Kashmiri Spiced Chicken Pittas

Kashmiri spiced chicken pitta, that worked out even better than I thought it would!

This is an idea that got carried over into this week's menu list, having been bumped from last week's good intentions.  I have done similar things with meat and pitta bread very successfully in the past (see Spicy Chicken In Pitta Bread, Kibbeh Meatballs in Pitta Bread and Minty Aromatic Pulled Lamb Pittas), so I had a good feeling about this one.

As dinner concepts go, it really is simplicity itself.

Good sized chicken breast chunks are marinated in goat yoghurt, lime juice, Kashmiri chilli powder and curry powder, then oven baked.  Easy peasy!  Plus, don't be worried about making too much of the chicken, as it is just as good the following day as a cold sandwich filling.  It is very well worth finding the Kashmiri chilli powder, as it has an interesting flavour being not terribly spicy hot at all but very flavoursome.  It also has an amazing red colour that is particular to the Kashmiri chilli and I've put a link at the bottom of the page to Amazon, where they have a number of different suppliers.  We found our Kashmiri chilli powder in our local ethnic shop (one of these shops that sells all kinds of spices, fruit and tins of things you've never heard of) so do keep an eye out for it.
 

The wholemeal pitta (it's worthwhile using wholemeal as it adds to the nutty flavour and tend to stay softer than the white versions) has hummus and a home made raita - plus the chicken of course - inside of it.  Serving everything is the work of minutes to grill the pittas, then smear in some hummus, add the chicken pieces (a pair of tongs works very well here), drizzle over the raita and you're done.

I served them with some home made salt & pepper potato wedges and a watermelon & tomato chopped salad with a pomegranate molasses dressing, which provided a nice freshness.

Everyone loved these pittas - the heat of the curry spices, cool cucumber and mint together with the nuttiness of the pitta and hummus was a complete winner.

KASHMIRI SPICED CHICKEN PITTAS   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
3 dessertspoonfuls of goat yoghurt (or Greek yoghurt)
2 heaped tsp of mild curry powder
1.5 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder (or 1 tsp ordinary chilli powder)
half a tsp of Garam Masala
a pinch of sea salt
the juice of half a lime
4 wholemeal pitta bread
8 heaped tsp hummus.

For the Raita :

2 inch piece of cucumber, peeled and seeds removed, chopped fine
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped fine
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper
2 dessertspoonfuls of goat yoghurt (or Greek yoghurt).

Method :

1.  Mix the goat yoghurt, curry powder, chilli powder, Garam Masala, lime juice and sea salt together in a bowl.  Add the chicken chunks, stir to coat in the mixture and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2.  To prepare the raita, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for the flavours to get to know one another.

3.  Place the chicken pieces along with the remains of the marinade, onto a baking tray with sides, as there will be liquid produced as the chicken cooks.

4.  Cook the chicken at 200degC/400degF/Gas 6 for 25-30mins, until the edges are just beginning to char and the chicken is cooked through.  Half way through the cooking time, remove the chicken from the oven and pour the cooking liquid away.  Return to the oven for the remainder of the time.

5.  Grill the pitta bread and slit down one side.

6.  Spread 2 tsp of hummus onto one side of the pitta bread.

7.  Fill the pitta with chicken pieces, then drizzle with raita.

Serve the pittas with a side salad of your choice and salt & pepper potato wedges.

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

Today's dinner : a creation borne of a too-full vegetable drawer!

I decided to call this evening's dinner Chicken & Vegetable Pilaff, but it really - strictly speaking - is more of a "rice'n'stuff" than ever it is a pilaff.

It was all because our vegetable drawer in the fridge was beginning to groan under the weight of so many veggies.  This weekly veggie box delivery malarky is forcing us to use many more veggies than we would normally.  Now you might think that this is no bad thing, but I'm already getting grumbles about the personal veggie quota having been exceeded.

This dish involved a lot of cutting up of various veggies, but the cooking of it was fairly uncomplicated and went really rather well.

Start off by cutting up all your veggies into the correct size and shape, then put them on plates in order of appearance in the pan.

In a big old wok, heat some groundnut (or any oil really) oil to seriously hot, then slip in a couple of finely sliced skinless chicken breasts.  Add a grind or two of black pepper and cook until golden and just cooked through.  Remove to a good sized bowl.   Immediately add diced courgette and aubergine to the pan and cook that also until it is golden on at least two sides and softened.  Remove that to the bowl with the chicken.  A slotted spoon is great for this, as it leaves the oil in the pan.  Add a little more oil if you need to, then add chopped red onion and finely sliced chilli.  Cook until softened, then add two sticks of celery and half a yellow pepper, also finely sliced.  You don't want to be waiting hours for them to soften, you see, so the more finely you slice them, the better it is.  Cook until softened.  Then add 2 tsp of ground cumin, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, half a tsp ground allspice and 1 tsp of caraway seeds.  Stir this lot in and cook for a minute or two, then add four chopped good sized tomatoes, three cloves of finely chopped garlic and a whole heap of button mushrooms.  Add a good half teaspoonful of sea salt.  The tomatoes will cook down into a sauce-like consistency, whereupon you can add the contents of your bowl back into the mix.  Add a small handful of flaked almonds and allow the mix to simmer while the flavours combine and the tomatoes cook down.  After around 10 minutes, test for seasoning and add a little more salt if necessary.  Add a handful of thawed garden peas and some cooked rice.  Stir through and allow to heat up, then serve.

Well, the veggie drawer is a lot lighter now!
 

Frittering away - Gordon Ramsay's Sweetcorn Fritters

I don’t know about you, but I find I am becoming increasingly susceptible to suggestion.  No don’t go raising your eyebrows like that – not THAT kind of suggestion – I’m thinking more along the lines of suggestions regarding food.

For instance.  There we were, the other day, sat in the car outside the supermarket discussing whether to go for tiger prawns or chicken for our meal that evening.   Suddenly there’s a great waft of seaside fish & chips smell from some fast food joint or another.  There and then, we gave up all ideas of a healthy meal and were lusting after a piece of cod in golden crispy batter, chunky chips and lots of salt and vinegar.

In fact, common sense prevailed and we opted for tiger prawns and had a very acceptable home made curry – but that quiet yearning for crispy fish & chips is still there in the background.  Sooner or later it’s going to rear its ugly head in a moment of weakness.

I suppose a lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m continually working with food – be it looking for recipes, thinking about what flavours will go with what and considering what alternatives I can substitute in recipes I like but that have elements that I know wouldn’t suit our palates.  I can bring to mind what a flavour is like very easily once I’ve sampled it – so whenever a delicious aroma occurs, I am instantly analysing it for the component parts.

It’s the same with cooking shows on the t.v.  There are times when I can totally imagine how a finished dish would taste.  Now this is sometimes  very useful, as I can “tuck the recipe behind my ear” and bring it back out again when assembling the menu plan for the week.

Take this week, for example.  I had a little bank of five recipes that I’d accumulated for consideration.  Ultimately, I only went with two of them (a Chicken Buttermilk Stew and a Cumberland Pie), but we were also required to devise something yummy to go with a couple of interesting sauces that I’d managed to pick up en route.  Add that to a couple of dishes that had fallen over from last week – and bingo, the menu plan is done.

However, there are some occasions when something so apparently delicious and wonderful attracts my attention in a way that says “Eat me! Eat me now!” – and such was the case with Gordon Ramsay’s Sweetcorn Fritters – as demonstrated on his Ultimate Cookery Course show (Ch.4) a couple of weeks ago.

I paid attention to what he was using by way of ingredients, because I’m perpetually interested in what goes with what by way of flavours.  However, I didn’t exactly pay attention to the quantities.  So, when I eventually buckled and thought “I’m having those for lunch today”, I was a little bit stuck as there was no evidence of a recipe on the internet.

The recipe isn’t difficult – which might explain my being able to remember it.

You quite simply take a small amount of flour (around 100g) and add a small amount of baking powder (which I couldn’t be bothered to hunt for, so I used self-raising flour), an egg and a small amount of milk.  Whisk them together to form a fairly thick batter, then add a couple of sliced spring onions, a tin of drained sweetcorn, a chopped chilli and a small amount of freshly chopped coriander.  Add a little seasoning and fry gently in small spoon-sized dollops.

Fix yourself up with a pot of sweet chilli dipping sauce (or just tomato ketchup would do, in a pinch) and hey presto – lunch is served.

Now here’s your test.  Are you as susceptible to foodie suggestions as me?  Because those fritters are just To.Die.For.  So simple, so easy to make, relatively good for you too (especially if you use rapeseed oil to cook them in, as I did) – and they kept the hungry wolf away right up until dinner time.

I have a feeling that the fritter is going to become the new flan.  You may well be seeing many, many different versions appearing over the ensuing months!  After all, how’s about a griddled courgette, cherry tomato & feta cheese fritter?  Or a chorizo, potato & pea fritter?  Maybe even a curried chick pea and prawn fritter?

Uh oh!  That’s done it - where’s that frying pan?

(Previously published at Bournemouth Echo's Taste Section : "Jenny's Week" blog)

GORDON'S SWEETCORN FRITTERS   (makes approx 10)

Ingredients :

100g self raising flour
1 egg
2-3 tbsp milk
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally
1 chilli (red or green) seeds removed and chopped finely
a small handful of coriander, chopped roughly
326g tin of sweetcorn, drained
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp rapeseed oil.

Method :

1.  Into a bowl, place the flour, egg and milk.  Using a balloon whisk, mix them well until combined into a sticky, thick batter.

2.  Add the spring onions, chilli, coriander and sweetcorn, plus a little seasoning.  Stir until all the vegetables and herbs are covered with a light coating of the batter.

3.  Pour the rapeseed oil into a frying pan on a medium heat.  Once the oil is heated through, add tablespoonfuls of the fritter mixture - four usually makes a good number without cooling the frying pan and stopping the cooking process.

4.  Once the underside of the mixture has set slightly, spread the blob out a little and continue to cook until golden brown.

5.  Turn the fritter and press down with the back of the spatula, just for a moment or two.  Continue to fry until this second side is also golden brown.

6.  Place the fritters onto kitchen paper and keep in a warm place until they are all cooked, then serve with some sweet chilli dipping sauce - or whichever type of sauce you fancy!

Printable version

Chicken & bean enchiladas : the best enchiladas ever!

Which was how these enchiladas were described by both hubby and son.  In fact, hubby was even heard to mutter "eat your heart out, Thomasina Miers!" - which I take to be quite a compliment.

I can't take full credit for the recipe though, as the original version came from a BBC Good Food magazine - and you can see the original recipe online here.  For all that my version of the recipe is very similar, I did opt to develop my own spicing for them and, instead of using roast chicken legs, I cooked off two raw chicken breasts that had been lurking in my freezer, looking for something to do.

In fact, I am jolly pleased with this recipe. To explain, our butcher sells chicken breasts as 5 for £5. Ordinarily, I'm preparing a breast for each of us, which leaves the odd number of two. Invariably, these get added to the freezer and we buy another 5. So, to have a recipe that uses just two chicken breasts across a meal that satisfies 3 people, is marvellous.

As for the spicing, well, I object to having to pay 85p and upwards for a sachet of spice mix when I've invariably got exactly those spices - but individually - in my cupboard.  So, I had a good old look at the ingredients list on three different sachets and discovered that there was nothing involved in the pre-prepared spice mix that I didn't have.  I knew I had to provide a tablespoonful of fajita seasoning and I have had fajitas previously so I knew the sort of balance of flavours I was after.  My spice mix consisted of a flat teaspoonful of smoked paprika, three quarters of a teaspoonful of hot chilli powder, a rounded teaspoonful of ground cumin, a third of a teaspoonful of thyme and the same again of ground black pepper.  Having mixed all those in, the chilli effect wasn't quite as pronounced as I wanted, so I added a pinch of dried chilli flakes, plus some salt.  Perfect!

Ready for the oven

This really is simplicity itself to make.  I whipped up the enchilada filling before collecting son & heir from school, then when we returned, I filled the enchiladas, covered them with grated cheddar - and by the time I'd opened the sour cream, the salsa and made a little salad, the enchiladas had ten minutes left in the oven.  It really couldn't have gone any better.

If you're planning on cooking these for younger children who can manage a knife and fork but who don't have the track record of being able to cope with chilli, you can easily leave out the chilli flakes (which makes them mediumly spicy) and/or the chilli powder (which renders them mildly chillified).  The beans come in a chilli sauce which is very mildly spiced - so the enchiladas can be adjusted up or down, according to taste.

I enjoyed this dish very much.  For us, the spicing was perfectly balanced and could be adjusted up or down as you ate them by the addition of the spicy salsa or alternatively the sour cream.  I was initially sceptical about the inclusion of the kidney beans in spicy sauce, but I will admit that this ingredient made the dish.  Something else that made the enchiladas both interesting and added a slight crunch, was the addition of the sweetcorn.  I really liked the textural changes it brought and the additional little shots of sweetness.

Both hubby and son & heir were quite upset when they'd finished their two and half enchiladas - and were begging me to make them again, and soon.  The next time I have two chicken breasts looking for a home to go to, I think I will!

This blog post has been submitted to Ren Behan's "Family Friendly Fridays" competition :)

CHICKEN & BEAN ENCHILADAS  (makes 7-8)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
a red onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, grated

a flat tsp smoked paprika
three quarters of a tsp hot chilli powder
a rounded tsp ground cumin
a third of a tsp thyme
a third of a tsp ground black pepper
a pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional, for chilli heat)
a pinch of sea salt
2 skinless chicken breasts, diced finely
2 x 350g tins of red kidney beans in chilli sauce
198g tin of sweetcorn
corn wraps
100-150g grated mature cheddar

To serve :
200ml hot tomato salsa
150ml soured cream
some mixed salad.  

Method :

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

2.  Pour the oil into a frying pan and add the onions.  Cook on a low-medium heat for around 5 minutes, or until softened and beginning to caramelise.  Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so.

3.  Add the spices and salt and stir to combine.  Cook them, stirring all the time, for a another couple of minutes or until they begin to become fragrant.


4.  Add the chicken breast pieces and increase the heat slightly to prevent them from poaching.   Keep stirring and turning the chicken until it has all coloured.


5.  Add the kidney beans and sweetcorn and stir to combine.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes or so, to reduce the sauce slightly and allow the flavours to mingle correctly.


6.  Place a corn wrap flat onto a chopping board and add the chicken mixture horizontally along the centre line.  Take the side closest to you and wrap it over the filling, tucking it under the other side of the filling and so creating a filled tube.  Roll the wrap away from you, then lift it carefully into a baking dish, placing it with the join as the underside.  Continue until all the filling is used up.  Don't be worried about squashing them in!


7.  Sprinkle the top surface of the rolled wraps with cheese and place into the oven for 25-30 minutes.  Test that the centre wrap is hot enough, by piercing with the tip of a knife, then (carefully) hold the knife against your top lip.  You should not be able to leave the knife in contact with your lip for very long at all, if the Enchiladas are heated through properly.


8.  Serve with a hot tomato salsa, some soured cream as a coolant and some fresh salad.


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Prawn Patia and an unsuccessful Saag Bhajia.

I was really quite keen to try Anjum Anand's Prawn Patia recipe (from her book "I Love Curry").  My interest in the dish stems back to when I was courting my ex-fiance (some 34 years ago) and we would habitually go out for a curry on a Friday evening, after having spent some time in the local pub.

One such evening, said chap was feeling unusually generous and coughed up for a starter as well as a main course (we knew how to live, in those days!) and I indulged in a Prawn Patia on a chapati.

The memory of that dish - its colour and flavours - have obviously stayed with me ever since.  Which is more than can be said for the fiance, who blotted his copybook and got kicked to the kerb a very long time ago.

Hence, I was quite excited to find a recipe for Prawn Patia from such a trustworthy source.  I was ready for the end result to differ somewhat to the memory I had carried for so long, but as it turned out, it was remarkably close!

Which, as an aside, got me to thinking that a 34 year old English recipe almost certainly wouldn't taste similar these days!  It just goes to show how recipes handed down in other cultures have the ability to stay so close to their roots.  Mind you, I suppose a Roast Beef dish wouldn't be so different now to one roasted in Medieval times - provided we roasted it over wood, instead of in an electric oven.  Still, interesting, eh?

I will admit to getting a little bit frustrated with the recipe, as it seemed to involve a lot of creating a reduced sauce, then diluting it, then boiling to reduce it again - which seemed to be wasting an awful lot of time and energy.  However, in restrospect, if I had have measured the liquid accurately instead of by eye, I might not have experienced such a lot of "reducing the sauce".  (I couldn't find the measuring jug and didn't want to disturb hubby to come find it for me). I wound up with a sauce which was too watery, for two reasons.  One, because I needed to have more patience with the reducing of it and two, because the prawns I used were inferior and carried a lot of water.  Next time, I'll use the better type of prawns!  Can't guarantee having more patience, but I'll try, honest!

The flavours were lovely  - sweet, sour and spicy - and I can absolutely see how it would have been so close to the memory as to have been satisfyingly similar.

The Saag Bhajia, however, was a different story.  What I SHOULD have done, was take the recipe for the Saag Aloo and just left the potato out.  *sigh*  What I did, was find a different recipe, which sounded as though it would end in a Saag Bhajia that would be very like one from your local takeaway.  Wrong!

The end result was overcooked slimy spinach in a gritty mixture of spices that were way too hot for a bhajia.  Both hubby & son & heir tasted and immediately rejected their portions - and I could understand why.  I ate as much of mine as I could - after all, it was spinach and spinach is incredibly good on the Inflammation Factor scale, so I didn't want to lose that goodness.

I will have another go at the Patia, as on another (more comfortable) day and paired with a lovely saucy vegetable curry, it will be a completely different story.  As such, I recommend it to you - but be prepared to be patient with it!

PRAWN PATIA   Serves 3

Ingredients :

4 red chillies

4 tbsp sunflower oil

2 onions, chopped

3 large tomatoes, quartered

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp ground coriander

1½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp garam masala

salt to taste

2 tsp sugar

1½ tsp tamarind paste

400g raw prawns

handful fresh coriander, chopped.

Method:

1.   Heat the oil in a wok. Add onions and cook for 10-12 minutes until really brown.

2.  Place the tomatoes, garlic and chillies into a food processor and blitz until a paste.   (The tomatoes will make the paste more of a liquid than a paste, but ensure there are no big bits of ingredients left unblitzed).

3.  Add to the pan with the spices, salt & 350ml water.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring. The sauce will thicken and darken.

3.  Stir in the sugar, tamarind and a little more water if you think it needs it.  Bring to a boil until the sauce is very thick. Add the prawns and heat them through as quickly as possible, so as not to release too much juice into the sauce.  

4.  Taste and season and add more tamarind or sugar if required. Sprinkle with coriander.

Serve with a vegetable curry and steamed white rice.

Inflammation Factors (approx) for the Prawn Patia : 1786+ (595+ per person).

Saag Aloo - perfect accompaniment to a curry.

So there I was, plucking up courage to cook the Beef Rendang.  However, I knew that the Rendang didn't contain anything in the way of vegetable matter (well, except for shallots and chillis).  You know how I'm always keen to get some vegetables into my chaps, so I set out to find a recipe for an accompaniment that would complement the Rendang, whilst ticking off some of the all-important vegetable matter.

I knew the Rendang was likely to be saucy (ooh, matron!), so didn't really want another saucy dish for fear of swamping out the plate.  What was required was something like a bhajee - a fairly dry vegetable recipe.

There, on the My Dish website, I found a recipe for Saag Aloo which was attributed to someone called Renu.  Thank you, Renu, for providing the perfect accompaniment!

Now you won't be surprised to hear that I deviated from the original recipe somewhat.  After all, it'd be unusual if I didn't, hey?

Firstly, I couldn't find any frozen spinach in our local supermarket so bought the biggest bag of fresh spinach it was possible to buy - and wilted it in a dry pan at the beginning of the recipe.  To be honest, I think this was probably an improvement on the requirement for frozen spinach, as it wasn't all munched up and indistinguishable.  Even after being squeezed out between two plates (my Nanna's preferred method for removing the water from spinach or cabbage) it was still distinguishable as spinach leaves.  Plus, it just feels worthier to be using fresh spinach, even if it isn't.

The second deviation from the original, was that I added a chopped onion to the mix.  Now I can recall seeing and tasting fried onion in Saag Aloo that I've had from the takeaway and it didn't seem right to not include some.  I do appreciate that it may not have been authentic to include the onion, but I was going for "what we like" rather than "authenticity", on this occasion.

I also didn't have any asafoetida or any jaggery, so left the former out and substituted soft brown sugar for the latter.  It may have made a huge difference, but we were certainly happy enough with the results, so I think it worked.

The recipe was very acceptably simple to produce and I was perfectly able to conduct the trio of pans (Rendang, Saag Aloo and Rice) without getting all stressed and in a flap.

It was lovely to use the whole spices (mustard seeds and cumin seeds) and toasting them in the pan beforehand almost had me feeling like a proper chef.


One point worth noting is that, regarding the potatoes and because of hubby's hatred of the poor old things, I gave them three minutes in the microwave (with a small amount of water) once I'd diced them.  This just softened them down enough that once they went into the pan, they didn't take so long to cook and were at the stage of just beginning to break up by the time they were served.  Hubby declared that he wouldn't have wanted the potatoes again, but the spinach was fine.  Both he and son & heir cleared their plates though, so not only was this a vote of confidence in the recipe, but I managed to get an unfeasibly huge amount of spinach into the pair of them!  Result!


SAAG ALOO (serves 3)


Ingredients :


350g bag of fresh spinach, washed
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 knob of butter
1 onion, chopped fine
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced finely
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp soft brown sugar or jaggery
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chopped red chilli
1 tsp ginger paste
a handful of chopped fresh coriander.


Method :


1.  Gently heat a large wok, then add the fresh spinach.  Allow to wilt without browning and drain the excess water from the pan.


2.  Once wilted, place the spinach onto a plate and place another identical plate on top of the spinach.  Squeeze the two plates together, effectively squashing all the water from the spinach.  Once water has stopped running, set aside.


3.  Dry the pan and replace onto a medium heat.  Add the mustard and cumin seeds and occasionally toss, to toast them evenly.  You'll know when they're done as the cumin will darken, the mustard seeds will pop and the aroma will be fabulous.


4.  Add the knob of butter and onions and stir to combine.  Cook the onions for 4-5 minutes or until they are softened and just beginning to brown.


5.  Add the potatoes and a splash of hot water and stir to combine.  Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, so that the potatoes begin to take on a little colour.


6.  Add the garlic, turmeric, salt, sugar, ground cumin, ground coriander, chillis and ginger and stir to combine.  Allow to cook until the potatoes are tender.  You may need to add a little more water to encourage the potatoes to cook, but take care to not swamp the mixture.


7.  When the potatoes are done (and not before), add the spinach and fresh coriander and give everything a good stir to ensure the vegetables all have a good coating of spices.  Place a lid on the pan to help the vegetables to heat through and serve.


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Tuna & lemon pasta - one for when you're just too tired.

There are times in everyone's life when you're just too tired, or too sad, or just too meh! to cook, yet the desire for comfort food is warring with the desire to continue sitting where you are, quietly dissolving into further misery.

Well, this is the perfect recipe for one of those occasions - and what's more, quite apart from being so tasty it could bring a teensy glimmer of a smile to your face, it's good for you!

I have got to admit that I wasn't feeling either too tired, too sad or too meh! on Tuesday evening when I served this up for our dinner, but as a contender for "Pizza Tuesday" (when we're trying to ignite Son & heir's interest in foods other than those on his plate), it was perfect.

Son & heir, you see, has decided that tuna is one of those ingredients that shall no longer sully his particular plate.  "It's too dry!" he complained, the last time I served it to him.  (Although it would appear to be okay as tuna pasta bake.  Work that one out if you dare).

I'd bought him a Lasagne to have that night but he managed to finagle his way in to his friend's house where he had been invited to stay for tea, which left us to tuck into our pasta in peace.

Mind you, it wouldn't have been difficult to have made expansive gestures of delight and deliciousness over our plates of pasta, as the recipe really is quite lovely.  Hubby had only managed about 10 minutes of anticipatory napping, when the call to attention was made.  Quite literally, all you need to do is put four things into a bowl, two things into a saucepan of water - and you're done!  Just about enough time to warm up some plates.

TUNA & LEMON PASTA  (serves 2)

Ingredients :

350g pasta shells
200g pack trimmed fine green beans, cut into short lengths
200g can of tuna in olive oil
grated zest of a lemon
1 heaped tbsp baby capers
a generous pinch of chilli flakes
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for drizzling.

Method :

1.  Fill a large saucepan with water, add a pinch of salt and put on a high heat to boil.

2.  Cook the pasta according to pack instructions.  (Usually around 8-9 minutes).

3.  With around 3-4 minutes to go, add the beans and cook until tender (or until the pasta is done.  If you're dubious about timing these two correctly, just cook the beans in a separate pan).

4.  Into a bowl, tip the tuna (including the oil) and flake the fish gently.  Add the lemon zest, capers, chilli and a good helping of pepper.

5.  Drain the pasta and beans, return them to the pan and toss in the tuna mixture.  Stir gently to combine.  If the mixture is looking a little dry, add a drizzle or two of extra virgin olive oil.

Serve on warmed plates.

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Pepperpot Beef & Orange Stew

We had this for dinner on Sunday last.  As you'll know if you've been reading along for a while, I got bored with doing the same old roasts on a Sunday and went looking for more interesting recipes to try.

However, I think I'm going to have to ban myself from buying Brisket of beef for a while, as that seems to wind up being the meat of choice for a Sunday - and that's getting just as boring as doing the same old roast chicken!  In fact, I found myself hankering for a lovely pot-roast chicken, but that may also have something to do with the fact that my reservoir of chicken stock is running low!

Anyway, the reasons I chose to do this Pepperpot Beef & Orange Stew are as follows.  For starters, it's beef and oranges.  Now you don't often find those two in the same cooking dish.  Secondly, it involved mashed red kidney beans being used as a method of thickening the gravy.  An interesting idea and one which I was keen to try out.  Lastly, it had Caribbean overtones and I'm very interested in Caribbean cooking, as I really like the combination of meat and fruit which they are very good at.

So that all amounted to an interested "I'll give that a try!".

As a first go, it didn't turn out too badly.  I made one or two mistakes which I would remedy the second time around - and which have been incorporated into the recipe below.  For example, I used the aforesaid Brisket of beef rather than the braising steak that was originally suggested.  Do you blame me? There's a whole heap of difference in the price of the two!  However, that meant that the dish would require a minimum of 2 hours cooking and a maximum of 3 hours.  Regrettably, it never occurred to me that in that time the red and yellow peppers would have been cooked away to nothing more than an ingredient in the gravy/sauce, which was a shame.  It would have been nice to have had them more prominently in the dish.  As such, I have suggested adding them a lot later into the cooking process.


I was also a little leery of putting too much chilli in - and as it happened, I would have been absolutely fine to have included the seeds, rather than binning them.  I did test the chilli on my tongue (for heat), but couldn't have paid much attention to the result, as a) I don't remember it and b) if I had have done, I'd have included the seeds!


What you wind up with, is a casserole dish full of lovely tender beef in a thick pinky-brown gravy (that's the red kidney beans) that is multi-faceted in flavour and well worth the effort of making it.


PEPPERPOT BEEF & ORANGE STEW ( serves 3-4)


Ingredients :


700g brisket of beef, trimmed and cut into small cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
25g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 small red chilli, de-seeded (if it's a hot one!) and chopped
400ml beef stock
410g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small orange, cut into six wedges
1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and chopped
2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180deg C/Gas 4.


2.  Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick frying pan and add half the meat, browning all over.  Decant into a warmed casserole dish.


3.  Repeat the process with the second batch of meat, but when browned, sprinkle with the flour and add the tomato puree.  Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes without burning.  Decant the lot into the casserole dish.


4.  Give the frying pan a wipe out, then add the remainder of the oil and the onion,  ginger and chilli.  Cook gently until softened and golden brown - around 10 minutes.

5.  Take one half of the red kidney beans and mash them with a potato masher, then add them to the casserole dish, along with the whole beans.

6.  Add the stock and tip into the casserole dish, add the orange and stir to ensure everything is amalgamated.


7.  Cover the casserole dish and place into the oven for 1 hour.


8.  In the meantime, add the peppers to the frying pan and fry them lightly until just beginning to soften.


9.  At the end of the first hour, remove the casserole dish from the oven and give the contents a good stir.  Add the peppers and stir again.  Season, cover and replace into the oven for another hour and a half.


10.  Remove from the oven and test the beef.  If not tender enough, return to the oven for another half an hour.  You may need to add a little water at this stage, if the gravy/sauce has reduced too much.


11.  Once the beef is tender, remove and serve with rice and green peas with a blob of sour cream on the side.


Delicious!

Pork & Pepper stir-fry : yes, the one that wasn't, until it was!

I've talked about the menu list that I post up on our fridge every Tuesday, which tells the family what will be for dinner on each night that week.  I've also, very recently, talked about what I call various dishes, in order that the name doesn't set up a resistance with either son (or his Dad, sometimes!).

Well, this is the stir-fry that wasn't a stir-fry, until suddenly I was rumbled and it was.

I hadn't done a stir-fry for ages - and I really like them.  I have to admit that I much prefer stir-fries that contain more veggies than this, but I was attempting to strike a compromise with the veggie-haters amongst us.

I used the pork steaks from our butcher and trimmed off the excess fat.  I didn't give the fat to the dogs this time, but saved it until the next time I was using the oven, whereupon I roasted the bits to extract the fat for roast potatoes.  The roasted and crunchy pieces then went in the dog's dinner.  Better that they rest on their waistlines, than on mine, but I will admit to shedding a wee tear, at the time.

It was, interestingly, the first time I had dabbled with Jasmine rice.  It's really quite nice, isn't it?  Not a huge difference between that and ordinary white rice, but its fragrance is inviting and the grains are a nice size.


Something else that I hadn't done before, was to toast sesame seeds.  It's weird but sometimes I think that I've watched so much cooking t.v., that I think I've done something that it turns out I haven't - and toasting sesame seeds is one such.  It took longer than I was anticipating, but the fragrance they give off as they toast is mouthwatering.


The dish has a lovely (well, hubby and I both thought it was lovely) sweet and sour flavour that is down to the lime juice and honey.  The chilli gives it that nice back of the throat warmth, without blowing your head off.


It'll probably be some time, but I'm definitely doing this one again!


PORK & PEPPER STIR-FRY (serves 3)


Ingredients :


150g Thai Jasmine rice
1.5 tbsp sesame seeds
1.5 tsp sunflower oil
6 pork steaks or 400g pork fillet, sliced into finger width strips
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, sliced into fine strips
1 leek, cut into rounds
3 tsp cornflour
3 tsp soy sauce
juice of 1.5 limes
1.5 tbsp clear honey
1 red chilli, seeds removed and sliced.


Method :


1.  Place the rice in a saucepan with 450ml boiling water.  Bring back to the boil, stir once, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low (or "just on").


2.  Cook for 15 mins, stirring from time to time, by which time the rice should have absorbed the liquid and be perfectly cooked.


3.  Dry-fry the sesame seeds until toasted golden, then set aside to cool.


4.  Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok.  Add the pork (in instalments if needs be) and stir-fry for 5-6 mins over a high heat until the pork is lightly browned and cooked through.  Reserve to keep warm.


5.  Cook the peppers until they reach your favourite consistency - we prefer around 10 minutes or so.


6.  Mix the cornflour and soy sauce together in a bowl, then add the lime juice, honey, chilli and sesame seeds, plus 8 tbsp of cold water.


7.  Pour into the wok and immediately stir well, cooking until the sauce has thickened.


8.  Add the pork and stir or toss to ensure everything is coated in sauce.


Serve.


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Pork steaks with rhubarb : chinese style!

I guess that title has probably put at least 50% of you off reading this recipe, but if you got this far do please read on - it's very worth it!

Ruby - growing well, but before she went for world domination

I was very keen to make the most of the butcher's special offer regarding the pork steaks, plus Ruby our rhubarb plant has been growing like a proverbial weed and needed cropping.  You might think "main course and dessert", but if you're me, you think "how can I combine the two"?

I had a recipe for braised pork with plums which I'd been hanging onto with a view to making some day soon and, having had a bit of a review of it, began to consider the concept of replacing the plums with rhubarb.  There wasn't any other ingredient that would clash with the rhubarb and I felt that the astringency would sit well beside the pork and in place of the plums.

I had another potential area of difference with regard to the original recipe, over cooking time.  The recipe recommended cooking for 2 hours, although it was dealing with pork shoulder - and I had pork loin.  I knew if I cooked the loin steaks for too long, they stood the chance of being like shoe leather.  However, if I didn't give them long enough to render down any areas of fat (even following on from a judicious trimming), neither of my chaps would be able to eat it.  The saving grace, in this instance, was the oven temperature, which the recipe recommended at 140deg C (fan).  I reckoned that if I kept a lid on the casserole dish, at that temperature, covered in sauce, the steaks would (hopefully) come out without damage.  As it turned out, the meat was perfectly tender and without a scrap of fat to cause confusion and dismay.  (Thomas the Tank engine reference there - did you get it?)

There was also required to be some juggling where the timings for cooking was concerned.  It required two hours, so let's allow some three quarters of an hour preparation time (other people could do it quicker, but it takes time when you're sitting down for some reason), so probably three hours would see it right.  So, we would eat at 6pm so three hours would take us back to 3pm - the trouble is, I needed to be out at 2.30pm on an errand, which was right in the midst of prep. time.  The only thing for it, was to prep. the dish right up until the "putting in the oven" stage, minus the rhubarb, then put it in the oven when I returned - all of which worked like a charm.

I served the dish with plain white rice, but it was crying out for some vegetable involvement.  Next time - and there will be a next time - I'll cook some mushrooms with the pork and maybe some baby corn.  Perhaps I might even go mad and steam some Pak Choi to serve alongside.

CHINESE STYLE PORK STEAKS WITH RHUBARB (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

3 pork steaks or 800g pork shoulder, diced
3 tbsp mirrin or rice wine
3 tbsp soy sauce
2cm piece of root ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
a red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
a small onion, chopped fine
a star anise
1 heaped tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp granulated sugar
half a tbsp tomato puree
250ml chicken stock
2 large sticks of rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm chunks.

Method :

1.  Heat oven to 160deg C/140deg C fan/gas 3 (or not, if you're doing the two-stage preparation method).

2.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan.  Tip in the onions, ginger, chilli and garlic, star anise, five spice powder and cinnamon.  Fry until fragrant and soft.

3.  Stir in the sugar, then increase the heat and add the pork.  Turn in the oniony mix until the meat is just sealed, but not browned.

4.  Add the mirrin and soy sauce, tomato puree and stock.  Stir well and decant into a casserole dish and cover.  Then either place to one side to cook later, or place into the oven to cook for 1 hr.

5.   After the hour is up, remove from the oven and add the chopped rhubarb.  Stir well to combine, then replace in the oven uncovered, to cook for a further hour.

6.  At the end of that hour, if the sauce is still fairly thin (the rhubarb will have added to the juices as it cooks), simply separate the meat from the liquid then pour the liquid into a small saucepan and reduce until you're happy with its consistency.

7.  Pour the sauce over the meat and serve.

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