New Recipe - Jerk Chicken Curry with Beans

I have been slacking on updating on my recipes, so I'm going to have to back track a little before I get up to date.

Two weeks ago I made Jerk Chicken Curry with Beans

Serves 4 – Ready in 45 Minutes including prep time.

Ingredients:

·         8 Chicken Drumsticks

·         4 Tsp Jerk Seasoning

·         4tsp Olive Oil

·         2 Red Onions, Sliced

·         Small Bunch Coriander (optional)

·         2 x 400g cans Chopped Tomatoes

·         410g Can Kidney Beans, Drained.

·         Rice.

Now for the How To:

·         Mix the chicken with 1tsp jerk seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan, quickly brown the chicken then remove.

·         Tip in the remaining oil, onions and coriander, and then soften for 5 minutes, stirring in the remaining jerk seasoning for the final minute.

·         Return the drumsticks to the pan pour over the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

·         Remove the lid, stir in the beans, and cook for a further 10 minutes, finish with the coriander and serve with rice.

It was a very tasty dish, but I was left disappointed with the actual chicken, I know chicken on the bone is tastier etc, but I find it difficult to eat when it’s in a thick sauce and so next time I would make it with chicken breasts, I still feel as though it would absorb the flavours. Other than that I wouldn’t change the recipe, it was very tasty, which left your mouth a little zingy with the jerk seasoning.

For a good hearty meal I don’t think 438 calories per serving is bad going, it was very filling and tasty.

The next recipe is Chicken and Bean Enchiladas; I shall add that to my blog over the next couple of days, so keep checking back!

Bye for Now! x

April's Movies

Time for Aprils movies, again, I'm running behind on the aim for a movie a day, but I'm trying, I find it difficult to watch a movie during the week for some reason or another, so I have been trying to get the numbers up during the weekend, but that isn’t always the case, I will make it my mission to have an average on one movie a day, my new years eve could be one full of movies!

So, as usual I will start with the disappointing films of April, The first has to be Nine Dead, It starred Mellissa Joan Hart, and it was a good story line, but just poorly executed! After watching previous Nicolas Spark adaptations I have been impressed and moved (The Notebook, Walk To Remember, preferred the books though) so I expected similar things from Dear John, however this wasn’t the case, I didn’t feel a connection between the lead characters, which is a shame, because I think they are both great, but the film left me feeling empty, and I honestly didn’t care what happened with them.

Kick Ass, was truly just KICK ASS! It was a brilliant film, and truly entertaining and just amazing! Best film of the month by far!

A close second was Jersey Girl, I thought it was an underrated Kevin Smith film, and one I had previously avoided due to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez staring in it together, because be honest, we all remember the train wreck that was Gigli! But I loved Jersey Girl, the few scenes they had together were moving and they had great chemistry, and everything about the film was heart warming, and a great change for Kevin Smith!

And need I say any more than Iron Man! Bloody awesome, I can’t wait to see the second one! 

April's Movies

1)	Look Who's Talking
2)	Cinderella
3)	Harry Potter: Prisoner of Askaban
4)	13 Going On 30
5)	The Covenant
6)	Accepted
7)	Mission Impossible 3
8)	Lara Croft - Cradle Of Life
9)	Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire
10)	Harry Potter: Order Of The Pheonix
11)	The Bounty Hunter
12)	X-Men 2
13)	Over The Hedge
14)	Clash Of The Titans
15)	Nine Dead
16)	Run, Fat Boy, Run
17)	Back Up Plan
18)	2 Fast 2 Furious
19)	Kick Ass
20)	The Crazies
21)	Iron Man
22)	Jersey Girl
23)	Blades Of Glory
24)	Dear John

Any suggestions to get me to reach my one a day target? What is your favourite film ever?

Bye for Now! x

March's Movies!

So it’s a little over due, but I figured it’s about time I add my list of movies for March. Let’s start with the negatives. I hated, HATED, Leap Year! It was a boring predictable “rom com” with no sign of comedy or believably romance! It was poorly acted, and it wasn’t even released in a leap year, surely that would of made more sense, and possibly more bucks?

Another film I wasn’t too impressed with was “defendor” I expected more from it, I love Woody Harrelson, but I felt as though the film couldn’t live up to my expectations, but honestly, I think if I didn’t have any expectations, I still would have been left disappointed with the film. However, there are a lot of films during March that I watched, which simply, were not worth the time, EG Decent 2, Are We Done Yet? Old Dogs

Now the films I enjoyed, Percy Jackson, I thought it was a fun movie, easy going, but action packed, and thoroughly entertaining. Cop Out didn’t disappoint me, I expected so much because I LOVE Kevin Smith and he delivered a great film!

Slammin’ Salmon was a hidden gem, I had never heard of the film, and my brother recommended it, and it was funny, light hearted, and kept me entertained, and finally, the classic City Of God, I was introduced to this film when I was doing an A Level in Film Studies! I loved it from the moment I saw it! It’s a modern day classic, with a realistic image of growing up in the slums. It’s a must see! No excuses! See it now!

Movies March 2010

1) Catch & Release
2) American Pie: Band Camp
3) Did You Hear About The Morgan’s
4) Leap Year
5) 10 Things I Hate About You
6) Jack
7) Wedding Crashers
8) Percy Jackson : Lightening Thief
9) Decent 2
10) Are We Done Yet
11) Stardust
12) Old Dogs
13) Mighty Joe Young
14) Bring It On : All or Nothing
15) Cop Out
16) Slammin' Salmon
17) Hope Floats
18) American Pie: Naked Mile
19) Brothers Grimm
20) City Of God
21) The Final
22) Stick It
23) Shutter Island
24) Defender
25) Casino Royale
26) Harry Potter : Chamber Of Secrets
27) Tooth Fairy
28) 007: Quantum Of Solace

I’ll try and post April’s movies tomorrow! Let me know what you think of my list, do you agree with me?

Bye for now! x

New Recipe : Tomato Soup With Marmite Twists

The latest recipe I tried was “Tomato Soup with Cheese & Marmite Twists” it was a very easy recipe and I must say very tasty, although I would make a couple of amendments if I am to do it again but I’ll come to those later.

Serves 4 - Ready in 50 minutes (it can be done quicker depends how good you are at multi-tasking)

Ingredients:

For the Twists:

• 50g Red Leicester or Cheddar cheese

• 1 sheet of ready to use puff pastry

• 2 tsp of Marmite (or English mustard, I made both)

For the Soup:

• 1 large onion

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 8 large tomatoes

• 400ml vegetable stock

• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• 300 ml double cream

Now for the how to:

• Preheat oven to 200c/180c fan/ gas mark 6. Finely grate the cheese. Unravel the pastry, spread evenly with the marmite (or mustard) then sprinkle the cheese on top. Fold the pastry in half to make a sandwich and press down well.

• Cut the pastry into 12 equal strips, carefully twist each strip and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown, leave for 5 minutes to firm up a little, remove from the baking tray and allow to cool.

• Halve the onion, peel and chop it. Fry in the oil for about 5 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon until soft but not coloured, as this will spoil the colour of the soup later.

• Chop the tomatoes; add to the pan with the stock, ketchup and oregano. Season. Bring to the boil, and then turn to a low heat. Cover the pan, and summer for 15 minutes until tomatoes are soft.

• Tip the cream into the soup, heat gently, stirring with the wooden spoon until it just starts to bubble. Don’t boil as the cream may curdle. Ladle into bowls and serve with the cheese and marmite straws.

The cooking time can be shorter if you prepare the twists as the onions are cooking and the straws can cook as the tomatoes are cooking dramatically reducing the cooking time. After making both the marmite straws and the mustard straws, we found the marmite straws went with the soup better, it mixed really well with the cheese, and they were a firm favourite (in fact we ate the left over straws as a snack later that day)

Another amendment I would make next time is either to peel the tomatoes by scoring the skin and pouring hot water over them, the skin is then easily removed, or I would blend the mixture before adding the cream, I whizzed it slightly with my hand blender, but bit of skin were still present, or the final option is to sift the soup before adding the cream to get rid of any residue skin / seeds. But this didn’t subtract from the taste of the soup, it was very tasty and incredibly filling! It’s a must try!

Not really something to have regularly due to the double cream, it’s a hefty 912 calories per serving! Instead of using double cream, you can always use crème fraiche for a slightly lower calorie option.

I'm still undecided on what to cook this week. I will have to decide soon as I'm supposed to be making it tomorrow!

Bye for now!x

This weeks recipe - Prawn & Pea Risotto!

So today I made a Prawn & Pea risotto! I must say I was impressed! There was a time where I didn’t think the rice was ever going to cook, but I was being impatient and once the rice was cooked, it was amazing! Below are the details for the recipe if you wanted to try it! I would recommend it!


Serves 4 – Ready in 30 minutes (that’s including prep)

Ingredients

• Butter

• Olive Oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 300g carnaroli rice of Arborio rice ( I used Arborio rice heavenly)

• 100ml white win (optional, I left this item out I'm not a big wine fan)

• 800ml of vegetable stock either made up from a cube, a concentrate or fresh (I used oxo vegetable stock cube worked really well!)

• 250g cooked and pealed prawns, if they are frozen, make sure they are defrosted thoroughly

• 100g frozen peas

• 80g parmesan, grated

Now for the how to!

• Melt a knob of butter with a sash of olive oil in a wide, shallow pan and add the onion. Cook until softened, add the garlic and cook for a minute or two, but make sure it doesn’t brown.

• Add the rice and mix well, if you are using wine this is the time to add it, stir the mixture until it evaporates, pour in just enough stock to cover the rice and gently simmer remembering to stir now and again.

• As the stock evaporates and the rice swells, add more stock and stir until all the stock has been used and absorbed, this takes approximately 12-15 minutes (remember to be patient unlike me) finally, add the prawns, peas and season. Simmer for a further two minutes and mix in half the parmesan just before serving followed by sprinkling the remainder over the top of the dish once served (get fresh parmesan, it’s a little bit more expensive, but believe me, it makes the difference!)

It really is worth trying, I was a little bit dubious while making it, because as I said I was impatient, but it was very tasty, and well worth it! Per serving it is 465 calories!

Let me know if you try making prawn and pea risotto, did you come across any problems?

I haven’t decided what to cook next week, I'm thinking maybe, pork, chilli & bean stew, or summer pork and potatoes, or, sticky glazed pork with spring onion couscous! All will be decided shortly! Any suggestions?

Bye for now!x

It's been a while!

I haven’t updated my blog for some time, and so I thought it was a little over due.


I will Post March and April’s movies over the next couple of days, I have no idea where the days are going to! This year is flying by!

This is only a quick note, I have decided to compile my own cook book, from recipes from friends and from the internet (the main reason is because I'm too cheap to actually buy a cook book) so with this folder I am going to cook something new and different every week.

I think I am a good cook, but I only cook your simple meals, spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne, Chilli, and curries, I want to use this time to expand my cooking knowledge and basically make me a better cook, and to expand my horizons (maybe a bit extreme, but you know what I mean)

So last week was my first attempt, and I made a spicy prawn Pilau dish, it was rather easy, and from start to finish it only took about 30 minutes, that’s including time to prep onions and to wash the rice. The first step was to add the chopped onions to a dry pan for a couple of minutes, and then add a couple of tea spoons of curry paste and then continue to cook this out for a couple of minutes, the next step was to add the washed rice and to mix this around the pan so it is coated with the curry paste, chicken stock is then added to the pan, a lid is put on and then its left on a low heat for 12-15 minutes. After this time has passed and the rice is cooked break up the rice with a fork, add the prawns, peas, and chopped chilli, take off the heat and put the lid back on the pan and leave for 5 minutes. Upon serving sprinkle with coriander and then you’re done! It was so easy and bloody tasty 

This week I am making prawn and pea risotto, I have about 80 or so recipes I currently want to try, so it will take me a while to get through them all, and some may not be successful, or I may not like some, but what’s the harm in trying something different?

Do you have any recipes I should try?

Movie lists will be added shortly!

Bye for Now! X