The 'Here's what I had for dinner last night' thread - Part I

Faith

Homemade broccoli and stilton soup, yum!

Minder

A thai red curry of chicken and sweet potato.

The Hill Billy

Faith wrote: »

Homemade broccoli and stilton soup, yum!

Any chance of your recipe please Faith?

LoneGunM@n

Good oul Spag Bol

Faith

I can't take credit for it, but this is the one I used. I halved it as I only had one head of broccoli and it still worked out well. I'd also recommend adding some extra stock, and some salt and pepper to season.

The Hill Billy

Faith wrote: »

I can't take credit for it, but this is the one I used. I halved it as I only had one head of broccoli and it still worked out well. I'd also recommend adding some extra stock, and some salt and pepper to season.

You're a diamond! Thanks!

tulipandthistle

bonkey wrote: »

Tonight I had dinner at a mate's house.

Twas Spaghetti with a rather tasty and spicy "stir-fry" of merguez, mushrooms, baby tomatoes, and some other bits, served with a side-order of a ciabatta-style bread with pumpkin seeds in it.

Are you in Ireland? Where can I get hold of Merguez here? (in Ireland).
Last night I had home made "erwten soep" Dutch split pea, pork, smoked sausage, celeriac and leek soup. Tonight I'm making a spicy chicken dish (recipe on cooking and recipes already) and we'll be eating that on home made rolls with a bit of curry ketchup on top. mmmmmm

I just read another one of your posts and see that you are not based in Ireland - thought it was too good to be true!!!

Pigletlover

Stuffed pork steak with roast potatoes, baby potoatoes, carrot and swede mash, steamed (frozen) brocolli and sugar snap peas and gravy. We had a startrer of chicken and mushrooms pan fried in butter with a little garlic and thyme on lightly toasted ciabatta. On monday night I cooked some mince, onion, carrot and celery in a pan, I added a good dollop of tomato puree and a tin of tomatoes and let it simmer for 15 minutes. I then put it in the oven with left over mash and grated parmesan on top until the potaotes turned light brown and crispy. Sunday's dinner was probably the nicest though. We had braised roast beef, carrots, swede, parsnips and onions, mashed and roast potaotes and I made gravy from the beef stock. Tonight I'm in my mam's so I'll be having a night off, think were having stuffed chicken.

Minder

Flattened chicken breast marinated in lemon juice and oregano, breaded with panko bread crumbs and pan fried. Cut into strips, served in warm flat breads with salads, homous dressing and hot sauce.

The Hill Billy

Fri - Thai chicken & noodle stew
Sat - Homemade burgers with mashed spuds & tomato & scallion gravy
Sun - Leek & potato soup with warm roast chicken sandwiches

Minder

Beef Rendang with rice.

Faith

Hill Billy wrote: »

Sun - Leek & potato soup with warm roast chicken sandwiches

I had Leek and potato soup yesterday too! It was my first successful attempt at making it, and I spent the rest of the evening wanting more. Thanks, Delia!

Dizzyblonde

Saturday, chicken curry.
Last night, sirloin steak with roasted tomatoes and boulangere potatoes.

tSubh Dearg

Saturday: Marinated rack of lamb with new potatoes, green beans and roasted red peppers.

Sunday: Dinner with my folks and the most amazing roast chicken.

Today: More chicken, though this time in the form of Coq au Vin as I knew himself wasn't going to be back early so it would have time to bubble away in the oven. Extra veg in the form of carrot and ginger soup (cheating from M&S) and eaten with the end of the baguette from yesterday.

The Sweeper

It's hot here so we're the champions of scrappy foodstuffs at the moment. There's a lot of grazing going on - so dinner will be a few water crackers, slices of salami, some mozzarella, a handful of rocket, a spoonful of tuna and mayonnaise, with a side of watermelon slices and afters of a handful of cashews, blueberries and strawberries.

Minder

Crepinette served with parmentier potato & puy lentils, spinach with beetroot & horseradish.

I bought the crepinette in Calais on my last trip - they are a pork pattie with herbs wrapped in caul fat. Looked interesting but turned out to be overprocessed - like bad sausages.

Still - the side dishes were good.

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Hill Billy wrote: »

Fri - Thai chicken & noodle stew

Minder wrote: »

Beef Rendang with rice.

Is there any chance I could get recipes for these two please?

Thanks.

The Hill Billy

Here you go mate...

Thai chicken noodle stew for two

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 decent chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 dessert spoons of green Thai curry paste (or more if you fancy it)
2cm ginger finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Juice of 1 or 2 limes (and the grated zest if you want)
1 fresh chilli chopped (leave it out if you think that the heat of the paste will be enough or add more if you want)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tin coconut milk (I prefer the thick gloopy kind)
2 tsp sugar
Quick & easy version uses a tin of stir-fry veg - otherwise chop into bite-sized pieces any veg that you fancy
Two slabs of medium noodles
Chicken stock
Fresh coriander &/or basil roughly chopped
Bunch of scallions roughly chopped

Put oil in pan on medium heat & add curry paste, garlic & ginger
Lightly fry for a minute or two
Add coconut milk, lime juice (& zest), soy & fish sauces, sugar & chilli
Just as it comes to a boil add the chicken pieces & bring back to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Now add veg & simmer for a further 10 minutes
Break up the noodles into the pot & add enough warmed chicken stock until you have the 'stewy' consistence you desire
Simmer for another 6 or 7 minutes
Serve in warmed bowls with lashings of fresh coriander &/or basil & scallions

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Hill Billy wrote: »

Here you go mate...

Thai chicken noodle stew for two

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 decent chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 dessert spoons of green Thai curry paste (or more if you fancy it)
2cm ginger finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Juice of 1 or 2 limes (and the grated zest if you want)
1 fresh chilli chopped (leave it out if you think that the heat of the paste will be enough or add more if you want)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tin coconut milk (I prefer the thick gloopy kind)
2 tsp sugar
Quick & easy version uses a tin of stir-fry veg - otherwise chop into bite-sized pieces any veg that you fancy
Two slabs of medium noodles
Chicken stock
Fresh coriander &/or basil roughly chopped
Bunch of scallions roughly chopped

Jaysis, I have most of them ingredients at home as it is. Nice one, I'll make this pretty soon.

I have some rice noodles, and I really like them, you reckon these would be ok to use instead?

Hill Billy wrote: »

Just as it comes to a boil add the chicken pieces & bring back to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Now add veg & simmer for a further 10 minutes

Is this long enough to cook the chicken for?

Hill Billy, I really like the recipes you post, thanks a lot.

I see you had the homemade burgers the other night too, they are truly delish.

The Hill Billy

DesF wrote: »

I have some rice noodles, and I really like them, you reckon these would be ok to use instead?

I can't see why not. Just chop then up so that they can fit on a spoon.

DesF wrote:

Is this long enough to cook the chicken for?

Yeah - by the time you fart about getting this & that the chicken will have been on for 25 mins which will be plenty as long as it is cut into bite-sized pieces.

DesF wrote:

Hill Billy, I really like the recipes you post, thanks a lot.

I see you had the homemade burgers the other night too, they are truly delish.

My pleasure Des. It makes me all warm & fuzzy inside knowing that someone appreciates my cooking - other than Mrs Billy & Jrs I & II of course.
Seriously though - I really appreciate the feedback & especially that you actually try them out & like them. Happy cooking!

Actually, I saw Mike Robinson doing fäggots on 'Heaven's Kitchen' the other night & after frying them he finished the fäggots off in a similar gravy to the one I do with the burgers. I'm going to give that a shot with the burgers the next time I do them instead of finishing them in the oven. Should keep them nice & moist too.

Minder

DesF wrote: »

Is there any chance I could get recipes for these two please? Thanks.

Beef Rendang recipe for four sparrows (two hungry people in our house with a bit left over for my lunch)

For the paste

1 onion
1 thumb sized knob of fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 lemongrass stalk, tough outer layer removed and roughly chopped
1 tsp turmeric
2 long red fresh chillies
1 nut of nutmeg or 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
4 cloves or a couple of pinches of ground clove

Blitz all of that to a paste and add to wok or non stick pan (Non stick pan is best)

Next the whole spices

1 thumb sized knob of galangal cut into discs
1 cinnamon stick
4 kaffir lime leaves

Then add 400ml/14fl oz coconut milk, same amount of water and 600g braising steak, cut into 2cm/1inch cubes. I use shin of beef here - the connective tissue in the shin meat keeps the whole thing from drying out.

Bring the whole concoction to the boil and simmer for about 1 hour covered. Check a couple of times that it is not sticking. After an hour, the meat should be tender.

Uncover and start to reduce the liquid content. This bit should take from 30 minutes to 1 hour. The rendang will start life as a pale yellow colour - as the liquid boils off, it will gradually darken until the meat and solids are frying in the oil from the coconut milk. As the last of the liquid evaporates, it is important to keep stirring and watch the heat. It will burn easily (hence the non stick pan). It should darken to a rich mahogany colour.

Rendang is a dry curry from Malaysia - if you prefer you curry with a little sauce (I do) add a little water right at the end, ie when the frying has produced it's magic. Serve with plain boiled rice, a little fresh coriander and a pile of bean shoots.

tSubh Dearg

Splashed out a little for dinner tonight as we'd both had a bit of a **** day.

So fresh scallops to start pan fried with a little butter, lemon and black pepper. So delicious.

Then we had a sort of healthy fish and chips - homemade oven chips (roughly chopped potatoes tossed in olive oil, bit of salt, pepper and some dried herbs then bunged in a hot oven till done, crispy on the outside, clouds of fluffliness inside), grilled salmon fillets and carrots and peas.

Minder

Boned stuffed chicken leg. Stuffing was leek, mushroom and camembert. Boiled potatoes and steamed brocolli.

Dizzyblonde

Baked ham (frozen slices left over from Christmas, tasted just the same when zapped in the microwave!), mashed potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and sprouts, with white sauce.

It was a little bit of Christmas - without the stress.

kenco

Paella followed by that simple choc mousse (with marshmellows) that was knocking around here previously

Tonight is lamb chops with some baby spubs and red cabbage

Mr Magnolia

Stir fried Beef with Chilli & Scallion

Toto Wolfcastle

Had chicken stir fry with garlic, chili and ginger and plenty of veg. My sister's first attempt at making it and it was lovely.

Tonight I got a Chinese take away, it was only ok. But I made brownies for after so I'm enjoying them now.

The Sweeper

My neighbour has an outdoor wood-fired oven that heats to about 400 degrees centigrade. It can also be used as a smoker, but last night we had home-made pizzas. My neighbour makes the dough himself - flour, yeast, water, oil, salt and a little sugar. It's allowed to prove, then shaped into rounds and laid into pizza baking trays. Then the tomato sauce base, followed by a range of whatever toppings we wanted. They take around seven or eight minutes in the oven heated to around 220 degrees.

The oven can also be used as a smoker, and my neighbour does some shooting so he's going to try smoking duck some time soon.

I'm going to try it out with tandoori chicken and some home-made naan breads in the next couple of weeks, see if I can get authentic Indian food out of the extra heat and the wood burning side of the oven!

Stargal

tSubh Dearg wrote: »

Then we had a sort of healthy fish and chips - homemade oven chips (roughly chopped potatoes tossed in olive oil, bit of salt, pepper and some dried herbs then bunged in a hot oven till done, crispy on the outside, clouds of fluffliness inside), grilled salmon fillets and carrots and peas.

Those chips sound gorgeous tSubh; do you keep the skin on the potatoes or peel them first? And how long do they usually take to cook? Going to give them a go this week.

tSubh Dearg

Depends on the kind of potato I'm using if I keep the skins on or not. It it's rooster or something similar I tend to peel them and after chopping, I par boil them for about 5 mins (you need to watch so they don't turn to mush) then put them in a hot oven with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and some mixed herbs. That way they usually take about 30-40 mins but again just keep and eye on them.

If I make them with new potatoes I keep the skins on and just put them straight into the oven with the olive oil etc. Again they take about 30-40 mins but I tend to keep an eye on them and give them a bit of a shuffle with a spatula (I'll also turn the first lot during cooking as well to make sure they're getting equally brown on all sides)

For both cases they're usually done when they're a dark golden brown, but a taste test usually lets you know for sure.

For variety you can throw in some garlic cloves with them or a big chunk of fresh rosemary.

I'm sorry I can't be more precise with the times but I just play it by ear most times I cook them!

Let me know how you get on.