Category: food

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the return of the curry paste

Back in the kitchen again today, got a rush of blood to the head and decided on a curry. For curry, you need curry paste (which I’ve blogged about before) but this time I toasted the seeds before crushing them and fiddled with the proportions a little too.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coriander seed
4 tbsp cumin seed
2 tbsp fennel seed
2 tbsp fenugreek seed
4 dried red chillies
5 curry leaves
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp turmeric
2/3 cup wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil

Method:

Toast the whole seeds gently for five minutes or so to release their aroma, making sure not to burn them. The kitchen will be filled with an amazing assault on your nose, although my youngest kid finds it a bit overpowering. It’s an indication of what’s to come though, because this paste imparts a great flavour and is something which develops with age.

Grind the whole spices to a powder in a spice mill, or grinder. Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining spices. Add the wine vinegar and mix into a paste. Add about 5 tbsp water to the mixture to loosen it a bit. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan, and stir fry the paste for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool a bit before putting it into airtight jars and then refrigerating. It should last three to four weeks in an airtight jar.

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food: salsa caliente

DSC_2442

I really don’t know the first thing about Spanish or Mexico or salsa, all I know is I like eating it and here’s a variation of my own invention, hot off the press in that I’ve just come up with it now and haven’t eaten it yet. We’re about to have it with a ground beef curry and rice, hope it works …

Ingredients:
about twenty cherry tomatoes, halved
about half a cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally
two satsumas or equivalent, sectioned and squeezed a little
two cloves of garlic, extra thinly sliced like Paulie
quarter of a preserved lemon, also extremely thinly sliced
a small red chilli, de-seeded sliced as thin as you can
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
pepper

Method:
combine and leave to infuse for a little while.

Eat.

Posted on

salsa caliente

DSC_2442

I really don’t know the first thing about Spanish or Mexico or salsa, all I know is I like eating it and here’s a variation of my own invention, hot off the press in that I’ve just come up with it now and haven’t eaten it yet. We’re about to have it with a ground beef curry and rice, hope it works …

Ingredients:
about twenty cherry tomatoes, halved
about half a cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally
two satsumas or equivalent, sectioned and squeezed a little
two cloves of garlic, extra thinly sliced like Paulie
quarter of a preserved lemon, also extremely thinly sliced
a small red chilli, de-seeded sliced as thin as you can
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
pepper

Method:
combine and leave to infuse for a little while.

Eat.

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food: marinated chicken

D300_07-22-2009_DSC_2365-3

One of the recipes referred to in the previous post is Marinated Chicken.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, frozen for an hour
2 cloved garlic, chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp light soya
1 tsp sugar/honey

Method:
Get a 4 or five skinless, boneless chick breasts, slightly freeze them to make them easier to cut, slice thinly into long strips and combine with the ingredients above and then allow to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

I tend to cook the strips on a skillet but I suppose you could grill them or use a pan, whatever tickles your fancy. Really good served with either plain rice or quinoa, or even couscous plus a steamed vegetable.

Posted on

marinated chicken

D300_07-22-2009_DSC_2365-3

One of the recipes referred to in the previous post is Marinated Chicken.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, frozen for an hour
2 cloved garlic, chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp light soya
1 tsp sugar/honey

Method:
Get a 4 or five skinless, boneless chick breasts, slightly freeze them to make them easier to cut, slice thinly into long strips and combine with the ingredients above and then allow to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

I tend to cook the strips on a skillet but I suppose you could grill them or use a pan, whatever tickles your fancy. Really good served with either plain rice or quinoa, or even couscous plus a steamed vegetable.

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food: Eat the Document

D300_07-22-2009_DSC_2365

This recipe sheet has served us well and since I’m a one for puns, I’ve called this post Eat the Document after a rarely seen documentary about Bob Dylan touring the UK in 1966. I love the fact that this recipe sheet has been lying round our kitchen for so long that it has that well worn look, spatterings of all sorts of oils, rubs and citrus, juices of recently dead animals and fish. The document itself is almost edible. Click on the pic for a more granular view.

OK so it has served us well, it has four of our favourite meals on it. These are so good that they deserve to be clicked on, I’m not in the mood for transcribing them all for you. Check them out, really do …

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quinoa surprise

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is the seed of a grain-like crop mostly grown in Peru & Bolivia and is a great source of protein. The surprise of quinoa surprise is that it tastes surprisingly good for something which is so healthy.

Here’s a delicious recipe which is a great accompaniment to poultry etc:

Ingredients:

400g quinoa
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 spring onions, sliced
400g broccoli broken into florets
juice of half a lemon
60g feta cheese, cubed
dash of elderflower cordial (or similar)
2 small carrots, grated
1 tsp each of cumin and coriander seeds
salt’n’peppa

Method:
Toast the quinoa in a dry pan over a low heat for a few minutes, then tip into a pan of boiling water for about ten minutes, turn down to a simmer and cover. Meanwhile, toast the cumin & coriander seeds in the dry pan until they smell amazing, then crush in a pestle & mortar. Break the broccoli into florets, steam briefly and then plunge into cold water to stop them cooking, they should be really crunchy.

Next combine the oil, soya, lemon juice, rice vinegar and elderflower in a jar, chuck in the salt’n’pepper, crush the garlic chuck it in too then put on the lid and shake it like there’s no tomorrow. This is the dressing.

When the quinoa is cooked, drain and allow to cool down a bit, put it in a serving bowl and add the crushed seeds, add the dressing, broccoli, cubed feta, grate the carrots, slice the spring onions and mix everything together.

Delicious!

Posted on

food: quinoa surprise

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is the seed of a grain-like crop mostly grown in Peru & Garcinia Cambogia and is a great source of protein. The surprise of quinoa surprise is that it tastes surprisingly good for something which is so healthy.

Here’s a delicious recipe which is a great accompaniment to poultry etc:

Ingredients:

400g quinoa
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
3 spring onions, sliced
400g broccoli broken into florets
juice of half a lemon
60g feta cheese, cubed
dash of elderflower cordial (or similar)
2 small carrots, grated
1 tsp each of cumin and coriander seeds
salt’n’peppa

Method:
Toast the quinoa in a dry pan over a low heat for a few minutes, then tip into a pan of boiling water for about ten minutes, turn down to a simmer and cover. Meanwhile, toast the cumin & coriander seeds in the dry pan until they smell amazing, then crush in a pestle & mortar. Break the broccoli into florets, steam briefly and then plunge into cold water to stop them cooking, they should be really crunchy.

Next combine the oil, soya, lemon juice, rice vinegar and elderflower in a jar, chuck in the salt’n’pepper, crush the garlic chuck it in too then put on the lid and shake it like there’s no tomorrow. This is the dressing.

When the quinoa is cooked, drain and allow to cool down a bit, put it in a serving bowl and add the crushed seeds, add the dressing, broccoli, cubed feta, grate the carrots, slice the spring onions and mix everything together.

Delicious!

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preserved lemons redux

d300_2009-05-04_dsc_7164-edit

I had blogged about preserved lemons some time ago and had threatened to try a few variations. So now I have, I’ve added cumin, caraway and coriander seeds, the three Cs of cutting-edge preserved lemon recipe development. I’ve also tried using limes to see what happens. Counting down now, only six weeks to wait …

Tenterhooks isn’t in it.

A note on the daily agitation:
I find my daughter is pretty good at this, she has it down to a fine art 😛

Posted on

food: preserved lemons redux

d300_2009-05-04_dsc_7164-edit

I had blogged about preserved lemons some time ago and had threatened to try a few variations. So now I have, I’ve added cumin, caraway and coriander seeds, the three Cs of cutting-edge preserved lemon recipe development. I’ve also tried using limes to see what happens. Counting down now, only six weeks to wait …

Tenterhooks isn’t in it.

A note on the daily agitation:
I find my daughter is pretty good at this, she has it down to a fine art 😛