cooking tips #4

Cooking Tips

(Cheap and Easy)

Number 4

Leftover Chicken or Turkey Curry

 Cheap with store cupboard stuff.

Makes a change from chicken and chips, chicken sandwiches

or to stop you throwing a half eaten roast bird away. 

Cooking time 40 minutes.

Introduction

This is an occasional blog post to hopefully give you readers, simple, tested cooking ideas. I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs. Most of these posts will not be full recipes but just to show you how to do the basics right. I have tried different techniques by TV and Book Chefs that promised the perfect so and so, sadly most of them do not work. Below I will show the ones that worked. All these tips have been used a minimum of 10 times with constant results. I hope you find these useful. So here goes........

Ingredients

• Teaspoon olive oil (or vegetable oil) 
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 3 Tablespoons of Mild curry powder. If using Hot curry powder you might want to reduce the number of tablespoons.
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 cube chicken stock, you know OXO etc
• 1 can of water, this means when you use the tomatoes, fill the tin with water
• 450g of leftover chicken or turkey, if you got less then put in what you have left. Just cut it into smallish pieces. 

Ingredients

 Equipment

• Large saucepan or deep sided frying pan (as in photos)

 Lets Cook

Heat the oil in the pan to a medium heat and add the chopped onions, let them sweat for a few minutes. Once becoming soft then add the garlic. Cook for a few minutes more. 

Sweating down

 Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, crushed stock cube and curry powder, then mix in well.

Stuff added, now mix with spoon

Now fill the empty tomato tin with cold water and pour in and mix again.

Next add the chopped chicken or turkey and stir in. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. 

boiling, now about to be turned down to a simmer

After 30 minutes the 'sauce' should have thickened up a lot. It is now ready to serve with rice or whatever you fancy.

With rice, trust me its lovely

Notes

If you have leftover chicken or turkey and do not fancy this the next day then just cook this. Let it cool, put in containers and freeze for a later date. That is a great way to save money and waste.

With a half of a chicken left after a roast, this recipe will provide 2 more meals for 2 people at a cost of less than £1 per person. 

Written by Gerry.

cooking tips #3

Cooking Tips

(Cheap and Easy)

Number 3

Perfect Roast Potatoes

  Crispy and fluffy every time.

Introduction

This is an occasional blog post to hopefully give you readers, simple, tested cooking ideas. I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs. Most of these posts will not be full recipes but just to show you how to do the basics right. I have tried different techniques by TV and Book Chefs that promised the perfect so and so, sadly most of them do not work. Below I will show the ones that worked. All these tips have been used a minimum of 10 times with constant results. I hope you find these useful. So here goes........

 Ingredients

• Potatoes. Any type will work but the bigger the better. Not new potatoes though.
• Salt 
• Vegetable oil

Equipment

• Large saucepan
• Deep sided roasting pan
• Collender

Prepare and cook time 

• 30 to 1 hour depends on amount of potatoes and size

 Lets Cook

First of all. Peel the potatoes all about the same size or cut in half to make same size and place in cold water until ready.

Peeled spuds, nearly all the same size in cold water.

Full the kettle up to maximum level and boil the water. Empty the cold water out and put the peeled potatoes into the saucepan. Sprinkle with some salt. While the kettle is boiling, Heat your oven to 200C, 400F, Gas 6. Then get your roasting pan and pour about 1cm of vegetable oil in and place on the shelf just one down from the top shelf of the oven. When the water has boiled, pour over the potatoes so they are covered. Bring to boil on the hob and then simmer until they are 'parboiled'. In this case if the outside of the potatoes feel soft when you push a knife end in and feels harder nearer the inside. Once that is done, drain the potatoes into a collender. Let all the water drain out.

Potatoes, Parboiled and drained.

Return to the empty saucepan and place the lid on. Now gently shake holding the lid. Have a look and if the potatoes look 'rough' on the outside, then that is enough, if not shake a bit more. 

Potatoes shaken and ready for roasting.

Once happy. Take the now hot roasting pan out the oven and then with a tablespoon place the potatoes in the oil. Once done, spoon the oil over the potatoes to cover them.

Potatoes in with hot oil and oil spooned over.

 Then return to oven. Now keep an eye on them, when the they look like they are turning more yellow on the top. Take them out and with a spoon turn them over. Your should see on the underneath them looking a light brown. Then spoon over some of the oil on the turned potatoes.

Potatoes Half way. Turned over and spooned with oil, now back in oven.

 Again check after a little while and when they look light brown on both sides they are done. Remove from oil and on to a plate. You hopefully should have crispy and fluffy roast potatoes. No need for duck or goose fat.

All done ready to serve.

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 Please comment. Would love your feedback.

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Written by Gerry, version 2.0.Photos added