Live For Food

Is there any particular food that you always cheat at?  Something you buy ready made because you can’t be bothered to cook it yourself, or its something really difficult or time consuming to make?  I bet even the best home cooks cheat at something!

Here are my top five cheats:

Stock

I never make my own stock.  Every time I roast a chicken I feel guilty about it, but equally every time the chicken carcass goes in the food waste bin.  I just can’t be bothered to boil up a big pile of bones and stuff for hours.

I am a fan of the stock cube – I like OXO for beef, and Knorr for everything else (chicken, fish, vegetable).  I’ve never tried those little stock pot things, where you get concentrated stock and water it down, but the only reason I haven’t got round to trying those is because they are way more expensive than the cubes.

Pastry

I rarely make pastry.  I think I made some shortcrust for an apple pie a couple of years ago and it came out nicely.  I did learn to make puff pastry at school but the only times I’ve tried it since – maybe twice – it was a fatty splodgy disaster!

So I always buy it fresh and ready made, and chop it up into nice serving sized blocks and then keep it in the freezer.  The brand I use is called Jus-Roll (!) and I think I use that brand because it’s the only one my supermarket does.

It just seems to make such a mess faffing round with the flour and the water and getting little bits left over, and the bought pastry is way more predictable in terms of results.

Custard

I can and do on occasion make custard, and I frequently make white sauce, and use it for cheese sauce, or maybe brandy sauce.  If I make custard though it’s a half cheat anyway because I use custard powder, not real eggs and things.

However my custard always has a nasty habit of coming out at completely the wrong texture – either watery, or so thick you can’t stir it.  And always when I have visitors.  Far safer to buy a nice pot of fresh custard, just heat up in the microwave, and put it in a nice jug.  You could have made it.  Who’s to know!

Hummus

I keep coming across recipes for home made hummus, on healthy living blogs and such like.  It doesn’t sound that difficult, but its just so much easier to walk to the shop and survey the many different flavors of ready made hummus and choose one.  Plus then you don’t have to spend hours wandering round the supermarket wondering where on earth they keep the tahini.

Cold Desserts

I don’t cook a lot of dessert.  I have to watch the calories and so I stick to tinned fruit, a bit of ice-cream or a few squares of chocolate.  If I have visitors my standby dessert is a fruit crumble which is about the only dessert I can do without following a recipe.

So if I need a cold dessert, a cheesecake, or a trifle or a lemon tart say, nine times out of ten they are bought.  Half the reason for this is the hassle factor and half is the cost.

If you make a fancy dessert it can take a couple of hours, a messy kitchen, and a lot of effort.  Especially if like me you don’t do it very often and have to constantly refer to the recipe book.  Not to mention all the waiting for things to chill and set so you can’t get on with it properly, and you end up thinking about it all day.  And then its gone in ten minutes.

Then if you add up the cost its probably more than if you’d bought the premium brand dessert at the supermarket.  Okay so you may have some ingredients left over, but often they are not much use for making anything except the same dessert again.  I think last time I made a cheesecake the rest of the packet of gelatin sat in my cupboard for about three years.

Cold desserts from the supermarket can be very good quality these days for a reasonable price – it often doesn’t seem worth the effort of making your own.

So there you go.  What dishes can’t you be bothered to make?  What pre-made products do you think are superior to home cooked ones?

Chicken pie is a great way to use up leftover meat from a roast chicken.  Its also a really comforting meal in the evenings when its cold outside.  If I make pie on a weeknight I normally serve it just with some steamed vegetables, no potatoes or anything, just to keep the calorie count down a bit.  I never think of pie as an exact science; the perfect pie depends on many variables from your oven, the dish you use, to which selection of vegetables you use.

Ingredients (serves 2):
150-200g leftover roast chicken, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
6 florets of frozen broccoli
milk (no more than 300ml)
chicken gravy granules (I use Bisto)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp onion granules
1 tbspn olive oil
125g ready made puff pastry (1/4 of a 500g block)

Method:

Put the oven to heat up to 200 C.

You will need a small pie dish – mine is 8″x5″.

Get a medium sized saucepan and heat the oil in it.

Add the cooked chicken and fry it in the oil.

When the chicken is starting to go a bit brown and crispy, add the mushrooms.

Don’t let the chicken burn – you might need to turn the heat down a little.

Add in the frozen broccoli florets.

Then immediately add in the milk.  You want to add enough milk to not quite cover all the ingredients in the pan.

Add the garlic, herbs and onion granules.

Add some gravy granules, say 1 tablespoon, and stir them in.

Then leave the mixture to cook for 10 minutes.

While it’s cooking, roll out the pastry to the size of your dish.  There will be a pastry lid only, no bottom.

After 10 minutes, check the consistency of the filling.  Think of the consistency of pie filling – and remember that your filling will dry up a bit while it’s being cooked in the oven.  You want it slightly too runny when you put it in the dish, but not so runny that the pastry sinks into it.  If its a bit thin, add more chicken granules – slowly – and stir after each few granules.  Err on the side of too runny rather than too thick a sauce.

Pour the filling into the dish and pop the pastry on top.

Put a slit in the pastry for the steam to escape, and if you want, brush the top of the pastry with oil or butter.

Cook the pie in the oven for 30 minutes.

Variations:

I generally use the vegetables I happen to have hanging around.

Onions and leeks also go well – put these in at the beginning and caramelize them a bit before putting the chicken in.  Omit the onion granules later.

Asparagus is also a favorite of mine – put this in just before the milk is added.  It’s nicest when it’s in season though – May/June time.

Peas and sweetcorn also work well – again add these just before the milk.

I would avoid things like carrot, broccoli and cauliflower from raw – last time I tried raw broccoli it didn’t cook properly and I ended up with hard bits in the pie.  Not good.  The frozen broccoli just melts into the pie.

What’s the secret of making the best mashed potato?  It’s not the ingredients, its the tool that you use.

Stop using a potato masher, and start using a potato ricer instead:

Your mash will be instantly lighter, fluffier and smoother and you won’t ever find any lumps if you use a ricer for mashing potato.

Slice your potato before boiling, and when it’s boiled for about 20 minutes, put the slices through the ricer.

Then use a wooden spoon and whip the potato round and round adding ingredients of your choice.

I think it’s perfect with a dash of milk, a knob of butter and some salt and pepper.

You will find that the majority of social events you attend will either revolve around food, or have a part of the event set aside for food.  If you are invited for dinner, or go out for a meal, or attend a party, there will be special food.  In your work environment you probably find that every now and again someone brings in food to share.  If you drop round a friend’s house they will probably offer you refreshments.

What food do you get offered in these circumstances?

In the office people bring in cakes, pastries, chocolate biscuits, and boxes of sweets.

At parties or buffets typically you get a table of what I call “yellow food” – sausage rolls, crisps, French bread, cheese straws, quiche, that kind of thing, followed by cakes and trifles.

In restaurants obviously you can get many, many different foods, but chances are you will eat three courses, and the amount of calories that you would normally eat in a day.

Dropping in at someone’s house often results in homemade cake or fancy biscuits or cookies being offered.

Going round to someone’s house for dinner will almost always involve having second helpings of main course, and a choice of desserts, of which you will try both.

But just think…

If you brought in celery sticks and hummus to the office to share for the mid morning break what sort of reaction would you get?

If you brought in fresh strawberries and grapes and bananas to celebrate your birthday in the office what sort of reaction would you get?

If you rejected the special dessert your aunt made for you when she invited you to dinner what sort of reaction would you get?

If you turned up to a bring and share lunch with a bowl of salad what sort of reaction would you get?

If you had a birthday party and served no cake what sort of reaction would you get?

If you chose a salad for your main course at a restaurant what sort of reaction would you get?

If the answer to those questions is that you would get funny looks, whispers behind your back, and people pressing you to “just have a bite”, don’t ask yourself what it says about you – ask what does this say about society?

There is nothing wrong with a bit of unhealthy carb-laden sugary food once in a while of course, but its prevalence in society on a daily basis is unhelpful and encourages you to think that healthy eating is not the norm, and that you are a social reject for not having cake every time it’s there.  I’m someone who struggles not to eat unhealthy food when its placed in front of me, and a shift towards social healthy eating would be welcome.

This battle will only be won when you go to a bring and share buffet and the table is covered in different fresh salads and fruits; there are lean healthy meats, low fat dairy, wholegrain breads and healthy dips.  No cake.  No crisps.  No pastry products.  And not a single person comments on it but everyone wholeheartedly enjoys the spread.

Do you struggle to eat healthily at social events?  What are your top tips for staying on the straight and narrow?

So thought it was a good idea to make a red thai curry.  You bought the jar of paste.  You followed the recipe on the back and made your curry.  Now you have three quarters of a jar of red thai curry paste left, and whilst you enjoyed the curry you don’t want another three within the next month.  So what do you do with it?

Firstly, this particular pot of red thai curry paste which I bought says on the back that it freezes.  I don’t remember seeing that on the shop’s own brand that I bought last time.  So you could put it in the freezer in an ice cube tray, and make red thai curry paste ice cubes which you can use next time you fancy a red thai curry.

Failing that, here are three other ideas for using it up.

As a topping:

Red Thai Tuna Steaks (serves 2)

Pre heat the oven to 190 C.

In a ramekin mix together one heaped tablespoon of red thai curry paste, one heaped tablespoon of  natural full fat yoghurt and some coriander leaves (cilantro).

Take your tuna steaks, and place in a dish.  Spoon the red thai mixture over the top of the tuna steaks and spread it out so it covers the top.

Bake them in the oven for 25 minutes.

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables of your own choice.  Don’t do too much rice as there is not a lot of liquid in this dish.

As a sauce:

Chicken with Red Thai Sauce (serves 2)

Cook your chicken breasts by your preferred method (one per person) – I grilled mine for 25 minutes, or you could bake them in a dish for 30 minutes, or bake wrapped in foil for 35 minutes.

To make the sauce:

Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add 1 tablespoon of red thai curry paste and fry the paste for a couple of minutes so that it sizzles.

Stir in 125ml of coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of lime juice.

Simmer on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until the sauce reduces to the desired consistency.

Stir in some coriander leaves or paste.

Serve over the cooked chicken, with some rice and steamed vegetables.

As a marinade:

Red Thai Steak with Minty Yogurt Dressing (serves 2)

Mix the following ingredients together in a small bowl:

1 tablespoon of red thai curry paste
1 tablespoon of full fat natural yogurt
1/2 tablespoon of lime juice
1 crushed clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
a few drops of fish sauce (nam pla)

Take your steaks and chop them into large pieces.

Place the steaks and the above marinade into a ziplock bag, mush it all up a bit, and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

You can make the minty yogurt dressing in advance and leave it in the fridge:

Mix together 2 heaped tablespoons of full fat natural yogurt, with some chopped mint leaves, chopped coriander leaves and some salt and pepper.

When you want dinner, fry the steaks to your taste – I like steak medium rare, so depending on the thickness thats 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve with the yogurt dressing and some steamed vegetables, and new potatoes with butter.