Coconut and Tomato Chana Dahl

Another warming veggie dinner. Simple, cheap and tasty.

What you need

1/2 tsp aestophidia
1 tsp Garam Marsala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
thumb piece of ginger
1 chilli
250 g chana dahl
1/2 block of creamed coconut
1 tin of tomatoes
1 lemon
1 bag of spinach

What you need to do

Grate the ginger over the saucepan so you don't loose any of the juices then saute it with the onion, chilli and garlic until soft. Add the spices and fry till fragrant. Add the lentils, tinned tomatoes and the coconut. Then cover with water and simmer till the lentils are soft. Chuck in the spinach to wilt and then use the lemon juice to add acidity to the dish. Feel free to chuck in  more chilli. I served this with a roti.

Game Crumble

I got the idea off this from Sams of Brighton's twitter feed. The first time I did it the crumble was soggy. My lovely mum then told me to dry fry the crumble mixture. The result? Lovely tender meat and crunchy top. I cooked the casserole in the slow cooker overnight

What you need

Crumble

Handful of jumbo porridge oats.

1 pack of chestnuts

1 spring of rosemary and thyme

5 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

Game casserole

1 game pie mix

seasoned flour

1 large onion

handful of chestnut mushrooms.

2 parsnips, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

half a celeriac, roughly chopped

half a bottle of red wine

splash of port

300 mls of beef stock

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp of redcurrant jelly

What you need to do

Coat the meat in the flour and then sear. Remove with a slotted spoon then saute the onions. When softened add the garlic, parsnips, carrots and celeriac. Add the meat and veg to the slow cooker and  then add all the other ingredients. Cook until the meat is tender.

Meanwhile whizz all the crumble ingredients in a food processor. In a frying pan dry fry the mixture until it starts to dry out. I finished it off in the oven  (around 200c) on top of the game casserole but if your short on time you can simple sprinkle over the casserole, just make sure its crisps in the pan. 

Serve with mash and green beans.

Aubergine Cannelloni

As I really try to only eat, as my mum calls it, 'happy meat' I can't afford to eat it all the time. Luckily for me I enjoy veggie and The Boy isn't one of those men that thinks a meal isn't a meal unless it's got meat. These are really tasty. If you've got a griddle definitely use it for the aubergines. Makes them taste lovely and smokey.

What you need

4 aubergines

2 tubs of ricotta

1 large bag of spinach

50 g of Parmesan

a generous grating of nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 jar of passata

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 shallot.

pinch of sugar

1 ball of mozzarella 

What you need to do

Slice the aubergines thinly length ways and salt. Leave in a colander to drain for half an hour.

While the aubergines are doing their thing, wilt the spinach and then really squeeze out all the excess water. Chop and then mix with the cheeses, nutmeg and season generously.

Once some of the moisture has come out of the aubergines get the griddle really hot. Lightly oil the aubergines then griddle till charred. Take a spoonful of the cheese and spinach mixture and roll it up  in the aubergine. Fill up a baking dish.

Next make a simple tomato sauce. I simply sauteed some shallots and garlic and then added a jar of passata, a pinch of sugar and seasoned. Pour this over the aubergines and then dot with mozzarella.  Cook at around 190 until the top is golden and crisp.

A little too crispy?

Scotch Egg

Hot dogs and champagne, burgers and lobster and free range fried chicken. Yup, once thought dirty food has had a glamorous makeover. This little revival has been going on for a while now and the scotch egg has also been part of it. Farmers markets and and pubs love them and so do I. Especially with salad cream.

What you need

Sausage meat ( I used 5 free range sausages)
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Seasoning
Panko bread crumbs
5 eggs
Plain flour
1 tbsp milk

What you need to do

Put the eggs in a cold pan. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes then plunge into iced water. Peel carefully!

Remove the skins from the sausages then mix in the mustard, parsley and season. Split the mixture into 4 and then lightly flour the surface of some clingfilm. Put one portion of the sausage meat on the clingfilm and then cover with lightly floured cling film and roll out. Take the top layer of clingfilm off. Nestle an egg in and then, using the clingfilm, bring the sausage meat up around the egg. Twisting the clingfilm at the top you can now roll the clingfilm parcel between you hands to ensure a round shape. Repeat with the other 4 eggs and then chill for about 30 minutes.

Turn your oven on-200c. In the meantime, put some flour into a small bowl and season. Beat the remaining egg in a second bowl and add the milk. Put the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Dip the egg into the flour, egg then breadcrumbs. I doubled dipped again for a mega crunchy coating!

Heat up some oil in a frying pan (about 2cm deep) then fry till crispy and golden. Finish in the oven for roughly 10 minutes.

Not quite a runny yolk but delicious!

Chilli Pickle Canteen

India holds a very special place in my heart. I love how diverse it is: the people, the atmosphere, the feeling you have when your there and the food! So great and so cheap! The best samosa I've ever had was from a shack in a bustling street in Mumbai, simply proves that it proper bricks and mortar don't matter!

The food in India is nothing like the stuff you get in England but if you want a great, authentic curry in Brighton then you head to The Chilli Pickle on Jubilee Street. You can't miss it; its got a fricken huge cow by the entrance.
I have been to Chilli Pickle loads now and have pretty much loved everything I've eaten there (apart from a rather odd duck soup thing), I even spent my anniversary with The Boy there. So, when I saw that they had started a takeaway service I knew I had to try it.
We decided on the King Thali and got one spicy and one mild. Being a Tuesday it came really quickly and it was like Christmas. It arrived in a huge cardboard box and when opened had several little pots of loveliness. I was reeling a bit from how un-eco all the packaging was until I read on the little menu that you could recycle or compost everything bar the tinfoil; impressive!

Christmas!

Anyway The Boy and I ordered the Old Dehli chicken and the Tanjore mutton. They both came with (deep breath now) rice, pumpkin samosa, hara bara kebab, carrot thoran, yello dal, Rajathani millet and peas, plum chutney, mint chutney, garlic pickle, cumin raita, a roasted pappad, a phulka AND jaggery and date kheer. 

 Tanjore Mutton

The mutton was incredible  Lovely balance of flavours, incredibly tender meat and just the right amount of heat. The chicken was, again cooked perfectly. The sauce of the chicken was lush; tomatoey, creamy and buttery goodness. It was so exciting having all the little bits to go with it, like I said earlier, it was like opening a stocking at Christmas! The only thing I didn't like was the jaggery (an unrefined cane sugar) and date kheer; a type of rice pudding. When I was in India people kept trying to get me into the puddings. I didn't like them then. I still don't. Nothing personal just far too sweet.

I really recommend this if you like curry and, in fact if you don't like English curry (The Boy doesn't really like curry but loves The Chilli Pickle). And try the King Thali. As it was the first week we got 25% off so it was £22 pounds but for the amount you got I'd be more than happy to pay the full amount. The only thing I hope is that they change all the bits occasionally as I want to try more of the curries but would also like to try more bits!

Jamie's (or Daisy May's!) BBQ Ribs with Cowboy Beans

Oh. My. God! These were amazing! Good old Jamie Oliver (although I was at Gatwick at a ridiculous hour this morning and he has a cake stand in Departures, I think he is slowly taking over the world....). Get beef short ribs from your butcher, you won't regret it.

What you need

5 tbsp American yellow mustard
1 x 4-bone rack of beef

Rub

4 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chilli powder

few grinds of pepper

1/2 tsp salt

olive oil

Marinade

4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp runny honey
a large knob of butter
1 beef stock cube
2 tbsp water

What you need to do

Preheat your oven to 130c. Rub the mustard all over the meat. Then mix the rub ingredients together and massage these into the ribs as well. Make sure you get into all those nooks and crannies! Wack them onto a backing tray, bone side down, and cook for 5 hours.

Just before the time is up put all the marinade ingredients into a pan and cook until combined. Make a tinfoil parcel and pour in most of your marinade. Put the ribs on top, meat side down, then pour the rest of the marinade in. and cook for another hour. Remove from the oven and pour off any marinade.juices. Cook for another 45 minutes to crisp up. When the time is up remove the meat to a board and rest for 10 minutes. Pour over the juices and serve!

Cowboy Beans

What you need

2 red onions

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp chipotle chilli BBQ sauce (or just the chilli)

15 g butter

3 x tins of beans ( I used haricot)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

white wine vinegar

1 tbsp black treacle

4 rashers of smoked bacon

1 sprig of rosemary

 handful of Parmesan 

stale bread

What you need to do

Sweat the onions in a little oil with the paprika. Add the butter, chillies, tomatoes bay leaves and beans (along with the can juice). Give it a stir and then simmer for roughly an hour. Season with the vinegar and salt and pepper then stir through the treacle.

In a food processor whizz up the bread, rosemary, cheese and bacon. Sprinkle this over the beans then cook at 180 until crunchy!

I served this with the ribs, homemade slaw and a jacket potato, bloody lovely.

A Little Bit of Nigella

I LOVE Nigella! The Boy loves her too but for very different reasons. I really enjoyed her last series, Nigellissima, and her orzo recipe got my mouth watering. I chucked in some celery and mushrooms and replaced the water with chicken stock. This would feed four hungry people.

What you need

400g Orzo
8 rashers of good quality smoked bacon, diced
splash of vermouth/white wine (optional)
1 celery stick, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 liter of chicken stock (you might not need it all)
1 handful of peas
1 handful of mushrooms, sliced
Parmesan to taste
a knob of butter

What you need to do

Sweat the onions and celery until soft. Add the bacon then after a couple of minutes chuck in the mushrooms and cook till the bacon is crispy. If using add the alcohol and let it bubble then tip in the orzo and cover it with stock. Simmer for the time it says on the orzo packet (if it starts to look a bit dry add a little more stock but the finished result should be risotto consistency). In the last couple of minutes add the peas so they cook through.

Finish with a naughty knob of butter, seasoning and Parmesan to taste (I like loads, but i'm a pig with a future heart problem!)