Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala

This was actually yummy.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

6 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
2 or 3 fresh red chilis, seeded (if you can't find red chilis, use serranos, or whatever small, hot chilis are available)
Olive oil
1 Tbsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
3 Tbsp garam masala, divided
200g natural yoghurt
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 Tbsp butter
2 medium onions, sliced very thin
2 Tbsp tomato purée
a small handful ground almonds or cashews
Salt
115ml double cream
Fresh coriander, chopped
Limes

If you're using a mini-chopper, use it to finely mince the garlic, ginger, and chilis. Alternately, you can grate them on the smallest teeth of a grater, or chop with a knife.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, remove from the heat immediately and add them to the garlic mixture (once mustard seeds start popping, they will pop all over the place, so watch carefully and remove from heat as soon as the first one goes "pop."). Add the paprika, cumin, coriander, and 2 Tbsp of the garam masala. Put half of this mix in a large bowl, add the yogurt, and stir in the chicken, making sure to coat all sides with the marinade. Let it sit for about a half-hour.

Melt the butter in the large saucepan and add the sliced onions and remaining half of the garlic-spice mixture. Cook gently for at least 15 minutes. Do not brown the onions; you're trying to soften them up and mellow the spices. Add the tomato puree, ground nuts, half a pint of water, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir well and bring to a gentle boil. Let the sauce reduce and thicken slightly (about 5 minutes), then reduce heat to low.

Cook the marinated chicken under the grill, in a griddle pan or on a BBQ, until just cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, add the cream and remaining 1 Tbsp of garam masala to the sauce and bring it up to a boil, then add the chicken. Check the seasoning, adding salt or cayenne pepper if desired. Top the chicken with coriander and squeeze lime juice over the top. Serve with basmati rice and naan.

Nigella's chocolate cookies

As Nigella suggested I made up the whole mix below, formed it into twelve balls, baked half of them and stuck the other half in the freezer (on a tray until they're frozen solid and then in a freezer bag for storage).

Ingredients
125g/4oz dark chocolate
150g/5¼oz plain flour
30g/1oz cocoa, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
125g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
75g/2½oz light brown sugar
50g/2oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, cold from the fridge
350g/12¼oz dark chocolate chips


Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Break the 125g/4oz dark chocolate into pieces and place into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
3. Place the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and two sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and stir well.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract and crack in the egg, then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out 12 equal portions of the mixture -I used a measuring cup thing to make up golf ball sized balls - and place onto a lined baking sheet about 2½in apart. Do not flatten them.
7. Transfer to the oven and bake for 18 minutes, then test with a skewer (or a chopstick) - it should come out semi-clean and not wet with batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
8. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

Chocolate Cake

Just like mother used to make (it is you know, I had to phone her for the recipe cos I forgot it)

3oz butter
5oz sugar
4oz self raising flour
2oz cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp milk
3 eggs

Mix ingredients together in a bowl for 4 minutes. Bake in preheated oven at 170c for 22-25 min.

Icing
4oz butter
4oz icing sugar
4oz chocolate
4 tbsp milk

heat butter, chocolate and milk. Then add icing sugar and mix well. Leave to set (preferably in the fridge)

Cajun Syrup Cake

20 oz flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
2.75 oz sugar
2 eggs
6.25 fluid oz milk
4 oz shortening (Cookeen)
8 oz cane syrup (I used treacle)

Combine dry ingredients, then in a mixing bowl add milk, eggs one at a time, shortening and cane syrup. Beat gently only until all ingredients are mixed together (do NOT overbeat!), then pour batter into a bundt pan, tube pan or deep cake pan and bake at 180c for 30 to 35 minutes.

Firstly, this was an American recipe and although I did my best to convert measurements from American to UK, I'm sure I made some wee mistakes. In the end I had to bake the cake for nearer an hour, but that could have been due to my oven. The cake itself turned out better than I expected. It had a nice flavour, although consistency wise, it did kind of fall apart. I filled and covered it with a simple butter icing which complemented the flavours nicely.



Butter Icing
2 oz butter
4 oz icing sugar
splash of vanilla essence

Paella

Serves 4
Adapted from the recipe in Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch

200g chicken (boneless and skinless), cut into bitesize pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
sea salt and ground black pepper
100g chorizo, sliced
1 tsp paprika
200g paella rice
1/2 tsp saffron strands
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g raw king prawns
200g peas, thawed if frozen

Heat a splash of oil in pan. Add onion, red pepper, garlic and chillies. Saute over a high heat for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the pan with the chorizo and paprika.
Fry, stirring frequently, over a high heat to lightly seal the meat.
Tip in the rice and stir for 2 or 3 minutes, then pour over enough boiling water to cover the rice by 1cm.
Bring to a simmer then sprinkle in the saffron, stirring well.
Add the tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper.
Allow to simmer, stirring frequently, for about 10-12 minutes.
Add the prawns and stir through. Cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes, until prawns are opaque.
Stir in the peas and cook for a further minute.
Take off the heat, cover with foil and leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Although the dish looked beautiful, it was a little tasteless. I didn't add clams or squid due to personal preference, or a splash of sherry because I didn't have any. I also under seasoned a bit because I'm constantly scared of using too much salt. However, it was totally edible just a little bland.

Marinated Chicken Stir Fry

From The Wagamama Cookbook

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 lemongrass stalks, very thinly sliced
2-3 red chillies, trimmed and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tbsp veg oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into strips
12 mangetout
2 handfuls beansprouts
1/2 green pepper. deseeded and cubed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 tablespoons salted peanuts, chopped
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
300ml water
2 tablespoons cornflour
300g steamed rice
few springs corriander, chopped

Put chicken, lemongrass, garlic, 1 tbsp oil and fish sauce in a large bowl. Mix, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Heat wok over a medium heat until hot. Add remaining oil and onion. Stir fry for 1 minute until slightly caramelised.
Add the chicken and its marinade and continue stir frying for 1 minute to seal the meat.
Add the mangetout, beansprouts and green pepper. Stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add salt, sugar and half the peanuts. Stir fry for a further minute.
Add the soy sauce and the water.
Mix the cornflour with 2 tbsp of water and 2 tbsp of the sauce from the wok. Combine until it forms a paste.
Add cornflour paste to the wok and toss well.
Continue cooking for a further 5 minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy.
Serve with rice, garnish with remaining peanuts and coriander.

Gratin Dauphinoise

From Gordon Ramsay's F Word Cookbook

4-6 Servings

a little olive oil
200ml whole milk
200ml double cream
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
1kg waxy potatoes (I used Desiree)
200g medium Cheddar, grated
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius/gas mark 6.
Put milk, cream, bay leaf and garlic in a pan. Heat until simmering and leave aside to cool.
Peel and finely slice potatoes.
Scatter one third of the cheese the bottom of a baking dish and cover with a layer of potato slices, overlapping them slightly. Season generously with salt and pepper. Continue layering until you've used all the cheese and potatoes, seasoning the layers and finishing with cheese,
Strain the milk mixture, discarding the bay leaf and garlic. Pour over potatoes until it comes to 2/3 of the way up the side of the dish.
Gently press down the potatoes to help them absorb the liquid.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes.