This is a recipe from 'The Wok Bible' by Sunil Vijayakar, Becky Johnson and Jenni Fleetwood.
This is definitely a weekend recipe as it takes quite a while - 2 hours cooking - and that is without preparation time. It also uses some unusual ingredients which we found it difficult to find - galangal and tamarind.
This is apparently an Indonesian dish and it is well worth the wait! Because it is cooked for so long the beef melts in the mouth and takes on all of the flavours of the spice, chilli and other ingredients. It also has potato in it which makes it a one pot meal - no need to mess around with any side dishes. This also means that once it is all done and cooking you can get on with whatever else you want to do.
Thumbs up from both of us for this one!
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Couscous with Halloumi
This was another recipe from the 20 minute cookbook. It was a bit of a last minute 'what can i cook with what we already have' moment.
The recipe calls for courgette and peach, but I left those out as we didn't have them.
Nice and straightforward recipe and it looked and tasted delicious. Nice light meal ideal for when you have been working late and don't want to have to go to too much effort and want dinner in a hurry.
The recipe calls for courgette and peach, but I left those out as we didn't have them.
Nice and straightforward recipe and it looked and tasted delicious. Nice light meal ideal for when you have been working late and don't want to have to go to too much effort and want dinner in a hurry.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Steak with warm tomato salsa
Recipe taken from The 20 Minute Cookbook by Jenni Fleetwood.
This is a great book for after work dinners. I had avoided this recipe as my Husband doesn't like tomato in its raw form, but a rule is a rule and he does love steak so I hoped that would be enough... and it was.
This was a really easy recipe and the balsamic vinegar, spring onion and tomato salsa was lovely,
I made some home made chips to go with this which also went down well.
This is a great book for after work dinners. I had avoided this recipe as my Husband doesn't like tomato in its raw form, but a rule is a rule and he does love steak so I hoped that would be enough... and it was.
This was a really easy recipe and the balsamic vinegar, spring onion and tomato salsa was lovely,
I made some home made chips to go with this which also went down well.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Chicken with sour cream and pepper
This was taken from Anjum Anand's Anjum's New Indian.
It was supposed to be made with red pepper, but I had a leftover yellow one so thought I may as well use that up. This was a really straightforward recipe and because of the sour cream and lack of chili's it was very mild - great for those friend's who don't like spice or for chili lovers (like my husband) who like a break from the spice every now and again!
We served this with basmati rice, potato pakora's, naan and popadom's. Yum yum yum...we'll start on the exercise next week!
It was supposed to be made with red pepper, but I had a leftover yellow one so thought I may as well use that up. This was a really straightforward recipe and because of the sour cream and lack of chili's it was very mild - great for those friend's who don't like spice or for chili lovers (like my husband) who like a break from the spice every now and again!
We served this with basmati rice, potato pakora's, naan and popadom's. Yum yum yum...we'll start on the exercise next week!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Kebabs with mint and yoghurt dip
Taken from the Weight Watchers Pure Points 2 book this involved a bit of forward planning as it involved marinating the meat overnight. Diced beef and mushrooms were put into a marinade of olive oil, chilli, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper and red wine.
I hit the first hurdle with the red wine... none anywhere in the house and as I was sorting the marinade out late last night, no time to shop for it...so i put in some Sherry as it was the closest thing I had. I also had to substitute one large red chilli for one small green birdseye chilli. Despite these substitutions the end result was pretty tasty.
The recipe involved putting the pieces of beef and mushrooms on skewers to cook on the grill or BBQ, then taking off and putting in the pittas. This sounded like too much effort, so I put it in a wok to seal the meat then put it in a dish under the grill for the specified time. Much, much quicker and with the same end result.
I also made the suggested dip of yoghurt, mint and cucumber, which went with this very nicely.
My only criticism would be that it was very messy to eat...although that may just be me as my Husband didn't have any problems.
We both agree that this is one we would cook again, but we would dice the beef smaller to make it easier to eat. My Husband would also like the addition of another chilli next time as he likes his food spicy. The only other change would be to lock the cat out before starting to eat as once again he was very interested!
I hit the first hurdle with the red wine... none anywhere in the house and as I was sorting the marinade out late last night, no time to shop for it...so i put in some Sherry as it was the closest thing I had. I also had to substitute one large red chilli for one small green birdseye chilli. Despite these substitutions the end result was pretty tasty.
The recipe involved putting the pieces of beef and mushrooms on skewers to cook on the grill or BBQ, then taking off and putting in the pittas. This sounded like too much effort, so I put it in a wok to seal the meat then put it in a dish under the grill for the specified time. Much, much quicker and with the same end result.
I also made the suggested dip of yoghurt, mint and cucumber, which went with this very nicely.
My only criticism would be that it was very messy to eat...although that may just be me as my Husband didn't have any problems.
We both agree that this is one we would cook again, but we would dice the beef smaller to make it easier to eat. My Husband would also like the addition of another chilli next time as he likes his food spicy. The only other change would be to lock the cat out before starting to eat as once again he was very interested!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
I'm gonna eat you little fishy
So tonight was the first night of our new challenge and we started with a recipe for Fish Parcels with Fresh Herbs from the book Everyday Fish and Seafood.
Ok, so as recipes go this was pretty basic - Fish on baking paper topped with lemon slices, onion slices and a few herbs, all wrapped up in foil and baked for 15 minutes - but we have to ease ourselves into this gently and it is a school night. I finished work at 6:30 so it was nice to have something quick to prepare.
We served this with diced potato with italian seasoning and some mange tout.
I really enjoyed this one, my Husband thought it needed more seasoning, but still enjoyed it. Our kitten thought it was amazing... or at least I have to assume he did based on the fact that he kept trying to steal a bit!
Ok, so as recipes go this was pretty basic - Fish on baking paper topped with lemon slices, onion slices and a few herbs, all wrapped up in foil and baked for 15 minutes - but we have to ease ourselves into this gently and it is a school night. I finished work at 6:30 so it was nice to have something quick to prepare.
We served this with diced potato with italian seasoning and some mange tout.
I really enjoyed this one, my Husband thought it needed more seasoning, but still enjoyed it. Our kitten thought it was amazing... or at least I have to assume he did based on the fact that he kept trying to steal a bit!
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