The 'Here's what I had for dinner last night' thread - Part II - Don't quote pics!

fussyonion

Faith wrote: »

Yeah, those ones, going on the recommendations from here!

Oh they're fab.

I really never rated jarred curry sauces before until I tried these ones.
For me, they taste very like the curry I get from the very good Indian take-away near me, and trust me, I would never have compared jarred sauces to those from an Indian take-away.

They're so great and handy; I normally add sliced red and green peppers and a diced onion, with the chicken, to bulk it up, and serve with some lovely garlic and coriander naan bread from Aldi (which is 79c and really authentic because it's soft and not too thick), and also rice.

Loire

the beer revolu wrote: »

That's an easy one;)

There are other ways of making rosti, here's how I make mine:

Peel and coarsely grate your spuds. (I find that I need more potatoes per person than you would with say mash)
Put grated spuds in a clean, thin table cloth and squeeze the bejasus out of it over the sink. You want to get as much liquid out as possible (you'll be amazed at how much you get out)
Season the now pretty dry potato with salt and pepper and toss about a bit.
Heat up a decent frying pan with some oil and butter to medium hot and add your potato.
Push it all down and spread it out evenly with a spatula or your hands, pressing quite firmly to form a nice flat cake shape. Give the pan a shake to prevent it sticking. Rotating the rosti will also help.
You need to cook it for about 15 minute before turning it. You want it golden brown, a bit crispy and not burnt. You need to keep an eye on it but it can be a bit tricky as you can't see the underside of it.
To turn, grease a plate, put it over the pan and invert. The rosti will easily slide off the greased plate back into the pan with more oil and butter. Cook the other side for about 15 minutes too and turn it out on the plate again to serve.

When you turn it you'll get an idea of how you did with the heat. If it's a bit pale you can cook that side again, if it's burnt - better luck next time.

Only have a fine grater, but nonetheless she's on the frying pan as we speak!

Update: it tasted great but I cooked the 2nd side for too long and an angle-grinder would have been a good idea!!!

Musefan

I don't often post here.

Tonight's dinner was a complete experiement. Quinoa and vegetable stirfry with grilled chilli salmon and a dollop of low fat creme fraiche.

It was actually delicious. First time cooking Quinoa. Love the texture compared to similar food like cous cous.

dipdip

Musefan wrote: »

First time cooking Quinoa again. Love the texture compared to similar food like cous cous.

Not that health is the be all and end all in the forum, but it's lucky that you like it as much as something like couscous because it's far healthier for you. Couscous is actually basically pasta whereas quinoa is a protein-rich grain.

I want to like it but it tastes of bland crumbles to me. :pac:

angeldelight

My dinner was absolutely perfect tonight - roast pork loin, goose fat roasties, marrowfat peas, carrots, stuffing and gravy... Everything was cooked perfectly and just came together right. Followed by apple and plum strudel from Aldi

iwantmydinner

Another takeaway for me this evening, such a hectic week. Got makhani chicken with boiled rice and a garlic naan. Very good. The naan was particularly good and the garlicky-ness was a great companion to the sweet sauce. Chicken was lovely and tender and flavourful.

No more bloody takeaways, though!

*loosens belt*

The Hill Billy

I had a few pals over this evening for the Coddle that I made on Sunday. It was quite a multi-culti affair - an Englishman, a Tobagan & two Russians.

Starters were smoked salmon on brown bread & also white pudding with finely sliced red apple.

I was a bit concerned that the rather grim-looking coddle would not go down so good. Plates were cleared & we had a great conversation about how each country has their own meat/veg/stock dishes yet despite the basic ingredients all our dishes are so unique.

My mate from Russia brought a garlicky smoked horse sausage that we had with some spicy vodka later in the evening when our appetites returned after the mains.

We had Kilkenny Red, Guinness Special Export & Black Bush from the Irish side & then a fine 2007 Tempranillo & a 2011 Chilean Cab Sav for an international flavour.

I shall be a bit late to the office in the morning... G'night... Hic!

fiddlechic

dipdip wrote: »

Risotto.
Made with arborio rice, white wine, stock, onion, garlic, mushrooms, chorizo and parmesan, and topped with a juicy chicken breast. Really good.

Looks great! I put chorizo in risotto a little while ago - it didn't work out great - I fried it off just after the onion, I waited until oil went a just reddish with its juices and then added the arborio. It was quite rubbery though.
Do you add it at frying up stage, or later and give it a warm through few minutes before end?
I keep meaning to try it at warm through stage but haven't had chorizo when making risotto since!

Tonight I had a fab salad of turkey and ham (left over from Christmas dinner version 3.0 from Sunday!) with goats cheese, roasted hazelnuts, beetroot, tomato and some baby spinach dressed with truffle oil and lemon. So good!

Marty McFly

I wouldn't normally have a lot of potatoes in my diet but after reading beer revolu recipe I had to give it a try. Slightly over cooked it and presentation skills or photography skills aren't a patch on his . Also added a lot of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika to the recipe to spice it up a bit it tasted delicious.


Along with that had shredded carrots and spinach cooked in garlic and two spicy chops.

IvyTheTerrible

I made Lamb Kleftiko from the Cooking Club, oh my god it was delicious!
It's definitely a keeper, that recipe!

ibarelycare

homemadecider wrote: »

We had turkey dopiaza with cauliflower "rice". The turkey was from the freezer and the dopiaza came from one of the Aldi jars that came so highly recommended on this forum. Absolutely delicious! Would eat again.

Faith wrote: »

We also had an Aldi curry but we had tikka masala as I'm trying to increase my tolerance for heat. There was no heat in it at all though! We have the dopiaza in the cupboard to try next.

As a huge fan of the Aldi curry sauces, funnily enough these two are the ones I don't like


I had the balti last week, really good, lovely and sweet with a mild (for me - I forgot to add extra chillies!) kick. Going to have the madras tonight, definitely my favourite!

MissFlitworth

I had a great big plate of wet yuck. A failure dinner indeed. Ended up binning most of it and having toast and Baileys instead

Faith

fiddlechic wrote: »

Looks great! I put chorizo in risotto a little while ago - it didn't work out great - I fried it off just after the onion, I waited until oil went a just reddish with its juices and then added the arborio. It was quite rubbery though.
Do you add it at frying up stage, or later and give it a warm through few minutes before end?
I keep meaning to try it at warm through stage but haven't had chorizo when making risotto since!

Tonight I had a fab salad of turkey and ham (left over from Christmas dinner version 3.0 from Sunday!) with goats cheese, roasted hazelnuts, beetroot, tomato and some baby spinach dressed with truffle oil and lemon. So good!

Overcooking chorizo makes it really rubbery alright. Try frying it at the beginning to release the juices, then removing it to a plate and frying the onions etc in the oil and juices. Then add the chorizo back in at the end.

Elbow

Apologies about the bad photo

Beef and ale stew (loosely based on this)




It came out slightly bitter so I'll have to tweek the leftovers slighty before round two tonight

the beer revolu

Dahl, wilted spinach, brown basmati rice.

Animord

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I had a great big plate of wet yuck. A failure dinner indeed. Ended up binning most of it and having toast and Baileys instead

Toast and Baileys is a perfectly balanced and nourishing diet. Everyone knows that.

iwantmydinner

Animord wrote: »

Toast and Baileys is a perfectly balanced and nourishing diet. Everyone knows that.

At least three of your five a day in there, and all the important food groups covered.

MissFlitworth

It was almost entirely my college diet and, sure, apart from that one time I think I had scurvy it was all grand

B0jangles

ibarelycare wrote: »

As a huge fan of the Aldi curry sauces, funnily enough these two are the ones I don't like


I had the balti last week, really good, lovely and sweet with a mild (for me - I forgot to add extra chillies!) kick. Going to have the madras tonight, definitely my favourite!

I've a pot of the madras on the go at the moment; my first time trying it - already smells/tastes deeelicious

I added an onion, garlic, ginger and some fresh ground coriander to freshen up the flavours (and because I like chopping veg!)

ibarelycare

B0jangles wrote: »

I've a pot of the madras on the go at the moment; my first time trying it - already smells/tastes deeelicious

I added an onion, garlic, ginger and some fresh ground coriander to freshen up the flavours (and because I like chopping veg!)

Sounds yum, can't wait to get home now

leahyl

B0jangles wrote: »

I've a pot of the madras on the go at the moment; my first time trying it - already smells/tastes deeelicious

I added an onion, garlic, ginger and some fresh ground coriander to freshen up the flavours (and because I like chopping veg!)

I have to say I bought the tikka masala sauce the other day as I'd heard great things about the Aldi curry sauces and I wasn't very impressed. Jamie Oliver's recipe with the pataks paste, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk is much nicer

misslt

Started reading this thread yesterday morning when I got to work - bad idea, stomach rumbled constantly from 9am to lunchtime

Tonight Matthew I'm cooking chicken breasts stuffed with mozzarella, with tomato, chorizo and red wine sauce with steamed baby potatoes in herb butter, carrots and sprouts (as it will probably be the last time I can have them till December).

Will post a photo if it turns out edible

pampootie

Chicken thigh fillets roasted with garlic, lime, lemon oil, soy sauce and honey. Shredded carrot and fennel stirfried with garlic, onion and ginger. Boiled rice and coriander to serve.

fussyonion

Had seabass in Mediterranean marinade (again..can't get enough of this!), baby potatoes and a large mixed salad.
With a small glass of white wine.

Followed by good old tinned strawberries and pears in natural juice.

Dr.MickKiller

Made pulled pork last night and tonight I decided to make tacos with it. I whizzed up some chipotles peppers in adobo sauce with a little water and added to the pork. Served with tomatillo salsa.

Toast4532

Chicken stir-fry for us tonight.

angeldelight

Half of a gorgeous frittata which had smoked bacon, onion, peppers and potatoes, with feta crumbled over the top. Really took all my willpower not to eat the other half

caoineadh12345

I had bacon and cabbage with spuds. Cooked the cabbage 'till it was in bits just the way I like it. Gorgeous;)

B0jangles

leahyl wrote: »

I have to say I bought the tikka masala sauce the other day as I'd heard great things about the Aldi curry sauces and I wasn't very impressed. Jamie Oliver's recipe with the pataks paste, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk is much nicer

I just had a bowlful and it really is excellent. I normally make all my curries from scratch, mostly from freshly ground spices and I was very impressed indeed.

iwantmydinner

True to my word, no takeaways this evening!

A salad, albeit a pretty indulgent one. Spinach, feta, mixed cherry toms, sugar snaps, pine nuts with Paul Newman balsamic dressing and prosciutto.

Some home-buttered garlic bread shnaaaked it's way onto the plate somehow as well.

angeldelight

iwantmydinner wrote: »

True to my word, no takeaways this evening!

A salad, albeit a pretty indulgent one. Spinach, feta, mixed cherry toms, sugar snaps, pine nuts with Paul Newman balsamic dressing and prosciutto.

Some home-buttered garlic bread shnaaaked it's way onto the plate somehow as well.

That looks delicious!! I want your dinner!

iwantmydinner

angeldelight wrote: »

That looks delicious!! I want your dinner!

My body is dancing the "yay for vitamins" dance!

Gloomtastic!

caoineadh12345 wrote: »

I had bacon and cabbage with spuds. Cooked the cabbage 'till it was in bits just the way I like it. Gorgeous;)

My mum used to add bicarbonate of soda or something like that and the cabbage went to mush. Loads of butter and parsley sauce and I was in food heaven.

Animord

iwantmydinner wrote: »

My body is dancing the "yay for vitamins" dance!

My diet has been about 95% raw for the last few days - I am not a raw foodie by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like that too! Vitamins and Minerals. You can't bate them now and then.

MissFlitworth

Made a turkey rogan josh and brown rice with chickpeas. Used the Aldi rogan josh sauce (Aldi owe whoever mentioned that sauce the first time commission!) Unfortunately I found it really quite sour verging on bitter for my tastes and had to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to correct that. Might try a couple of the others because if I could find a jarred curry sauce I liked it would be amazing for nights when I just don't want to cook but the rogan josh won't be something I buy again.

pampootie

MissFlitworth wrote: »

if I could find a jarred curry sauce I liked it would be amazing for nights when I just don't want to cook but the rogan josh won't be something I buy again.

I don't know if they're available everywhere yet but if you see the green saffron range it's all amazing, the spice mixes in particular but the jars are good too. I've seen them in dunnes in cork or you can buy off the website

MissFlitworth

pampootie wrote: »

I don't know if they're available everywhere yet but if you see the green saffron range it's all amazing, the spice mixes in particular but the jars are good too. I've seen them in dunnes in cork or you can buy off the website

You're the second recommendation I've gotten for Green Saffron, consider me sold

tmc86

Kinda of a mish mash dinner last night to use up some of the lonely fridge contents.

Chicken cooked in habanero sauce, chili ketchup, soy sauce, and jalapeno sauce. It turned into a delicious sticky, spicy chicken once I added a bit of water to the pan.

I also cooked the cabbage and tender-steam broccoli with a knob of butter in the same pan used to cook the chicken.

Portion of gnocchi on the side which had to be used. Not the biggest fan of this and they were quite rubbery.

the beer revolu

Fried and grilled fillets of seatrout, thyme and lemon butter, carrots. green beans, mash with lots of leek and a tough of garlic.

ibarelycare

leahyl wrote: »

I have to say I bought the tikka masala sauce the other day as I'd heard great things about the Aldi curry sauces and I wasn't very impressed. Jamie Oliver's recipe with the pataks paste, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk is much nicer

I really don't like the tikka masala, find it too sickly or something. But don't write them off, give one of the other ones a go!


I had madras sauce with chicken and chickpeas, brown rice and garlic & coriander naan last night. Delicious! Looking forward to leftovers tonight

Alun

The madras one is OK, but I think the nicest is the Jalfrezi if you can find it.

Mrs Fox

pampootie wrote: »

I don't know if they're available everywhere yet but if you see the green saffron range it's all amazing, the spice mixes in particular but the jars are good too. I've seen them in dunnes in cork or you can buy off the website

Tried Tikka Masala and Korma in jars, both are very sweet to my liking.
I still have their ground spices for Tandoori in the press.
They're available in Superquinn too.

iwantmydinner

God I love the Aldi tikka masala, however I'm no connoisseur of curry it has to be said. My preference in terms of Indian food has always been for the sweet, creamy sauces though.

I find it constantly fascinating how different people's tastes can be. I must see about reading up on the hows and whys behind it.

Mrs Fox

Everyone's having bolognese from the other night, but I wasn't up for another pasta dish third night in a row. So I deep fried a few spiral curry puffs I had made and frozen two weeks ago. Made two kinds of filling -- One with sardine sambal, and the other with the more traditional curried potato and mince.

Animord

I had what is referred to in my house as "cheese onion pie"

Sliced potatoes and onions baked in milk with cheese on top. But I put in sliced fennel as I had it and also heated the milk first and put in crushed garlic and a chicken stock pot.

Cheap as chips and yummy too.

MissFlitworth

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Spiral Yum

They look amazing Mrs Fox. Pretty as a picture.

Minder

Mrs Fox, how do you make those? They look very delicious.

genuine leather

[QUOTE

I find it constantly fascinating how different people's tastes can be[/QUOTE]

Its brilliant!

Mrs Fox

Minder wrote: »

Mrs Fox, how do you make those? They look very delicious.

This would give you a detailed pictorial guide, although I used a slightly different recipe for the dough. They are very very delicious


Edit: Just noticed in the link there that they skipped the bit where you should cook the filling first and let it cool before making the dough. Plus the recipe is for 48 pieces of puffs, so adjust accordingly. I halved it, they freeze very well. Google up for other similar recipes that might inspire you

fiddlechic

Inspired by this thread, I called into Aldi on the way home.
For 6.50 I got Lamb Rogan Josh, from the spice topped jar, with Garlic and Naan Bread for 2!
Absolutely delicious - and probably only took me 20mins from inside door to plate.
I go to Namaste, an Indian here in Smithfield that has a superb, and deserved reputation. For half the price, I had a nearly-as-good meal at home. Consider me converted to the Aldi curry sauces!