100 Crafty Days: Cooking up a storm in the kitchen

Yesterday was a high successful day with regards to the kitchen. Creative chaos was perpetrated, and deemed extremely tasty.

First up was apple and cinnamon pancakes at breakfast time. 

At dinner time I was inspired by a tale of a glorious Cottage Pie. The idea of a meat dish being topped with potatoes stayed in my mine.  My chicken dish started out with two onions sautéing in a pan.  When they has been softened, chopped garlic was added.  A few minutes later stock joined them, along with cream cheese and then end of a lump of Stilton.  Water was also added until it all looked saucy.

At this point diced chicken, sweetcorn, broccoli florets and sliced courgettes joined the sauce.  This was transferred to an oven-proof dish, and was finished off by adding sliced potatoes to the top, which were brushed with a little butter.  It was left in the oven until the tops of the potatoes were a beautiful golden brown and everything was hot and smelling fantastic.

The day was rounded off by 'apple roses' - apple slices tucked into a dough (gluten-free shortbread for me) and arranged in such a way as to look like a rose. The roses tasted fantastic, but a great deal can be done to improve them. Three big things come to mind. Use a softer dough. Cook the apple slices for longer - this makes them far more flexible, and this is required. And lastly, line the bottom of muffin tray. I buttered it, and that was not enough. The roses look good in the tray, but not so good when hacked around when I try to remove them!