Spicy Chicken - MS Word document for downloading

I have given you the “correct” ingredients and method for Spicy Chicken below. Now I’ll give you the version I make, if I’m in a hurry.

To start with, I don’t have time to marinate the chicken for two hours, or peel, quarter and seed the plum tomatoes- a 400g can plum tomatoes is much quicker to open! Yes, you may need to thicken the sauce at the end of the cooking time, though. Sometimes, I don’t even pre-cook the onion and pepper. I put those in the bottom of the dish, the chicken on top, followed by the sauce. I do cook it for about 2 hours, as the Le Crueset casserole dishes do take time to heat up. Don’t forget to add a little sugar to the sauce if it is too “robust” for your taste.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes, (plus 2 hours to marinade for “correct” version).

Cooking time: 45minutes, plus, depending on the size of the chicken portions and casserole dish used.

It’s strange how things work out! When I was cooking the roast yesterday, I almost decided not to make the two casseroles I usually cook at the same time. As we have a very late night this Thursday, I did not have an after school meeting this evening. I thought I didn’t have a meeting on Tuesday either. Great! Read more »

Mediterranean Lamb - MS Word document for downloading

I love cooking with fresh herbs! This sauce in Mediterranean Lamb is lovely with fresh basil. This is one herb I have real difficulty in keeping alive and healthy, so I do substitute dried basil sometimes. I couldn’t get black olives for some reason, so substituted green ones. The black ones do provide a more pleasing colour contrast.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes Read more »

Tikka Masala - Ms Word document for downloading

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of my favourite meals.

Serves 4

It’s really simple and quick to prepare and cook. If you are well organised, you can pop the meat into the sauce overnight. I rarely manage that! It tastes really good even if you just mix it and pop it under the grill straight away.

Preparation time:
5 mins

Cooking time:
10-15 mins

I knew I was going to be really late home tonight. As I had four cookery practicals today, I knew I wouldn’t want to cook much this evening. I left the chicken pieces to thaw out in the fridge overnight, so I just had to put this altogether when I got home. Read more »

Chicken Curry - MS Word document for dowloading 

Serves 4 

You can make this as mild or as hot as you like. You can also use beef, lamb or pork if you prefer and adapt the cooking time accordingly.

I had expected to be home quite early tonight, in time to reheat this and make a Fresh Fruit Salad. As it was a really miserable morning, pouring with rain, I decided to put the curry in the oven, and set the automatic timer. I  had soaked the ingredients for a dried fruit salad overnight, so that it could cook at the same time as the curry and be ready for tomorrow, when I know I will be late home. I had this vision of being really relaxed, with  the cooking well under control!

It didn’t work out like that! An unexpected meeting meant that I was really late. How grateful I was for a little forward planning and a hot meal within minutes of getting home. We ate the dried fruit salad tonight, as well! By the way, read the label on the dried fruit salad packet. I was very surprised to see that the one I had been thinking of buying in one Health Food shop had sulphur in it as a preservative!

5 minutes pre-cooking preparation

1-2 hours to cook, depending on the size of chicken pieces used and the type of casserole dish. I usually use jumbo chicken legs and cook these in a covered Le Creuset casserole dish for two to two and a half hours on the bottom shelf of the oven, as I am cooking the Sunday roast. Store in the fridge, until ready to re heat. Allow one hour for this at 180C or Gas Mark 4. Read more »