Malay style chicken & peanut curry - silky, spicy and delicious

Well, this one worked out well!  

I think I shall call it a Malay style chicken & peanut curry as the basis of it was the recipe as below, but I halved the Thai curry paste and added the other half in Indian curry paste (a Korma paste) - so it wound up being a fusion of the two.  Knowing what a fusion of races now call Malaysia home, I think that represents Malaysia quite well.  

Original recipe : http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2838670/thai-pork-and-peanut-curry

I deviated from the original recipe in several different ways, the first being the addition of the Korma paste as I've already mentioned.  I added a red pepper, chopped into smallish dice, for colour and interest and a white sweet onion cut into eighths, the sweetness of which meant I could leave the soft brown sugar specified in the recipe, out.  I'm always keen, where I can, to reduce the amount of added sugar in dishes.  The sweet red pepper, the sweet onion, the baby sweetcorn, the coconut milk all have an inherent sweetness and I felt that the soft brown sugar would just take it too far.

It was mildly spiced so easy to pep up if you like it hotter and was jolly tasty.  Everyone said they'd be happy to have it again, only with rather less coriander, next time!  LOL  (I'm a bit heavy handed with the coriander, because I like it so much.  I forget that others aren't as keen!).

I've reproduced the recipe with my alterations below, but feel free to cook the original if you prefer the look of that!  I'm not precious about my recipes - they're there for you to use, change, adjust and develop as much or as little as you wish.

MALAY STYLE CHICKEN & PEANUT CURRY   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 skinless & boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
ground black pepper 
1 sweet white onion, cut into eighths
bunch spring onions, sliced
small bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves chopped
1 red pepper, cored and cut into dice
130g baby sweetcorn, halved lengthways
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 tbsp Korma curry paste
2 tbsp peanut butter
400ml can coconut milk
1 tbsp soy sauce 
juice 1 lime.  

Method :

Heat the oil in a large and deep frying pan until very hot and carefully add the chicken chunks.  Fry them until lightly golden on at least two sides and season with black pepper.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the sweet onion, spring onions, coriander stalks, red pepper and baby sweetcorn to the pan and stir fry (adding a little more oil if necessary) until softened.

Return the chicken to the pan and reduce the heat slightly.

Add the Thai curry paste, the Korma curry paste and peanut butter and stir to combine.  Cook over a moderate heat for some 3 minutes or so, until well combined.

Add the coconut milk and soy sauce and stir gently.  Simmer for some 10 minutes or so until the sauce thickens to your preference.

Just prior to serving, add the lime juice (Half a lime at a time, then taste.  If necessary, add more) and stir in the chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with plain white rice, or jasmine rice.

Printable version

 

Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

We've had a few tummy issues in the family just lately, so I've been trying to avoid the heavily spiced, full of chilli, rich with tomato sort of flavours so as to give everyone a chance to recover.  Inevitably, my first port of call is always what my hubby refers to as "brown food", or "something in some sort of gravy".  Now that is okay by me because I love gravy of all kinds, but it's not necessarily so okay with the remainder of the assembled throng.

So I began pondering the thought of how to adjust foods that we normally eat but that are very tomatoey, or contain a hefty whack of chilli for instance, but exchange something else for those troublesome ingredients.  Something that will deliver a good flavour in exchange for the tummy-troubling effect.

Amazingly - I think probably because I've a talent for comfort food - I've been fairly successful in most of these "calmer" dishes and this one proved to be particularly good.

Cooking the chicken through

Now I know that some of you will raise your eyebrows and move on at the mention of the use of a tin of condensed cream of chicken soup.  Well, if that's the way you feel about it then fine, I won't try and convince you otherwise.  However, for those of you who are left, the use of the soup as a sauce base is invaluable when you're either a little bit pushed for time, or are just worn out and can't face the "from scratch, infuse with chicken, add an hour to the cooking method" version.

I don't recommend that you use the soup alone for your sauce - although it would do at a pinch - but if you work on adding complimentary flavours, you can create a multi-layered flavour profile resulting in a really quite interesting sauce which will keep your taste buds interested through to the last bite.

Mmmmn ... had to stop myself from "tasting" too often!

I started my layers of flavour with sweated down onion and garlic in olive oil, then added chopped celery and a green pepper (which was a late addition, but made all the difference).  The tarragon made a huge impression on the sauce flavours, of course, as did the use of goat's milk instead of cow's.  You just get that slight tang of goat's cheese coming through - and the little bit of Philadelphia helped that along by providing the creaminess.

Again, it was one of those "put things into the pan in order, boil some pasta, combine the two and eat" dinners that are always so welcome.  Plus, with the extra little bit of breathing space that you get when it goes into the oven, you've got time to beat back the washing up or put together a little side salad, if the idea moves you.

As for Cook's Tips, well I've a few :

With any vegetable that you are using for flavour, chopping them finely instead of just chopping them into bite sized chunks, will increase the flavour they can deliver by a factor of many.  So don't be tempted to leave your onions, celery and green pepper in large chunks - small pieces will work so much harder.

It really isn't necessary to use goat milk for the sauce, cow's will do the job perfectly well - and if you're using a semi-skimmed of whole milk, then there is no need to add the Philadelphia as that was really just there to provide the creaminess lacking in a skimmed milk.  Likewise, if you're using skimmed milk but don't have any Philadelphia but do have some cream - use that!

Do try to find - and use - low salt chicken stock granules or cubes.  It makes all the difference if YOU can say how much salt you want in the mix, rather than some manufacturer deciding for you.

Again, it isn't essential to use petit pois - ordinary peas will do perfectly well.  Petit pois are just smaller and sweeter, but were what we had in the freezer at the time.  If you don't have any peas, then some frozen sweetcorn would do a similar job!

Also, it isn't essential to use the mozzarella ball.  It just provides some "stringy cheese" which my son always enjoys and adds a nice creamy flavour to the cheesy layer on top of the bake.  However, if you're strapped for cash or can't find any - don't worry about not including it, nobody will notice.

It's a great mid week dinner, this one.  It can be dressed up for more than four by the addition of a side salad and garlic bread, or just eaten as is.  Very flexible where ingredients are concerned and forgiving to cook, it's a very civilised little recipe.  The evenings are beginning to draw in and the temperatures have dropped, so I think it's time for a little bit of comfort food.  What say you?

CHICKEN PENNE PASTA BAKE   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 stick celery, de-strung and chopped finely
1 green pepper, cored and diced
10g salted butter
half a tsp ground black pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 tsp dried tarragon
295g can of Batchelor's condensed cream of chicken soup
250ml skimmed milk (I used goat milk)
1 tbsp Philadelphia cream cheese
1.5 tsp Knorr reduced salt chicken granules (stock powder)
2 tbsp frozen petits pois
300g penne pasta
125g mozzarella ball, sliced
150g mature cheddar cheese.

Method :

Two thirds fill a large saucepan with water and put on to boil over a high heat.

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a high heat and add the onion, garlic, celery and pepper.  Make sure to stir the contents regularly so as not to allow them to brown, but cook until the onion is transparent and the celery & pepper have softened.

Add the black pepper and stir through.

Add the sliced chicken and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the chicken has all turned from pink to white.

Reduce the heat to moderate and add the dried tarragon and stir through.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.  You don't want it to be cooked all the way through, as it will finish cooking in the oven.

Add the soup, milk, cream cheese and stock powder and gently stir until all is amalgamated.  Allow the combination to come to a gentle simmer.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, but remember that there will be cheese on top - so go easy on the salt!  Add the frozen petit pois and stir to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain and make sure to retain a little of the pasta water, just in case you need to reduce the thickness of the sauce a little.

Replace the pasta back into the hot saucepan and add the sauce contents.

Stir through gently.

Decant into an ovenproof dish and lay the mozzarella slices over the top.

Cover with the grated cheddar and put into a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/Gas4 for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted, bubbly and just beginning to turn golden.

Serve.

Printable version

General Tso's chicken - a real crowd pleaser!

Now this is one recipe that I should have blogged a long time ago, as I've made it countless times since I discovered it on La Table de Nana.  As you may have guessed from the name, it sounds as though it should be of Chinese origin and to quote Wikipedia, "General Tso's chicken is a sweet, slightly spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in most Chinese and Asian themed American restaurants. The dish is most commonly regarded as a Hunanese dish.  The dish is named after General Tso Tsung-tang, or Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general and statesman, although there is no recorded connection to him".  So now you know.

I have to first deny all knowledge of deep frying my chicken.  You would have to pay me quite a lot to get me to deep fry anything, these days.   Not just from the health point of view, but um ~koff-blush~ I'm actually scared of deep frying.  I know.  I write a food blog and I'm scared of deep frying.  What can I tell you?  I think all those Public Information Films about the dangers of chip pan fires back in the seventies are still playing out in my head.

As a consequence, after velveting the chicken I just heat up a tablespoonful of oil in a wok and shallow fry to my heart's content.  The chicken still gets lovely and golden and I don't have a nervous conniption.  It's all good.

Served with coconut rice

The combination of goodies in the sauce is just an inspired thing.  Each contributes something to the final flavour(s) and it just wouldn't be right without any one of the ingredients.  Mind you, I do have to say that I don't use fresh ginger - as was recommended by the original recipe.  Both hubby and myself react badly to fresh ginger these days, whereas if I use ground (powdered) ginger, we're fine.  Yes, the flavour is slightly different, but we still get the ginger kick and flavour - so I'm not arguing.  I put the small amount of ginger into the sauce, where it incorporates nicely.

Something I would recommend highly to you - and yes, it could almost be construed as a Cook's Tip, is to invest in some authentic soy sauce.  If you can get them, both light soy and dark soy, as the difference in flavour to the small amounts of Blue Dragon, or even Kikkoman, is just incredible.  Once I'd invested in a large bottle of both, I wouldn't ever go back to "Westernised" soy sauce.  It's just a whole different ball game and you'll find you use far less as the flavour is so much more intense.

Cooked together with sliced green pepper

Okay, so while we're doing the tips, you absolutely must have everything chopped before you start.  This recipe moves so quickly once you begin cooking, that you definitely don't have time to leisurely chop a half a dozen spring onions.  It's a case of grab it and cook it so you need to have everything ready!

Oh, and it is nice to keep a certain amount of chopped green onion back for sprinkling over the top once served.  It definitely helps the dish to look fresh and tasty.  Unfortunately, I can't cope with raw spring (or green) onion, so I restrict myself to some toasted sesame seeds.

Served with a spring roll and some prawn crackers

Son and heir consistently finds the texture of the velveted chicken a surprise and requires reassurance that it is the cooking process, not the chicken, that has made it feel that way on the tongue.  As if I'd feed him dodgy chicken!  *tut*  The very idea.

Hubby and I, however, just love the recipe.  I've cooked it with toasted sesame seeds and without, with a sliced green pepper or mushrooms and without - in all sorts of incarnations - and we've loved them all.

As a super-quick meal to cook, you really can't do better than General Tso's chicken.  It's almost one of my favourite "bung it in the wok in order and serve" recipes.  If it wasn't for the fact that you cook the chicken first, then reserve it for later, it'd qualify.  But then, it's just another bowl to wash up and what's another bowl when dinner tastes so good?

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN    (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

½ cup soft brown sugar
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 flat teaspoonful of powdered ginger
a good pinch of dried red chili flakes (optional)
½ cup water
3-4 tablespoons cornstarch
500g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
6-8 spring onions chopped
toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Method :

If you are intending on using toasted sesame seeds as garnish, now is the time to toast them.  Heat up your wok or frying pan and place the seeds in dry.  Keep an eye on them, as once they start to toast it happens quickly!  Once nicely brown and toasty, decant into a ramekin to use later.

Next, mix the brown sugar, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, tomato ketchup, soy sauce, ginger powder, chili flakes (if you're using them, which I recommend you do!) and water together in a bowl.  This is your sauce, so set aside - but within reach!

Dredge the chicken chunks in the cornstarch and shake off any excess.

Heat the pan again and add the olive oil.  Cook the chicken in the olive oil briskly on a high heat until golden brown on at least two sides.  Remove the chicken and retain in a warm place.

Add a little more olive oil if necessary, plus the sesame oil and green onions (and any other veggies you might have thought to include). Cook until softened, then add the sauce and quickly bring to a boil.

Allow the mix to boil gently for as long as it takes for it to thicken slightly, then add the chicken and coat with sauce.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced to a glossy, syrupy consistency.

Serve with white rice, garnished with the toasted sesame seeds and some raw spring onion pieces.

Printable version

Sticky Marmalade Chicken - the one that (almost) got away!

Now, this is a bit of a departure for me where blogging recipes is concerned.  Ordinarily, you see, I would get on with consigning a new recipe to paper almost as soon as I've put my knife and fork down.  However, I first cooked this dish quite literally years ago - when I was blogging on Multiply.  I cooked it again a few times over the years and in the meantime, started Rhubarb & Ginger.  However, when I came to look for the recipe in the Recipe Index, I was astounded to see that I hadn't included it here!

Thank goodness - because I can't remember where I found the original recipe - I still had a copy of all my Multiply pieces and was able to find the recipe.  I copied it over to Rhubarb & Ginger and then real life got in the way and I just didn't get around to blogging it properly.

So here I am fulfilling those good intentions of all those years ago - and getting on with it.  I think that really does take the biscuit for procrastination, but perhaps we should skip lightly over that.

Now because I've cooked the recipe several times, I have had the benefit of trying it with both salad and cooked vegetables.  I think - for all that the photographs are of the cooked vegetables version - my favourite version has to be the white rice and salad one.  The use of the marmalady sauce as a dressing through the salad (so note, not a lettucy salad as the sauce/dressing is warm and will wilt anything less robust than rocket, spinach or watercress far too quickly) is just such a satisfying thing.

This is one of those dishes that you think is going to taste one way - but then it turns out to taste completely different.  When imagining how it would taste, I forgot all about the garlic, chilli and thyme and the effect they would have.  Although, I do think that how it tastes depends entirely upon what marmalade you use.  If you go for a strongly flavoured, not so sweet one like the Oxford Vintage, then you'll wind up with a very strongly flavoured dish.  However, something like Golden Shred will give you a much sweeter end result that you may find requires a dash of lemon juice to add the required acidity and is perhaps better for a younger palate.  So in a way, you can tailor the results depending on what marmalade you use.  I reckon that Rose's Lime Marmalade would be awesome with a dash of lemon juice, lemon zest and a sprinkle of ground ginger - however, I haven't tried that thought yet!

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed it - and its a 100% definite do-it-again.

If you decide to go with the rice version and want to be totally cheffy, you can make mounds of rice by lightly oiling the inside of a cup and packing the rice into it. Turn it upside down and bingo - cheffy mounds of rice!

The cooked vegetable version is good (and probably better, as we're in December and it's frosty outdoors!) however I'd stick with veggies that are compatible with Chinese style food.  Things such as broccoli, green beans, carrots, peas - you can dress them up however you like, maybe add some chilli to your broccoli or (as I have done in the photographs), sesame seeds and a little butter to your green beans.  However, be sure that your family enjoy citrus flavours with their potatoes!  Not everyone enjoys this combination, although I think it's the proverbial bees knees.

Something else to bear in mind (I suppose these are the Cook's tips!) is the size of the pieces of peel in the marmalade, in relation to everyone's preference.  My friend Marion, for instance, would need a marmalade that was totally bereft of "fishes", as she calls them.  For me, the bigger the pieces, the better! 

So there you are.  Do have a go at this one - it's taken for ever to get to you and it really didn't deserve it!

STICKY MARMALADE CHICKEN    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, each cut into 3 similar sized pieces
sea salt & black pepper
2-3 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp olive oil
300ml chicken stock
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
4 tbsp fine-cut well flavoured orange marmalade
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or half a tsp dried
juice of a quarter of a lemon, if necessary, to taste.

Method :

1.  Place the chicken into a bowl and add the seasoning and cornflour.  Toss the chicken until liberally coated.

2.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, add the chicken pieces.  Fry for 8-10 mins,  until golden on all sides.

3.  Reduce the heat, add the garlic and chilli and cook for 1 minute more.

4.  Add the stock, marmalade and thyme.  Stir through until the marmalade has dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

5.  Remove the chicken and reserve to keep warm.

6.  Boil the mixture hard to reduce to a syrupy sauce, serve the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Printable version

Chicken and chorizo Jambalaya

Before we go any further, I have to put my hands up and admit that the bulk of this recipe came from the Slimming World online recipe book - and you can see the original recipe here.

However, having got that out of my system, I can tell you that my version of the recipe is heaps better.  LOL  No, seriously!

Okay, it doesn't accord with the Slimming World ethos - but then it was never meant to.  What I was after, was to take a recipe that had been produced with slimming in mind - and gee it up a bit with additional flavours and textures.  The end result should be that it remains a healthy meal, but has all the good things that an ordinary (a.k.a. not diet) meal would have, such as variety, flavour, texture and substance.

Well, blow me down with a feather, but it only worked.

I'm not sure how much of a "Jambalaya" it was - never having had a strictly traditional Jambalaya - but it had rice, tomatoes and chicken, not to mention heat from spice and full bodied character.  What a result.  Even better was that I liked it - which doesn't happen often with Cajun or smoked paprika dishes.  It has been a while since we've had anything with chorizo in it - and I've found myself lusting after meatballs in tomato sauce with chorizo sizzling alongside, which I took as a hint that maybe I'd come round to the idea.  While I was slicing up the chorizo - as is required of the chef - I had a little taster to establish just how spicy/hot the flavour was.  I could easily have carried on and eaten best part of the entire sausage, it was that good.  Who knows, maybe my taste buds have matured where smoked paprika is concerned!

I knew that hubby would require his Jambalaya to taste Cajun - so added the pinch of red chilli flakes, the smoked paprika and ordinary sweet paprika.  I also wanted the dish to be substantial, so added the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.  The biggest change was the addition of the chorizo.  I just couldn't imagine a Jambalaya type dish without something big to hold it all together - and the Quorn sausages in the original recipe just wouldn't do it for me.  Not to mention that I think Quorn is disgusting.  (Sorry Quorn manufacturers!).

The final dish was really tasty - and worked out to just under 500 calories per portion - so I didn't do too much damage to the original recipe with my additions!  Whether on a diet or just plain hungry, I recommend this one to you.  It'll keep the wolf from the door, that's for sure.

Now there's a couple of "cook's tips" for you :

-  make sure you start off with an enormous, deep, frying pan.  I used my 22" Ceracraft pan and only just managed to get everything into it.  If you have something deeper but that is reliably non-stick, I'd advise using it!

-   you need your pan to be non-stick, as when it comes to the point of putting the lid on and letting it chuckle for a while, it does have a nasty habit of trying to burn the underside of the food.  Hence, a non-stick pan helps no end with reducing the likelihood of any burning - but do remember to stir and turn the contents regularly!

- using a powder chicken stock is by far and away the better approach.  A chicken stock cube will do the job, but in 200ml of water it can have problems dissolving.  A teaspoonful of chicken stock powder, however, can go into the pan with 200ml of water without any trouble whatsoever.  I recommend Essential Cuisine's chicken stock powder - it's only £3.99 a tub - and the tub last for ages.

So there we have it!  This dish would be perfect for cooking in advance, then heating up in the microwave for Bonfire Night.  I can just imagine being out in the garden with the fireworks, keeping my hands warm around a mugful of this Jambalaya and oohing and aaahing in between forkfuls.  Perfect.


CHICKEN & CHORIZO JAMBALAYA  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely sliced
100g chorizo sausage
a pinch of red chilli flakes
2 sweet peppers, your choice of colours, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 courgette, quartered and diced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
half a tsp paprika
zest and juice of half a lemon
400g can chopped tomatoes
250g long grain rice 
200ml low salt chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a huge deep frying pan (it needs to be big, because there's a lot to fit into it!) and fry the chopped onion until softened, with a pinch of sea salt to bring out the moisture.

2.  Increase the heat under the pan and add the chicken, chorizo and chilli flakes. Cook until the chicken has lost all evidence of pinkness.

3.  Add the thyme, smoked paprika and paprika and stir to combine.

4.  Add the peppers, courgette, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon juice and zest. On the same high heat, cook but stir gently so as not to break up the vegetables, until the vegetables have begun to soften and reduced in size.

5.  Add the tinned tomatoes, stock cube and 200ml of water. Stir to combine and bring to the boil.

6.  Add the rinsed rice, stir through and bring back to the boil. Place a lid on the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook gently - stirring occasionally to prevent any burning underneath the mixture - until the rice has cooked and is tender.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

7.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Printable version

Pineapple & Coconut Chicken Curry

For absolutely ages - and I do mean ages - hubby has been asking for a "fruity, mild, creamy, Caribbean type curry".  However, I've really only just begun to get my head around Indian curries, without trying to expand my repertoire to the Caribbean!  However, I've been reading, watching, thinking and reading a bit more, to absorb all that is encapsulated within a "Caribbean type" curry.

I've had a few false starts, too.  Curries that started off with every intention of going Caribbean, but wound up being resolutely Indian.  I've had one or two "nearlies", in that they have been too heavy and a little bit cloying (forget using cream then!) and too rough in the spicing (leave out the ginger and cayenne), but nearly there.

Last night, however, I hit the nail right on the head.  Now please don't - for a millisecond - think that this is an "authentic" Caribbean curry, because I wouldn't know one of those if it jumped up and bit me on the nose.  No, this is "our idea of what a Caribbean curry would be like" - so is quite probably very different.

However, if you forget where I was trying to go with it and just take it on face value as "a curry", it was blinking marvellous.

Friends have suggested that maybe it has a flavour of Thailand, or Singapore.  Well, I'm sure it probably does, as in the course of my reading and absorbing, I visited both those destinations and no doubt tucked some of their methods and/or flavourings under my wing.

I was jolly pleased with it, anyway.  You know you are on the right track, when you take that first taste of the very young sauce and your immediate reaction is "Mmmmmmn!".  Oh it tasted good - and very right - and very promising.

I had originally intended to make this curry with some of the Barcut Farms rose veal - and I'm quite sure it would be fantastic with that.  I shall do a slow cooker version that would be perfect for the rose veal, now that I've had such success with the chicken.  If only I could remember to take the meat out of the freezer the night before, so that it has defrosted by the time it comes to putting it in the slow cooker.  But I didn't - and so off we went to Spring Fields butchers for some chicken, which doesn't take anything like as long to cook.  D'oh!  Nothing lost, however, as the chicken curry was a singular triumph.

I'd had plenty of time to formulate a plan for the chicken version, so a sudden change of protein type wasn't a problem at all.  For once, I allowed plenty of time to do all the cutting, chopping and peeling - particularly as I also had a plan for a fruit salad, to use up the leftover pineapple.  (A few leftover strawberries and a well ripened papaya worked beautifully).

I do so much prefer to cook knowing I've got time in hand.  I hate the frenzied, Masterchef style of cooking where an imaginary Greg Wallace is yelling "only 45 minutes to go!" in "you should be panicking now!" tones in my head.  I much prefer the Two Fat Ladies' style of "I'll just be peeling and chopping this onion, whilst regaling the assembled throng with a tale of breakfast at the Thruppington-Smythes, back in 1944" cooking.  Much less stressful - and I'm quite sure that the end result is better for it, too.

So, with Clarissa Dickson-Wright (bless her) controlling my knife skills, I had a happy hour or so at the chopping board, before moving to the cooker and adopting a more Jennifer Paterson approach.  Woe betide any onion chunk that decided to become airborne and avoid my frying pan.  One stern look soon took the wind out of its sails and everything was peace and tranquillity again.

I love cooking curries.  You just sit there and add stuff to your frying pan in order and lo and behold, a curry appears.  Magic.

There is also magic to be had when cooking with coconut milk, I think.  It's the transformation that occurs.  When you open the tin you are confronted with a supposedly impenetrable wall of thick white goo yet, suddenly, there comes a flood of sweet coconutty water.  After five minutes' stirring in the pan, you suddenly realise that the contents of the tin seem to have doubled in size and turned to - albeit delicious - pond water.  Minutes spent diligently and gently reducing said pond water, turns it into a delicious sauce - however, beware turning your back on it, or within seconds it will dry out, the fat will separate and you'll wonder what the heck happened and where did the magic go.  Fickle, that's what it is.  Fickle coconut milk!

Ahem.  So anyway - back to the job at hand - if you're not moved to poetry by pineapple, I am quite sure you could substitute mango without seriously damaging the balance of the dish.  However, the two ingredients that are essential to the balance, are the sweet potato and the green pepper.  You just have to have sweet potato, even if you hate the stuff and throw it away before you eat, or the sweetness balance just won't be right.  Likewise, with the green pepper, it lends a savouriness to the balance that would be utterly lost without it.  So there.  Don't say you weren't warned.

A perfect curry for the hot weather, this one will fill you full of Caribbean sunshine without weighing down your hammock.  Lovely!  Chin chin! 

PINEAPPLE & COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY     Serves 3-4

Ingredients :

2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, half chopped fine, half left chunky
a pinch of sea salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small sweet potato, cut into 1cm dice
4 chestnut mushrooms, quartered
1 green pepper, cut into 1cm dice
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp Garam Masala, divided into two
2 tsp mild curry paste
200ml chicken stock
400ml coconut milk
200g fresh pineapple cut into 1cm dice
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped and divided into two
1 tbsp coconut powder (optional).

Method :

1.  Heat the sunflower oil in a deep frying pan or wok.  Add all the onion and a pinch of sea salt and gently fry until the smaller pieces are golden brown and the larger pieces transparent.  This should take around 10-15 minutes.

2.  Add the garlic, sweet potato, mushrooms and green pepper and continue to fry until the mushrooms are beginning to soften.

3.   Move the vegetables to the outside of the pan and add the chicken to the centre.  Increase the heat slightly and fry the chicken until most sides of each chunk are whitened.  The vegetables will mix in as you turn and fry the chicken.

4.  Add the ground coriander, cumin, 1 tsp Garam Masala and the curry paste.  Stir to combine.

5.  Add the chicken stock and stir to combine.  Bring to a gentle boil, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes or so, or until the sweet potato is softened but not cooked through.

6.  Remove the lid and, stirring occasionally, allow the liquid to reduce by two thirds.

7.  Add the coconut milk and stir to combine.

8.  Add the pineapple, half the fresh coriander and the coconut powder (if using it).  Bring to a gentle boil, but stir gently and more regularly to avoid the mixture catching on the pan.  Continue to cook while the sauce reduces, until it reaches your preferred consistency.

9.  Add the remainder of the fresh coriander and the last tsp of Garam Masala.  Stir through and serve on fluffy Basmati rice, with naan bread for dipping.

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Sumac & Thyme Schnitzel. Bless you!

Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever tried to make anything remotely resembling a schnitzel.  I know!  Weird that it had managed to escape me for this long.

I think the main reason for it having escaped me, was that Hubby has always done the "egg and breadcrumb" dishes in the past - and I was happy to leave it that way, as his results have always been pretty spectacular.  However, it occurred to me that for all that it was great to have a successful egg and breadcrumber on hand, it would also be good if I were to master the art!

Instrumental in this decision was our new Ceracraft pan.  It's one of those ones with the white ceramic insides - and it is absolutely wonderful.  Absolutely nothing sticks to it (or nothing so far!) and it cleans with the wipe of a cloth, no matter how much devastation you leave in it.

Not worrying about how the pan is going to behave when frying, is quite a comfort if you're a bit leery about frying, as I am.  I think I might have taken the Fire Brigade's dire warnings about frying pans bursting into flames a bit too much to heart when I was younger and ultimately became too scared to break out a frying pan.

Frying was something else that Hubby used to do for me, as I was too scared to try it out (much the same as grilling things - which I've also conquered since).  So it is any wonder I hadn't tried making something like Schnitzel?  No, I don't think so!

Now, with my trusty Ceracraft pan with its fantastic well fitting lid (which I can clap on top, if ever it does decide to burst into flames), I feel confident enough to get on with the serious frying.

Neither Hubby nor son & heir are particularly enthusiastic about pork (when it's not in a sausage or rasher of bacon), so I bought just the one piece of pork for me - and a couple of chicken breasts for the menfolk.  In fact, the butcher didn't have pork steaks that day (what's up with that then?  No pork steaks?  Tut!), so we bought a pork chop and I simply removed the bone before cooking.  I don't recommend you try to hammer a pork chop bone flat - at least, not with a wooden meat mallet, anyway.  *wink* 

The chicken was simply trimmed of fat and gristle, then halved through the middle to form a "butterfly" and hammered flat.  I did the same with the pork, in that I butterflied it and smacked it one with the meat mallet so that it was roughly the same thickness.  Doing this is essential for this type of cooking, as you want the meat to cook at the same time.  It'd be no good having to wait for the thick end to cook, while the thin end is busy going dry or getting burned.  If ever I manage to lay my hands upon some British Rose Veal escalopes, you can be absolutely sure they're going to be turned into Wiener Schnitzels, quick-sharp!

So having got the meat how I wanted it to be, it was a simple matter of whipping up some eggs, seasoning some flour and working out what flavours I wanted to appear in the breadcrumbs.  I made the breadcrumbs myself, from a few slices of my lovely Polish Bakery sourdough bread that is just perfect for breadcrumbing as it is really substantial and so totally not cotton wool-ish.  A few minutes in the mini food processor and you're sorted, with perfect breadcrumbs.  I decided to season the breadcrumbs with a combination of black pepper, celery salt, dried thyme (just a tiny pinch as I really don't like it at all - but I know that my menfolk do), dried parsley and made the majority flavour that of Sumac, for its gorgeous zestiness.

The process of dipping into flour, egg then breadcrumbs was easy enough - I was forsighted enough to do this beside the sink so had good access to hand washing facilities - and Dustbin No. 1 (Jonty dog) was there to take care of the excess egg.  I was pleased to see that I'd made sufficient breadcrumbs, as it's always a bit of a lottery as to whether the breadcrumbs will make it to the end of the things you're trying to cover with them!

Following a half an hour in the fridge to firm up, they went into the pan with a mixture of goat butter and rapeseed oil on a moderate heat for around 10 minutes each side.  Make sure to not fiddle about with them - just leave them to cook and let the crumb set, then become crisp.  If you fiddle about with them, keep turning them or lifting them up, they will find it very hard to become crisp.  You can see from the very edge how they're doing - and once that edge starts to become golden, you know you're onto a winner.

I sneaked one of the smaller chicken schnitzels onto my plate, just so that I could compare and contrast.  I made these smaller ones from the chicken tenders - or inner fillets - and they were a perfect little size for a smaller appetite.   The pork version was a lot more robust and required a little bit longer in the cooking to become tender, however the flavour was a touch above the chicken versions.  The chicken ones were super-tender and very tasty - the seasoning in the breadcrumbs was more obvious with the chicken, so bear that in mind when you are choosing whether to use pork or chicken.

The flavour of both was really good - and the meat in both cases retained its moistness, largely due to the speed at which they cook and the flour/egg mixture sealing the juices in.  I can't wait to make some more, but this time I might have a go at the Southern Fried style of flavour combination.

I served the schnitzels with buttered new potatoes,  a mixed salad and a very nice minty mixed bean salad that I found in Asda.  However, for a speedier supper, I should imagine they'd be great with just chips, too!

So come on, put your big girl/boy pants on and have a crack at egg and breadcrumbing, followed by a bit of shallow frying.  You know you want to!


SUMAC & THYME SCHNITZEL    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 3 boneless pork steaks
2-3 tbsp plain flour
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg (have another handy, just in case you need it)
4-5 slices of tasty bread, slightly stale, breadcrumbed
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried parsley
half a tsp dried thyme
1 heaped tsp ground sumac
3 tsp rapeseed oil (required separately)
3 tsp butter (required separately).

Method :

1.  Well before you require the meat for cooking, prepare it for coating with the seasoned flour, egg and breadcrumbs.  Take each steak or breast and cut through it down a long side, opening it out and effectively butterflying it.

2.  Place onto a piece of cling film - opened out in the butterfly shape - and sprinkle with a couple of drops of water.  This helps the cling film not to stick.  Using a blunt instrument - or a meat hammer on the blunt side - gently but firmly hammer the meat until just a quarter of an inch thick, or less.

3.  Place onto a plate and cover with cling film.  Continue to the next breast or steak and repeat, placing it on top of the cling film and covering with another piece of film.  Continue until all pieces are butterflied, hammered to an even thickness and stacked, then cover the lot with film and refrigerate.

4.  About an hour and a half before you are due to cook, remove the meat from the fridge and prepare the three coating bowls - which should be a decent size so as to fit each schnitzel in without overlapping the side.

5.  Into one bowl, place the flour and season well with salt and pepper.  Mix the seasoning in.

6.  Crack an egg into the second bowl and whisk with a fork.

7.  Add the breadcrumbs, a good amount of black pepper, the celery salt, parsley, thyme and sumac to the last bowl and mix well.

8.  Take the first breast or steak and gently lay it on top of the flour, then turn so that both sides are well coated.  You may need to press down a little, to ensure every inch gets a coating.

9.  Move on to the egg and lay the meat into the beaten egg, again turn to achieve an even coating, but don't wash the flour off!

10.  Straight away, lay the meat onto the seasoned breadcrumbs and lightly press down to convince the crumbs to stick.  Once again, turn and repeat to achieve an even coating of crumbs.

11.  Place each schnitzel onto a plate or baking tray (I covered a tray with cling film and used that) and refrigerate for an hour.

12.  Once it comes to cooking, take a large frying pan - non-stick are best - and heat 1 teaspoonful of the oil on a moderate heat, adding 1 teaspoonful of the butter just before you add the schnitzel.

13.  Once the butter is frothy, add the schnitzel to the pan and leave it alone!  Don't be tempted to shuffle it around the pan, or to turn it too soon.  You want the coating to achieve a crispy shell before you turn the schnitzel and cook the other side.

14.  Cooking usually takes around 7-8 minutes each side, but to check simply cut through the thickest part of each schnitzel and pull the edges of the cut aside so that you can see a) what colour the meat is, and b) what colour the juices are.  If there is any sign of any pinkness, turn the schnitzel and continue cooking until all traces of pink have gone.

15.  Place onto some kitchen paper and keep warm whilst you cook the remainder of the schnitzels.  It is best not to stack the schnitzels or the ones at the bottom of the stack will go soggy whilst they are waiting.  Keep them separate to retain the crispiness of the coating.

Serve with new potatoes, or potato salad and a garden salad.

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