it reminded me of how much I enjoy them. The batter can be made in advance and these are perfectly simple to make, a little different than just serving a roll. Also, a popover pan could totally make a fun gift! I know, I love all of my random cooking utensils.

1 Cup of Flour

1 Cup of Milk

3 Eggs

2 Tablespoons of Melted Butter (a little extra butter to grease the pan)

Pinch or two of Salt

Preheat oven 425 degrees

In a blender mix all ingredients together until smooth. Grease the popover pan and preheat the pan in the oven for about 3-5 minutes. Take out and fill each popover cup until ¾ full of batter and bake for 25 minutes. Makes 6 popovers. I think best served with Strawberry butter or some other flavored butter.