Spicy Hot Prawn & Apple Curry - friskier than a spring lamb!

I have had this recipe sitting waiting to be published since for ever, it seems.  The trouble is, you see, Christmas and new year got right in the way and I lost touch with reality.  *chuckle*  No, reality has always been right here - I just got distracted for a while.

So here you are all those people who were so keen to have the recipe.  I do apologise for the time it has taken.

The curry is a touch different from the norm in its use of apple, but it gives such a lovely fruity tang that goes so well with the tomato, tamarind, red onion and coconut. Some of those ingredients also give off a sweetness which somehow boosts the flavour of the prawns. Lots of savoury flavours as well, of course, from garlic, coriander, ginger, turmeric and the curry powder - which included a small amount of Tikka curry powder, prevent it from becoming too sweet and naturally the hot spiciness from the red chillis combined with the ginger and spicy curry to make this lovely light textured prawn curry super frisky! Not so frisky that it melts anything, but enough to clear the sinuses. Can't be bad!

SPICY HOT PRAWN & APPLE CURRY   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp plus a half tbsp salted butter 
1-2 red onions, depending on size, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
sea salt
ground black pepper
a quarter tsp of ground cinnamon
4 cherry tomatoes, diced
1 sharp eating apple (I used Braeburn), peeled, cored & diced small
3 tsp medium curry powder
1 tsp tikka curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
a pinch of dried red chilli flakes (to taste)
500ml hot water plus more as required
1 tbsp tamarind sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaf plus a little for garnish
half tsp honey (to taste)
325g cooked, peeled, cold water large prawns, defrosted and drained if pre-frozen
hot white Basmati rice to serve.

Method :


Melt the coconut oil and butter in a large frying pan and add the onions & garlic.  Fry on a medium heat until the onions are transparent and just beginning to caramelise and the garlic is fragrant.  This shouldn't take too long if the onions have been chopped finely enough.  Part way through the cooking, add the sea salt, black pepper and cinnamon and stir through.

Once the onions and garlic are cooked to your satisfaction, add the cherry tomatoes and apple and cook on until the tomatoes are beginning to soften and break up.

Add the curry powder, turmeric, ginger and red chilli flakes and stir through.  Cook on for about 5 more minutes, to allow the spices to amalgamate and lose their uncooked flavour.  Add the water, tamarind sauce and fresh coriander and stir through.

Cook at a simmer, stirring regularly, until the ingredients have all amalgamated into a sauce and the sauce has reduced to a good thick consistency.  This can take around 20 mins, perhaps a bit longer depending on how much juice the tomatoes had and how much water you added.

Taste the sauce for seasoning and add more salt, or black pepper, or chilli flakes as necessary.  Taste again and add the honey if required.  Stir everything through once more.

When you are happy with the flavour and consistency of the sauce, add the prawns and increase the temperature under the pan, to heat the prawns through.  You aren't looking to cook them as they've already been cooked - just heat them through to piping hot.

Serve the curry with the white basmati rice and sprinkle the remainder of the coriander over the top as garnish.

Printable version

Mexican rice - another aide memoire!

I have found the recipe for Mexican rice to be so useful - we have it a lot as accompaniment to all different types of protein - that I thought it was about time I gave it the credit it deserves and blogged the recipe!

Here's some examples of where I've used it ....

with Quorn Southern Fried (which get baked) flavour nuggets ...

with sausage incorporated into it ...

with a Mexican style baked lime chicken and side salad ...

with fajitas ...

and even with a fried egg & avocado, for lunch!

As you can see, it's a great accompaniment to all kinds of Mexican inspired dishes.  I love it - and it can be taken up a few notches with the addition of beans, or mushrooms, or peppers, anything you like really!  I tend, these days, to add a red or yellow pepper as a matter of course, anything to increase the vegetable intake of the menfolk.  They love the spicy flavours and the Mexicana cheese that melts on top, so any additional veg tends to just get eaten along the way.

If you can't find Spanish rice, paella or short grain rice is an acceptable substitute.  Oh and interestingly (well you might not find it interesting, but I thought it was!) and while we're talking about rice, I discovered today the difference between Mexican and Spanish rice dishes.  For ages I've thought they were one and the same, however it seems that the Mexican is red (because of the tomato) and the Spanish is yellow (because of the saffron and no tomato).  So there, now you know.  You'll thank me one day when you're at a pub quiz and that question comes up.  LOL

MEXICAN RICE   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 red onion, chopped finely
1 bell pepper (any colour), diced
10g butter
150g Spanish or Paella style rice
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp dried oregano
half a tsp ground cumin
half a tsp garlic granules
1 tsp chicken stock powder
half a tsp vegetable stock powder
freshly ground black pepper to taste
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
two thirds of the empty tomato tin of hot water
100g of Mexicana cheese, sliced finely
3 spring onions, sliced finely on the diagonal, as garnish.

Method :

In a deep saucepan or wok (non-stick is great), heat the rapeseed oil and add the onion and pepper.  Fry over a medium heat until the onion is soft and the pepper has begun to soften.

Add the butter and rice and continue to cook, so as to achieve a toasted effect on the majority of the rice.

Add the chilli powder, dried oregano, ground cumin, garlic granules, stock powder and black pepper and stir through.

Add the chopped tomatoes and a two thirds of a tomato tin of hot water and stir through.  Cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, over a slightly reduced heat, until the rice is 99% cooked and the liquid has reduced and thickened.  You may find you need to add a little more water before the rice is finally ready for the next stage.

Turn the heat off and lay the Mexicana cheese on the surface of the rice.  Sprinkle the spring onion over the top and replace the lid.  Some 10 minutes later, once the cheese has had time to melt, serve.

Printable version

Prawn & Pineapple curry - mmmnn, fruity!

Somehow or another, we've wound up with several little bits of things left over from dishes that either didn't happen, or where ingredients have been too much and a portion of them were put into the freezer "for another day".  One such is a tin of pineapple.  Somehow or another we've managed to accumulate two of them in the tin cupboard, which really is just one too many.

So I set my mind to pondering on what could be done with said pineapple. What it was supposed to be, was part of a salad.  However, England being what it is, the "too hot for anything but salad" days have gone for now and left me with a pineapple glut.  The obvious answer was to bake a pineapple upside down cake - and I wouldn't rule out the second tin being disposed of that way - but I'm afraid I just couldn't justify two cakes in quick succession.  No, I felt sure there was a savoury context I could use a tin of pineapple in - it was just a matter of deciding what.  Once again, the obvious is a sweet and sour chicken dish, but son & heir really isn't keen on that.  Which led me to thinking about the curries that involve fruit.  Our local Indian takeaway does a curry with pineapple and lychee, so I knew it was possible.

What goes well with pineapple, then?  Coconut.  Yep, that's perfect.  Chicken, or fish?  Prawns!  Yes, I believe I've seen salads with pineapple and prawns, so they have to be nice together.  A coconutty, pineappley, prawney .... um .... tomato?  Yes, that'd work, oh and I've got my new tamarind sauce, I could use some of that too!  Coconut cream would thicken it nicely and a combination of curry powders would provide depth of flavour.  And so, the delicious prawn & pineapple curry took form in my mind - and this evening, in my kitchen.

It really proved to be as good as I'd thought it would be.  To my taste buds, it was slightly frisky with chilli heat but for hubby and son & heir, they could have taken it a lot hotter so maybe next time I'll add a few red chilli flakes to just up the heat ante a little.  I could still taste the prawns (which was, for me, a desired result) and the pineapple juice as well as the tamarind sauce gave the curry a delicious acidity, together with - oddly - a degree of sweetness which a handful of peas helped along.

Now as for Cook's Tips, I have just the one which is to make sure that you add the cooked prawns at the very last minute, when you are just about to serve. They only take a twinkling to heat up and you definitely don't want them simmering in the sauce for longer than it takes for them to do that, or you'll have pink curls of prawn flavoured rubber - and nobody likes those in their curry.

So there you are!  The curry took me around 35/45 minutes to make, so it is a good one for an evening when you've not a lot of time or energy.  I really liked this curry and am looking forward to the next instalment of it!  

PRAWN & PINEAPPLE CURRY   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 heaped tbsp solid coconut oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
3 tsp medium curry powder
1 tsp tandoori curry powder
half a tsp ground coriander
quarter of a tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 large vine ripened tomatoes, cored and diced
pinch of sea salt
quarter of a tsp ground black pepper
110g tinned pineapple pieces, with juice
120ml hot water
1 tsp fish stock powder (or a low salt fish stock cube)
1 tbsp tamarind sauce (or 1 tbsp mango chutney)
15g coconut cream
a small handful of frozen peas
15g butter
250g cooked, peeled, cold water prawns.

Method :

Gently heat the coconut oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry, stirring regularly, until the garlic is a light golden colour and the onion has turned transparent.  This should take up to 10 minutes.

Add both the curry powders, coriander, cinnamon and turmeric and stir to combine.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until all trace of dry powder has gone.

Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well.  Cook until the tomatoes are beginning to soften, adding the sea salt & black pepper along the way.

Add the pineapple pieces, pineapple juice, water and fish stock and stir to combine.  Bring to a lively simmer and simmer to reduce the liquid by at least half.

Add the tamarind sauce (or mango chutney) and coconut cream and stir through until the coconut cream has dissolved and combined.

Add the frozen peas and butter and stir through.  You can now either simmer until the sauce has reduced to your liking, or add a little more hot water to thin the sauce to your liking.

Finally, add the prawns and stir through.  Continue to simmer until the prawns are heated through properly and serve in warm bowls with steamed white basmati rice.

Printable version

Bacon & tomato gnocchi bake

This unctuous, decadent and totally yummy dish is one of those "made it in the past, didn't get around to blogging it" meals that really should have been blogged long before now.

I've only made it twice (so far) and I'm sure it will appear on the menu again before too very long.

The first time, I added some veggies such as green and red pepper to the mix because I had them there and needed to use them up.  This time, I went with just the mushrooms and we all loved it on both occasions.

I would point out that the dish isn't, strictly speaking, a "bake" but more of a "grill" as you simply grill the sliced mozzarella to melt it and give it a little colour.   However, it really is by the by - I just thought I'd clarify in case you were puzzled by it.

I must be getting old, as the guilt over the calories involved (bacon, cream, cheese ... need I say more?) resulted in my serving it with a side salad instead of the garlic bread we had previously.  You know what?  I actually preferred it with the side salad.  At which all the men in the audience may now take a sharp intake of breath - salad being an anathema to the majority of man-kind, as I'm given to understand.  The majority of the laydeez may take this opportunity to nod wisely.

It was the contrast in textures, though.  The richness and softness of the gnocchi beside the freshness and crunch of the salad ingredients, just worked beautifully for me.

Not that it wasn't extremely good the first, garlic bread accompanied, time.  No, it was pretty darned horny (if you'll excuse the expression - borrowed from my husband, you understand) then, too.  In fact, I think it'd be fairly irresistible no matter how or when you served it.  I'd even give it a go for breakfast, it's that good.

Plus - and this is a big plus - it is another from the age-old and much favoured school of "chop and peel, put into a pan in order and serve" cooking.  Perfect for when you've spent all day chauffeuring your progeny around from school to concert hall, or just plain worn yourself out doing some retail therapy.  Assuming, of course, that the gnocchi is either already made and in your freezer, or already made and in a bag in your fridge.  Don't tell anyone, but mine was made by Mr Asda.  Their fresh gnocchi is very acceptable indeed.

If you've got any teenagers in the house, don't expect there to be any leftovers for lunch.  Even after a perfectly adequate serving with salad alongside, they will still find a corner for a little bit more.  I'm not sure, but I think son & heir may even have licked the plate.

As for COOK'S TIPS, it really is so simple that there aren't many.

Firstly, it is as well to use the best ingredients you can afford with this one.  The simplicity of the dish is such that if you use cheap tinned tomatoes (for instance), it's going to show.  For the sake of the few pence that's involved, go for the best you can afford.  It really is worthwhile.

Lastly, don't be tempted to use double cream.  Not even if you've got some left over in your fridge without a home to go to.  Buy some peaches and use it on them, if you must.  Single cream won't leave you with the clagginess that double will, when used in this context.  It really is a very rich tomato sauce - and extra fat is neither required nor welcome.

Either saladed or garlic breaded, this is a great one for a weekday dinner.  Your menfolk will thank you, either way.

BACON & TOMATO GNOCCHI BAKE   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
340g back bacon, diced
1 large shallot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
half a tsp smoked sweet paprika
6 good sized chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 large tasty tomato, chopped
400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
150ml water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
half a tsp finely ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp single cream
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
500g fresh gnocchi
2 balls of mozzarella cheese, sliced.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a large deep sided frying pan and once hot, add the bacon pieces.  Fry until the fat has begun to render and the pieces have begun to caramelise.  Do not allow to burn.

2.  Add the shallot and garlic and continue to fry until the shallot has softened and turned transparent.

3.  Add the two types of paprika and stir to combine.  Fry for another 30 seconds.

4.  Place a large saucepan of slightly salted water on to boil.

5.  Add the mushrooms and the tomatoes in all their guises, the Worcestershire sauce, water, sugar and black pepper.  Stir well, then allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine and the sauce to thicken and reduce.

6.  Once the sauce has reduced to a thick, chunky texture, remove from the heat and add the cream and parsley.

7.  Put the gnocchi into the boiling water.  Once they float to the surface (3 minutes, no more), they're done.  Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the tomato sauce.  Stir them in gently, making sure each gnocchi is coated with sauce.

8.  Place the sliced mozzarella over the surface of the gnocchi/sauce mixture and place under a hot grill.  Once the mozzarella has melted and begun to colour, you're ready to serve.

I served mine with garlic bread and on the second occasion, with a side salad.  The choice is yours!

Printable version

Tonight's dinner : Simon Hopkinson I might love you ...

Why this sudden devotion to Simon Hopkinson (he of "Simon Hopkinson Cooks" on the t.v.)?  Two words : Piedmontese Peppers.  I'd seen him make them on his t.v. programme and saw how much he enjoyed them and was attracted to the idea from way back then.  So when I had tomatoes and peppers in the same space, both looking for a job to do, I remembered the recipe.

This evening's dinner consisted of a gammon joint, pot roasted slowly in apple juice with a bouquet garni and black pepper, along with Piedmontese Peppers (half a capsicum pepper, with slices of garlic, half a tomato, salt & pepper and rapeseed - or olive - oil), almondy green beans, steamed carrots and potatoes, with gravy.

Those Piedmontese Peppers.  Well, I can't remember the last time I ate something that so rattled my cage with delight in the way these did.  The only trouble was - I was the only one!  Hubby wasn't keen on the skins of either the peppers or the tomatoes, although he liked the flavours apart from too much garlic.  He felt the garlic clashed terribly with the gammon.  Son & heir didn't even try his pepper, having had a little taste of the anchovy on top.  I was SO disappointed about that.

So.  The next capsicum pepper I get, is going to be made into Piedmontese Peppers and I'm going to eat them on a socking great chunk of toasted ciabatta for a totally awesome and amazing lunch.  Then I'll blog them - and try not to go on .. and on .. and on .. about how gorgeous they are.

Aside from that, the meat was tender and luscious - just so juicy, from being slow cooked in the apple juice.

It was the first time I'd made the almondy green beans, too.  It's a bit of a shame that I chose the same day to make the peppers, as without them overshadowing the beans, I'd have been waxing lyrical about how gorgeous the beans were!  Cooked normally (in boiling salted water), when you drain them, you melt a big old knob of butter in the hot pan then add the toasted almonds (I toasted them first in the same pan), put the beans back and warm them through over a low heat.  Gosh but they were good!

With the Vegibox's fabulous carrots which are so mild and sweet and their lovely robust potatoes, everything about this evening's meal just hit the spot with me.  It's just as well somebody liked it all!

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!
 

Spicy Chicken in Pitta Bread

Now, I'd love to be able to tell you that we made our own pitta bread to go with this spicy chicken, but alas no.  Maybe one day!

This poor old meal was started - in that I put the chicken into its marinade - quite some time before we actually ate it.  This was because Son & heir decided to offer his services (quite rightly) to his school for an open evening aimed at the parents of the new intake for this year.  As a result, we suddenly became pushed for time that evening, as we had to have him back at school all washed, brushed and presentable in (pretty much) the time it took to turn around.  So, for speed reasons - and only for speed reasons - we dived into Macdonalds and the boys had a burger and I had a sweet chilli wrap.  Those wraps are a bit of a lifesaver for me, as I really don't like burgers!

Then, on the following evening, Son & heir was invited out for a sleepover and wasn't in for dinner.  It seemed daft to be making a whole Broccoli & Goat's Cheese tart just for the two of us (which was previously booked in for that night).   So, instead of eating the pitta breads for lunch (as was the mark 2 plan) we moved them on to dinner time instead (mark 3 plan).

So hence, the chicken had been marinating for some 32 hours by the time I got to cooking it.  I'm a bit scared that, when I decided to do this recipe again, if I marinate the chicken for any less time than 32 hours, it won't be anything like as nice.  I guess we'll have to wait and see!

As a "simple to make" dinner, you'd have to go a long way to beat this one.  Once marinated, the chicken goes into a frying pan to cook.  In the meantime, you warm up some pitta breads, split them and coat the insides with a mixture of hoummus and greek yoghurt.  Then stuff with lettuce and tomato and add the chicken once it's done.  Easy!

The surprising part about the entire recipe was how filling the pittas are!  I made us two each and neither of us could get through the entire second one.  In future, I reckon one each, stuffed to the brim with chicken, accompanied by some chips or a small jacket potato, would be ample.

SPICY CHICKEN in PITTA BREAD (serves 2 hungry people, 3 moderately hungry people or 4 people with accompanying chips or couscous)


Ingredients :


3 chicken breasts, diced into small pieces
2 limes, juiced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
a small bunch of fresh mint, chopped finely
1 tbsp olive oil
sufficient lettuce for the amount of pittas you'll be making
a vine-ripened round tomato, diced small, per pitta
3 tbsp hoummus
3 tbsp greek yoghurt
pitta breads, recommend 1 per person.

Method :

1.  To marinade the chicken, place the lime juice, cumin, coriander, turmeric and mint into a bowl and mix to combine.  Add the chicken pieces and stir to make sure each piece is liberally coated in the marinade.  Cover and place in the fridge until you are ready to proceed.


2.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken and marinade plus seasoning.  Cook on a high heat until the chicken has taken on some colour and is cooked through, with no evidence of any pinkness at all.


3.  In a small bowl, combine the hoummus with the greek yoghurt and season to taste.


4.  To assemble, lightly toast the pitta bread then split it down one side.  Coat the inside of each pitta with the hoummus mixture, then stuff with the chicken, lettuce and tomato.


5.  Serve.


.