What do you cook when you're home alone?

[havenoideaatall]

Warm chicken salad made with pieces of breast meat marinated in sambal oelek, dark soy, sesame oil, lemon juice and dry sherry then stir fried, served with a salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and fried potato cubes and topped woth sesame seeds or fried shallots, or if we are in a hurry a simple salad made from layers of cos lettuce, celery, cucumber, red pepper, kidney beans, grated cheese topped with salsa then avocado slices, sour cream and topped with crushed corn chips.

you're such a showoff Iain!

My main contribitions are VERY good curries, and cauliflower cheese.
I also do a fair bit of French dishes. Not so much in to stir frys (eg Thai, Chinese - rather pay for a takeaway) these days, but I do like tabasco and chilli in a chopped tomato base with anything I can find to put in it.

[Iain]

you're such a showoff Iain!

Not really, I enjoy cooking and those two are sooooooooooo easy and quick, I also like a good curry and make them from the ground up, eg: no Clive of India curry powder around here, just dry fry the spice and grind as required, not really that hard and the difference is absolutely outstanding.
Unfortunately the only takeaway here is the fish and chip shop and the pub counter meals are bloody awful, even Macca's is luxury in comparison:eek:

[havenoideaatall]

no Clive of India curry powder around here, just dry fry the spice and grind as required, not really that hard and the difference is absolutely outstanding.
:eek:

Couldn't agree more. Listen, the best way of making a curry is this (forget all the spices and quantities you see in books). It's considered to be the 'secret' behind the curries you get in English restaurants.

Use a lot of ginger, garlic and 1 big chopped onion and fry the lot in oil slowly for 15 mins. The cooked starches give a sweet taste that will make your curries taste fantastic.

Add a TEAspoon of coriander, cumin and the other spices you fancy etc and fry for 5. Chilli to taste.

Liquidise the lot with a can of tomatoes.

Cook for 30mins. This is the basis of the sauce. You can add yoghurt for a karma, more onions for a Dopiaza, more chilli if its for the boys etc.

I can guarantee you will never rely on huge amounts of spices again, its the onions that do the trick.

Cheers

I'm off to dig out more old threads.

Have

[Iain]

With a slight twist with Charmaine Solomons books:
Fry onion rings quickly until golden, remove, then add the chopped onion, garlic ginger and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, slow cooking makes a better curry.
Yep, if she says it, it must be true, that is for the 100 almond chicken, one of our favourites, except we use fresh tomatoes and sweat them with fresh mint or coriander (funny how they both taste the same when cooked this way but completely different raw) over the base of slow cooked onions until they turn to a liquidy pulp, then add chicken etc etc etc.
A bit fiddly but well worth the wait, and enough left over to freeze for a few quick meals over the next week or two.
If you want the recipe I will email it to you, bloody curry powder indeed, I do have a jar of garam masala on hand though (home made).
Coupled with a couple of my home made dark hopped ales, what a wonderful night.

[havenoideaatall]

With a slight twist with Charmaine Solomons books:
Fry onion rings quickly until golden, remove, then add the chopped onion, garlic ginger and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, slow cooking makes a better curry.
Yep, if she says it, it must be true, that is for the 100 almond chicken, one of our favourites, except we use fresh tomatoes and sweat them with fresh mint or coriander (funny how they both taste the same when cooked this way but completely different raw) over the base of slow cooked onions until they turn to a liquidy pulp, then add chicken etc etc etc.
A bit fiddly but well worth the wait, and enough left over to freeze for a few quick meals over the next week or two.
If you want the recipe I will email it to you, bloody curry powder indeed, I do have a jar of garam masala on hand though (home made).
Coupled with a couple of my home made dark hopped ales, what a wonderful night.

Thanks Iain - email address to follow.

Here's another 'dish' - and here's the thing - it's great for dinner nights as it's dead simple, scrubs up in the presentation department, and can be mass made in minutes to the admiration of guests. (Not that we err have 'dinner nights' but you get the idea).

Chicken fillets. Halved.

White wine. A jar of green pesto. A few tubs of Philadelphia cheese (or equivalent - number of hungry mouths dependant).

Cook the fillets. Mix the pesto with the cheese and white wine (which also stops it from drying out).

Smear the chicken liberally with the mix. Bake in an oven for 15 mins.

Serve with boiled potatoes and beans and it looks good but simple.