Chicken Korma

This was very good it is quick and has that initial creamy taste and then the heat hits the back of your mouth! And no coconut milk!
Its from Ainsley Harriots Meals in Minutes (I replaced the chicken with 4 quorn fillets for two.)
Serves 4 (or two large portions)
1 tablespoon veg oil
1 onion chopped
350ml yog
200ml double cream
25g butter
half tsp salt
1tsp turmeric
2 tsp hot chilli powder
3 garlic cloves crushed
3 tablespoons ground almonds
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts each cut into six pieces
flaked almonds to garnish (toasted) i forgot these
naan breads or rice to go with
also if you can a cucumber and red onion salad (just thinly sliced and mixed with a mix of olive oil and vinegar (3:1)


If you are doing quorn best to fry the quorn until golden in some olive oil.

then make the rest:
Heat the oil and cook onion for 5 mins until softened. Place onion in a food processor (like a small one or a blender would do) with the yoghurt, cream, butter , salt , turmeric, chilli, garlic and almonds and whizz until blended. Arrange the chicken in a greased casserole dish and pour over sauce. Bake for 30mins at 200C. Of course you won't need as long if you have pre-cooked chicken or quorn. say 10mins? Garnish with almonds and or coriander if you wish and serve with naan or rice.

menu for the week

Tues: Sweet cherry tomato and sausage bake (Jamie at home)good old standby!

Wed:Full English Breakfast (Ainsley Friends and Family)

Thu: Scrambled Eggs with Anchovies and Asparagus (Ramsay Healthy)

Fri: Stuffed Trout with Tarragon sauce (Trout Book)

Sat: Borscht (Ramsay Healthy)

Sun: Crunch Brunch Mushrooms (Ainsley FF)

Mon: Tomato and Pesto Tart (Ramsay Fast)

Baked Fruit

You can use different fruits for this recipe, if they are small like strawberries , leave them whole, if larger cut into slices. If you don't like peel, take it off.
Good fruits to use are, apples, pears, peaches,apricots,plums,damsons, strawberries, etc, grapes?
So slice up what you have and put in a shallow baking dish. Cover with sugar, quite heavily, and drizzle over some water or wine or vermouth or brandy! Not a lot of that. Bake for 10 to 15 mins. Serve with creme fraiche or cream. Mmmmmm. It's nice if the sugar has had a vanilla pod in it but this requires some planning, a special sugar pot and it is expensive!

Spicy wedges

4 baking potatoes
2tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cajun seasoning

Half the scrubbed potatoes and then cut each half unto slim wedges. Pat them dry with kitchen roll and tip them into a baking tray. Cover th wedges with the oil and then the seasoning and Cajun spice. Cook for about half an hour at 200C.

menu for the week

Tues: Pancakes

Wed: Smoked mackerel , new potatoes and feta , mint and green leaf salad. (taste)

Thu: Leek Fritters (Otto Plenty)

Fri: Chicken Korma (Ainsley Meals in Minutes)

Sat: Zippy Zappy Baked Potatoes (Ainsley)

Sun: Salmon Fillet with a Horseradish Crust (Ainsley )

Mon: Butternut Squash and Parmesan soup(Taste)

Sausage and Garlic Mash with Onion, Red Wine and Rosemary Jus

Use organic sausages! I use Linda McCartney sausages of course.

Serves 2

however many sausages you want
oil for cooking

For the Garlic Mash

450g ? potatoes such as maris piper
25g butter
1 garlic clove

For the Jus

20g butter
1 onion ( i used red onion)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
150ml red wine
teaspoon of cornflour mixed with cold water for thickening
1/2 pint of stock from stock cube, beef or vegetable
1 stalk of rosemary
salt and pepper

Cook the sausages in a frying pan or in the oven.
JUS
melt the butter in a large frying pan and add chopped onions and sugar. Fry on a lowish heat for 20mins until soft and sticky.
MASH
Peel the potatoes and put them in a pan of boiling salted water until cooked (20 mins).
BACK TO JUS
When onion is cooked add red wine increase the heat and simmer rapidly until wine disappears. Stir in cornflour and stock and rosemary and salt and pepper and simmer until the rest is ready.

BACK TO MASH
Mash the potatoes when soft and then melt butter in a frying pan and fry chopped garlic for a little while. Stir into the mash and serve.
Serve sausages with mash and jus over the top.

(Ainsley Friends and Family recipe)

Menu for the week

Tues: Quesidillas (Ottolenghi)

Wed: Herb Stuffed Tomatoes (Ottolenghi)

Thu: Bruschetta Cherry Tomatoes Mozzarella and basil (Ainsley)

Fri: Leek Fritters (Ottolenghi)

Sat: Fishcakes with lemon Creme Fraiche (Ainsley)

Sun: Trout in Wine Sauce (Trout Book)

Mon: Sausage and Garlic Mash (Ainsley)

Bruschetta

This is about two large slices of bread or ciabatta rolls so would be enough for two people.

Cherry tomato, mozzarella and basil

Mix 1teaspoon balsamic vinegar and 3 tablespoons extra virgin oil and season to taste.
Add 150g mozzarella and 150g halved cherry tomatoes and a handful of basil
Mix.
Toast the rolls lightly on one side and rub a clove of garlic over them. Pile the mixture on the top and put a bit of rocket on it.

Vegetable Flan with Cheese Pastry

Serves 6! (but it will keep)

4 small carrots
1 bunch spring onions
8 sun-dried tomatoes (in oil is best, if dried you can soak them in water to revive them)
1 fresh tomato
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (any)
salt and pepper
300ml sour cream or single cream
2 eggs
50g of cheddar cheese grated or a bit less of parmesan

CHEESE PASTRY
175g plain flour
2 pinches of cayenne pepper
75g cold butter
50g of cheddar (or a bit less parmesan)

Make the pastry first and put it in the fridge to rest. Either mix it all in a food processor and add a small amount (dessert spoonful)
of cold water OR rub fat into flour and add cheese and pepper, then add small amount of water until it all sticks together in a ball, not too much water, just enough. Then put in fridge for 10mins. Roll out pastry and put it in a loose bottomed flan tin (mine is eleven inches diameter).

Doesn't matter if its a bit scruffy prick the bottom with a fork and put back in fridge to rest while the oven heats up.

Put oven on to 200C and bake the pastry for 10 mins until golden - to stop it rising up you can put some greaseproof paper and a crust of bread on the pastry to weight it slightly.(Take the paper and bread out after a while to allow pastry to brown)

FILLING
Scrub or peel carrots and cut into small slices and boil for 2 mins and then drain. Slice the spring onions, the sun-dried tomatoes and the fresh tomato.

Assemble all above and arrange on the cooked pastry base. Sprinkle with the herbs. and salt and pepper.

Get a bowl and put in eggs , cream and cheese and whip up together with a fork and pour on the top of the vegetables. Bake for 20 mins or until egg mixture is set on the top and browned.

menu for the week

Tues: Grandmothers Chicken Fried Rice (Ching-He)

Wed: Sweet and Sour Chicken (Taste)

Thu: Tofu Stir Fry with Halloumi(Rose Elliot)

Fri: Pakoras with Mint Chutney(Taste)

Sat: Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables(Rose Elliot)

Sun:Gorditas and Salsa (Jamie's America)

Mon: Gruyere Cheese Roulade (Rose Elliot)