Juicy, juicy peppers!

Don't you just love peppers!

Simple King Prawn Madras

As requested, a simple but spicy prawn curry recipe for my GOOD FRIEND, ANTHONY :) who, although resides in a student house, still manages to eat well. No photo, I'm afraid, but maybe you can take one and I'll upload it? Serves 1 rubber-tongued student.

Ingredients:

As many king prawns as you'd like, raw and peeled

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2-3 tablespoons madras curry paste

1-2 finely chopped chillis - if using a scotch bonnet then use only 1, de-seeded - the madras paste & mustard seeds will add plenty of spice

2 bulbs of garlic, roughly chopped

A thumb of ginger, peeled and diced or grated - Dave/Sean have ginger if you don't

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp garam masala - Sean has some in his cupboard

Splash of cooking oil

Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1/2 cup of rice

1. Mix the chopped chilli, ginger and garlic with the raw prawns in a bowl, and leave to marinate

2. Warm up the oil in a pan before putting in the fennel and mustard seeds - it's now a good time to get your rice cooking, too

3. When the mustard seeds start to 'pop', throw in the onion and mix well. Fry until lightly coloured

4. Remove onions and leave in a bowl, to one side

5. In the same pan, pour in the chopped tomatoes until warmed through. Next, add the madras paste. MIX WELL

6. When the tomato and curry paste is mixed evenly, throw the onions back in the pan. 1-2 minutes later, add the prawns.

7. The prawns only take a few minutes to cook through, you don't want to overcook them because they will be hard and rubbish! While they're cooking, roughly chop your coriander

8. Last thing, mix in the teaspoon of garam masala and then serve the lovely prawn curry over a plate of hot rice and garnish with a generous helping of coriander

Try that, Anthony.. let me know!

Notes:

- For poorer students, to make a really simple curry, you can get away with an onion, tin of tomatoes, madras curry paste and 1 portion of prawns. You can pick these 4 ingredients up for no more than £4.50 - cheaper and much more satisfying than a takeaway!

- If you'd like to try this dish with chicken, for example, you will need to leave the chicken to cook through, in the sauce, for much longer. Try 25-35 mins in a covered pan, on a simmering heat

Chicken Topped With Chunky Salsa

Chicken can be a little monotonous from time to time. Here's a very easy to make your chicken breasts a little more interesting! Simple ingredients, delicious flavours! Serves 2.

Ingredients:

2 good quality chicken breasts

4 medium sized tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 red pepper, roughly chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1-2 red chillis, finely chopped

A bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1. Place the chicken breasts into an oven proof dish

2. Drizzle a couple of tbsp of water in the bottom of the dish, to prevent the chicken from sticking

3. Put the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly

4. Spoon the salsa onto the chicken breasts evenly and pop them into a preheated oven, 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Remove after 40 mins and check the chicken has cooked through before tucking in.

Notes:

 - Serve with a good salad or some cous cous. Or both!

 - Season the salsa in the bowl, to taste.

 - The photo of the chicken was taken before I put it in the oven!

Try Try Try!

Prawn & Smoked Salmon Salad

A quick and simple salad, perfect as a starter or a lunch time snack. Serves 2!

Ingredients:

As many king prawns as you'd like, cooked & peeled

Pack of good quality smoked salmon

2 baby gem lettuces

10-12 vine cherry tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Couple of bulbs of garlic, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, diced

1 lemon

Coarse black pepper

Pinch of dry dill

1. Mix a few teaspoons of olive oil in a bowl with the chilli, garlic and juice of half a lemon and coat the prawns with the dressing

2. Fry the prawns for a few minutes to warm through

3. Slice the salmon into bitesize strips

4. Wash the lettuce and arrange 2-3 leaves on a plate

5. Add the vine cherry tomatoes to the plate

6. Mix the now-warm prawns with the smoked salmon and scatter over the lettuce leaves.

7. Sprinkle some dry dill and black pepper over the top

Ideas:

 - fry or grill the vine tomatoes before serving

 - squeeze some more lemon juice over, at the end

Try it! :)

Slow Cooked Spicy Veg Soup

This hearty soup is infused with a kick! Perfect for cold nights or for those who like chilli in everything! Really simple, really easy to make and tastes fantastic! Serves quite a few, too! (Maybe 4-6)

Ingredients:

1 white onion, diced

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bell pepper, sliced

Handful of cauliflower florets

Handful of broccoli florets

A good handful of potato, peeled and cut into chunks

2 leeks, thickly sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 celery sticks, sliced

2 whole chillis

Couple of bulbs of garlic, chopped

A good helping of coarse black pepper

Pinch of turmeric

Pinch of cayenne pepper, depending how hot you like your soup!

Pinch of paprika

1 bay leaf

Enough good quality chicken or veg stock to cover the vegetables, maybe 1.5 litres

 

1. Wash, chop, cut, slice or otherwise prepare all the veg

2. Put all the veg into a slowcooker, or crock pot

3. Pour over the hot stock, until the vegetables are covered

4. Season with salt & pepper, add the spices and the bay leaf

5. Cook on medium - high for around 6 hours, or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking - try not to remove the lid, albeit very tempting!

6. Remove the bay leaf and serve into warm bowls with some fresh crusty bread!

Notes:

 - You can basically put any vegetable you like in this soup. This is just an example! You could try sugar snap peas, celeriac, sweet potato, squash, cabbage, spring onion etc.

 - I hate salt, so you might have noticed that I didn't include it in the ingredients - there's enough salt in the stock ;) However, feel free to season the soup at any stage you like!

Easy! :)

Sa Cla Advert!

Keeping with the cooking theme, I felt it appropriate to share a Sa Cla spoof that I once made with a friend some time ago!

Watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q2ypdKHIio

Japanese-style Salmon Soup

This hot and spicy soup has everything that a hot and spicy soup needs! Two generous servings!

Ingredients:

Couple of slabs of salmon, cut into chunks (see photo)

A good pint & half of stock (chicken, veg or strangely, beef)

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, grated

Generous thumb of ginger, cut into strips (julienne)

Few cloves of chopped garlic

A good handful of mushrooms, roughly sliced

Generous splash of soy sauce

Generous splash of fish/oyster sauce

1tbsp hot chilli powder

1 lime

Half a pack of rice noodles

Chopped spring onion to garnish

1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cracked black pepper

1. Pour the stock into a large pan, on a medium heat

2. Add the onion, carrot, ginger, garlic and mushrooms

3. Add the soy sauce, fish/oyster sauce and chilli powder and stir.

4. Put the salmon chunks into the pan, reduce the heat and put a lid on. Simmer for 20-30 mins.

5. Fry the rice noodles in the oil for 2-3 mins. Put the noodles into the bottom of a serving bowl. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime into the soup before serving the soup and salmon chunks over. Garnish with spring onion.

Ideas:

 - try sliced chilli to garnish

 - try fresh coriander to garnish

 - try beansprouts and/or sliced cabbage in the soup, instead of mushrooms

Yum yum yum :)