Calzone

Calzone

Calzone is an italian dish similar to a folded pizza but has some traditional ingredients that make it very different to your average pizza.

For my calzone I went with ham, pepperoni, chorizo and cheese filling but you can really put just about anything, just experiment!

You will need:

Pizza dough: (It's not cheating buying a sachet of pizza dough mix with the yeast already in!)

Ham 1 pack
Pepperoni 100g
Chorizo 100g
Passata 200g
Fresh tomato sauce 800g (Or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, basil, tomato puree, onion, garlic and seasoning)
Half an onion
4 Cloves of garlic
Fresh basil
Seasoning

Start by frying off the garlic and onion, then add the meat and seal if you are using chicken or similar. Now add the sauce, passata, basil, salt, pepper and some sugar and bring to the boil. Now simmer for at least 10 minutes.

While it is simmering roll out the pizza dough and make big oval shapes about half a centimetre thick. Place 2 on some baking paper and in a baking tray, each with one half hanging out of the tray ready to fold over.

Once the sauce is ready spoon a enough into each calzone to almost fill it then add a load of cheese, mozzarella or simple cheddar is good.

Now fold over the dough and press around the edge with a fork. Roll the edge up slightly and use water or egg wash to get a good seal. Remember to pierce a few holes in the top to allow air to escape.

Bake until they are golden brown and enjoy!

Butterscotch Sauce

Butterscotch sauce is great with apple pie. Just saying.

Want to give it a go? Here's what you need:

4 heaped tablespoons of butter
100g of brown sugar (light is best)
120ml of double cream
2 pinches of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

And here's how you make it:

First melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and give it a whisk. Now cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then finally remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Banoffee Cake

Banoffee Cake

If you have ever had a banoffee pie and thought there needs to be a bit more substance then this recipe could be for you!

First take a can of condensed milk, place in a pan and cover with water. Now bring to boil and simmer for around and hour.

Then blend 5 bananas with a few tablespoons of sugar (brown is best).

Now add an egg and the condensed milk (careful when opening!) to the blended banana and use an electric whisk for around 5 minutes. 

Pour onto a biscuit base made from digestive or bourbon (or both) biscuits (1 pack) and a knob of butter.

Bake in a medium heat oven for about 15 minutes or until it browns on top.

Finally top with banana and whipped cream!

Aubergine Crisps

Aubergine crisps. Slice an aubergine, rub some oil on each side, sprinkle salt and then bake for 15 minutes!

Land Lover's Fish Pie

A Fish Pie

A fairly simple recipe to make but really is fantastic.

Ingredients

Half of 1 Onion

3 Cloves of Garlic

2 Potatoes (1 per pie)

3 Rashers of bacon

2 Frozen white fish pieces

2 Frozen Salmon pieces

300ml of Milk

3 tbsp of Flour

200g Shortcrust Pastry

Method

Place the fish in a large pan and cover with the milk. Bring it to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile fry the onion, garlic and bacon and put the potatoes on to boil.

Once the fish is cooked smush it with the back of a spoon into flakes. Now pour this into the pan with the bacon and onion. 

Add the flour to thicken if it needs it then leave to keep warm. Now mash the potato and add some butter and/or milk.

Grease and flour 2 ramekins and then push pastry to half a centimeter thickness around the inside surface.

Now fill the ramekins with the fish bacon sauce and top with mash potato swirls. (Use a piping bag to do this properly)

Then bake in the oven until the potato is golden brown.

Chilli Oil

Chilli oil can add that something special to anything you make. Why not try it drizzled over pizza or jazz up a simple salad with a splash.

Ingredients

500ml of Oil (Olive is best but sunflower works, also this makes about the same amount of chilli oil so just change this quantity for how much you need)

10-15g of chilli flakes (Or blend some dried chillis)

3-4 Whole dried chillis

Method

If you are planning on keeping your oil for some time (And remember it gets hotter with time so you should keep it for a few weeks before use) then you should sterilise the bottle first by washing in warm water, rinsing and then placing in an oven for 10-15 minutes at 160C.

Now heat the oil for a few minutes and then add the chilli. Cook for around 4 minutes and then transfer into the warm bottles. This prevents any germs being in the bottle. Be careful when putting the oil in the bottles as it can splash around!

Grove Tuesday!

 Pancake day! (Incase you didn't get the "Grove" reference Student Cookery lives on a street called The Grove so I changed shrove to grove! Clever ay?)

Any way a big disaster in that Tesco ran out of Nutella!!!! No!!!

So I had to whip up my own chocolate sauce for the pancakes and I must say it was a success!

100g dark chocolate, 1 and a half tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon heaped of icing sugar, in a pan (sugar last after its melted), making sure to not burn the chocolate. Whack it in on or around your pancake and enjoy! (It's fairly rich so be sparing!)
 

Chocolate Pot

So I've just tried out this chocolate pot a very kind person got for me for christmas! (They know me well) and it is fantastic!

If you fancy grabbing one for yourself head on over to this website!

Great for butter or heating milk and can hold a 100g bar of chocolate!

Plymouth Pad Thai

Traditional Pad Thai made from scratch in Plymouth!

To have a go yourself you'll need the following:

Rice Noodles - 150g per person (all other quantities are per person also) you can get this from any Asian shop or tesco do a fresh rice noodle too.

Beansprouts - One handful. These are so cheap and good for you too! Get from any supermarket (ASDA 50p)

Spring Onion - Chopped into 1 inch long, thin pieces.

Garlic - 2 cloves, crush and chop.

Fish Sauce - Veggies use dark soy sauce, about 3-4 tablespoons.

Sugar - White or brown I use brown about 1 heaped teaspoon.

Lime juice - 1 teaspoon

Egg - 1

Tofu - A handful of 1cm cubes.

Oil - 1 splash.

Optional - Crushed peanut, chilli powder, extra lime juice to serve.

Here we go!

In a small bowl combine the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and chilli powder if desired. Heat the oil in pan, add the garlic, fry until fragrant. Add the tofu and stir for about a minute. Now add the egg and scramble. 

Add the fish sauce mixture and stir then add the noodles. Now add the spring onion, stir, finally add the beansprout, stir-fry for about 30 seconds and serve with crushed peanut and lime juice!

If you are vegan leave out the egg and use soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Vegetarians, just use soy sauce!

It's Not The Size...

It's How You Use It!

Chef's Garlic, always worth the money!

Quick Chicken Curry

If you are a demon on the chopping board and don't mind a little splash of boiling water up your arm then I'm sure you could get this on the plate in 20 minutes flat. Now I can't stand the "Jamie's 15 Minute Meals" where he has everything chopped and ready or an expensive food processor to do it (or a few decades of experience chopping all day), so I'm not lying when I say 20 minutes is doable!

Ingredients

1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tbspn grated ginger, 3 chicken breasts, 400ml coconut milk, about 100g of ground almond as well as half a teaspoon of the following spices in a bowl.

 

Cumin, ground cinnamon, coriander, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, garam masala, hot chilli powder, cayenne pepper, curry powder (optional) and some fresh chopped coriander.

Method

Cut the chicken into pieces. Chop the onion and garlic and fry until soft.

Now add a few tablespoons of water to the bowl of spices and make a thin paste. Put it in with the onion and garlic and stir until fragrant. Then add the chicken pieces.

Now seal the chicken on all sides stirring it all the time. Once sealed put the rice on the boil (1/3rd of a mug rice per person 2/3rd of a mug water) and add the coconut milk. Bring it to the boil, add the almond and simmer until the rice is done. If the curry looks too thick add some more almond or leave for longer to reduce, if it looks too thick add coconut milk or water.

 Enjoy!

 

 Timings:

5 minutes chopping (Thats quick!)
5 minutes frying (Pay attention!)
8 minutes rice and simmering (Get the rice ready while the chicken is sealing)
2 minutes getting it on a plate (Yum!)

(MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE CHICKEN IS THOROUGHLY COOKED!)

Superbowl Soirée

So it was that time of the year again last sunday and it was yet another opportunity to gorge ourselves on home made food!

Just a few of the items included were:

• 16 Hot dogs
• 13 Home made burgers
• 10 BBQ/Peri-Peri Chicken Thighs
• 2 Garlic Baguettes
• Two bags of Nachos
• Half a kilo of Cheese
• A mixing bowl of home-made wedges
• A mixing bowl of oven chips
• Home-made Salsa Dip
• 4 Pizzas
• And much much more...

Here's how to treat yourself to some simple salsa:

1 can of chopped tomatoes, half a handful of coriander, virgin olive oil, pepper, salt, garlic, onion, tomato puree, splash of balsamic vinegar.

Whack it all in a bowl give it good mix and then season to taste. We doubled everything just to make sure.


 

Seb's Salmon Pasta

This simple fish pasta is a great way to get that one dose of fish into your week and it takes no time at all!

Ingredients:

• 2 Salmon Steaks - I used from frozen to keep the cost down!

• 100g of Spaghetti (per portion)

• Chicken Stock about 400ml

• Garlic

• Onion

• Cream

• Chive

Method:

Cook the salmon in water if it's from frozen or leave for now if its fresh. Chop the onion and garlic and fry until the onion softens. Now add the chicken stock, some cream and the chive. Bring it to the boil and add the salmon, stirring it to break it up.

Simmer for about 10 minutes until it is slightly thicker then add more cream if necessary and serve on fresh spaghetti.

What Is The World Coming To?

A delicious salad, so simple and tasty!

Student Salad

Just throw half and half rocket and fresh lettuce, mix in some grilled chicken pieces, and finally drizzle some ceaser salad dressing over the top, I'll be showing you how to make your own in the near future!

Garlic Butter

This might seem like an overly simple recipe but it really can be used in any dish to liven it up and make it a bit richer.

Ingredients

Garlic - 2 bulbs per 75g or butter

Butter - 75g

Oil - Enough to have 1cm depth

Salt - Pinch

Pepper - Pinch

Sugar - Pinch

Italian herbs - Pinch, alternatively use dried basil, oregano and possibly thyme.

Method

Pour the oil into the baking dish or oven proof bowl, then after slicing the pointed end of the clove to reveal the pale yellow garlic of each clove (just!), place them sliced end down in the oil, like so.

Next pop them in the oven at about 120C for roughly half an hour or until light brown and soft.

Now mash them until the cloves fall out and you are left with the dry skin like so.

Throw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl with the mashed garlic, be gentle on the salt and sugar, and then use to make garlic bread, fry onions for bolognese, use in curries, paste on chicken and grill, the possibilities are endless!

Massaman Curry

Massaman Curry

Thats right! Student Cookery has at last appeared for the long awaited come back! A big apology to the loyal fans and thanks for sticking by! (All new comers welcome however!)

This dish was one that I was fairly wary of on my first visit to Thailand, however the second time I visited I told myself I would try everything I had the opportunity to and I am so glad I did because it is probably in my top 5 dishes of all time now!

It's fairly simple and as with many curries, it can be adapted in lots of ways to add texture, extra flavours, heat and consistency.

The traditional Thai curries are fairly soupy so I tried to replicate that to some extent, don't be shy to cut the coconut milk in half and have a bit thicker curry!

Ingredients

Chicken - I used about 800g on the bone which would be about 300-400g breast so have either.

6 medium potatoes.

Massaman curry paste - 90g-100g (3 tbspns) Yes I know, I have used a paste, but this is just so perfect you can't match it for price, taste or authenticity. (Find in your local asian food shop)

Onion - 1 chopped finely

Garlic - 3 cloves crushed and chopped

Chilli - 1 half seeds scraped out and chopped finely (optional if you don't want too much spice, then again you could leave the seeds in or even use two or three chillis!)

Coconut milk - 2 400g cans (As i said, use just one for a thicker curry)

Peanut butter - 2 tbspn (you can use chopped or crushed peanut for texture too)

Rice - 1/3 - 1/2 mug per person

Method

Fry the onion in coconut oil or any vegetable oil.

Now add the chopped garlic and massaman paste and stir until fragrant (around 30 seconds).

Add the meat and coat in the paste. Seal on all sides and then add the coconut milk and peanut butter.

 
Now peel and chop the potatoes into bite size chunks.

Add to the coconut milk after bringing it to the boil and cook until the potatoes are soft. It is a good point to make here you can add any vegetable you fancy along with the potatoes, why not try some thai style vegetables like pea aubergine.

Make sure you check before serving the chicken is cooked through, especially if you are using chicken on the bone.

 Enjoy! (Sorry I couldn't find a matching plate and bowl...)