African Curry

Ok I will admit it, I don't make my own curry paste. You are now free to tut away to yourself.

Ive tried, I promise, it just never seems to have the correct depth of flavour I crave and therefore it is easier using a jar! If I lived nearer to Manchester or actually went into Manchester on a more regular basis than once every six months and did more than visit the Arndale I would take advantage of the local ethnic shops and would buy my pastes from there. However I'm too lazy, so my curry pastes are normally from Asda who do a fantastic ethnic range, and my Thai paste are usually Sainsburys own as I find the Bart ones too spicy.

Recently while perusing the aisles of Asda we came across this paste.

The description is as follows; Balangwu, Suya Paste - spicy hausa/fulani peanut cooking paste.

Ingredients; groundnut paste, pepper, ginger, clove, nutmeg, spices, groundnut oil.

As you can see its a little vague!! Who knows what "spices" covers, considering it specifically mentions pepper, ginger etc.

Now hubby doesn't do much cooking in our house. He likes to come in and stir things whilst I'm cooking, and he does a mean chilli when he sets his mind to it, but its usually a once every few months occurrence. Anyway after all my baking and creating over Easter Weekend (which included Nachos for 10) I think he felt it was his turn and that curry was the order of the day. Obviously it couldn't be made with whatever meat we had in the freezer, it had to be made with what it suggested on the back of the label which was lamb! Well it would be wouldn't it! So off I toddle to Sainsburys and come back with a cheap and cheerful pack of neck fillet.

Hubby shut himself in the kitchen and proceeded to make this culinary masterpiece.

African Curry

200g lamb neck fillet cut in chunks

1 large onion chopped

2 dessert spoons of curry paste

1 red pepper chopped

as many mushrooms as you like chopped

half pint of water

2tbs of peanut butter

2tbs of coconut cream

brown rice to serve

1) fry off onion and add curry paste. cook out for 5 minutes

2) add lamb neck and brown

3) add in peanut butter, coconut cream and half pint of water

4) leave to simmer for 1hr or until lamb is very tender

5) add in mushrooms and peppers for the last 10 minutes

6) serve with brown rice

The curry paste is VERY hot. It recommends 2-3 dessertspoons and it certainly made our noses run! On the jar it just advises using the paste with water, but the addition of the coconut made it a creamier and more to our liking. Despite the spiciness it was a really good curry. Lots of flavour and quite addictive. We will definitely make this again and I have already mixed a bit of the paste in with some coconut cream as a marinade for some chicken legs which are in the freezer waiting for a suitable BBQ day!

Easter Bunny Biccies

I have been a little stressed recently for reasons I shall go into on another post when the time comes, and as I have mentioned before I find the best way for dealing with stress is to shut myself in the kitchen with Heart FM (I love hearing about the congestion on the M25 - makes me relish not living down south) and create. Whether its stuff for the freezer, or treats for the office, it always seems to relax me.

Anyway, I knew we were off the pub on Friday night with friends, and we had hubbys parents coming on Saturday as we were off to a family friends birthday so I thought some baking was in order. A while ago whilst shopping at Cheshire Oaks we were in one of the kitchen shops and I saw this really cute little bunny head shaped cutter. Now we have a rabbit called rather unimaginatively Peter. But there is a snag...we thought it was a boy and its actually a girl! But Pete works for both. So anyway in homage to Pete the cutter was bought and was used to make these rather cute little biccies.

Easter Biccies (sort of based on a recipe from The Cooks Encyclopedia of Cookies Biscuits and Bars)

175g salted butter

300g sugar

1 egg and 1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

300g plain flour

2 tsp ground mixed spice

Pre-heat oven to 190deg.

1) Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy

2) Mix in the egg and egg yolk, along with the vanilla essence.

3) Sift in the flour and mixed spice and mix together. Gather the dough in a ball, cover in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4) Once chilled, roll out the dough on a floured surface until 3mm thick. I made some slightly thicker, but they do puff slightly in the oven.

5) Stamp out the shapes with cutter. The recipe said it made 30, but once again something happened in my mixing bowl and I ended up with hundreds!

6) Bake for about 8 minutes until lightly golden. They will spread slightly in the oven, so make sure they are spaced out on the tray. If you let them go too brown they are fine, just a little crispier.

7) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cook decorate with a little icing coloured with food colouring. Once the icing had set I then popped 5 into a little cellophane bag and tied with a nice piece of ribbon. Forgot to take a picture but they made lovely little Easter gifts. The girls appreciated them and took them home from the pub to eat at a sensible time with a cup of tea. The boys however ate them in the pub!

Easter bunnies waiting to be iced

Easter bunnies iced and waiting to be eaten!

Good Friday Fish Day

Ok so I am not religious in the slightest, however I still do the old fish on Good Friday thing. Don't know why, I think its something my parents always did even though they aren't religious either!


We did cheat slightly by having left over pulled pork in pittas for lunch, but I am sure being frugal lets you off.


Anyway, I am a big smoked salmon fan. Hubby not so fussed, but will eat it and does claim to enjoy it every now and again. Those packs of value smoked salmon trimmings are really quite good when you are working to a budget and we often have a pack in the freezer.


We were off to the pub later on Friday night and as it was my turn to drive I thought I'd better line hubby's stomach with pasta. He is a PROPER beer drinker and we go to what is probably one of the most run down little pubs in our home town. From the outside the paint is crumbling, and the inside is filled with old men huddled round little tables, and there is a stroppy old bar woman who once shouted at us to "not f~%k with the fire". The beer is therefore the only reason we go there. Hubby and his mates usually work from left to right across the hand pumps, so it can turn quite messy!



Smoked Salmon Vodka Pasta (serves 2)
1 onion
half a pot of Alpro soya cream (or Elmlea for you normal peeps)
half a bag of washed spinach
50ml vodka
half table spoon of tomato puree
1 packet of smoked salmon trimmings
100g of pasta per person
pepper

1) Put pasta on to boil

2) For the sauce start by sweating the onion in a little oil until translucent. Add the tomato puree and cook out on low for 5 minutes (may need a splash of water)

3) Add the vodka and reduce

4) Add the spinach, and soya cream and heat until the spinach is wilted.

5) Add in the salmon and season with black pepper.

6) Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Pour the sauce over the pasta, stir through to coat and serve.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

We have two types of "nice" dinners in our house. First are the type that involve meticulous planning, lots of time spent in the kitchen, other people are usually invited and it definitely calls for us to be sat at the dining table with napkins.

The second type are still classed as a "nice" dinner, but take a completely different format. They usually happen on a Friday night, or the night before a day off. Its normally just me and hubby, and involves some form of finger food eaten whilst sat on the sofa. Wine is usually the standard accompaniment and instead of napkins we resort to kitchen roll. A lot less formal, but it doesn't mean the meal is any less of a success!

So bearing in mind that Thursday night was officially the start of one life's little joys, a four day bank holiday weekend, it was only right that we needed one of the second type of "nice" dinner.

I knew I had a boneless pork shoulder in the freezer, and didn't need any time to think about what I would make with it. And I sure as hell knew that hubby would have no complaints if I said we were having pulled pork for tea!

Pulled Pork

2kg Boneless Pork Shoulder (keep the string on)

1 onion peeled and roughly chopped in big chunks

3 cloves of garlic squashed with the flat blade of a knife and chopped in half

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock (can use a cube)

2/3 cup of apple juice

3 squirts of Ainsley Harriott BBQ spray (can use tbsp of a standard BBQ sauce)

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

squirt of tomato ketchup

1) The night before place all ingredients in a jug and mix together. Place the pork in a bowl, stab it a couple of times with a knife and pour over the mixture. Cover with cling film and chill overnight.

2) The next day, place the pork and marinade in the slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.

3) Remove pork from slow cooker and set to one side.

4) Pour the juices into a saucepan, and boil on high to reduce. You want to be left with a thick sauce, so it may take 20 minutes or so.

5) Whilst this is reducing, remove the string and any fat from the pork, and shred with two forks. The meat should be well cooked and shred easily.

6) Once the meat is shredded and the sauce is reduced, remove any fat and pour the sauce over the meat and stir to coat.

7) Serve pulled pork with whatever you fancy. On this occasion

we served with soft white rolls, shop bought coleslaw (I'm embarrassed that I didn't make my own!), and roasted new potatoes. On previous occasions I've served with with homemade winter coleslaw, salad and oven baked jacket spuds which was a very dreamy combination. The meat can also be used to fill wraps, along with all sorts of salady bits and pieces.

We finished the meal with a bottle of the ever-so wonderful Lindemans Tollana Semillon Chardonnay. Possibly my favourite wine of the moment, and usually on special offer in Sainsbury's on a quite regular basis!

Random Aubergine Thing

Well that's how hubby described it to my sister! Id bought an aubergine in the weekly shop with a mind to making moussaka. However upon checking the old bank balance and realising that lamb mince was a little extravagant for a week-before-pay-day meal I thought I better make something else. Rooting through the freezer threw up half a pack of pork mince, and I knew the cupboards were full of spices and the fridge full of veggies. So thinking cap on - and here's what I came up with

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo, which is very unlike me, I'm usually snapping everything we eat at the minute. I will be making again though so will add a photo in the not too distant future.

Random Aubergine Thing
250g of pork mince (could use lamb)
1 onion finely chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
5 chopped dried apricots
2 chopped dried figs
Half small courgette diced
8 mushrooms diced
Half an orange pepper diced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp tom puree
2 level tbsp ground almonds
Chopped parsley
1 cup veg stock
1 large aubergine
S&P

For the cheesy sauce (I made a lot as can never get quantities of cheese sauce right!)
50g butter
50g flour (approx)
1 carton of Soya cream (or about 250ml milk)
1/2 cup veg stock (you probably wont need it unless the sauce is too thick - as I used soya cream I needed it)
Grated nutmeg
Black pepper
50g grated cheese

1) slice aubergine in half length ways, scoop out the insides, dice it up and put to one side. Scoop out insides to leave a "shell", brush with oil, sprinkle with a little extra cumin and bake in oven 200 deg for 15mins or until cooked
2) fry off pork mince, onion and garlic. Add spices, dried fruit and tom puree. Stir and cook for 2 mins
3) add in diced veggies including the insides of the aubergine and cook for another 2 mins. Add ground almonds, stir until incorporated and then add veg stock.
4) cook for 10 mins until sauce is thickened and veggies are cooked. Season and cover to keep warm
5) make sauce by melting butter in a small saucepan. Add lots of grated nutmeg and a little black pepper. Add in a little of the flour and whisk in. Keep adding a little flour until you get a thick goo. Add the milk a little at a time and keep whisking until smooth. Add some grated cheese and stir until melted. Should be a thick dropping consistency.
6) spoon your pork mix into the hollowed out aubergine, make sure to mound it up. Cover the top with as much or as little cheese sauce as you want and bake in a 250deg oven for 10 mins, until cheese sauce is just turning golden.
7) serve with some little roasted potatoes sprinkled with sea salt, and some salad.

I had leftover mince and leftover cheese sauce. Bunged em both in a little pot and heated up in microwave at work for my lunch. Oh My God it was heavenly!!! Leftovers rule!

Mothers Day

My parents live 1 mile down the road, and hubbys parents live in Ripley which is about one hour from us, so we don't get together that often. Mothers Day therefore provided the perfect opportunity to get both sets of parents round for a lovely Sunday lunch. I spent a day or two debating over whether to do a starter or canapes, and finally settled on the canape idea. I think sometimes its much nicer to put out big plates of nibbles to have with champagne, and let people pick and choose what they want, than to be very formal and have them sit down at the table.

So now I just had to decide what to cook. I wanted to keep them quite light, and wanted a nice mix of flavours and hot and cold.

The first thing I made was this from the BBC Good Food site - Spanish Spinach Omelette

When you look at the recipe you think 10 eggs is going to be WAY too much, but I only ended up with maybe 2 slices about the size of those in the picture (which incidentally I'm having for tea tonight!) I served it with this fantastic Bruschetta mix from Oil & Vinegar Bruschetta Mix. Its essentially freeze dried tomato, red pepper, garlic, herbs and seasoning. You mix it with hot water and a glug of olive oil. You can then stir it into creme fraiche to use as a dip, its nice on top of jacket potatoes with some crispy bacon, or you can use it as a dressing for steamed veggies. It went really well with the still warm tortilla.

The next thing I made was Smoked Mackerel Pate, and to be honest I make it quite a bit. I always have a packet of peppered smoked mackerel in the freezer so its so easy to whip up for a quick lunch.

to make a bowls worth as in the picture below

1) take one packet of peppered smoked mackerel fillets. Remove skin and flake into the bowl of a mini blender

2) add in 300ml of half fat creme fraiche, the juice of a lemon, and some snipped chives

3) blend until desired consistency. you may need to stir it around in the blender

4) serve with some warm wholemeal toasts or crudites

I also made some little smoked salon blinis as I love them!

1) take 300ml of half fat creme fraiche and add a good glug of vodka and season. put in the fridge to chill

2) use a ready prepared vac-pack beetroot, or cook your own (I did and had pink hands for 36hrs) and slice into very fine strips. I only used 1 med sized beetroot to do 16 blini

3) take one packet of blinis (I don't make my own) and put them on a baking tray and into a low oven for 10 minutes

4) once they are lightly toasted, remove from the oven and let them cool. if you don't do this the creme fraiche tends to slide off - not a good look

5) once cooled, place a small pile (about a teaspoon) of the beetroot julienne on top of each blini.

6) follow with a teaspoon or so of the creme fraiche

7) top this with smoked salmon. I used Salisbury's Basics smoked salmon trimmings 120g, and it was the perfect amount.

8) sprinkle some chopped chives over the top and serve - perfect with champagne!

I also found another recipe on the BBC Good Food site which looked so simple but very tasty

Prosciutto, Pear and Rocket Rolls

Sorry for the picture being a bit out of focus!

I did it slightly differently to the method in the recipe, in that my pear wasn't particularly long, so I just cut it into strips, halved my piece of prosciutto and went from there. To be honest I like the way the pear peeps out surrounded by the rocket, makes for a more interesting visual

And my final canape was to be honest a bit of a let down. I had been at The Belfry (nr Birmingham) a couple of weeks ago on a work trip and we were given a fantastic array of canapes before dinner. One of them was, as far as we could work out, a tomato croquette. Now the version we had was a smooth pale red inside, and served warm - very reminiscent of a potato croquette and was one of the nicest little morsels I have eaten in a while. I searched high and low on the old t'internet for a recipe which sounded vaguely like it would produce what I wanted and was stumped at every turn. In the end the only recipe I found was this one Tomato and Basil Croquettes

If you look at the recipe you can see it is supposed to have a small cube of mozzarella inside but that wasn't what I was after. In hindsight once I had read the recipe and realised that mashed potato mixed with sun dried tomatoes wasn't really what I was after, I should have knocked it on the head and found something else. But never mind.

They turned out OK, but only OK. The crispy breadcrumbs were nice, and the filling was tasty, but it just wasn't what I was after. I made a homemade garlic mayo to go with them, and that wasn't great either. FAR too garlicky, and all I can say is its a good job we were all eating it!

For main course I did St Delia's fantastic Leg of Lamb Baked in Foil with Butter and Herbs. Its so easy! Just make slashes in the lamb and rub in the lovely herby butter. It should be accompanied by a redcurrant, orange and mint sauce, but I was serving with dauphinoise and I didn't want the redcurrant/orange to curdle the cream on the plate. I forgot to take a picture of the main, probably due to the amount of alcohol I had consumed by then! But personally I thought it was delish. It was the first time I had tried dauphinoise and I had made it with soya cream and soya milk and it worked out well. Some of the potatoes had stuck together slightly forming a massive wedge of spud which meant there were a couple of spoonfuls which weren't cooked through properly, but hey ho, you live and learn and next time Ill do a bit more stirring in the early stages, or even do what my mum does and par boil the tatties first.

Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Pilaf

Whilst we were in Devon I happened to miss my dads birthday, so we decided to invite them round for dinner on Sunday night. I hadn't cooked anything from the slow-cooked book since the Frikadeller so decided to roll out something slightly more suited to a nice dinner for your folks.

The parents along with the in-laws are also coming for dinner next Sunday (Mothers Day) so I didn't want to go all out and not have anything to wow them with next week so decided against starters. Mum isn't much of a dessert person and Dad likes a bowl of Onken yoghurt with some banana or muesli, or a slice or two of soreen so that was off the menu too. However I decided that something was needed, and after a root through the fridge I found a packet of beetroot and made the following.

Beetroot Dip

1 packet of vac-packed beetroot, or ideally fresh ones
1 tablespoon of cream (I used soya cream)
lemon juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper
5 fresh mint leaves
half a clove of garlic


Blitz everything up in a mini-chopper or food processor until its fairly smooth.

I served with a bag of Asda value tortilla chips, but it will easily go with crudites. Don't worry about the garlic, its far from overpowering and as long as it wasn't a massive clove and you don't mind the taste you could probably put a whole one in.


For the main course I did the Chicken and Sun-dried Tomato Pilaf


Now we normally eat chicken thighs, turkey thigh meat, or turkey breast, but I happened to have a packet of 5 chicken breasts in the freezer which is just what was called for in this recipe. I decided to do something in the slow cooker, as we had been out all morning and a friend was coming in the afternoon.


Sundried Tomato and Chicken Pilaf



1tbs of olive oil
4 chicken breasts
1 large onion - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
50g of sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
2 teaspoons of pesto
1 pint chicken stock
200g of normal/wild rice mix
salt and pepper



1) Heat the oil and brown the chicken breast on the presentation side only
2) Fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes and add tinned tomatoes. Add sundried tomatoes and pesto, season with salt and pepper
3) Pour into slow cooker and stir in stock
4) Rinse rice, and add to slow cooker
5) Arrange the chicken on top, brown side up and press them just under the liquid.
6) Cover and cook on high for 3-4hrs


NB. The recipe says to cook for 3-4hrs on high, and I went more for the 4hrs however I think this was a bit long as the rice was a bit too soft for me. In future I would go for 3hrs and if it needed a little longer turn to low. Overall though a really nice dish, and we had it with some lovely steamed veg. Definitely something you can serve for a dinner party, or nice meal with friends.