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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.

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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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Spanish-style chicken bake September 17, 2012

Filed under: Chicken,Potatoes,Soups and Stews,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 8:25 am
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Hi folks,

Hope you didn’t miss me too much. This is my first, of I’m sure many posts from down under. I’m now living in Brisbane and looking forward to trying out lots of new flavours, ingredients and recipes. I promise I’ll share those with you.

This is a cracking recipe, good wholesome food. I realised as I was just about to make it, that I didn’t have any ovenproof dishes in my new home so I had to improvise and cook it in a saucepan. I’m not sure how the original recipe would have tasted but I reckon this is as good. I got the recipe from the Good Food Channel Website, it’s one from the Hairy Bikers. (http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/653540)

I’m not too keen on chicken thighs so I used skinless chicken legs, which worked well.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges

1 medium red onion, cut into 8 wedges

500 g new potatoes, quartered lengthways

8 whole garlic, unpeeled

8 medium tomatoes, quartered

75 g chorizo, preferably picante

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken legs

1/2 tsp sweet, smoked paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

500 ml stock

3 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat a frying pan with half of the olive oil and brown the chicken legs.

2. In a large saucepan heat the remaining oil and fry off the onion, pepper and garlic. Add the chorizo and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the potatoes, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for another couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir.

3. Remove the chicken from the frying pan and add to the large saucepan with the other ingredients.

4. Add the stock to the saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour and a half or until the juices have thickened. The chicken should fall off the bone.

You could add some crunchy bread to mop up the juices. A few olives might actually be nice in this too.

 

Indian Stuffed Peppers April 23, 2012

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Potatoes,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:20 pm
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I made these for lunch but the night before. They were good but I don’t think they really reheat well, so probably best to eat them straight away. They would make a great starter. These are from the Weight Watchers Oriental Express cookbook.

Propoints value per serving- 4

Propoints value per recipe- 18

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

400g potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered, if large

4 red peppers

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, diced

2 courgettes, diced

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons balti spice paste

 

For the ginger tomato suace

300ml passata

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2.5cm fresh root ginger, grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain, set aside to cool slightly, then dice.

2. Meanwhile, put the peppers in a large saucepan of water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes until softened. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the peppers from the water and set aside until cool enough to handle. Slice the top off each pepper to make a lid, scoop out the seeds then turn upside down to drain.

3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/ 190 degrees celsius/ fan oven 170 degrees celsius. Heat a wok or non stick frying pan until hot. Spray with the cooking spray and stir fry the onion, courgettes and garlic for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat then stir in the balti spice paste, 4 tablespoons of water and the potatoes. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and top with their lids.

4. Arrange the peppers close together in an ovenproof dish, spray with cooking spray and pour 3 tablespoons of water into the dish. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 4-0 minutes.

5. To make the ginger tomato sauce, spray a saucepan with the cooking spray, add the passatta and sugar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced and thickened. Squeeze the juice from the ginger into the pan. Discard the fibrous bits of ginger. Season, stir and heat though. Serve with the sauce on the side.

 

Crispy Potato and Meatball Pan Fry February 20, 2012

Filed under: Meat,Potatoes,Uncategorized,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:30 pm
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I tried this recipe today. I thought it was great. It’s another Weight Watchers recipe, from the Simply Enjoy cookbook this time. I think it would freeze quite well if you wanted to make it at the weekend and eat later or it would be a great one for a family. I’m not an expert but I reckon kids would like the meatballs and it’s a good way to introduce veg as well.

33 Propoints value per recipe

8 Propoints value per serving

Serves 4

Ingredients

400g potatoes, peeled and halved, if large

400g lean beef mince

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Calorie controlled cooking spray

1 leek, sliced thickly

1 courgette, sliced thickly

1 teaspoon cornflour

3 tablespoons red onion chutney

250 ml vegetable stock

3 long fresh rosemary sprigs

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

75g mozzarella light, torn into pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and cook until tender, the drain and leave to cool slightly. Slice the potatoes thickly and aside. Meanwhile, mix the mince and thyme together, season and form into 16 walnut sized balls.

2. Heat a large, deep-sided, ovenproof, non stick frying pan. Spray with the cooking spray, add the meatballs and fry over a medium heat for 8 minutes, turning occassionally, until browned all over. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Preheat the grill to high. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the leek and courgette for 2 minutes then drain and refresh under cold running water.

4. Stir the cornflour and chutney into the stock and pour into a small pan. Add two sprigs of rosemary then bring to the boil and season with black pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Remove from the heat and take out the rosemary and discard.

5. Arrange the tomatoes, leek and courgette in the frying pan with the meatballs. Pour the sauce over, then top with the sliced poratoes. Scatter the mozzarella over the top and grill for 6 minutes or until golden.

6. Chop the remaining sprig of rosemary finely and scatter over the top before serving.

 

Beef Goulash February 13, 2012

Filed under: Meat,Potatoes — delishuss @ 11:03 pm
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I had some beef in the freezer so I decided to give this recipe a go. It kind of ended up tasting like a brown stew as I would call it. I had a look at a number of recipes on the Internet and they had varying ingredients, so I just took the most common ones. It’s good winter grub. Hope you enjoy.

 

Ingredients

500g stewing beef

2 onions, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 tbsp tomato puree

200g tinned tomatoes

3 tbsp paprika

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp mixed spice

400g baby potatoes

500ml beef stock

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary and thyme

2tbsp oil

1 oxo cube

20g flour

Salt and pepper

 

Method

1. Place the flour on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat the beef in the flour.

2. Heat the oil in the large pot. Add the onions and the carrots and fry off for 4 minutes. Remove the veg and set aside.

2. Add the beef and fry until browned. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes making sure it doesn’t burn.

3. Re-add the veg. Stir in the herbs and spices and cook for another minute or so. Crumble in the oxo cube and stir.

4. Stir in the tomato puree and the tomatoes. Add the potatoes and the stock making sure that there’s enough liquid to cover and cook the potatoes. Add more stock if necessary.

5. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for an hour or more if you can. The longer you leave it the more tender the meat will be.

 

 

Cottage Pie November 14, 2010

Filed under: Meat,Potatoes — delishuss @ 10:22 pm
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This is a great winter warmer.  I normally refer to this dish as Shepherds’ Pie but I found out recently that it can only be called Shephards’ Pie if lamb mince is used. I love lamb but I personally think Beef mince is nicer in this dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 large potatoes

3 large carrots (2 chopped in half, 1 diced)

2 onions, chopped

500g beef mince

2 Oxo cubes

500ml beef stock

25 ml milk

Couple of knobs of butter

1 egg beaten

Salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Couple drops of Worchester sauce

50g frozen peas

Method

  • Boil potatoes and carrots halves together with a good sprinkle of salt.
  • Heat olive oil in a large pan and fry off onions and diced carrots for a few minutes. Add in the mince and fry until browned.
  • Crush the oxo cubes into the mince and stir. Pour in the stock, add the Worchester sauce and cook until reduced.
  • Add in the peas and cook for 3 minutes.
  • Pour the mince into the base of a square oven dish and set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6, 200 degrees Celsius, or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Take the potatoes and carrots off the heat; add the butter, milk, salt and pepper and mash.
  • Add the potato/carrot mixture to the mince and smooth over.
  • Brush with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the top has browned.
 

Healthy Egg and Chips October 16, 2010

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Potatoes — delishuss @ 9:10 pm
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These are great, I really enjoyed them. Just good tasty food.

Ingredients

 910g of potatoes

Frylight

4 eggs

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
  2. Chopped the potatoes into chip shapes.
  3. Place in a saucepan of boiling salted water and boil for 6-7 minutes.
  4. Remove from the boiling and drain. Place on a baking tray with kitchen paper to drain the water out of the chips. Leave to dry for 15 minutes.
  5. Place the chips into the dry saucepan and shake to rough the edges up. Remove from the saucepan and place on the oven tray.
  6. Spray with frylight lightly. Don’t overdo it or it will take the chops longer to cook.
  7. Place in the oven and cook until crispy, about 35-40 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and make four wells in the chips. Break in the eggs and place back in the oven for a further 5-6 minutes depending on how well you like your eggs cooked.
  9. Remove and egg.
 

Spanish Pan Fry August 30, 2010

Filed under: Favourites,Meat,Potatoes,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:04 pm
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I am a big fan of chorizo so this is right up my alley.  I would have thought that the chorizo would have been a complete no no where Weight Watchers is concerned but this recipe is pretty okay in terms of points. As always I made a few changes, this is my version below.

Serves 4

5 1/2 points value per serving

Ingredients

500g (1lb 2 oz) new potatoes, halved or quartered if large

low fat cooking spray

200g (7 oz) chorizo, cubed

1 large yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced

1 onion, sliced

6 tablespoons canned chick peas, drained

400g cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

250 ml of stock

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large non stick wok or frying pan and spray with the cooking spray. Add the peppers and onions and fry for 2 minutes.  Add the chorizo and fry for another 2 minutes. Stirring until it starts to crisp.

3. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute. Then add the chick peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Stir in some of the stock and simmer until the liquid has reduced, then add the remainder and repeat.

4. Season to taste and serve in shallow bowls sprinkled with the parsley.

For an additional 2 points serve with 50g of crusty bread to mop up any of the juices.

 

Vegetable and Lentil Moussaka August 29, 2010

Filed under: Potatoes,Vegetarian — delishuss @ 9:13 pm
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This recipe is from the Cornucopia cookbook.  This one can be made and the leftovers put in the freezer for a later date.

Note: I couldn’t find puy lentils at the time, so I used a tin of green lentils. I also added some vegetables (peppers) to bulk it up a bit.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Sauce

340g fat free natural yoghurt

1 tsp of mild curry powder

¼ tsp of ground turmeric

2 egg yolks

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

75g of grated cheddar cheese

Base

2 tablespoon of olive oil

200g of tinned puy lentils

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

25g of fresh oregano

1 can of tomatoes

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of ground cumin

2 large (3 medium) aubergines

4 large waxy potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Fry off the onion for 5 minutes on a medium. Add in the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the herbs and spices and fry for 1 minute. Add the puy lentils and tin of tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat once cooked.
  3. While the base is simmering, peel and slice the waxy potatoes.
  4. Par-cooked in salted water for 15 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.
  5. Slice the aubergines and spray with low cal spray. Cook on a griddle pan until slightly charred on each side.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  7. Mix together the yoghurt, curry powder, turmeric, egg yolks and nutmeg in a bowl and season to taste.
  8. Spread some of the base sauce on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Layer some aubergine on top and then some of the potato. Repeat process.
  9. Cover the top with the creamy sauce mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.
  10. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.