Malaysian Curry

I have a very exciting new recipe to share - the original version was found in one of the free supermarket magazines but as always I've tweaked it a little to suit what was in my store cupboard at the time of cooking.

This Malaysian curry is very aromatic with a little zing rather than spicy heat.  It's utterly moorish, quick and easy to prepare and certainly a dish I've served up quite a few times since I first came across it.

The original recipe used cubed lamb but I have also tried it with chunks of chicken.  In my opinion, lamb suits it better but, in my family, lamb is not always the preferred meat!  Also, don't rush when cooking the aubergine, it really does need the 10 minutes (or slightly more) to get to a lovely soft consistency, otherwise the tougher texture will put a dampener on the whole dish.  The original recipe added a squeeze of lime at the end of the cooking - you may want to do this but I found the dish tasted superb without it.

Serves 4-6.

2 tbsp oil (olive or sunflower)
450g cubed lamb or chicken
1 chopped small onion
3 tbsp rendang curry paste
400ml tin of coconut milk
100ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 aubergine cut into chunks
1 tbsp soy sauce
Seasoning

Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and gently brown the lamb, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.  Stir in the rendang curry paste and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.  Pour in the coconut milk and stock, bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer for 30 minutes.  In another pan, heat the remaining oil and cook the aubergine for at a good 10 minutes, turning regularly, until it has softened.  Add the aubergine to the curry.  Before serving, add the soy sauce to the curry and any seasoning, if required.  Serve with rice.

Chinese chicken in lettuce leaf wrap with seaweed rice

Once again the inspiration has come from Matilda Ramsey on CBBC.  Although the recipe isn't listed on her blog (as far as I can see), it did feature in one of the programmes and it's a very easy and quick meal to make.  Using lettuce leaves as wraps meant it was something a little different for us as a family and made a healthy alternative to the usual bread wraps.  I made this dish for Katie as a welcome home from Uni meal - she's a big chinese/sushi/ noodles fan!


As there's no actual recipe, but I wrote down what I saw from the programme and then adapted it a little to suit what was in my cupboard.  This recipe for rice balls was Tilly's accompaniment to the chicken dish - my rice refused to turn into little balls so I served it in a bowl instead.  Loved using the seaside (and wanted to use shredded seaweed rather than seaweed snacks but had problems finding it - I ended up with seaweed sheets which wasn't quite what I was after).

Anway, this is the chicken dish:

Serves 4 as a lunch, probably double the quantities for an evening meal.

4 chicken breasts
clove or two of garlic, crushed
sprinkle of salt
2 tbsp sesame oil (I used sunflower)
good dash of hoisin sauce
good dash of soy sauce
splash of rice wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
grated fresh ginger (or teaspoon of powdered ginger)
handful of chopped coriander (optional or dessert spoon of dried coriander)
water chestnuts (for crunch) (or another veg - I used some tinned sweetcorn)
chopped spring onions
large lettuce leaves like Romaine Hearts
Cooked seaweed rice dish as an accompaniment

Place oil in a bowl and add the crushed garlic and chicken breasts.  Mix thoroughly and place on a baking tray and cook in the oven (at 180/190 deg. C) for around 20-30 minutes ensuring chicken is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to then shred the chicken.  Place the shredded chicken into a frying pan with a good dash of hoisin sauce and soy sauce.  Stir as you fry, adding the vinegar, ginger, coriander, vegetable(s) and spring onions.

Use large washed lettuce leaves (Romaine Hearts are an excellent size and shape) to hold spoonfuls of the chicken mixture, together with some seaweed rice.

Warming Autumn squash stew

This is an absolutely warming supper using butternut squash - a vegetable I have to admit I haven't cooked with before.  I've had this little recipe up my sleeve since the end of October - it's an ideal one to serve up around Halloween and Bonfire Night to keep you warm when having fun outdoors, but it's perfectly yummy throughout the Winter season, when you need something warming inside.  This recipe has been adapted from one I came across in a weekend supplement, it says it serves four, but we made it serve six quite easily, served up with creamy mashed potato.


3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
500g approx. (prepared weight) of butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into small chunks
400g can of chopped tomatoes
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped
2tsp ground paprika
1 tsp of chopped ginger (from a jar) or 1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
150g red lentils
850ml (1.5 pints) vegetable stock
1 small/medium courgette sliced
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Heat half the oil in large frying pan and fry the butternut squash pieces gently, stirring frequently, until softer and a little darker in colour.

In a large pan, heat the remaining oil and fry the onion until slightly browned. Stir in the crushed garlic, red and yellow peppers and all the spices, then pour in the tinned tomatoes, stir and cook for a good five minutes, continuing to stir if required.  Add the lentils to the pan along with the fried, softened, butternut squash.  Pour over the stock, stir and season.  Bring to the boil, add the courgette, stir, turn down the heat and cook for around 25-30 minutes, stirring often until the lentils are cooked thoroughly and the squash and courgette are tender.

Home made burgers with cheese

All credit goes to the fabulous young cook from the Ramsay family, a CBBC programme I stumbled across by pure chance on BBC iplayer.  Take a look here for original burger recipe (and explore further to find other equally lovely makes).  We loved the pesto mayo too, well, all of us except Ben, the ultra pesto fan!







Serves 4
500/600g fresh minced beef (the packet said 20% fat)
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
A good slug of Worcestershire sauce
4 cubes of mature cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Place the minced beef into a large mixing bowl and add the garlic and Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Mix first with a fork and then, with clean hands, mix together well to a form large thick sausage.  Divide the sausage into four equal balls.  Take each ball in turn and push a cube of cheese into the centre, covering the opening with the mince, pushing it between your hands to a good depth (not too fat, not too thin!).  Place the burgers on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook in the oven pre-heated to 200 deg C (180 fan) for 10 minutes.  Alternatively cook on the barbecue.

I've also made these burgers without the cheese and added a finely chopped red pepper for a little zing plus a sprinkling of chopped fresh chives.

Onion Focaccia - light and delicious bread

I came across a new recipe as always I've tweaked it a little as some of the ingredients weren't to hand.  We have a little family get-together on Sunday and as we're each bringing along something for the food table, I wanted to try this out first before the big day.  It may seem like it takes a long time to make, but actually, if you plan ahead you can fit in lots of other jobs while the dough is proving and then enjoy it fresh from the oven for lunch time.



500g (1 lb) strong white flour
1 tsp salt
7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
300ml (1/2 pint) lukewarm water
4 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for greasing)
15g (1/2 oz) butter of baking margarine
1 onion (recipe states red, but I used a normal one) thickly sliced
1 tbsp sherry  vinegar or red wine vinegar (I used sherry vinegar as, surprisingly I had some in the cupboard)
1 tsp clear honey
1 clove garlic, chopped
A few fresh leaves of sage and sprigs of thyme (recipe suggests 1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves)
Also suggested was 1 tsp sea salt flakes, but I didn't use these.


Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.  Sprinkle the salt around the edge and empty the yeast into the centre.  Carefully add the water and 2 tbsp of olive oil into the centre and gentle mix together with a fork to form a firm, slightly sticky dough.  Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and use the heel of your hand to knead the dough by squashing and pushing it away from you, then pulling it back into a ball.  Repeat about 10 times.  Place the dough into a well oiled mixing bowl and cover with a clean oiled platic bag (or oiled cling film).  After 10 minutes transfer dough to a lightly oiled surface and repeat the kneading a further 10 times.  The dough should be nice and smooth now and ready to place back into the oiled bowl and recovered.  Leave to rise for about an hour in a fairly warm place - it should double in size.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and the butter in a frying pan and add the sliced onion, cooking gently over a low heat until softened.  Add the vinegar and honey (there will be fumes!!) and continue to cook for about 5 - 8 mins until sticky and golden.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Line a 30cm x 20cm (12 inch x 8 inch) baking tin with baking paper and brush with oil.  On a lightly oiled surface tip out the dough from the bowl and knock back then roll it out using an oiled rolling pin.  Press the dough into the tin and return the tin to the oiled bag to prove for 1-2 hours or until risen and fluffy (took an hour for me).

Heat oven to gas 7, 220 deg.C, fan 200 deg.C.  Make indents in the dough and press the garlic and herbs into them.  Recover as the oven heats up.  Drizzle over 1 tbsp oil mixed with 1 tbsp water and then bake for about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and top with the onion and sea salt flakes (if using) - return to the oven for a further 8 minutes or until risen and golden.