Spicy Noodle Soup Packed with Greens

So I started my week with a cough, which has slowly but surely evolved in to the mother of all colds. Needless to say I’m desperate for a little R&R. What with copious amounts of shorthand practice and court visits filling my time (for those of you who weren't sure I’m a trainee journalist rather then a criminal), rest and relaxation days have been few and far between, but thankfully I have found solace in food, and particularly soup. 

This soup is perfect for those needing a good dose of vitamins to ward off all those winter nasties, the addition of the noodles saving this meal from becoming too health conscience. Add as much ginger and sweet chilli sauce as you like, and be sure to add more if you, like me, want to blast away a cold. 

This dish is also stupidly quick to put together, all the more important when you feel like your head’s going to explode...

Serves 1

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

half red onion, peeled and finely sliced

1/2 thumb ginger, peeled and finely chopped

handful of sugar snap peas

1 spring onion, sliced

handful of bean sprouts

two leaves of pak choi

straight to wok noodles for one

a bowls worth of chicken or vegetable stock

tsp malt vinegar

slosh of soy sauce 

1 to 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce (depending on taste)

large pinch of sugar

finely sliced cucumber, to serve

coriander leaves, to serve

1. Warm up the stock and add the vinegar, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and sugar. Keep on a low heat whilst you prepare the greens.
2. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, add the noodles and toss for 1 minute. Then add the remaining ingredients and toss for a further minute. You want the veg slightly charred but still crunchy. 
3. Put the veg and noodles in the bowl and pour over the stock. Serve with a sprinkling of coriander and scatter of sliced cucumber.

An Indian Feast

Last Bonfire Night, I hosted an Indian themed supper. Each guest brought a dish, and I made chutneys and onion bhajis. It went so well that I decided to recreate the feast again this week, but this time I made everything myself, including three curries, chutneys, raita, bhajis and naan bread. As you can imagine I was pretty exhausted after a good four hours of cooking - I think I chopped 12 onions, 12!!

All the recipes came from the wonderful BBC Food and Good Food websites, except for the main chicken tikka curry which is a Gordon Ramsay creation, originally found by my lovely friend Maddy. The best thing about these recipes is that they can all be made up ahead and reheated, saving time, energy and hob space later.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I doubled up the Chicken Tikka recipe to serve 6 people with leftovers. I started by making the sauce and blending it, then leaving it to one side, before reheating it just before serving and adding the browned chicken pieces which I allowed to infuse in the sauce for about 10 minutes or so. This curry has a good red colour, creamy texture and a deep flavour, with just a hint of spice that should appeal to even the most chilli fearing of friends.

Spiced Paneer and Tomato Curry

I’m a big fan of paneer, an Indian cheese similar to halloumi, and the Spiced Paneer and Tomato Curry I made was sympathetic to its delicate flavour. Again the spice level was more warming hint then blast.

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

The final curry I made was a Chickpea and Spinach number, Ben’s favourite, which made for a bit of colour on the table, and also could be described as healthy (mainly because it was green). I made the entirety of the curry up ahead, except for the addition of the spinach, which I added to the warmed sauce to wilt, about 15 minutes before serving.

The mix for the onion bhajis was again made up ahead, except for the flour, which was added to the onion, egg and spices just before frying. Once fried, I popped the bhajis in a Pyrex dish and placed them in the oven, on a low heat, to keep them warm until I was ready to serve.

Onion Bhajis, Raita and Naan

I can’t take all the credit for the feast though. Ben did make the Naan breads. He followed this Madhur Jaffery recipe, and cooked them on a slightly oiled pan on the hob rather then in the oven. They puffed up perfectly, and made for a sweet and fluffy accompaniment to the meal.

Alongside all this I served my trusty coriander chutney with the addition of a little natural yoghurt to create a smoother consistency, and cucumber and mint raita to cool everything down.

Phew, I’m exhausted just recounting it all to you here, but I’m pleased to say the meal went down very well, and six people managed to eat almost all of the different curries, which had been meant to make 16 portions!!

Sunday Feast: with Roast Potatoes, Nut Roast and Bread Sauce

You’d be forgiven for thinking that all I eat these days is roasts, seeing as this is the second post on the subject in the space of three. What can I say, I’m a big fan of tradition and this is one of the best. On this occasion I decided to tart up the more basic roast that I am accustomed to making, mainly because I wanted to impress some new friends.

To do this I bought one massive chicken that virtually filled the whole oven, and as well as serving my customary honey roast parsnips, carrots and sweet potatoes and greens, I attempted proper roast potatoes, for the first time ever I might add, bread sauce, pigs in blankets and my super-duper tasty nut roast.

This week I took the plunge and bought my first ever food magazine. I really can’t resist a Christmas theme, and the December issue of Good Food certainly delivered. It was from here I found the Roast Potato recipe, which was surprisingly simple, and delivered on flavour and colour, with a deliciously fluffy interior incased in a golden crispy shell.

-For the Roast Potatoes-

Adapted from the Good Food Magazine

Serves 8

2.5kg roasting potatoes, peeled, and larger potatoes halved or quartered

1 tbsp plain flour

150ml (approx) vegetable oil

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1. Tip the potatoes into a large pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Boil for 6 minutes exactly, then drain in a colander and allow to steam dry for a few minutes. Toss in the colander to biff up the sides.
2. Transfer to a large bowl, sprinkle over the flour and toss to combine. Pour over around half the vegetable oil and toss to coat.
3. When ready, preheat the oven to 200C. Pour the remaining vegetable oil and the sunflower oil into a baking tray, and put into the oven to heat the oil for around 15 minutes.
4. Carefully add the potatoes and roast for 25 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, increase the oven to 220C, turn over the potatoes and return to the oven for a further 40 minutes until gold and crisp.

You may think its more suited to your Christmas Day turkey but the home made bread sauce made a welcome accompaniment to our chicken. This hugely simple recipe is from the most recent episode of Saturday Kitchen and can be found HERE (as can the recipe I followed for the Roast Chicken).

My nut roast has been a firm favourite since I discovered it, I think in an old copy of Waitrose magazine, a few years back. It’s the only nut roast I’ve ever made or even tried, and its far from the bland dry nut roast that is the stuff of veggie legends. This nut roast is sweet and nutty and cheesy and moist and basically YUM. I serve it as an alternative stuffing, but would be happy to have it in place of meat any day.

-For the Nut Roast-

Serves 6-8

1 chopped onion

2 carrots, grated

1 clove garlic, crushed

large handful mushrooms, chopped

175g cooked brown rice

115g brown bread crumbs

55g finely chopped almonds

55g finely chopped brazil nuts

115g grated cheddar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1. Fry the onion, carrot and garlic in a knob of butter for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the rice, bread, nuts, cheese, eggs and herbs and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake in a greased tin or Pyrex dish at 180C for one hour.

The whole thing may have taken four hours to make, and I didn’t half need those glasses of wine come serving time, but the excellent company, yummy noises and a Scrabble themed Thank You made it all worth while. 

Simplest Sunday Roast

I live for Sunday Roasts. I would happily travel the three and a half hour journey home just to eat my Mum’s roast potatoes (as I did last weekend), and there’s nothing better then a long lazy lunch followed by Sunday papers and TV – Downton Abbey anyone?

But all that boiling and basting and roasting can seem a little bit daunting, especially when all you want to do is curl up under the blanket in front of the fire. That is until you invest in a little bottle of Maggi liquid seasoning, just shake it on the chicken, rub it all over, and then sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Pop it in the oven for the prescribed time and let it do its thing. The result? Deliciously crispy and flavoursome skin.

I serve my chicken with caramelized roasted root vegetables and buttered greens, and a simple gravy made from the pan juices.

To make the Roasted Vegetables…

Serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and cut into slices lengthways

2 small parsnips, peeled and cut into slices lengthways

6 baby potatoes, halved

½ red onion, sliced

1 tbsp honey

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp mustard

a few sprigs of fresh rosemary

1. Preheat the oven to hot. Heat the oil in a deep ovenproof frying pan, and cook the carrots, parsnips onion and potato, turning occasionally, until lightly browned.
2. Remove from the heat, add the garlic, honey, mustard and rosemary and stir.
3. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

 

Afghan Yoghurt Chicken Curry

I’M BACK! Well, I’ve actually been back for nearly a week but haven’t really had a chance to update the blog. Turkey was wonderful, and I have lots of lovely foodie photo’s to show you, and a couple of recipes that I picked up to share, but I’m afraid they will have to wait a little longer. I also have a proper camera now (I’ve gone photographing mad), and am planning a bit of an overhaul of the blog, so expect a few changes around here in the near future.

In the mean time, I wanted to share with you this delicious yoghurt based curry that I made during the week. Another of Gizzi Erskine’s, the curry is massively flavoursome, and the large dollop of Greek yoghurt added, which curdles slightly during simmering, makes the sauce deliciously thick. The addition of half a green chili adds heat but is not overpowering, thanks to the yoghurt, and all the different flavours shine through together. Fresh mint in a curry is a revelation for me, and it works so well. My new favourite curry.

From Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic (I’ve basically just halved the quantities)

Serves 2

½ tbsp vegetable oil

4 chicken thigh fillets, skins removed, and chopped into 4 pieces each

½ onion, peeled and chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely

½ green chili, finely chopped

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

2 crushed cardamom pods

250g Greek yoghurt

handful of fresh coriander, chopped

handful of fresh mint, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a deep pan which has a lid. Brown the chicken, then remove from the pan and set aside. In the remaining fat in the pan cook the onion over a low heat for 8 minutes, until softened, then add the garlic and chili for a minute.
2. Add the spices and toast over the low heat for a minute, before adding the yoghurt, chicken and a splash of water.
3. Stir and add the fresh chopped herbs and a little salt and pepper. Stir and cover with the lid. Leave to gently simmer for 20 minutes over a low heat, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
4. Serve with rice.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: LARGE PAN WITH LID.

Southern Fried Chicken with Gravy

So what with all the work I’ve been doing this week, I felt it was only right to treat myself and buy a new cookbook. I’ve had my eye on Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic for a while now, and positive reviews on Amazon tipped me over the edge and I bought it. Providing all the basic techniques needed for the fledgling cook, Gizzi features heaps of recipes, ranging from the everyday to the seriously unusual, all with a little twist and ‘kitchen magic’. Recipes are split up into sections, ranging from ‘Eggs’ to ‘Curry, Rice and All Things Nice’ to ‘Bread and Pastry’, with an introduction to each highlighting all the basics. I really wish that this book had been about when I first went to university, its combination of the basics and more unusual recipes makes it the perfect choice for anyone looking for something a little more exciting then the useful student cookbook fare when starting out.

In true student style, the first recipe in the book I tried was the Southern Fried Chicken and gravy, not the most healthiest of choices, but delicious for that very reason. The thing that marks this recipe out from regular breaded and fried chicken is the fantastically tender chicken, created through the marinating of the chicken in buttermilk for 30 minutes, something I doubt they do in your average popular fried chicken chain. I served the chicken with mashed potato, spinach leaves and drizzled it all over with the quick to make thick ‘American-style’ gravy.

Adapted from ‘Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic’

Serves 2

150ml buttermilk

a splash of milk

2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bitesize chunks

1/3 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground white pepper

50g plain flour

¼ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp paprika

75ml olive oil

200ml chicken stock

1. Mix the milk and buttermilk together in a bowl and add the chicken. Leave to marinate for around half an hour.
2. In another bowl, mix together the flour, seasoning and spices. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until it begins to simmer.
3. Toss the chicken in the flour to get a thick coating. Do not throw away the excess four. Fry the chicken in the pan for about 5 minutes each side, or until golden and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper to remove the excess oil.
4. Pour the oil into a heatproof container leaving about half a tablespoonful on oil plus the crispy bits in the pan. Stir in half a tablespoon to a tablespoon of the leftover flour, and let it cook with for about a minute. Stir in the chicken stock slowly until the gravy is smooth. Bring to the boil and simmer until thickened to create a thick American style gravy.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: DEEP FRYING PAN, TWO BOWLS, SLOTTED SPOON.

Chicken Fajitas

I think one of my most favourite student food discoveries is the fajita. Before the first year I had never encountered this DIY supper. That is until my lovely first year housemate Emily and her boyfriend James bought an Old el Paso fajita kit, and the rest, as they say is history. These were the dark days when I didn’t know how to cook, and tended to make do with readymade pasta and curry sauces. Now don’t get me wrong, when you’re a student its kind of ok to cheat a bit, but the readymade varieties never do live up to their made from scratch counterparts. In the case of fajitas, there really is no need to buy a kit when all of the ingredients can be bought separately for a lot less money. I like to add homemade guacamole and tzatziki, tomato salsa and grated cheddar cheese to the spicy chicken and peppers, but if you're not feeling all that adventurous, or really don’t have the time, you can opt to buy readymade sauces.

Serves 2

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp of fajita mix (available in large jars at around £1.50)

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large red onion, thinly sliced into crescents

Packet of tortillas

1. Mix together 2 tbsp of the oil, the fajita mix and cumin in a bowl, and toss in the chicken. Set aside.
2. Heat a large pan on a high heat. Add the remaining oil and stirfry the peppers, garlic and onion for 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat another pan until it is smoking hot. Drop in the chicken and fry until cooked through.
4. Mix everything together, season and serve with your preferred fillings, all wrapped up in a grilled tortilla.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £3

Kitchen Requirements: BOWL, TWO FRYING PANS.

Sticky Tamarind Chicken Wings

I’ve had a wedge of tamarind lurking at the back of my cupboard for a while now. Having never cooked with it before, I found its brown twiggyness rather daunting. I have to admit that I didn’t even know what it was until I hacked into it (in case you don’t either, it is the matured fruit of the bushy tamarind tree). After a bit of dissolving, prodding and sieving I was left with a sweet brown liquid that, along with a few other ingredients, created a mightily impressive sticky marinade for chicken wings. Baked in the oven for half an hour and served up with a simple green salad and some skinny sweet potato fries, these deliciously sweet caramelised chicken wings make the perfect summer supper.

Adapted from ‘Alice’s Cook Book’

Serves 2 to 3

20g tamarind

1 dessert spoon vegetable oil

1 tbsp runny honey

1 tbsp muscovado sugar

1 dessert spoon soy sauce

1cm sized piece ginger, peeled and grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

½ tsp dried chili flakes

10 chicken wings

1. Place the tamarind in a bowl and pour over 30ml of boiling water. Mix with a fork and leave for a few minutes. Strain through a course sieve, pressing the pulp down with the back of a spoon. Add the liquid to the honey, sugar, oil, soy, ginger, garlic and chili in a large bowl and set aside in a cool fridge for ½ an hour, or longer in the fridge if you can.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C and place the wings on a baking tray. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes, turning half way through.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £3

Kitchen Requirements: BAKING TRAY, SEIVE, LARGE BOWL, SMALL BOWL.

Vietnamese Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

I do apologise for the lack of posts recently. It’s not that I’ve given up on cooking, I’ve just been really busy, first with work experience, then with heading back home to Bath, and finally with my first cooking related injury (nasty cut to the finger whilst chopping tomatoes – not cool). But I HAVE been cooking, I promise!! Not only that, I invested in a new cookbook too, ‘Alice’s Cook Book’, by Alice Hart, at half price I couldn’t really resist. With recipes broken up into categories such as ‘Picnic, campervans and happy camping’, ‘seasonal Sunday lunch’ and ‘Party’, its really easy to follow and the recipes are genuinely things that you actually want to try.

My first recipe choice from the book is a Vietnamese Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry. I’ve really taken to coconut milk based curry’s of late, preferring that light, almost perfumed taste that they give to their heavy tomato based counterparts. This curry does not disappoint. Pretty simple to follow and containing mostly store cupboard items, the ingredients make a good basic curry which you can add just about any other veg to, depending on what you have left over in the fridge. The level of spice is also easily controlled; I was rather cautious with my half a teaspoon of chilli flakes, but you can be a lot more generous if you so wish.

Adapted from ‘Alice’s Cook Book’

Serves 2 very hungry students

2 chicken breast, cut into chunks (Alice uses thighs)

1 ½ tbsp medium curry powder

2 tsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

½ onion, chopped (Alice uses shallots)

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, chopped

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp Thai fish Sauce

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

400 ml can coconut milk

coriander leaves, to serve

1. Mix half the curry powder, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Coat the chicken in the mixture and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a deep pan and add the onion, garlic and lemongrass. Fry for a couple of minutes until softened. Add the rest of the curry powder, chilli flakes and chicken and stir fry for a few more minutes.
3. Add the sweet potato, 1 tbsp of fish sauce, coconut milk and half a wine glass of water. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken and sweet potato are cooked through. Taste and add more fish sauce if required. Serve with steamed rice and a sprinkling of coriander.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: BOWL, LARGE FRYING PAN. 

African Drumsticks

Brighton has been enjoying some truly beautiful sunny days of late, meaning only one thing, barbecues!! Although our little flat isn’t blessed with an outside space of its own this recipe, baked in the oven, provides a barbecue-esque flavour, particularly when served with the jeweled couscous salad, which I will be putting up tomorrow, sure to become a summer picnic staple. The marinade is very simple to make, can be prepared ahead of time, and provides a sticky sweet covering for the chicken. The finely chopped onions, not so finely chopped in my case, had burnt slightly in the oven but this only added to the overall texture and flavour. That you can leave it to do its thing in the oven for 45 minutes means that you have time to get on with preparing the salads, dips or whatever else you want to add.

Adapted from Nigella Lawsons ‘Kitchen' (basically I halved the quantities)

Serves 2

40 ml Worcestershire sauce

2 x 15ml tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp English mustard powder

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tbsp apricot jam

½ onion, peeled and finely chopped

5 chicken drumsticks

½ tablespoon olive oil plus a finely chopped clove of garlic (Nigella uses garlic oil)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix the Worcestershire sacue, ketchup, jam, ginger, onion and mustard powder in a shallow dish.
2. Coat the drumsticks in the marinade (if you have time, leave them to marinade in the mixture for a few hours). Put the oil and the garlic into an ovenproof dish, tip it from side to side to ensure the dish is coated in the oil. Arrange the drumsticks in the dish, so that they fit snugly, and pour the remaining marinade over them.
3. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour, basting once or twice. It only took 45 minutes for my chicken to cook, but the time will depend on how deep the dish is.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: OVEN PROOF DISH, SHALLOW DISH 

Lorraine Pascale's Chicken with Lemon, Thyme and Butternut Squash

Everybody likes a Sunday roast, but when there’s only one or two of you, it’s unappealing to fork out for a whole chicken. That’s why this Lorraine Pascale recipe really jumped out, allowing you to cater for as many, or as few as you need. The results were great, tender chicken with a crispy herby skin, and surprisingly tasty butternut squash (I’ve always found it terribly disappointing in the past). I added buttered curly kale and drizzled it all with the lovely chicken stock gravy.

This is the first recipe that I have tried from Lorraine’s ‘Baking Made Easy’ book and I was pleased to see that there were proper meals, not just lot’s of cakes and biscuits. The great thing about this book is that each recipe is set out step by step, with no cheffy jargon, so very easy to understand for the newbie cook like me (The only little criticism that I would have is that there’s not many pictures, I like to eat with my eyes first!!).

From ‘Baking Made Easy’

Serves 2

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 chicken pieces with skin on (I used thighs)

½ butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into large chunks

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

Small handful of fresh thyme leaves

4 cloves of garlic, squashed but left unpeeled

zest of ½ lemon

½ glass of white wine

1 tbsp plain flour

150ml chicken stock

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Drizzle half the oil on to the chicken and season. Put them with the skin side down in a roasting tin and cook for 10 minutes.
2. In another roasting tin, put the squash and drizzle with the other half of the oil.
3. Remove the chicken from the oven and turn it down to 170C. Turn the chicken pieces skin side up. Sprinkle both the chicken and squash with the rosemary, thyme, garlic and lemon zest, then put them both in the oven for 30 minutes, (turning the squash pieces over half way through) until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the oven, and put the chicken pieces onto a plate with the garlic. Cover the plate with baking parchment and set aside.
4. To make the sauce, tip away all but 1 tbsp of the fat from the chicken juices in the tin. Place the tin over the hob on a medium heat, add the wine and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1 ½ tablespoons. Stir in the flour until there are no lumps. Then add the stock, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to the boil then remove from the heat. Pass the mixture through a sieve and taste to check whether any seasoning is required. Remove the squash from the oven, and serve everything drizzled over with the sauce.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £6

Kitchen Requirements: TWO ROASTING TINS, SEIVE, LARGE SAUCEPAN.

Cajun Chicken Burgers

The one thing I really miss about eating beef, apart from a rare steak of course, is a good burger. I can still eat a MacDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese (perhaps an indication of the quality of the meat), but its not really the same. However, I’ve finally found a way to quell my beef burger cravings, in the form of the humble chicken burger. I livened up the meat with a mixture of paprika, cumin and ground coriander, and although it doesn’t have same satisfyingly deep flavour of a proper beef burger, it still tastes very good. Particularly if you throw some good chunks of avocado and a rasher of bacon into the mix. Squished between two lightly toasted pieces of ciabatta, and with the addition of your favourite relish and maybe some cheese, and you’ve got your self a simple, inexpensive and healthier supper. And it’s massively tasty too.

Serves 2

2 Ciabatta rolls

2 skinless chicken breasts

1 ripe avocado

2 rashers of bacon

Thin slices of cheese (I had some cheese knocking about in the fridge)

Spinach leaves

Relish of choice

1 dessert spoon ground coriander

1 dessert spoon ground cumin

1 dessert spoon paprika

1tbsp of olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Put the coriander, cumin and paprika into a bowl, and add about half a tablespoon of olive oil. Mix it all together before adding the chicken breasts. Make sure they are well coated. Set the grill to high.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan, and add the chicken breasts, frying for around five minutes on each side, until cooked. Then put the chicken to one side of the pan and fry the bacon until it is cooked.
3. Meanwhile, slice the rolls in half and halve, stone, peel and slice the avocado. Lightly toast the rolls, cut side up, and then add the slices of cheese to the top side of the rolls and toast them a little longer, until the cheese has melted.
4.  Assemble the burgers however you like. I put the spinach leaves on the bottom, then the bacon, then sliced the chicken and alternated each slice with a slice of avocado. I served it all with lightly dressed spinach leaves.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £5

Kitchen Requirements: BOWL, WIDE FRYING PAN. 

Sophie Dahl's Chicken Curry

This weekend I took delivery of three new cookbooks, one of which being ‘Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights’. I was attracted initially by the mouth watering photography and the way in which the recipes are divided seasonally, and in to breakfast, lunch and supper. The book does not disappoint, and I’m looking forward in particular to trying my hand at the brown rice risotto with pumpkin, mascarpone, sage and almonds and the warm winter vegetable salad. An added bonus for a anyone who doesn’t really eat red meat is that Sophie is a vegetarian and only includes chicken and fish recipes in the book, a long with some really inventive looking vegetarian dishes.

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling too adventurous, so turned to Sophie’s dad’s Chicken Curry. I had all the ingredients in the house and it all looked very straightforward so I gave it a go, and I can’t tell you how pleased I was with the results. A lot of coconut is included in the recipe so I was expecting it to be overly sweet, but all of the other flavours shone through really nicely. It was absolutely delicious, and if this is anything to go by, I can’t wait to try cooking from the rest of the book.

Adapted from ‘Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights’ (I omitted the Serrano chillies and served it with boiled rice sprinkled with black onion seeds rather then the suggested cauliflower.)

Serves 2 hungry students

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

a thumb sized slice of fresh root ginger, grated

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp curry powder

2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

400ml can of light coconut milk

salt and pepper

enough rice for 2

tbsp black onion seeds

1. Sweat the onion, garlic and ginger in oil in a large deep frying pan for a few minutes. Add the curry powder, and stir for a few more minutes. Add the chicken to the mixture and cook for another few minutes before seasoning to taste.
2. Pour the coconut into the pan and simmer over a low heat for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is properly cooked through.
3. Meanwhile boil the rice according to manufacturers instructions, and toss in some black onion seeds for the final minute of cooking.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £4

Kitchen Requirements: LARGE DEEP PAN, SAUCE PAN.

Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe is in the top 20 on the BBC Good Food website, and it’s easy to understand why. It’s simple and tasty, and has a true Italian feel to it. The first time I made this was the best, so I suggest following the recipe to the letter rather then experimenting with it too much. On this occasion I served it with pasta, but it also works well with steamed greens, such as broccoli, and potatoes.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: under £5

Kitchen Requirements: OVEN PROOF DISH OR DEEP PAN.

Roast Chicken with Garlic, Apple and Cider

This is a good recipe to impress your friends with, it looks great on the plate, the mustard gives it a ‘grownup’ edge, but the cider keeps it kind of studenty too. The sauce is rich and creamy, but keep a close eye on the measurements, an overly generous slosh of cider can make it a bit watery. If you don’t have Dijon you can substitute this for English Mustard, but halve the amount, as the English is stronger. I serve mine with a simple mashed potatoes and steamed greens.

From The Student Cook Book

Serves 2

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

100 ml dry cider

1 red apple, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

100 ml crème fraiche

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook the garlic for two to three minutes, and then set aside. Season the chicken breasts and drizzle with olive oil in an oven proof dish, and cook on the top shelf of the oven for 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the garlic, cider, apple and mustard in a frying pan. Cook gently for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the cooked chicken to the pan, add the crème fraiche and simmer for 5 minutes. Squash the garlic with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £7

Kitchen Requirements: OVEN PROOF DISH, FRYING PAN, SAUCE PAN.

Curry Chicken Pot Roast

An unusual take on the traditional Sunday roast, this simple to make and delicious to eat recipe provides perfectly cooked chicken permeated with a lovely curry flavour, and a spicy yoghurt crust to boot. The chunks of potato left to cook under the chicken with slices of lemon pick up a citrusy flavour that offsets the curry chicken nicely. Served with simply steamed greens and a large glass of wine, and you’ve got the perfect excuse to get your friends round and celebrate the weekend.

From Leon: Naturally Fast Food

Serves around 4

3 cloves garlic

4 tbsp natural youghurt

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli powder

750g potatoes (or enough to serve you and your friends)

1 lemon

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 whole chicken

fresh coriander (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Peel and grate the garlic into a bowl, and add the yoghurt, spices and chilli powder.
2. Slice the unpeeled potatoes fairly thinly and place in a large deep pan with the oil. Slice half the lemon and scatter amongst the potatoes, and season.
3. Smear the yoghurt mixture all over the chicken, stuff some of it under the skin too so that the flavours permeate the chicken further, and put the other half of the lemon in the cavity of the chicken.
4. Cook covered in the oven for 1 hour. Then remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Carve, and serve the potatoes sprinkled with the fresh coriander.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: UNDER £10

Kitchen Requirements: ONE LARGE DEEP PAN WITH A LID, ONE BOWL.