Showing posts with label peppers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peppers. Show all posts

Monday 9 November 2015

Cous Cous

Lovely with lamb, steak, chicken or fishfingers (yes really!) or cold as a salad.

Five minutes prep, five minutes 'cooking'

Serves 4 (probably with leftovers for lunch)

Finely chop about 3 spring onions and a couple of peppers (I usually use one red, one yellow).

Add a stock cube to 250 mls of boiling water (whatever kind suits what you are having with it)

Put 200g of cous cous in a warmed pan, stir in stock and put the lid on for a minute with the heat on. Turn heat off, stir in peppers and spring onions and put lid back on for four minutes.

Stir in a bit of olive oil and some lemon juice (about 2-3 tsps of each)

And that's it!

If you do not have any spring onions, finely chop a small onion, but soften it in a little bit of the oil in the pan before adding anything else.

I sometimes use a seasoned/flavoured oil eg chilli oil - very tasty!


You might also like:


Roast Red Pepper Sauce


Stuffed Pepppers

Ribbon Salad

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Spicy Golden Chicken Rice


Chicken Kebabs


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas




Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Spicy Golden Rice and Chicken

Quick and tasty. Serves 4 (probably with leftovers)


This mildly spicy rice can make a small amount of chicken go a long way - one or two breasts or two or three thighs will seem like loads


Chop the chicken into small pieces and gently cook in small amount of oil or butter/spread in a pan for a few minutes until all white on the outside. (As it will continue cooking, you don't need worry about whether it is still pink in the middle.)

Add one or two finely chopped onions, some crushed garlic (up to about half a bulb according to how garlicy you like things) and some chopped peppers (I usually add a red and a green one to contrast the colours a bit) and cook gently until they are softened.

Then add the spices:

3 tsps ground coriander

2.5 tsps ground cumin

1.5 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika 

1tsp cayenne pepper 


(you can vary the amount of paprika and cayenne if you prefer it milder or spicier, eg 1.5 paprika and just half cayenne will be milder) 

Stir the spices through on a gentle heat for a couple of minutes and then add 8 oz of rice (I usually use basmati), stir to coat the rice and then add 15 fl oz of boiling water and one or two tablespoons of lemon juice. (You can also add half or a whole chicken stock cube if you like, especially if you are using less chicken).

(If I want to make sure of leftovers for lunch the next day I usually add 10 oz of rice and just under a pint of boiling water)

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and leave with a lid on for 5 minutes. Stir well and put the lid back on for another 2-3 mins, and check and stir again and repeat. When the rice is soft and the liquid all absorbed it is ready (Usually about 10-15 mins total cooking time for the rice)

It tastes great as is, but serving with some yoghurt (plain or greek) really enhances it.


1tsp = 5ml
1tbsp = 15ml

15 fl oz is about 425 mls


You might also like

Rice with chorizo, prawns/chicken

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken and Bacon Casserole





Things to have with Poppadoms
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Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Saturday 14 December 2013

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

This is a really simple to prepare dish that tastes like you have worked hard in the kitchen all day


Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Serves four

Gently soften two chopped onions, one or two chopped green peppers and three or four cloves of crushed garlic in a teaspoon of olive oil for a few minutes, then take out of the pan.

Add another teaspoon of olive oil, then lightly fry about a pound of chicken (breast or thigh) chopped into pieces and about six slices of chopped up bacon (I prefer smoked) for a few minutes.

Sprinkle on about an ounce of flour (a big heaped spoon) and one or two teaspoons of paprika, and stir for a couple of minutes.

Then stir in (starting slowly) about a pint of liquid (at least half white wine, the rest water) and put the onions, pepper and garlic back in, with some black pepper. (You can add in a half a chicken stock cube if you like, but the bacon is already quite salty.)

You can either simmer this gently for about three-quarters of an hour, or put it in the oven (200c/GM6) for about the same length of time.

If you are feeling indulgent and have some, you can stir in a splosh of cream before serving, but it still tastes great without.

Serve it with rice, baked potatoes or crusty bread.

Other recipes you might like

Beef in Beer

Chicken Kebabs

Potato and Bacon Soup

Chicken, chorizo and prawn rice

Chilli Beef Stew

Stuffed Peppers



1 ounce is about 25g

a pint is about 450mls

1 teaspoon is about 5mls




For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas



Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Wednesday 20 November 2013

'Home-made' pizzas

A bit of a 'cheat' tea

Assembles in 5-10 mins while the oven heats and cooks in about 10.

Spread ready made pizza bases with tomato purée.

(I also make using toasted stotties or breadbuns, but under the grill)

Rip a few basil leaves (I have a supermarket pot from a meal a few weeks ago still growing on the windowsill, but a light sprinkle of dried basil or oregano would be okay) and grind some black pepper over.

Add some veg like frozen sweeetcorn, sliced mushrooms or some chopped peppers (or whatever you have and like)

If you want meat, add on a few thin strips of cooked meat eg sandwich ham, salami or left-overs like chicken or chorizo from another meal, or a sliced stick of peperami ...

Add a bit of cheese to the top, mozzarella if I have planned ahead and bought some, or cheddar or whatever is lurking in the fridge if I am just throwing it together.

Put in the oven according to the pizza base instructions (typically 10 mins) or if using buns just grill until the cheese has melted.


Although it takes longer to prep, this is quite a nice thing to make with kids, who love getting involved. (Tea may be later, but it's a good opportunity to hear about their day while working side-by-side)

If you don't want to use or don't have a ready-made base, as an alternative to making your own dough or a scone base, you can also half and lightly toast bread buns, muffins, stotties... before adding the topping.

(The sauce I use for spaghetti and meatballs can also be used on pizzas.)

Other meals with fresh basil

Other meals with mozzarella



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas




Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Thursday 7 November 2013

Rice with chorizo and prawns (sometimes also with chicken)

Not really a risotto or a paella, but v tasty.

This serves three to four hungry people sometimes with leftovers for lunch the next day.

Takes twenty to thirty mins, depending on how fast you chop.

Quantities of meat and veg up to you, be as economical or indulgent as you like to make what you have go round.

(If you are using chicken chop it into small pieces and cook it before you add in the onions)

Chop an onion or two (depending on size) soften in a big pan with a tiny bit of butter/spread/oil, stirring on a gentle heat.

While onion is softening, chop some peppers  (I usually do one and a half to two, but whatever you have to hand and your own taste) and add to the pan to soften too, stirring.

Boil the kettle. Weigh out rice (about 8 ozs. I usually use basmati, but it doesn't really matter) and stir it into the pan.

Add about 15 fl oz to a pint of boiling water (just to cover) and add some oregano, black pepper and a stock cube (chicken or veg, I usually just add a half,, you probably won't need one at all if you are using a fair bit of chorizo) while bringing back to the boil.

Give it a good stir, lower the heat and stick a lid on for about five minutes while you chop the chorizo into chunks. (You can use a pack of sliced, but I think the cooked sausage ones are better value)

Take the lid off, give it a good stir, especially making sure it isn't sticking to the bottom. (If there's not much liquid left, you might need to add a little more, but beware too much especially  if you are adding frozen stuff in a few minutes)

Add the chorizo, stir and put the lid back on for 2-3 mins.

Check it, if the rice is just about cooked through, add in some prawns (frozen is fine, just they will add more liquid and it'll be saltier than if they are defrosted and drained) and any frozen veg you fancy; sweetcorn, peas, green beans.

Another good stir and cook for another couple of mins until prawns and veg hot through. (Usually with lid back on, but if it is looking a bit wet, leave it off and keep stirring)

Eat!

(8ozs is aprox 250g, 15 fl oz is about 400mls)


You might also like:

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Mushroom Rice

Spicy Prawn Salad

Chicken Kebabs


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas





Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )