"Tandoori" chicken

I've recently purchased a load of different spices to make a curry. I must say now that it is very like me to get excited over a single recipe, and a determination takes over me and I must make it, despite how many ingredients it requires. These ingredients I very rarely have, so I embark on an epic shopping expedition, where inevitably I only find half the things I need. The recipe becomes a compromised hodge-podge, a husk, a sham. I'm left feeling slightly bereft, and with a cupboard of ingredients I'm likely never to use again. I had a storecupboard clear out last week, and found jars I didn't know existed, never mind ever used. You see my problem. I wanted to make tandoori masala, and even with my now extensive range of spices, I still only had half the ingredients to make it. What's more, the shops didn't have the remaining items. Feeling brave, I got out my pestle and mortar, and my spoon, and set about concocting.

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
2 dessert spoons each of:
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds
Coriander seeds
Fenugreek powder
Garam masala
Paprika
Hot chilli powder
Cayenne pepper
 A pinch each of turmeric and ground black pepper
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime

A handful of fresh coriander, chopped - to serve

Method:
Crush the fennel, coriander and cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar. Place in a bowl. Add the fenugreek, garam masala, paprika, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper and turmeric. Massage the minced garlic and ginger into the chicken thighs. Place the thighs in the bowl with the spices. Add the vegetable oil and the lime juice, and mix together, either with your hands or a spoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if you want.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before you want to cook it, so it has a chance to come to room temperature. Line a baking tray with foil, and place the chicken on the tray. Place in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Serve with coriander and fresh lemon or lime wedge. Ooh it is good!

Sausage, Halloumi and Red Pepper Bake

This is a yummy one, courtesy of a certain Saint Nigella. I love her recipes - they are always simple to follow (which is great for me) and yield consistently rewarding results. My partner loved this - he said it was a nice treat for a Friday night. This would be great for a party, as you can very easily change the quantities to suit you. Nigella uses Merguez sausages, which I couldn't get hold of, so I just used some good quality pork and chilli sausages. I also couldn't find any jarred flame-roasted red peppers, so following Nigella's instruction, I used thinly sliced raw red pepper instead.

We served this with a baguette, plenty of extra virign olive oil, and a green salad.

Ingredients:
6-8 spicy good quality sausages
1 block Halloumi cheese, thinly sliced
1 jar of roasted red peppers, or thinly sliced raw red pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to about 220 degrees centigrade. Take a large baking tray or oven proof dish, and throw in the sausages, the sliced Halloumi, and the pepper slices, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 20 mins until the sausages are cooked all the way through. If you are using raw peppers instead of jarred, you may wish to put these on the tray first and cook them on their own with some olive oil for about 5 minutes, just to give them a head start before adding the sausages and cheese.

The recipe is from Nigella Lawson and is available on BBC Food at the following link:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sausageswithhalloumi_87396

Salami and bean stew

This was inspired, as most things inevitably are, by the great Nigella Lawson, through her recipe for salami and cannellini bean pasta. I make her recipe quite often, convenient as it is, but I often feel that, especially for a weeknight, the combination of the beans and pasta is too heavy. I had an idea to lighten it up (but still keep it satisfying) by adding more water and then spending a bit longer thickening up the sauce. I also add whatever fresh vegetables I have to hand, and use haricot beans instead of cannellini for a bit of variation (you can of course use any beans you have in the house). I add spice to this, just because I feel it needs livening up, and it makes a perfect partner to the savoury saltiness of the cured meat.

Recipe:
1 packet sliced cured meat like salami, cut into strips
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2-3 cups of water
Pinch of sugar
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced peppers (any colour)
1 red or green chilli, finely diced (use as many chillis as you like, and keep the seeds in if you're a spice fiend)
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
1 or 2 cans beans (the choice is yours!)

Method:
1. Heat a wide heavy based frying pan on high heat. Once hot, throw in the sliced meat (no oil is needed - the fat from the meat will be sufficient).
2. Fry the meat until it is slightly coloured and crisped up.
3. Add the diced vegetables and chillis, and fry off for a few minutes until slightly softened.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, pinch of sugar and the water. Bring to the boil, and turn the heat down to a simmer.
5. Add the cayenne pepper, and the salt and black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add more water if you want the stew to be a little more like a soup.
7. Drain the beans, rinse, and add to the stew. Cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat, or until the beans are nice and tender.
8. Serve with some garlic bread if you fancy!