Great marination for chicken:
chicken either whole, cut or fillets but keep skin on
olive oil a generous amount
salt (rock salt is possible) to taste
pepper about 1 tsp
1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp honey

Mix all of the above together and leave in the fridge for a few hours then cook either in the oven or on a BBQ.


Great marination for lamb or beef
you can use any type of lamb or beef, joint or cut pieces
olive oil a generous amount
rock salt and pepper to taste
6 garlic cloves with skin on
1 fresh lemon cut in chunks
3 tbsp ghee
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp basil
1/4 cup pomegranate juice

marinate all of the above in an oven dish an cook on slow heat about gas mark 4-5 until meat becomes very tender, can take up to 2 hours or longer depending on the type of meat being cooked. Enjoy with rice or naan.

CHICKEN JALFREZI

·         ½ a large onion, chopped

·         2 tsp crushed garlic

·         1 green chilli, chopped

·         1 tin plum tomatoes

·         Just under half pint of water

·         1 tbsp ground coriander

·         1 tbsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp turmeric
           1 tsp chilli powder

·         2 or 3 chicken breasts cubes

·         1 red pepper, chopped

·         ½ a large onion, sliced

·         2 red chillis (optional)

·         1 tsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp ground coriander

·         Salt to taste

·         2 tsp garam masala

·         A handful of fresh, chopped coriander leaves

Coat the chicken in the cumin, ground coriander and turmeric then leave to marinade in the fridge for at least two hours. To make the sauce, fry the roughly chopped onions with the garlic and green chilli in a large pan until browned. Add the water to the onion mixture and simmer for around 20 minutes. While that is simmering, put the plum tomatoes in a blender. Heat another large pan and gently fry the ground coriander, cumin and turmeric in a splash of oil for about a minute. Add the tomato ‘sauce’ to this pan and simmer for around 10 minutes. Next give your onion mix a blender and add it to the spiced tomato sauce. Give it a stir and simmer for 20 minutes. You can make large batches of this sauce and freeze it for later use. Fry the marinated chicken in oil and stir continuously. After a few minutes, turn down the heat and add the other half of the chopped onion, the red pepper and chilies. Stir until the onions and pepper soften. Add the earlier prepared sauce to the cooked chicken and simmer for around 10-20 minutes, add salt to taste and stir in the garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Serve with basmati rice or naan bread.

LEMON FISH

4 fish fillets ( any fish, can be done on whole fish also)

2 tsp ground cumin powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander powder

4 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp salt

olive oil to cook

Marinate and pan fry with a drizzle of olive oil for about 7 min on both sides and enjoy with salad, rice, vegetables or chips it totally up to you. Also nice on BBQ's.

CRUST-LESS VEGETABLE QUICHE

1 red pepper finely chopped

1/2 fresh broccoli roughly chopped

1 courgette sliced

4 spring onions chopped

6 beaten eggs

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp dries mix herbs

salt/pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheese

2 tbsp parsley to garnish

In a pan lightly cook the pepper, broccoli and courgette for about 6-8 min, add spring onion and set aside.In the beaten eggs add the garlic, herbs, sale/pepper and half the cheese.

In an oven dish add the veg and the beaten eggs, sprinkle the remaining cheese and parsley and bake for 30-35 min gas mark 4 or 180 degrees.

POTATO TOPPED FISH BAKE

1 lb potato peeled and sliced

1 lb any fish fillets cut into big chucks

300g of diced mix veg of your choice

1 bunch spring onion finely chopped

200ml fish stock

salt/pepper to taste

1 beaten egg

Cook potatoes in salted water for 8 min drain and set aside

 In an oven dish add everything leaving the potatoes and egg to last. Toss the ingredients in the dish then layer the potatoes on top the of mixture then brush with egg. 

bake for 30 min on gas mark 4 180 degree

RICH PASTA BAKE

Any pasta about half pack boiled

1 onion finely chopped

1 large carrot chopped

2 tsp crushed garlic

small pack button mushroom

1 lb mince beef, chicken or lamb

1 tin chopped tom

250 ml chicken  stock

1 tsp oregano 

salt/pepper to taste

hand full chopped parsley or basil

mozzarella cheese grated

Cook onion, carrot, garlic, mushrooms and mince in a non stick pot for about 6-7 min, add tomato, stock, oregano, salt/pepper and cook a further 20 min. Once cooked remove from the heat and add in parsley or basil.

In an oven dish spoon in half the mince and then all the pasta then the remaining mince, cover with cheese and bake for 30 min gas mark 4 or 180 degrees.

 BENEFITS OF HOT WATER WITH LEMON

Hot Lemon Water:

1. Boosts your immune system: Lemons are high in vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds.  They’re high in potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function. Potassium also helps control blood pressure.

2. Balances pH: Drink lemon water everyday and you’ll reduce your body’s overall acidity. Lemon is one of the most alkaline foods around. Yes, lemon has citric acid but it does not create acidity in the body once metabolized.

3. Helps with weight loss:   Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It also has been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet (see #2) lose weight faster.

4. Aids digestion:  Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials. It encourages the liver to produce bile which is an acid that required for digestion. Efficient digestion reduces heartburn and constipation.

5. Is a diuretic: Lemons increase the rate of urination in the body, which helps purify it. Toxins are, therefore, released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy.

6. Clears skin:  The vitamin C component helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood which helps keep skin clear as well. It can actually be applied directly to scars to help reduce their appearance.

7. Freshens breath: Not only this, but it can help relieve tooth pain and gingivitis. The citric acid can erode tooth enamel, so you should monitor this. I admit, I’m slightly worried about it.

8. Relieves respiratory problems: Warm lemon water helps get rid of chest infections and halt those pesky coughs. It’s thought to be helpful to people with asthma and allergies too.

9. Keeps you zen: Vitamin C is one of the first things depleted when you subject your mind and body to stress. As mentioned previously, lemons are chock full of vitamin C.

10. Helps kick the coffee habit:  After I have a glass of hot lemon water, I actually don’t crave coffee in the morning. This is weird, I can’t explain it, but I’ll take it.

http://lajollamom.com/2011/01/drink-warm-lemon-water-in-the-morning/

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

1 lb boneless chicken cut into cubes

2 med onion's sliced

1 tin button mushrooms or fresh

1 8 floz fresh cream

1 cube chicken stock in 1 pint water

salt/pepper to taste

1 block puff pastry or 2 rolled pastries

1 egg beaten

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp cornflour

Heat butter and fry onion's until light brown add chicken and cook well, add in mushrooms, in jug mix the stock water, fresh cream and cornflour and mix well, add to the chicken and salt and pepper to taste, cook for a while until sauce thickens, the consistency should not be too thick or too runny so add more cornflour if needed. Pour into a baking dish and set aside to cool.  Roll out your pastry until is it bigger then the size of the dish, trim the edges of the pastry and use these trimmings to put on the rim of the dish then place the pastry over the dish and press onto the rim, the trimmings should hold the main pastry to the dish, brush with egg and bake for 45 min or until golden brown on gas mark 5.

Eggplant Dish

1 large eggplant (Aubergine)

3 green chilli's cut in half

1 small bunch spring onion chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp turmeric

chopped coriander

oil

a few toothpicks

1 piece coal and i small piece of foil

First wash and brush the eggplant with oil and stick a few toothpicks into it half way and bake in the oven on high until soft. once cooked place in cold water and then peel off skin and mash in a bowel, heat up the coal on your cooker until you see it turn a little red then gray in colour. place foil in the center of the mashed eggplant and put the hot coal in it add 1 tbsp of oil on it and quickly cover with a tight dish so the smoke can't escape. leave for about half an hour for the smoke to get right into the eggplant . in a pot add 2 tbsp oil and fry the onions until little brown, add spring onions and the rest of the ingredients  Remove the foil and coal from eh eggplant and add it to the onions and mix well, cook for a while and then garnish with coriander. Enjoy with roti or naan.

Puff Pastry with Potato filling

Makes 16

1 box ready rolled puff pastry

1 large potato boiled and mashed

1 chicken fillet cut into small cubes

1/4 cup sweetcorn

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt to taste

crushed green chilli (optional)

1 beaten egg

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, once they start popping add the chicken and cook at the same time add sweetcorn, salt, chilli and lemon juice and cook until water from chicken has evaporated then add the smashed potato and mix well. leave aside to cool. Unroll the pastry and fold in half landscape way, open and cut along that line, then fold again landscape and cut the same way. You should have four long strips. Now fold these stripes one by one into half and cut and then half again and cut so you will end up with 16 rectangle shapes. place a tsp full of mixture int he center of the pastry and fold over and folk down, once all done brush with egg and bake in the oven 180 or gas mark 5 until golden on top.

These are great for kid's after school snack or for Ramadan.