Potato, spinach and chick pea creamy curry

 1/2 onion

Piece of ginger the size of half a finger

3 cloves garlic

1 hot green chilli 

Ghee

- fry onion. Add finely chopped ginger and garlic and chilli

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

Salt

1 Bay leaf 

1 tomato

1/2 can chickpeas

2 small potatoes

Add spices. Chop tomato and add to the pot. Then add diced potato and chick peas, and a little water. Cook until potatoes are tender 

1/2 bag spinach

2 tbsp sour cream 

Garam masala 

Add cream and spinach. Cook until spinach melts. Serve with a sprinkling of garam masala. 

Spicy aubergine and chicken stew

< TODO: Fill in story about my holiday in aubergineland when we visited a tiny hillside village and a random grandma brought plates of this out for us to eat >

• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
• 1 medium aubergine - large cubes
• 2 small green peppers - strips
• butter
• oregano
• hot paprika
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 large chicken breast, large cubes

 
Fry onion and garlic in oil, add the aubergine and pepper and a knob of butter, a pinch of oregano and a large pinch of hot paprika.

Cover and simmer until the aubergine is tender.

Now add tomato and chicken and cook until the chicken is done.

Forgettable lamb and vegetable pot roasts

Not a forgettable meal, but the cook can put it in the oven, set a timer then go to work... 

20 minutes prep and 2 hours cooking.

Ingredients as illustrated!

Pot roast chicken with olives and carrots

1 chicken
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large carrots, roughly chopped (large pieces)
a good handful of green olives
1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in a cup of boiling water.
1 tsp french mustard (added to stock)
1 glass white wine (French sauvignon blanc)
black pepper
olive oil


Fry the onion, then add garlic and carrots. Put chicken in the pot, grind pepper over the top. Pour wine over the chicken. Pour stock into the bottom of the pot. Throw some olives in.Roast uncovered for 30 minutes at 230'C, then cover with the pot's lid and roast for a further 1.5-2 hours at 180'C

Oat & Apple energy bar

Oat & Apple energy bar

500g Porridge Oats - quick oats are perhaps better. Thick rolled
'jumbo' oats would give a more flaky texture
10 dried dates
1 handful sultanas
10 glace cherries
1 handful chocolate chips
1 handful sunflower seeds
1 handful pumpkin seeds
2 eating apples, chopped into small dice (chop them as late as
possible so they don't go brown)

150g unsalted butter
100g soft dark brown sugar
2 dessert spoons Golden Syrup

Chop the dates into small chunks and place in a bowl with the
sultanas. Add boiling water to not-quite cover and allow to soak for
30 minutes or longer

Chop the cherries into small pieces - roughly 8th's. Put the cherry
pieces in a bowl and toss them in a handful oats to absorb the
stickiness and separate them.

In a large bowl mix all the dry bits into the oats, then add the apple
and dried fruits. Get it as well mixed as possible.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and dissolve the sugars. Then add
the oat mixture in a few batches, mixing it well between additions.

Line a deep (~1.5") baking tin with greaseproof paper, then press the
mixture in firmly with a spatula.

Smooth off the top and sprinkle some extra pumpkin seeds, chocolate
chips and raisins over the top - press them in a bit.

Bake at Gas 2 - 160'C for about 30-45 minutes. It'll still be quite
sticky but firms up as it cools.

Let it cool in the tin before removing and cutting into pieces.

Lemony chicken curry

8 cloves garlic

1 large knob ginger

1 deseeded red chilli 

Blitz these three with a tablespoon of water.

add:

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

Put about 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a pan -- put this on a gentle heat and add:

1 small cinnamon stick 

4 cloves

Sizzle the spices for 1-2 minutes.  Then add 

2 bay leaves 

Remove all the spices from the oil and pour about half the oil into a small dish -- put this to one side.

Cut into bite sized pieces:

4 chicken thigh fillets

Brown the chicken with 2 or 3 teaspoons of ginger, garlic, tomato and chilli paste.  Put it in a bowl.

Add the reserved oil to the pan, and the rest of the ginger, garlic, tomato and chilli paste.  Fry this for 30 seconds then add

1 1/2 medium onions, finely sliced

Fry this for a further 2 minutes or so, then add 

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground fennel seeds

2 strips of lemon zest

A dash of water (to form a sauce)

Cook the sauce for a couple of minutes until it's coming together. Then add

leftover cooked potatoes

frozen beans

1 green pepper

the browned chicken pieces.

Simmer for 10-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked and your rice is ready

butternut squash stuffed with beef

500g beef mince
1 large onion
1 stick cinnamon
olive oil
2 anchovy fillets
1 large glass shiraz
2 tsp colmans mustard (i.e. made mustard from a jar)
rosemary
lemon zest
lemon juice
salt
pepper
1 butternut squash

Fry the onion with the rosemary until soft.
meanwhile dry-fry the beef in a couple of batches in a frying pan,
along with the finely chopped anchovy.
Add the meat to the onions and throw in the cinnamon stick.
Deglaze the frying pan with half the wine, add this to the mixture.
Add a little water and cover with a lid -- simmer gently for about 30 minutes.
Season with mustard, salt and pepper.
At this point, reduce the rest of the wine by half in the frying pan.
stir a little of the meat mixture into the reduction and return this
to the rest. Add a squeeze of lemon and a few bits of finely sliced
lemon zest (only a little). Allow the mixture to rest for some time,
off the heat.

Bake the squash, whole, for about 20 minutes (until it's easy to slice)

Cut in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Scoop out some of the
flesh along the length of the squash, to make room for the meat
stuffing mixture.

Reheat the meat and pack into the squash halves. Put the stuffed
squash into the oven at about 200'c in an oven dish, with a splash of
water in the base. After about 15 minutes the meat on the top should
have started to brown -- cover with some foil and cook until the
squash is tender.