Tonight's dinner : I cut my finger - does that make me a cook, now?

There is a train of thought in amongst the Shamanic fraternity that it takes a near death experience (preferably with lightning) in order to make a Shaman.  So, I was wondering whether nearly taking the top of your finger off on a mandolin, qualifies you as a Cook with a capital "c"?

I'll go with a "yes", I think.

I was slicing parsnips and squash (beautiful parsnips and squash from thevegibox.com), to make this creamy parsnip & squash bake.  Poor hubby and son & heir came back from walking the dogs, to find me hyperventilating whilst holding my right hand in the air with my little finger swathed in kitchen paper.  Yes, it did leak - copiously.  However, with the addition of a dressing, a plaster and a latex glove, I soldiered on like the brave likkle Cook that I now am.

Now, this 'ere bake very definitely deserves its own recipe post - so watch this space and it shall appear.  It was utterly delicious, incredibly moreish and comfort food to the Nth degree.  Like so many of my favourite recipes, it was so easy to make too!  (Well, not counting the first aid requirement).

I partnered the bake up with some honey & mustard chicken (gorgeous) together with some  steamed young carrots and rainbow chard from thevegibox.com.  This was our first go with chard as a side veggie and combined with the cooking juices from the chicken, it was really good.  It didn't taste how I was expecting it to - it has a definite spinach quality, whereas I was expecting more of a cabbage quality.  Very nice!

The chicken was rolled around in some runny honey that I'd combined with Dijon mustard, a little dried thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper.  It baked up well and provided some lovely juices that stood in well instead of having to make a gravy or jus.

The whole family enjoyed the meal and there were clear plates all round.  Can't ask for more than that!

 

Today's dessert : Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie

I first made a Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie around 3 or so years ago.  I hadn't heard of the combination prior to this and it was due to the glowing recommendations of my friends from across the pond (USA & Canada, that is) that I tried it out.

Well, since then it has become a yearly favourite.  When Ruby is at her peak (and you never know, we may even get two of them this year as RubyTwo is almost as big as her Mum now) we find a punnet of the last few English strawberries and get to it.

Hubby found one such punnet in the supermarket the other day (on special offer, so even better!) and I set to with pastry and egg wash, this morning.

The flavour from Ruby's rhubarb and gorgeous English strawberries is quite sublime, however there has been a leetle problem in the past, in that the fruit generated far too much juice.  This time, I combined a couple of spoonfuls of cornflour with the fruit and hey presto - problem solved.

I am pretty confident that this year's pie is by far the best I've ever made.  The recipe is available from http://jennyeatwellsrhubarbginger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-why-havent-i.html and I have updated it to include a couple of new processes that ensure a crisp bottom layer of pastry.

Ruby in her second year - she's 6ft tall now!

If you have rhubarb growing - or know someone who does, do make this pie.  It really is something very special.
 

Tonight's Dinner : An oldie - Slow Cooker Split Pea & Ham Soup

Well.  I don't think that was half bad.  We bought the gammon join for Sunday's dinner (remember?  Gammon with Piedmontese Peppers?) then we had Ham Egg & Chips last night and this evening, we finished off the £7.50 piece of gammon with a home made Split Pea and Ham Soup.  Roughly £2.50 per meal over the three days for the meat content.  Very nice too.

 

The soup was an absolute dream to make, it was so easy.  I didn't follow anyone's recipe in particular, but read several different recipes (not all of which were for Pea and Ham soup!) for inspiration and just winged it after that.  What made it so easy was the use of my slow cooker (or crockpot) - although if you don't have one of these paragons, you can easily make the same soup on the cooker top in less time with a little more stirring and watching of liquid levels.

I used my favourite Essential Cuisine stock - 1 tsp vegetable stock powder and 1.5 tsp veal stock powder in 1 litre of water.  Now Essential Cuisine stock is naturally low in salt, but if you decide to use stock cubes - do beware of the salt content and definitely use a low salt version.

Hubby declared it to be "proper gorgeous, proper delicious", which I take to be high praise.  Son and heir decided it was a little too salty for his taste (which was odd, as I hadn't used any salt at all!).  I thought it was quite the nicest pea and ham soup I'd had in a very long while.  We ate it with some nice Cheese & Pickle crusty bread from Asda.

SLOW COOKER SPLIT PEA & HAM SOUP  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 onion, chopped finely
2 sticks of celery and a few celery leaves, chopped finely
2 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthways and sliced thinly
1 medium potato, diced finely
2 rashers of back bacon, diced finely
1 tbsp of finely chopped fresh parsley
2-3 bay leaves
1 litre very hot stock of your choice (see note above)
250g dried, unsoaked, yellow split peas
freshly ground black pepper
a large knob of butter
6 slices of ham leftover from a gammon joint, cut into fine shreds.

Method : 

1.  Place all the ingredients except the pepper and the butter into the slow cooker and stir to combine.

2.  Turn the slow cooker to High and cook for 5 hours, or Medium and cook for 6-7 hours.

3.  Half way through the cooking time, remove the lid and give the contents a stir.

4.  Add a good pinch of black pepper and stir through, then replace the lid.

5.  At the end of the cooking time, mash the contents roughly with a potato masher.  Do not use a blender, as it will turn your soup into a puree.

6.  Add the shredded ham and stir through.

7.  Remove any bay leaves you can find and add the butter.  Allow it to melt and stir it through, then taste for seasoning and add more freshly ground black pepper if necessary.

Serve, with a little of the shredded ham and some freshly ground black pepper on top for garnish and crusty bread for dipping.

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!

Tonight's dinner : BBQ Sausages, cornbread and salad

I haven't made cornbread for ages - but suddenly had a mad fancy for it.  Hence when The Vegibox delivered a couple of lovely chunky cobs of corn, it seemed like the perfect time.

Along with the corn, this week, they also delivered a bag of delicious salad leaves and some deep scarlet salad tomatoes.

Well, the menu just wrote itself after that.  Lovely chunky pork sausages coated in our favourite Mic's Chilli El Loco BBQ sauce.  Happy days!

So, the corn went into the cornbread which son & heir loved.  The salad leaves and tomato went into a little side salad (and really were a cut above anything you'll ever get from a supermarket) - and the gorgeous sausages were basted regularly with the BBQ sauce .. a match made in heaven.

Today's dinner : Medicinal Shepherd's Pie

I've said before - many times, I suspect - that Shepherd's Pie is, to me, more of a medicinal thing than simply a comfort food thing.

I've been hankering after a Shepherd's Pie for a little while but the weather has just been wrong for the making, not to mention the eating, of one.  So when things cooled down a few degrees and I found myself with a pack of lamb mince (because the Pilaff should have been lamb instead of chicken - I took the wrong thing out of the freezer!) and both hubby and I had tender tummies, it was an easy choice.

Not just any old Shepherd's Pie, though.  If I was going to go to all the time and effort of making one, I was going to make my Really Lamby Shepherd's Pie.  Click on the name there and it'll take you to the recipe - for me, it's the ultimate in Shepherd's Pie recipes.

Just look at that beautifully baked top. Mmmmn.

Now I will admit that the whole recipe lives or dies on what stock you use.  Because the big gravy granule producers (Knorr, Bisto etc.) haven't seen fit to produce a lamb version, (or if they have, I haven't found it) the gravy for this production has to be based on a lamb stock.  Now Knorr do make a lamb stock cube, but it is frightfully salty.  A far better idea is to use Essential Cuisine's utterly fabulous Lamb Stock powder.  Nowhere near as salty as standard stock cubes, it has a rich deep lamb flavour and leaves you to add how much or how little salt you want/need.

I served mine with Vegibox's gorgeous carrots, along with some broccoli and peas.  Don't forget to use the broccoli stem - it's just as nice as the fluffy bit!

You know, there's no hope for me.  Because, as I have been tidying up the photographs for this blog post, my mouth has been watering.  I only stopped eating dinner about an hour ago!  I'm not hungry (not at all), it's just that it looks so good!  Mind you, I wasn't feeling so chipper by the time the veggies were in the steamer and I'd spent the previous two hours cooking the Shepherd's Pie.  I looked rather like this .... worn out and ready for a nap!

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!
 

Today's dinner : a bit of a buffet!

As a friend on Facebook said when he saw the photograph of this evening's dinner, "you can't beat a bit of a buffet".

Son and heir's pal was staying over another night and so, we thought we'd lay an a High Tea.  We haven't done one for a long old time and it's one of Son & heir's favourite meals, so it was about time.

Hubby is always responsible for the putting together of a High Tea and he always does something additionally to what we've decided.  Today's bonus yumminess were Ants on a log (celery sticks with peanut butter and sultanas) and what should have been just Philadelphia cream cheese on Ritz crackers, but which turned out to have shards of bacon too!

So, what we had were prawns in soft rolls, sausage rolls, pork pies, marinated beetroot, the aforesaid crackers and logs, mature cheddar cheese cubes, Austrian smoked cheese, BabyBel mini cheeses, cherry tomatoes, vegetable crisps, Piccalilli, pickled peppers and pickled onions.

For dessert - if you could fit it in - was a strawberry gateau.  The only thing home made here was the sauce that the prawns were in, but am I embarrassed?  Nope.  Everyone has to have a day off!
 

Today's dinner : An emergency Sicilian!

Son & heir's plans changed suddenly and instead of being out this evening, he and a friend were going to be in for dinner after all.  This meant that what we had planned to have - a night off from cooking, complete with prawn cocktail baguettes - was abandoned and I had to get thinking about what to make instead!

It had to be something easy, with not much preparation, as following on from a busy and slightly stressful day yesterday (yes, going out for lunch is stressful, these days), I knew I'd be feeling it today.

Good old pasta.  You can't go wrong with it, it's so easy to make - whatever you put with it!  I decided upon the Sicilian Pork Ragu with Chocolate that we all love.  All you need to prepare is an onion and some basil, so it was perfect.  You can find the recipe for this quick and stress-free lovely at http://jennyeatwellsrhubarbginger.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/sicilian-pork-ragu-with-chocolate-co.html

The ragu was a little wetter than usual, largely because the pan decided to act like Mount Vesuvius and send little super hot globules of sauce flying in all directions.  I'm really not sure why this one decided to do that and others haven't, but it made simmering the sauce virtually impossible.  I really must buy a splatter guard.  I don't really want to go and see the state my cooker is in!

Dessert was a shop-bought lemon tart with additional raspberries - and hubby went a bit mad with the squirty cream and sprinkles.  He reckons everything is made better by the addition of sprinkles.  He may even be right!

Today's dinner : lunch at the Three Tuns, Bransgore!

 

We haven't had dinner today - we had lunch instead!  You may remember we went to the Three Tuns a few years ago and were so impressed by the quality of cooking and service.  You can find the account of our fabulous lunch here.

So, when my parents suggested meeting up there again for a belated birthday meal, they didn't have to ask twice!

If ever you find yourself in the Bransgore area of the New Forest - go.  It's not cheap, but it's not the most expensive place either and the quality is just second to none.  Now, what did I have?

Starter : deep fried battered Mudeford Cuttlefish with a garlic and saffron mayonnaise.  (Mudeford is a local fishing village).  This was the first strike from my foodie bucket list.  I've never had cuttlefish before (or squid, or octopus) and this was just lovely.  In a lovely light batter, the fish was as tender as could be, with a delicious gentle flavour that the garlic & saffron mayonnaise didn't wipe out.  I could have eaten a whole lot more of this!

Main course : Trio of game, which was a pigeon breast, a saddle of venison and a rabbit filled suet crusted dumpling, served with pak choi, asparagus and Dauphinoise potatoes all of which was sat in a delicious puddle of red wine jus.  The additional vegetables were romanescu cauliflower, golden cauliflower, blue carrots, mange tout and green beans.  Strike two and three from my foodie bucket list, with the pigeon breast and venison!  Now, the pigeon breast was as tender as could be, sweet and succulent.  The venison had BIG flavour, but was utterly consistent in texture and quality - and so moreish.  However, the surprise was the little rabbit suet pudding, which was just to.die.for.  Not one piece of rabbit was dry or overcooked, it was mixed with carrot and celery and was just utterly heavenly.  The Dauphinoise potatoes were just gorgeous and the veggies were lightly cooked but hot and just so tasty.  The whole thing was just worth every penny of its £17.95.  If I could have got away with licking the plate, I would have.

Dessert : Plum and almond tart with clotted cream.  The plums were sweet but mouthwateringly tart and the almond base had a frangipane-like texture.  The flavour of almond had got a tiny bit lost somewhere along the line, but the crisp pastry and the whole flavour combination was extremely satisfying.  Gorgeous.

Of special note, were the faggots that hubby had as his starter.  "Faggots with braised lettuce" was the description, but let me tell you that these faggots were like none I've ever tasted before.  An incredibly complex combination of flavours went into these little babies and the broth with the vegetables and the lettuce were just divine.  I'd very much like to know what went into them!  :)

I was sorely tempted by the Oxtail and Dorset Snail Suet Pie - but then my Dad would have had to have sat at a different table, if I'd have eaten snails (which would have been another strike from my foodie bucket list), so I rejected that choice.  *chuckle*

Well done, The Three Tuns.  We're demanding diners, I know, but yet again you pulled it out of the bag for us.  Wonderful stuff.

Last but not least, thank you to my fabulous parents for inviting us out.  You're just lovely, you are!

 

Today's dinner : Indulgent potatoes and pesto chicken

Owing to the Vegibox deliveries - which are a weekly delivery of locally grown fruit and vegetables - we have had something of a potato glut in the house.  Now this is very okay where myself and son & heir are concerned, but not so good for hubby - who would see all potatoes fired into the face of the sun, if he had his way.

So this has set me the difficult task of trying to find potato dishes that hubby either does like (one in a million) or might like (even rarer).

I remembered that I cooked a dish of scalloped potatoes that he enjoyed - and reported that he really quite approved of - so I decided to go there again.
 

Looks good to me!

Scalloped potatoes (well, my recipe anyway!) involves slicing the potatoes very thinly and laying them in a dish interspersed with finely cut celery and grated garlic and pouring over a concoction of milk, cream cheese and cream.  Bake in the oven for the next hour or so until the potatoes are soft.  So very indulgent!  Definitely not something to have more than once a year!  I paired them with some chicken that had a layer of green pesto through the middle - just for a bit of added flavour - and was then roasted with a little butter on top for around 30 mins at 180degC.  A final flourish of steamed carrot, broccoli, peas and a little gravy rounded off the plate.

Myself and son & heir loved it - poor hubby was less than impressed with both the potatoes and the chicken.  Oh dear.  I'll try to do better next time!

For dessert, son & heir and myself had our current favourite thing - little pre-packed jellies with fruit inside.  Our choice this evening, was orange flavour jelly with mandarins.  They are so refreshing - and just a few spoonfuls big.  They really hit the spot.

Tuesday's dinner : comfort food!

I've decided to start a little, "in between" feature.

Between recipes, I thought I'd post up what we had for dinner that night.  Just a quick post, with a couple of photographs at the most, with a view to helping those of you who are a bit lost for inspiration, not to mention people like me who just like to look at photographs of yummy dinners!

Now I won't be doing this for EVERY meal we have - the Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger facebook page is for that!  Just ones that I think you might be interested in.

Do - please - let me know if you don't like this feature, or if it irritates you, won't you?  Good, thanks!

So, what did we have for dinner tonight?  Well, hubby was in charge in Risotto Chef mode.  Using the lovely carrots from our Vegibox delivery (I'll tell you about that very soon) he made a gorgeous carrot, bacon & courgette risotto that was just the last word in comfort food.  He grated the carrot and the courgette and used some julienne of carrots in the scrummy Essential Cuisine vegetable stock to increase the carrotty flavour.  Light and fresh flavoured, it was one of those dishes that I could have kept eating for as long as the plate or my tummy lasted.  Fantastic.

I polished off the last of the rhubarb with a spoonful of Cornish vanilla ice cream and son & heir had chocolate sauce with his, for dessert.  So deliciously sinful!  :)

Oven baked honeyed rhubarb

Such pretty colours.

We have two large rhubarb plants in our garden.  I've mentioned them before, I know, but for those who are new to them, we have the original Champagne rhubarb known as Ruby - plus her daughter, Rubytwo.  I'm sure I've said before how they appear to be planning world domination and I am still of that opinion.

They occupy two planters on the edge of our patio area and currently, you can't actually see down the garden because of them.  Ruby is around 4-5 feet high and Rubytwo is getting there!  We were going to crop Ruby just before the hot weather hit us - and I'm thankful that we didn't.  The huge leaves that both Ruby and Rubytwo had grown were perfect for shading them from the unrelenting sunshine and I'm sure Ruby would have suffered if her corm had have been open to the elements.

Of course, because of the sunshine and heat, both plants lost a little bit of vigour and we didn't want to crop them until they had recovered.  Now, however, several good rainfalls have gone by and they're back on juicy form.

Good enough to eat.

So - time to get a sharp knife out there and crop some rhubarb.

I will be making rhubarb jam - as ever - but before then, I wanted to have some rhubarb to eat with Greek yoghurt, or ice cream or even cream if we've got any.  However, I'm not so keen on the stewed rhubarb approach as you lose the definition of the rhubarb pieces and just wind up with mushy strands.  Tastes okay - but doesn't look particularly attractive.

I had cooked rhubarb in the oven in the past and so decided to go down that route today.  I packed a lasagne dish with four huge stalks cut into pieces - there were several layers - and sprinkled with a little sugar.  I didn't want to use all the sugar they would need, as I had a mind to add something sweet at a later date when I could taste as I went along.  That way, I didn't run the risk of over-sweetening as you do when you're just guessing at it - as with stewed rhubarb.

The pieces stayed wonderfully whole and although the rhubarb did create some juice, being uncovered as it cooked helped to keep the juice to a minimum and so leave the pieces whole.

With Greek yoghurt - mmmmn!

Once the rhubarb was almost cool, I stirred in some runny honey and with a sudden stroke of sheer genius (if I say so myself!), added a teaspoonful of orange flower water.  Between the honey and the orange flower water, they transformed the rhubarb from something that was good, to something that was very special.  I just love how the addition of two separate ingredients can do that to food.

The four huge stalks made enough for 5-6 desserts with Greek yoghurt, cream or ice cream.  I almost can't wait until dessert.  Try it - I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I've even put some on my morning bran flakes.  Makes for a very zingy start to the day!

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OVEN BAKED HONEYED RHUBARB  (serves 5-6)

Ingredients :

4-5 large sticks of rhubarb, washed and chopped into 1cm pieces
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1-2 tbsp runny honey
1-2 tsp orange blossom water.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 160degC/325degF/Gas 3.

2.  Place the rhubarb and sugar - without any water - into the lasagne dish and toss so as to let the sugar coat the rhubarb pieces.  Arrange the rhubarb into a roughly even layer or layers.

3.  Cook uncovered in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove and give the rhubarb a gentle stir so that each piece is moistened by the juice.

4.  Replace and cook for another 20 minutes, then remove and leave to cool.

5.  When almost cool, add the honey and orange flower water and stir through gently.

Serve with Greek yoghurt, cream or ice cream.

Printable version

Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry

It had been a while since I'd made a curry from scratch when I decided to do this one.

Oh for sure we'd had curry, but they were usually "quickie" versions using a curry paste from a jar, as opposed to concocting the spicing myself.  I thought it was probably about time I had another go at it, before I forgot how to do it altogether!

Chicken was the obvious - and most forgiving - choice of meat to use.  You'd have to go some to let the meat spoil a curry using chicken, whereas with a prawn curry you can wind up with it being too thin and watery with leathery prawns and a beef curry is rife with problems such as the beef not being tender enough.  So, in order to concentrate on the spicing and not have to worry about the meat, chicken was the best option.

I'd decided to use sweet potato as the vegetable input.  It had been a while since we'd had sweet potato and it was an apparently good choice with chicken, as I'd seen a number of recipes for it in my travels.  I know that hubby likes a sweet curry, because his choice from the takeaway is often one of the sweeter curries, such as Pathia or Dhansak.  Anyway, sweet potato is very good for you, so I didn't need any further encouragement than that.

Hubble, bubble, curry on the way!

I didn't have any particular direction in mind for this curry, other than "sweet" and "not coconutty".  We've been having a lot of curries that utilised coconut milk and so I was keen to get away from that style - for a change.

As a result, I sort of built this curry as I went along.  Now I know - from bitter experience - that this can often result in disaster.  However, this time, I managed to rein in my more random impulses to put a bit of this in or a bit of that in - and kept it logical.  In the back of my mind I had my friend Jasvinder Singh's Facebook page - The Food Court - playing back to me all the curries he has posted to it, their methods and spices particularly.  I honestly think that I have learned an enormous amount from him as regards spicing curries, not to mention what I've learned from watching Yotam Ottolenghi's bold spicing of his food.

Interestingly, I knew this was going to be a great curry from a very early stage.  In fact, I think it was as early as the cooking the onions.  The combination of onion frying in groundnut oil with the addition of the cinnamon sticks, just smells so fabulous.  Each additional ingredient just made it better, until a taste confirmed that yes - this was going to be a great curry.

The nice thing about this curry is that you can decide just how chilli hot you would like it to be by reducing or increasing the chilli, or how thick you like the sauce by cutting out the reduction part.  Any type of vegetable would do well with it, too.  No need to keep to sweet potato.  Chuck any little homeless vegetables in there and it will give them a very good job to do.

In fact, so good was this curry that hubby was heard to declare that it was nicer than any of the takeaway curries we've had since being in Dorset.  In your face, Heart of India!  *chuckle*  All of which is an amazing accolade of course, except that it now means it's going to be even more difficult to convince him to go for an Indian takeaway - and that's difficult enough as it is!

CHICKEN & SWEET POTATO CURRY   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

3 tbsp groundnut oil
1 onion, thickly sliced and 1 onion, chopped finely
2 cinnamon sticks 3" long
pinch of sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 hot red chilli, chopped (including seeds)
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 heaped tsp ground cumin
2 heaped tsp ground coriander
half a dessertspoon of Madras curry powder
half a dessertspoon of Garam Masala
1 tsp paprika
2 heaped tsp ground turmeric
2 small sweet potatoes, cubed small
3 chicken breasts, sliced and chunked
500ml chicken stock (I used Essential Cuisine chicken stock powder)
1 dessertspoonful of Kasuri Methi (fenugreek) leaves
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp full fat plain yoghurt
10g butter.

Method :

1.  Add the  groundnut oil to a large wok or deep frying pan.  Heat until a slice of onion causes the fat to pop and spit, then add all the onion and stir fry until lightly golden brown.  Part way through, stir in a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper plus the two cinnamon sticks.

2.  Reduce the heat, and add the garlic and chilli, continuing to stir fry for another minute.

3.  Add the tomato puree, ground cumin, ground coriander, curry powder, Garam Masala and paprika.  Stir through and continue to cook until the moisture has all left the tomato puree mixture and the oil is visible around the edges.

4.  Add the ground turmeric and stir through, then increase the heat and add the sweet potatoes and chicken pieces.  Continue to cook until the chicken has turned opaque but isn't cooked through.

5.  Add the chicken stock and gently stir until completely combined.  Add the fenugreek and stir through, then leave to reduce and develop the curry sauce.  Stir every five minutes or so, to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

You should see the sauce turn from a fairly watery mixture, to a thickened and proper curry looking sauce, albeit still slightly thin.  The content will have reduced by just over half and the sauce should be coating the sweet potatoes and chicken nicely.

6. Taste for sweetness and salt - the sweet potato will be pretty much cooked by now and releasing its sweetness into the sauce.  Add sugar if necessary until you achieve the kind of sweetness you like and if necessary add a pinch more salt.

7.  Stir in the plain yoghurt and mix in quickly.  Don't panic if it appears to split, as it will melt into the sauce in the last few minutes of cooking.  Add the butter and allow to melt.  Continue stirring and simmering - and reducing - the sauce (as the addition of the yoghurt will have liquified it a little) until you are happy with its consistency.

Serve with some steamed white rice.  

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