Butter Chicken Curry (Murg Makhani)

Butter chicken curry is a rich, creamy, tomato-based curry. It's not particularly known for it's spiciness, but you can adjust this how you like. Though I'm a firm believer that not all curries need to have chilli heat (mostly because I'm not good at handling it). 

Turkey Katsu

Korean (Not)Fried Chicken

Chicken & Oyster Mushroom Stir Fry

Kung Pao Chicken

After doing a bit of research into Kung Pao chicken, I found that there are a few different versions depending upon the region of origination in China. So this has become a bit of a mix up of those recipes and I've omitted some of the chillies - my heat tolerance is still pretty low - but feel free to throw in a few dried chillies along with the chicken. My recipe will give you an almost sweet and sour flavour with a background note of heat from the chilli sauce.

Chicken Gyros

Everyone loves a good (or dirty) takeaway; I refuse to believe that there's one person that doesn't! But, they can be expensive and possibly a tad unhealthy to say the least. But making your own can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be (think rare breed meats, heritage vegetables, etc.). And, damn, making it yourself tastes so good.

Chicken & Pancetta Bake

Recently, the weather has really started to pick up; the skies are intensely blue and the sun is shining down. It's times like these that I really appreciate living just a 5 minute walk to the coast, where I can go for a relaxing stroll - it almost feels like I'm on holiday sometimes. Feeling inspired by the almost-Mediterranean climate, I wanted to create a meal that mirrored it. 

Homemade Pancetta

For a while now I've been listening to a BBC Radio 4 podcast called The Kitchen Cabinet, hosted by Jay Rayner. It's a panel show with a live audience where they travel over the UK and discuss various food topics - food science to food history to current trends. 

My favourite panellist is Tim Hayward - a food writer and broadcaster. Billy recently got me Tim's latest book, Food DIY. And it is amazing. I've never done, or even wanted to do, so many recipes from one book. He covers smoking, curing, pickling, fermenting and homemade takeaways including doner kebab. 

This book particularly makes me happy because I'm so bad at DIY around the flat, and this is something I can actually do.

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.

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.

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?

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...

Chicken & Chorizo Pie

Chicken and chorizo pie. It just sounds so right. I think it's the 'ch'. There's something satisfying about the alliteration of it. It's little things like that that make me happy. Does that make me sad? 

I'm sure I've seen this pie in a magazine or on a blog. I searched and searched, but couldn't seem to find it. So, this recipe was put together in my own head, even if the inspiration had come from some where else. 

This picture below is the pie filling. I know it looks a bit yellow (and looks like custard), but I assure you that's just the juices from the chorizo :$ 

I also have a confession to make. I used ready made shortcrust pastry. Sorry. But if you want to make you own, here's how. And you can find how to make a béchamel here.

Favourite pie, anyone?

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Chicken & Chorizo Pie

Serves 4

Béchamel sauce (see above)

200g chorizo, cut into small pieces

2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

Shortcrust pastry (see above, again)

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven Gas 7 (220°C/425°F)

Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Throw in the chorizo and cook until the oil starts to seep from it. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove the chorizo, leaving the oil, then add the chicken and cook until browned. 

Stir the chorizo and chicken into the béchamel sauce and season with salt and a decent amount of pepper.

Spoon the pie mix into 4 small pie dishes or 1 large one. 

Roll out the pastry so that it is slightly larger than the dish you're using. Brush around the edge of the dish with egg then lay the pastry on top. Brush liberally with the rest of the egg and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden-brown.