Homemade fried breakfast
Ingredients:
Quantities per person
2 rashers streaky smoked bacon
2 good quality sausages (any type to preference)
Large handful button mushrooms
1 clove garlic
Handful thyme
Knob butter
Half tomato
Dried oregano
Egg
Slice granary bread
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
Tinned borlotti beans
Tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
Plenty seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
1. Fry the bacon until crispy
2. Using the fat left in the pan, add the garlic and mushrooms and thyme, and when softening, season and add a small knob of butter
3. Boil / poach the egg. If frying, I like to use the same bacon fat
4. In the other side of the frying pain, add the tomato, already seasoned and covered in oregano
5. In another pan, fry the onion until soft and clear
6. Add the beans including the liquid. If boiling your own beans, use some of the starchy fluid it cooked in.
7. Add spices and tomato puree, and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season well and serve with chopped parsley.
Serve with a thick slice of toast and it will last all day!
Chicken, lemon and olive tagine
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, sliced
4-5 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2-3 medium carrots, chopped roughly
2 lemons, cut into quarters
4 chicken legs
1 small packet of green olives with seeds
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon of cumin powder
1 tin of tomatoes or half a box of passata
1 litre of chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan and fry the garlic and onions lightly.
2. Add the carrots and spices until the flavours are released
3. Add the chicken with plenty of seasoning and fry for 1-2 minutes
4. Add all of the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour or until the flavours have infused and the chicken is soft and falling off the bone.
5. Serve with rice, couscous or potatoes
It is so easy and you can leave everything in one big pot without any fuss!
Spice grilled chicken
This is so simple and delicious! You can change the spices slightly according to what you have available.
Ingredients:
2 chicken legs with skin, washed
Either:
1 Tablespoon mixed spice
1 Tablespoon grown cumin
Or:
1 Tablespoon Tandoori spice
1 Tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
This is very simple! Cover the chicken with the spice mixtures and a bit of oil on the baking tray and over the top. Make sure you put plenty of seasoning as well! Bake in a very hot oven, or if this doesn't seem to get the chicken cooked and the skin crispy, put it in the grill for 5-10 minutes. Cooking time should take 25-35 minutes at 250 degrees C. To check if it is cooked prick with a knife and check that the juices run clear.
I served this with creamy mashed potatoe and steamed green beans. Mmmm.
Dry fried lamb curry
I tried this dish in Bangalore in a restaurant specialising in food from the Konkan coast - the south west coast of India, including Kerala and Goa. This is mouth wateringly spicy. Beware.You can use a pestle and mortar or a blender but the first gives far more rewarding results.
Ingrendients:
1/2 kilo lamb shank (or similar) cut into bite sized pieces
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 star anise
3-4 dried hot chillies (more if you like it spicy!)
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
3 cm fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2-3 fresh chillies
1 large onion, sliced finely
1-2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon cooking oil
Method:
1. Make a curry paste by blending the garlic, ginger, fresh chilli and half the onion. Add the spices. It is best if they are polverised first in a pestle and mortar and the fresh ingredients added whilst continuing to pound. This makes the flavour the strongest. Add salt and pepper.
2. Marinate the lamb pieces with some oil and the curry paste for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
3. When ready to cook, heat the oil in a shallow pan until hot and add the rest of the onion and a little sugar to slighty brown and caramalise them. Add the lamb mixture, ensuring the heat is high and the lamb sears and the spices and cooked. Lower the heat and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until the lamb is cooked.
4. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with lime. Goes well with boiled rice as the blandness counters the spice!
