Sazzy's Degustation Diary: Friday 7th may 2010

I struggled to get to work today with my head feeling really foggy from yesterday's migraine. As I drove to work, I remembered that today was Friday and was wondering if anyone had remembered about our newly appointed 'Finger Food Friday'. It would really solve my problem of what to have for lunch.

I was in luck!

FINGER FOOD FRIDAY

Nadine brought in Carrot & Walnut Muffins
with her mum's Lemon Frosting.
For those of you who watched Masterchef the other night, you'll know what I mean when I felt like I was at a cupcake station. I chose a muffin - they actually looked like friands because Nadine couldn't find her cupcake trays and had to resort to using the friand tray - and spread the lemon frosting over it. I then studded the cream with a few walnuts.

Doesn't it look absolutely delightful!?
It was soooo good. For a moment my headache subsided while I munched away on it with a cup of hot chocolate.

Alice brought in Pumpkin Scones
that we had with butter and jam.
I warmed mine up for thirty seconds in the microwave. I spread butter on one half and jam on the other half. Moorish!

I love how food can be therapeutic. I couldn't wait to get home, shower, get into my PJ's and spend some time in the kitchen.

Dinner
Chicken Roulades with Basil, Sundried Tomato & Cheese
served with Mashed Potato & Asparagus Spears
Yes, the asparagus was a little overdone when I let them stay in the oven with the chicken while I was resting it. It's getting difficult to find some good quality asparagus now and not have to pay sky high prices for it.

So...how did I prepare the chicken?

Firstly I trimmed the excess fat off the thigh fillets. I then lay them down on the board and rolled up some basil, sundried tomatoes and a slice of cheese in each one. I also cut the thicker ends to create 'flaps' to tuck around the ends of the roulade to try to seal in the juices and prevent the cheese from leaking out when it melted. I didn't want all the cheese to be in the pan.

I tied the roulades up with kitchen string.
See how the ends are covered by the 'flaps' of chicken.

While the chicken cooked, I made an entree.

Creamy Garlic & Saffron Prawns with Cous Cous

I tried the new Philadelphia Cream Cheese for Cooking and it's really good. It doesn't curdle when you add it to the dish. I'm going to experiment with it somemore in the coming days!