Bean Burgers.

So I had half a small can of red kidney beans this one time.
And I didn't fancy making chilli.
So I googled recipes, and I got the idea for a bean burger.

ingreds

half a can of red kidney beans
one small mushroom (or half a large one); chopped into small chunks
a handful of oats
sprinkles of: salt, pepper, chilli powder, coriander

oil to fry

--------

mash the kidney beans in a bowl
add the other ingredients, and mix together
if it's too dry (falling apart), add a few drips of oil; if it's too wet (sticky, etc), add more oats

scoop up and form into a burger shape
whack it into frying pan with a little oil; fry until browned

I served between 2 small slices of toast, with cream cheese and ketchup, but only cos that's all I have - usually a burger goes in a toasted muffin with some lettuce and ketchup. nomnom.

Creamy Lemon Chicken.

d00dz, it's been a while.

yo sup?

so yeah; this is actually (modified) from a book - "The Classic 1000 Student Recipes" by Carolyn Humphries, which my mam bought me when I moved away for uni, and which really cemented my love of cooking. You could do much worse - there are some really simple recipes in here; it literally tells you how to poach an egg (pretty much the only way I eat them now), but also gives you much more complicated and expensive recipes, including dinner party menus.

And yes, students do do dinner parties, kthnx.

I used to make this all the time in first year, and decided, when wondering what to do with some chicken, that I would bring it back for 3rd year.

ingredients

chicken (preferably a chicken breast, and I will write the recipe for this, but I cut the meat off of a thigh)

one portion rice (i used brown rice)

a handful of peas

for the sauce

a few splashes of lemon juice

1 tsp honey

a splash of double cream (about 2 tsps, so sez the recipe, but really, depends on how creamy you want it)

half of a chicken oxo cube

cornflour, made up in 2 tablespoons of cold water (opt)

some splashes of water

-------------

set your rice off cooking, then move onto the chicken-y goodness.

whack the chicken breast in a pan (any will do; no oil needed) and swiftly add the water, lemon, honey, and oxo cube, plus some salt&pepper. You only need a little splash of water (again, recipe sez 5 tablespoons) but you can keep topping it up a little every now and then.

simmer with a lid on until the chicken is cooked through; topping up the water as necessary.

once that's done, add the cream to your liking, and the cornflour if the sauce is too thin at this point.

add the peas to the rice pan.

carry on simmering for a few mins, then drain the rice&peas and serve, resting the chicken breast on top and pouring over the sauce.

quick; simple; delicious.

The Old Foil Bag Approach.

this is a genuine Mother Ana method of cooking y'all. I've seen a lot of people use it and i don't blame them, it's simple the easiest way of cooking fish and meat in the easiest way. Basically you bake your chosen food in a foil bag with olive oil and seasoning. it stays tender and juicy and the flavour stays in the bag as theres no evaporation. it's my favourite way to cook salmon.

i used a tattie peeler to get thin slices of courgette, and lay them on the bottom of the foil. topped with a salmon steak, brocolli, mange tout, black olives, olive oil, seasoning, garlic and a touch of water. seal the foil up with a little room for steaming and pop in a 180 degree oven for 20 minutes

i ate a little before i realised i should document what it looks like cooked

please do try this method of cooking, it works well with all fish and chicken. obviously cook it a little bit more :)

Holy Crepe!: A Video

so, I know it's been and gone, and it's a little late for a p-cake video, but it's less of a tutorial and more me pissing about whilst "expertly" flipping batter circles, singing and dancing, and doing Julia Childs/Meryl Streep impressions.

warning, there are copious amount of Sabrina references in here. you'll see what I mean.

and a big up to Dean, who filmed and edited this, when he really didn't have to. LOVEFORYOU.

pancakes are the easiest thing to make ever.

flour; eggs; milk. - a sprinkle of sugar for sweet, a sprinkle of salt for savoury. if you're making both from the same batch, then don't add either.

whisk 'til smooth.

more flour = thicker batter = thicker, probs smaller pancakes (american style)

less flour = thinner batter = flatter, bigger pancakes ("normal" ones)

course, a smaller frying pan will mean your small, thick pancakes are actually round and not questionably shaped, yknow?

I put maple syrup on, innit.

PS,

Holy Crepe! came from the pancake stand at uni on Tuesday...

PPS,

this is, of course, the same mixture as yorkshire puddings, which should be a thick batter (more flour!), mebs with a salt sprinkle, then in t'oven, in a greased cupcake tin, for about half an hour. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES.

Curries! Galore

i know jenn has already posted a curry recipie (am i spelling that right?) (no, you are not, it is recipe. loveforyou - jenn) but here are 4 of my favourites...

Tikka Chicken (per person)
1 chicken breast
3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 tsps Tikka seasoning (this is available from most supermarkets, its bright red)
4 cherry tomatoes
fresh coriander
1 tsps garam masala
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon

combine all the ingredients on a bowl, mix well and leave in the fridge for no less than 6 hours. mix everything but the chicken first and taste and add more spice the spicier you like it.
heat some oil in a frying pan, and pick out the chicken pieces and fry until they turn a darker colour. bung in the rest of the sauce and stir. add a little more yoghurt if it looks dry. preheat the oven to 180. put the chicken and sauce in a overproof dish and put in the oven for half an hour. when serving, blop on about a table spoon of yoghurt.

Vegetable Curry
for the basic curry sauce:
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsps Garam masala
1 tsps chilli powder
squeeze of lemon
seasoning
half an onion
half a can of chopped tomatoes

fry the garlic gently in oil, make sure you dont burn it. add chopped onion, and fry to soften them. add the garam masala and chilli powder, stir into the garlic and onions. add a little bit of water if it looks dry. add the lemon juice and seasoning, stir then add the tomatoes. at this point you can add any precooked veg you like. butternut squash is particularly good, and even spinach. when you've added the veg, pop the curry in the oven at 180 degrees for half an hour

Bombay Potatoes
follow the basic vegetable curry recipie, except cut out the chilli powder and tomatoes. add par boiled halved new potatoes. if the curry is too dry, use water to make the sauce less thick. still bake in the oven at the same temperature and time

Spiced Rice
enough brown or white rice for one person (half a cup)
1 tsps tumeric
1 tsps garam masala
2 tbs chopped onion (pre fried)
2 tbs peas

prepare the rice as usual. when cooked, add the spices, onion and peas. continue to heat through until all the ingredients are hot.