Tandoori Chicken Legs with Curry Rice

The marinate is the most important part of this dish. Minimum 2 hours or over night in the fridge.

The amount of ground spices that are added to the yogurt are by the teaspoon or double teaspoon. The more you add, the better the final result. So grab a teaspoon and not a measuring  spoon.

I cut some slashes in the top of the chicken legs to give the marinate more chance to get in.

On baking paper spread out, they take 45 minutes to get done by 180 C fan.

I cut up 2 red bell peppers and put them in the rice cooker with Basmati, veg stock paste and water. A teaspoon of mild curry powder for flavour and color.

Spices used with Greek yogurt 10% fat:

Salt and pepper

Cumin

Coriander

Garam Masala

Chili flakes

Tumeric

Pizza al Tonno

Ready made square pizza dough and a jar of tomato sauce was on the way to overdue its stay in my fridge.

Medium cans of tuna fish are an essential in my storage. While cleaning the shelves, I put one on the kitchen counter for the week to come.

A large green onion was the other player on the pizza dough. Everything then covered in a bit Cheddar and Mozzarella.

Baked at 220 C for 15 minutes and dinner was fine.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough

Tomato Sauce

1 green onion

1 can tuna fish

Italian Seasoning

50 g shredded cheese

Salt, pepper

One Pot Mushroom Pasta

Canned button mushrooms are usually not found in my household. But cleaning out the longtime storage shelves I found a can. Must have been bought for a planned recipe that did not made it to the table in the end.

 

It went on the kitchen counter to be used.

Dinner last night needed to be a quick fix without lots of dishes to clean. A One Pot with pasta was the solution.

The canned mushrooms screamed "here we are" and went with green onions and garlic in the pan. Seasoned and sauteed in some butter for a couple of minutes, then the short pasta came next.

Hot veg stock from paste and some cream to cover the pasta with enough liquid was poured in.

Cooking time from the pasta I used was 5 minutes, it took a little longer due to less stock.

I served it with some Garlic Chili Crisp Oil on top.

Ingredients:

120 g short penne pasta

1 can button mushrooms

2 green onions

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp butter

Veg stock paste

60 ml cream

Salt, pepper, herbes de Provence

Green Beans Bake

Lots of cheese and fried onions served with green beans.

I bought the beans to prepare a green beans salad for the weekend as a side dish. But out of curiosity I checked Pinterest to look for more ideas.

The casserole popped up. I used it as an idea to make my own cheese and fried onion beans bake.

But first are the beans. They need to be topped and tailed, washed and then cooked in salted water with some baking soda. But keep an eye on them, they should not be to soft. 

Do not eat them uncooked! The Phasin in green beans is bad, but dissapears while cooking.

Put them in ice water to keep the color bright green.

For the cheese sauce, heat up double cream and chicken stock, add mustard, onion powder, garlic paste and pepper and bring to a boil. 

Cheddar, Mozzarella or any other cheese that sits in your fridge can be used up. Melt it in the sauce and add some milk if too thick.

Put the beans in and place that in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle garlic breadcrumbs (homemade) and fried onions on top.

Bake at 180 C fan for 20 minutes

Lovage "Pesto" with Eggs by APICIUS

A Roman cookbook by a guy who lived around the time of Christ's birth: APICIUS

This green dip contains fresh lovage. My balcony has a big box of fresh lovage growing there. I usually use it for soups and dressings, but not instead of basil.

If you hate the MAGGI taste, do not try it. 

The base are long pepper, used by Romans and Greeks millenias ago. Crush that with a pestel and mortar and add pine nuts. A little coarse salt helps.

Take the leaves off the lovage, the stems are to hard. Add some drops of olive oil and mash it in a fine paste.

Season with honey, white balsamic vinegar and some drops of Garum (use Thai fishsauce). Put more olive oil in to smoothen the dip.

Serve on top of hard boiled eggs.

Ingredients:

3 long peppercorns

25 g pine nuts

Pinch of coarse sea salt

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

1 tsp runny honey

1/2 tsp fish sauce

 

Chickpeas and Beans Dip

A two cans needed a purpose. I am cleaning out my longtime storage and these came up for use.

My least favourite thing to do is getting the waxy skin off the chickpeas. But what needs to he done, needs to be done.

It is too hot for a vegetable soup with beans, but a dip with legumes is great.

This is no hummus! I added Greek yogurt, garlic paste and lots of lemon juice. A handfull of fresh parsley and teaspoon cumin seeds for more flavour.

I have fresh rye bread and sliced some of it. With olive oil and butter and some herbes de Provence it made the right tool to eat the dip with.

Recipe:

1 medium can chickpeas

75 ml Aqua faba 

1 medium can of flagolets vert

4 tsp Greek yogurt

1/4 bunch parsley

1 tsp cumin seeds

Smoked salt, pepper

1 lemon juiced

2 tbsp olive oil

Rye bread, olive oil, butter, herbes de Provence

Chocolate Banana Bread

I am still fighting foodwaste. This time ripe bananas.

It is good that I love banana bread, but I wanted one with a dark twist: chocolate. I found an American recipe on Pinterest, but way too sweet for my taste and changed it to my liking.

I can take a third of the banana bread to my neighbor, she loves banana bread, freeze a third of it and eat the other until this weekend. 

Just two bowls, a sieve and a spatula are needed. Use a 22,5x12,5 cm baking dish. I sprayed the sides and used some baking paper to extract it later a lot easier.

Preheat the oven 180 C.

Recipe:

3 large ripe bananas

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup Red Cameroon Cocoa

1/2 cup light demera sugar

60 g melted butter

60 g melted coconut oil

1 egg (roomtemperature)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

80 g dark chocolate chips

25 g milk chocolate chips

In the smaller bowl sieve flour, baking powder, salt and Red Cameroon cocoa. Set aside.

In the bigger bowl mash the bananas with a potato masher. Add the warm, but no longer hot butter and coconut oil and the vanilla and combine everything well. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

Add the dry stuff from the first bowl and fold it in. Do not overmix. 

Now the dark chocolate chips, fold them in and pour the batter in the baking dish. Sprinkle the milk chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 50 to 55 min.