Chicken and Chorizo Risotto

Risotto is a bit of a recent discovery for me, and since Andrew got me the Silver Spoon, I've experimented with a few different varieties. Lots of people seem to think that it's really difficult to make, but so far, that's not the experience I've had, although not all of my efforts have been tasted by anyone but myself. One of the things which tends to put me off Risotto in restaurants is the fact that they always tend to be some form of Mushroom Risotto, and with me being pretty much allergic to Mushrooms, it's not something I'm every likely to order. However, there seems to be an almost limitless variety to what you can have in a Risotto, and so I tend to use what I have to hand.

One of the things I like about Risotto is that with minimal ingredients in the house, I can quickly cook a simple meal in a small pan which is pretty tasty. I have tried using Chorizo in a Risotto before (as I was told it was illegal to use it in Paella) as I find it adds a nice flavour and texture to the dish when in small cubes, but this time, my creation ended up being somewhere between a Risotto and a Jambalaya. Not particularly traditional, but very tasty all the same. I made enough so that I could take some and reheat it at work the next day, and although it's definitely at its best when fresh from the pan, it was still very tasty. The boys in the office who had some all gave it the thumbs up.

Recipe Chicken and Chorizo Risotto (serves 2-3)

• 1 Chicken Breast, cut into cubes
• 1 Round of Chorizo, cut into cubes
• 2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 Red Pepper, chopped
• A knob of Butter
• 1 cup of Arborio Risotto Rice
• 1 cup of White Wine
• 1 pint of Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 cup Peas
• 1 cup Sweet corn
• 50g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
• Freshly grated Black Pepper

Add the Chorizo cubes to a pan over a medium heat and as it starts to release some of the fats, add the Chicken pieces, and stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the Chicken and Chorizo with a slotted spoon and keep to one side.

In the same pan, add the Garlic, Onion and Red Pepper and cook for about 5 minutes or so, until the Onion is turning transparent. If the pan is quite dry, add in a knob of Butter, turn the heat up a bit, and once melted, pour in the Risotto Rice and stir into the Onion and Pepper. Cook for about 3 or 4 minutes, stirring to ensure it doesn't stick or burn, then pour in the White Wine. This should help de-glaze the pan, and you should let cook until it is almost all evaporated.

Now you should add the Tabasco and Worcestershire Sauce, and then you can start to add the stock, about a ladleful at a time. Stir occasionally to ensure the Risotto doesn't stick, and as the Stock is absorbed by the Rice, add in another ladleful. After about 20 minutes, just as the rice is becoming al-dente, add the Chicken, Chorizo, Sweet corn and Peas into the mixture. Add a little more stock if necessary and continue cooking on a low heat for a few minutes. Finally, stir in the Cheese and Black Pepper, then cover for 5 minutes before serving.

Roast Chicken with Sage, Onion and Apple Stuffing

With all the publicity that Free Range Chickens are getting at the moment due to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out campaign, I really fancied a Roast Chicken myself this weekend. I wasn't planning on cooking for anyone except myself, but I wanted the leftover chicken for other recipes, and wanted the carcass to make the stock, too. However, I was slightly upset to find that none of the chickens in my local Waitrose came with Giblets. This was definitely mildly annoying as I wanted to use the Giblets to make the stock for the gravy at the very least.

Still, it was a nice Chicken which I managed to cook just right so that the breast was still nice and moist without being undercooked at all. I think it's definitely worthwhile getting a chicken larger than you need so that there are enough leftovers for another meal or two as it's definitely cheaper than buying in smaller pieces of Free Range Chicken.

With or without Hugh's Chicken Run, I'd been put off mass produced, Non-Free Range Chicken for a while after a documentary highlighting the fact that the burns often seen on the legs of these birds are due to them sitting around in their own filth all day long as they can barely stand up. Also, my Mum has bought free-range since we were kids, and I remember everyone commenting on the difference the first time she did. It is more expensive, but then, more recently, I have tended to go for more expensive pieces of meat, but just eat less of it, or at least, less often.

To go with the Chicken, I made a few Roast Potatoes, plus some Carrots and Sprouts. I reckon that most years I probably have sprouts only for Christmas Dinner, and very occasionally at someone else's house. I never cook them myself, even though I absolutely love them. I really didn't need all the stuffing I made, and ended up keeping most of it for sandwiches, but I wanted to make it simply because I'd never bothered in the past. I based the recipe on lots of similar stuffing recipes which I found searching on Google, and for me, it tasted great, so I'd definitely follow a similar route with that another time.

Recipe for the Roast Chicken

• 1 Free Range Chicken
• 25g Lightly Salted Butter
• Freshly Ground Salt and Black Pepper

Recipe for Sage, Onion and Apple Stuffing

• 3-4 slices of Whole Meal Bread, with Crusts
• 454g Sausage Meat, or peeled Sausages (not low fat)
• 1 Large Onion, finely chopped
• 2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and finely cubed
• 2 tablespoons of Fresh Sage Leaves, finely chopped
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper

In a food processor/blender, convert the bread to breadcrumbs. In a frying pan, cook and break up the Sausage Meat, until no longer pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the breadcrumbs. If there is a lot of oil in the pan, pour away most of it, leaving a little to fry the Onion, Apple and Sage. Fry gently for about 5 minutes, then add to the breadcrumbs and Sausage Meat. Either blend together in the food processor, or simply mix by hand, ensuring all the ingredients are well mixed together.

Put stuffing into the cavity of the Chicken. Any remaining stuffing can be cooked in a casserole dish, or rolled into balls and cooked for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

Cut the butter into two thin slices, then from the neck of the chicken, carefully lift the skin from the breast and insert the two slices of butter under the skin, on top of the breast. Sprinkle Freshly Ground Salt and Black Pepper over the skin, then cover with foil and cook in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius, following the pack instructions (normally around 45 minutes per kilo of chicken, plus an additional 20 minutes). Remove the foil covering for the last 40 minutes of cooking.

Chicken Kerala

I have been craving curry recently. It has been a while since I made a curry of any description, although I have made few spicy soups. When searching around for recipes, I found this one on the BBC website by Manju Malhi which caught my attention, mainly because I had pretty much all the ingredients already to hand, and also because it looked particularly quick and easy to make.

This recipe tasted great, and was extremely easy to do. I tend to do all the preparations before I start cooking, that way I can just empty the various bowls of ingredients in, TV-style, as I'm going along. It means I have more bowls to wash up, but it helps me to not forget any ingredients and make sure things go into the pot when they're supposed to.

Recipe for Chicken Kerala (Serves 3-4)

• 4 tablespoons Groundnut Oil
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 3 Green Chillies, finely chopped, seeds and all
• 2" Root Ginger, finely grated
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• ¼ teaspoon Hot Chilli Powder
• 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
• ½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 400g Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 medium Tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3-4 Potatos, cut into 3cm cubes
• 330ml Coconut Milk
• pinch of Garam Masala

Heat up 3 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy based pan and saute the Onion and Chilli for a few minutes. Then add the Ginger, Garlic, Chilli Powder, Coriander, Turmeric and Salt and stir into the Onions and once all covered, add the Chicken and fry gently for about 8-10 minutes. If the pan gets too dry and stuff starts to stick to the bottom, add a dash of water. Next add the Tomato and Potato and stir in for another couple of minutes before adding about a third of the Coconut Nut along with about 200ml of boiling water. Leave to simmer for about 6 minutes, then add the remaining Coconut Milk and further simmer for about 10 minutes until the potato and chicken are cooked. Then sprinkle of the pinch of Garam Masala.

I served this with Basmati Rice and garnished with some, maybe, overly browned shallots and curry leaves, however, for the photo, I just stuck a couple of Coriander leaves on top, because the shots with the onion just didn't look as nice.

Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Soup

This recipe came about because I had bought 10 very cheap chicken drumsticks, plus had promised I'd bring Rich some soup into the office once I had a flask to bring it in. It possibly wasn't the best soup to take to work in a flask, but it did go down well.

I had simply roasted the Drumsticks in my new combination oven for 30 minutes or so, then stripped the best of the meat off them, and put the remains and bones into a large pan of water with some celery leaves, onion, carrot and bay leaves and simmered for a few hours to make a stock. Half the chicken I used a Pasta Bake, saving the other half for this soup.

I pretty much did exactly what I did with my Leek and Potato Soup Recipe, only adding Celery and more Carrot than I would normally use, plus the Home-Made Stock, Chicken and Bacon. The Bacon was a bit of an afterthought as I discovered a few rashers which needed using up, but it definitely added nicely to the flavour.

Recipe for Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Soup (Serves 4-6)

• 5 Roasted Chicken Drumsticks (Skin and Bone removed, or equivalent amount of Chicken Breast)
• 4 Thick Rashers of Smoked Bacon (Cut into small pieces)
• 2 Leeks (Chopped)
• 2 Stalks of Celery (Cubbed)
• 3-4 Carrots (Cubbed)
• 2 Potatoes (Cubbed)
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
• 1 Pint Chicken Stock
• 0.5 Pint Swiss Marigold Vegetable Bouillon

Melt a little butter in a pan and add the vegetables, keeping the heat low so that they soften without burning. After about 15-20 minutes add the Stock, Chicken, Bacon and Bay Leaves and bring to a simmer. Personally, I like quite a bit of Black Pepper, so I add quite a bit at this time so that it gets time to flavour the soup. Cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes. Taste the soup and season with more Salt and Pepper if necessary.

Paella 2.0, on a Barbecue, in Warlingham

Anna and Jose gave a slightly rough review of my last attempt to make Paella. The main problems they highlighted were that I'd used chicken drumsticks rather than wings, the prawns were not in their shells, nor the mussels, that the rice wasn't yellow enough and I had no lemon as garnish. I think the lack of yellowness might just have been my camera performing badly with the colour with the poor lighting, but even so, I got the saffron as ordered, and made Paella 2.0 using that instead of turmeric.

I'm cat-sitting Nutmeg for my parents over the next couple of weeks, and they have pretty decent (although filthy) barbecue with adjustable grill height, so I decided to try and make it on that. I'd brought my Paella with me, knowing that my sister would be a willing taster, that cooking facilities and that better local shops would help with the endeavor. There was also the added bonus of getting my sister to do all the food photography with her decent camera. Although, saying that, she did manage to drain her battery taking pictures of Nutmeg, then have to bolt back home for the spare so that she could take pictures of the finished food.


The recipe was pretty much the same as before, except that I used Dwarf Beans instead of Fine Beans, a good pinch of crushed saffron instead of turmeric, and chicken wings, instead of legs (as per Anna and Joses' instructions), plus prawns and mussels in their shells. Also, I used about 50% more rice this time as I was fairly certain it wasn't enough last time.

Recipe for Paella 2.0

• 5 Whole Chicken Wings, cut in their 2 halves
  2 Pork Ribs, cut into bit size pieces
• 1 clove Garlic
• 4-5 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 large Red Pepper, cut into 6 strips
• 1.5 cups Dwarf Beans
• 2 medium Fresh Tomatoes
• 1.5 cups Paella Rice
• 4.5 cups Boiling Water
• A pinch of Saffron (enough, when crushed, to turn the water yellow)
• 1 teaspoon Smoked Spanish Paprika
• 1 can of Chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Lots of Prawns in their Shells (could have been bigger in our case)
• Lots of Mussels in their Shells
• A Lemon
  

The method was exactly as before, only done on a barbecue instead of the stove. The Mussels were cooked briefly in White Wine before adding to the top of the Paella in the last few minutes of cooking. The other difference is that I didn't use any stock as I seemed to end up with a better stock in the pan this time around, so just added the Saffron and Paprika to the boiling water (3 times that of the rice). I also remembered to add the Chickpeas as I had them washed and drained and out with the rest of my ingredients before I started to make sure nothing was forgotten.

My sister's hectic schedule for the day meant that I didn't get started on cooking until there was no real sunlight left in the garden and it was getting dark by the time I'd finished cooking. This was partly caused by the barbecue dying halfway through (luckily at a good moment to pause in the cooking) and us having to get it started again before getting the rice in. So, rather than a nice afternoon meal in the sunshine, it ended up as an evening meal around the dining table.

Although I pretty much followed their instructions to the letter this time, I can still almost hear the comments Jose and Anna are going to make. For one, I'm sure they are going to say that I put too many prawns and mussels on the top so that the chicken and peppers are nearly invisible. The rice was cooked to perfection though, with that slightly caramelised bottom, but without sticking to the pan. Definitely got a lot more confidence after cooking this one. I just need to get the time of day right.

Valencian Paella, made in Willesden Green

This was a recipe which I could not get wrong. Well, I could get it wrong, and probably have got bits of it wrong, but I'm satisfied enough with the results of this, my first ever paella, made from a recipe from Jose and Anna, using the Paella, Rice and Paprika they left me (and no Chorizo!).

Once again, I'm cooking for Caroline and Gabriel, so I figured that Paella would be a good thing to do as it's not really spicy and so would go down well with Gabriel. Plus it was a good one to flex my cooking muscles, as the instructions from Jose and Anna were pretty intricate. To be honest, like all the recipes I put up on this blog, if it had been a failure, it wouldn't be here. Even more so with this one, given that Anna and Jose will no doubt examine this particular blog entry and give thorough feedback on whether this was a success or failure.

Pretty much everything went according to plan with this recipe, although I was having to rush back to the computer to double check the email from Anna and Jose to make sure I was doing everything correctly. I totally forgot about adding the chickpeas, which I think would have been a nice addition. Plus I think I could have got away with a little more rice in the size pan I have. Also, I exchanged one of the mugs of hot water for chicken stock, as I remember them having some in their Paella, so I figured one mug wouldn't be so bad, especially as it was the nice stock cubes they left me.

Recipe for the Paella (Serves 2-3)

This is based on the size dish I have. So you need to adjust the proportions depending on the dish of Paella you have.

• 4 Chicken Drumsticks
• 2 Pork Spare Ribs, cut into chunks
• 250g Cooked Seafood Medley (from Waitrose in my case, with mussels, prawns, squid and cockles)
• 1.5 Red Peppers, cut into about 6 strips per pepper
• 2 Tomatoes, pureed with a little Salt and Olive Oil (Anna used a cheese grater and so did I)
• 1 Clove Garlic, finely sliced
• 1 Cup of Fine Beans
• 1 Cup of Chick Peas (optional, and forgotten in my case)
• 1 large mug Paella Rice
• 1 large mug Chicken Stock
• 2 large mugs Water
• 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika
• 0.5 teaspoons Turmerric
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 5-6 tablespoons Olive Oil

First, prepare all the vegetables and other ingredients so that it's easy to just get everything together as you're cooking. Put a little salt over the meat and heat up the 5 or 6 tablespoons of Olive Oil in the Paella. When it is hot enough, add the meat and cook until it is golden all over. Halfway through this process, add garlic and the Red Pepper and cook until the Red Pepper is easy to peel. The stove should be on a moderate heat. Nothing should burn, and you should just be moving pieces around the dish to make sure nothing sticks and cooks evenly.

Remove the meat as it is cooked and set aside. Once the Red Pepper is easy to peel, remove from the pan and set aside, then add the fine beans.

Once all the meat is cooked and you just have beans remaining in the pan, add the pureed Tomato and fry until cooked. Then add the Paella Rice and fry with the tomato, making sure it is all coated with the tomato and oil. You can now start adding the boiling water and stock if using (3:1 ratio to rice). Also add the Salt, Paprika and Tumeric (or Saffron), and make sure that the rice is boiling all over. Add the chickpeas (if you remember) at this point, then bring the heat down to a simmer. Stir the rice about to ensure that there are no peaks or troughs. It should be totally flat and even all over, as should the heat being applied underneath.

It will cook for about 20 minutes or so, until the rice is aldente. You need to add the cooked seafood in the last 6 minutes or so of cooking, then arrange the Chicken, Pork and Red Pepper pieces on the top. Once the Rice is aldente, switch off the heat and cover the Paella with a newspaper to help the top cook for a few more minutes.

You are now ready to serve. Bring the whole dish to the table and impress your friends!

Caroline and Gabriel both loved it. What little leftovers there are, Gabriel wants for breakfast. Personally, I'm quite pleased with the result for a first attempt.

Chorizo and Queso Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Palma Ham

I wanted to do something slightly less time-consuming tonight, and as I'd managed to find some really thinly sliced Parma Ham in my local shop, I decided to wrap it around some chicken breasts. Ideally, I wanted some fresh Mozzeralla for the stuffing, but as I was using Chorizo pieces, I figured that some of the mild Queso de Mezca might work alright as a flavour combination. Some Jamon Serano would've been better as a wrapping to keep the Spanish theme, but Palma Ham I figured was a cood second place ingredient.

The Chorizo has a lot of lot of flavour, so I didn't put any thing else other than that and the cheese in the centre.

Some similar recipes start it off in the pan, then transfer to the oven, but personally, I found that I've got a better chance of them staying together properly by doing all the cooking in the oven.

Recipe for Stuffed Chicken wrapped in Palma Ham (serves 3)

• 3 Chicken Breasts
• A few slices of Chorizo (cubed small, 2-3 mm)
• A few slices of Queso de Mezca (cubed small, 2-3 mm)
• 6-9 thin slices of Palma Ham (or Jamon Serano)
• 1 teaspoon Dried Sage
• Olive Oil
• Freshly Ground Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Preheat the Oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut pockets into the Chicken Breasts and put in the cubes Chorizo and Cheese, then wrap in two or three slices of Palma Ham.

Put a little Olive Oil into the bottom of the baking tray, then place each wrapped breast on, drizzle with a little Olive Oil and sprinkle some Sage, Salt and Pepper over the top.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes.

I served with Mash Potato and Runner Beans as I was keeping a 6 year old happy, and I knew that Mash would be his preferred choice, but I'd probably serve with either Salad or Boiled New Potatoes given the choice.

The result was pretty good, much better than the last time I tried doing something similar. The Queso worked quite well, but I still think that a softer cheese, such as Mozzarella or Ricotta would work better.

Red Jambalaya

I've only made Jambalaya a couple of times before. The first time, it was a disaster due to the fact that I didn't have a big enough pot to make it in, didn't have any nice Chorizo and ended up burning it because I couldn't stir properly without it going everywhere. The next time, it came out much better, although I didn't have a charged camera to document it properly. This time, I made every effort to get everything together, although, I didn't get it ready in time to get any decent daylight to get a good shot with my camera.

The original inspiration for my recipe was from Chuck's Jambalaya on the Gumpo Pages website. However, due to not being able to get all the correct ingredients, and not making my own stocks most of the time, I looked around at other variations, including Charita Jones's version (after all, her Jambalaya seems fairly popular, although not a Red Jambalaya like Chuck's), then adapted things a little during the cooking process. I'm going to try one without tomato one day, but there is something about the rich, red sauce during the cooking process which attracts me to Chuck's version.

The traditional recipe calls for Andouille (not easily available in the UK) or Chaurice (which seems to be close to Chorizo) and looking around at recipes on the Internet, it seems that all the recipes written by people based in the UK tend to use Chorizo instead. I'm a big fan of Chorizo, cooked or uncooked, and I definitely find that it's great in Jambalaya. My friends, Anna and Jose, bought me some great stuff from Spain, so I used some of that along with some stuff I bought here. I wanted to save the stuff from them until I make Fabada with the nice Morcilla they also bought me.

Recipe for Red Jambalaya (serves 6-8)

• 600g Chicken breast, cubed
• 600g Chorizo (2-3 rings), skinned and sliced
• 2 medium Onions, chopped
• 4 sticks of Celery, chopped
• 1 Green Pepper, chopped
• 1 Red Pepper, chopped
• 1 Chilli Pepper, chopped
• 6-8 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 small cans of Tomato Puree
• 1 can Chopped Tomatoes
• 3 mugs of Basmati Rice
• 2 pints Chicken Stock
• 1 cup Peas
• Half cup of Baby Carrots
• 3 teaspoons Black Pepper
• 2 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil

First, season the chicken. In my case, I use a bit of Lawry's Seasoned Salt, but a combination of Salt, Pepper and a little Cayenne Pepper will probably do just as well. Then brown the Chicken slightly in the Olive Oil in a large, heavy pan. Remove the Chicken from the Pan and set aside. Next, do the same with the Chorizo slices, although without additional seasoning, remove from the pan and pour away the excess fat.

There should now just be a thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pan with which to saute the Onion, Garlic, Celery and Peppers until transparent. The moisture from the vegetables should help deglaze the pan of dark matter from the Chorizo. Then, add the tomato puree and cook so until it starts to darken to a mahogany sort of colour.

At this point, add a little of the stock to the sauce to help deglaze the pan again, then add the additional herbs and spices and Chopped Tomatoes. Cook for about another 10-15 minutes and check the flavour so that if you need to add more spices, you can do it before the rice goes in, as it's better to get balance right beforehand so that the rice can soak up all the flavours. Add the Chicken and Chorizo back to the sauce.

Now, add the rice and ensure that it is thoroughly mixed, add the stock, mix and bring to the boil, then put the lid on the pan and put in a 180 degree Celsius oven for about 40-60 minutes until the rice as absorbed all the liquid and is well cooked. You should stir it a few times during cooking, and about halfway through, you can add the peas and carrots and any cooked fish.

I prefer finishing it in the oven as I find it cooks better and doesn't get stuck to the bottom, but you can do it all on the stove by lowering the heat to a simmer after it has started boiling with the stock and rice added, and stirring occasionally.

Serve with a salad and bread.

With this one, I wanted to add some crayfish too, but I didn't get the time to go up to Wing Yip to buy some. Instead, I added a little selection of Crayfish, Prawns and Mussels (should've bought double really) halfway through the rice cooking phase. The problem was that compared to the quantity of food, they were barely noticeable. Another time, I'll have to get some crayfish in their shells so that I can use the shells to improve the stock.

This recipe fed 5 people well (one of whom had about 4 or 5 helpings) and still with leftovers for a good 3 helpings. It was loads, but tasted so good, it didn't seem to matter. Jambalaya can be made with lots of different types of meat. It's certain not Paella, but it is a great, spicy, rice dish, and the fact that it's made all in the same pot makes it easy when you have limited cooking space.

Thai Red Chicken and Bamboo Shoot Curry... slightly improvised

I didn't have all the ingredients necessary for this, so a little improvisation was necessary. I could have just used one of the few Thai Red Curry pastes available in Sainsbury's, but that seemed like cheating, and after reading that people in Thailand will probably make a different Curry Paste every day, I thought that maybe a little variance over the recipes I had read would at least make it authentically mine, if not authentically Thai.

The main missing ingredients were the Fermented Shrimp Paste, Kaffir Lime and Palm Sugar, plus one or two recipes talked about putting Sweet Basil in there, but I couldn't even find any Fresh Basil, let alone Fresh Sweet Basil, so that was also left out. It was still very tasty, and nice and hot (good for the metabolism apparently), and with leftover Curry Paste in case my sister fancies cooking it again in the next month, although I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Once again, photography was courtesy of my sister's excellent camera, although, as she was too busy fighting with her computer, I took the photos, so they're not quite the same quality than had she taken them for me.

Recipe for the Red Curry Paste

• About 45 Dried Red Chillies, seeds and all
• 2 sticks of Lemon Grass, chopped fine
• 8 cloves of Garlic, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon Galanga
• 1 tablespoon of Fish Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
• Quarter teaspoon of Ground Turmeric
• 1 tablespoon Fresh Coriander Stalks, chopped fine (should be roots, but a couple of recipes mentioned that you could get away with the white part of the stalks, so in they went).
• 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds, toasted and crushed
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds, toasted
• 5 White Pepper Corns, toasted and crushed
• Zest of a Lime (preferably a Kaffir Lime)
  

Put all the above ingredients into a blender, and blend to a paste. If too dry, add a little water. Looking at the quantity made, I'd say you could probably get 2 curries out of this, or a pretty large one. Ideally, there should have been 1-2 teaspoons of Fermented Shrimp Paste in this, but again, I didn't have any.

Recipe for the Curry (served 2)

• 375g Chicken Breast, cubed
• 2 heaped tablespoons Red Curry Paste
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 1 small can Bamboo Shoots
• 1 Red Pepper, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sugar (should have been Palm Sugar)
• Zest of a Lime

Put a little oil in a large pan and fry the Curry Paste for about a minute, then add half the Coconut Milk and bring to the boil, mixing the Paste into it. Some oil will probably form on the top which you can skim off and discard. Then add the Chicken and cook for about 5 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients and the rest of the Coconut. Continue to cook on a high simmer until everything is cooked and the sauce has reduced to your liking. Served with Thai Jasmin Rice.

I definitely need to spend some time getting more of the correct ingredients before trying this again, but it was still a pretty good success (there were no leftovers, other than the spare Curry Paste, enough to make the same meal again). Also, if you have the Curry Paste prepared beforehand, it's fairly quick to make.

Chicken Korma and Red Lentil Dahl

Two firsts for me. Making something with lentils and making something with coconut milk. But I knew my nephew liked dahl - even though when he saw me opening the lentils, he said "errgh, I don't like lentils", then correcting himself when he realised they were the main ingredient - so I thought that I should probably make the curry a little milder than I would normally go for. Whenever I've had real korma, it's never been that sweet and often sickly dish you tend to find at Indian restaurants in the UK, and often quite spicy, but I kept the amount of chilli down, so that Joseph would probably eat it without complaint. As it was, the Pea and Potato Pasties were more spicy than the curry, and he ate more of them than anything else.

Photography was once again supplied by my sister, although when she got around to capturing the main course, her thoughts were definitely drifting to eating it before it got cold than, than taking a huge number of photos, so there were considerably less of the curry shots to choose from.

Recipe to Marinate the Chicken

• 600g Skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 2cm cubes
• 4-5 tablespoons Natural Yoghurt
• 5cm piece of Root Ginger, finely grated

In a bowl, mix the Chicken pieces in the Yoghurt and grated Ginger, cover, then keep in the fridge for 3-4 hours (or even overnight).

Recipe for the Curry Paste

• 2-3 Red Chillies, seeded
• 1 Medium Onion, chopped roughly
• 4 cloves of Garlic, chopped roughly

Throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend to a fine paste, adding a little water if too dry. Keep to one side for the meantime.

I would probably use some hotter green chillies if I weren't making it with my nephew in mind.

Recipe for the Korma Sauce

• 4 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 large onion, sliced finely
• 1 tablespoon Ground Coriander
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• Half teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Half teaspoon Salt
• Half cup of Hot Water
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 2 tablespoons Almonds, chopped
• Handful Fresh Coriander, chopped
• Juice of half a Lemon

Put some vegetable oil in large, heavy pan and fry the Onion until golden and then remove from the pan and put to one side. Add some more oil, then when hot, add the spices and stir around for about a minute. Then add the chicken pieces and marinade, stir into the spices and cook for about 10 minutes. Next add the paste, stir in and cook for about another 10 minutes.

Now pour in the Hot Water which should help de-glaze the pan a little, and then add the Coconut Milk and stir the ingredients together along with the fried onions and salt. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover and leave to cook for about another 40 minutes until the sauce has reduced to a thick gravy.

Put the Almonds into a blender and whizz about for a few seconds so they're finely chopped, but not a paste, a bit like large breadcrumbs. Stir these into the curry along with the Fresh Coriander and lemon juice, you're ready to serve.


The Korma came out lovely, but the rice, for the first time in my life, all stuck together. Maybe it's because I didn't have my nice caste iron pan to make it in. Would've been perfect if we were making sushi. Also, I'm not sure I was happy with the Dahl as it was a bit dark and a bit bland, although Sally said she thought it was OK and no complaints from Joseph. I didn't have my notebook with me that contained Sandra's recipe, which I had intended to try out, so I had to improvise using a few I found on the web. Once I've had another crack at this one, I'll publish the recipe.

Chicken Cashew Chilli

Another outing for the new blender, this time to make the cashew and chilli paste which went into this dinner. Was a little bland and could have done with more chilli and fresh coriander than I had, but it was still nice, and better the next day. Next time, I think I'll put less cashews in the paste and more or different chilli. Probably use less kidney beans and more cashews and red pepper next time too, as I love red pepper and I think it could've done with more.

Southern Fried Chicken

Djavid suggested cooking this after filling up on the Meatball Curry earlier in the week. None of us had ever had home-made fried chicken, and I rarely eat it at all. I've never deep fried anything before (that I can remember), and memories of bad fried chicken definitely put me off the idea, but Djavid had laid down the gauntlet, and as he's got a proper gas hob and more space, I agreed to do it as long as I could do it at his house. I just brought the ingredients and prepared everything, although he did the majority of the cleaning afterwards, which was definitely a bonus.

I got some ideas from a few recipes on the web, and created my own slight variation. Flour, Lawry's, Paprika, Cayenne, Black Pepper, mixed. A few eggs with some milk and a tablespoon or two of Encona Hot Pepper Sauce, beaten. Clean the chicken pieces, dry them, then cover with seasoned flour, then dip into egg mixture, then back into the seasoned flour, and deep fry in hot groundnut oil until golden brown and the chicken is cooked, turning once or twice during cooking. The first batch were a little bland on the spices, but we added more on each subsequent batch until we had it just right. If there is a next time though, I think we might experiment with other spice combinations.

I have to say, it tasted pretty good. Once properly drained on kitchen towel the chicken pieces weren't really greasy and the chicken on the inside was nice and moist without any oil at all. Djavid and Gab managed to eat 7 pieces each which seems slightly excessive. Personally, I think I had about 3 pieces, which I think is probably sufficient for most people, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.

Then we experimented with South Fried Apple Fritter, which would have been OK if it wasn't for the salt I reckon. Definitely not advisable. But doing another flour mixture with cinnamon and a plain egg and milk mixture made Apple fritters which tasted almost like miniture Apple Pies. A lot of deep fried food, but we did have some corn and salad with it, and it seemed right to get the most from all the groundnut oil we used.

New requirements came out of the evening, so going to have to spend another day or so before getting them reviewed.

Requirements and Chicken Casserole

I made a great Chicken Cider Casserole last night. It was the second time I've made it, although it was a lot bigger this time with more vegetables (peas, carrots, leeks, baby sweet corn, yellow pepper and potatoes) and with a kilo of thighs and drumsticks (skinned, seasoned with Lawry's and sealed in the same pan the bacon was cooked in and the gravy is made in), so a whole can of cider was necessary this time around. Definitely nicer with the meat on the bone rather than the cubed breast pieces I used last time. The chicken on the bone was nice and moist having only been seasoned and slightly sealed before getting combined with the vegetables and gravy. The whole thing was then covered cooked for about 2 - 2.5 hours in a 180 degree (celsius) oven.

After everyone had eaten and left (positive comments all round), I decided I needed a proper requirements document before going any further with my recipe site, so I'm going to hold back on the full database design until this is completed. The more I've thought about it, the more features I think the site should have, and so getting them all written down beforehand has now become a must.

Thankfully there are still leftovers of the casserole and judging on how well the last one went down on the second day, I reckon it should be really nice. Probably not much chicken left though.