...Also known as the Necronomnomnomicon.
Really, I just thought I'd start a cooking thread to make it easier for people to avoid all my wibbling on about barbecues.
(Plus, my ongoing efforts with Slimming World have produced some worthwhile recipes, and I'm enjoying our attempts to eat less meat, and I know there are a fair few vegetable-arians on here whose brains I'm hoping to pick. Not eat. Definitely not eat. And not with fava beans or a nice Chianti.)
Since we're out of barbecue season even for me,* I thought I'd kick off with a recipe I posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago:
Slow-cooked Mutton Rogan Josh
(Serves 5 regular portions, 4 fat bastard size)
I cobbled this recipe together from about half-a-dozen different ones I found online by stealing the bits I liked from each one.
1lb/500g diced mutton/lamb (roughly 1" cubes)
2-3 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp turmeric
6x cloves of garlic
2-3 cloves
1x green chilli
2-3" piece of fresh ginger
1-2" piece of cinnamon bark/cinnamon stick
2x bay leaves
2tbsp uncooked cashew nuts
3-4x large white onions
6x fresh tomatoes
2x green peppers
1x chopped tinned tomatoes
1x tin of chickpeas
Note: this starts off in a big pan on the hob, and transfers to the slow cooker. Because you're cooking it long and slow, I can't see why it wouldn't work just as well with stewing steak or beef skirt. Skirt, especially, is tasty and VERY lean.
Before you cook:
Make the garam masala, turmeric, cloves, 4x garlic cloves and 1/2 of one onion into a paste in the blender. I like to warm the spices and the (bruised) garlic cloves in a frying pan before making the paste, but that's a bit poncey...! Just add water or a splash of oil if you need to make the consistency wetter. Coat the lamb with the paste and leave to marinade. I only did mine for an hour, but if you did this part the day before, I imagine it would be awesome marinating overnight.
Peel the ginger and again using the blender, make a paste out of the ginger, the remaining two garlic cloves and the green chilli. Deseed the chilli if you prefer it milder.
Make a paste out of the cashews, either with a blender or in a mortar & pestle, adding water to get a paste consistency. It doesn't need to be perfectly smooth,
NOTE: the cashew paste is about the only thing in the recipe that isn't Slimming World compliant. It works mainly as a thickening agent. You could skip this part of the recipe completely and just add two or three big handfuls of red lentils to the curry when it goes into the slow cooker.
Cooking:
Finely chop the onions.
Oil/Fry-lite a large pan, bring up to a vigorous heat, add the onion. Cook until it starts to soften and go transparent. Add the cashew paste and the ginger/garlic/chilli paste. As soon as the onion is starting to go a golden colour, add the meat and all the marinade. You might want a little extra liquid, so you could rinse out the container/freezer bag/ whatever you've kept the mutton in with half a cup of water to get the last of the spices out.
Keep stirring.
Chop the tomatoes and add (I chopped them fairly finely — into quarters and then those quarters two or three times, but leave them chunkier if you prefer).
Add the tinned tomatoes. You can probably turn the pan down to more of a simmering heat at this point.
NOTE: At this point, I tasted the curry and decided it was a bit mild and added some chilli flakes. On reflection, I don't think they were necessary, because the curry was quite fiery in the end, but it's worth checking at this point.
Chop the green peppers and add. Drain the chickpeas and add. The chickpeas aren't in any of the recipes I found, but I love chickpeas in a curry. Leave them out if you don't! In all honesty, I think this quantity of curry would have taken a second tin. If you put in 2x tins of chickpeas and 2x tinned tomatoes, I think this would comfortably feed six people.
Once the pan is back to a regular simmer, transfer to the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and the cinnamon.
As noted above, if you leave out the cashew paste, add two or three big handfuls of red lentils at this point and stir through.
Leave to cook for at least four hours. The longer, the better. Our Crock Pot has two cooking heats — I gave it a couple of hours on the higher setting to start and then turned it down for the rest.
If you don't have a slow cooker (and I can't recommend one highly enough — they're very energy efficient, too) there's no reason why you can't just transfer this into a suitable recepticle and stick it in the oven on the slow-cook setting.
Serve with plain basmati rice and/or naan if it takes your fancy. (Remember to take out the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving!)
If you think the curry might be a bit hot, make a mint & yoghurt dressing to accompany — just finely chop a few mint leaves (or cheat and use two teaspoons of mint sauce if you're not on a diet) into a bowl of fat-free natural yoghurt. Add a tbsp of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar (Splenda for the dieting) and a light sprinkle of cayenne. Mix and serve.
One final note: because there's no yoghurt in the actual curry, this freezes perfectly well, so it's worth making a big pan (I cooked the quantities given here for two people) and froze three portions. We've found this is kind of the key to eating well... we don't always have time to cook a meal from scratch, but if you make enough to freeze whenever you are cooking a curry/ chilli/ bolognese/ stew/ soup, you don't have to fall back on junk food when you're pushed for time.
A couple of other people have cooked this from my FB post and seem to have enjoyed it, so have a go!
Cheers
Jim
*I did barbecue a mixed grill for Boxing Day lunch a couple of years ago, though...
(http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j260/MalcolmKirk/vincentpricetasting_zpsutt79jue.jpg)
Mr. Campbell, yesterday.
My culinary tip : A simple way to tell if your chip fat is hot enough is to chuck in a small chip and wait until it begins floating around the edge of the pan.
Spicy Rice & Mixed Beans (v)
Originally a Slimming World recipe, but I've spiced it up a bit. Slightly off-plan for Slimming World because my version needs a tea spoon of cooking oil in the preparation, but since it ends up being divided over about half-a-dozen portions, I don't think it's worth worrying about.
This works fine as a vegetarian/vegan meal in its own right, served with salad leaves, or you can have it with grilled fish or chicken.
Because there's no meat, I just make a big bowl on Sunday, cover it and stick it in the fridge. We work our way through it during the course of the week.
Ingredients (makes about six portions):
Rice 2x teacups
(I use brown basmati; I'd definitely recommend basmati over normal because it's better for you and tastes nicer.)
2x cloves
1x 5cm piece of cinnamon bark/stick
2x green cardamom pods
2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp turmeric
1x tin chopped tomatoes
1x tin chick peas
1x tin mixed beans (haricot, red kidney, that sort of thing)
1x lemon
6x spring onions
1x stick of celery
6-8x cherry tomatoes
1x red chilli
Cook your rice:
Put one teaspoon of cooking oil (olive, sunflower, whatever, doesn't matter) into a non-stick pan that has a well-fitting lid. Heat the oil and add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamoms. As soon as they start to sizzle, add the cumin seeds and continue to head until the seeds start to colour.
Add the rice, then the turmeric. Now gently shake the pan so that the oil coats the rice — you can easily see when this has happened.
Now add 1.5x the volume of water to the rice (ie: two teacups of rice = 3 of water). This scales to any quantity of rice.
Continue to heat with the lid off (but NOT stirring) until the water comes to a steady boil (ie, not when the first bubbles start to appear). Stir once, whack on the lid and turn the heat right down to the lowest simmer.
Brown basmati takes a lot more cooking than regular. If you're using brown, leave the rice on the heat for 25-30 minutes. Normal basmati usually only takes 10-12.
At the end of that time, remove the lid and fluff the rice up with a fork (you can check it's cooked, or nearly cooked, at this point - just put it back on the heat if it isn't and check again in five minutes) turn the heat off and put the lid back on. The rice will continue to steam for about ten minutes. Transfer to a bowl, removing the cardamoms, cloves and cinammon, and leave to go cold.
Add the zest and juice of the lemon. Plus a generous amount of black pepper.
Finely chop the chilli, spring onions and celery (I like to get celery leaves as well — I think they add a lot) and stir through well. Add the tinned tomatoes. Drain the chickpeas, rinse and add. Likewise with the mixed beans. Stir through well.
(A side note about chick peas: I use poncey expensive organic ones. I'm not claiming any magical properties from them being organic, i just bought them in preference to no-brand supermarket's own on a whim and they are waaaay nicer. Much less like little yellow bullets!)
Since the heat of fresh chillies can be variable, it's probably worth tasting at this point. If you want it hotter, add another chilli, or dusting of cayenne pepper, or a dash of tabasco...
Finally, half or quarter the cherry tomatoes, add and stir through (if you add them earlier, you'll turn them to mush when you stir all the other stuff).
Great idea for a thread:
Ratatouille
400g aubergine cut into 2cm cubes, seeds removed
400g courgettes, cut into 1cm rounds (quarters if the courgettes are large)
200g peppers (red, yellow, green)
200g tomatoes, the riper the better, peeled and chopped
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
thyme
salt, pepper
1. Wash, trim, and cut the aubergines and courgettes. Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Wash the peppers. Char the skin of the peppers either under the boiler, on a gas hob, or over a grill. But in bowl and set aside. Some people cover this with cling film, but it's not essential.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut a small cross in bottoms. Bring a pot of water to a full boil and put the tomatoes in for 15-20 seconds. Remove and submerge in an ice bath. Peel the tomato skins off. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and roughly chop. Set aside in a colander to drain.
4. Peel and chop the onions into a medium dice. Peel and roughly chop the garlic.
5. Remove the skins from the peppers. Remove the stems, seeds and white ribs from inside the peppers. Cut the peppers into 2cm squares. And set aside in a bowl.
Strictly speaking this is a nice step and makes for a finer result, but it is not absolutely necessary. You can just as easily, trim, seed, and cut the peppers without peeling the skin off, but you will need to sauté the peppers like you do the aubergine and courgettes further on.
6. Put a heavy bottom pot with a lid on the hob over a medium-low heat. Put a good amount of olive oil in the bottom of the pot.
7. When the oil shimmers put in the onions and sweat for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic and sweat for 5 minutes further, stirring. Don't allow the onions or garlic colour.
8. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Tip: If the tomatoes aren't very ripe you can enhance the flavour by adding 30g of tomato paste at this point. (I usually add it regardless.)
9. The aubergines and courgettes should have released a good amount of water by now. Rinse and pat dry both ingredients dry.
10. If you have the space and pans, put two pans on the hob over medium heat. Otherwise do one at a time. In each pan put good amount of olive oil. Add a layer of aubergine to one pan and a layer of aubergine to the other pan and allow to sauté until some colouring happens, but the pieces are still somewhat firm. You may need to add more oil to the aubergine as it will soak up quite a bit. Repeat until all the aubergine and courgettes have been sautéed, reserving each in a bowl.
11. Add the peppers, aubergine, and courgettes to the onions, garlic, tomato. Stir to mix. Add a good grind of pepper, a couple of sprigs of thyme. Put lid on pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45min - 1 hr. stirring every 15 min.
12. Remove thyme sprigs and adjust seasoning.
Ideally this should be done in the morning and then allowed to sit until you're ready to eat. Serve hot by warming, or at room temperature. Can be eaten as a side dish, or as the whole meal with a good chunk of bread. It also makes an amazing sandwich with Dijon mustard and a baguette.
Quote from: von Boom on 14 December, 2015, 03:05:43 PM
It also makes an amazing sandwich with Dijon mustard and a baguette.
Oooh.Cheers!
Jim
I just realised that the bit about peeling the peppers is a bit confusing. If peel the skins off the peppers you need to char them first.
If you don't want to peel them then charring isn't required, but sautéing them is.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 13 December, 2015, 09:46:37 PM
Necronomnomnomicon.
Just want to show some love for this - good work! :lol:
Seeing as it's still winter; you might want to try some mulled ale to warm you up after a crisp, frosty damp, rainy day. Or wait till next Christmas. Unfortunately I can't remember how much of everything I put in, I was making it up as I went along. I'll give it a shot though.
Pour four cans of ale into a large pot and warm gently, stirring all the time (never letting it boil). Add a naggin of brandy (or half a naggin if you're less of a booze-hound than I am and just want the taste).
Cut three oranges and three lemons into quarters, and stud them with cloves. Add these to the mix.
Also cut up some fresh ginger and add this; not entirely sure how much - if you like ginger put a full cut--up root in. Think I used about 6 square inches, if that makes any sense. (Make sure it's in large pieces though, you don't want it floating round in your cup.)
Put about three or four sticks of cinnamon.
Add honey and / or brown sugar to taste. (You'll have to keep tasting it yourself till it tastes alright - I just lashed it in till it was sweet enough; no idea how much I used.)
Keep it on a low heat for about 3 minutes, then pour it into cups using a strainer (or anything to stop the large pieces going into the cup).
This will serve one cup each to about 10 people. It tastes like liquid mince pies.
Ooh. It's never occurred to me to mull ale. Any particular preference as the type of ale? Something heavy and stouty?
Cheers!
Jim
I used smithwicks last time, mainly because it was the cheapest ale in the off-licence. Before that I used Hobgoblin, iirc. I don't think it matters too much; much of its consistency and taste will come from the other ingredients anyway. I used IPA once but wasn't mad about it, but then I don't like the taste of IPA much anyway.
I have mulled cider before - that was quite nice.
Good recipes above - and mostly stuff I can eat - keep it up.
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 05 January, 2016, 05:27:46 PM
Good recipes above - and mostly stuff I can eat - keep it up.
TBH, I reckon you could swap out the meat in the first curry recipe for any solid, fleshy vegetable (say, butternut squash) without any problems at all. Quite partial to cauliflower in veg curry, too.
Cheers
Jim
Spag sans bol
500 g best quality spaghetti (don't be cheap here as it's the star)
100 g tomato purée
a good handful of fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, fine dice
chilli pepper flakes
salt/pepper
olive oil (lots)
1. Put a large pot of salted water on the boil (6 l). When water is boiling add spaghetti (or other pasta). Cook as directed on packet. (9-11 min).
2. While pasta is cooking heat a large pan to medium, medium low heat and add a 250 ml olive oil. The oil should shimmer but not smoke.
3. Add chopped garlic and chilli flakes to oil. Swirl and allow garlic to colour slightly.
4. Add tomato purée to oil and mix well. Stir the purée into the oil until it is fully mixed. Continue cooking, stirring regularly, until the oil releases from the paste and has turned a deep red colour. If the purée starts to burn or look 'crumbly' add a water a bit at a time until the purée is smooth. Season to taste.
5. Once sauce is ready, drain pasta and add it directly to the sauce and mix until all the pasta is completely covered in the sauce and oil. Add fresh basil leaves to pasta and mix through.
Arrange in a large platter and allow everyone to help themselves. Serve with a large platter of your favourite cooked greens, crusty bread, pecorino cheese, extra olive oil, and a good bottle of wine.
Tip: You want a lot of oil so the pasta will be fully coated, so don't be afraid to add more if it looks as if there isn't enough. It is a very dry sauce, but the flavours are intensified because of this.
Not really a recipe, just a Top Tip - if you wish to make a quick rice salad without having to wait ages for the rice to cool, use frozen peas - not only are they delicious in a rice salad, but the rice defrosts the peas while the peas chill the rice. I cook and drain the rice, chuck in a similar volume of peas and stir them around. Add any other veggies, such as diced pepper and spring onions (plus cooked salmon, cubes of ham or anything else you fancy), a dollop of mayonnaise and a pinch of salt'n'pepper- voila!
Alternatively, cold water and a sieve works pretty well.
There's something that just feels wrong about running cold water through hot rice - doesn't it just end up a claggy lump?
Not in my experience! Wouldn't work well for sticky rice.
I'd think that combination of hot and cold could lead to food poisoning too! Rice is a bacterial breeding ground.
TBH running it under cold water is my preferred method and I'm still standing. That said after compo rations and hotlocks my system may be seriously compromised.
Oh give over :) food poisoning from putting your rice through cold water? Eat it or slap it in the fridge, nay problem.
My culinary tip - Hungarian Paprika Paste. http://www.hungariandeli.com/Paste.htm
This stuff is bloody lovely on chips. 'Sweet' = Salty but not spicy. 'Hot' = pleasantly spicy + salty, delicious mixed with a bit of mayo on a burger.
Up there with chilli sauce as the world condiment of the gods.
Quote from: Mardroid on 06 January, 2016, 06:53:18 PM
I'd think that combination of hot and cold could lead to food poisoning too! Rice is a bacterial breeding ground.
Rice only grows bacteria if you leave it at room temperature for too long (e.g. leaving out last night's Chinese take-away on the counter overnight). If you transfer it to the fridge once it's stopped steaming, and eat it within a day, it should be fine.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning.aspx?CategoryID=51
Rice freezes pretty well, too. Simply because of the size of tins of coconut milk, we always end up making too much rice and peas when I attempt a West Indian curry, but we just freeze it in individual portions and nuke it to eat another day.
Cheers
Jim
Seasoning: I know most recipes just say salt and pepper but we always try add some sweetness (agave nectar or maple syrup), some acid (lemon juice or wine/cider vinegar) and some salt. This trinity as recommended by that bloke they all idolise on Saturday Kitchen) really does make any sauce taste ten times better.
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 08 January, 2016, 12:27:56 PM
Seasoning: I know most recipes just say salt and pepper but we always try add some sweetness (agave nectar or maple syrup), some acid (lemon juice or wine/cider vinegar) and some salt. This trinity as recommended by that bloke they all idolise on Saturday Kitchen) really does make any sauce taste ten times better.
I've a recipe for a
not-really-Thai-green-curry coming as soon as I have time to type it up which leans very heavily on this principle.
Cheers!
Jim
Chiming in as I did a cracking rub for a steak last night:
Give the steak a good bashing.
Mix the following and rub it into the steak:
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp dried mustard
3 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
a tiny touch of olive oil
zest of 2 limes
Leave to sit for two hours in the fridge. When ready, take out and griddle at a high heat to your satisfaction (don't worry if the rub looks too dry, as soon as you take it off the heat the steak's juices will seep out)
And for a nice chimmichuri sauce:
1 bunch finely chopped fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, choppe
½ cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp crushed chilli flakes
Mix all together, swizz in a blender, dollop on your steak.
Lovely.
Quote from: Molch-R on 08 January, 2016, 12:58:54 PM
Lovely.
I'm trying that. Annoyingly, we actually had steak last night, too.
Curse you, MOLCH-R! Does your hatred of the subscribers know no bounds?!
Cheers
Jim
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 08 January, 2016, 01:29:39 PM
Curse you, MOLCH-R! Does your hatred of the subscribers know no bounds?!
Well since I'm never going to share my super awesome spaghetti bolognese receipe with you all, the answer can clearly only be "yes" ;)
I'll share a great spag bol recipe shortly.
But in the meantime, "Don't you miss cheese on pizzas and stuff?" Is a question I get asked a lot. The short answer is no. The longer answer is this awesome cheese less antipasti pizza.
An added bonus is that depending on time, you can make as many or as few of the components as you wish. If I have plenty of time and feel like indulging myself, I make the dough, the pesto and the tomato sauce from scratch.
Pizza base 12 inch
1 tablespoon of tom puree
2 to 3 tablespoons of pesto
6 tablespoons of favourite tomato sauce (not ketchup!)
A dozen sun dried tomatoes ( drained from oil)
Artichoke hearts (drained from oil)
Roast red and yellow peppers drained from oil
(Obviously you can use any antipasti you like e.g. you might prefer mushrooms in oil to the artichokes)
A dozen black olives
Fresh torn basil leaves.
Spread the pizza base with the tom puree, then the pesto, then the tomato sauce.
Arrange your antipasti evenly on top along with the olives and the basil. (You might want to get a bit of oil on the basil to stop it crisping up too quickly)
Stick in your oven for about twenty minutes/ whatever the pizza base instructions say.
I sprinkle with a little bit of nutritional yeast about five minutes from the end of cooking.
It really is ridiculously tasty with lots going on in your taste buds!
Just came up with this beauty
RTYs poor student with no money super salad!
Find a container. Cook some fish fingers. Chop em up into bite sized pieces. Put in the container
-the fish finger pieces
-spinach
-grapes
-walnuts
-grated cheese
-chopped carrots
-unsweetened unflavored popcorn
Throw it in your bag and eat at lunch time. And for desert, a rip top can (small) of cold rice pudding. I was worried that the protein and carbs could be higher. If you are someone who needs the extra carbs and protein I recommend a small tin of cold baked beans on the side.
ENJOY :)