One Pot Wonders?

Mackleton

Hi all, I am cooking a meal for 6< people in two weeks time and I am quite limited as to what I can cook, as the kitchen Im using has no oven only a four ring gas hob.

Therefore I am looking for meals that can be cooked either in one pot or only using the hob, ie. stews, etc.

Anyone able to help?


Thanks in advance :P

Honey-ec

Chilli or curry is your best bet in that situation. Two pot maximum and have the added advantage of being even tastier if you make them the night before your party, saving you lots of time and stress on the day.

Alternatively you could do a goulash or a risotto.

Mackleton

Thanks Honey-ec, have you made any of these?

Which is the tastiest/most foolproof?

Also, cheapest?

Mellor

Mackleton wrote: »

Thanks Honey-ec, have you made any of these?

Which is the tastiest/most foolproof?

Also, cheapest?

Tastiest is going to be personal, fool proof will come down to how diffivult you want to go.

If I was me I'd go with chilli, as it needs one pot (two if you want rice) and you can make it a very elaborate meal by added ingredients that need no cooking or prep.

Example
Cook a basic chilli, mince, onions, pepper, onions and spices
Boil some rice
Serve in two large bowls in the centre of the table.

Serve up some sides - Served chilled in small bowls, straight from the pack
Salsa
Sour Cream
Jalapenos
Refried beens
Kidnet beans
Cheese
Salad

Serve something to eat them with
Wraps, nachos, Tacos, or simply in a bowl

You get the the chilled studd ready whiel the chilli is cooking
Simply and looks like you made a lot of effort

Dizzyblonde

Spaghetti bolognese is another good one.

the beer revolu

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Spaghetti bolognese is another good one.

See lasagne thread for discussions on what should or shouldn't be in there.;)

Mackleton

So maybe I should give some more background to this, as my restrictions are various.

I am living with 5 other foreign people, who have successively cooked a meal from their own countries once each. I am supposed to be doing "Irish Night",
(we've had Brazilian, German, French and Chinese) and next week it's the Italian guys turn so I can't cook something obviously from those countries.

Also of course there's the no oven issue as well so you see my dilemma.

I was going to do Irish stew but it seems a bit dull tbh.

the beer revolu

Mackleton wrote: »

So maybe I should give some more background to this, as my restrictions are various.

I am living with 5 other foreign people, who have successively cooked a meal from their own countries once each. I am supposed to be doing "Irish Night",
(we've had Brazilian, German, French and Chinese) and next week it's the Italian guys turn so I can't cook something obviously from those countries.

Also of course there's the no oven issue as well so you see my dilemma.

I was going to do Irish stew but it seems a bit dull tbh.

A well made Irish stew is fantastic!
Just make sure you use lamb/mutton with some bone for flavour.
I like to use shoulder of mutton cut up into pieces (bone and all) by the butcher with his electric saw.

You could also do coddle.

funnyname

3lbs of stewing beef (brown first in a pan)
10 large potatoes (half 5 and quarter the other 5)
10 chopped carrots
10 onions (quarter them)
4 chopped sticks of celery
3 chopped leeks (cut them down the centre to aid washing as they accumalate a lot of soil)
2 veg stock cubes
2 packs of veg or potato and leek cuppa soup
1/4 pack of pearl barley
20 whole black peppercorns
1.5 litres of boiling water

Simmer for 3 to 4 hours in a 10 litre pot

You could boil some extra potatoes if you're feeding very hungry people


At least 6 servings

ha-ya-said-what

Ahhhh "Irish Night" easy !! One pot wonder and great for a cold nite-

***Dublin Coddle***

Bacon
Sausages
Onion
Potatoes
Water

(optional- carrots, bit of black pepper to season, and small bit of cornflour to thicken it)

Only takes like an hour to 1hr 20min tops to do (that's including prep work) .... Now I do it on eye for how much of what I want in it based on how many am feeding but if ya need more info or amounts of ingredients just let me know

Mackleton

Should also mention I'm in Spain so ingredients are a bit tricky for irish stuff:rolleyes:

boodlesdoodles

ha-ya-said-what wrote: »

Ahhhh "Irish Night" easy !! One pot wonder and great for a cold nite-

***Dublin Coddle***

Bacon
Sausages
Onion
Potatoes
Water

(optional- carrots, bit of black pepper to season, and small bit of cornflour to thicken it)

Only takes like an hour to 1hr 20min tops to do (that's including prep work) .... Now I do it on eye for how much of what I want in it based on how many am feeding but if ya need more info or amounts of ingredients just let me know

Can I ask you if the sausages are browned before adding to the water? Thanks.

Magic Monkey

You didn't say how many courses you wanted to do. If you find stew a bit dull, try "Black Pudding Stuffed Chicken with Oatmeal Crust" - you don't need an oven to finish it, just poach it for longer, then coat in the the crumb mixture and shallow fry. You could also use parma/jamón serrano instead of the crumbs. Use spanish morcilla instead of irish black pudding. Serve it with champ mash and glazed carrots, and pints of Guinness

Miaireland

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]
CREAMY CHICKEN KORMA
(serves 4)[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]
Ingredients
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tsp finely grated root ginger
1 green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp chilli powder
400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato purée
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
150ml (5fl oz) double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander, to garnish basmati rice, warmed naan bread and mango chutney, to serve[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions and garlic until for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the ginger and green chilli and cook for 1 minute, stirring.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Add the garam masala to the pan with the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and 150ml (5fl oz) of water, stir well to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is so well reduced that it is almost sticking to the bottom of the pan and the oil has separated out on the surface.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Add the chicken to the sauce with a few tablespoons of water. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently with the lid on for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and completely tender. Stir in the cream and simmer gently for a few more minutes until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]To serve, spoon basmati rice and chicken korma onto warmed plates and scatter over the coriander. Place the naan breads in a separate serving dish to pass around with the mango chutney.[/FONT]
[/FONT]

Mellor

Mackleton wrote: »

I am living with 5 other foreign people, who have successively cooked a meal from their own countries once each. I am supposed to be doing "Irish Night",

You probably should of said that as it kinda rules out curry and tex-mex

Miaireland wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]
CREAMY CHICKEN KORMA
(serves 4)[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]
Ingredients
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tsp finely grated root ginger
1 green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp chilli powder
400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato purée
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
150ml (5fl oz) double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander, to garnish basmati rice, warmed naan bread and mango chutney, to serve[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions and garlic until for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the ginger and green chilli and cook for 1 minute, stirring.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Add the garam masala to the pan with the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and 150ml (5fl oz) of water, stir well to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is so well reduced that it is almost sticking to the bottom of the pan and the oil has separated out on the surface.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Add the chicken to the sauce with a few tablespoons of water. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently with the lid on for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and completely tender. Stir in the cream and simmer gently for a few more minutes until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]To serve, spoon basmati rice and chicken korma onto warmed plates and scatter over the coriander. Place the naan breads in a separate serving dish to pass around with the mango chutney.[/FONT]
[/FONT]

Since when is Korma Irish?

Mackleton

Well, I'd rather cook something that's successful and tasty than just cook something mediocre just because it's Irish, people here don't care as long as they get fed!

the beer revolu

I've cooked Irish stew with local ingredients in France and Belgium - while it seems very ordinary to some of use, them forrin folk tend to love it.

Lamb shoulder
Onions
Carrots
White turnip
Potatoes
Thyme
Flat Leaf Parsley
Salt
Pepper

The Hill Billy

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

Can I ask you if the sausages are browned before adding to the water? Thanks.

FWIW - When I make it I don't brown the sausages.

Mackleton

The beer rvolu, do you have a standard recipe you use for your stew? I've never actually made a stew but my mother assures me it's dead easy as long as you cook it slowly.

hem

my recipe:

* 1kg-ish scrag end or neck of lamb- diced (do not discard the fat)
* flour
* 2 large carrots- roughly chopped
* 1 large onion- diced
* 2 celery sticks- roughly chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 4-6 small to medium floury potatoes.
* water
* herbs (parsley, thyme, bay leaf- whatever's to hand)
* salt and pepper to taste
* Pearl barley (debatable)

Toss the diced lamb in the flour. Take a flameproof casserole dish and heat up some oil in it. When hot, throw in the diced lamb and brown.Now throw the rest of the ingredients in and cover with water (or light stock if you prefer). Now comes the debatable part- I always throw in a handful of pearl barley- this inspires a lot of furious debate in Ireland. Some people are vehemently anti-barley. I add it because a) That's the way my grandmother did it and b) I like pearl barley in a stew.

Cover and simmer for 2 hours (at least). Serve with colcannon

Dr. Loon

ha-ya-said-what wrote: »

***Dublin Coddle***


(optional- carrots, bit of black pepper to season, and small bit of cornflour to thicken it)

IMO seasoning isn't optional in anything. It's very rare you'd see a chef not season something. With the coddle no salt is necessary as the bacon will provide the saltiness, but pepper should be used. Also, cornflour shouldn't be necessary as the potatoes should help to thicken.

I'd also add in some parsley and possibly thyme. Parsley both at the beginning of cooking and freshly chopped in at the end. None of this nonsense of only using parsley at the last minute.

Irishrossoblu

If you wanna cook something and try to make it seem vaguely Irish, stick peas and carrots either side of a nice piece of meat and make the meat sauce white. The green, white and orange sounds tacky I know, but unfortunatley Ireland is bereft of decent cuisine, that non irish people will actually enjoy. Salmon is another good dish, which gives you the orange. I feel for you as I have been abroad cooking an 'irish' dish for my foregin flatmates, and its only then do you realise how bad our cuisine really is.

Honey-ec

Irishrossoblu wrote: »

I have been abroad cooking an 'irish' dish for my foregin flatmates, and its only then do you realise how bad our cuisine really is.

Sorry, but that is such a load of crap. While we may not have a "cuisine" as such (because Irish people historically had fcuk all time or money to spend on such a thing), there are fantastic traditional (and not so traditional) Irish dishes out there.

Why is is that Italian & French peasant food is so trendy but anything domestic is seen as vaguely embarrassing?

Anyway, below is a selection of Irish recipes from one single cookbook. Slightly OT and probably not much help to the OP, but I just want to make the point that Irish food goes far beyond the "bacon & cabbage" stereotype,

Breads
Irish soda bread
White soda scones with cheese & thyme
Potato scones
Boxty pancakes
Farls
Rock buns
White country sourdough

Fish and Game
Clonakilty Fish Pie
Hot Buttered Prawns on Toast
Smoked Eel with Celeriac & Creme Fraiche
Pan-fried Black Sole with Wild Garlic Butter
Rabbit Stew with Cider
Venison Terrine
Roast Pheasant with Apple and Geranium Sauce

Meat and Poultry
Cork Beef Stew
Rib of Beef with Creamy Black Pepper and Rosemary Gravy
Best Shepherd's Pie
Irish Stew
Organic Steak Pies
Sausage Stew with Tomatoes
Caherbeg Pork Pie with Caramelised Apples
Baked Ham
Chicken Liver Pate

Vegetables
Pandy
Honey-glazed Winter Roots
Slow-cooked Red Cabbage with Apples

Soups and Stocks
Potato and Wild Garlic soup
Bacon and Cabbage soup
Spinach Soup
Ballycotton Potato soup
Gubbeen Farmhouse warm salad
Wild Mushrooms with Rocket and Desmond Cheese

Cheese
Baked cheese with winter herbs
Durrus Melt-Down
Desmond Cheese Roasted Potatoes

Preserves
Gooseberry Jam
Autumn Spiced Apple Chutney
Rhubarb Chutney
Summer Chutney
Summer Berry Jam
Blackberry & Apple Jam

Desserts
Baked Cashel Blue Cheesecake
Baked Apples
Apple & Hazelnut Crumble
Lemony Carrageen Moss Pots
Curd Tart with Rosewater & Prunes
Rice Pudding with Jam
Victoria Sandwich
Sweet Geranium-infused Rhubarb
Hot Chocolate Puddings with Blackberries
Chocolate Biscuit Cake
Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding

Mackleton

Wow, Honey-Ec, that list is great, loads of ideas there.

Do you have the recipe book? I'm very interested in one or two of the desserts!

the beer revolu

hem wrote: »

my recipe:

* 1kg-ish scrag end or neck of lamb- diced (do not discard the fat)
* flour
* 2 large carrots- roughly chopped
* 1 large onion- diced
* 2 celery sticks- roughly chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 4-6 small to medium floury potatoes.
* water
* herbs (parsley, thyme, bay leaf- whatever's to hand)
* salt and pepper to taste
* Pearl barley (debatable)

Toss the diced lamb in the flour. Take a flameproof casserole dish and heat up some oil in it. When hot, throw in the diced lamb and brown.Now throw the rest of the ingredients in and cover with water (or light stock if you prefer). Now comes the debatable part- I always throw in a handful of pearl barley- this inspires a lot of furious debate in Ireland. Some people are vehemently anti-barley. I add it because a) That's the way my grandmother did it and b) I like pearl barley in a stew.

Cover and simmer for 2 hours (at least). Serve with colcannon

That's pretty close to my recipe but I'd omit the flour.
Browning the meat is also debatable - I usually just brown some of the meat and then not very much; Irish stew should be pale.
I like pearl barley in Irish stew too.
I only use thyme in the stew and fresh parsley to serve.
I'd also season the meat with salt and pepper.

*Hem, sorry for the critique of your recipe - it was easier that writing out my own!!;)

edit: If you can get lovage, a small bit of that chopped into the stew at the end give a great flavour too.

Irishrossoblu

Honey-ec wrote: »

Sorry, but that is such a load of crap. While we may not have a "cuisine" as such (because Irish people historically had fcuk all time or money to spend on such a thing), there are fantastic traditional (and not so traditional) Irish dishes out there.

Why is is that Italian & French peasant food is so trendy but anything domestic is seen as vaguely embarrassing?

That’s what I said, we don’t have a cuisine. The dishes you have listed are wonderful i am sure, if a little inaccessible to the average Joe. I love Irish whiskey smoked organic wild salmon, but it costs an arm and a leg and you won’t find it diffused in Irish restaurants. Italian & French peasant food is delicious, Irish is not. And the Italian/French didn’t have that much to spend either. I was just making a point that against the great cooking traditions of the world Ireland does not stand up. Even against Norwegian cooking Ireland does not stand up!

Honey-ec

Mackleton wrote: »

Wow, Honey-Ec, that list is great, loads of ideas there.

Do you have the recipe book? I'm very interested in one or two of the desserts!

Yep, just let me know which ones you want and I'll PM you the recipes.

superficies

All suggestions above are excellent. If you're in Spain I would also recommend making a beef stew given how good the seasoned salt and red wine is there. For 6 people I'd say maybe 800g of stewing beef would be needed. Roughly chop 2 or 3 onions, put them in a heavy bottomed pan with some heated oil and sweat them off. While that's doing use seasoned salt on the beef (I usually put salt into the bag holding the meat, tie it and then 'massage' it to get the maximum coverage. This really makes the stew in my view. Then put the beef into the pan and barely brown it. Once that's done bung in half a bottle of relatively rich red wine--a mid range rioja should do it--and allow to cook off the alcohol. Then throw in as much chopped carrots, potatoes and other veg you want. Most people say stews should only be root veg but I always add some green beans to mine for the colour. For that much meat and veg I'd say add maybe 1.5 to 2 pints of strong enough beef stock--start at 1.25 and see how you do covering ingredients and depending on whether you want the soup thick or not. Reduce the heat to about 120 or 130 and then give it basically as much time as you want but at least 45 minutes to cook. The smell and taste is amazing. I like mine v soupy and dark so I never add flour to thicken but you can if you wish near the end although in my view the colour it sends the soup is a bit meuh. V easy. Very VERY cheap and super delicious. And relatively Irish (although not as traditional as a mutton stew obviously).