Roasted Spicy Potatoes Carol’sWay

45OG X PEELED POTATOES CHOPPED INTO CHUNKS

SPICES

1/2 TSP X MEDIUM CURRY POWDER

1/2 TSP X PAPRIKA POWDER

1/2 TSP X CUMIN POWDER

1/4TSP  X CHILLI POWDER

1/4TSP  X CORRIANDER POWDER

3 TBSP X  VEG OIL

SALT

OVEN TEMP 220C/425F/GAS MARK 7

Place potatoes in a pan and cover with water, bring to the boil turn down the heat, simmer for ten minutes drain water from potatoes and put to one side.

Pre-heat oven

Mix the spices with 2 tbsp of the oil, put the spice mixture in a wide frying pan and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes stirring, now add the potatoes and  stir gently till the potatoes are evenly coated with all the spice mixture. Heat the rest of the oil in a roasting tray till hot enough that the potato sizzles (try one chunk of potato, if hot enough add the rest) place in the oven and roast for around 1 hour turn potatoes half way through cooking time and cook until crispy.  

This is nice with my spicy chicken

Why not try doing your own naan bread, You know you want to.( recipe to follow)

Carol’s Honey & Lemon Sauce

On my sister Viv’s return from her adventures in Germany before Christmas she brought me a bottle of Mead, instead of me saying “thank you”, my mouth went in a different direction and said “Oh I don’t like mead”  anyway one night after a few glasses of wine I thought I would try it,  as I tried to get the cork out with the cork screw I realised it was a screw top, obviously had to many wines already, so now I had a hole in the top, after a few days I decided to try to do justice to the mead by simmering the whole bottle till it became a syrup this took about an hour and a half ,as soon as it began to bubble up I took it off the heat. I used half of it in my zingy lemon cheese cake instead of honey and the other half in the lemon and honey sauce (using it to replace the honey) nothing is ever easy in my kitchen.

250g    x lemon curd

2 tblsp x honey ( or get Viv to bring you a bottle of mead back on her next expedition)

100ml x  medium white wine

2 tblsp x caster sugar

2          x cardamom pods

½ tsp   x vanilla extract

The juice -and zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of allspice

Place all the ingredients into a pan mix well and simmer until reduced to a thick sauce pour through a sieve and allow to cool and then pour over  Carol’s lemon zingy cheese cake    

Enjoy  “you know you want to”

Carol's Zingy Lemon Cheesecake

Last year I went to visit my sister in Gambia, she asked if I had a recipe for a cheese cake that would last for a few days without collapsing, this is the recipe I came up with, ideal because she has a lemon tree in the garden which I thought were limes because they were green. I started to make the cheese cake as I would do at home whisking the cream till it peaks and so on, this way of making cheesecake in Gambia is all wrong because of the heat, in desperation I put everything in a blender and hoped for the best. wow it was delicious  

If you prefer not to use gelatine replace the caster sugar with the same amount of icing sugar  

base

100g    x butter

150g    x digestive biscuits

 90g     x shortbread biscuits

50g      x demerara sugar

1/2tsp  x ground ginger

Put the butter in a pan and heat gently till melted, put the rest of the base ingredients in a blender, blend on full power till a fine crumb add to the melted butter and mix well, put biscuit mix into a 23cm wide loose bottom cake tin with a spoon press the mixture down until it is flat and even put into the fridge for around 30 minutes to firm up.Now make the filling as follows :-

filling

600g x phillidelphia cream cheese

300g x lemon curd

1 x tbsp honey (optional)

200g x caster sugar

juice and zest of 3 x lemons

300ml double cream

2 x tsp vanilla extract

Gelatine

Using a blender start with the cream cheese and lemon curd and honey blend together till smooth, and add the rest of the filling ingredients and blend till creamy, put the filling ingredients into a bowl leave to one side while you prepare the gelatine.

For this recipe I used fine leaf gelatine what ever you use follow the packets instructions

When the gelatine is ready to use, add to the filling mixture and stir well making sure it is mixed in thoroughly, pour the filling mixture onto the biscuit base and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours. I put it in the freezer for an hour then the fridge

GO ON ENJOY YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO

                                            Lemon and honey sauce to follow

Carol's Spicey Chicken

3 X TBSP VEGATABLE OIL

1 X CHICKEN CUT INTO 8-10 PIECES SKINNED AND TRIMMED

1 X ONION FINELY DICED

2 X GARLIC CLOVES FINELY CHOPPED OR CRUSHED

1 X 1/2INCH OF GINGER FINELY CHOPPED OR GRATED

4 X GREEN CARDAMONS

1 X STAR ANISE

1 X 2 INCH STICK CINNAMON

1 X TSP CUMIN POWDER

1 X TSP TURMERIC POWDER

1 X TSP CORRIANDER POWDER

1 X TBSP MEDIUM CURRY POWDER

1 X TSP GARAM MASSALA POWDER

1 X ¼ TSP CHILLI POWDER

1 X 400G CHOPPED TOMATOES TINNED OR FRESH

2 X 75G SACHETS OF CREAMED COCONUT

500ML X GOOD CHICKEN STOCK

150 X ML GREEK YOGHURT

HANDFULL OF FRESH CHOPPED CORRIANDER

Heat oil in a large frying pan and seal the chicken pieces a few at a time, transfer to a large pan, carry on using the frying pan by adding the onions, ginger and garlic cook gently for around 5 minutes stirring all the time

Add the cardamoms, star anise and cinnamon cook and stir for a further 2 minutes then add the rest of the powdered spices. ADD A LITTLE EXTRA OIL cook gently for 10 minutes stirring as you go

Add creamed coconut and tomatoes cook for 2 minutes add chicken stock stir well then transfer to the chicken pan simmer for 1 hour.

Add yoghurt and fresh coriander just before serving

If you decide to do this with a full chicken why not do your own chicken stock, yes you know you want to.  

Carol's cullen skink

                                   

1Kg           UNDYED SMOKED HADDOCK OR A MIXTURE OF HALF AND HALF WITH ANY WHITE FISH

23O ML     FISH STOCK MADE UP WITH 2 FISH STOCK CUBES

25 G          BUTTER  

1              ONION FINELY CHOPPED

500 G        POTATOES DICED

600 ML      MILK

1              STICK CELERY CHOPPED IN HALF

4              WHITE PEEPERCORNS

2              BAY LEAF

2              EGG YOKES

100 ML     DOUBLE CREAM

50 ML      GREEK YOGHURT

1/2           TSP DRIED DILL

SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

Place fish in a shallow pan cover with stock and gently simmer for around 4 minutes, remove fish from the pan, strain the stock and reserve. Leave the fish to cool down meanwhile melt the butter in a large heavy based pan add the onion and potato cook gently for 15 minutes then add the stock, milk, celery, peppercorns and bay leaf. cook gently for a further 20 minutes till the potatoes are soft. Flake the fish  remove skin and bones  this may take a while but it is worth it.

When potatoes are soft Remove celery, peppercorns and bay leaf from mixture and discard.

Blend half of the potato mixture till smooth or put through a sieve, return back to the pan and add the flaked fish, stir and heat gently till simmering.  

Mix together egg yolks double cream and yoghurt add to the soup with the dill, stir till heated through DO NOT BOIL or the soup will curdle. Add salt and pepper to taste serve with warm crusty bread.

The first time I tasted Cullen Skink was in a pub in Lancaster around 15 years ago it was a big chunky soup delicious on a cold day a meal in itself.

This is my version of Cullen skink.

I hope you enjoy this recipe 

About me

Being a working woman I only have a small amount of time to enjoy, and one thing I enjoy is cooking. So I thought I would share my recipes with everyone.I'll post a new recipe on here whenever I can.