Henri - Curry

Slow Cooker – One-pot and Casserole

Catherine Atkinson and Jenni Fleetwood

Chicken in a Cashew Nut Sauce

 

Home for the weekend and it’s a Saturday night in with all of my family - nothing is better than a curry to spice things up before the X Factor! My sister and her husband have just had a baby and invited us over for the evening, but to save them having to cook, mum and I decided to make dinner to take over (whilst my dad relaxed watching the rugby I’ll add). After hours of deliberation we chose a curry – pretty easy and absolutely scrummy! Usually cooking at home isn’t that much fun since mum gets quite possessive over her kitchen, but nonetheless this time we worked like a dream-team, making a fab curry. However, the car journey over was horrible with our stomachs grumbling the whole way! Arriving at Nick and Anna's we had time to prepare the yoghurt whilst we heated the curry through - a perfect accompaniment if you have members of the dinner party who prefer less heat in a curry. Needless to say, dinner was delicious and enjoyed by all (and X Factor didn't fail to amuse either). We were rather greedy and had everything that goes with a curry, including naan, papadumns and mango chutney. But it just had to be done!

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp tomato purée

½ cup cashews – I replaced these with flaked almonds

½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp chilli powder

¼ tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp natural yoghurt

2 tbsp olive oil

450g chicken breast fillets, skinned and cubed

2 ½ cups of button mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp sultanas

300ml chicken stock

2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped (extra for garnish)

570ml plain yoghurt

2 tbsp coriander, chopped

½ green chilli, finely chopped and seeds removed if you wish

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

To serve

Pilau rice

Naan bread

Papadums

Method

Chop the onion. Combine with the garlic, tomato purée, almonds, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, salt, lemon juice and yoghurt in a food processor and blitz to a coarse paste.

Heat the oil in a large pan or casserole dish and fry the chicken until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon remove the chicken, transferring to a plate.

Add the paste to the same pan, heating through, and then mix in the mushrooms. Lower the heat and fry gently, stirring frequently for a few minutes.

Stir in the chicken, sultanas and chicken stock, and then season to taste with salt and pepper. If using a frying pan, transfer to an ovenproof dish – if not cover the casserole dish – and place in the oven for approximately an hour. The chicken should be cooked through and the sauce thickened.

Stir through the chopped coriander and season further according to your taste.

Preparing the yoghurt was simple. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and stir through until creamy.

Approximately 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, prepare the rice. Serve alongside naan bread and papadums with mango chutney.  

Lauren - Curry

Spiced Lamb Biryani

Sophie Mitchel - Ready Steady Cook

So after a weekend at home cooking in the kitchen with her mummy, Henri decided on curry for her next post. On a weekend when I was supposed to be making ecalirs for the pastry post I ended up making this beautiful one pot. As with previous posts I deviated from the recipe as I had already cooked a joint of lamb so I used that. This one pot wonder is warm and comforting, perfect for this change in weather. 

I think it is safe to say that this is not a traditional biryani recipe but to have it ready in less than 30 minutes makes it perfect for an after work supper. As well as being easy to cook you'll probably find you have all the ingredients, especially the spices, to hand. I think I spent more time scrubbing the pot after than shopping for and making this meal together.

Ingredients

• 2tsbp vegetable oil
  ½ onions, finely chopped
  ½ tsp turmeric
  ½ tsp cumin seeds
  ½ tsp chilli flakes
  ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  1 bay leaf
  300g/10½oz long grain rice
  1 chicken stock pot, dissolved in 400ml boiling water
  150g lamb - I had a joint already cooked
  1 handful fresh coriander to garnish     
  
  
  

  
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  Method
  Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onion for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add the spices and bay leaf and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the rice, coating with the oil and spices.
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  In a small bowl, dissolve the stock pot in the boiling water and pour into the pan with the rice. Stir once, cover with a lid and bring to a gentle simmer.
  
  
  Add your cooked lamb to the rice (or brown in batches and then add to the pan if you are using un-cooked lamb), turn the heat down to low and cook, covered, for 10-12 minutes, until the rice is tender.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  Pile the rice into a serving bowl and garnish with the coriander leaves.
  
  
  

  

  
  

Henri - Shake-Shack

Located in CVGD (that's American sign for Covent Garden)

 

Ever since the establishment came over from America, and hit London by storm, Nia and I have been craving a visit! The queues have been crazy though, and it just hasn’t been possible to get a table without queuing for a good hour. However, since the summer has come to an end it has been slightly easier so we decided that we would head there during Nia’s lunch hour on my day off.

You may be wondering why we were so keen to go? Well firstly, any American diner which serves burgers and fries is a must, but this one tops all by being famous for frozen custard! From chocolate to peanut butter in a tub or cone, or going for impressive Shake-Shack concrete with combines frozen custard with a mix-in of your choice, you would be crazy to give this diner a miss! Located in the heart of Covent Garden (the only British location as of yet) there’s a real buzz at all times of the day. From 1 o’clock on there was a rush of diners – from local business men (quite funny seeing them eat burgers and hotdogs in their suits) to tourists – queuing up for the experience.

This being my first time I wasn’t quite sure how the whole process worked, so much so that when I got to the counter to order I was completely stressed and ended up in a complete panic as to what I wanted to order (despite having assessed the menu for days before). The waitress was so sweet though, explaining how everything worked and what I had to do. Basically, it’s simple and I was being completely stupid. You queue up, order at the counter, are given a buzzer for when the food is ready, and then collect it from the “pick-up” point. During this time you grab a table – obviously it has been extremely popular over the summer because Nia noted that there’s additional seating. 

 

 The food was ready in no time, and got served on cast-iron trays which added a quirky touch. I went for the Shack-cago hotdog (the authentic German hotdog with all the trimmings) and Nia the Shack-stack (cheeseburger with topped with a ‘Shroom’ burger), sharing a large crinkle-cut fries between us. Since I was worried about Nia being late back to work, we were allowed to pre-order dessert and have it wait until we were ready which saved us queuing back up. And by god dessert was incredible! We have waited SO long to try this frozen custard, and it definitely lived up to expectations! Each day there is “flavour of the day” so I had peanut butter and jelly in a cone, whilst Nia went for the classic Union Shack – despite loving the American burger and hotdog joint, we have British roots to stick to!

To summarise out little lunchtime outing, everything was absolutely amazing! I would 100% recommend heading there, and it would even be worth queuing for. The only thing I would say is that the portions aren’t huge – although perfect for lunch I think you would definitely need a main, side and dessert if you went for an evening meal (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t do this anyway)! It was so good that Nia headed back to try the Shake-Shack peanut butter shake which was apparently to die for!

If you haven’t been yet, put it on your to-eat list!

Lauren - Jamie's Fifteen

Jamie Oliver - Fifteen

15 Westland Place, London, N1 7LP

So, September its my birthday and how do I celebrate? With a week long of wining, dining and more wining. This year to start the celebrations me and a few friends headed to Jamie's Fifteen near Old street for some amazing food.

As is typical with five girls we managed to get lost on the northern line and arrive half an hour late for our reservation, but the staff at Jamie's could not of been friendlier, after sending us to the bar for some refreshments they went about trying to find us a table.

A short wait later and we were sat at a table and deliberating through the menu. Luckily for us we were advised by our waiter to treat the menu as a tapas and order lots of plates to share and that the dishes come as and when they are ready.

We couldn't have the bread as it was sold out (nice to know its fresh) but we did decide on;

• Olives
• Deviled eggs and smoked cod roe
• New season potatoes, Lincolnshire poacher and pickled onions
• Cured trout, creme fraiche and radish
• Cornish sardines, rye flat bread, tomatoes and olives
• Cockles, bacon and samphire
• Grilled plaice, cauliflower and curry oil
• Braised lamb, baby carrots and new season garlic

All the dishes were beatifully presented and tasted sensational. The only thing I did not enjoy was the cauliflower which came with the plaice but I just do not like cauliflower, the other diners thoroughly enjoyed it.

Desert was an easier decision, 6 girls 5 puddings..... Yep, we ordered one of each. Now admittedly my favorite was the lemon meringue pie but they may be because they put candles in it and wrote happy birthday in chocolate. I also, really enjoyed the salted caramel eclair, the Madeline's, a creamy sylabob and the plum tart. I did not enjoy the chocolate and malt mousse as much but that did not stop me putting my spoon in more than once.

At only £40 each including wine I can not wait to go again.............

Tapas - Tapenade

Tapas wouldn't be complete without tapenade, and being so simple it's a must! I feel quite guilty posting this as a recipe since it really only involves throwing all of the ingredients into a food processor, but since we served it I thought I may as well tell you how to make it.

Thrift tip - use the oil from the tin of anchovies instead of olive oil when frying the chorizo/onions in your other tapas dishes. This gives a great depth of flavour!

Traditionally tapenade is spread on bread - we served it with crusty ciabatta - but it also makes for great canapés or starters such as bruchetta.

Ingredients

1 jar of black olives - approximately 250g - pitted

6 anchovy fillets - 1 tin of anchovies - drained

3 tbsp capers, drained

2-3 cloves of garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

Bunch of parsley, coarsely chopped

2-4 tbsp olive oil

Salt and cracked black pepper

Method

 To make a smooth textured tapenade, combine the garlic, anchovies, capers and lemon juice in a food processor. Blitz for around 10 seconds. Tip in the olives, parsley and sufficient oil to make a paste.

Season to taste. 

Serve with crusty ciabatta bread.

Lauren and Henri - Garlic Prawns

Serves 4

Ingredients

600g large pre-cooked prawns

4 tbsp oil

5-6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 red chillies – this does depend on your heat preference of course

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

We had some of shallots left over from cooking the frittata, so threw these in as an extra – you’ll find that the zingy-ness of the lemon juice was great with the garlic and chilli!

To serve

Bunch of flat-leaf parsley

Lemon wedges to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, and add the shallot mix – if you haven’t cooked the frittata just add the garlic, chilli and seasoning. Cook over a low to medium heat until the garlic has coloured slightly, and then tip in the prawns. Increase the heat and fry for around 1 ½ minutes until heated through.

To serve, drizzle over the garlic-infused oil that remains, and garnish with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.