Chicken curry with yoghurt and tomatoes

 

Recipe from Bill’s Basics by Bill Granger

I have wanted to blog this recipe for some time – it is one of the first things I tried from Bill’s Basics and it has since become one of our favourite curries.  I have tried so many curry recipes over the years, most of which involve lists of ingredients as long as your arm and lots of toasting and grinding spices so I was rather intrigued by this recipe’s simplicity and to be honest a little suspicious that the end result would have enough depth of flavour thanks to the concise list of ingredients.  As it turns out this is a great little curry that is fresh and light and bursting with flavour but it isn’t overly fragrant or spicy and that makes it perfect for the whole family – it’s certainly one of my son’s favourites. It is also so quick to put together and the only thing that will take time is cooking – so once all of the ingredients go in the pot you can leave it on a low heat to blip away with the occasional stir to keep it from sticking.  This is a perfect dish to prepare in the evening to be reheated for dinner the next day and it’s quite economical as apart from the spices, which you will get many dishes from once you buy them, there are only a handful of ingredients to buy.  Bill’s recipe used lamb which of course needs a longer cooking time than chicken so although the meat will be cooked through sooner I do still give the curry one-and-a-half/two hours cooking as the as the sauce really does benefit from that time.  This is also great made with chicken pieces on the bone.  The original recipe doesn’t use garlic or coriander but I love both in curry. [Read more…]

Chicken Satay

If there is one thing I miss about city life since moving to the country it’s the lack of choice and convenience when it comes to eating out or ordering in.  It became a little custom in our house on Friday nights to go out to our favourite Chinese restaurant or order in a pizza, a little treat at the end of a busy working week and I missed this a lot when we moved.  As with all things we learn to adapt and so now our Friday evenings feature our very own ‘homemade take-away’. We make things like pizzas, or burritos, or chow mein or curries, depending on the mood and how much effort we want to put in. [Read more…]

Cajun Chicken with Cucumber Yoghurt

 

This evening’s dinner of hot, spicy Cajun chicken breast served with a cooling mint, coriander and cucumber yoghurt with rice was so quick and easy to make.  This isn’t so much a recipe but perhaps more a suggestion as there really isn’t much involved in making it  – I use Schwartz Cajun Seasoning but if you really wanted to you could blend your own Cajun spice mix, I am sure there are probably thousands of recipes out there. [Read more…]

Chicken wrapped in bacon with Red Pepper Sauce

If I ask my family what they would like me to cook for them it is usually Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce and even my husband, who really dislikes peppers, loves this sauce.  It is great with chicken or fish and I have also served it with pasta. 

The dish itself is a handy one to have in your arsenal if friends or family are coming to dinner – the sauce can be made and chicken wrapped early on or indeed the day before and kept chilled, then all you have to do is cook the chicken and heat the sauce – easy.   Tonight I stuffed my chicken breasts with roasted peppers and tomatoes (sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted for around 40 mins at 200ºC) and creamy mozzarella. I used spanish bacon but I also use pancetta or slices of serrano or parma ham depending on what is available that day. The sauce also freezes well so I often keep any left over sauce in a freezer bag ready for a quick supper for one. [Read more…]

Chicken Tikka

Chicken Tikka is a great for barbecues but can easily be cooked on a griddle or in a very hot oven (the chicken in the picture above was cooked in the oven but I much prefer the charred stripes from cooking on a bbq or griddle). This is a very simple marinade and the yoghurt  really tenderises the chicken. Unlike lamb, which benefits from a long marinade time, chicken only needs to marinade for an hour or two – any longer and I think it starts to go a bit ‘cotton woolly’. Because the chicken breast is cut in to chunks (approx. 2″)  the meat cooks fairly quickly. If you are cooking on a barbecue it is much easier to use skewers as this will speed up the turning time – otherwise you will have to turn each individual piece.  On a hot heat these should cook in around 10 minutes.  If cooking in the oven get your oven as hot as you can. [Read more…]

Chow Mein

Chow Mein in restaurants or from take-aways varies depending on where you order it, some use thin vermicelli, some serve with an oyster and cornstarch sauce.  I like my chow mein with medium egg noodles and served ‘dry’ without any sauce other than soy.  The trick to stir frying noodles is to only partially cook them in boiling water – say about 75% cooked, they should still be slightly firm in the middle and this will stop them becoming overcooked when you stir-fry.  So if the packet instructions say cook for 4 mins, take them off the heat at just 3 minutes.  It is also important to have everything prepared and close at hand once you start cooking. [Read more…]

Roast Chicken, Moroccan Style

This is a really tasty way to cook chicken, either on the BBQ or roasted in the oven.  I bought a whole chicken and jointed it (you can ask your butcher to do it for you if you prefer) but I often buy packs of chicken thighs for this.  [Read more…]

Chicken and Coconut Laksa

There are many different variants of and recipes for this spicy noodle soup but this one is very simple and uses ingredients that are very easy to find.  It is so delicious and fragrant and is wonderful served in small bowls for 6 as a starter or 4 for lunch.  This recipe does use 2 tins of coconut milk – if you prefer not to use that much by all means don’t but it does give a much creamier, richer flavour.  Occasionally I substitute prawns for the chicken and if you wish to do that the prawns should be added towards the end to avoid over-cooking. [Read more…]