Chicken Biryani

I made this for Ian's dinner last night.

Green Tea Jelly with Milky Sauce

5g gelatine
1 tbsp matcha
4 tbsp sugar
50ml hot water
300ml cold water
100ml condensed milk
100ml fresh milk

Dissolve the gelatine in the hot water. In another bowl, mix the matcha and sugar, add a little cold water and stir to form a paste. Add the remaining cold water, stir in the dissolved gelatine and mix well. Pour into jelly moulds and leave to set. Mix together the condensed milk and fresh milk to make the milky sauce. Serve the jelly with the milky sauce.



Warning: do not eat this late at night.

Matcha Bubble Pudding

After sushi we had 'bubbles' for pudding. Bubbles are little balls of tapioca and are usually served in a drink with a fruit, tea, milk or coconut milk base. I served mine as a pudding, a bit like a cold, sweet soup. I had two bases for my guests to choose from: plain milk and matcha (green tea).



The plain base was made of evaporated milk, fresh milk and sugar. To make the matcha flavoured base, mix a teaspoon of matcha with a small amount to water to form a paste and add the plain base to taste.

Matcha bubbles:

Roll-Your-Own-Sushi

I like making (and eating!) sushi but there's quite a lot prep work involved. An easy way to get around this is to prepare the rice, lay out all your fillings and wrappers then allow your guests to roll their own, selecting whatever they fancy.



Clockwise from top left: prawns, pickled mackerel, grilled eel, avocado, rice, salmon, sweet omlette, nori and soya wrappers. We also had miso soup.

Prawns, mackerel and grilled eel:



To roll your own, place a piece of nori on a plate, add rice and other fillings.



Roll your nori into a cone shape and enjoy!

Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder

1/2 lamb shoulder
1 onion, roughly sliced
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp chilli flakes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Put onions into a dish and place lamb shoulder on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour water into the dish until it's about 2cm high. Cover with foil, return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 150 degrees centigrade and bake for 3 hours, checking occasionally that the dish has not dried out. Remove the dish from the oven, scoop out some of the liquid, add tomatoes, thyme and chilli flakes. Return to the oven and increase temperature to 200 degrees centigrade. Bake for 30 minutes until the lamb is browned. Remove from the oven, check seasoning, mash the onions into the sauce and serve.



The meat will flake right off the bone with a fork so no need to carve it. I served it with wholewheat couscous.

Candied Ginger for Dad

1kg fresh ginger
3 cups sugar plus extra for dusting
2 cups water

Peel the ginger. Cut into 5mm slices, going diagonally to the grain. Place the water and 3 cups of sugar into a pan, bring to the boil until the sugar is melted. Add the ginger, bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. After 2 hours, turn off the heat and allow the ginger to cool. Transfer the ginger to a sieve and allow to drain. Spread the ginger onto a baking sheet and dry for 2 hours. Dredge the slices in sugar and transfer to a container to store.



My dad requested I make candied ginger for him as he likes it very much. These candies are hotter than shop bought ones but they are very nice, nonetheless. I tried a little with dark chocolate and it took the heat off the ginger.

Candied Orange

4 oranges
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water

Put 3 1/2 cups sugar and the water into a large pan, slowly bring to the boil. Cut the oranges in half lengthways and cut into 5mm slices, discarding the ends. Add the orange slices to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered for one hour. Do not stir the orange slices during this time, just carefully push the slices under the water. Turn off the heat and leave to cool. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and arrange onto a wire rack. Leave to dry for 24 hours. Put the remaining sugar in a bowl, add the oranges slices, in batches, to cover in sugar. Transfer to an airtight container to store.



I decided to try making these because one of my favourite sweets is chocolate covered candied orange peel. The recipe was for chocolate covered candied orange but after tasting the orange slices I decided not to cover them in chocolate as they were plenty delicious plain!

Chunky Chinky Turkey Jerky

2kg turkey breast, thinly sliced
1 cup light soya sauce
2 tbsp shaohsing rice wine
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix everything together, marinade for for 5 hours. Arrange the slices of turkey onto a wire baking rack. Preheat oven to 50 degrees centrigrade and dry the turkey slices for 5-8 hours.



I really liked the marinade I used for the ribs the other week so I thought I'd try making jerky with a similar marinade. I chose turkey because it is quite bland and the flavours would take well. I found the jerky is a little too salty for my tastes so in future I will marinade it for a shorter time. The garlic flavour is quite strong so I may halve the garlic for the next batch.

Basic Beef Jerky

750g beef brisket, thinly sliced
1/2 cup light soya sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Combine all the ingredients and marinade in the fridge overnight. Lay the slices of beef onto wire oven rack. Preheat oven to 50 degrees centigrade and bake the beef for 6-15 hours, depending on thickness, until dry.



I like my jerky slightly pliable and not too salty.

Some Favourite Salads

I was going through some old photos and found some of my favourite salads...

Spinach, red onion, pineapple and dressing, served with chopped chicken on top:



Pink grapefruit, radishes, avocado, basil and olive oil:



Shredded cabbage, grated carrots, raisins, lemon juice and olive oil. I like to add orange segments or apple slices to this salad:



Tomatoes, avocado, cannellini beans, red onion, lemon juice and olive oil:



Spinach leaves, mango pieces, red onion slices and dressing:

Breakfast Omlette

1 tbsp oil
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1 handful spinach
4 eggs
1 splash milk
50g mature cheddar, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Grease a small cake tin with the oil. Add the peppers and spinach. Beat the eggs with milk and seasoning. Pour the eggs over the vegetables. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until set.



A close up:



You can use whatever vegetables you have and add sausage, chicken, bacon etc. This can be stored in the fridge and served cold.

Chocolate Fondue

300g milk chocolate (I used Green and Blacks milk chocolate)
300g double cream
A selection of things to dip

Break the chocolate into pieces, place into a glass bowl. Microwave at 50% for 2 minutes, or until melted, stirring halfway. Add cream and stir until the mixture is smooth. Serve with a selection of fruits, cake, nuts etc. to dip.

The original recipe used 500g of chocolate for 4 people. I used 300g for 4 people and there was some leftover so 300g should serve 5 people.



I served my chocolate fondue with marshmallows, cubes of madeira cake, kiwi fruit, banana slices and strawberries.

Greek Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, torn
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 red onion, sliced
200g feta cheese, cubed
50g black olives
Salad dressing to taste

Mix all the salad ingredients into a bowl. Pour on dressing.

Garlic Pitta Bread

4 pitta bread
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 big glug olive oil

Cut each pitta bread into eight pieces and open it out so each pitta bread forms sixteen pieces. Place pitta bread onto a large baking tray. Mix together garlic and olive oil, drizzle onto the pitta. Bake at 200 degrees centrigrade for 10 minutes or until brown.

Tasty Rice

2 cups basmati rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp tumeric
3 bay leaves
3 cardamon pods
1 stick cinnamon
Salt
1 large knob of butter

Put rice, tumeric, bay leaves, cardamon, cinnamon, salt and water into the rice cooker. Soak for 30 minutes. Turn on rice cooker. Once the rice has cooked add the butter and fluff the rice when the butter has melted.

Spinach and Feta Filo Pie

1 large onion, grated
1 large knob of butter plus extra for brushing on pastry
700g frozen spinach, defrosted
4 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
200g feta cheese, cubed
3 eggs
7 sheets filo pastry
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan, add onion and fry until softened. Squeeze the water out of the spinach and add to the pan. Add pine nuts, feta and eggs, season and mix thoroughly. Brush filo pastry with melted butter, lay four sheets in the bottom of a dish at right angles. Spoon the spinach mixture into the dish. Fold the filo pastry over. Cut the remaining pastry into pieces, scrunch them up and place on top, brush with butter. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees centrigrade or until brown on top.



This was the first time I made this pie. It would make Popeye proud!

Baked Chicken

1 onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
120ml olive oil
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp tumeric
1 chicken, jointed
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together, cover and marinade overnight in the fridge. Bake at 180 degrees centrigrade for 40 minutes or until cooked.

Lunch With My Sisters

I had my sisters over for lunch today. I made:
* Baked chicken
* Spinach and feta filo pie
* Rice
* Garlic Pitta Bread
* Greek salad
* Chocolate fondue

Really Nice Brussel Sprouts

1 large knob butter
1 onion, finely chopped
4 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
500g Brussel sprouts, sliced
1/2 ladel hot chicken stock
salt/pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan, add onions and fry over a medium heat until softened. Add bacon and continue frying. Add the brussel sprouts, stirring for a few minutes, add the chicken stock and season. Cover the pan and cook for a about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sprouts are tender but not soggy, adding more stock if necessary to prevent sticking or burning.

I Love Fruit Curd!

I'm not a big fan of bread so I've been eating my curds with yoghurt.

Orange curd and Greek yoghurt:



Banoffee curd and Greek yoghurt:



Next time I see some cheap passion fruits in the market I'm going to get some to make passion fruit curd!

Banoffee Curd

4 ripe bananas
550g light brown sugar
125g butter
4 eggs

Mash the bananas into a large heatproof bowl (I pushed them through a sieve but I'm sure it would be okay if you didn't). Mix in the sugar. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the butter until it's melted, mix in the eggs. Simmer until cooked, stirring regularly. Pot into sterilised jars.

Yields 4 jars.

I decided to try making banoffee curd because I love banoffee pie. The recipe called for dark brown sugar but I was worried it would be too strongly flavoured so I decided to use light brown sugar instead. It's quite sweet so next time I may try reducing the sugar. So far I've had it on toast (yum!) and I have some Greek yoghurt in the fridge which I'm sure it'll be delicious with.

Simple Lamb Stew

1 kg lamb shoulder, cut into slices or large cubes
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can tomatoes
150ml red wine
2 tsp dried rosemary
gravy granules

Heat oil in a pan, brown the lamb in batches, transferring to a heatproof dish. Fry onions and garlic, when beginning to brown add red wine and bubble. Add tomatoes and rosemary, bring to the boil. Pour over the lamb. Add boiling water to cover lamb. Cover the dish, bake at 160 degrees centrigrade for 2 hours. Check halfway through to make sure it's not dried out. Remove from oven, stir in some gravy granules until you have a thick gravy.



I used bone in lamb but you can use boneless, if you prefer. I like bone in because the lamb stays in one big piece, whereas boneless tends to disintegrate.

Here I have served it with baked sweet potato and wilted spinach. It was perfect comfort food for a cold, winter evening. You can serve it with mash or with rice.

Tomato, Avocado and Olive Salad

1 handful baby spinach leaves
1/2 tomato, chopped into cubes
1 small avocado, peeled, chopped into cubes
Olives



The olives I used were a mix of green and black, they also had some peppers, garlic slices and capers mixed in. As the olives were in olive oil I didn't bother to add dressing to the salad. I served it with Honey Mustard Chicken.