BOF Posted October 14, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 14, 2013 Finally used my tajine about 4 years after getting it as a gift Fillet of hake, grated tomato, chopped onion, crushed garlic, grated ginger, salt, broccoli, cauliflower, baby potatoes. Very tasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Much as I like MeathVillan's creations (and intend to sample them when I get the chance), there's also a place for economy cooking. This is what I'm doing with a Waitrose £10 for 3 chickens offer, to make 3 dinners and some lunch stuff for 5 people. Sadly, it doesn't only cost £10. There are other things to buy as well. But it's a decent start. Divide all the chickens into 2x breast, 2x leg, 2x wings, and carcasse. Set aside 2 skinless breasts for Chinese dish, divide the rest into 2 so you have 2 dishes with 3 legs, 3 wings, 2 breasts. (If your household is a more easily divisible number than 5, you may have a better solution). Make stock from the carcasses, surplus skin, onion, carrot, and of course celery. When the stock is made, get the scraps of chicken off the carcasses, mix with a couple of rashers of grilled bacon, chopped and mixed up with mayo, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, paprika, to use as filling for a couple of wraps the next day. For the two skinless breasts, first cube some tofu, toss in cornflour, fry quickly in oil, set aside. In a frying pan, soften lots of chopped garlic and ginger, then add lots of ground black pepper (lots), chilli flakes, 2-3 tablespoons light & dark soy sauces,same of ketchap manis, maybe a little splash of water. Simmer. Slice some veg for a stir-fry. Boil some dried noodles, drain, place in bowl of cold water so they don't congeal. Cube chicken, add to the simmering garlic/soy mix, stir well, add another splash of water if needed. Taste for salt (soy is salty, may not need any). Cook until chicken is cooked through (depends on how small you cut it and how high the heat is - can't give a time, but 1cm sq cubes on medium heat should take 10-15 mins at a guess. If in doubt, slightly longer is better than undercooked, but take a piece out of the pan and cut it). Start frying veg in hot wok, drain noodles, add tofu to chicken dish, stir, warm through. Add noodles to wok, stir well to warm through. Serve, maybe with another chilli sauce (bottled is fine) Quantities of veg, noodles etc depend on how many you're serving. In this recipe, 2 chicken breasts will serve 5 people, bulked out with tofu, noodles and veg. Fairly balanced meal as well, maybe a little salty depending on the soy sauces you use. Second meal: Pollo al Ajillo. Split one head of garlic into cloves, take off thin papery outer skin but don't peel. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a wide saute pan with a lid, add whole unpeeled garlic cloves, saute on medium heat for 3 mins or so. Remove from pan. Add portioned chicken to pan, lightly brown both sides on medium heat. Add salt, black pepper, chilli flakes if you like, while chicken is cooking, but mostly keep the lid on the reduce spitting from the pan. Take a bottle of fino sherry in one hand, the pan handle in the other, and while you're shaking the pan, tip 1-2 glasses of sherry into the pan. The shaking is to emulsify the sherry and the oil. Or perhaps if you've been drinking too much of the sherry. Add half a dozen bay leaves (yes, that many) and the reserved garlic cloves. Put the lid on and set on gentle heat. You can add a ladle or two of the stock you made earlier if you like a lot of sauce. Boil some waxy potatoes in salted water for 19 minutes or until just cooked, drain. Heat some butter and oil in a wide pan, start sauteeing the potatoes. Start cooking accompanying veg which you prepared earlier - I did plain steamed broccoli and cubed courgettes sauteed in a wok with olive oil, salt, pepper, a few chilli flakes. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice to the potatoes. By this time the chicken should be cooked (test!) so you can turn it off while you warm the plates and attend to the 3 dishes that all need stirring and turning. Serve when the veg are done and the potatoes are slightly browned in places (or as browned as you like them). Third meal: Caribbean Chicken. Brown the chicken in a saute pan, remove. Soften some onions and garlic in oil. Add ground spices like cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, chilli. Add tin of chopped tomatoes, some of the chicken stock, mix well, return chicken to the pan, simmer until cooked through. Serve with rice cooked in stock (or rice'n'peas), plantain fried in butter. Or you could use the chicken for any other chicken dishes - coq au vin, cacciatore, curry, marinaded and grilled, fried with chips, whatever. The remaining stock (I have about 3 litres) will make great soups. At a rough guess, £10-£20 (depending where you shop) for the other ingredients on top of the £10 for chickens, for 3 dinners and some soups for 5 people, without costing things I have around the kitchen anyway. Say £25 all in, or £5 each for 3 dinners and a couple of lunches. But more if you don't start off with a well-stocked kitchen with lots of spices etc. On the other hand, it would be possible to spin out the meat over more meals, if you really need to keep costs as low as possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Much as I like MeathVillan's creations (and intend to sample them when I get the chance) Cheers man .....I cant believe the good reviews we are getting I did better food in my last place ....but the clientele is vastly different, Not sure how much longer im gonna stay might move after Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? Indian or Chinese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Finally used my tajine about 4 years after getting it as a gift Fillet of hake, grated tomato, chopped onion, crushed garlic, grated ginger, salt, broccoli, cauliflower, baby potatoes. Very tasty. If it's earthenware, do make sure you use some kind of heat diffuser underneath it, at least if you're cooking on gas. Or else you'll be needing another gift quite soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? clarified butter ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? Indian or Chinese Indian, sorry that probably would have helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I cant believe the good reviews we are getting I did better food in my last placeWell it looks great, and the way you write about it comes from the heart, and your explanations of what you do are authentic, so I'm convinced the reviews are merited even without the benefit of taste. Though if you'd be so kind as to arrange a home delivery to Edinburgh, just so I can be sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 (edited) I have a recipe for butter chicken somewhere and a balti .....my recipe book is in bits I remember the balti having to boil the onions/garlic & for a while and stinking the house out But Bof is yer man I can smell him from my house Edited October 14, 2013 by Meath_Villan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? clarified butter ? Dunno. I was told a lot use oil now as it's healthier and doesn't taste as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Just wondering, can anyone make an actual take away style curry? I make a pretty awesome chicken curry but it doesn't taste like they do from a take away even though it is lovely. Some kid that my sisters fella is working with for the next couple of weeks makes them for people and sells them for £5 a time and they are absolutely spot on to what you would order. I believe it is all down to the base sauce, so does anyone have any recipes for a genuine take away style curry then? You're right that there's a base sauce. It's used by a lot of curry houses. That, or a close variant of it. It doesn't involve ghee. Too expensive. There's a website by a Brit who loves it, and who set up a site to celebrate it. I did a quick web search but didn't find it, but I'm sure you will with a bit more patience. tbh, I don't think it's worth it. You'll get a lot better Indian (ie sub-continent) food from people cooking at home, or else the high-end curry houses, or else the low-end formica-table places in Sparkbrook, than you will from the generic "Indian Restauarant" with its standard sauce applied to thirty dishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 But Bof is yer man I can smell him from my house Tell the yeti to have a shower then, I don't wanna take cooking tips from the unwashed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 raided the fridge and came up with the culinary delight of ......................................................cheese on toast with loads of pesto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 raided the fridge and came up with the culinary delight of ......................................................cheese on toast with loads of pesto One of my favourites is cheese on toast with Encona chilli sauce spread over it. Superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Going to make Halloween brack tonight after work will post pics etc if i remember to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 18, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 18, 2013 Finally used my tajine about 4 years after getting it as a gift Fillet of hake, grated tomato, chopped onion, crushed garlic, grated ginger, salt, broccoli, cauliflower, baby potatoes. Very tasty. If it's earthenware, do make sure you use some kind of heat diffuser underneath it, at least if you're cooking on gas. Or else you'll be needing another gift quite soon. It's one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 It's acknowledged in our household that " Daddy makes the best Cheese omelette" ..but Mrs H29 is having to go back to Hungary for a week shortly so Daddy has to feed the kids for a week anyone know some more dishes involving eggs and cheese I can wow the kids with ? PS Cheese on Toast with a Boiled egg has already been done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 It's acknowledged in our household that " Daddy makes the best Cheese omelette" ..but Mrs H29 is having to go back to Hungary for a week shortly so Daddy has to feed the kids for a week anyone know some more dishes involving eggs and cheese I can wow the kids with ? PS Cheese on Toast with a Boiled egg has already been done Cheese & Bacon Pancakes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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