The Family Cook Book

Tonight I cooked another recipe from Lucy Boyd's very nice book  ... her pic above not mine btw It's one of those recipes that I have looked at a few times but always ended up not doing thinking that it didn't look quite interesting enough. Well I was wrong and I'm glad that I decided to do it ... its curry-ish without being a full on curry. It's got some good spice going on but it's also light and lemony. The rice makes a really great accompaniment .. its a very simple spin on a well known dish but its really very nice.  The overall verdict was that this recipe is a keeper. nb I used ready made garam masala. Serve s 4 Ingredients 1 medium-size chicken, jointed into its various parts (the butcher will do this for you) w e actually used ready cut pieces. 20g fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped into small chunks 3 cloves of garlic, peeled ¼ tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ...

The conversation here at krow towers swings between football, golf and food with a little bit of work thrown in for good measure. Todays subject was fabulous recipes from Morito and Will mentioned the recipe for Patatas Alinidas. I am so sad that I knew exactly the recipe he was talking about but I haven't cooked it yet. I will do now. Heres the recipe ... along with Moro saffron rice, which he was also raving about. Ingredients 4 medium (cyprus) potatoes (about 750g), unpeeled Salt Half a green pepper, very finely chopped Half a small red onion, very finely chopped 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, with a pinch of sugar 175ml extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley Smoked sweet Spanish paprika Method Add the potatoes to a pan of cold water with 2 tsp salt, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Place the pepper, onion and vinegar in a bowl and put to one side. Remove the potatoes from the pan and leave in a colande...

This weekend I have been at home looking after Mrs. Cook as she recuperates following an operation. I had plenty of time on my hands and could do little to help her recover other than be at her beck and call. Cooking for the unwell is one of those time honoured traditions that has been much better preserved in other cultures. Whilst flowers and chocolates are great, the arrival of chicken soup or dhal (thanks Nushi) combines a special combination of love and nutrition. So I decided that I would while away some of the time cooking Lisa some comforting dishes to help her on her way to recovery. It also gave me the opportunity to cook some recipes from a recent addition to my cookbookshelf which is Spice by the excellent Dhruv Baker. I cooked a cake, a curry and first of all his most excellent take on kedgeree, which ought to be very high on the list of comforting recovery recipes. It was really easy to make and absolutely delicious, the use of risotto rice works particularl...

As mentioned in a previous post, I made this salad to go with my jerk pork. I think we all agreed that it was pretty good. Jamie at his best a pretty simple recipe with a couple of interesting tweaks. In this case I thought there were two clever little jamie-isms  1. Cooking the whole garlic with the rice to make the base for the dressing 2. The addition of the toasted oats and spices. go to this link for Jamie's recipe  or read it below ... sorry for the slightly weird formatting Ingredients 1 small bunch mint, leaves picked, stalks chopped 1 small bunch parsley, leaves picked, stalks chopped 200 g mixed wild rice 100 g red rice 100 g pearl barley or farro 1 bulb garlic sea salt freshly ground black pepper extra virgin olive oil juice of 1 lemon olive oil ½ teaspoon fennel seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 75 g rolled porridge oats Method With a whole load of extra grains, textures and flavours in it, this is so mu...

I saw this lamb recipe in a recent issue of the Times, it's from Thomasina Miers new book Chilli notes. I thought it would go well with this rice recipe from Ottolenghi. It was a bit carb heavy but delicious. I also served it with a cucumber and yoghurt recipe also from Jerusalem . If I was going to be picky I think I could probably let it cook for a little bit more as it wasn't quite as 'falling apart' as I would like but I thought that the marinade gave the lamb a great taste. Middle Eastern, rose scented falling apart lamb Serves 6-8 Ingredients 1 shoulder of lamb (about 2kg) 2 heads of garlic 2 tsp cumin seeds 2.5cm cinnamon stick 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp sea salt 3 tbsp harissa 1 lemon, zested and quartered 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp rose syrup (optional) 1kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into (roughly) 2cm chunks 500ml dry white wine Method 1 Trim the shoulder of lamb of its outside layer of fat and make incisions...

Thought these  Spanish recipes in the Times today  were quite interesting  If you want to make a good paella, you need to follow a few basic rules: • Use Spanish ingredients – they are just too good not to be used in this case. If you can, use saffron from La Mancha (it’s the best in the world), Spanish olive oil and calasparra or bomba rice. • Get yourself a good paella pan – it should be wide and flat so that the rice cooks in a thin layer. Never use deep pans. • Never stir the rice. Ever! You will make the rice release starch and it will become too stodgy. At the end of the cooking time the rice should be soft, not sticky. • Let it rest for 5 minutes at the end of the cooking time. The rice should not be soupy so give it a chance to absorb any trapped steam. • Follow the recipe! Serves 6 1g saffron 1 tbsp salt 8 tbsp Spanish olive oil 400g chicken pieces (on the bone) 400g rabbit pieces (on the bone) 200g runner beans, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm p...