Cha han

A simple but tasty rice dish. This is for chicken and prawn, but you can substitute all sorts of ingredients to your taste.

Preparation:

Finely chop some chicken and marinade for an hour in a few spoonfuls of soy sauce, grated ginger, salt and pepper.

Cook a pan of rice.

Cooking - this is very quick:

Heat oil in a wok. Add the chicken, a handful of quartered shitake and button mushrooms, some shelled prawns, snow peas, sweetcorn, chopped scallions, and the rice. Stir in a whisked egg.

Jambalaya

A spicy and hearty dish.

Fry a sliced spicy sausage in a generous knob of butter.

When it's browned a bit, add spices: large spoonful of paprika and cumin, dash of cayenne, black pepper, and salt. Stir and cook for a minute.

Add a chopped tomato and cook until the juice starts to come out.

Add the veggies: a chopped pepper, a few sticks of celery, and spring onions. Stir and cook for a few minutes.

Stir in rice, then stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for about 1/2 hour.

Near the end, stir in shrimp.

Pork Souvlaki

A summery recipe we discovered this year ...

Combine 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tsp dried oregano and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Add cubed pieces of pork and leave to marinade in the fridge for a day.

Skewer and season the meat and grill.

Serve with tzatziki sauce, rice, salad, pittas, retsina, and sun. Also tasty at any other time of year :)

Chicken in port

A tasty treat for a cold evening.

Fry chicken breasts or thighs until browned. Add a cup or two of port and simmer on medium to high until the chicken is cooked and the port is well reduced. Let the pan cool for a bit, then stir in some cream. Bring back to the boil until the liquid thickens.

Serve with potatoes or rice, and vegetables or salad.

Orange chicken

This is another from a group of crockpot Chinese recipes, which we tried with great success.

The full recipe is here, but is very simple.

Blend 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, 3 of tomato ketchup, 6 oz of frozen orange juice concentrate, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt in the crockpot. Flour and fry chicken pieces and mix them into the sauce. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Serve with rice.

Chicken satay

A rich and tasty dish. Rich enough to be suited to small quantities, as a starter or side. Very easy though.

Fry a chopped onion, then chicken pieces until browned. Add a jar of satay sauce and simmer to let the flavors mingle. If you want extra richness, stir in a spoonful of peanut butter. If the sauce is smooth and you want a bit of crunch, crush a handful of roasted peanuts and add them in. Near the end, add some chopped red pepper.

Serve with rice or noodles.

Not for people with nut allergies!

Chicken jalfrezi

This is a recipe from the "food" website. Never tried it before, but it's definitely one to do again. It uses many of the same ingredients that I use in my regular curry, but in a different order. Most of the spices went in near the end which, I think, brought out a fresher flavor than usual. My only departure from the published recipe was to add some ground almonds at the end to thicken up the sauce.

Fry a chopped onion and garlic until soft. Add the chicken, a pinch of turmeric, and a teaspoon each of salt and chili powder. Fry until browned. Add a good quantity of chopped tomatoes - almost as much by weight as the chicken, and cook covered until the chicken is cooked through. Uncover and continue cooking to reduce the sauce. 5 to 10 minutes before serving, add a teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander, and 2 tablespoons each of grated ginger and chopped fresh coriander.

Paella

Simple version

I won't pretend this is in any way authentic, but we like it :)

Fry a chopped onion - you need a pan that you can cover for this dish. When the onion is soft, add a teaspoon of turmeric, then some rice and a teaspoon of salt. Stir it around then add stock or water. As with my usual rice recipe you want about 1 1/2 times as much water by volume as rice.

Bring to the boil. Add some diced white fish (we use cod fillets) and a cup or two of shrimp. Cover the pan and turn the heat down very low to cook for about 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile, fry either some diced chicken or sliced Hungarian sausage and set to one side. Fry a sliced red pepper, leaving it with some crunch. Stir these in just before serving.

Tastier version

This is a more authentic version that we tried recently and enjoyed.

Fry a chopped onion, a good amount of garlic, and chopped pepper until the onion is soft. Add three or four chopped tomatoes, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper and cook until the tomatoes start to mash down. Add a slosh of white wine and continue cooking.

Add the meat - I cook chicken and Hungarian sausage separately, it makes it easier to brown the sausage and to cut the chicken into small pieces before adding in. Stir in some chopped parsley then the rice. Cook for a minute then pour in some stock.

Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the rice is virtually cooked. Add seafood and peas and continue to cook.

Balti

This recipe follows the general guidelines in my general curry recipe, which you can find here.

In this case, I use onion, garlic, and a generous spoonful of chopped ginger, then my usual range of spices (a small amount of curry paste, dried coriander, curry powder, turmeric, and a generous amount of cumin. Add the meat, either chicken or lamb, then a couple of chopped tomatoes.

The special ingredient is a portion of Balti paste. You can get Balti sauce in jars, but I find it worth looking for the more concentrated paste, which gives a much better flavor. Follow the directions on the jar for quantity.

Stir in the paste, then add a drained can of chick peas, and simmer for about an hour.

Towards the end of cooking, stir in a dash of cream.

Serve with rice and Naan.

Mongolian beef

Another crock pot recipe from this site.

Mix the following ingredients into a slow cooker: 1/2 cup each of brown sugar, water, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce, a finely sliced onion, some green onions chopped, and a few cloves of garlic and a small cube of root ginger finely chopped.

Coat some bite-sized slices of beef in cornstarch, and fry briefly to brown. Add to the pot. Cook on low for about 4 hours.

General Tso's Chicken

This recipe came from a collection of crock pot recipes, and I was impressed with how it turned out.

Mix the following into your crock pot: 1/2 cup each of sugar, soy sauce, and pineapple juice, 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar, a few cloves of minced garlic, and a pinch of cayenne pepper and dried ginger.

Season a generous spoonful of cornstarch with salt and pepper, and coat chopped up pieces of chicken. Fry the chicken over a medium/high heat until browned and add to the crock pot.

Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. When done, the sauce should be thick. If not, thicken with a bit of cornstarch mixed with water.

When I cooked this, I had no dried ginger so I substituted a spoonful of pickled ginger finely chopped. I was also fairly generous with the cayenne. The result had quite a zing to it, OK for me but you may want to take it easy if you're not used to spicy food.

Chicken chasseur

This is our simple take on a famous dish.

Fry a chopped onion until soft, then brown some chicken pieces - breasts or thighs either on or off the bone, whatever takes your fancy. Fry some mushrooms - either whole if they're small, or cut into quarters. Place everything into a casserole dish along with some diced carrots and a drained can of Romano or white kidney beans. Pour in some stock - or we use a sachet of mushroom gravy for added flavor. Cover and put in the oven for an hour or so. This is a dish you can prepare and leave to cook long and slow.

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Stir fried rice

A special twist on rice to accompany any Chinese style dishes.

Cook plain long-grained white rice as per normal instructions. If we're having rice with something else, we'll sometimes do extra and set aside for a stir-fry later on in the week.

Crack open and lightly beat three or four eggs. Pour the eggs into a large frying pan with a little oil. Stir gently, spreading the eggs thinly over the pan until they start to cook. Allow them to cook in a thin sheet, then scrape up into  bowl and set aside. This is basically scrambled eggs, but rather than scrambling them to a light and fluffy mass, you want to end up with thin layers.

Prepare whatever "extras" you want to add to the rice. If you're cooking anything, like finely-diced pork, do this now in the same pan. We usually go for a handful each of shrimp, peas, and sweetcorn which only needs defrosting rather than actual cooking.

Add the rice to the pan and heat through. Season with salt and black pepper. Add the toppings and stir in, breaking up the eggs into smallish pieces.

Beef stroganoff

Although many of the recipes here mention beef, many of them involve ground beef and in practice we often substitute turkey. In a typical week we eat far more poultry and fish and very little red meat. However, this is one tasty meal we do enjoy that is unashamedly red and carnivorous!

Fry a chopped onion in a large saucepan. Add sliced steak - a reasonably good cut to make it tender, or just simmer for longer if using a cheaper cut. Once the meat is browned, add a spoonful of beef stock, a generous sprinkle of paprika, a squirt of tomato ketchup, and a good dash of brandy. Mix well and simmer for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the mix doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Near the end of the cooking time, stir in a dash of cream and continue cooking to thicken.

Separately, fry a sliced red pepper and some sliced mushrooms. You can add these in to the pan early on instead, but we like to do these separately and mix in at the last minute. They hold their individual crunch and flavor better that way.

Serve with rice and a nice Chianti  :)

Pork with apple and ginger

This is a dish we haven't done in a while. It used to be a regular before the kids came along, but not so much in recent years. Definitely something to do more often, because this evening it got scarfed down with relish!

Fry a finely-chopped onion. Add in a good measure of grated or finely-chopped ginger (anything up to 1" cubed, depending on how you like your ginger). Once the onion and ginger are softened, add a clove or two of chopped garlic and some pork loin chops. Turn them over until browned. Add a peeled and chopped apple, and enough apple juice to cover the ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer until the meat is tender. A few minutes before serving, thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch.

Serve with rice, fries, or mashed potatoes, and veg or salad.

Cajun chicken salad

A tasty spicy treat, especially for summer (which this isn't) or to serve as a starter.

Sprinkle some chicken pieces with Cajun spice mix and fry in olive oil & butter until cooked.

Make up your salad of choice. It's good to include some sweet ingredients such as dried cranberries or diced apple to offset the spice, and some slices of red onion also go well. A cool creamy dressing such as Ranch or Caesar is a good choice.

As a main course, serve with either potatoes - e.g. baked or fries - or rice or couscous.

Pilau rice

A rice dish to accompany curry.

Heat a spoonful of oil in a saucepan. Fry a few whole black peppercorns, cloves, and some slices of onion until the onion is golden. Stir in a teaspoon of turmeric, followed by basmati rice. Cook for a few seconds, and then add salt and water. In my experience you want roughly one-and-a-half times as much water as rice.

Bring to the boil, then cover and turn off the heat. Leave for 1/2 hour, then it is ready to serve.

This assumes cooking on an electric hob. Leave the pan on the ring after turning off the heat and there will be enough residual heat to steam the rice. If cooking on gas, once it's up to the boil turn the gas down low for 15 minutes then switch off for the remaining time. Do not lift the lid while cooking to keep the steam in. Just trust that the rice will come out perfectly cooked every time.

Curry

My wife and I are both curry fanatics. Here is a versatile curry recipe posted on my main blog a while ago. With variations in meat, spices, and liquids it yields a multitude of flavors.

Whatever you want curry
 

Salmon & rice

A really easy and tasty dish.

Place a layer of salmon fillets in a baking dish.
Mix equal measures of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup and spread over the salmon.
Bake at 380F for approx. 1/2 hour, until the salmon is cooked.

Serve with rice (or saute potatoes) and veg or salad.

Stir fry

Quick and easy, with flavor.

Fry up:
   Onions
   Meat of choice - usually chicken or prawns, maybe pork
   Finely-sliced veggies of choice - carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, pineapple
If using chicken or pork, make sure it's cooked through. If using prawns, leave them until last as they only take seconds.
Stir in a jar of sauce - sweet & sour, or ginger.

Serve with fried rice or noodles.