I recently read somewhere about making a chutney that’s not aged and is a “fresh” condiment with spicy food. Having got a load of herbs knocking about, I whizzed some up and it was great.
I freaking love British Chinese Takeaway chilli beef. Strips of beef, deep fried and coated in spicy sticky sauce. However, it’s not great for the waistline, and it’s always a little underwhelming.
I don’t remember where I read this idea first, but roasting the lamb in a closed roasting tin keeps all the juices in means the potatoes cook in them getting sticky and delicious.
I’ve seen whole fish being fried and served in Chinese restaurants, with some sort of spicy clear “sauce” poured over at the table. Tonight I took a stab at something similar, based on what was lurking in the kitchen.
In my opinion lamb should be cooked very hot and fast, or very slowly, and my preference is for hot, fast and hard, bloody in the middle and black on the outside.
I’ve never been nervous about posting a recipe before, but since a friend linked me to this famous take down of Jamie Olivers fried rice I did consider it twice.
The Caribbean combo of thyme, allspice, habanero, nutmeg and cloves always remind me of sunshine and good times, and when I first saw Levi Roots making Pepper Pot stew on TV years ago, I really wanted to try it.
A super quick tea that I felt was worth a write up. This went from the bag to my face in less than 15 minutes, thanks to microwave rice and fish under the grill.
I’ve not written a post here for ages, life has been crazy busy, but I’ve a little side project to share and here makes as much sense as anywhere else.
I’m writing this on my iPad because my laptop has died, and so far the experience is painful. however, last night’s tea was a good way too use up a pepper and leek that were well past their best.
Orzo is one of those things I love, then forget exists, then read about and rember I love it. Thus it was this week, when I read Nigella’s Chicken In A Pot with Lemon and Orzo
For a couple of Fridays in a row we had the same super tasty, super quick tea. The fish cooks in a tinfoil packet on the same tray as the oven chips so there’s less washing up.
When I saw La Cloake had published the perfect Bostin baked beans I couldn’t resist. Then when I was in Block&Bottle and the chap next to me only wanted half a piece of guanciale (cured pork cheek) I couldn’t resist having a go.
Another use up tea, super quick, idea to plate in less than ten minutes.
You will need A pack of gnocchi A large leek, finely sliced A good grating of Parmesan A couple of tablespoons of sour cream A couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil Do Cook the leeks in a teaspoon of oil on a pretty high heat until mostly translucent and a few crispy bits then set aside Boil the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 2 minutes then drain and set aside Put a a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil into a non-stick pan on a high heat Add the gnocchi, cook for a few minutes, tossing occupationally.
A simple tray baked dinner that’s excellent with rice and can be dressed up for posh dinner parties by adding a glass of white wine and another of cream for the last 20 minutes of cooking
Every since Our Lady of Survival, Ellen Ripley first brought facehuggers to the worlds attention we’ve had a complex relationship. Yes, they’re harbingers of death, emerging from their cocoons, skitthing about and determined to paralyse you and implant a Chestbuster, but did you know they are delicious?
I love chicken soups, and I thought I’d written about various different styles here over the years but it turns out ( only the once ) but on a cold and miserable Sunday evening, having driven for 12 hours out of the previous 36, I was craving comfort food and the idea of adding dumpling (the stodgy kind, not the Asian kind) appealed.
I thought the cheese savoury sandwich was pretty universal, but after tweeting a photo of mine aroused some curiosity, I guess not. I once lived with a chap who’s family claimed to have invented them, and for this I can only thank them.
Boston baked beans, cooked with treacle and pork, are a world away from tinned baked beans, good as they are. Sadly, they’re also not very gout friendly due to the amount of pork, so I had a stab at making something as close as I could get.
These days I love Marmite. Once upon a time I could not stand it. Previous me was a jerk at times. We tend to buy Marmite in the 1kg tubs, because it’s so much cheaper, but the nature of the sticky black goo makes it difficult to keep the tubs clean, which is frustrating.
I love kedgeree, and it turns out you can make it in an InstantPot.
You will need 1 cup of rice (yes, yes, American measures, but rice is best cooked by volume) Just short of two cups of water 2 pieces of smoked fish (I used two pieces of smoked coley) 3 eggs 3 fat spring onions, finely sliced A cardamom pod A heaped teaspoon of hot curry powder Half a teaspoon of garam masala A small handful of parsley, finely chopped 2x knobs of butter Do Saute the onions in the butter until soft Add the rice, cardamom, curry powder and stir Add the water and then prop the InstantPot Trivet in Balance the fish and eggs on the trivet Cook on rice mode, which is 12 minutes Let the steam out Fluff the rice, peel then chop the eggs and fish and mix Stir though the parsley, garam masala and second bit of butter Results Savoury, lightly spiced, very satisfying.
I can’t bring myself to call this beef rendang, because that would be a travesty. It is however super tasty and features some of the same flavours and it quick.
Our household loves roast potatoes done in the airfrier. War lass loves nachos. I am less keen on them. Luckily it turns out that you can marry the two things and everybody loves them!
This year my gout has been really painful, to the point where I started a new side project www.gout-is-shit.com. I’ve also had to cut out from my diet all pork, offal, game, fish, shellfish, beer and whiskey.
I very rarely fry fish, but our FishBox contained a couple of big fillets of Forkbeard so I thought I’d give it a go. I used a very thin tempura like batter.
