Quick Chicken Tikka Masala.

This recipe is from the book 'The Collection' by James Martin and was suprisingly simple to make yet really tasty. For those that do not like spicy food, all I can say is that this meal is very creamy with a slight hint of spice overlain by citrus. The recipe given below will provide enough for 4 people.


I love the way the ingredients are so colourful, it is visually stimulating even before you get the scents mingling together. (on a side note, I used fresh ginger root for the first time with this meal and I have to say it smelled even better than I expected)

So, the ingredients:

1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

Juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper, to taste

4 chicken breasts, skinned and sliced into strips (I cut these further into large cubes)

1 onion, finely chopped

300ml double cream

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix the ginger, garlic, chilli, turmeric, half of the coriander, 1 tbsp of oil, the lime juice and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir well to ensure that all of the pieces are coated in the mixture. Place everything in the fridge for 10 - 15 minutes.

The above photo shows the chicken marinade just before going in the fridge.

Sweat the onions in a large pan with the remaining oil (this is where my sautee pan comes in useful). To sweat onions means to cook them until they are just softening and look gleaming and a little damp. Add the chicken and all the marinade ingredients to the pan and cook on a medium to high heat for 4 - 5 minutes.

Add the double cream and simmer until the meat is cooked through (probably 3 - 4 minutes). Season and add the lemon juice to taste, adding the remaining coriander.

Serve with a naan bread and/or rice.

Finally, here is a photo of the prepared meal.

Honey mustard pasta with sausage and ham.

Ok, let's start with an easy one. This is a really simple meal that serves two (can be doubled easily) and is ready in about 20 minutes.

The ingredients, as seen above are very easy to get hold of. They are:

Penne pasta (I use A handful per person)

Mattesons smoked pork sausage

Sliced ham

Knorr 'Chicken tonight' Honey mustard sauce.

To save a little time later on, the first thing I do is to slice the sausage and cut the slices in half. I then cut approx 8 slices of ham into rough strips with a pair of scissors. The cut meat can be seen below.



At this point, the pasta is placed in a saucepan with enough water to cover the pasta and a little cooking oil to stop the pasta sticking to the pan. The pasta is then brought to the boil, then the heat is reduced to let simmer for about 15 minutes. the texture of the pasta at this point should be slightly firm to the bite or 'al dente'. Drain the pasta and mix in the prepared meat, stirring through. Add the sauce and mix together thoroughly, place back on the heat and warm through for around 5 minutes, remembering to stir frequently. The best accompaniment for this is french bread with a balsamic dip or simple butter.

This is how the completed meal appears. I hope you enjoy it.

Tools of the trade.

First thing I think we ought to mention is cooking equipment, by which I mean pots and pans.

Well, these are some of mine. We have ceramic hobs at home, so we decided to upgrade our pots and pans to these. The pots and jug are by a company called STELLAR and the large pan at the front is a James Martin sautee pan.

All of these pots and pans have the thickened, heat retaining pads on the base, meaning that as soon as the pan is up to the required temperature, you must turn the heat down, otherwise everything will burn to the pan. That said, once you get used to them, they are a real pleasure to cook with. I use stainless steel implements with no fear of scratching the non-stick surface since none of the pans are non-stick. That said however, they are all very simple to keep clean on the condition that you do not burn food and clean up as soon as you have finished with them.

OK, now that you have seen the table (indicating that I believe that appearance is all important) and my pots and pans (indicating that I am addicted to shiny things) the posts on here from now on will tend to concentrate on menus and recipes, meals that I cook (along with accompanying pictures) and thoughts on how the food turned out, how it tasted and whether I felt it need a little something extra.

Please feel free to use the recipes I post here, since food should be a shared experience. All that I ask if you do try them is please let me know how they went.

All good meals need a setting.

Rather than start off with a menu or a photo of a meal, I thought I would share with you our table all ready for christmas dinner. In the middle of the table is a small tree that has bare branches that can be decorated as we see fit. Setting the table for christmas is my job and it is something that I enjoy almost as much as cooking. You get a feeling of satisfaction when you can stand back and appreciate the beauty of the piece.