Salmon & olive pasta - a nice change from tomato sauce.

 

SALMON & OLIVE PASTA

Served 3 

Ingredients :

1 tablespoonful of olive oil

20g butter

3 large banana shallots, halved and sliced finely

Sea salt

White pepper

1 lemon, zested

Half a lemon, juiced

15 or more green olives (in brine) halved

3 dessertspoonfuls of rinsed capers

As much as you enjoy, chopped fresh dill (save some for decoration)

Your choice of dry pasta shapes (I used approx 200g)

Half a teaspoonful of vegetable stock powder

Your favourite good quality extra virgin olive oil  (I used one from Puglia)

3 skinned and rinsed fresh salmon fillets

Three tablespoonfuls of frozen peas.

Method :

Fill a decent sized saucepan with cold water and add a big old pinch of sea salt.  Place on the heat to boil.

Add the butter and olive oil and once the butter has melted, add the shallots, a pinch of sea salt and some white pepper.  On a medium heat, fry and stir, fry and stir until the shallots are beginning to take on a golden colour.

Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive halves, capers and fresh dill and stir through.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

When the pasta water is boiling, add the dry pasta and cook for the manufacturer's recommended time - then carry on cooking, because they never get it flipping right.  Add the peas for the last few minutes and cook until the pasta is either al dente or to your liking, then drain and set aside to keep warm.

Bring the contents of the frying pan back up to heat and add sufficient extra virgin olive oil to comfortably coat the pasta.  Add a little cold water and the vegetable stock powder and stir through until simmering.  Push everything over to the one side and add the salmon fillets in the gap.  Place a lid over the pan and gently cook the salmon until just firm, then remove the fillets out onto a warmed plate and put to one side to stay warm (under the grill works for me).  Add the drained pasta to the frying pan and stir through until the pasta is well coated with the flavoured oil.

Dish the pasta up into warmed bowls and add the salmon fillets on top.  Sprinkle the reserved dill over, to make it look pretty.  (I forgot this bit when I made it).

Serve with oven baked garlic bread, if you can remember to put the blinking stuff in the oven in time.  I rarely do.

Ta daaa!  There you are - a relatively healthy dinner.  Aren't you impressed?  lol

It's been a long time, for sure!

 

As the title says, it's been a long old time since I was here posting new and delicious recipes!

In that time, all kinds of things have happened - most of which I'll no doubt get around to telling you as we go along.  However, I've had a number of sad losses which have gone a long way towards de-tuning my desire to blog recipes, not least of which was because I just didn't have time!

Anyway, I'm here now and I'll be blogging recipes for food that was particularly good and enjoyable.  Largely, because if I don't type them up almost as soon as I've eaten them, I'll forget how I made them and/or forget that we even had them in some instances.  *sigh*  Old age, it's a bugger for sure!

The new posts will also be a LOT shorter, to reflect the trend towards people complaining about recipe blogs that blather on for pages and leave the recipe right until the end.  Oh right, *cough* that'll be me then.  Hey ho!

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto

BACON & MUSHROOM RISOTTO   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

300g smoked back bacon, fat chopped finely, remainder diced

1 medium onion, chopped finely

quarter tsp of ground black pepper

20g unsalted butter

250g mixed white and chestnut mushrooms, sliced

1.5 tsp dried tarragon

0.5 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

300g Arborio rice

175ml (miniature bottle) of Sauvignon Blanc white wine

1.5 litres of simmering mixed chicken & vegetable stock

finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese for garnish

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley for garnish.

Method :

Heat the rapeseed oil in a deep saucepan or wok over a high heat and add the bacon pieces.  Cook until the moisture has all burned off and the bacon is just beginning to turn golden.

Reduce the heat and add the onion and black pepper.  Stir and fry until the onion is softened and transparent, but don't let it brown.

Add the unsalted butter and mushroom slices.  Stir regularly until the butter has melted and the mushrooms have softened.  Add the tarragon, thyme and Worcestershire sauce and stir through.

Increase the heat and while the pan contents are heating up, add the rice and stir to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan but becomes coated in the flavoured oil.

Once the rice is well coated and the temperature is up, add the white wine.  This should sizzle as it hits the pan and the rice gives what is known as a "sigh" as it begins to absorb the liquid.  From this moment on, you should be - pretty much - stirring non-stop (20 mins approx) to gently encourage the rice to release its starch.

Once the wine is all absorbed, add a ladleful of the stock and stir until it is absorbed by the rice.  Continue on this way - a ladleful of stock, stir, stir until it is absorbed - until the rice is tender but retains a tiny bit of al dente bite.

Finish by continuing to cook and stir until the consistency is unctuous and saucy, but not running with liquid.  Check for seasoning - you won't need salt because of the bacon and the salty cheese you're about to garnish it with.

Serve into warmed bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of grated cheese and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Tuck in!

Printable version

Plum & Orange Upside Down Cake

What to do, when you have a punnet of beautifully coloured but fairly tasteless plums and a couple of elderly oranges, in the fridge? Why, make an upside down cake, of course.

This basic recipe would work for lots of different fruit combinations, for instance rhubarb & orange, apple and spice, peach and vanilla .. your choices are only limited by what fruit you've got!

I have used both the unsalted butter that is in the recipe and Stork baking margarine for this cake and both have worked as well as one another, so it is a very forgiving and adaptable recipe. Everyone needs at least one sponge cake recipe that is pretty much guaranteed to deliver good results - and this is definitely one of those. 

PLUM & ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE (makes 12 pieces)

Ingredients :

175g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
175g caster sugar
175g softened unsalted butter
12 small plums, stoned and halved
2 medium oranges, zested and juiced
1 tsp icing sugar

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

Line your baking tin with greaseproof or parchment paper, making sure enough overlaps so that you can lift the cake out, once baked.

Place the plum halves, cut side down and in an even layer, onto the paper.

Measure out the flour and baking powder and using a sieve, sift into a large bowl.

Now simply add all the other ingredients (apart from the orange juice & icing sugar, which is for the drizzle once the cake is baked) to the bowl and whisk everything together until you have a smooth, well-combined mixture of dropping consistency. Provided the butter is good and soft, this shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes.

Spoon the mixture into the baking tin - taking care not to disturb the plum halves - and level the top. Place the tin gently into the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes to cook - but don't open the oven door to check it until at least 25 minutes have elapsed.

You will know when the cake is done by touching the centre of the cake lightly. If your finger leaves no impression - and the cake springs back - it has finished baking.

Stir the icing sugar into the orange juice.

Place the tin onto a cooling rack and, with a silicone brush, brush the orange juice onto the surface of the cake. It will be absorbed easily as the cake is still hot.

Leave the cake in the tin until the orange juice has been absorbed and the surface has dried sufficiently to be just tacky.

Place a plate over the top of the tin and with a quick flip, turn everything upside down. Lift the tin off and carefully remove the paper. If any plums stick to the paper, gently scrape them off with a palette knife and replace them back into the hole they came from.

Leave the cake to finally cool and try not to eat it all at once!

Printable version

Pan Muffins - a super-simple bread alternative!

We're currently experiencing the lack of certain products in the stores, thanks to selfish people panic buying.  My hubby saw this recipe today and thought it sounded such a good idea as a bread alternative, that he immediately sallied forth into the kitchen to give it a go - and do you know, it only worked!

Now I know that there are some people who have never bought flour (and some who are unlikely to ever be able to buy flour, if the panic buying continues), but most people I know will have a fairly decent stock of both plain (all-purpose) and self-raising (self-rising) flour, not to mention a pot of either Greek or natural yoghurt in the fridge.  If you're new to flour and are able to get some, then these little muffins are super-easy for everyone to have a go at.  They don't even need an oven!

They make up into a muffin that you can cut in half, butter and enjoy with cheese or jam, dip into soup or just plain old eat as they are.  The outside is a little bit hard, but no worse than a crusty loaf and the inside is surprisingly fluffy.  The acidity in the yoghurt reacts with the bicarbonate of soda in the self raising flour, which causes the muffins to rise and gives them the fluffy consistency.  Hence, plain flour most definitely wouldn't work, not unless you add a little bicarb!

We had them for lunch today and I can confirm they're extremely yummy with some cheddar and chutney.

PAN MUFFINS (makes 6)

Ingredients :

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt
2 cups self raising flour
a pinch of salt

1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil.

Method :

Add the yoghurt to a large bowl and sift in the self raising flour.

Add a pinch of salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Shape into a sausage and divide into 6 equal portions.

Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disk roughly the size of a muffin (an English muffin, if you're from America or Canada!).

Leave to rest in a warm place for 15 mins.

Using a large frying pan with a lid, add the oil to coat the bottom of the pan and place over a low heat.

Once the oil is heated (hot, but not smoking) add the muffins (as many as will fit without overcrowding).

Cover the pans and cook the muffins for around ten minutes on each side.

At the end of cooking remove the lids and cook for 1 minute extra on each side, then remove onto a wire rack to cool.

Super tasty served warm with butter.

Printable version

Keema Muttar (or minced lamb with garden peas) Curry

It is possible that you have come here looking for the old recipe for Keema Muttar and are currently scratching your head and thinking "I'm sure this isn't the one!".  Well, you would be right.  I made the old recipe recently and hated it.  I can't help but think I'd written something down wrong, or remembered something wrong (probably those multiple spoons of tomato puree), but the end result was horrid.  It makes me wonder how many of you also tried it and thought the same thing!  I do hope you'll tell me, if that happens in future!

Anyway, I read many, many recipes for Keema Muttar and came up with a new one which I've been refining over several different attempts (as these rather random photographs will attest).  The last incarnation was deemed "this is your best one yet!" by my hubby.  As I happened to agree, it was time to include the recipe on the blog in place of the old unsatisfactory version.

This one doesn't contain any tomato puree, you may be happy to note.  I certainly was.  LOL

This one was "the best one yet!"

I've a couple of points worth noting for you, the first of which is that if you like your curry on the milder side then make sure to remove the pith and seeds from the inside of the chilli before chopping it up.  For the same reason, you may wish to reduce the curry powder down to a mild version and likewise reduce the amount of black pepper and ginger you include.  Made as the recipe states, you'll wind up with a curry that will make your nose run and may even demand some mango chutney alongside as it's a frisky one!  I like to serve a cucumber & mint raita - which I really must blog the recipe for - which does a brilliant job of calming the beast.

Secondly, the amount of peas you include is entirely up to you.  I like a moderate amount of peas, but not too many.  Please don't leave them out entirely or it isn't a Keema Muttar, it's a minced lamb curry.  LOL

Righto then, it's time to head for the kitchen!  

KEEMA MUTTAR (or MINCED LAMB WITH GARDEN PEAS) CURRY   (Serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp coconut oil
500g minced lamb
a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt
half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped finely
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 red or green chilli, chopped finely
half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 large vine ripened tomatoes, core removed and diced
5-6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 heaped teaspoonfuls of your favourite medium curry powder
half a teaspoonful of ground coriander
a flat teaspoonful of ground turmeric
1 teaspoonful of ground ginger
1 tablespoonful of Maggi tamarind sauce
300ml water (approx)
50g (approx) of frozen garden peas
2 tablespoonfuls of fresh coriander leaves, chopped.

Method :

Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan over maximum heat and, once the oil is liquid, add the minced lamb.  Fry, stirring and turning the mince, until the mince has all changed colour and any liquid has been steamed off.  Add the sea salt and black pepper and stir through.  Once the lamb has just begun to caramelise, remove from the pan into a bowl using a slotted spoon to retain the oil and rendered fat and set the mince aside.

If there is a lot of fat in the pan, spoon some off until you are left with around 2 tablespoonfuls.  Add the onion, garlic and green chilli and stir to combine.  Fry over a medium heat, stirring often, until the onion is transparent and the garlic is fragrant.  Make sure not to burn any of the garlic, to avoid any bitterness.  Part way through cooking, add the cinnamon and stir through.

Next, add the tomatoes and continue frying until the tomatoes have softened and begun to break up.

Add the curry powder, ground coriander, turmeric, ginger and tamarind sauce to the pan and stir through.  Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until the powders are all well combined with the mixture.

Return the mince to the pan and stir through, making sure to combine the ingredients well and coat the mince with the spice mixture.  Add the water (you may need more, so keep a little extra on hand) and gently stir through.  Allow the mixture to come to a steady simmer for some 20 minutes or so.  As the curry simmers, the sauce will thicken and reduce to your favoured degree.  Some like their curry to be quite dry in which case you won't need any additional water, others prefer a saucier curry.  Keep an eye on the sauce as the curry cooks and be prepared to add a little more water from time to time to keep the sauce how you like it.

A few minutes before you are ready to serve, add the garden peas and fresh coriander (retaining some for garnish) and stir through.  Try not to add the peas too soon, or they will lose their fresh green colour.

Serve with Basmati rice, naan bread and a cucumber & mint Raita.  Don't forget to garnish with a sprinkle of the chopped fresh coriander, just to make it look pretty!

Printable version

Poached eggs made with a poaching pan

Lots of people have asked me about how to use an egg poaching pan. I know that it is perfectly possible to achieve a wonderfully shaped, beautifully cooked poached egg without the use of a cheating pan, but if you consider how few people - these days - have access to REALLY fresh eggs, you probably understand why the interest in the pan.

Plus, for people who just aren't into the mechanics and finer points of poaching an egg, or students, or just anyone who wants an egg that's not fried and doesn't require winkling out from its shell, an egg poacher is the answer.

Here on Granary toast and seasoned with a little Sumac spice

The big advantage is that using a poaching pan means you don't need to worry about how old your eggs are. Obviously, the fresher the better, but if you've got a few that are getting ready to claim their pensions there's no need to scramble them, your trusty poacher will have them ready for you irrespective of their age.

Here, one gorgeous poached egg on potato cakes. Delicious!

Now, it's dead easy - the pan comes with (usually) four little plastic cups which sit inside a metal framework which fits into the top of a small, shallow frying pan type of affair. (In fact, mine can be used as a frying pan if you remove the five bits and pieces - multi-purpose, yay!). In essence, what happens is that you put water into the pan, re-assemble the framework and cups (work of seconds) then, as the water heats (on the cooker hob, or over the campfire - I rule nothing out), you bung your egg(s) into the cup(s), replace the lid and wait (patiently, this isn't a microwave you know) until the egg is set to your preference, whereupon you upturn the cup and so long as you've greased the cup sufficiently, out pops your egg. Yum yum.

Here, on wholemeal toast with fresh Dill.  Gorgeous.

One thing I will make sure to say is that the timings depend upon things like the size of your egg, whether you keep your eggs in the fridge or not (in the fridge means they'll take a bit longer because they're so cold when they arrive in the pan) and how your cooker behaves. So you may find it takes a couple of goes before you get the perfect poached egg. Don't, however, feel downhearted and think you can't do it if the first one or two goes isn't quite right - just adjust the timings accordingly (less time for a runnier yolk, more time for a harder yolk) and try again. :)

Got it? Well, if you need step by step instructions, I've done those for you as well. Read on!

POACHED EGGS, MADE USING A POACHING PAN

Ingredients :

1 to 4 eggs (basically either as many as you want -v- as many as your pan can hold)
a knob of butter or a tsp of olive oil or coconut oil - a fat of your choice
cold water.

Method :

First of all, you need to remove the cups and the supporting frame, then pour a half inch or so of water into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan over your heat source, replace the frame for the cups, cover and switch on to high.

Take each cup that you'll be using and smoosh whichever your choice of fat is around the inside of the cup - just a bit, just to help the egg back out again when it's done.

Once the water is boiling, remove the lid, replace the cups back into their holes and break one egg into each cup. Replace the lid and patiently wait for the eggs to cook. This is often a good moment to get the toast on.

Now you don't want the water to be boiling hard, but equally you want it to do more than just simmer. Let it get a bit frisky in there. As the eggs cook, they'll turn white and opaque and cook from the outside in. In order to test them, touch the yolk with a rounded knife tip. If it gives but doesn't shimmy like a jelly (which means it needs more cooking) - you need it to be a bit firm - then it's done and you're likely to have a runny yolk. If you like your eggs more set, then the more firm the centre of each poaching egg gets, the harder the yolk will be. I usually wait around 7-9 minutes for a large egg, but then I like my yolks to be gorgeous and runny.

Anyway, when you think you're there, take each cup out (holding the cup with the help of a tea towel usually prevents burns or scalds), run a knife very gently around the edge of the egg to release it - and with a flick of the wrist, upside down it goes onto your toast.

Sprinkle to taste with salt & black pepper and tuck in!

Printable version

Plum & Pomegranate Clafouti

This is one of those recipes that I included on the blog but didn't ever complete the post, so it didn't reach the stage of being published.

It reaches back to 2012 (and it's now 2019), so you'll forgive me if I've forgotten the true in's and out's of the recipe, but what I do remember is that the end result was gorgeous.  What reminded me about it was the fact that we're about at the end of plum season again and I really haven't made the most of the little darlings, this year.  Hence, I was pondering on what I could make that involved plums - and suddenly remembered this Clafouti.

Well, here it is.  The recipe itself couldn't be any easier, in fact the hardest bit about it as I recall, was finding the right dish to put it in!  LOL  It certainly didn't stay in that dish for long - we made a serious hole in it that first serving.

Somewhere between pancakes and sponge pudding, a clafouti definitely fits into the "comfort food" brackets that you know I so love.  Go on, indulge yourself!




PLUM & POMEGRANATE CLAFOUTI  (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

500g red plums, stoned and quartered
2 tbsp of runny honey
1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
1 tsp orange flower water
20g unsalted butter
2 medium eggs
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 heaped tbsp self raising flour
50g semi skimmed milk
3 tbsp greek yoghurt
a pinch of sea salt.

Method :

Place the plums, honey, pomegranate molasses and orange flower water into a bowl and mix until the plums are liberally coated, then tip the plum mixture into a large wide, shallow tart dish and level out.

Melt the butter either in a pan, or in the microwave.  Take care not to let it burn.

Into a large bowl, place the sugar, eggs and flour.  Whisk together until creamy and whilst whisking, add the milk, yoghurt, salt and melted butter.  Whisk until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour the batter over the plums and place into a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is slightly domed and a pointed knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Serve warm with cream.

Printable version

Teriyaki chicken - my first Japanese dish!

I didn't ever set out to have a back catalogue of "dishes from other countries", but as you progress with your cooking (that'll be the royal "you" as opposed to you specifically), you find that you're quickly looking at dishes that originate from abroad.  I suspect it's all part of that wunnerful whirled we call t'internet, with its accessibility to things otherwise unknown, both good and bad.  I just choose things that look tasty, look simple to cook in their processes and that will fit within our increasingly restrictive requirements where ingredients are concerned.  

As a result, let me introduce you to my first Japanese dish - Teriyaki chicken.  By all accounts, this method of producing a meat or fish glazed with sugar, mirrin and soy dates back to the seventeenth century.  I was surprised by that, as it seems such a simple process to have been around, unadulterated, for all that time.

The end result for this dish is entirely reliant upon the quality of your soy sauce(s).  I've found - and have no doubt said before - that even though products such as Blue Dragon and Amoy are in just about every supermarket, that doesn't mean they are good quality.  Try, where possible, to access some authentic soy.  I've got Lee Kum Kee's light and dark soy sauces and for all that even they aren't the proper deal, they're about as good as you're going to get without having to take out a mortgage on the house to buy them.

We took a trip to our local Chinese supermarket where we found the Lee Kum Kee products and after consulting the lady in the shop, also took home her recommended Mirin and Sake.  (Which incidentally, weren't the most expensive ones in the shop, either).  For sure, the Mirin is another sport entirely when compared with Sainsbury's own version (which is like water in comparison) and as for the Sake, well that's the first bottle of Sake I've ever bought so have nothing to compare it with.  However, it does a very good job in the cooking!

My first go - before I found decent soy sauce

This recipe is taken from loveFOOD.com and I only reproduce it here just in case it ever disappears from their website, as we love it and definitely want to keep hold of it!  The original recipe is here and by all means follow the link and refer to it there rather than here, taking this as recommendation.  However, I have adjusted the quantities to accommodate our three diners, swapped to chicken breast because we prefer it, included a wee drop of dark soy because it makes all the difference where the colour is concerned and I always toast the sesame seeds.  So, on that note, onwards!

TERIYAKI CHICKEN   (serves 2-3)

Ingredients :

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 to 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

pinch of ground black pepper
500g boneless & skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp diagonally sliced spring onion (or coriander) for garnish.

For the teriyaki sauce :

3 tbsp light soy sauce

half a tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Sake (or substitute a dry sherry)
2 tbsp Mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar.

Method :

For the teriyaki sauce, combine the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the sesame seeds into the dry frying pan and over a medium heat, gently toast them until they are a light golden colour and fragrant.  Don't leave them for a second, or they'll instantly burn.  Decant into a small bowl and set aside for garnish.

Place the chicken with the cornflour and pepper into a plastic bag (or in a bowl) and toss to coat.  Heat the oil in the frying pan over a high heat.  Cook the chicken for around 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and just cooked through.

Reduce the heat to medium.  Pour over half the teriyaki sauce and simmer, stirring regularly, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken, beginning to caramelise.

Pour over the remaining teriyaki sauce, stirring until it thickens again, glazes and adds to the caramelised areas whilst still retaining some sauciness.  If the sauce becomes too thick or too reduced, add a wee drop of water to let it back down.

Serve with fried rice and sprinkle the sesame seeds and spring onion over the chicken, to make it look extra pretty and taste a little bit more delicious.

Printable version

Fruity and intense chicken, sweet potato & cauliflower curry

Now I know I have both a chicken & sweet potato and a chicken & cauliflower curry on the blog here, but honest injun, this one is different.  It makes no pretence of being related to any authentic Indian curries but is purely of my own making and, in particular, to my hubby's taste.  You see, for ages he complained about my making curries that "didn't taste of curry".  Well, I tried this way and tried that way, tried this recipe and that recipe but nothing did the trick.  Right up until Asda started selling their Medium curry powder which contains the following : Coriander Seeds, Garlic Powder (12%), Cumin Seeds (8.0%), Onion Powder, Paprika (8.0%), Turmeric, Ginger, Salt, Chilli Powder (5.0%), Cinnamon, Fenugreek Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Black Pepper, Cloves and Cardamom.  Suddenly, curries tasted of curry for him.  So you might want to find a curry powder that sounds very similar in its ingredients, to get close to the right flavour for this curry.  Alternatively, just use your favourite curry powder, because maybe my favourite won't taste of curry to you!

I recommend that you par-boil the cauliflower while you are cooking the sauce, as that puts you in far better control over how tender it is by the end.  It would be so easy for the curry to be the right texture, but the cauliflower to be too hard - or even worse, utterly fallen apart to mush.

I always include the sweet potato pieces (cut into half inch or smaller dice) from the beginning and they seem to have just cooked to perfection by the end.  However, if you're dubious about that, feel free to par-boil those with the cauliflower.

We've become quite accomplished at eating some fairly fierce curries, of which this was one.  However, there's no need for you to suffer the pain if you're not so keen on the hot'n'spicy, just leave out the raw chilli and if necessary, substitute one or more teaspoonfuls of medium curry powder for a mild version.

As for accompaniments, well the Indian world is your oyster.  We always have plain Basmati rice alongside the curry because it helps to cool the tongue.  However, you could make a pilau rice, or have chapattis, naan bread, raita (which is also great for cooling), onion bhaji's, pakoras - whatever you fancy.  Right at the moment, I'm trying to lose weight, so I've cut down on the accompaniments but the menfolk still had a couple of onion bhaji's, just so that they don't feel too hard done by.

Here's the recipe, don't be scared by the list of ingredients as it is a simple matter of putting them all in the one pan in order.  As such, I recommend you get everything ready before you start to cook, otherwise you could find yourself dashing around the kitchen getting a bit stressed - and we don't want that!  Oh and if you cook for just one person and have a freezer, I can recommend freezing the leftovers as it only gets better for keeping and defrosts perfectly.

Maggi Tamarind Sauce - to help you find it, if you're new to it.

FRUITY AND INTENSE CHICKEN, SWEET POTATO & CAULIFLOWER CURRY   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp coconut oil
300g boneless, skinless chicken breast cut across the grain into small chunks
sea salt
50g or thereabouts of small cauliflower pieces
1 large onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 fresh red chilli, chopped finely (save a little back for garnish)
half a tsp ground black pepper
half a tsp ground cinnamon
25g salted butter
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into half inch dice
2 medium sized ripe tomatoes, finely diced
4 heaped tsp medium curry powder
1 flat tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp Maggi tamarind sauce (or 1 tbsp lemon juice)
500ml cold water
a small handful of sultanas or raisins
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (save a little back for garnish)
25g creamed coconut
1 tsp honey.

Method :

Heat the coconut oil in a deep frying pan and, once sizzling hot, add the chicken breast pieces and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.  Leave them to turn golden on two sides, then remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and reserve.  The chicken doesn't need to be cooked through at this stage.

While the chicken is cooking, bring a pan of water to the boil and add the cauliflower pieces to par-boil for 5-10 minutes.  You want them to be just off being fork tender, as they will finish cooking in the curry sauce.

Add the onion, garlic, red chilli, a pinch of sea salt & the black pepper to the frying pan (using the oil that remains from the chicken) and cook for some 10-15 minutes until the onion is softened and transparent.  Add the cinnamon and stir through.

Add the salted butter and while that is melting, add the sweet potato pieces.  Stir everything together and cook on for another 5 or so minutes, until the sweet potato is heated through and beginning to cook.

Add the diced tomatoes and stir through.  Cook on for another 15 minutes or so, until the tomato has begun to break down and the oil is separating from the mixture.

Don't forget to drain the cauliflower and reserve it for use later!

Sprinkle in the curry powder and turmeric and stir through.  Cook on, to ensure that the spices are cooked through and lose their raw taste, for another 5-10 minutes, stirring often to ensure they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

Add the tamarind sauce (or lemon juice) and cold water, along with the sultanas and coriander and stir through.  Bring the contents of the pan to a lively simmer and cover with a lid.  Cook until the sweet potato is just off being fork tender, then remove the lid.

Add the cauliflower and chicken and simmer for another 10 minutes during which time the sauce will reduce.  Continue the lively simmer (add a little water if the sauce becomes too reduced) and add the creamed coconut.  This will have the effect of thickening and sweetening the sauce so once the coconut is stirred in well, taste for sweetness and if your preference is for the mix to be a little sweeter, then add the tsp of honey.  It is quite okay to omit the honey, if the mix is sweet enough already.

When the sauce is at your preferred consistency, serve onto warmed plates with the reserved coriander and red chilli sprinkled over and accompaniments of your choice.

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Lemon & Black Pepper Chicken - super tasty, with a definite zing!

What a very pleasant surprise this meal turned out to be.  I really wasn't expecting much from it and hence only took a couple of pictures.  You'd have thought I'd know better by now and would take more pictures just in case, but no.

The recipe is incredibly simple - just pan fried chicken breast in a sauce made with slices of lemon, crushed fresh garlic, some chicken stock, lemon juice, runny honey and a whole heap of black pepper. How often it is that the most simple recipes turn out to be the best!

I particularly enjoyed the lemony sauce with the Jersey Royals and the Sweetheart (or Hispi) cabbage. Mmmnnn, but that was sooo good. I'd been craving cabbage, so that might be why, but son & heir agreed the combination was very tasty and a second opinion is always helpful. Feel free to pair the recipe up with whatever accompaniments you fancy - after all, it's your dinner so why not please yourself.

Uncharacteristically, let's head on directly to the recipe and gird your loins for a zingy, fresh tasting chicken sensation.

LEMON & BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN (serves 2)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
2 individual skinless, boneless chicken breasts
a pinch of sea salt
half a lemon, sliced thinly
half a lemon, juiced
one clove of garlic, crushed
as much fresh ground black pepper as you want - I used a teaspoonful
1 tbsp runny honey
200ml chicken stock - I used a combination of Knorr stock granules (half tsp) and chicken Bovril (half tsp)
2 tsp approx finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp Bisto best chicken gravy granules.

Method :

Heat the olive oil in a good sized frying pan until sizzling hot. Gently add the chicken breasts and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Leave the chicken to brown - you're aiming for it to have an all over golden tan, so don't keep fidgeting it about or it won't sear. Turn the chicken to sear the other side and add the lemon slices to the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, crushed garlic, black pepper, runny honey and chicken stock. When both sides of the chicken are golden, pour the mixture over the chicken into the pan. Allow the sauce to heat through and bubble, reduce slightly and thicken. Turn the chicken from time to time, to keep it basted in the sauce and ensure it is cooked through.

Reduce the heat to medium and include the parsley.  Allow a moment or two for the parsley to heat through and add the gravy granules if necessary, to thicken the sauce to your personal taste.

Serve with the lemon slices on top, with a little chopped parsley as garnish and vegetable accompaniments of your choice.

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Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable & Cheese Quiche

Well, once again it's been an age since I've committed a recipe to the blog but this one was so good, it looked so pretty and was very successfully tasty that I've had lots of requests for the recipe.  So here we are!

I won't go into a long old rigmarole about the quiche, just suffice to say that I was looking to achieve a quiche that had to be tasty, I didn't want it to be too wet (the contents, that is!) and it had to be vegetarian.  For me, this creation ticked all those boxes but be aware that my hubby thought it was a little bit "squishy", so if you've got texture-centric diners it's probably worth subbing some other vegetable in for the courgette, as I suspect that was the culprit.

I managed to avoid most of the "squishiness" by oven roasting the majority of the vegetables, which dried them out nicely.  Take care to cut the sweet potato pieces into very small chunks to avoid it overpowering the contents.  It will spread out better as smaller pieces.

Ready for the oven

Hubby thought that perhaps the addition of some sweet corn would have been nice, so maybe I'll try that in the next version.  :)

As ever, if you try the recipe and have any problems or confusion with it do let me know and I'll do my best to iron those problems out for others!

ROASTED MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLE & CHEESE QUICHE   (serves 4-8)

Ingredients :

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 medium courgette, top & tailed, then cut into small chunks
8 button mushrooms, sliced finely
Frylight sunflower oil cooking spray
sea salt & black pepper
300g approx ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or you could make your own)
3 large eggs
1 tsp English mustard powder
100ml double cream
100ml semi skimmed milk
2 pieces of chargrilled red pepper from a jar (rinsed), cut into small pieces
3 sprigs of fresh basil, sliced fine
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
half a tsp dried oregano
30g Gruyere or Gouda cheese, grated finely
30g red Cheddar or red Leicester cheese, grated finely
50g mature Cheddar cheese, grated finely
50g Greek salad cheese (Feta-alike, so if you've got Feta, that would be fine) broken into small pieces
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped.

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/340degF/Gas 4.

Place the sweet potato, onion and courgette pieces onto a large baking tray and spread them out evenly.  Spray well with cooking spray and sprinkle with a little sea salt & black pepper.  Place into the oven to roast for 25-30 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender.  Ideally, the vegetables should have small areas of charring on them in order to get the best flavour.

With 10 minutes to go, sprinkle the vegetables with the sliced mushrooms, give a quick spray with the Frylight and replace into the oven until the rest of the veggies are done.  Remove from the oven and place to one side to cool until required.  Once cool, cut the onion quarters into smaller pieces.

While the veggies are cooking, prepare your pastry case by lining a loose bottomed 8 inch sandwich tin or quiche dish with pastry that has been rolled out thinly, making sure it is pressed into the corners of the tin and without any air bubbles underneath.  Cover the pastry with a layer of baking paper and fill with baking beans.  Once the vegetables are done and removed from the oven, place the pastry case in to part-bake for some 20-25 minutes.  Again, when the time is up, remove and leave to cool until required.

While the pastry is part baking, you can get on with making the filling.  Take a large bowl and break the eggs into it.  Give them a light whisk to break the yolks and combine with the white.  Add the cream, milk, some black pepper and the mustard powder and whisk to combine.

Add the sliced red peppers, basil, parsley, oregano and all the vegetables from the oven which should be fairly cool by now.  Add most of the grated cheeses but reserve a little to sprinkle over the top and give the whole lot a good, but gentle, stir so as not to break anything up.  Add the Greek salad cheese and give everything a light stir, just to combine.

When the filling is ready, take the part baked pastry case and carefully pour the filling in.  Gently encourage the contents to spread evenly across the pastry case to avoid any areas that are just egg mixture.  Sprinkle the surface with the reserved grated cheese and lay the tomato slices in an attractive pattern on the top.  Sprinkle the chives across the surface and give the tomato pieces a tiny sprinkle with black pepper.

Place into the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes. Check the quiche after 25 minutes and turn it if the surface is browning unevenly.  When cooked, the centre of the filling should feel fairly firm to the touch, but have a little spring in it and the whole thing should be a golden colour.

Remove the quiche from the oven and allow to cool for some 15-20 minutes.  In the case of a loose bottomed sandwich tin, gently remove the quiche from the tin and leave on a baking rack to cool completely.

Serve with chips or Jersey Royal new potatoes and salad.

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