Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 46

Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from Around the World: Chicken a la king with white wine

Chicken a la king is a popular dish in my house. it is, in fact, Gregory’s favourite meal.

Gregory passed his driving license test on Friday which was an achievement seeing as there was load shedding and none of the traffic lights were working. Not the most fun way to take any sort of test, but Gen Z kids are durable and cope well with change.

on Saturday, we had an early dinner in celebration of his achievement.

Ingredients

1 kilogram skinned chicken breasts, cut into four pieces;

1 cup (250 ml) white wine;

120 grams butter;

125 ml cake/plain flour;

2 cups chicken stock;

600 ml low fat milk;

Salt and pepper to taste;

1 red pepper, chopped;

1 onion peeled and diced;

250 grams button mushrooms, sliced;

Method

In a pot, cook the chicken pieces, do not overcook, about 15 minutes.

In a frying pan, fry the onion, mushrooms and red peppers for about 5 to 10 minutes until soft.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour, making a paste. Cook for a few minutes. slowly add the wine and whisk until there are no lumps. add the chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper and whisk. Bring the mixture to the boil whisking continuously, the sauce will thicken. Add the mushrooms, onions, and red peppers and then the chicken. The chicken a la king is now ready to serve over rice or pasta

Here is a peak at the cooked dish on YouTube:

Robbie’s Inspiration – Book review: Golden Healer by M.J. Mallon

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What Amazon says

I didn’t think my life could get any weirder, until the dreaded rollercoaster…

Amelina Scott’s destiny is to be a Krystallos: a magician of light, chosen to learn the ways of crystal magic on her 16th birthday. Located on a river pathway in a mysterious part of Cambridge, the Crystal Cottage is guarded by mythical beings.

Unfortunately, there are those who seek to harm this haven of light. Learning of Ryder – a Shadow Sorcerer with hypnotic powers – Amelina discovers that her own magic is now threatened, and that the Curse of Time might be unleashed again.

As secrets abound and the creatures of the Chronophage come alive, can Amelina become the true magician she needs to be?

A unique, imaginative mystery full of magic-wielding and dark elements, Golden Healer is a riveting adventure for anyone interested in fantasy, mythology or the world of the paranormal. NOTE: this book contains mention of self-harm, mental health issues and alludes to the potential dangers of sexual attraction, which may trigger younger/sensitive readers.

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

Golden Healer is the second book in The Curse of Time series and continues this unique fantasy story with its unusual and intriguing storyline. Book one ended with a happy environment after Amelina’s father was finally restored to his family at the correct age and Esme disappeared from the mirror, presumably to a better place. Book two starts with small but obvious indications that all is not as it seems and the issues involving both Amelina’s father and Esme are not adequately resolved.

The beginning is a bit slower moving as the author skillfully unwinds the reader’s beliefs that all is well and hammers cracks into the happy environment. The stage is set beautifully with fascinating and intricate scenes and dreams spun like a spiderweb from the author’s pen. Amelina’s first dream travel in this book has catastrophic results as while she is away from her body her bloodstone is stolen and this accelerates the cracks in her home environment.

This book is not an easy read and you have to concentrate as you read in the same way you would while reading a classic novel. It is worth the effort as the descriptions and concepts are outstanding and beautifully depicted.

There are a few stand out scenes for me in this book, as follows: the grasshopper in the meadow, the clowns in the café, and Aunt Karissa’s chocolates. For me, these were unbelievably imaginative and full of mystery.

Aunt Karissa features plays a small role in this book, introducing some welcome lightness and humour as Ryder’s darkness and power continue to grow. The reader learns a bit more about Ryder and his origins and homeland.

Another memorable feature of this book is that each chapter or puzzle piece starts with a tanka poem that hints at what is to follow in the chapter. The author is also an excellent poet and the poems were a lovely addition.

A few memorable quotes from this book:

“The grasshopper monster propelled time forward in a steady, slow, rocking motion, as if he was devouring our lives in seconds, minutes and hours as we gazed upon him.”

“Hello my beautiful reflection. You came! You always come when I need you the most. I have been so anxious listening to the troubles of this family which has become my family. What have you been doing? I see sweet flowers covering the red cuts on your left wrist.”

“”She opened the wrapper with trembling fingers. Inside, there was a small, round milk chocolate. It grew in her palm. the chocolate split into two halves, one half dark, and the other half white. In the centre, a dividing line moved form side to side as if whipping up the chocolate angrily.”

In conclusion, I would like to add that when I was a girl of 10 years old, I discovered the books written by Eva Ibottson. Every book of hers I read was a complete delight to me with its amazing fantasy creatures and gorgeous depictions of the lives of hags in dribbles and wizards in towers surrounded by mist. Throughout my adult life, I have search for an adult author who can invoke the same magical worlds and belief in magical creatures that I discovered in Miss Ibottson’s stories, and in this series by M.J. Mallon, I do believe I finally found an adult equivalent.

Purchase Golden Healer by M.J Mallon

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Growing Bookworms – Two books that help inform young teenagers

My Growing Bookworms post this month focuses on two book that help inform young teenagers. Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.

Writing to be Read

Current world events are bewildering for young teenagers who are faced with a barrage of information about pollution, climate change, war, politics, religion, and other important issues. It is difficult for teenagers with their limited experience and knowledge of the world to unravel and cope with all these challenging messages.

Today, I am sharing a few books for this age group that contain strong messages about political and other themes encased in an entertaining and engaging storyline.

Fattipuffs and Thinifers by Andre Maurois

This is a book about segregation, in this cased based on the size of people, war, and negotiation and is a entertaining and enlightening read.

A brief summary about this book from Wikepedia:

Fattipuffs and Thinifers “concerns the imaginary underground land of the fat and congenial Fattypuffs and the thin and irritable Thinifers, which is visited by the Double brothers, the plump Edmund and the thin Terry…

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Robbie Inspiration – Recipes from Around the World: Mince for tacos, salsa and guacamole

My family wanted to try to make tacos. I purchased the corn taco shells from a local grocery store and my husband and I made chili mince as per the recipe below. My mother does not eat Mexican or Indian food (or anything else that is hot) so I only make these dishes on the odd occasion.

Ingredients for the chili mince

1 kilogram ground beef;

2 teaspoons chili flakes;

1 teaspoon salt;

1 teaspoon cumin;

1 teaspoon dried Origanum;

1 onion peeled and chopped fine;

1 tin diced tomatoes;

1 teaspoon garlic powder;

Olive oil for frying

If you prefer, you can make chili con carne. You will find my recipe here: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2022/02/21/robbies-inspiration-recipes-from-around-the-world-chilli-con-carne/

Method for the chili mince

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil. Fry the onions until soft. Add the mince and brown until there is no pink remaining. Add the diced tomatoes, chili, salt, and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes

***

I also made the salsa and the guacamole because I wasn’t able to buy these and I thought they would be nicer made from scratch.

I used the same base recipe for both of these as follows:

Ingredients for the salsa base

6 Roma tomatoes (Roma are recommended as they are less watery than other types of tomatoes, chopped;

1 onion, peeled and chopped;

1 medium jalapeno chili, chopped (I removed the seeds as those make the chili’s hotter);

1 teaspoon salt;

1 teaspoon garlic powder;

A handful of chopped fresh coriander;

2 teaspoons lime juice

2 avocadoes

Method

Blend the onion and the jalapeno chili in a blender

Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, garlic coriander and the lime juice. Separate into two portions of equal size.

One is your salsa. Blend the other half in a blender. Mash the avocados, add an extra teaspoon of lime juice and then mix in the blended salsa. That is your homemade guacamole.

Our taco shells were smallish so I also made some rice to fill up my sons.

This is my strong man. He is part of my new gingerbread circus project.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from Around the World: Pork chops in white wine and mushroom sauce

I don’t cook pork very often. it is a hangover from my Catholic granny who didn’t eat any pork. Over the years, i’ve grown to enjoy bacon and ham, but I still don’t cook pork often. My dad, a rebel against his mother, saw pork chops in the shop and asked me to make something with them. Yes, it was another cooking con .

Anyhow, this is what he got:

Ingredients

Olive oil for browning

12 pork chops

2 onions, peeled and diced

5 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons mixed spice

1 Tablespoon garlic flakes

7 cups beef stock

250 grams sliced button mushrooms

2 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon mustard powder

2 1/2 cups semi-sweet white wine

250 grams butter

250 ml flour

Mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Season the chops with salt and pepper then brown in batches of 4. Set aside.

Add more oil if needed, fry the onions and carrots for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the mixed spice (mixed spice gives the dish a slightly sweetish, cinnamon and nutmeg flavour which I liked with the pork; if you don’t like that idea, used mixed herbs instead) Layer the casserole dish with the carrots and onion. Cover with the pork chops. Pour the wine and the stock over the chops. put the casserole in the oven and cook for 2 hours.

In a smaller pot, boil the mushrooms in the milk seasoned with the mustard, salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and retain the milk.

When the chops are cooked, drain off the liquid and set aside.

Melt 250 grams in a large pot, make a rue with 250 ml of plain flour. cook the paste for a few minutes, add the milk slowly. Next slowly add the retained liquid. Bring the mixture to the boil, whisking continuously. Once the sauce has thicken add back the pork chops.

The meal is now ready to serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

This is Goldie the acrobat from my latest fondant art project.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Poor Mr. Weaver, a poem

A row of woven nests

All in shades of green

Carefully constructed by a hopeful male

Will one meet his girlfriend’s

high expectations?

***

They fail her inspection

Each and every one

What doesn’t please his discerning prospective mate?

Is it the location

or the local birds?

***

Undaunted, determined

He begins afresh

My evergreen plants virtually destroyed

By his fervent efforts

to win her favour

Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world: Cauliflower cheese

I was supposed to share this recipe on Monday. But I didn’t. So, I’m sharing it now [smile].

Cauliflower cheese is a traditional British dish that can be eaten as a main meal or as a side dish to a main meal for either lunch or dinner. According to Wikipedia, the cauliflower is lightly boiled before being added to the cheese sauce and then baked in the oven with a light sprinkling of cheese and breadcrumbs on top.

I don’t like boiled cauliflower as it goes soggy and leeches water into the cheese sauce. I roast my cauliflower in the oven.

I used two heads of cauliflower for my recipe. I broke the heads into florets and wash them in cold water. I then laid them in a single layer on a roasting pan, sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked them in the over for 40 minutes on 200 degrees Celsius. The tops are lightly browned when done and knife slips into the stems with no resistance. Remove from oven.

Making the cheese sauce

125 grams cubed butter

125 ml plain cake flour

Salt and pepper to taste

10 ml nutmeg

1 litre of low fat milk

3 cups of grated cheddar cheese (I used mature cheddar)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the cake flour and mix to form a paste. Cook for 5 minutes. Slowly, add the milk, whisking all the while. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. whisk until the sauce thickens. Once thickened add 2 1/2 cups of the cheese and once combined with the sauce remove from the heat. Stir occasionally until the sauce cools slightly.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower and top with the remaining cheese and some breadcrumbs if you like a crispy topping.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the topping has melted completely.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Book review: Life & Soul (Book 2: Soul Poetry Series) by Harmony Kent @harmony_kent #poetry #poetrycommunity

What Amazon says

Life & Soul is the second book in the Soul Poetry Series by acclaimed author Harmony Kent.

This beautiful collection of over fifty poems will take the reader through the highs and lows of everyday life via contemporary poetry in a range of styles and themes. Within these pages, you will find reflections on the Lonely Soul, the Seeking Soul, Brief Soul, Friendly Soul, and the Loving Soul—states of mind and living and longing we each experience over the course of a life.

Life & Soul offers something for lovers of poetry from all walks of life.

Praise for Slices of Soul, Book 1 in the Soul Poetry Series:

“I found my answer in this wonderful treasure-trove and have already read it three times.” Robert Fear

“I found in Slices of Soul something approaching aesthetic bliss, a sense of being connected in some way to other states – like tenderness, kindness, ecstasy – where art is the norm.” Colm Herron

“A stunning collection of poems that I read in one sitting! Unable to simply put this down until I had read the last. I love the clarity of the short poems, such clear images created in so few words or phrases. Many of them touched my heart and I will be giving them a 2nd and 3rd read!” Audrina Lane

My review

This is as beautiful collection of mainly freestyle poetry by Harmony Kent. The collection is divided into six sections all relating to the emotional reactions of the ‘soul’. My favourite sections were Lonely Soul and Seeking Soul as I found those very relatable. I think that highly creative people can often be lonely even if they are surrounded by people, and are always seeking a higher meaning in everything in life.

My favourite poem from the Lonely Soul section was Echoes, and this is a stanza from that poem:

“Echoes thunder
Through an empty room
The noise deafening
In its absence”

From the Seeking Soul section, I loved Still Laundry to Get Done, and this is a short extract:

“Offer trust and love anyway
Break down our prison walls
Life finds a way
Be me”

The next three sections offer equally beautiful poems about other aspects of relationships that can either feed or detract from the soul including love and friendships.

The Life of a Soul is a most interesting and unusual section as it comprises of one long poem, broken into several sections, that is an autobiography. It tells a poignant and lovely story of the poet’s journey from Birth, which included “nearly died”, through Infancy feeling “but lost identity”, Becoming, involving “fragmented into, a separate person”, Childhood thinking “but didn’t have what it took”, Young Adult progressing to “feels like coming home”, Postulant when she “made myself homeless”, the Monk, a time “to put myself back together”, the Cripple and a circumstances where “life changed forever after”, and Back in the World with an attitude of “laughing into the unknown”.

This is a beautiful and unusual book that will appeal to lovers of poetry as well as any person who has ever felt strong emotions and suffered only to rise up again.

Purchase Life & Soul (Book 2: Soul Poetry Series)

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Harmony Kent author page

About Harmony Kent

Harmony Kent is an award winning multi-genre author. Her publications include: 

The Battle for Brisingamen (Fantasy Fiction) AIA approved

The Glade (Mystery/Thriller) AIA Approved/BRAG Medallion Honouree/New Apple Literary Awards Official Selection Honours 2015

Polish Your Prose: Essential Editing Tips for Authors (Writing/Editing) New Apple Literary Awards Top Medallist Honours 2015

Finding Katie (Women’s Fiction)

Slices of Soul: Book 1 in the Soul Poetry Series (Contemporary Poetry)

Life & Soul: Book 2 in the Soul Poetry Series (Contemporary Poetry)

Interludes 1 & Interludes 2 (Erotic Short Stories)

Moments (Short Stories and Poetry)

Jewel in the Mud (Zen Musings)

Backstage (Erotic Romance)

FALLOUT (Apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic Dystopia) BRAG Medallion Honouree

The Vanished Boy (Psychological Thriller)

As well as being an avid reader and writer, Harmony also offers reviews and supports her fellow authors. Harmony works hard to promote and protect high standards within the publishing arena. She is always on the look out for talent and excellence, and will freely promote any authors or books who she feels have these attributes. Harmony lives in Cornwall, England.

https://harmonykent.co.uk

twitter: @harmony_kent

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/HarmonyK

harmonykent@gmx.com

Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from Around the World: Lamb shanks in red wine sauce

I always prefer meals that involve cooking meat in a sauce until it is soft and tender to those that involve baking meat in the oven, so when my husband asked me to make lamb shanks, I looked for a base recipe that included a sauce. I found a South African casserole dish that required the slow cooking of the lamb in a delicious sounding red wine sauce and this is my derivative of that recipe. I made this meal for a Fathers Day gathering at my home, so I used 14 lamb shanks. The original recipe only used 4 and is easily accommodated by dividing the ingredients by 3 (increasing a recipe doesn’t involve exact multiplication of ingredients).

Ingredients

14 small lamb shanks

250 gram packed to celery stalks, chopped

6 large carrots, peeled and sliced

2 large onions, peeled and diced

750 ml bottle of red wine of your choice

1 Tbspn garlic flakes

4 x tins diced tomatoes

60 gram tin of tomato paste

Olive oil for cooking

1 Tbspn thyme

4 dried bay leaves

4 cups beef stock + 2 additional cups beef stock

salt and pepper

1 cup plain flour

Method

Place the lamb shanks in a bowl (I split this step in 2 as I had 14 shanks) and cover with the flour and salt and pepper. I use a lot of pepper much to my mom’s disgust. Cover the shanks completely.

Heat the oil in a heavy based pot and brown the lamb shanks.

Remove the shanks from the pot and place in a large casserole dish.

Loosen any debris from the bottom of the pot by adding a few Tbspns of red wine. Scrap the debris out and into the casserole dish.

Add more olive oil and fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the celery and carrots. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add the red wine, thyme, garlic (you can use more, I use a small amount because Dad hates garlic), tinned tomatoes, and tomato paste. Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Add the 4 cups of beef stock. Carefully pour the contents of the saucepan into the casserole dish and place in the oven, pre-heated to 200 degrees Celsius.

Cook for 4 hours. After 2 hours remove the dish from the oven and top up the liquid with a further 2 cups of beef stock.

Serve with rice.

If you are interested, you can watch the cooking process show in the following two short videos.

Treasuring Poetry – Meet writer and poet, Willow from Willowdot21

My Treasuring Poetry guest today is writer and poet, Willow from Willowdot21 blog. Willow is sharing a lovely short story as well as her thoughts on poetry. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.

Writing to be Read

Today, I am delighted to feature writer and poet, Willow Withers, as my Treasuring Poetry guest. Willow blogs at willowdot21.

Which of your own stories is your favourite?

Well Robbie, my real first favourite is a trilogy I wrote about young boys who get caught up in drug running gangs and knife crime. My real ambition would be to have a chance to read this to young people at clubs and schools.

The death

The bench was hard but he could take that, it was the pain in his side and chest which filled his being, everything else was flat.

Fear gripped his mind, he was so cold inside yet a sweat was rippling down his back. His sight was blurred, was he going blind?

Slowly a long hidden memory came to the fore. His mother had taught him it long before he had changed. “Gentle Jesus meek and…

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