Spicy Vegetables & Smoked Salmon

This is basically a variant on a thai red curry.

2 Lightly smoked salmon fillets

1 medium onion

1 carrot

6 florets of broccoli

2 pak choi leaves

10 leaves of thai basil

6 quarters of preserved tomato

1 fish stock cube made up in 1/3 pint water

1 small jar of coconut cream.

rice wine

7 spice

lea & perrins

Cook Art Sea Salt & Asian Spices

Oil

Butter

Thai Rice

Take to sheets of tin foil, and drizzle a little oil on the centre of each. Place the salmon fillet on the oil, and place a very thin slice of butter on each fillet. Wrap the foil around the fillet to form a loose parcel and bake in the oven at 200 C for half an hour. Then take out, open the parcels, sprinkle a little of the Cook Art Salt on each fillet and put back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Meanwhile...

Chop the onion and fry up until translucent, then add the tomatoes. Fry for another minute, then add enough rice wine to all but cover the onions. Splash in a little lea & perrins, and a little of the 7 spice. Cook until the wine has reduced down then add the stock. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Cook the rice according to the packet

10 minutes before the salmon is ready, add the creamed coconut, broccoli, basil and carrots. Cook hard to reduce down the sauce. 5 minutes before ready add the pak choi.

Serves 2.

Chicken & Swede Tagine

2 Chicken Breasts

1 very large pepper, or 2 normal ones.

2 onions

3 handfuls of mushrooms

1/3 large swede

1/2 litre of chicken stock (2 oxo) made up in boiling water

2 tsp garam marsala

1 tsp ground coriander seed

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli powder

3 tsp acacia honey

1 tsp very lazy garlic

1 tbsp creme fraiche

Chop the veg - onion into small pieces, swede about 1.5 cm cubes, pepper about 2 cm cubes, mushrooms into quarters if large.

Chop the chicken into rough cubes - about an inch to a side.

Fry the onions until translucent. Add the swede and cook for a while over a low heat. Push the lot to half the pan, add a little more oil, and fry the spices (inc garlic), mix in with the veg, and clear to half the pan again. Brown the chicken on all sides and mix in with the veg. Add the pepper and fry for a bit more.

Add the lot to the tagine. Add the mushrooms, and stir in. Add the stock, and enough extra water to cover everything in the tagine. Add the honey and stir in.

Leave in the oven at 120 degrees for 3-4 hours.

Take the top off the tagine, add the creme fraiche, and cook for another 1/2 an hour or so, reducing the sauce - but keep an eye on it to make sure it dosen't dry out.

Serve when the sauce is starting to thicken, with cous-cous.

Serves 2-3

Crab

File this under "Best left to a restaurant"

More trouble than it's worth.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

1 Pack of Smoked Salmon. As much as you fancy.

1 small pot of single cream

1 medium onion

1 small gherkin (about 4 cm long) sliced finely

2 slices of picked green jalapenos, chopped finely

1 medium tomato chopped finely

A little rice or other white wine.

Parmesan

Dill

Mixed Herbs

Tagliatelle (5 nests, or personal preference)

Chop the onion finely, and fry up in a little oil until translucent. Add the tomato, jalapeno and gherkin. and fry for a few minutes. Add the wine, mix well and cook until the wine has reduced. Sprinkle dill over the pan, and add a little mixed herbs. Stir in the single cream. Turn the heat right down and simmer gently.

Prepare the pasta as per the pack.

After only a minute add the salmon (sliced roughly). Stir occasionally. Grate in a little Parmesan (about 3/4 cm off a block). Stir and cook until the pasta is done.

Once the pasta has cooked, mix in with the sauce and serve.

Serves 2.

Prawn Curry

I'm told this tastes like an old fashioned birds-eye packet prawn curry. I'm also told this is a compliment.

1 pack king / tiger / etc / prawns

2 medium onions

1 tin tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic

4 chillies (or less, if you're not into quite so many chillies)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garam marsala

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp tamarind concentrate (or the real stuff if you can get it)

2 tsp sugar

1 sachet creamed coconut

oil for frying

Fry up the onions slowly until translucent. Crush the garlic and add along with the chillies. Add the spices except the tamarind & sugar. Fry for another minute.

Add the tamarind, and stir in the tomatoes. Add the sugar to taste. Grate in the creamed coconut.

Cook for about 10 mins.

Add the prawns and cook for a little while (or until pink if using fresh).

Serve with Rice.

Serves 2.

Quick Creole Jambalaya

1 pack of Prawns

1 Chicken Breast

2 Jumbo Frankfurters (Herta are good)

1 large onion

1 green pepper

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 cup long grain & wild rice

1/2 litre of stock made from 1 fish stock cube & 1 tsp of veg stock

Garlic Italian Seasoning

Cajun Seasoning

Grapeseed oil

Chop the veg up into small pieces.

Chop the sausages into 5-6mm rounds

Chop the chicken into small pieces

Fry up the chicken until starting to brown. Then add the sausages and turn the heat down. Fry for another few minutes, and add the onions & pepper. Sprinkle a fair portion of the garlic seasoning over. Fry up for 10 mins or so on a low heat, but be careful when stirring as the sausages are a bit fragile.

Add the tomatoes and a good covering of cajun seasoning. Stir up and cook down until the sauce is starting to thicken.

Add the rice, prawns and stock. Mix well, and cook down until the rice is cooked (15-20 mins) and the sauce is all but gone. Don't stir too much; just enough to stop it sticking to the base of the pan.

Serves 2, generously.

Herby Crust for Baked Chicken

As an twist on this, a simple change.

1/2 Ciabatta roll

1 egg

Parmesan

Mixed Herbs

Turn the bread to crumbs in the blender, add herbs and grated Parmesan (a fair bit of each). Mix. Add the egg, and beat with a fork, and then mix in thoroughly. Use the mixture to cover the top of the chicken.

Cover in foil very loosely (or the crust will stick to the foil) and bake for 1/2 an hour at 200C. After 10-15 mins open the foil up to let the crust brown nicely.