Chilly Chilli - Oh Bother...

So after seeing an episode of Good Eats on chilli, I knew I wanted to try it out. However, it was not without problems. For one, I don't yet own a pressure cooker, or even a pot with a tight fitting lid. The other problem was that I vastly underestimated the amount of chile and chile powder that I needed, and so it was not hot at all... A baby could have eaten it, it was so mild. But, spiciness aside, it was damn delicious :) Next time - more spice, more spice, more spice!

Ingredients :


1 small tin kidney beans
1 small tin chick peas
1 onion, chopped
300g stewing beef
1 tin tomatoes
1 tbsp chile powder (I would suggest using 2 tbsp)
1 tsp cumin
1 beef stock cube (made into 1 pint stock)
1 cm red chile (Again, I'd suggest using 2 whole chiles, chopped finely)
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 jar sun dried tomatoe pesto

Method :

01. Fry onion until softening.


02. Add garlic and chile, and fry for 1 min.


03. Add tomatoes, cook until thickens slightly.


04. Set this aside.


05. In the same pan, brown the beef.



06. Set beef aside.

07. Add a little stock to pan, scrape up the "burnt bits" into the stock.


08. Add the rest of the stock and the beef.


09. Add in kidney beans and chick peas.


10. Add in tomatoe mix from earlier.


11. Stir and simmer for 10 mins with no lid.


12. Add tomatoe pesto.


13. Cook with tight lid for 45 mins.


Serving:

Serve on baked potato, in wraps, with salad, with rice or even pasta!

Mild Chicken Curry for Mild Weather Blues

This weather is getting me down, it's been freezing here for the last week or so. So I decided to cheer (and warm) myself up with a mild curry.


Ingredients :


1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1/4cm green chili, chopped finely
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp mild curry powder
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup double cream
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 carrot, diced
5 mushrooms, diced
2cm slice of butternut squash, diced

Method:

01. Fry onion in wok until browning.


02. Add garlic and chili and fry for 30 seconds.



03. Add chicken


04. Add spices, fry until chicken is cooked on the outside.



05. Add in vegetables, fry for 1 minute.


06. Pour in stock.


07. Pour in cream.


08. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until reduced and sauce thickened.


Serving :

Serve with rice, with wraps, or on a baked potato. :)

Chicken Fried Rice

My favourite meal from the Chinese takeaway has always been fried rice, and with the new year comes new me, and new diet :) So I present a tasty, and significantly lower fat version of fried rice that you can make at home in less time than it takes for a delivery!

Ingredients :


1 cup rice (cooked the day before in 2 cups water)
2 eggs
5 mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
2 spring onions
2 chicken breasts
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp herbs

Method :

01. Chop chicken into bite size pieces and fry in a wok.



02. Chop spring onion, garlic and mushrooms.


03. Add these and the herbs and curry to the chicken. Stir and cook until mushrooms starting to soften.



04. Add rice and soy sauce, stir all together.



05. Make a well in the centre.


06. Add in egg, stir together and cook until egg is cooked through.


07. Serve immediately.


Delicious on it's own or with stir fried vegetables. Can be made easily without the chicken and served as a side dish, or with any other meat :D

Homemade Cheats Lasagne

This is the regular lasagne that I make, usually makes 8 servings. It's partly homemade in that I can't stand jarred Bolognese sauce, and partly cheated since I've never made a white sauce nor pasta. Hopefully this will be rectified in the future, but for now, here's the recipe for an easy and delicious lasagne. :)

Ingredients :


Bolognese :

1/2 onion
450g minced beef
3 cloves garlic
1cm ginger
200g mushrooms
1 tin chopped tomatoes or 5 large tomatoes

White Sauce :

1 jar
or
1 batch homemade (Recipe to follow... someday)

Lasagne Sheets :

1 pack
or
9 - 12 homemade sheets (Recipe to follow... someday)

Method :

1. Chop onion, mushrooms, garlic and ginger. Chop tomatoes if using fresh.




2. Fry onion until softening.


3. Add in mince.


4. Half cook mince, add in garlic and ginger.


5. Fully cook mince, add in tomatoes.


6. Add in mushrooms.


7. Cover and cook for 15 mins.

8. Uncover and simmer for 10 - 15 mins to reduce liquid.


9. Assemble the lasagne :

a. Layer of lasagne


b. Layer White sauce


c. Layer bolognese


10. Repeat until all bolognese is gone. Top layer is :

a. Layer of lasagne

b. Layer White sauce

c. Layer cheese


12. Bake for 30 mins at 180 C in fan oven.


Serve with chips, salad or garlic bread.

Variations : use lamb mince, add in different vegetables such as peppers or carrot.