dinner – Page 5 – luxlifefinn

Butter chicken curry

A lot of people seem to think that curry always means spicy, and if they don’t like spicy food they’re not interested. You couldn’t be further from the truth thinking this way. It is true that it can often be spicy, but there is so much more curry (or Indian food) can offer. I think the main thing about Indian food is flavor, spicy or not. I’m actually a friend of spicy food, however this is one of my favourite non-spicy curries. It’s amazing the fragrance you will get when cooking this food, certain to awaken your appetite. Last time I made this I thought the sauce itself was too runny, so I reduced the liquid in todays’ recipe, however I thought it might have been too thick to my taste this time. The recipe is for my cooking today, and if you want yours slightly runnier just add a bit more of the liquids. Cooking Indian curries can usually be a little bit time consuming in terms of needing you to be organized well in advanced, needing preparations a long time before cooking, but I can promise you it’s all worth it.

2-3 chicken breasts
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100ml natural yoghurt
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh root ginger (about half a thumb size piece, then cut the skin off)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp tomato puree
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50g butter
1 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamom pods (bruised)
1 medium onion or a few shallots
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground paprika
1 dl chicken stock (click here for recipe)
1/2 – 1 tin of tomato puree (I used a small tin of 140g of double concentrate)
150ml cream

1. Finely chop garlic and peeled ginger, and mix all marinade ingredient together. Chop the chicken to desired size pieces. Mix into the marinade. Cover with cling film, and cover for overnight, or 6-8 hours (I have done this for less time when I haven’t been organized enough, but the longer you marinate the better it’ll be).

2. Finely chop onion. Heat the butter in a pan, and add the onions, cinnamon and cardamoms. For bruised cardamoms, put a knife over the pods, resting the knife flat side on the pods, and hit the knife with your fist. Cook until the onions become translucent, stirring.

3. Add the chicken marinade, and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add all remaining ingredients apart from the cream, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Then add the cream, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Marinated oriental salmon

This salmon dish is something I make very regularly. The salmon itself can be steamed, pan fried, grilled or oven cooked. Today I added roasted bone marrow (which I’ve never cooked before) to this dish. In terms of flavour, it doesn’t really contribute much, but it’s supposed to offer some health benefits. I marinade the salmon, and then use the same liquid for the fried vegetables. I tend to use plain basmati rice for this, as the marinade mixture is full of flavour.

serves 2
salmon fillets
(beef bone marrow)
3/4 cup of basmati rice
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Marinade
20ml light soy sauce
30ml dark soy sauce
10ml rice vinegar
50ml sesame oil
10ml fish sauce
20ml lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
thumb size piece of root ginger
1 small green chilli
1 shallot
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2 mushrooms
1 carrot
1 courgette (zucchini)
handful of mangetouts
handful of baby sweetcorn

1. Finely chop ginger, garlic, chilli and shallot. Mix all marinade ingredients together. Put the salmon fillets in a re-sealable bag, and pour the marinade in. Marinate for 30 minutes, turning over half way through, so that both sides marinate.

2. Chop the vegetables, to be ready for frying later.

3. If using bone marrow, season with salt and pepper, and roast in an preheated oven 180°C / 355°F for 20 minutes. Cooked marrow will easily come off the bone with a spoon.

4. Measure 3/4 of a cup of basmati rice. Wash the rice in a bowl or sieve, until the water doesn’t get cloudy anymore (this washes off the starch). Put the washed rice in a pan, add a pinch of salt. Add 1 1/4 cups of boiled water (use same cup /measure you use for the rice). Bring to boil, stir, then reduce to simmer. It should take about 15 minutes until all water has been absorbed.

5. Salmon cooks quickly, which ever way you cook it. I think gentle steaming is a great way to keep the salmon juice and moist. You’ll only need about 7 minutes on a low heat, cover with a lid.

6. Fry the vegetables in hot oil (I used ground nut oil for this, but you can also use other vegetable oils) for about 5 minutes. Pour the salmon marinade liquid into the pan, and fry for another few minutes.

Wiener Schnitzel

This dish, one of Austria’s national offerings, is one of my favourites. It’s a thin piece of breaded, pan fried steak, traditionally veal (however I use sirloin steak when cooking at home). The key is you will use a mallet to hammer the beef thin, which will keep the steak tender. The dish should be served with a slice of lemon, however I ran out of fresh lemons so I just drizzled some lemon juice on top.

sirloin steak
1 dl plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
2 dl breadcrumbs
butter
slices of lemon

1. Hammer the meat with a mallet until thin, 5-10mm. I tend to place the steak inside a freezer bag for this, to reduce mess. After this, it’s easy to cut the fat off.

2. Mix flour and the spices on a plate. Beat the egg, and place on another plate/ bowl. On a third plate, pour half of the breadcrumbs.

3. First, coat the steak with the flour / spice mix. Second, coat with the egg. When lifting the steak off, let excess egg drain back onto the plate. Third, place on the breadcrumbs, and pour the rest of the breadcrumbs on top. At each stage, make sure the steak is fully coated.

4. Let rest for 5 minutes on your chopping board.

5. Melt the butter in a frying pan, and fry the steak, 2 minutes each side.

Marinated pan fried tuna steak with salsa verde

I can’t remember exactly when I had fresh tuna steak for the first time, but what a magnificent find it was. It’s now a regular visitor on our table, and so different from the tinned version, it’s like they are just distant relatives. It is usually served very pink, but even if you want it cooked through, it should still be lovely and juicy. To bring out all the glory it can offer, I would recommend marinating it. I also make salsa verde to accompay it, and it works beautifully with the tuna. I can’t wait until the next time!

Marinade
1 small green chilli
1 garlic clove
1 shallot
1 tbsp capers (in water, drained)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
handful of parsley
salt
black pepper

1. Finely chop chilli, garlic, shallot, capers and parsley. Mix all marinade ingredients together.

2. Place the tuna steaks in a re-sealable bag, and pur the marinade in. Make sure fish is coated with the marinade all over. Close the bag, and place in the fridge for 1/2 – 1 hour. Half way through, turn the bag with the fish inside upside down, so that it’s marinating more evenly.

Salsa verde
1 small green chilli
2 garlic cloves
1 shallot
1 tbsp capers (in water, drained)
large handful of parsley
large handful of basil leaves
tarragon leaves ( from 3-4 stalks)
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of black pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.

Tuna steak

1. I don’t add any oil onto my griddle pan for frying the tuna steaks, as the marinade have oil in it.

2. My steaks were quite thick. If you want them pink I would recommend frying them 4-5 minutes on each side on medium to high temperature. Alternatively, if you would like them cooked through about 6 minutes on each side should be enough.