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.