Two recipes
Feb. 23rd, 2009 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
radegundI've concocted two recipes in the last few weeks that worked really well.
BEANY COTTAGE PIE
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan while you dice an onion. Sweat the onion in the oil (lid on, lowest heat) while you chop lots of garlic (I used four good-sized cloves). Add the garlic, at least a teaspoon (each) of cumin seed, paprika, ground coriander and dried dill, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Stir well and cover again while you chop some vegetables - I used two carrots, two celery stalks, and about two handfuls of mushrooms, all of which I chopped fairly finely. Add these to the pot, stir again and continue to sweat under cover.
Leave all of that cooking slowly while you peel and chop a small butternut squash (or half a large one) and about eight medium-sized potatoes. You can cut these quite small to speed up the cooking. Boil or steam them separately.
Now would also be a good time to turn on the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
Add a can of chopped tomatoes and two cans of beans to the sweated vegetables - I used one of chickpeas and one of mixed beans, but anything you fancy should work. Add some bouillon powder (or a crumbled stock cube - not dissolved in water), salt and black pepper. Stir, bring back to the boil, and simmer.
When the squash and potatoes are cooked, drain them. Mash the squash with a little salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mash the potatoes with a little salt and black pepper, a generous glug of olive oil, and a splash of milk if you like (I used soya milk).
Pour the bean mixture into a big, deep oven dish (it shouldn't come more than half way up the sides - use two dishes if necessary). Spoon in a layer of mashed squash and smooth it down. Spoon the potato over that, and either smooth it down or make fork furrows on it, whichever you prefer. Bake for around half an hour or so, until the potato begins to brown.
(Actually, I roasted the squash the first time I made this, and steamed it the second time - didn't notice much of a difference. Also, if you want to save washing one pot, you can prepare and cook the squash earlier in the process, decant it onto a plate while you cook the potatoes in the same pot, then use the bean pot to mash the squash in after you've put the bean mixture into the oven dish.)
CHICKEN STEW
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan while you chop an onion (I halved it lengthways and cut fine half-moon slices). When the oil is hot, add a teaspoon (each) of black mustard seed, turmeric, and cumin seed, and about a quarter-teaspoon of cayenne pepper. As soon as the mustard seed begins to pop, add the onion and stir well.
Sweat the onion in the oil (lid on pot, lowest heat) while you finely chop lots of garlic and fresh ginger (I used three large garlic cloves and about 3cm of quite a fat piece of ginger root). Add them to the pot, along with a rounded tablespoon of plain flour, stir and cover.
Chop some vegetables next. I used two stalks of celery, two carrots and a big handful of mushrooms again, as that's what I had in the fridge, but a combination involving leeks / courgettes / peppers / baby sweetcorn / spinach might also work well. Add the chopped vegetables to the pot, stir and cover again.
While the vegetables continue to sweat, cut four chicken fillets into thin slices. Add these slices to the pot, with some bouillon powder (or a crumbled stock cube) and a decent splash of boiling water. Stir, bring up to the boil, turn the heat back down to the lowest setting, and put the cover back on.
A little while before you want to eat - for example, just as you're putting on some basmati rice to boil - stir a generous handful of flaked almonds into the stew. Add some black pepper and taste to see if it needs salt; I found it didn't.
(I suspect leftover roast chicken would work equally well here, or cheaper cuts of chicken - or Quorn pieces, butterbeans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, or black-eyed beans, for that matter - but one of the things I really liked about how this stew turned out was the effect of the raw chicken slices cooking in the sweated vegetables and stock: they were really tender and full of flavour.)
BEANY COTTAGE PIE
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan while you dice an onion. Sweat the onion in the oil (lid on, lowest heat) while you chop lots of garlic (I used four good-sized cloves). Add the garlic, at least a teaspoon (each) of cumin seed, paprika, ground coriander and dried dill, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Stir well and cover again while you chop some vegetables - I used two carrots, two celery stalks, and about two handfuls of mushrooms, all of which I chopped fairly finely. Add these to the pot, stir again and continue to sweat under cover.
Leave all of that cooking slowly while you peel and chop a small butternut squash (or half a large one) and about eight medium-sized potatoes. You can cut these quite small to speed up the cooking. Boil or steam them separately.
Now would also be a good time to turn on the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
Add a can of chopped tomatoes and two cans of beans to the sweated vegetables - I used one of chickpeas and one of mixed beans, but anything you fancy should work. Add some bouillon powder (or a crumbled stock cube - not dissolved in water), salt and black pepper. Stir, bring back to the boil, and simmer.
When the squash and potatoes are cooked, drain them. Mash the squash with a little salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mash the potatoes with a little salt and black pepper, a generous glug of olive oil, and a splash of milk if you like (I used soya milk).
Pour the bean mixture into a big, deep oven dish (it shouldn't come more than half way up the sides - use two dishes if necessary). Spoon in a layer of mashed squash and smooth it down. Spoon the potato over that, and either smooth it down or make fork furrows on it, whichever you prefer. Bake for around half an hour or so, until the potato begins to brown.
(Actually, I roasted the squash the first time I made this, and steamed it the second time - didn't notice much of a difference. Also, if you want to save washing one pot, you can prepare and cook the squash earlier in the process, decant it onto a plate while you cook the potatoes in the same pot, then use the bean pot to mash the squash in after you've put the bean mixture into the oven dish.)
CHICKEN STEW
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan while you chop an onion (I halved it lengthways and cut fine half-moon slices). When the oil is hot, add a teaspoon (each) of black mustard seed, turmeric, and cumin seed, and about a quarter-teaspoon of cayenne pepper. As soon as the mustard seed begins to pop, add the onion and stir well.
Sweat the onion in the oil (lid on pot, lowest heat) while you finely chop lots of garlic and fresh ginger (I used three large garlic cloves and about 3cm of quite a fat piece of ginger root). Add them to the pot, along with a rounded tablespoon of plain flour, stir and cover.
Chop some vegetables next. I used two stalks of celery, two carrots and a big handful of mushrooms again, as that's what I had in the fridge, but a combination involving leeks / courgettes / peppers / baby sweetcorn / spinach might also work well. Add the chopped vegetables to the pot, stir and cover again.
While the vegetables continue to sweat, cut four chicken fillets into thin slices. Add these slices to the pot, with some bouillon powder (or a crumbled stock cube) and a decent splash of boiling water. Stir, bring up to the boil, turn the heat back down to the lowest setting, and put the cover back on.
A little while before you want to eat - for example, just as you're putting on some basmati rice to boil - stir a generous handful of flaked almonds into the stew. Add some black pepper and taste to see if it needs salt; I found it didn't.
(I suspect leftover roast chicken would work equally well here, or cheaper cuts of chicken - or Quorn pieces, butterbeans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, or black-eyed beans, for that matter - but one of the things I really liked about how this stew turned out was the effect of the raw chicken slices cooking in the sweated vegetables and stock: they were really tender and full of flavour.)
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Date: 2009-02-24 10:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-24 11:45 pm (UTC)