Anyone handy in the kicthen got an idea?

[Disaster]

On what I can cook for my special lady tonight for her birthday dinner?

 

I am restricted to electric hobs and a microwave as the landlord doesn't seem to want to fix the oven.

 

I'm not bad at rustling up a "Lovely plate of food", what do we reckon?

 

cheers!

[saundersmatt]

I'd be looking of doing homemade chinese with just hobs.

 

Prawn toast, egg fried rice, crispy shredded beef and a stir fry (it's always a winner in my house).

 

Matt

[IrritableTech]

Curry is always a winner with my fiancée. However the chorizo and spinach risotto went down a treat last night... Both hob only.

[Disaster]

Cheers for that. But as Chinese is her favourite food, this could go either way - but more likely the not good enough way! Plus we wnt for an all you can eat on Saturday.

But will probably knock the above up for myself as you've pretty much nailed my favourite chinese there.

[Disaster]

Curry is always a winner with my fiancée. However the chorizo and spinach risotto went down a treat last night... Both hob only.

Very interesting! Will look into this

[sippo]

Dine in for £10 at Marks and Spencer. Job done.

[Disaster]

Dine in for £10 at Marks and Spencer. Job done.

To be fair, that's not a bad shout! Especially as I can't get cooking til about 8pm

[bossman]

Indian: Homemade

 

Rogan Josh (Lamb, Beef or Chicken):

Serves 4 – 6 persons

Ingredients:

3 tsp lemon Juice (fresh if possible)

25ml (one cup) Natural Yogurt

2 tsp salt (Sea Salt ground if possible)

1 tsp Sugar

3 Garlic cloves crushed or finely chopped

2.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger

2lb Lamb cubed (Remember the cheaper the cut the longer the cooking)

6 tbsp Cooking oil

Half a tsp of cumin seeds

2 Bay Leaves

4 Green cardamom pods

4 onions finely chopped

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 tsp tomato puree (paste)

150 ml water

 

Method:

1. Mix Lemon juice, Yogurt, salt, sugar, half the crushed or chopped garlic and the ginger in a large bowl, add the cubed lamb and marinate overnight.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the cumin seeds, fry for a couple of minutes then add the cardamom pods and bay leaves, fry for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin and chilli powder, fry for 2 minutes more.

4. Add the marinated

5. lamb to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent mixture from sticking to the base of the pan and burning.

6. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato puree and water. Cover and simmer for around an hour to one hour and a half, garnish with toasted cumin seeds and serve with plain boiled rice.

 

You probably won't require starters as this dish when served with chapatis and keema or ordinary nan bread will fill your partner up to the gills.

Serve with a nice full bodied red wine and your all set.

 

Have a good evening

[glennda]

Pan Fried Cod with Balsamic Vine Tomatoes and New Potatoes!

 

New Pots can either be Boiled or those Microwaved packs.

 

Get a frying pan and heat it up hot - get some Vine cherry tomatoes and place them in a frying pan and pour in balsamic vinegar and leave for 4/5 mins.

 

And then pan fry a couple of bits of cod - if using cod loin cook it in butter and spoon it over!

[AMLinington]

Buy a slow cooker from Asda and do Steak and Guinness pie: Fabric and Findings: Adventures in Crafting: Slow Cooker Recipes: Part 1

 

This is my blog so that is my recipe and it works flawlessly every time. You could serve it up without the pastry with a baked potato and some steamed green beans. :-)

 

Edited to add - if you prep the night before and leave it going all day, it'll pretty much be ready when you get home.

 

I also have a lovely Flambe steak recipe that is SO good. I haven't blogged it yet but it's lush.

Edited July 16, 2012 by AMLinington

[mac_shinobi]

But as Chinese is her favourite food, this could go either way

 

Reputable chinese take away telephone number + phone + payment details = Chinese food delivered which gets cooked and delivered to you

 

[Disaster]

There's alot of skillz here guys. Good work!

[mac_shinobi]

There's alot of skillz here guys. Good work!

 

My thoughts are if you are going to have to buy the stuff to cook said Chinese and don't have much time or have been at work all day anyway then why not get someone else to do the work for you lol

[beeswax]

BBC - Food - Recipes : Tagliatelle with cavolo nero, chickpeas and pecorino

[mac_shinobi]

This recipe is one I really like :

 

Chutney Mayo Chicken

 

I normally use Mrs Balls Chutney Original Mild --> Chutneys @ The South African Shop

 

Normally use hand held eletric mixer ( think that is what it is called ) to mix the orange juice and mayo etc

Edited July 16, 2012 by mac_shinobi

[mattlynch]

Summer-in-winter chicken recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food My Signature dish, Summer in winter chicken

[Oaktech]

I sometimes do steak strips, marinated for an hour or two in brown sugar, orange juice and balsamic vinegar (posh sweet and sour), then lightly fried with some more brown sugar to caramelise, then served with stir fried vegetable and noodles, add some balsamic vinegar to the stir fry veg too.

[gibbo_ap]

fetuchini alfredo beautiful!

 

fettucini alfredo - Google Search

[HarryMonkey]

Paella, one pan, add some chicken in as well if you wish, just don't let it get too dry or it may catch. Delicious, serve with some garlic bread if you wish and a chilled white rioja.

 

• 1 red pepper, finely diced

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• 400g paella rice

• 125ml dry white wine

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• Generous pinch of saffron threads

• 1l hot vegetable stock

• 12 large fresh mussels, well scrubbed, beards removed

• 4 large prawns

• 4 prepared squid, approx 170g in total, sliced into rings

• Approx 280g monkfish fillet, roughly chopped

• Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

• 1 lemon cut into wedges

• Olive oil

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

 

Method:

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large paella pan or frying pan. Add the onion and cook out briefly.

2. Add the chopped pepper and crush in the garlic. Season with a little salt and pepper and cook until softened.

3. Sprinkle the smoked paprika and saffron into the pan. Follow with the rice and stir well so that each grain of rice is well coated in oil.

4. Add the wine and allow to evaporate before pouring in the hot stock.

5. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking.

6. Five minutes before the end of cooking add the mussels, prawns, squid and monkfish to the pan. Stir, and replace the lid to finish cooking.

7. Just before serving, mix through the chopped parsley and garnish with lemon wedges.

[Roberto]

Can't beat a good Risotto or Paella.

 

A nice salad can sometimes work well. I make my own version of this one: Recipes :: Salad with poached eggs & chorizo/ Or failing that, this can work too: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/hunter-s-chicken-stew-pollo-alla-cacciat

Edited July 16, 2012 by Roberto

[JJonas]

There's alot of skillz here guys. Good work!

 

is the domain cookinggeek.net available?

[Roberto]

is the domain cookinggeek.net available?

 

No idea but you may enjoy Cooking For Engineers - Step by Step Recipes and Food for the Analytically Minded

[LosOjos]

Red Thai Curry is always a winner and you can do it with two pans following this Jamie Oliver recipe, just don't bother with the whole, un-peeled prawns, do everything else as it says but instead use some ready to eat king prawns rather than the small prawns and skip the step requiring the oven. Always works well and if she likes Chinese she'll love it!

 

If you're stuck for time, here's a simplified version:

 

1 x tablespoon red Thai curry paste (you can buy jars of it from most supermarkets, check the measurement on the jar)

1 x 400g tin coconut milk

1 x pack of ready to eat king prawns

1 x small pack sugar snap peas

1 x cup of jasmine rice (again, you can buy ready flavoured rice from most supermarkets)

1 x lime

1 x small bunch fresh coriander (finely chopped)

[optional] 2 x naan bread (whatever flavour you fancy)

 

Simply add your curry paste to a hot saucepan/wok with a splash of oil (tastes extra authentic if you have sesame oil!) and fry for a minute or so to release the flavour, pour in your coconut milk and give it a good stir, add a good pinch of the fresh coriander and the juice from half the lime (save the other half), then reduce to a medium heat. Make sure you give this a stir every couple of minutes, it'll reduce down and get a nice caramelly smell.

While that's bubbling away and reducing, add your cup of rice to some boiling water, stir once and put a lid on the pan, reduce to a medium heat when it's up to boiling again and leave for 9 minutes.

With about 5 minutes left on your rice, drain and rinse your king prawns and then chuck them in to your curry sauce along with the sugar snap peas (in their pods! I got that one wrong first time around ) and give it a stir.

Once everything is cooked, drain your rice and "fluff" it (run a fork through it to separate it) and chuck your naan's in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm through.

Serve your rice in to bowls and spoon the curry in to the middle.

For finishing touches, sprinkle over a pinch of fresh coriander on each dish, then cut the naan's in half and put on one side of each plate, finally cut the remaining lime half in to half again and place those on the other side of each plate.

 

It'll look like a cracking meal and it'll only take you about 20 minutes to make

Edited July 16, 2012 by LosOjos

[sonofsanta]

No oven? You need a one pot recipe

 

I would otherwise have suggested BBC Good Food's Italian Rice with Chicken as the most straightforward of all the recipes (yes, all of them) but needs finishing off with 20 minutes in the oven, so... one pot recipe it is.

[LeMarchand]

If she enjoys a taste of the Orient, but you want to avoid Chinese - why not try Thai? If you can't start cooking until late, I'd be tempted to go for readymade nukeables or stir-fry meat/veg and use a pour-on sauce. If you can get Soho lychee liqueur it would go well with Thai.

 

If you need to be seen to be making a bit more effort, here's an easy one that goes down well at Chateau LeMarchand:

 

You'll need: courgettes, onion, garlic, fresh lemons or lemon juice, fresh basil, black pepper, cheese (hard if you have it/can afford it but Cheddar is fine) some pasta (fusilli or spaghetti works well) and a side salad - and possibly some mushrooms, pine nuts and chilli flakes.

 

Start the pasta and finely chop a smallish onion and garlic to taste. Soften in butter (or olive oil) over a low heat. Either cut the courgette into thin ribbons, or use a vegetable peeler to achieve the same result. Add to onions and garlic and finely slice mushrooms (if using) and add when courgettes starting to soften. When courgette at a softness you like, add (to taste) chopped basil, freshly ground black pepper, chilli flakes (not too many) lemon juice (and zest if you had fresh lemons), grate a bit of cheese in (just enough to add a taste of the cheese) and add pine nuts if using (toast first if not already toasted).

 

Drain pasta, add courgette mixture and stir together and serve with salad and wine.