Friday 7 September 2012

Sweet Chilli Chicken Noodles


After watching the BBC series Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure, with Ken Hom and Ching-He Huang (or, as Billy calls, "that dad and the girl"), I was inspired to do a bit of Chinese cooking myself. Well, I say "Chinese" but I'm in no way claiming this to be a traditional Chinese recipe. It's just something I thought would work well.

Not all Chinese cookery involves strange long list of ingredients. This recipe certainly doesn't, and can be cooked in 5 minutes flat.

Monday 20 August 2012

Beef Biryani


This is a rice-based curry dish that is cooked all in one pot. So there's not much washing up to do afterwards. A totally good thing when I've got a week off work to do other things...

Yesterday we went to Winchester, where I did my Fine Art degree. This would've been made a great little picnic meal, but our decision to go was only made first thing in the morning, so there was absolutely no time to do anything.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Thai Red Chicken Curry


Today's been a busy day, with eating a hog roast barm and buying ox cheeks at the Southsea Food Festival to watching the Olympic torch go past my flat. The hog roast was run by the same people that do the farmers' market... I get one every time and the lads recognise me now. I'm hoping that means I'm now a regular and get extra crackling.

Saturday 30 June 2012

Almond and Chocolate Tartlets


Last week I bought myself a Kenwood Chef. Not as good looking as a KitchenAid, but it's performance is better (I realise that may sound a bit bias). And, after giving it pride of place in my kitchen I was itching to use it.

Now, I've got loads of ground almonds in the cupboard, so the challenge was to find a recipe that meant I could use both the almonds and the Chef. Luckily, my Mum and sent me some food magazines that I subscribe to, but hadn't changed the delivery address yet. In Delicious., happened to be a recipe for Amandine Tart - basically a fancy Bakewell Tart without the jam.

Saturday 23 June 2012

Homemade Pizza

I definitely need to make pizza from scratch more often. Making pizza dough is just about as satisfactory as making bread, but without the long wait. As far as toppings go, you can pretty much choose what your heart desires. Next time, I thinking of cracking an egg into the middle.  

My recommendation for toppings? Keep it simple. Don't overload it. Use mozzarella. 

Sunday 17 June 2012

Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing


A quick Google search, during my lunch break at work, informs me that carrot cake has its origins in Medieval times. Perhaps this makes it the first vegetable to be used in sweet cookery, though I have no other basis for making this claim. Now you can find recipes for allsorts of desserts using vegetables: beetroot brownies; courgetter lemon sorbet... I forget what else. Oh, rhubarb (maybe that predates carrots).

Sunday 10 June 2012

Sticky Toffee Pudding


Sticky toffee pudding is a British classic. It was always had a place on dessert menus when I was working in restaurant kitchens, whether it was  the middle of a cold winter or a record breaking summer. 

I've come across a few variations on recipes that, inevitably, revolve around the key ingredient... dates. Some use black treacle, some, like mine, soak the dates in black tea, some use a selection of spices, and others keep it to the basics. 

Which ever way the recipe goes, you'll rarely find a sticky toffee pudding without butterscotch sauce.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Homemade Tomato Ketchup



A couple of weeks ago I started working for kitchen appliance manufacturer Kenwood, as a home economist. It's been a fun and interesting two weeks. Aside from the performance testing of blenders and juicers, there's also been lots of food - cookies, chocolate mousse, carrot cake, curries, banana milkshakes... it's a tough job.

The new flat is also doing pretty well, except for a couple of issues involving the oven and shower, but the landlord is going to get me new ones.

I've got Billy staying with me for a few weeks. He came down last Friday, which meant we had our 2nd anniversary together on Saturday, and it's been great to finally have our own space. He also met my friend, Rachel, who came down to visit me on Sunday, along with her boyfriend and baby. She brought some presents for us both, including a Le Creuset salt crock (which looks awesome in my kitchen) and some food treats like posh Italian nougat and black olive pate. We also had a lovely meal at the Italian restaurant Zizzi.

So, on to the tomato sauce. At work, there were 5kg of tomatoes left over and, not wanting them to see the bottom of a bin, I brought them home. 2kg went into a beef curry, another 2kg were oven dried and are now stored in a kiln jar, topped up with olive oil, and the last 1kg went into making tomato sauce.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Chicken Korma in Portsmouth



What an exciting week! I moved from the quite life of Lancashire all the way to Portsmouth, at the other end of the country, to start a new job as a home economist for a major kitchen appliance manufacturer. (Don't know if I'm allowed to name them - I'll check). I'm so pleased that all my hard work at uni (and yes, I did work hard) has paid off. 

It's been a big move. This is the first time I've had my own flat and everything has been a bit mad. So, it was nice to get a few cards and even flowers from my friend Rachel and her family, which were waiting for me when I arrived last Thursday.


Everything's unpacked, but the flat is still a bit untidy with a pile of crushed cardboard boxes stacked in the corner. The kitchen is a little on the small side from what I'm use to, but I suppose it's only going to be me, and occasionally Billy, that I cook for. 



Having no kitchen on Thursday night, this was my first meal...


On Friday, I had a break from unpacking and went off to explore the area a bit more. Literally a few hundred metres away is the museum and (I think close-by) the birthplace of Charles Dickens, then a further 10 minute walk or so is a really nice (and expensive) shopping mall. In the other direction is Southsea, which is where I think I'll be going most of the time. I found a good little butcher (where I got the chicken for this recipe), an Eastern market store, and good kitchen shop. There's also a monthly farmers' market that was on today. I picked up some potted herbs (coriander, parsley and thyme), ox cheeks (which the butcher didn't sell), a couple of pheasant breasts, and a couple of sausages. 


Oh... And I bought this piece of gorgeousness... A hog roast barm.


As I'll be working (hard) during the week, my plan for food is to try and bulk cook a few things at weekends. With the idea of just pulling something out the freezer in the morning for tea later on. I've already brought some chicken pesto kievs and chilli con carne with me. And, as always I need to have curry at least once a week, so that was a must this weekend. 

Chicken korma is probably only second to chicken tikka masala as the nation's favourite curry dish, which is surely down to its creamy sauce, delicate flavours, and unimposing use of chillies. But I think a good korma can be more. In my korma, the Queen of Spices, aromatic cardamom, plays a central role along with the earthiness of almonds and the sweetness of coconut. 


Chicken Korma

I used spring onions here purely because I forgot to get white onions when I was out, but they work just as well. Likewise, I used olive oil instead of butter, but if you have butter use that. 
Serves 6

2 tbsp olive oil
5 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp each ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cumin, turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes
10 cardamom pods, seeds removed and pods discards
1.5kg (about 6-7) chicken breasts, diced
6 tbsp ground almonds
100g desiccated coconut
600ml chicken or water
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

In a large pan, gently heat the oil and sweat the onions and garlic for 5 minutes, until soft. Add all the spices and cook for another minute or so then throw in the chicken. Give a good mix up so all the chicken is coated in the those amazing spices. Pop in the almonds and coconut, and then the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes. 


Taste the sauce and add a little more of the any of spices if you feel its needs it - particularly the chilli. Season with our good friends salt and pepper, then stir in the coriander. 

Serve with rice. 

Or, if you're me, portion into six takeaway tubs and freeze. Just add a little water when you reheat one. 


Did I mention the beach is only 5 minutes away, too?


Monday 7 May 2012

Slow Roast Pork and Banana Splits



Is there a better meal to have on a Sunday than a roast dinner? Probably not. For me, it's the cornerstone of the British family and cuisine. Whether it's pork, lamb, beef, or chicken, there's something for most people. 

I don't think I've got a particular favourite. Other to say that a slow roasted joint is usually the option to go for. It means you can just pop it in the oven in the morning (normally the day before in my case), and forget about it for a few hours. The cheaper joints are better for slow roasting, which makes it an inexpensive meal, too. Leftovers can be used in a variety of ways...