Tikka masala curry

It's been a busy weekend with lots of socialising, catching up on long overdue phone calls, exercising, the usual housework...you get the picture.  It also was Keith the dog's second birthday on Saturday - happy birthday furry friend! 

I found a great little recipe I'd like to share with you because it's ideal for those busy times when you just need dinner to (mostly) cook itself.  I love meals that you can just throw into a pot without much preparation needed.  This one is a tikka masala curry, cooked on a low heat in the oven whilst you can get on with other stuff.  Making a batch or two of this at the weekend to have later in the week or keep in the freezer will save a lot of time and hassle and you can be sure to have a delicious meal to hand when you are short of time.

The one I made was with chicken breast but it would be equally nice with chicken thighs, lamb or beef.  Or why not make a vegetarian option with potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower etc?  We enjoyed our chicken one with rice and steamed broccoli on the side - it wasn't greasy like curries can sometimes be and had lots and lots of flavour.  We'll definitely be having this again and next time I will double the amount and put some in the freezer as well.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Have a good start to your week!

Food for a busy day

Happy International Women's Day!  I wonder if there is a men's day as well...if not, I think there should be! :-)  A friend of mine is organising a fundraising event for Oxfam nearby, so I will go over there at lunchtime with a batch of jam doughnut muffins.  I hope it will be really successful as she has put a lot of work into it.

I've started having a good sort out at home.  Unbelievable just how much stuff we have :-(  It's not all our fault though because we basically inherited a house full of stuff and then had to move the contents of my flat into it.  Bursting at the seams comes to mind and I can just see some stuff ending up on Freecycle where you give things away for free.  What a great invention that website is - if you haven't come across Freecycle before, why not have a look if there is one in your area?

So, it's busy busy at the moment and food will have to be quick today.  I will have one of my favourite things: red lentil stew.  Well, this can be a soup or a stew really and you can have it on its own, on top of rice or with roti flatbreads.  I use red lentils for this as they don't need soaking beforehand which makes it a lot quicker.  I love the warming curry flavours in this and the bits of sweetcorn and I usually top it with a dollop of plain yogurt (although the stew is not overly spicy - I just find it adds an extra dimension to it).  I can't wait to tuck in... :-)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Pass the Parcel...

It was my eldest niece's birthday at the weekend - I can't believe she is 13 already!  Time flies... It reminded me of birthday parties and the social side of eating.  I love to eat in company.  There is something quite lovely about sharing a meal with others, passing bowls of tasty food around and chatting over dessert and coffee.  Maybe it's because I grew up in a big family. :-)

Dinner parties are an ideal opportunity to share food with others and I think today's recipe would be fab for this: samosas.  How about a big platter of these with dips when people mingle?  Or a couple of samosas each as a starter? These little parcels are great - you can fill them with pretty much anything and - using ready-made filo pastry - they are quick and straightforward to create.  I had never used filo pastry before, thinking it would be incredibly hard to work with but the opposite was the case with this ready-made version.  

The samosas I made had a curry filling and we served them with my sweet chilli sauce (find the recipe here) and also some homemade chutney (which will feature in another post soon).  

I also froze a couple to see how that would work and am happy to report back that not only do they freeze extremely well, they are also just as tasty as freshly made.  You can eat them cold or heated in the oven.  And I guess you could even take a couple out of the freezer in the morning before going to work and by lunchtime, they'd be defrosted and ready to be eaten.  Perfect!

I hope you have a good start to your week!

The Spice of Life

It's still quite early here - I am starting my day with a cup of tea, the dog asleep by my feet.

I actually managed to snap a photo of Keith the dog in the sunshine yesterday. He simply loves running through the heather in the park - just for the fun of it and I swear I can see him smile doing it :-)  He definitely appreciates the small things - a bit of sunshine, flowers in bloom...quite a good philosophy, don't you think?

Chicken curry

One of the things that makes me smile is having a nice meal that is quickly prepared and tasty.  Do you like curry?  I love it but all too often I find that it can be quite greasy.  This version may not be authentic by Indian standards but has all the lovely spices with only a minimum of oil and just a dash of cream to finish off - it is really quite delicious, even if I say so myself :-)  And the nice thing is that you can use leftover roast chicken for this or make it vegetarian by using up all those forgotten vegetables in the fridge.  Maybe a cold beer on the side...

What makes you smile?

Of snow and spice...and all things nice

Snow gentleman

I met this gentleman on the right during this morning's dog walk- he did make me smile, looking all official with his tie.  Someone obviously had a lot of fun there...I really enjoy walking in the snow when it's for pleasure and Keith the dog was also very happy that it hadn't melted - he loves chasing snowballs.

Where's my snowball?

With it still being so wintery here, I feel another soup recipe is in order - and this is one comes with a twist.  It brings the humble potato to life with a hint of curry and coconut milk.  You can even use leftover mash for this recipe to make it an extra speedy lunch.  The addition of crunchy vegetables gives the dish extra texture and the spice is lovely and warming on a winter's day...although this can be enjoyed at any time of the year.   It could also easily be adapted by adding thin strips of cooked chicken or cooked king prawns at the end of cooking if you don't want it to be vegetarian.

Potato soup...