This week's recipe was a ’20 Minute Meal’ from the Jamie Oliver iPhone application. I chose it for something quick after work, and whilst it took slightly longer than the 20 minutes promised, it was definitely easy to make, and I could probably get it made within 20 minutes with a bit of practice.
The Chicken was simple – chicken breast with lemon zest and thyme, stir fried for a few minutes. To this, I added a tomato relish, made up from tomatoes, spring onion, chilli, basil, red wine vinegar and olive oil. I was really pleased with the tomato relish as the flavours combined well, and when added to the lemon chicken it really came to life.
Finally the chicken was accompanied by some mashed potato – however the mash also had sweetcorn in it – something I’d never tried before but found incredibly tasty, as it added extra flavour and texture to the potatoes.
I was really pleased with this recipe overall, and it’s something I definitely will be making again. However, I also liked the individual components of the meal, and intend to use both the tomato relish and sweetcorn mash ideas for other recipes.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Week 17 – Pork Loin Steaks with Apple and Basil Sauce
I’d picked up a recipe card for Pork Loin Steaks with Apple and Basil Sauce in Waitrose. It looked good on the card, and I wanted to try it as it sounded a bit different.
The recipe was incredibly simple – pop the pork steaks under the grill, and whilst they were cooking make up the sauce in a blender by adding a chopped apple, some basil, chilli flakes and olive oil. Simple!
I had a quick taste of the sauce whilst waiting on the steaks to finish cooking, and while it didn’t taste awful, I wasn’t convinced I could eat a lot of it. However, I spooned it over the pork when it was ready, and proved myself right! I ended up having to give up on it completely and make some pasta. It’s hard to say exactly what was wrong, but I just didn’t enjoy the dish at all.
The recipe was incredibly simple – pop the pork steaks under the grill, and whilst they were cooking make up the sauce in a blender by adding a chopped apple, some basil, chilli flakes and olive oil. Simple!
I had a quick taste of the sauce whilst waiting on the steaks to finish cooking, and while it didn’t taste awful, I wasn’t convinced I could eat a lot of it. However, I spooned it over the pork when it was ready, and proved myself right! I ended up having to give up on it completely and make some pasta. It’s hard to say exactly what was wrong, but I just didn’t enjoy the dish at all.
Week 16 – Tagliatelle Carbonara and Chicken Cacciatore
It was Stephen’s birthday this week, and I wanted to cook him a nice celebratory dinner. His favourite dish is carbonara – something that I’ve never cooked before, and that I’m not a huge fan of myself so rarely eat. However, I decided to go ahead and give it a go anyway and one of the girls at work provided me with her recipe.
I was very nervous about cooking it, mainly because the recipe involved mixing raw egg yolks mixed with cream into the hot pasta, just enough to cook the sauce but not too much that the eggs scrambled. However, it looked like a normal carbonara when I served it up, and Stephen really enjoyed it – so much so that he wants me to cook it more often. Unfortunately my enthusiasm for it wasn’t quite so strong, and I ended up giving up half way through and munching on the garlic bread! As I said before, I wasn’t expecting this to be my favourite dish!
Since I’d missed out on cooking a new recipe the previous week, I wanted to make up for it and fit two recipes in. The second recipe of the week was Chicken Cacciatore. After the creamy naughtiness of the carbonara, I wanted something a bit healthier, and found a recipe for the Chicken Cacciatore is my Slimming World magazine.
The recipe came together well – chicken, some vegetables and bacon, all stir fried before being added to some tomatoes and simmered for a while. The end result was very tasty, and another one that I want to try again.
I was very nervous about cooking it, mainly because the recipe involved mixing raw egg yolks mixed with cream into the hot pasta, just enough to cook the sauce but not too much that the eggs scrambled. However, it looked like a normal carbonara when I served it up, and Stephen really enjoyed it – so much so that he wants me to cook it more often. Unfortunately my enthusiasm for it wasn’t quite so strong, and I ended up giving up half way through and munching on the garlic bread! As I said before, I wasn’t expecting this to be my favourite dish!
Since I’d missed out on cooking a new recipe the previous week, I wanted to make up for it and fit two recipes in. The second recipe of the week was Chicken Cacciatore. After the creamy naughtiness of the carbonara, I wanted something a bit healthier, and found a recipe for the Chicken Cacciatore is my Slimming World magazine.
The recipe came together well – chicken, some vegetables and bacon, all stir fried before being added to some tomatoes and simmered for a while. The end result was very tasty, and another one that I want to try again.
Week Fifteen - Nothing
Week 15 was the first week I didn’t manage to cook a new recipe, as I’d caught a nasty stomach bug, and didn’t have much of an appetite or the energy to cook. It was disappointing to have not quite made the challenge, but it couldn't be helped.
Week Fourteen - Sweet Chilli Chicken
I’m really late updating this time – but a few weeks ago, my recipe of the week was Sweet Chilli Chicken. This week was the beginning of a very busy time for me (hence the lack of updates) so I wanted something incredibly quick to make. I love my spicy food, and I’d seen this recipe in a slimming magazine.
This was probably the easiest recipe I’ve done so far – all that was required was mixing a few things together in a bowl (soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, crushed garlic and harissa for those who are interested), pouring this over some chicken breasts and then popping it in the oven for half an hour.
As I was making up the sweet chilli sauce, I wasn’t particularly hopeful as I really didn’t like the smell of the sauce. However, after it had cooked, that had completely changed, and the chicken was really good. This is now something I’ve cooked quite a few times since, and I’m really enjoying having discovered this recipe.
This was probably the easiest recipe I’ve done so far – all that was required was mixing a few things together in a bowl (soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, crushed garlic and harissa for those who are interested), pouring this over some chicken breasts and then popping it in the oven for half an hour.
As I was making up the sweet chilli sauce, I wasn’t particularly hopeful as I really didn’t like the smell of the sauce. However, after it had cooked, that had completely changed, and the chicken was really good. This is now something I’ve cooked quite a few times since, and I’m really enjoying having discovered this recipe.
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