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Beef Keema August 2, 2015

Filed under: Curries,Indian,Meat,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 7:16 am
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I think I may have made something like this before but I saw it in the Weight Watchers magazine and decided to give it a go. It was really yummy and pretty healthy too. You could probably go with chicken or pork mince to reduce the calorie content. I don’t think the taste would suffer as a result. I’ve been giving Weight Watchers a go again. Not with too much success, if I’m really honest. It’s not the program but just my level of discipline. What I like most about Weight Watchers is that you can eat what you like so long as you point it out but that tends to become a little cumbersome if you don’t have the little points calculator or the app. Let’s face it, it’s common sense though. Eat good, whole, fresh food and you’ll be fine. Easier said than done. Anyway enough about that. Here’s the recipe.

6 propoints per serve

Serves 4

Prep: 10 mins

Cooking: 20 mins

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

400g extra lean beef mince

1 long red chilli, finely chopped

2 tbs mild korma curry paste

3/4 cup (210g) canned diced tomatoes

1/2 cup (120g) frozen peas

1 tbs lemon juice 1/2 cup (140g)

low-fat natural yoghurt

60g spinach leaves

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Saute the onion, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the mince and fry off until browned.

2. Add the chilli and the paste, stirring for 2 minutes until the spices start to release their aroma.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and 3/4 cup of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for another 5 minutes.

4. Add the peas and simmer for a further 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

5. Add the lemon and half the yoghurt and simmer for a minute. Stir in the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt.

6. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the remainder of the yoghurt and the chopped coriander. You can add some steamed brown (1/2 cup) rice for an extra 3 propoints or have with more veggies for 0 propoints.

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Vegetable Chana Masala June 15, 2015

Filed under: Curries,Potatoes — delishuss @ 12:16 pm
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I’ve made this dish over and over again. It’s a fall back recipe for me when I need to use up some vegetables that are nearing the end of their existence. It’s sooooo easy, there’s no real technique involved. I added purple sweet potato this time around. I’ve never had it before. I love it. It keeps it’s integrity really well when it’s cooking and doesn’t go mushy. I tend to keep this fairly rustic and roughly chop my veg as they are the star of the dish. I served it with rice and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. A lovely buttery naan would be fab, to scoop the sauce up. Yum, yum.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 purple sweet potato (a smallish one is fine), cubed

1 onion, chopped 1/4 jap pumpkin (any pumpkin or squash will work), cubed

1 red capsicum

1 clove garlic, minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

3 tablespoons tikka masala paste

1 courgette, cubed 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of chickpeas

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Salt and pepper to season

Olive oil

Method

1. Heat a deep frying pan and add a glug of olive oil. Heat the oil for a minute or so. Add the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. 2. Add the chilli and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Remove onion, garlic and chilli from the frying pan and set aside. You may ask why I do this. It’s something that my mum thought me. You get the residual flavours from the ingredients on the pan but you don’t burn it by over cooking it.

3. Add some more olive oil to the pan if needed and heat. Always heat the oil as if you don’t it can turn the food soggy. Add the remainder of the veg and sauté for 6 minutes. Remove the veg from the pan.

4. Add the masala paste and fry off for a couple of minutes so that you start to get those lovely curry aromas wafting through your kitchen. Add all of the veggies and stir through the paste. Stir in the chickpeas and the tomatoes.

5. Season with salt and pepper. At this point, I add have of the chopped fresh coriander. The professionals say that you shouldn’t add soft herbs during cooking, probably because they wilt and lose their flavour a bit but I don’t think there should be rules in cooking. I add it during cooking to bring out that coriander flavour and then at the end to lift the freshness of the dish.

6. Simmer the curry for about 15-20 minutes until the potato and the pumpkin has softened. And you’re done.

 

Duck Thai Green Curry May 11, 2015

Filed under: Curries,Favourites,Potatoes — delishuss @ 8:13 am
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I saw a recipe for a duck curry in a local newspaper recently and forgot to keep it. I thought I would give it a bash anyway, although I doubt if this recipe is anything like the one I saw. I just used my standard Thai green curry formula and it worked a treat. I had a hankering for duck the day I made this and I tend not to do things by halves so I had duck two ways. I got a pre-made Chinese duck with wraps and hoisin sauce for starters. I really should have made it myself because it was pretty gross. Maybe I’ll try and do that soon and post the recipe . This is not the most appealing looking curry but it tastes superb.

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic

2 chillies

4 cm piece of ginger

1 lemongrass stalk

2 duck breasts, diced

200ml chicken stock

1 onion, chopped

2 sprigs coriander, chopped

3 tablespoon peanut butter

1 can of coconut milk

1 green pepper, diced

150g potatoes, diced

3 tablespoons of Thai green curry paste

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

50g of chopped peanuts

1/2 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 cube of palm sugar

Method

1.Roughly chop the garlic, lemongrass, chillies and ginger and then blitz in a food processor until it forms a paste.

2. Parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes.

3. Sauté the onion and pepper in a little olive oil for 5 minutes and remove from the pan and set aside.

4. Add the two sets of pastes to the pan and fry off for 3 minutes.

5. Add in the duck and fry for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and veg and stock.

6. Mix the sugar, lime juice, soy sauce and fish sauce in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved and add to curry.

7. Simmer the curry for 20 minutes.

8. Stir in the coconut milk and chopped coriander and simmer for another 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.

9. Serve the curry with rice and sprinkle with some chopped peanuts and coriander.

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Chicken, Chickpea and Spinach Curry June 16, 2014

Filed under: Chicken,Curries — delishuss @ 12:15 pm
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I am on the constant hunt for the perfect curry recipe. I think I have nailed it this time. I will be straight up, this recipe takes a while to make but it’s worth the effort.  Oh I nearly forgot to mention that this recipe is a hybrid of two cookbooks: The Curry Secret and Good-Food Best Ever Curries and also some of my own finishing touches. The curry sauce recipe makes the base of about 8 meals. I used enough for 4 meals and froze the rest.

 

Ingredients

Curry Sauce

This sauce recipe makes approximately 8 main course dishes.

2lb (900g) onions

2oz (50g) green ginger

2oz (50g) garlic

2 3/4 UK pints (3/12 US pints/1.57 litres) water

1 tsp salt

1 tin (8oz/225g) tomatoes

8tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp tomato puree

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

 

Curry Core Ingredients

4 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 US cups curry base

1 tbsp. curry paste (I used korma)

1 large chicken breast

1 onion sliced

400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

50ml of cream (I used thickened cream)

50g spinach

 

Method

Curry Base- Stage 1

1. Peel and rinse the onions, ginger, and garlic. Slice the onions and roughly cop the ginger and garlic.

2. Put the chopped ginger and garlic into a blender with about 1  to 1 1/2 UK cups (1 US cup/275ml) of the water and blend until smooth.

3. Take a large saucepan and put into it the onions, the blended garlic and ginger, and the remainder of the water.

4. Add the salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to very low simmer, with the lid on, for 40-45 minutes. Leave to cool.

Curry Base- Stage 2

1. Once, cooled, pour half of the boiled onion mixture into a blender and blend until perfectly smooth. Absolute smoothness is essential. To be certain, blend for at least 2 minutes. Pour the blended onion mixture into a clean pan or bowl and repeat with the other half of the boiled onions.

2. Wash and dry the saucepan. Freezing is best done at this stage.

Curry Base-Stage 3

1. Open the can of tomatoes, pour into the rinsed blender jug, and blend. Again, it is important that they are perfectly smooth, so blend for about 2 minutes.

2. Into the clean saucepan, put the oil, tomato puree, turmeric, and paprika.

3. Add the blended tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

4. Now add the onion mixture to the saucepan and bring to the boil again. Turn down the heat enough to keep the sauce at a simmer.  You will notice at this stage that a froth rises to the surface of the sauce. This needs to be skimmed off.

5. Keep simmering and skimming for 20-25 minutes, stirring now and again to prevent the sauce sticking to the bottom of the sauce. Use immediately or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Curry Core Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in a frying pan, then add the chicken chunks and fry for a few minutes to brown, stirring. Remove the chicken from the pan and fry off the onion. Add in the curry paste and fry it off for a couple of minutes.

2. Add the chicken back to the pan and then add in the curry sauce and chickpeas. Cook the chicken for about 10 minutes until the meat is almost cooked through,

3. Stir in the cream a little at a time to prevent it from separating. Stir in the spinach and cook until it has wilted. Serve it with rice or naan or both.

http://www.pinterest.com/grainiac/recipes/

 

 

 

 

Thai Red Curry May 14, 2012

Filed under: Chicken,Curries — delishuss @ 9:33 pm
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I was looking for something yummy to eat over the weekend and had this saw this recipe in Easy Health magazine so I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t disappointed, it’s great. The recipe said to serve with basmati, I had noodles and I think rice would have been nicer alright. I used Blue Dragon red thai curry paste, I hadn’t tried it before, but I’d recommend it. It doesn’t have that tangy flavour that some of them have.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp groundnut oil

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed

2 small red onions, cut into thin wedges

3 tbsp Thai red curry paste

2 x 400ml tins coconut (you can choose the low-fat version if preferred)

250g fine green beans, trimmed

1 lime, zest and juice

2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

8 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

 

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan, add the chicken and cook for five minutes until golden. Add the onion and cook for five minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the onion is tender. Add the curry paste and cook for just two minutes.

2. Pour in the coconut milk, bring almost to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the beans and simmer for five minutes, until just tender. Add the lime zest and juice, fish sauce and coriander just before you’re ready to serve. Serve with basmati rice.

 

Indonesian stir-fried rice (Nasi goreng) January 18, 2012

Filed under: Curries,Rice and Grains — delishuss @ 10:38 pm
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I saw this recipe on Saturday Kitchen. It’s one from Rick Steins. It’s very unusual but I like it a lot. Okay before you go any further I will say that this recipe is quite complicated, not from a skills point of view but just the number of ingredients in it. That’s another thing, there are a lot of ingredients in the recipe that I’m not sure would be in everybody’s food cupboard. With all that said, it’s a really nice take on a rice stir fry. If you try it let me know how you get on.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Balinese spice paste (Base gede)

  • ¾ tsp black peppercorns
  • ¼ nutmeg, freshly grated
  • 15g/½oz candle nuts, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts or roasted peanuts
  • ½ tsp sesame seeds
  • 30g/1oz shallots, peeled, roughly chopped
  • 15g/½oz fresh root ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
  • 20g/¾oz galangal (or extra ginger), peeled, roughly chopped
  • 7g fresh turmeric, peeled, or ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1½ fat lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed, core chopped
  • 10g/¼oz garlic
  • 1 medium-hot red chilli, seeds removed, roughly chopped
  • 2 red bird’s-eye chillies, roughly chopped
  • ½ tsp shrimp paste
  • 1½ tsp palm sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • ¼ lime, juice only

For the Indonesian stir-fried rice

  • vegetable oil, for shallow frying
  • 375g/13¼oz shallots, peeled, thinly sliced
  • salt, to taste
  • 300g/10½oz long grain rice
  • 520ml/18¾fl oz water
  • 100g/3½oz fine green beans, trimmed, cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces
  • 20g/¾oz garlic, peeled, finely chopped
  • 2 medium-hot red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
  • 1 red bird’s-eye chilli, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tbsp ketjap manis
  • 250g/9oz cold, cooked leftover turkey, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 8 spring onions, trimmed, thinly sliced

To serve

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 large free-range eggs
  • ¼ cucumber, sliced
  • 2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced
  • ready-made prawn crackers
  • spiced pickles

Preparation method

  1. For the Balinese spice paste, grind the peppercorns, nutmeg, nuts and sesame seeds to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Transfer the mixture to a food processor, then add the remaining Balinese spice paste ingredients and blend to a very smooth paste.
  2. For the Indonesian stir-fried rice, heat enough vegetable oil to reach 1cm/½in up the sides of a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add 175g/6¼oz of the sliced shallots and fry, stirring regularly, until the shallots are crisp and golden-brown. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with a little salt, then set aside to cool. When cool, keep in an air-tight container.
  3. Pour the rice into a heavy-based, lidded saucepan 20cm/8in in diameter. Add the water and bring it quickly to the boil. Stir once, then cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to low, until the water is barely simmering. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the lid and fluff the grains of rice with a fork.
  4. Spread the steamed rice onto a baking tray. Set aside to cool (but do not refrigerate).
  5. Cook the beans in a pan of boiling, salted water for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain well, then refresh under cold water and set aside.
  6. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok (or large, deep frying pan) over a high heat, until just smoking. Add the remaining sliced shallots, the garlic, chillies and carrot and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the carrot is just tender.
  7. Stir in the Balinese spice paste and stir-fry for a further minute, then add the tomato purée and ketjap manis and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds.
  8. Add the cold turkey, cooked rice and blanched green beans and stir-fry over a high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through. Add the soy sauce and spring onions and stir until well combined, then remove the pan from the heat. Set aside and keep warm.
  9. Just before serving, heat the oil in a large frying pan, crack in the eggs, one at a time, and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking, spooning the hot oil over the yolks as they cook.
  10. To serve, spoon the Indonesian stir-fried rice into the centre of four warm serving plates. Sprinkle over the crisp fried shallots. Top each serving with a fried egg. Serve with baskets of prawn crackers and a plate of spiced pickles.

 

 

Salmon rendang with mint salad January 15, 2012

Filed under: Curries,Fish — delishuss @ 10:43 pm
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I am a huge fan of Saturday Kitchen. Lots of brilliant chefs all in the one show, what more could a foodie ask for. This recipe is one of James Martin’s, absolutely lush and the dish isn’t half bad either 🙂 There’s a lot of ingredients in this one so best lay them out before you start. It’s quite simply to put together after that.

Ingredients

For the spice paste

  • 5 shallots, roughly chopped
  • 3cm/1¼in galangal, roughly chopped
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 3cm/1¼in ginger, roughly chopped
  • 5 dried chillies, soaked in warm water, seeds removed and roughly chopped

For the salmon

  • 5 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1kg/2lb 4oz salmon fillet, cut into cubes
  • 2 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 3 star anise
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped
  • 400ml/14fl oz coconut milk
  • 2 tsp tamarind paste
  • 6 kaffir lime leaves
  • 6 tbsp desiccated coconut, toasted
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 limes, juice only
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mint salad

  • 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp mint leaves
  • 3 tbsp coriander leaves
  • ½ cucumber, finely shredded
  • 250g/9oz white cabbage, finely shredded
  • 1 red chilli, finely shredded

Preparation method

  1. For the spice paste, place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse to form a paste. Transfer the paste to a small bowl and set aside.
  2. For the salmon, heat a heavy-based pan over a medium heat, add half the oil then brown the salmon on all sides, remove from the pan and set aside.
  3. Add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the spice paste for 2-3 minutes. Add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and lemongrass and cook for another couple of minutes.
  4. Return the salmon to the pan, mix well then add the coconut milk, 200ml/7fl oz water, tamarind paste and lime leaves and bring to a simmer.
  5. Add the toasted coconut, soy and fish sauces and return to the boil, stirring all the time to make sure it doesn’t stick.
  6. Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the lime juice and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  7. For the salad, whisk the rice wine vinegar and sesame oil together in a bowl then add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine.

8. To serve, spoon the curry onto the plate and pile the salad alongside.

 

Cod Pilaff December 4, 2011

Filed under: Curries,Fish,Healthy Eating,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:11 pm
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Hi everyone,

I kind of went off the grid there for a while but had a week off this week so I tried lots of  new recipes. This one is an adaptation from Weight Watchers one: Smoked Haddock Pilaff. I’m not gone on smoked fish so I just used plain cod and spiced the recipe up a bit. I only added extra spices so I would imagine the propoints values haven’t changed.

8 Propoints value per serving

Serves 1

 

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 whole cardamon pods, crushed lightly

1 tablespoons of curry powder

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika (I know not authentically Indian)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon of garam masala

40g dried basmati rice

250 ml vegetable stock

60g green beans, trimmed and chopped

100g skinless cod fillets, cut into chunks

25g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley

 

Method

1. Spray a medium sized, non stick lidded saucepan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened, adding a splash of water if it starts to stick.

2. Add the spices except for the paprika and cook for a few minutes, before adding the rice. Stir to coat then add the stock.

3. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 8 minutes. Coat the fish in the smoked paprika. Add the beans and the fish to the pot. Cover again.

4. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes until everything is cooked through. Most of the water should have been absorbed but drain any that hasn’t.

5. Remove from the heat, flake the fish, stir in the sweetcorn and leave to heat through for about 2 minutes. Serve the pilaff, garnished with the parsley.

 

 

 

 

Curried Chicken with Spinach October 11, 2011

Filed under: Chicken,Curries,Healthy Eating — delishuss @ 6:30 pm

I know, I know, I’m a bit obsessed with the curries. So here’s another one to add the databank 🙂 This is pretty easy to make. The recipe is a healthy one as well and the spinach is a great source of iron which is particularly good for us ladies. I got the recipe from the Bodyfit magazine. Give it a go.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients

Frylight sunflower oil

1 tsbp cumin seeds

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp curry paste

250g tomatoes, chopped

500g chicken breast fillets, cut into large chunks

225g fresh baby spinach

400g can chickpeas or green lentils, rinsed and drained

1 tsp garam masala

3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

 

Method

1. Spray a deep frying pan with Frylight and place on a low heat, then add the cumin seeds.

2. Increase the heat and add the onion. Stirring until they begin to colour.

3. Mix in the garlic and curry paste and stir together for one minute. Add the tomatoes and 150 ml water, cook for about 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring until the tomatoes look pulpy.

4. Add the chicken pieces, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Then, fold in the spinach and chickpeas or lentils and cook together for a further five minutes, stirring, until the spinach has wilted and chicken is tender.

5. Sprinkle over the garam masala, cover the pan and leave to stand for one minute. Stir in the coriander and serve.

 

I would serve this with some boiled rice and tesco do a light choices naan bread which is good side for a curry.

Enjoy 🙂

 

Chicken Satay August 7, 2011

Filed under: Chicken,Curries — delishuss @ 3:24 pm
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I had a goo on me for satay one evening, so I opened up the press to see if I had the ingredients. Luckily I had. I made this with a packet of stir-fry veg which is grand for convenience but I realised that I’m not such a fan and was sorry I hadn’t gone to the effort of chopping the veg myself from scratch. You could leave out the coconut milk and make some satay screwers by marinading the chicken in the sauce before cooking. Hope you enjoy this one.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Sauce

2 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 chilli chopped

1 tablespoon honey

50 ml coconut milk

1 teaspoon fish sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

 

2 chicken breasts, diced

Stir-fry veg, pre-packed or a selection of veg of your choice, sliced

Salt and pepper to season

2 tablespoon cooking oil

 

Method

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

2. Heat a large pan and heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Saute the veg for about 5 minutes and remove from the pan.

3. Heat the remainder of the cooking oil and add the chicken until lightly browned.

4. Add the sauce mixture and cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

5. Add the mixed veg and cook for a furth 2-3 minutes.

 

Serve with basmati rice