Chicken Tikka Masala Stoneware-Style!

For Sarah with love...

This is one of the best stoneware curries, its got an authentic Indian taste and you can easily turn the heat up by adding more chilli's.  If you would rather not use a tikka paste you could always follow this Chicken Tikka Recipe but probably wouldn't do it in the stoneware as the raw spices need to be fried off to give off the best flavours.

Chicken Tikka Masala Stoneware-Style!

5 chicken breasts for Deep Dish Baker or Square Baker – (can double ingredients for Rectangular Baker)
¾ jar Tikka Masala paste
250g natural yogurt
I tbs olive oil
1 red onion – finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1 fresh green chilli
1 inch piece root ginger – finely grated or chopped
4 fl oz / 125 ml water
4 fl oz / 125 ml double cream
Bunch fresh coriander – finely chopped
1tbsp lemon juice
2/3 tsp cumin seeds

Method
1. Chop uncooked chicken into bite size pieces using Santoku knife and Cutting Board. Add the chicken to the Classic Batter Bowl. Chop the red onion and chilli using the Food Chopper and add to the bowl.

2. Use the Micro Scraper to take the masala paste out of the jar. Snip coriander with Kitchen Shears into a Prep Bowl, and then add to the bowl. Use the Easy Adjustable Measuring spoon to measure out the olive oil. Squeeze the lemon using the Citrus Press into Prep Bowl.

3. Measure the cream and water using the Easy Read Measuring Cup. Add the yogurt using the Measure-All cup. Crush the garlic with Garlic Press, and then grate the ginger using the Microplane. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl using the Mix’N Scraper.


4. Measure the cumin seeds using Adjustable Measuring spoon and place in a Prep Bowl, add a knob of butter and microwave until seeds pop. Add to mixture, stir and pour into stone on180-200 degrees for 35 mins – make sure curry is bubbling nicely in oven.

5. Serve with Coconut Rice using the Rice Cooker Plus in the microwave.

Makes 8 Servings
• 4 cups Thai jasmine white rice (note that other types of rice do not work for this recipe)
• 3 cups of good-quality coconut milk (regular or light!)
• 4 cups cold water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons dry shredded/desiccated unsweetened coconut

Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, salt, and coconut. Stir well.

Cover and put in microwave. Give it five minutes on “Full” power and then another 10-minutes on “Medium” (50% power).

Gently fluff with a fork before serving (some of the coconut milk may have risen to the surface - just stir it back into the rice).

The rice should be “sticky” – this is normal.

At one of my Curry Night Special Pampered Chef Shows I take along a batch of Naan bread dough and let each guest cook their own bread.
This is great fun, they all roll out their individual naans with the bakers roller and cook it over a medium heat in the square griddle pan they are delicious and really do make a curry night special.  If you'd like to know how to make them, follow the link here

Any questions? Just ask!

Jamie's 30 minute meal

I sat watching Jamie O's 30 minute meals on catch up earlier today and watched the one where he makes mushroom risotto with a cucumber and spinach.

I checked the fridge and I had all the ingredients to do the spinach salad but lacked mushrooms for the risotto...

 but I did have asparagus, mint and lemon... so that's what I did, cooking it in the 30 minute style. It turned out fabulous!

 Didn't have the stuff to do the dessert he suggested but did have everything to make a huge banoffee pie!

This was delicious... expertly made by Jo.  The recipe she used as base loosely on this one here however she used butter and kept it plain.

Cooking for Our Parish Paella Party

Look at the size of that pan!!!!

Do you remember me telling you about the paella practice we had for this church event?  Well it happened, the pan was delivered... it was huge. The recipe was doubled, doubled and then double some more until we have enough for everyone! We had a team of helpers to set up, prep, serve etc and the boys set up the gas!!!



Blurred due to a drunken photographer NOT that Paul was moving too fast...
that would never happen lol



The recipe came together just as well as it did when we practiced for 4 people, OK it took a little longer and it needed four of us to stir it but I was pleased with the outcome.  The recipe was great, very meaty and while it took a lot more stock than I had first anticipated, I quickly got over my nerves about cooking such a huge pot of paella. I spent the previous night dreaming about cooking it and couldn't stir it enough to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.... not a good dream I can tell you, I woke up feeling like I'd spent the night cooking paella and didn't fancy doing it all over again in just a few hours time.

 In the end I shouldn't have worried, we all had a great time, the paella was easy to cook and while sometimes I felt like we didn't have enough hands to stir it all, it turned out great!
It didn't stick and was cooked to perfection, even if I do say so myself!




A very relieved cook serving up the Meat Paella

The recipe for a regular 4 serving size can be found here

Paella de Carne Recipe

Parish Paella Party Practice!

How's that for alliteration? We are hosting a Paella Party next Friday, to celebrate Pope Benedict's visit to the UK and to welcome all our new parishioners from the ARCC base. Over 20 family are expected to attend and we thought it best to test out our chosen meat paella dish beforehand.  Now I prefer the traditional seafood ladened rice dish but Liz [who's had the original idea to host the party] doesn't like seafood!  We found the recipe for paella de carne on fabulous food website. We were hoping that the name of the website was a good omen, so we both took a copy of the printed recipe home and gave it a try. 

   

This is my version.

Not the best photo I agree, but the flavours of this dish were lovely, the spiciness of the  chorizo oozed into every grain of rice, the chicken was tender the peppers remained crunchy and sweet.  All we have to do is sort out the quantities for 80 people now... wish us luck!

This one isn't much better, but trust me, the flavours were great!

Adapting Madhur Jaffery

Madhur Jaffery's Lamb Biryani

This has lots of step to make it but you can cut corners to make it quicker. I made this version with rice as instructed but I think it would be good made with 'cauliflower rice' making it IPD friendly.


Worth the work!!!

The flavours are homely, comforting and get better the longer it is left. I had it for lunch the next day and everything had melded together and tasted that little bit better.

You will need
· 450ml cooked long grain rice, (Or large fresh cauliflower grated)
· 3 tbsp
· 3 tbsp Salt
· 1 tsp saffron strands or 1 tsp turmeric
· 2 tbsp Milk, warm
· 2 large Onions, peeled
· 4 garlic cloves, peeled
· 2 level tsp ginger
· 2 tbsp ground almonds
· 2 tbsp slivered almonds
· 10 tbsp vegetable oil
· 3 tbsp sultanas
· 500g boneless shoulder of lamb, cut into 2.5cm cubes
· 250ml natural Greek yogurt
· ½ tsp Cloves
· 0.5 tsp black peppercorns
· 0.5 tsp cardamom seeds
· 1 tsp cumin seeds
· 1 tsp coriander seeds
· ½ tsp cinnamon stick
· ¼ tsp nutmeg
· 25g unsalted butter
· ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
· 3 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and at room temperature
Method
1. Put the warm milk in a small cup. Crumble the saffron into the warm milk and soak.

2. Cut 1 of the onions into fine half-rings. Set these aside. Chop the remaining onion coarsely. Put chopped onion, garlic, ginger, and ground almonds and 3 tbsp water into the container of an electric blender. Blend until you have a paste.

3. Put 6 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick frying pan. When hot, put in the onion half-rings. Stir and fry them until they are brown and crisp. Remove them with a slotted spoon and spread them out on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

4. Put the sultanas into the same oil. Remove them as soon as they turn plump - which happens immediately. Set aside on kitchen paper.

5. Put the slivered almonds into the oil. Stir and fry them until they are golden. Remove and spread out beside the sultanas. Set aside for use as the garnish.

6. Now put the meat cubes, a few at a time, into the same hot oil and brown them on all sides. As each batch gets done, put in a bowl.

7. Add the remaining 4 tbsp of the oil to the frying pan and turn the heat to medium. When hot, put in the onion-garlic-ginger-almond paste from the blender. Fry, until the paste turns a medium-brown colour. If it sticks slightly to the bottom of the pan, sprinkle in a little water and keep stirring. Add all the spices and fry for 2 minutes. Add the yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring well between each addition.

8.Now put in 1.25 tsp of the salt and 150ml water. Return the meat to the pan. Mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

9. When the meat has cooked for 30 minutes. Cover again and continue to cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Remove cover, raise heat to medium and cook, stirring all the time, until you have about 200ml thick sauce left at the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and spoon off as much grease as possible. The meat should be pretty well cooked by now.

10. Spread out the meat and sauce in the bottom of a heavy casserole. Cover and keep warm.

11. Pre-heat the oven to 150C/gas 2.

12. Bring 3.6 litres water to a rolling boil in a large pan. Add 1.5 tbsp salt to it. Drain the rice and rinse it off under running water. Slowly, scatter the rice into the boiling water. Bring to a boil again and boil rapidly for exactly 6 minutes. Then drain the rice.

13. Work fast now. Put the rice on top of the meat, piling it up in the shape of a hill. Take a chopstick or the handle of a long spoon and make a 2.5cm wide hole going down like a well from the peak of the rice hill to its bottom. Dribble the saffron milk in streaks along the sides of the hill. Lay the pieces of butter on the sides of the hill and scatter 2 tbsp of the browned onions over it as well. Cover first with aluminum foil, sealing the edges well, and then with a lid. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven. If left in a warm place, this rice will stay hot for 40 minutes.

14. Just before you get ready to serve, quarter the eggs, lengthwise. Mix the contents of the rice pan gently. Serve the biryani on a warmed platter, garnished with the eggs, remaining browned onions, sultanas and almonds.

Note: make it IPD friendly –ish - don’t use the sultanas and I use a natural 0% fat Greek yogurt (this has a very low Carb count) Instead of the rice I will use grated fresh cauliflower baking for only 30-40 minutes. (Checking to make sure the cauliflower is cooked but still has that ‘rice’ texture after 30 mins.)

Missing in Action....

I've had lots of wintry walks this week but very little of anything else...schools out, works out and Paul stuck at home too!! It was almost crying out for traditional comfort food.

I had this for lunch (phase 3) .... A mix of avocado, red pepper, spring onion, lime juice, black pepper with a dollop of sour cream, served on a slice of stone ground toast. But went on to have this for tea....

Jamie Oliver throw it all in paella from the series 'Oliver's Twist' sans the seafood!. It was very tasty, very comforting and probably the first time I'd had rice for many months. I did enjoy it though, it was so easy to put together and the flavours worked really well together. It also ticked all the boxes for my love food hate waste campaign. I have been using this website for a while now, especially the perfect portion control part of it. Its brilliant, and it helps me to make sure my fridge is empty BEFORE I go shopping again...but more on that later!!!

Sausage and Red Wine Risotto

Original recipe (from a torn piece of magazine) calls for a yard of sausages. I used 6 fat cumberland sausage instead.

1 x yard ‘Old County Original’ Cumberland Sausage

40ml olive oil

1 x onion chopped

2 x cloves garlic chopped

225g Arborio rice

300ml red wine

575ml vegetable stock

4tblsp fresh parsley chopped

50g butter cubed

2tblsp Parmesan cheese grated

Method

1. Remove skin from sausage and place meat in heated frying pan, fry until golden all over - drain.
2. Heat the oil, add garlic and onion - cook to soften, add rice gently and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Bring stock to boil in a saucepan.
4. Add half the red wine to the rice and stir.
5. When all wine has been absorbed add remainder stirring continuously until all wine has been absorbed.
6. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time making sure all the liquid has been absorbed before adding more.
7. Add the sausage meat after approx 15 minutes and stir for further 10 minutes, until the rice is cooked but not soft.
8. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter parsley and Parmesan cheese.
9. Season to taste.
10. Stir thoroughly cover and leave to rest for 3 minutes before serving.