Thirteen Ghosts

I  hope you are all prepared for another pleasant surprise - this week's meal was (if I may quote My Kitchen Rules) 'perfection'. I tweaked a few things here and there so it isn't entirely in accordance with Mr Oliver's recipe, but it all worked out great. This week we conquered Green Curry, Crispy Chicken, Kimchee Slaw and Rice Noodles. We had the pleasure of entertaining Dear Housemate's family this evening and as always, watching them enjoy a good meal brought me a lot of enjoyment.

Looking at the list of ingredients this week, my first though consisted of only one very naughty four letter word. To be honest, based solely on the shopping list I thought tonight was going to fail. It consists mainly of coriander, lime and chilli (one of the above I loathe - have I mentioned that before? - one of them I tolerate and the final I adore). It basically reads like a big thai-style feast and I was not looking forward to it. This resulted in me using a lot less coriander than was called for, toning down the chilli a bit and subbing out the chicken thigh fillets for chicken breast.

The chicken was a bit fiddly to put together - in fact most of the meal was pretty fiddly. It just seems like there are a lot of ingredients that you only need a little bit of, and they all need chopping or slicing or peeling or a complicated way of mixing and cooking and blending... This is usually the deal with most Asian dishes and as someone who is a fan of the good old fashioned 'all in' pasta where you roughly chop and throw together, it was a bit much for me to take. But that being said, the effort was worth it because we ended up with such a lovely feast. I think I might leave the majority of the asian-style cooking to the local restaurants though, or Dear Housemate if she's feeling particularly adventurous in the kitchen.

We chopped up skinless breast fillets and used them in place of the thigh so I knew the taste was going to be different to the original recipe's intention. I find thigh to be a bit too fatty, and while it tends to hold moisture and flavour a little better I wasn't keen on having a fat-fest with the skin and all. So we subbed! It worked out really well, the chicken still came out crunchy and picked up a lot of the flavour. No complaints on the chicken front from any of our guests!

The curry sauce was just amazing. I tried some of it on its own and it does have a real kick to it, but when it is layered over the chicken, the noodles and the other elements of the dish it knocks the heat right out of it and you're left with a gorgeous flavour. I hate to admit when I'm wrong, but I have to say it - I was wrong about curry. The last two weeks have really changed my mind about Indian and Thai food and I really think I've been missing out for the last few years. If done properly, curry is delicious. There, I said it!!

The slaw was delicious too - it was really fresh and light and had heaps of flavour. It was a really nice addition to the plates and I think it helped to break up the flavours a bit. It was a bit of an unusal combination of ingredients (radishes, chinese cabbage, chilli, ginger, onion, sesame oil, etc) but it was really tasty and refreshing. I think I would quite happily whip this one up again. I realised a bit too late that we had accidentally left the green chilli out of the recipe, and the extra hit of spice might have been a good addition in there, but it was good without it too. The slaw gives a bit of balance to the meal so you're not facing too many chilli elements at once. And of course the rice noodles - I can't complain about rice noodles. They sucked up all the excess sauce and took on a mixture of flavours from the chicken and the curry. This dish just won't work without rice noodles so I'm puttig a definite no-no on subbing them out.

So there it is - a pleasant experience all round! No dessert this week, although we definitely didn't need any! The meal is suprisingly filling, although you don't have to eat a whole lot of it to feel full. We fed five people in total tonight (the recipe is designed to feed four) and had some leftover salad and noodle, but everything else went! If you've got friends or family who like a green curry, I would definitely recommend  you try this one out on them. Its yum!

Next week we're getting into more of a winter feel (highly appropriate given the current weather situation around here!) with a Chicken Pie, French-Style Peas, Sweet Carrot Smash, Berries Shortbread & Chantilly Cream. Looking forward to it!!

Til next time - Bon Appetit!

Twelfth Night

As always, I have been pleasantly surprised by tonight's meal. We have taken on the first Indian Feast to ever cross the threshold of any home of mine. The first attempt at curry. The very first time I've cooked something way beyond my league, my skills and my knowledge base - and actually really enjoyed it! This weeks's culinary delight is Curry Rogan Josh, Fluffy Rice, Carrot Salad, Poppadoms, Flatbread AND BEER! (yay! beer!)

There were a couple of moments this week when we had to stop and say "umm....what is that?". For starters, 'butternut squash' is actually butternut pumpkin. Thank god for Google or that could have been a fatal error for the curry dish. Add to that the 'wait wait...I thought chapattis and poppadoms were the same thing?' and the 'oh why...why....WHY does there have to be coriander??'. So as you can tell from this alone, Indian food is not often found in our household and therefore presents a lot of question marks.

Our guest this week was a dear friend that we haven't seen for a good while - so this was a lovely meal to catch up on. For a small girl, she certainly knows how to clear a plate! I think she finished before either myself or Dear Housemate, and given that we had been smelling it while it was cooking and dying to hook into it, that was quite a feat! Tonight is another example of how this book, this challenge and this food is bringing us together with people that we love - if it weren't for the challenge or the meal we may not have caught up with our friend for another good long while, and that would have been a shame.

Lets start with the curry - this thing has got my entire house smelling absolutely amazing right now. I have never been a fan of curry, or indian style food for that matter, but this is seriously good. I'm pleasantly surprised at how little effort actually goes into this cooking, and it actually appears to be okay for the wasitline too - its not too heavy with fats or carbs or any of those other things we might try to limit in our diets. Its got a few vegies, a few spices, and I can't imagine why I didn't get into curry earlier. Plus it is delicious.

The flatbreads and pappodams were so easy I'm not even going to give them a paragraph. They're like a non-chore. They just were here and took no effort at all. In fact, we bought the pappodams ready made, so that helped!! In fact, even the lemon pickle was super easy and barely worth the mention. I thought it was going to be awful, just based on what goes into it and how it is put together (in fact, one of the reviews for this recipe that I read labelled it 'lemon scented bath cleaner') but I am happy to say that it was actually pretty good - although I can't really figure out why it was there and how it was meant to fit into the dish. Perhaps someone with a bit more Indian-style cooking experience can shed some light?

Next is the carrot salad - I have a suspicion that I'm allergic to almonds so this was a bit of an interesting turn for me. A suspicion that has since been confirmed. So...I think I have to give this particular part of the meal a negative review - not just for the allergic reaction but simply for the fact that it had a really strong flavour of coriander, despite me using about 1/4 of what the recipe called for. It certainly had a place on the plate and it did mesh well with the other parts of the meal, but my goodness... I really hate coriander.

The whole meal comes together amazingly when it hits your plate - if you can get one of the chapattis, smear it with a bit of natural yogurt, spoon in some rice and top it off with a bit of curry, it basically completes your life. This dish has converted me to a curry-eater. I can't speak highly enough of it. It made my house smell divine, it was so satisfying to eat, it was easy to put together and it was fun to actually consume it, with all of the layering of flavours on the plate and finding different combinations to try together. If you haven't already, I recommend you go buy the book and get started on this recipe. It isn't too hot or to spicy or too strong (except maybe the coriander!) so I think even children would enjoy it. Although maybe you should keep the beer for the adults...

Next week we try another curry combination, Green Curry, Crispy Chicken, Kimchee Slaw and Rice Noodles. Bring it on!!

Til then - Bon Appetit!

I Couldn't Find a Cute Play on Words for 'Eleven'

Week eleven. I really like the number eleven, I'm not entirely sure why but it has always just stuck with me. And this week I have another reason to believe that it is a lucky number (or at least, it is for me!). This week's cooking adventure was set with a menu of Tomato Soup with Chunky Croutons, Crunchy Veg & Guacamole and Sticky Prune Sponge Puddings.

I will admit I had some mild concerns going into this week - simply due to a rather irritating condition which has left me without the ability to chew food (temporarily). And to add to that - being on a variety of pain medication that has left me drained and basically useless for much more than staring, slack-jawed at a screen and occassionally nodding or grunting in agreement with people so as to look like I'm actually being productive. So.....naturally, a little apprehensive about how Challenge Night was going to go. Although this week Dear Housemate came to the rescue!

We had Dear Housemate's parents over for this week, and I always love having them around. Aside from the fact that Dear Housemate and I have known each other for so long that we're basically family and tend to refer to each other's families as a second set to our own, they're just good people and they make for great company. So we were delighted to have them around. That, and they appreciate a good meal!!

The soup was super easy, and after a few quick calculations it appears that it is fairly light on calories also - win! It was so tasty too - even those at the table who are not fond of tomatoes enjoyed the soup immensley. I decided to do the croutons a little differently to Jamie's instructions though, I just chopped up the bread so that they were  roughly 3cmx3cm cubes. Because they're in the bottom of the bowl they soak up all the soup and turn into these lovely mushy bready bits that get stirred into the mixture. It was heavenly - and I could even eat it without having to chew!

The veg and guacamole was interesting - it is a pretty standard guacamole recipe with a couple of extra bits thrown in. I personally am not a fan of coriander (ok, I lie....I loathe and despise it just as much as I do parsley. I hate it. I want it all to go away and never come back!!!) but the guacamole seemed to work okay with it (although it was a smaller portion of coriander than was recommended). I sadly forgot to buy limes and I feel like this was a fatal error - lime juice would have made that guacamole amazing. So if I can recommend one thing here, it would be 'do not forget the limes'! Oh and I'm not sure that fennel was a great choice for dipping into the guacamole....but to each their own.

The dessert was heavenly. Dear housemate was in charge of the dessert this time and did a fabulous job. And, I got to whip out the teacups again and use them for a cool presentation. (I love knowing that splurging on a stash of teacups for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party a few years ago wasn't a total waste of money!). It was easy to make and put together (or at least, I heard minimal complaining or sighing during the construction process) and then it was up to the microwave to do the hard work. They looked delicious and, as with most of Jamie's desserts, they were the right size to fill you up but not make you sick, and they tasted just as good as they looked!

I know this meal is going to make a comeback - it was easy (yay!), cheaper than most weeks (double yay!), relatively low calorie (triple! triple yay!!) and I honestly can't say a bad word about it. I can't wait to hook into that lovely soup again when the weather cools off a bit, and I know the next time I need an easy dinner party dessert I can just make a double batch of the puddings and we'll be set.

But honestly, the best part about this week? No leftovers. The soup was the perfect amount for four people, the puddings fit perfectly into four standard teacups, the veg is so easily picked at that you can literally see it disappearing before your eyes.... I love it when things just work out perfectly!

Next week we take on a curry. This should be interesting as I have made no secret of the fact that I do not like curry, and in fact go out of my way to avoid it. I don't know if that will change when it is being whipped up in my own kitchen.... but I guess we'll find out next week!!

Until then - Bon Appetit!

Ten Outta Ten!

We are officially one-fifth of the way through the challenge now! We have gotten into a pretty good routine with everything so it makes it a lot easier on challenge night because we've already done all of the shopping, we've managed to accumulate a lot more ingredients in our pantry so there's less to buy each week and we're slowly building up a good stock of kitchen appliances/utensils/thingies. Starting to feel like a bit of a pro chef over here!
This week we took on Spinach & Feta Filo Pie, Cucumber Salad, Tomato Salad and Coated Ice Cream. I have to say that I really enjoyed this week. It is nice to know that there are plenty of good vegetarian dishes out there that can actually fill you up - as often meals without meat are regarded as being sub-standard or 'rabbit food'. While I am not a vegetarian myself, I do prefer to have a couple of vegetarian dinners each week as I find that meat is for one, often very expensive, and for two not as easily digestable. Not to mention that some of the most awesome recipes are already (or are easily converted to) vegetarian - nachos, soups, salads, roasted vegie stacks.....yum!

So the filo pie.... it was delicious. We ran into a couple of little hiccups along the way, but in the end the pie turned out great, despite all the drama. For starters, Jamie often suggests that you use "a large knob of butter" in his recipes. But god only knows what that actually means, unless you've seen the tv show. Is it a tablespoon scoop? Is it a full stick of butter? Exactly how much is a large knob of butter?? So far I haven't been able to get it right....one day!
Then there was the greaseroof paper ... I have some kind of cooking paper in my pantry. I'm not really sure what it is, to be honest, but I gave it a go. I'm still not sure if it was the right type of paper - it seemed to do the job okay, but it also burned while I had the pan on the stove and then was tough to peel off of the pie at the end.
Then there was the oven......It started to burn the top of the pie so I ended up having to move it to a lower shelf. But in doing so the teatowel I was using to protect my hand slipped and I scored a nice burn on the side palm of my hand. Ouch.
It is pretty difficult to figure out where in the cooking process the pie is up to when the top is scorched so I had to hope for the best when I pulled it from the oven. It was a little undercooked - we theorised that if the cooking time had been longer (and therefore outside of the 30 Minute Meal standard) and the cooking temperature a little lower it would have been okay. But the pie was a bit runny. It still tasted great though! The cayenne pepper gives it a real kick too.

The pepper gets cooled off nicely with the salads, particularly the cucumber. Both were really simple to put together as the focus was more on the dressings. I love love loved the tomato salad and the basil dressing - I can't get enough of it. It just tastes so freaking good!! I love basically anything that has a tomato basil combination and this one just hits the spot. I wish there had been more! The cucumber salad was an interesting combination of flavours that I probably wouldn't have thought to try together were it not for Jamie - and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out.

The coated ice cream was a revelation. We subbed out hazelnuts (thank you allergies!) and subbed in peanuts instead and this seemed to work nicely. The whole mixture is actually really bitter and mildly unpleasant on its own and I admit I was concerned for how the dessert was going to turn out - but it was great! The sweetness of the ice cream cancels out the bitterness and you're left with the lovely chocolately coffee flavour of the coating. I can't even begin to explain how yummy it was - just try it and find out for yourself.

Every week of this challenge just proves how simple it is to have really good, really wholesome food. I love that the message behind a lot of Jamie's cooking and campaigns is simply that good food is easy to find, easy to use and a total pleasure to eat. It just goes to show that eating poorly may indeed by the 'simpler' option, but it is hardly the better option when all of this amazing and nutritious food is right there waiting to be cooked. By doing this challenge I have found about a thousand and one more items in my local supermarket than I ever knew existed and I've loved every minute of exploring those foods and flavours (except maybe for the minute directly after I burned my hand. That minute was not so much fun).

Next week we go for Tomato Soup with Chunky Croutons, Crunchy Veg and Guacamole and Sticky Prunce Sponge Pudding. Yum!

Bon Appetit!