clean eating …..

herb and spice rack

i saw posted on someones blog a while ago, a spice rack that they had made using a old pepsi bottle crate, they had the jars laying down in the slots with the labels on the top of the lids. it looked great and so this is my take on it!

i've had this red stand sitting in the garage for the past 2 years that used to have timber letters in it, that i had in my craft shop. since i am currently in the process of renovating my kitchen, and am going to accessorise with red, i thought this would be perfect!

i called into the dollar shop as i new they had all different size glass jars and bottles and i found these cute little ones that fitted perfectly into the slots and they were only $1.25 each. each jar fits a standard bottle of master foods herbs and spices into it with no waste!

i brought the labels from Tanya Mac inspired which are the herb and spice labels, they fit on the jars perfectly.

i'm really happy with how it turned out, i have it sitting on my new bench and it looks great!!

Enjoy …….

new cookbooks

recently I started following Chelsea Winter on face book as a friend had liked her and her recipes kept popping up in my feed.

not knowing who she was, I then found out that she was the new zealand winner of master chef from a past season.

at my table, was her first recipe book she released in 2013 and covers everything from breakfasts, to pizzas and burgers to desserts! yummo!!

everyday delicious,  is Chelsea's new cookbook which was only released this month and again looks great with heaps of variety to make and try!

these books only arrived in the post this week so I haven't had a chance to have a good read yet or make anything but will keep you posted and will share what I make!

Enjoy ….

crispy buttermilk chicken

OMG! YOU HAVE TO TASTE THIS!

i (used) to love kfc, but if you are anything like me, it tastes great while I'm eating it but I pay for it later!! then you have to have a go at making this crispy buttermilk chicken!

Serves 6-8

4 each chicken drumsticks and thigh
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 bunch thyme
2 cups plain flour (300g)
2 tsp each of the following: celery salt, onion powder, cayenne paper and ground allspice
300ml buttermilk
sunflower oil (for deep frying)

place the thighs and drumsticks in a large heavy based stockpot or saucepan or even a slow cooker.
cover with enough water to make sure all the pieces are covered.
add the garlic, thyme and 1 tbsp of salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
gently simmer for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
remove from the heat and set aside for 30 minutes to allow the chicken to cool in the liquid.

in a large zip lock bag, combine the flour, celery salt, onion powder, cayenne and all spice. give a shake to combine all the ingredients.

in a large heavy saucepan, pour in your sunflower oil until your saucepan is about 1/2 full and allow to heat to about 180.

remove the chicken from the stock and drain on a baking rack (you can strain the remainder of the stock and freeze in smaller containers, if you like and using the chicken stock in bases for other dinners)

place the buttermilk into a deepish bowl.

coat each piece of chicken in the buttermilk, then add about 2-3 pieces at a time to the seasoning in the zip lock bag, reseal the bag and toss lightly until each piece is covered with the seasoning mix.

your oil should be hot by now, add 2-3 pieces at a time (carful not to put in too many pieces or it will spill over)

working in small batches, deep fry the chicken and turn over after about 3-4 minutes or until crisp and brown, remove from the heat and allow to drain on paper towel.

continue this process until all pieces are cooked.

this is entirely up to you, but what I did, was then add each piece of chicken to the oil again to make it super crispy!! (maybe about an extra 2 minutes each piece)

drain on paper towel again

to serve, I just made some fresh coleslaw and served with mixed lettuce leaves.

let me know what you think!

Enjoy …….

eat cupcakes …..