New recipe challenge - w/c June 5

[katkinn]

Right, well I've managed to collate a number of recipes to cook over the next couple of weeks, starting with a new curry recipe for tomorrow night.

It's called Quick easy chicken curry (liking the sound of that - in particular the quick and easy bit :teehee: ) and is in July's Olive magazine.

Looks really delish, is low GI so shall let you know how it goes after I attempt it tomorrow night!

Any more?!!

katkinn
xxx

[Biba]

Ohh me this week we are having, pamersan coated chicken, pesto chicken kebabs, sasusage pasta umm can't remeber what else off the top of my head.

btw Katkinn the tandoori recipe that i had a link to in that thread was lush much better than the one I typed out. would be interested in the curry if its low GI and yummy.

[book_lover]

My turn! This week we have had lovely food (so far). Sunday we had venison casserole from the freezer (DH was given shed loads of venison shoulders as they were doing a cull when he was gardening there). It was lush, very rich though. I have this new recipe book which I love, it's here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1844001679/qid%3D1149678895/026-9038856-7064455

and it is full of fab things. We had the roast potatoes with the casserole - basically you get small new potatoes, boil til tender, then squash them with a fish slice, then roast them in hot oil. Lush!

Monday we had "Montezumo Pie" from my charity shop find Mexican cookbook. It's basically corn tortillas (which I made myself but you know you can't get the proper masa harina corn flour that they use over there, my Mexican colleague reckons they don't export it. Hence home made corn tortillas are a bit on the tough and unbendy side!), Mexican green sauce (which is meant to be made from "tomatillos" but you can't buy them here so I used green peppers and lettuce in it's place, and lots of green chilli), sour cream (I used half fat creme fraiche), shredded chicken and cheddar cheese. Basically, you layer it like a lasagne - chicken, green sauce, creme fraiche, tortilla pieces, cheese - then repeat.

OMG it was DEVINE! I LOVED IT! I will definitely make that for friends. Can't wait to try the other stuff too, I LOVE Mexican food!

Last night we had red tilapia fillets pan fried with olives (actually kalamata olive paste and lots of tarragon) - out of the GI Diet book which Minky has now (although it's meant to be red mullet but hey ho). It was really nice.

Tonight we are having carrot mezza (a bit like felafels but made with carrots, pine nuts, seeds and dried fruits) with toasted pittas, yoghurt and red onion dip and salad - also from the GI book.

Tomorrow we are having pork loin with ale and prunes (also from the GI book :oops:).

Friday we are having “steak supper” out of an old Good Food mag – basically you layer braising steak, onion, tomato and potato and cook in the oven, covered. I hope it’s nice, will have it with mustard and salad! It looks really easy but takes two hours in the oven, so I just need to be organised!

Saturday we managed to find frozen prepared squid and some frozen raw tiger prawns so we’ll make a kind of taverna style seafood meal with calamari and prawn/veg kebabs/garlic prawns or summat. Summat sorta Greek. Laura will get put to bed on a philadelphia sarnie that night (we like to have a night off at least once a week and eat without her).

Sunday we are having good old roast chicken!

xxx

[*kate*]

BL you put me to shame :oops: last night's grown ups dinner was a Heinz sandwich spread sandwich (but made with wholemeal bread for extra nutrition!)

I too have a freezer full of venison so there's no excuse - just can't think what else to make with it, other than casserole.

[Biba]

Last night we had red tilapia fillets pan fried with olives


Did you like the tilapia? I wanted some cod the other day but they didn't have any in Tesco's so I got this instead, I baked it with peppers and spring onions and a few other bits and bobs in a foil parcel and didn't think much of the fish.

[Narcissa Malfoy]

Bookie - omg - can I come and stay? :grin: I am so ashamed of this weeks menu I hardly dare post it!!!!! :lol:

Mon night I made chicken curry - but katkinn - liking the sound of yours so if it is any good will look forward to the recipe!

Last night was salad - parma ham and peach.

Tonight is :scratchchin: :puzzled: um, not sure and not sure for the rest of the week!!!!

Bookie - could you expand the recipe for "Montezumo Pie" - it sounds so fab - eg amounts and cooking time. :pray: thanks! :flowers:

[book_lover]

I will do that Narcissa - once I get home to my cook book, I'll type it out for you :smile: It's the way all the layers meld - the green sauce and creme fraiche meld together as do the tortillas and cheese. Yum!

Biba, I was just thinking how nice it was, really delicate and melt in the mouth. Maybe it just suited the sauce really well....

xxx

[Sparkly]

Ohh Bookie loving the sound of that Mexican dish - in fact I want to come and live in your house this week as it all sounds fab!

Mr S is away for a few days and I never cook as much when he's not around - basically he eats like a horse, so I take the opportunity to cut down a bit!

Before he left I made a nice new salmon dish...

Marinade salmon steaks in teryaki, fresh ginger & sesame oil, coat with sesame seeds and grill (cept I used fillets and cooked in oven!)

Serve on bed of noodles and pak choi drizzled with soy.

Really simple and absolutely scrummy!

Last night I had toasted wholemeal pitta topped with mustard crusted ham, baby spinach, herb salad, vine toms, cucumber, avocado, black olives, boiled egg & poppy seeds. Scrum and very healthy - except throughout the evening I had 2 choc digestives, 3 party rings, a toffee crisp & glass of wine! :oops: what a gorb that looks SO bad written down!

[book_lover]

"gorb"?

Sparkly, the salmon sounds lovely.

and party rings - you just have to! They rock!

btw how is the running going?

oh, and Spacedust, everyone is on about the Botham burgers - will have to try some too. In my "totally simple food" book there is a recipe for beef burgers with beetroot and they look fiiiiiine. Btw, Kate, you could make venison burgers? You have to find some way to mince the meat though - we have an ancient metal "Spong" mincer thing, but maybe you could just blitz it?

xxx

[*kate*]

Ooh never thought of venison burgers.....:scratchchin: I have the equivalent of 2 haunches in my freezer and there's some that the butcher diced for me, perhaps I could just bung this in the processor. I did try roasting it but the kids weren't keen on the taste of the meat on it's own, yet they'd eat in a casserole :rolleyes: if I make it into burgers they'll drown it in ketchup and no one will be any the wiser!

Thanks Bookie :smile: will get some out of the freezer tomorrow!

[book_lover]

all you need now is nice BBQ weather!

xxx

[Angel]

I made chocolate crispy cakes - does that count ?? :laff:

Monday night was chicken curry ! Must have been the night for it.

Last night a boeuf bourguinon/dauphinoise potato thing from M&S that needed using up. Not as nice as my DH could make though !!

Tonight was a salmon nicoise salad

Tomorrow I'm trying Katkinns chorizo pasta

Friday night who knows !!

[sersha]

I made the delia Pork with mustard and creme fraiche sauce thing that someone posted on this thread a while back - it was very quick and really good. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/roast-tenderloin-of-pork-with-mustard-and-creme-fraiche-sauce,1766,RC.html

Think I am running about 3 weeks behind everyone else, but I only seem to be able to cope with one or two new things in a week!

[Minky]

I made a really intersting salad last night. It was supposed to be a nicoise, but as the beans I had bought (not out of date) had gone RANCID I had to minky-vate it and I now call it minkoise - it was fabby! :cheer2: :cheer2:

Pile a big load of salad leaves in a big plate.
Blanch some asparagus for 2 or three minutes, and run under cold water.
Boil some eggs for 7 mins and run under cold water.
Cook some new potatoes (used Jersey Royals) (I did all of these in the same pot and just mucked with the timings).

Pile on some tuna in the middle of the leaves, then add quartered eggs, halved potatoes, the cool asparagus (piled on top of the tuna), olives, cherry tomatoes and a few sundried tomatoes if you fancy.

Serve with aioli.

YUMMY!

:chef:

Minky

PS does that count as a recipe? :bwahaha:

[book_lover]

Minky that sounds gorgeous. Is the yoke of the egg still slightly runny? And Angel, can you email me some of those chocolate crispy cakes please hun? :wink:

Well what a FECKING DISASTER! DH (who was already in a foul foul mood) spent ages making the carrot mezza (from the GI book - Minky beware of these). When I got back from the dog walk he was even worse, and going on about how they wouldn't hold together (they're meant to be a bit like felafels). When he tried to fry them they just disintegrated into a soggy mess. Won't be trying those again! So I have JUST finished fish fingers beans and oven chips and DH found a meaty stew in the freezer, which I just didn't fancy. Poor Laura, she got sphagetti hoops and toast - but she lapped it up so she can't have minded too much!

Not sure I've even been forgiven yet, because it is of course MY fault, rather than Anthony Worrel Thomson's fault :rolleyes:

xxx

[Angel]

Minky that salad sounds YUM !

Do you make your own aioli or buy it ? I usually just crush garlic into some Hellmans and add lemon juice :oops:

Bookie - the cakes are on their way :wink:

[Sparkly]

"gorb"? :lol: sorry, maybe it's just a local saying:puzzled: - anyway it means a very greedy person! Just remembered I also had half a bag of licquorice allsorts, so I truly am a gorb! :nod:

[book_lover]

oh I like that one Sparkly. The other one I like (to mean stuffing your face) is "troughing". Such a charming word :lol:

xxx

[Sparkly]

Hee hee - must remember that - immediately made me think of Mr Sparks! :shock:

[Angel]

I made Katkinn's chorizo pasta tonight which was LOVELY ! I'm definitely going to make it again but rather than the sliced stuff that my DH bought I'd buy a proper chorizo sausage so it's chunks.

I'm now trying to plan meals for next week and am really :brainache:

[Minky]

Minky that salad sounds YUM !

Do you make your own aioli or buy it ? I usually just crush garlic into some Hellmans and add lemon juice :oops:

Bookie - the cakes are on their way :wink:

I shamefully bought it :oops: :oops: :oops: it was in a tub from Sainsbury's and the ingredients were ok... Katkinn will confirm it was yummy (I just didn't have time to do it from scratch :happyno: :happyno: :happyno: ).

The eggs were slightly runny when I cut them but then they kind of solidified if that makes sense (runny eggs make me feel :sick: ) and were really moist and yummy.

I am so going to make it loads - varying the asparagus with beans/mange tout and other yummy seasonal veggies. Also think it would be nice with canned salmon or a sliced chicken breast.

YUM!

Minky

[book_lover]

well we sacked our pork with ale and prunes (from the awt book, again!) as I forgot to marinate it, and we couldn't be harsed. So we had our pork loin with apple, sage, grainy mustard and creme fraiche sauce. Twas nice! AND I have mash and savoy cabbage left for me and Laura to have bubble and squeak for lunch tomorrow (will try it with spray oil). Going to have a poached egg with it, yum! All Friday-ish and treaty!

xxx

xxx

[katkinn]

Right the chicken curry that I did the other night was absolutely and utterly DELISH, v easy, v cheap and v healthy - what more could you want from a recipe?

ONLY downside is that my house has smelt like an Indian restaurant for the past 3 days which isn't the design quirk (sp?) I was going for.

So here's the recipe as in the mag:

V Quick chicken Curry

oil for frying
onion chopped
curry paste, 2 tbsp such as Madras
tomatoes 4 chopped
skinless chicken thighs, or thigh fillets 4
young spinach 100g
plain yoghurt 4 tbsp
coriander handful of leaves
basmati rice or naan bread to serve

Heat a little oil in a deep non stick frying pan (that has a lid) and add the onion. Fry for about 3 mins until tender then stir in the curry paste and fry for a min. Add the chicken and tomatoes and a splash of water, cover and cook for 15 to 20 mins until cooked through. Stir in the spinach until just wilts then stir in the yog and coriander. Season. Serve with rice, a naan bread or salad. Serves 2

GI assessment The chicken and vegetables don't give a GI rating, though throwing in some yellow lentils will a low GI carb. Choose basmati rice or wholemeal pitta bread.

The above is as written - nothing changed by me at all!!!

I personally used 6 toms (as they weren't v big) and 3 chicken breasts chopped instead of thighs. I also added a touch more than a splash of water which I WOULDN'T recommend as it DOES actually only need a splash!! I had to cook it for more to reduce it down. I also added a handful of green lentils when I Added the chicken which was LOVELY - they actually still retained their bite and nuttiness rather than mushing in (which I would actually still have liked!!)

I also used two v heaped tbps of madras curry paste (which is just the bog standard Patak's paste) and with hindsight I would have used flatter tbsp!!! (I didn't notice that it was HOT madras paste but it was the only one they sold in madras!!) Not too much less but definitely a splash!!

I had it with a naan bread and DH had rice and bread. It was absolutely delish and I'm definitely going to do it again next week!!

HTH someone!!!

katkinn
xxxx

[book_lover]

Katkinn that sounds nice.

as promised - I halved the recipe, well not even that, I just guessed at quantities to serve 2 and a half people (although Laura ate almost as much as me!).

MONTEZUMA PIE:
Pastel deh Montezuma (pas-tehl deh mohn-teh-soo-mah)

6 cups boned and skinned cooked turkey or chicken, shredded
Green sauce (directions follow)
1 pint (2 cups) sour cream (I used half fat creme fraiche)
1 dozen corn tortillas cut into 1.5 inch pieces
1.5 lbs Jack cheese, grated (we used mild cheddar as couldn't find this)

Arrange half the meat in a lightly greased 9 by 13 in baking dish. Spread over half the green sauce, then half the sour cream. Top with half the tortilla pieces then half the cheese. Reapeat layers, using remaining chicken or turkey, green sauce, sour cream, tortillas and cheese. Bake, covered in a 375 degree fahrenheit (not sure - we just did a hot oven) for 40 minutes (although we were hungry so pulled it out after 25!). Uncover and bake an additional 8 minutes or until cheese on top bubbles and casserole is hot throughout. Cut into squares to serve. Makes 8-12 servings.

GREEN SAUCE:
In a blender container, combine 1 drained can Mexican tomatillos (those of you with specialist delis may find these, but we didn't so substituted with lots of cooked green pepper and some lettuce), 1 small onion cut into 4 pieces, 2 cloves garlic, 1 can whole california green chillis, pith and seeds removed (I just used almost an entire bag of "basics" green chillis which aren't even hot so a whole bag produced a nice mellow kick), 1 bunch chopped fresh corriander, 1 tsp salt, and half a tsp sugar. Blend til smooth.


Girls I reckon it would also be nice with a tomato and chilli sauce (just bung tomatoes, red peppers, garlic and chillis in the oven with some olive oil, roast then blend). But it was so fab with the green colour and also I think the corriander really made it.

xxx

[katkinn]

ooh Angel - really pleased that you liked the Chorizo pasta!! We have it at least once a fortnight - really really love it! (and it's pretty healthy as well as there's no cheese with it!)

I normally use the sliced chorizo as

A) I can buy it really easily in Tesco's
b) it works out loads cheaper
c) you use less of it than with the *whole sausage* you chop yourself therefore it is healthier!
d) DH prefers it with the sliced packet stuff :loco:

BUT I have to say that it is STACKS better with loads of biggish cubes of freshly chopped *proper* chorizo rather than the prepacked/sliced stuff.

Shedloads of fresh basil - it really is scrummy ( and something that I do quite a lot on my own as a piggy meal when DH is out :teehee: )

RIGHT well tonight being really lazy and doing chicken caesar salad (and am going to Tesco's later to buy precooked sliced chicken breast - or one of those precooked deli chickens as I is feeling KNACKERED and have loads of other cooking to do for bbq tomorrow :teehee: )

katkinn
xxxx

[book_lover]

thinking might post that pie recipe as new thread, can't recall who asked for it but it may get missed......

[book_lover]

katkinn another BBQ! How did last week's go?

xxx

[katkinn]

Bookie - the potato salad was actually for this weekend!!

But I did do a bbq last weekend but a v low key affair (only 4 of us) Did sausages, steak and lamb steaks (just oiled and black peppered) with garlic ciabatta, green salad and a pasta and pesto salad.

But tomorrow I'm pushing the boat out and doing:

Botham Burgers
Sausages
Marinated minted lamb steaks (prebought from Waitrose :teehee: )
Steak
Lamb chops

Mozarella, tomato and basil platter
Greek couscous (couscous, loads of herbs, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, red onion, olive oil and lemon)
Potato salad
Green salad

I've got loads of nibbles for earlier so I think that will be enough - I ALWAYS over cater :rolleyes:

So hopefully enough without being TOO much work!!

Looking forward to it actually - v manageable prep!!!

katkinn
xxxx

[book_lover]

Drooooool - can I come please? BOTH sound fab - I like the look of last weekends menu almost as much in some ways, simple and chic! Maybe I could do something like that tonight.....

xxx

ETA you clearly enjoy cooking Katkinn so I think you'll have loads of fun making that lot!

[book_lover]

Woohoo, we're now having a BBQ with friends tonight. Just what I need to take my mind off the old TOTM. We'll be having squid, tiger prawns, shark steaks and some kind of meat (and let's not forget wine!). Just need to find some reseeps for the squid and prawns!

xxx