Prawn Bhuna Curry

Bhuna is a Bengali dish, traditionally a slow cooked 'dry' (not much sauce) medium hot curry, heavy on mustard oil.  I made a quicker and wetter curry, which is more to our taste.

Serves 4

Prawns:

500g frozen cooked prawns

1/4-1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp mustard oil (optional)

Bhuna Sauce:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp mustard oil (another tbsp of vegetable oil can be used instead)

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

4 cardamon pods

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4-1/2 tsp chilli powder

2 medium onions

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 cm root ginger 

500ml passata

1/4 tsp salt

Toss the frozen prawns with the spices listed whilst you get on with the sauce.

Roughly chop the onion, garlic, and ginger and liquidise with 75ml water to make a paste.

Get all the dried sauce spices ready in a ramekin/small pot.

Heat the vegetable and mustard oil in a sauce pan over a medium high heat.  When hot, stir in the dried sauce spices, and then quickly add the onion paste, taking care as this will spit in the hot oil.

Stir the onion paste regularly until it starts to dry out.  Add the passata, salt, and a little water to make a thick but pourable sauce.  Bring to the boil, cover, and turn down to a simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add the prawns.  Don't worry if they are still frozen, just turn up the heat and bring them back to the boil.  The prawns will release a lot of liquid into the sauce so boil the sauce hard for a further 5 minutes to reduce the sauce a little and thoroughly defrost and heat the prawns through.

Serve with basmati rice.

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Chinese Sweetcorn Egg Drop Soup

Chinese Sweetcorn Egg Drop Soup is such a quick, simple, but tasty soup.  I made a storecupboard vegetarian version, but you can use fresh vegetables and/or chicken as your time and budget allow.

Serves 2, or a greedy one as a meal

1 mug of frozen sweetcorn, or 285g can of sweetcorn in water

100g grated potato or 100g cooked rice

Handful of finely shredded spinach, kale, or cabbage (optional)

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed (optional)

1cm cube of fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped

1 tbsp miso paste, or 1 stock cube

500ml hot water 

1 large free range egg

1 spring onion, finely sliced (optional)

Chilli oil or chilli flakes (optional)

Soy sauce to taste

Authentic (or possibly Chinese-American) Egg Drop Soup seems to use creamed sweetcorn.  I like to do this by cooking/warming the sweetcorn in the stock first, then liquidising with a stick blender, as I think it gives the soup a better consistency.  But, if you don't have a stick blender, or don't want to blend the sweetcorn, this is not essential.

If pureeing the sweetcorn, simmer the frozen sweetcorn for 5 minutes in the hot water in a soup pan, or heat tinned sweetcorn until the water is boiling.  When the sweetcorn is cooked/hot, liquidise with a stick blender in the pan.  

Add the potato or rice, crushed garlic, grated ginger, and miso paste or stock to the sweetcorn (or add all these to the pan with the water if not liquidising the sweetcorn).  Simmer for 10 minutes in a covered pan.

Beat the egg in your soup bowl.  Turn up the soup to a gentle boil and drizzle in the egg.  Leave for 30 seconds then swirl with a spoon.  You should have 'flowers' of cooked beaten egg.

Serve with chopped spring onion, soy sauce, and chilli oil to taste.

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Jollof Rice & Beans

Jollof Rice & Beans is an easy, cheap, nutritious plant based one pan dish.

Jollof Rice is a spicy West African dish of rice, tomatoes, chillis, onions, spices, often served with a meat stew.  To add more protein and fibre to the rice I had the idea to add beans, similar to Caribbean Rice & Peas.

All recipes online use Scotch Bonnet chillis, so use one or two if you want a more genuine flavour, but beware these are very hot!

And I highly recommend Afrizi, an African restaurant in Festival Place in Basingstoke to try 'proper' Jollof rice and other West African dishes.  

Here is my take...

Serves a greedy 4

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tbsp rosemary, dried or fresh

1 tbsp thyme, dried or fresh

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder 

1/2 carton passata

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 mug basmati rice

2 cans of mixed beans in water (or kidney, pinto, black beans)

Recently boiled water

1 vegetable stock cube 

2 bay leaves

Liquidise the onion, garlic, peppers, rosemary, thyme, coriander, chilli powder, and passata.

Heat the oil in a shallow casserole dish.

Carefully pour in the blended sauce, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes, stir in the rice into the sauce and drain the liquid into the mug.  Top the mug up with recently boiled water, pour over the rice plus another 1/2 mug of hot water, the crumbled stock cube and bay leaves.  

Stir everything in, sprinkle over the beans, cover, and bring to the boil. 

Turn down to the lowest heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the beans and sauce that will have risen to the top during cooking and serve.

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Prawn & Pea Risotto

Prawn & Pea Risotto is a simple dish with big flavour for only a few ingredients.  Frozen prawns and peas make this an easy quick supper.

Serves 4

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled & finely diced

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 small glass of white wine (optional)

300g risotto rice

2 fish or chicken stock cubes

1 litre recently boiled water

250g frozen prawns

Large pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Chopped parsley (optional)

Freshly grated parmesan (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat.

Sweat the chopped onion for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not coloured.

Stir in the risotto rice and garlic into the onions.  Pour in the wine, and stir until evaporated away.

Add a ladleful of hot water and the crumbled stock cubes, stirring until evaporated and the stock cubes have completely dissolved.  Keep adding one ladle of hot water at a time, and stirring until evaporated.  Halfway through the hot water add the frozen prawns, and then continue adding the ladles of hot water.  After about 25-30 minutes the rice is tender but not mushy.

Stir in the frozen peas and chilli flakes, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with a topping of chopping parsley and parmesan if wished.

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Mexican Roast Potatoes & Beans

We seem to be alternating between pasta and rice for carbs recently, so I googled 'potato main meals' and turned up this Mexican Bean & Potato Bake.  It is a pretty versatile bake - the original recipe says to use kidney beans, but I was going to use pinto beans until I discovered I had leftover Chilli con Veggie.  You could also use Chilli con Carne if not vegetarian.  

Serves 4

1kg potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pepper, cut into bite sized pieces (optional)

400g drained kidney, pinto, black beans, or leftover chilli

400 g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tsp smoked paprika (if not using using leftover chilli)

1 tsp ground cumin (if not using using leftover chilli)

1 tsp hot chilli powder (if not using using leftover chilli)

Salt & pepper

100g cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 200C/190C Fan.

Toss the potatoes in the oil in a lasagne dish and roast for 45 minutes, stirring around half way through the roasting time, until lightly browned and nearly cooked through.

After 45 minutes, stir through the beans/chilli, tinned tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper. Sprinkle cover the cheese, and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes until bubbling hot, the potatoes are cooked through.  

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Bean Quesadillas

Bean Quesadillas are a surprisingly simple but filling snack or lunch.

Serves 2 

2 wheat flour tortilla wraps

1 can black or pinto beans 

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced 

1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp cumin

1tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

200g grated cheddar

Olive oil for frying

First make the refried beans. 

Heat 2 tbsp oil over a medium high heat in a frying pan.

Gently fry the onion until translucent (about 5 minutes).

Stir in the garlic and spices, then the beans and their liquid.

Bring the beans to the boil and simmer, stirring from time to time and mashing them with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, until they are a double cream-like consistency.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil over a medium heat in a non stick frying pan large enough to fit one open tortilla.

Lay one tortilla into the frying pan and sprinkle 50g of cheddar on one half almost up to the edge.

Divide the beans into two portions in the pan and spoon one portion onto the cheddar cheese on the wrap in the frying pan. Sprinkle another 50g of cheddar on top of the beans, and fold the wrap in half covering the beans.  

Fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown underneath, then carefully turn over and fry the other side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

Repeat with the other tortilla and remaining ingredients.

Serve with sour cream with a little chipotle sauce stirred through.

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Choc Chip Banana Bread Breakfast Muffins

More Grab & Go breakfast muffins for my 17 year old son, which he likes to alternate with Bacon & Cheddar Muffins I posted earlier, as he runs out the door to catch the bus to college.

Makes 12

100ml vegetable or light olive oil

75g sugar (optional)

2 ripe bananas (I freeze overripe bananas rather than throw them away, specifically to make this)

225g self raising flour or gluten free self raising flour

100g porridge oats

100g dark chocolate chips or cocoa nibs

1 tsp baking powder

2 large free range eggs

Put all the ingredients, apart from the chocolate chips/cocoa nibs, into a food processor and whizz until smooth. 

Add the chocolate chips/cocoa nibs and whizz to mix them in evenly. 

Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases.  I use a generous vintage ice cream scoop, which only made 10 muffins the last time I made them.

Bake at 180C for 20 minutes, turning them through 180 degrees half way through the cooking time, until golden brown.  They are cooked through when a metal skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre.  If not, cook for a couple more minutes then check again.

Keep in an airtight container for 5 days, or freeze.

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Basic White Sauce

This basic white sauce is so useful - for lasagne, macaroni cheese, fish pie etc. I cannot claim credit for the method - Delia Smith should take that, for her all in one method.  No more lumpy white sauce for me. I find it works a treat, if you keep a close eye on it. I can be vegan, if made with plant milk.

Makes 600ml white sauce 

600ml cold whole or plant milk

1 tbsp vegetable or light olive oil

50g/2 heaped dessertspoons plain flour

Ideally in a non-stick pan, add all the ingredients and whisk with a silicone whisk (as you can see, my old non-stick pan has been scratched by using a metal whisk over the last few years) to break up any lumps of flour.

Heat over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula to stop forming into lumps on the bottom of the pan.

After a minute or so you should start to notice the sauce start to thicken.  Keep stirring.  Once it begins to bubble, turn the heat down the lowest and keep stirring until it is smooth and glossy.

If adding anything else (cheese, nutmeg, or garlic etc) add it now and stir in well.  

Use immediately, or keep over a low heat and stir regularly to stop a skin from forming.

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Caramelised Onion Pasta

Social media keeps on pushing caramelised onion spaghetti/linguine recipes my way.  So I gave one a go.

The recipe I roughly followed was a little greasy, not a surprise with all the butter, oil, cream, and cheese, so I added anchovies, chilli flakes, and lemon zest to cut through the richness.  If you don't mind having pasta without much sauce you can omit the cream and add the parmesan and zest after tossing through the cooked onion mixture.

Serves 4

400g spaghetti

4 brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

15g butter

1 tbsp olive oil, including anchovy oil using

1 tin anchovies in olive oil, chopped

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

300ml double cream

100g grated parmesan or grana padano

Zest of 1 lemon

Fresh parsley

Fry the sliced onions in the melted butter and olive oil over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until brown and meltingly soft. 

Stir in the chop anchovies, garlic, and chilli. Fry until the anchovies start to break up.

Pour in the cream, cheese, lemon zest and heat gently whilst you cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and mix into the creamy sauce.  

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving if using.

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Spicy Chana Masala

Chana Masala is surprisingly easy to make.  You could even get away with just garam masala (and chill obvs) if you don't have all the dried spices.

Serves 4-6

2 cans chickpeas including liquid (or 200g dried, soaked overnight then cooked in fresh water until tender)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 
1 tbsp grated root ginger
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped
2-4 green chillies, finely chopped, seeds and all
1-2 tsp chilli powder to taste
500g passata 

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Fry the onion in the vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium low heat until they start to turn golden brown.

Stir in the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala, grated ginger, and garlic. When you can smell the warm spices, add the rest of the ingredients including the liquid from the canned chickpeas or enough of the cooking water to cover the chickpeas with about 1cm of liquid.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice or naan.

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Easy Marry Me Chickpeas

Marry Me Chickpeas, or Marry Me Chicken, have been appearing frequently on my social media feeds.  When Marry Me Chickpeas appeared just after I had cooked some chickpeas I thought I'd give it a go.  These make a very tasty change to chickpeas in curry or Middle Eastern dishes.

Serves 4

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 leek, cleaned and finely sliced
1 pot red pesto*

2x 400g tin chickpeas

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½–1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
500ml vegetable stock

grated parmesan to serve (optional)

*if making a vegan version, substitute the pesto for 100g sun-dried tomato and 50g cashews or almonds whizzed into a paste with some of the oil from the tomatoes and little water to make a paste.

In a saucepan, fry the sliced leek, chopped onions, and crushed garlic in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the leeks and onions have start to soften.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes.

I served ours over brown rice, and the children's with pasta.  Some recipes suggested serving with a green salad and crusty bread.

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Tuna Pasta Bake

A wet Autumn day calls for comfort food.  And a pasta dish blinded the kids to the fish in it.  

Serves 6

500g pasta

50g/2 heaped tbsp plain flour

600ml whole milk

300g frozen or canned sweetcorn

100g cheddar cheese, grated 

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 cans of tuna in oil

Cook the pasta according the instructions on the packet together with frozen sweetcorn if using.

Meanwhile whisk the oil from the tuna, milk, and flour together in a non stick saucepan.

When the flour is mixed in well, turn on the heat to medium high, and stir continuously with a flat bottomed wooden spoon or silicone spatula to ensure the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan whilst it heats and thickens.

When the sauce is thickened, stir in the flaked tuna, garlic, and drained canned sweetcorn if using.  Mix well.

When the pasta is ready, drain, return to the pan and pour over the sauce. Tip into a baking dish and sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

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