Please comment on this page or email me if you have any specific recipes you’d like me to cover off. I could do a breakdown of a Roast Dinner or perhaps a 3/4 course meal for special occasions? Or maybe you’d like more Curry recipes?
Special Fried Rice – Your Way
Soooooo erm this may be my new favourite thing for work lunches and easy dinners! I make a basic special fried rice recipe and then let the family customise it how they like! Its really quick to make and is light on pots and pans so no need to worry about washing up AND you can pack it with vegetables!
Ingredients
Must haves:
2 cups Basmati Rice
Handful Peas
Handful Sweetcorn
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons Mirin
2 teaspoons Rice Wine Vinegar
2 cloves of Garlic thinly sliced
3-5 Spring onions sliced
Optional items:
Sliced mushrooms
Handful Small prawns
1 diced Red/Orange/Yellow Pepper
1 tbsp Ketjap Manis
3 Ready cooked Mackerel fillets
2 Salmon fillets cubed and cooked
2 cups Cooked chicken – strips, wings, bashed up thighs
Handful Coriander
2 eggs, either scrambled or cooked as an omelette and sliced up
Crushed chilli flakes
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Method:
I have a fail-proof fluffy basmati recipe but feel free to use your own if you prefer.
Rinse your rice a few times in cold water if you want it really fluffy or leave it to soak in water for 30 mins. Boil the kettle, heat oil in the pan and throw in your (drained) rice , stir to cover in the oil and let it warm a little. Pour the boiling water over the rice, The water should come about 3cm over your rice. Put a lit on it with a little crack and let it simmer.
It’ll start to hiss once all the water has evaporated – this can take anywhere between 10-15 mins. Take a look at it. If it looks done, turn the heat off, remove the lid and place a tea towel/cloth over the rice and put the lid back on. Leave it for as long as you need to, it’ll keep warm and the towel will soak up excess steam to keep the rice fluffy. If it doesn’t look done, sprinkle on a little more water, put the lid back on and keep checking every 2-5 minutes.
The rest is just an assembly job – fry off the garlic, spring onions and any of your selected food items from the optional list that require cooking. I don’t bother with sweetcorn and peas as it takes seconds for them to warm through. Add in your sauces then add your rice to the pan to fry off. Put it all together, decant to a serving bowl and dive in!
Serve with some sweet chilli sauce on the side or some extra Ketjap Manis.
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Japanese Salmon, Coconut Rice and Kale
I’m not sure of the health benefits of this one as I can imagine the white rice cooked in coconut milk is probably very bad for you but the fish is spectacular and it is perfect for during the week when time is tight.
Ingredients:
60 ml mirin
50 grams soft light brown sugar
60 ml soy sauce
500 grams salmon, cod, monkfish, mackerel (any fish basically)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 – 2 spring onions (halved and shredded into fine strips
400g can of coconut milk
400g can of coconut milk filled with basmati rice (see notes)
400g can of coconut milk filled with boiling water
Curly Kale (green beans, spinach or bok choi also works well)
Method
Mix the mirin, brown sugar and soy sauce in a shallow dish that will take all 4 pieces of salmon, and marinate the salmon in it for 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. Meanwhile heat a large non-stick frying pan on the hob.
Cook the salmon in the hot, dry pan for 2 minutes and then turn the salmon over, add the marinade and cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove the salmon, add the rice vinegar to the hot pan, and warm through.
Pour the dark, sweet, salty glaze over the salmon and top with the spring onion
Coconut rice
Pour a can of coconut milk into a pan. Keep the Can!!
Fill the coconut milk can to the top with basmati rice
Pour into the pan of coconut milk
Fill the coconut milk can with boiling water
Pour into the pan
Add salt
Lid on, cook for 15 minutes
Put some Kale in a pan, boil with water for 4 mins and serve
Super simple. Super tasty.
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Chicken Curry
I made this for a bunch of friends last night and they really enjoyed it, I changed how I usually make the base of my curry which resulted in a much thicker gravy.
Ingredients
1 cinnamon stick
10 cardamoms
12 cloves
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
Thumb of ginger
5 Birdseye chillis (optional)
2 tbsp oil
500g boneless and skinless chicken thighs cut into small bitesize pieces
1 tsp madras curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato purée
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes or 3-4 freshly grated ones
Chopped coriander stalks and leaves (separated)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Ghee (optional)
Method
Put the onion, garlic, ginger and Birdseye chillies in a processor and blitz until fine.
Add the oil to the pan, on a medium heat and add the cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves. Heat until fragrant then add the onion blend. Cook this out for 3-5 minutes to get rid of the water. Add your ground spices (except the garam masala) and salt to taste.
Add your chicken to the pan and stir well, coating in the base. Let it cook for a few minutes then add your tomatoes and tomato purée and the chopped coriander stalks and a cup of hot water.
Stir well and leave it to cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Taste it to make sure you’re happy with the flavour and adjust anything you need to. Stir in the ghee, if using, then sprinkle over the garam masala and your coriander leaves.
Serve with rice, naan bread and an onion and lemon salad….Delish!!!
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Summery Salad
We have this salad at least once a week, it’s tasty, addictive and healthy too! It’s also versatile, you can add/remove whatever you want to make this to your liking, I’ve toyed with adding a soft poached egg or a giant Rye bread crouton…
Ingredients
1 pack of Halloumi, sliced in to bite size pieces
100g Chorizo, sliced into rings and then cut each ring in half (e.g. Half moons)
Half a bag of spinach
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Roasting veg (I use 1 pepper, 1 courgette and a handful of cherry tomatoes)
For the dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pepper
Method
Slice the roasting veg, put it in a heat proof pan with the olive oil. Smush it all together and put it in a hot oven for 25-30 minutes.
Fry off the Chorizo until it starts to release oils. Remove from the pan onto kitchen towel, keep the oils in the pan. Fry off the Halloumi in the same pan (you may need to add a little extra oil). Don’t overfill the pan, do it in batches if you need to. You’re looking for a light golden colour so keep the pan on a medium heat. Put it with the chorizo to cool down.
Put the spinach into a salad bowl. Mix the lemon, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and honey in a small bowl. Taste to see if it needs anything else, don’t add salt as the Halloumi is salty enough.
Remove the roasted veg and let it cool a little. Add the Halloumi, chorizo and roasted veg to the salad bowl, drizzle over as much of the dressing as you’d like and toss.
Eat with a nice glass of cold white wine and imagine you’re on holiday…!
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A nice chicken supper
This is a really nice recipe that allows you to potter round the kitchen without too much fuss and delivers a meal suitable for a dinner party or a nice change for a Sunday lunch. Chicken is poached in a stock packed with flavour and set alongside parmentier potatoes and roasted butter-nut squash. The poaching liquor is then used to make a deliciously thick and flavourful sauce to coat the chicken with. Take it from me, once you’ve got the hang of this one you’ll be making it time and again. Please post your comments below on how you go and any ideas you have for improvements!
Ingedients
4 Chicken Breasts
100ml white wine
300ml Milk
1 chicken stock cube
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 leek, split lengthways and roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of Rosemary, chopped
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornflower
2 tbsp water
A small handful of Parsley, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
4-5 potatoes (Maris Piper, King Edward or simple white potatoes will do), peeled and diced into cubes
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut up
Olive oil
Method
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. In one baking tray add olive oil, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of chopped rosemary then throw in the diced potatoes and smush it all around. In another tray do the same with the butter-nut squash but before smushing, crush in 2 cloves of garlic. Put them both in the oven for 45 minutes, turning half way through.
In a large saucepan or sauté pan, add a tbsp of oil, 1 clove of crushed garlic and the chopped carrot and leek. Let this cook for a minute or two then add in the white wine, let this bubble and fizz for a minute then crumble in the chicken stock cube and the milk. Put the chicken breasts in and cook for about 18-20 minutes (unless they are very large breasts). You can use your meat thermometer here to keep checking progress. You can add a little water to the pan if it looks like its getting too thick and frothy.
In a small saucepan, add the 2 egg yolks. Mix the 2 tbsp of water with the 1 tbsp of cornflower and add this to the eggs, whisk well. Once the chicken is poached, take it out of the liquor and cover with foil. Then take a cupful of the liquor and, through a sieve, put it in to the saucepan with the eggs and the cornflower, whisk it well off the heat. Then sieve more of the liquor into the eggy mixture and put it back on the heat and keep whisking it very well until the sauce thickens.
Make sure you add the chopped parsley to the sauce and season it and then serve it on top of the chicken. I hope you enjoy this one, we definitely did last night.
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Rack of Lamb
It is true, I am a lamb fiend, I just love it and would happily eat it all day long. This is a quick and easy special occasion meal that keeps my husband smiling 🙂 The ingredients below are to serve 2 but you can easily scale it up. I cannot express how much easier you life will be if you invest in a good meat thermometer, it is my saviour.
Ingredients
1 Rack of lamb
1 Rosemary sprig
1 Pack of Trimmed Green Beans
3-4 Sweet Potatoes
1 Shallot, small diced
200ml of Port (you can use red wine instead if you prefer)
100ml of lamb or beef stock
Method
If it hasn’t been done by your butcher, score the fat on the lamb in a diamond shape, put on a little oil and add salt and pepper. Just under the fat but above the rack bones, cut a small slit the entire length of the lamb. Season this well and add the Rosemary sprig into the gap. Fry the rack on a high heat for a few minutes to maximise the flavour then put it in the oven, around 180 degrees for a fan oven. Check it with your meat thermometer after about 15-20 minutes. And make sure you factor in 5-10 minutes resting time, just wrap it in a little foil and set aside.
Meanwhile, peel your sweet potatoes and steam them in a bamboo steamer (or boil them) for around 15 minutes, they’ll be done when a knife goes straight through them easily. Drain them well and then mash them, add salt and pepper and a little butter and/or cream if you want extra richness
To make the sauce cook your shallot in a small amount of butter for a few minutes to soften it, then pour in the port (red wine or Marsala would work too). Let this bubble and reduce for about 10 minutes and then pour in the stock. Again let it cook down a little. If you want your sauce to be thicker, you can mix 1 tbsp of cornflour with 2 tbsp of warm water and then pour it into the sauce. You can also pour in the juices from the rested meat for added flavour.
Cook your green beans according to the packet instructions and voilà! You are ready to serve!
Try this recipe out and let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below. Happy cooking!
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Lamb Curry
Now I have about 4/5 recipes for lamb curry and they all taste amazing (obviously). This is one I recently came up with that I think works really well and doesn’t feel as if you’ve had to stand at the stove for hours….
Ingredients
1/2 or 1 whole leg of lamb.
1 onion, small diced
4/5 potatoes
1-2 cups of hot water
2 massalla cubes (or 1 thumb of ginger grated, 4 cloves of garlic chopped or crushed and 2 chillies chopped)
4 tomatoes, grated
1 Stick of cinnamon
2 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp of ground cumin, turmeric and ground coriander
1 bay leaf
4-5 cloves
4-5 cardamom pods
Method
First of all, trim your lamb of as much of the fat as you can, this will stop your curry being too oily. Then cut it up in to BIG chunks, not piddly small ones.
Put the ground spices (curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander) together in a big bowl. Put the lamb in and shake around until its all nicely coated. Fry the lamb off in batches in a frying pan with a little oil.
In a separate pan, add your cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to some oil. Wait until you start to smell the lovely aromas (but not too hot) then add your diced onion. Let it cook for 5 minutes whilst you keep stirring – you don’t want the onion to colour too much. Then throw in your massalla cubes (or ginger, garlic and chilli) along with the grated tomato. Let that cook out until you get a nice red paste, then put your fried lamb in and the cups of water. Put a lid on and let it cook for an hour then add in the potatoes. Wait until the lamb is tender, I usually let it cook for about 2 hours but just keep testing it until you are happy with it.
I serve mine with Rotli (similar to Chapati) and a salad made from 1 small diced onion (macerated in the juice of a whole lemon), 4-5 diced tomatoes and some chopped fresh coriander.
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One Pot Coq au Vin
Here’s a really simple mid-week dinner that packs in the flavour and doesn’t mess up too many pots and pans…
Ingredients
4 whole chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks
2 onions, each cut into 8 wedges
8 garlic cloves, left in their skins
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle
4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, snipped into 3cm pieces
2tbsp tomato puree
For the gravy
200ml (7fl oz) hot chicken stock
200ml (7fl oz) full-bodied red wine
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved
handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C or 180°C if its a fan oven.
Put the carrots, onions and garlic cloves (still in their skins) into a large roasting tin and put the chicken on top.. Drizzle with some oil, then scatter the bacon over the top. Season and roast for 30 minutes, until the chicken and vegetables are turning golden.
Dissolve the tomato purée in hot chicken stock then stir in the wine. Pour the liquid around the chicken and return to the oven for 30 minutes until rich and saucy.
Nestle the mushrooms in the sauce around the chicken, then roast again for 15 minutes until everything is golden. Season to taste, then scatter with the parsley to serve. Serve with mash or just some nice crusty bread.
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Lentil curry
My lovelies I beg your forgiveness. I confess I haven’t posted for 12 days, a hideously unprofessional faux pas. But I do have a corker for you. Staying with the curry theme for now I’d like to introduce you to our Monday night dish. This is a staple in our house. It is almost a religion. To try it is to fall in love with it….
Ingredients
1 can of Green lentils
1 small or half a medium onion finely diced
Coriander stalks finely chopped
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon bark
1 cube of stock (veg or chicken)
1/4 cup (a good drizzle) of single cream
2 cloves of garlic, 1 chilli and a grating of ginger (or 1 of my frozen Massalla cubes)
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp of Cumin powder, curry powder and tumeric
Coriander leaves to serve
Shana Frozen Chapatis or fresh homemade or shop bought chapatis
Method
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the hard spices – cinnamon bark, cardamoms and cloves. When they start to release their flavour, add the onions and allow to soften for a couple of minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger and chilli (or massalla cube) and fry for two minutes, until soft.
Add the powdered spices and cook through for two more minutes.
Add the tomato purée, lentils, and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for five minutes.Add the cream and season with salt and freshly ground pepper
I always serve this with spiced aubergines which I will be posting for you shortly I promise …
xxx
Laura of London 