Easy Leftover Turkey Curry - The Best Recipe

There are many different leftover turkey curry recipes but it has to be said my latest invention, in our opinion, is one of the best.  Make a simple spice paste of onions, ginger, garlic and chillies.  Fry gently along with cumin, ground coriander, garam masala and throw in a cinnamon stick.  Add coconut milk, tomatoes and soft brown sugar and a little chicken stock and cook till done - continue reading for the full recipe.

Slightly sweet tasting yet very nicely spiced.  Of course you can make this with leftover chicken too.

Giveaway - Ingredients for Boeuf Bourguignon in a Box

Boeuf Bourguignon, the perfect dish for cold and dreary nights.  I've kindly been sent the ingredients (supplied by Forman and Field) to make Marco Pierre White's recipe created for Knorr.  They also have a box for me to giveaway which will be won by one lucky reader.  

In the past 18 months or so I've been sent some fantastic seasonal boxes supplied by Forman and Field containing the ingredients to make recipes by Knorr.

Chilli Beef Lettuce Wraps - Finger Food at it's Best

Who's been watching Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course?  Weeknights on Channel 4 at 5pm?  A fantastic show!  Everything he's made so far I want to make too.

  Spicy chilli beef served wrapped in gem lettuce with a lovely dipping sauce.

 Absolutely delicious and very easy to make - finger food at it's best.

Picadillo - Mexican Fruity Chilli

Okay I know this sounds a bit odd, regular chilli made with the usual minced meat, but with the addition of banana, apples and raisins?..... 

 However, if you saw Thomasina Miers cooking this on her TV series 'Mexican Food made Simple' on Channel 5 then I'm pretty sure you'd want to make it too.  It was totally delicious, very hot but the heat is nicely balanced with the sweetness from the raisins.  Yes I will make this again and again.

Search for a Connoisseur of Beer and Food

The nation’s biggest food and beer pairing competition ever!
To launch the new Connoisseur’s Choice range of premium beers, Sharp's Brewery have teamed up with three of the UK’s most inspiring chefs to search for a true connoisseur of beer and food.

  The Connoisseurs Choice 2011 range offers drinkers three unique beers: 

   Single Brew 4.5% AVB
Mid golden in colour with a fresh, herbal citrus aroma and a clean, refreshing finish, the beer is excellent when paired with light white fish dishes or as an aperitif.

Honey Spice Triple 10% AVB
A specialist Trappist yeast is used, giving the beer a wonderful tartness and a long dry finish. This beer could be matched with desserts featuring banana or toffee or a creamy goats cheese dish.

Quadrupel Ale 10% AVB
This dark ruby beer is full and warming with a wonderful fruit aroma and intense bittersweet flavour. Quadrupel Ale could work really well with dark chocolate, fruit flavours or strong cheese and is an excellent alternative to a dessert wine.

The Prize:

Our three chefs will each choose their favourite dish and beer pairing. The three finalists will receive a day of mentoring with the chef that chooses their dish; a unique opportunity to hone your skills with one of the UK’s finest!
The three finalists will then compete in a ‘cook-off’ to be held at The Seafood School in Padstow, Cornwall, after which one winner will be crowned ‘Sharp’s Connoisseur for 2012’!

As our ‘Sharp’s Connoisseur’, you’ll be provided with exclusive first tastes of any new beers released during your winning period, a meal for two at your chef-mentor’s restaurant, a private tour of the brewery and beer tasting plus a night’s accommodation for two in Cornwall.

The Competition:

With the help of Nathan Outlaw, Jack Stein and Alyn Williams, we’re on the search to find the UK’s ultimate beer and food connoisseur.
Watch the videos starring our celebrity chefs to discover how they’ve paired quality food with each of the three beers, and then enter the competition to create a dish yourself.
Choose your beer, try the range (or read the tasting notes), then create a dish that you believe will go perfectly with your chosen ale. Name your dish, list your ingredients and describe your method, then tell us about your dish. For bonus points, take a picture of your dish or submit a video of you preparing it (the more entertaining the better!)
 The competition is now open over at FaceBook until 15th September 2012

Baked Eggs with Leftover Chilli and Tortilla Wraps

Ever made too much Chilli con Carne and then wondered what to do with the rest?  I always make too much and have come up with all manner of things to do with it!  

 You can stretch it out further by adding a few other tasty bits and bobs, such as tomato, spring onion, jalapeno peppers and cheese - you must have cheese!  This particular concoction of mine even uses up the odd tortilla wrap you might have floating about somewhere too!

Please note the serving dish you use must be able to go into the oven.

Slow Cooker Recipe - Beef in Guinness

This will do the trick on a cold winters day!   Meltingly tender beef slow cooked in Guinness with shallots, carrots, celery and other nice things.  Once it's all in the slow cooker you can forget about it and the house will smell delicious. 

     This recipe makes enough to easily serve 6 to 8 people and can be frozen.  Just serve with a dollop of mash, a jacket potato or just some nice crusty bread!

Steak and Kidney Pie with Black Sheep Ale

Yesterday I felt the need (as you do) to make steak and kidney pie with ale.  Now, you either like kidneys or you don't - simple.  If you don't like them don't put them in and you'll still have a delicious steak pie.

My addition of Black Sheep Ale in this I think really made it something special.  The gravy (even though there was only a relatively small amount) tasted good - really good.

 Once again - not the best of pictures but I can't be letting my dinner get cold just to take a picture - blog or no blog sorry!  Trying to take a picture of something that's steaming hot is near on impossible.

Lambs kidney's don't take very long to cook at all so having read a recipe by Gordon Ramsay and found he adds them in at the end I did the same - what a marvelous idea!

You can use Ox kidney but as I understand it they take longer to cook so you will need to add them into the casserole along with the meat as you would normally.  

Anyway, on with the recipe....

Not Quite Jamie Oliver's Elvis Burger

I say not quite Jamie's Elvis Burger for two reasons:

  The first because I thought they sounded way too massive at 250g (9oz) each (and that's coming from a quite a greedy person).  I'm sure I've missed the point of it being called an Elvis burger because mine were smaller.

The second reason for my burgers being 'not quite Elvis' is because having used half the beef that Jamie did to make 4 burgers, I still used the same amount of spices and mustard etc.

    Result - excellent!

They tasted really good and I'll be making these again!
My picture isn't too amazing but you get the gist.

Not Just a Minced Beef and Onion Pie

Do you ever feel the need to eat mashed potatoes - or is it just me?

Mash is nice at any time I think.  But in order to be fed properly you need something to go with it, so of course.....Pie springs to mind - well my mind anyway!

  Scrummy yummy flaky puff pastry.  Inside?  Minced beef, red wine, onions, peas, oregano, rosemary, Colman's mustard, and..... 

Brie and Bacon Burgers

 Homemade, nice fat juicy burgers topped with bacon and Brie.

Ideal for the nice BBQ weather we've been having!

Beef in Black Bean Sauce with Green Peppers

Beef in Black Bean Sauce, just like the Chinese takeaway. No sorry, I'll rephrase that, better than the takeaway!  All freshly cooked, what can be better?

 I first raved on about this over a year ago, but as it's so good I'm posting it again.  Fermented Black beans are usually preserved in ginger and salt, they will need rinsing and soaking before use.  You can buy them from my online shop.

Beef, Ale and Barley Stew with a Mustard Suet Crust

Just the thing for cold weather, a rich beef, ale and barley stew topped with a mustard suet crust. 

You could of course, easily make this into a pie - I was just trying to be fancy!

Nice and Spicy Beef Curry - Gordon Ramsay

 Nice steaming hot beef curry, but it's only going to be good if the beef is so tender that it melts in your mouth.

Having made this I think it would actually work in a slow cooker.  Just follow the recipe up until the lid goes on and it cooks on the stove top for 3 hours or so. Cooked in a slow cooker I would imagine it would have to be on 7 or 8 hours.

 Once again another bad picture due to the flash having to be used - am not very happy, but what to do?!

Fiorelli Pasta Bake

 Saucy, cheesy, meaty goodness, just the thing served with a nice salad and a glass or two of wine (of course).

 Fiorelli pasta can be found (in the UK) in Marks and Spencer.  I'm sure you can buy it elsewhere although I can't say I've seen it.

Beef Rendang

This is a Rick Stein recipe from his book Far Eastern Odyssey. There are many versions of Beef Rendang and this is more of a Malaysian 'wetter' version of the Indonesian dry rendang.

 I'd never had Rendang before and have wanted to make it for ages.  It does seem a bit of a faff, but it is worth it as it really is rather very yummy indeedy.

Aunt Doreen's Corned Beef and Baked Bean Pie

When I was a kid I was a VERY fussy eater, a bit strange seeing as I can now eat for England.  Always hungry am I and I'll now eat 'almost' anything going!

My mate Jacky's mum Doreen used to make corned beef and baked bean pie and I would eat that - I loved it.  

 So, when I went I sometimes stayed over night and me and Jacky would chat all night long - we hardly slept at all!

Jan's Beef and Red Onion Burgers

Burgers with loads of red onion and a nice heat from the cayenne pepper - served with whatever takes your fancy.  

But the law says you just have to top your burger with cheese if you do nothing else.

Cheese melting on top of the burger with a big dollop of American yellow mustard.....

Steak, Potato and Onion Hash - Gastropub

I know I'm always on about Marks and Spencer food, but when 
I'm filling up the fridges at work with all their lovely food, I think to myself, 
I could make that!

 Now, this idea came from their 'Gastropub' range. 
I added tomatoes to mine, why? because I like them! 
Topped with crispy crunchy potatoes that have underneath soaked up the lovely sauce, the result was one good and tasty meal!

Jan's Spaghetti Bolognaise

This is my version of spaghetti bolognaise (bolognese) or Spag Bol.  

Although it's really simple to make it isn't a 10 minute job......all good things are worth waiting for and all that!

Far better than those jars of ready made sauce that all seem to be the same colour whatever brand you look at.  With red wine and herbs, with extra garlic, without garlic, original, traditional - they're all the same colour!

If you're fussed that it takes too long why not make double the amount and freeze it - dinner another day will then be sorted as quick as you like.