A rusty jewel in the American breakfast crown

My culinary exploration of American breakfast options took a turn into the unknown this week, as I cracked open a pot of Apple Jacks. This is one American cereal that I never tried on family holidays (back in me yoof, like). The idea of a combination of cinnamon and apple flavours is just about acceptable in a pastry, a cheeky danish in the afternoon perhaps, but I was expecting the combination of flavours to be too overpowering for a breakfast cereal.

When I opened the pot, the shape of the cereal resemble the culinary Deity that is Froot Loops, however the colours were disappointingly underwhelming. It may seem obscure to pre-emptively judge a breakfast cereal based on the brightness of colour, but I've come to learn that when we're talking American cereals, brighter colours=more e-number = happier Lau.

Happily, when milk was added, the colours appeared brighter, although still nowhere near the Froot Loops spectrum. The flavours however, were very bland, proving my fears of overpowering flavour to be unfounded, and resembling a lightly perfumed cardboard, as opposed to the slightly more mature sibling in the Froot Loops family that I had been expecting.

It is my conclusion then, that Apple Jacks are the rusty jewel in the otherwise shiny crown of American breakfasts.

Too much of a good thing?

My fascination with American imported food has taken off recently, mostly due to the increase of shops selling these products. Naturally, London has a plethora of these shops, my favourite of which is the Cyber Candy chain. On a recent trip to London, I visited the Camden chain and made a few purchases. The next day, on a trip to Brighton, I stumbled across another of these shops, Hardy's,  and bought a few more bits and bobs to keep my sugar levels up and my nostalgic fibres happy.

A few days later, a trip to Tunbridge Wells revealed at least three shops within the town centre where you can get hold of Lucky Charms, Froot Loops and other American goodies (if you're willing to pay the price). Whilst the trips to the shops in London and Brighton excited me, the number of American food retailers in Tunbridge Wells saddened me.

It took me a while to suss out why this made me sad,  until I realised that it was several fold. What was once a rarity  - the joy of finding my favourite, mainly unobtainable foods - is now occurring in every town. Not only does this mean that the novelty is wearing off, but it also means that they are becoming accessible to more people. Perhaps it's selfish, but I remember, with a bizarre sense of nostalgia, the days when you could talk about Lucky Charms in the UK, and very few people would know what they are, mainly only people who had visited the USA themselves. Somehow having everyone discussing these foods makes them less special, and as they are some of the fondest culinary memories of my childhood, I resent this.

Experimental cooking: chicken and mushroom stroganoff

When I cook, I don't tend to follow recipes too closely. Baking, I follow the recipe to the letter - there is too much potential for things to go wrong otherwise- but cooking tends to be largely experimental.

So when I was left in charge of dinner and I  told my mum we were having [imagine the voice of Jean from Eastenders] "Sausage surprise ....the surprise being that there are no sausages", she looked a tad worried, but left me to it nonetheless.

 My plan was to attempt a chicken and mushroom stroganoff. I tried a creamy beef stroganoff once before, and although the flavour came out well the beef was too tough.

I began by cutting two chicken breasts into thin strips and frying them in oil on a low heat. A few minutes later I added sliced closed cup white mushrooms (a generous amount to allow for fry shrinkage), and began to add in double cream and white wine (approx. 2:1 ratio) and stirred. It's best to add a little liquid at a time and replenish slowly as it evaporates, rather than adding it all at once. I added a couple of teaspoonfuls of gravy granules- it sounds bizarre, but it's an old trick to add both flavour and colour- and a pinch of ground black pepper. I left this simmering on a medium heat for around 15 minutes, stirring near constantly to avoid the cream and wine separating, and meanwhile set the basmati rice on to cook. Finally I added some sweetcorn to the stroganoff and left it to simmer for a further couple of minutes before serving.

The final outcome was disappointingly bland. I realise that the sweetcorn was a strange choice, but whilst cooking it I felt that it needed a little extra something than just the mushrooms and chicken. Onions were considered, but the texture of onions combined with the texture of mushrooms is enough to set even the best pearly whites on edge. I also thought about peppers, but thought that would subtract from the creamy taste/texture I was going for and venture further into fruity territory. However, even with the addition of the sweetcorn, the final product needed salt and pepper to add some ooomph (ooomph, I've come to realise, is an essential ingredient to any meal). Perhaps using a different variety of mushroom such as a chestnut mushroom would have given a stronger undertaste. Even so, a herb of some sort would not have gone amiss. Lesson learned for next time!