Smooth Lentil Curry

Smooth Lentil curry
In this forgiving stew you can use curry powder or even a few tablespoons Indian pickle if you have any in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for 4:

• 400gr jar of cooked lentils
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 x 2cm piece of ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp curry powder or Indian pickle
• 200 ml coconut cream (or yogurt)
• Salt, pepper

Stir fry the onion in a little olive oil for 10 minutes; add the cumin, garlic, ginger and curry spices. Cook for 1 minute and add the rest of ingredients. Cook over gentle heat for 30 minutes. Serve as part of an Indian meal or as accompaniment to meat.
It is also delicious as a vegetarian Jacket potato filling.

Meatballs and Spaghetti

For the meatballs:

• 500 gr minced beef meat
• 1 slice white stale bread, mashed with a bit of milk
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 tbsp mixed herbs
• salt and pepper
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg

For the Sauce:

• 200 ml crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 small onion, chopped
• salt, pepper
• 200 ml white wine

Mix the meatball ingredients in a bowl; if the mixture is too wet, mix in some breadcrumbs.

Make a regular tomato sauce in a large saucepan:
Fry the onion for 10 minutes until soft. Add a dash of vinegar and let it reduce for 1 minute. Add the rest of ingredients and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.

What I do is simply shape the meatballs and drop them into the sauce one by one as I make them. This saves a lot of time and they come out perfect.
One all of the meatballs are in the sauce, simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Serve with freshly cooked spaghetti.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

For leftover roast chicken. It works just as well with turkey or indeed, any other leftover meat.

Ingredients for 3-4 people:

• 400 g roast chicken meat
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp flour
• 200 ml stock
• 200 ml milk
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard

For the pastry top:

• 200 gr bought puff pastry
• or 200 gr shortcrust pastry

Preheat the oven to 180ºCentigrade.

Fry the onion in a little butter for 5-6 minutes until it starts to brown. Add the mushrooms. Fry them for one or two minutes before adding the flour.

Cook the flour for 30 seconds and start adding the stock; stirring all the time to get a smooth sauce with no lumps.

Add the milk and season well. Add the mustard and the chicken. Bring the stew to the boil and turn off the heat.

Pour the stew into an ovenproof dish. Cover with the pastry and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

** To make the pastry: Rub 80 gr. butter into 150 gr flour and a pinch of salt. Bring the pastry together or add a little milk if necessary.

Bagels

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons of yeast.
• 2 tablespoons of sugar.
• 1 tablespoon of salt.
• 400 of bread flour, more if required
  
• 200 ml of warm water
  

Preparation:

Place the dough ingredients in a large bowl and knead for 10 minutes.
Alternatively, make your favourite bread dough. Let it rise once in the bowl.

When the dough is risen, punch it down and remove it to a well floured surface; cut into 8 equal pieces and shape to form donut shapes.

Cover and allow to rest for about 20 minutes or until they have risen again.

Bring 2 litres of water to boil with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Poach all the bagels, 2 or 3 at a time, for 5 minutes, turning them once.
Take them out of the water, put them on a towel to dry slightly.

Preheat your oven to 175°Centigrade.
Place simmered bagels on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 175º centigrade for about 25 minutes or until brown.

Serve cold, with salmon and cream cheese, or ham and pickle, etc.

Lamb Biryani

This special dish takes around 1 hour to cook. Once the Biryani is assembled you can reserve it for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking in the oven. The ingredients are for 6-7 people.

For the lamb curry
400gr lamb meat, cubed
1 aubergine, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbs. curry powder
3 cloves of garlic
1 piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

For the rice
2 cups of basmati rice
2 tbsp of peeled sunflower seeds
2 spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp melted butter.
Salt and pepper
A handful of chopped Coriander or parsley to garnish
You will also need a 30cm long ovenproof dish.

Put the rice in a pan with 3 cups of water or stock. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until it is just cooked. Turn off the heat and mix the rice with the rest of the rice ingredients. Set aside.

Put the peeled ginger, garlic and red pepper in a blender; add a few tablespoons of water and blend until smooth.

Place a large saucepan on the heat; pour 3 tablespoons of oil, add the curry powder, onion and aubergine. Gently fry for 10 minutes until the onion is soft and pale. Add the meat cubes and the ginger garlic blend. Season with salt and pepper; cover the pan and simmer for 60 minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces. Turn off the heat and reserve.

Assemble the dish. Place half of the rice over the bottom of an ovenproof dish, cover with the lamb curry; and then use the rest of the rice to cover the meat, shaping the rice like a mound.
Cover the raita with foil.
Cook the biryani in the oven at 180º for 35 minutes. Serve with yoghurt and cucumber raita.

Raita: peel and chop a cucumber, mix it with one plain yoghurt and some finely chopped mint.

Jacket Potato

I often cook jackets in a hurry when I don't have time. The potatoes can cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes at full power. The result is quite acceptable. Then I fill the jackets and finish cooking them for 10 minutes under the grill.

Turn the oven on to 180ºCentigrade.
Take a large potato per person, wash them thoroughly under running water. Drain and pat them dry.

Prick each potato once or twice over the skin. Rub them with oil and a little salt. Put them in an ovenproof dish and bake for 60-80 minutes, depending on the weight of the potato.
To test that they are ready you can try to insert a fork into the potato. It it goes in easily, it is ready.

Fillings:
1/ Fry some mushrooms and bacon in a little butter. Add cream, salt and pepper to taste.
2/ 1 can of tuna per person, mixed with 1tbsp Cream cheese. Salt and pepper.
3/ Any leftover, warmed up stew, curry, chili con carne, pasta sauce....
4/ Plain butter and cheese: 1tbsp Butter and a little grated cheese
5/ Cooked prawns and mayonnaise
6/ Smoked Salmon and Sour cream
7/ Baked beans in tomato sauce
8/ Sweet corn salad: sweet corn, diced ham, chopped red pepper, mayonnaise.
9/ Coleslaw: grated carrot, finely sliced cabbage, mayonnaise, a dash of vinegar
10/ Leftover chicken or turkey and cream or bechamel, or cold with mayonnaise

Herb Stuffing for Roasts

This dish uses up any leftover bread that you have, and it complements a roast chicken or turkey.
I started with the classic sage and onion stuffing and have made some alterations to suit my taste.
You can change the quantities of the ingredients and the herbs used, these are the herbs I grow in my garden.

Ingredients:

• 250 gr day old bread, made into crumbs or diced finely
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• handful of fresh or dry herbs (parsley, basil, coriander etc)
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  
• 4-5 walnuts
• 1/2 tsp salt and same of pepper,
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg and cayenne
  
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp oil

Grease a mold unless you are using this stuffing to put inside a chicken or turkey. Chop the herbs, onion, tomato and walnuts. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and add a little milk to moisten.

Stuff the chicken and roast for 2 hours.
Alternatively, fill the greased mold and cover tightly with foil. Bake with the ckicken.