Curry me up Jamie..

I've never made a curry, yes i have eaten a few, but never have i made one. I have had the best of intentions to make one for quite some time, years actually..lol.. and yesterday i finally got round to it. It's a Jamie Oliver recipe from his return of the naked chef, tried and tested by Rob..So on this recommendation off i went.. (this recipe serves 6-8 so i halved it).. Ange xx

LAMB CURRY

2T Butter 800g chopped tomato

285ml beef stock 1.5kg diced leg. lamb

1 handful both mint & coriander 2 red chillies

1 bunch coriander 285ml yoghurt

lime

Curry Paste

5cm fresh ginger peeled 2 red onions peeled

10 cloves garlic peeled

Hot Fragrant Rub

2T Fennel Seeds 2T Cumin Seeds

2T Coriander Seeds 1/2T Fenugreek seeds

1/2T Blk peppercorns 1 Clove

1/2 cinnamon stick 2 cardamon pods

salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly toast/roast these ingredients before grinding them into a powder.

Preheat oven to 170. Roughly chop paste ingredients, put in food processor with fragrant rub, puree. In a casserole pan fry curry paste mix add butter stir regularly till goldenish.. Add tomato, stock. Bring to boil, cover with foil put it in oven for 1.5hrs. Remove from oven put on stove simmer till thick. Meanwhile also fry off lamb in olive oil till golden, add to curry sauce, simmer for 1hr. Sprinkle with chopped mint and coriander, stir in yoghurt, season to taste, add in squeeze of lime to taste. serve on basmati rice. Garnish with chillies and corriander.

Lvl Difficulty - Can watch tv at same time

time - Free park almost up

End Result - Hi 5s all round!

It's all about the chocolate..

Some days chocolate really is the answer! All weekend the rain has persisted, it just keeps on bucketing down, what's one to do other than bake up a storm! With a birthday party and a conversation with Brendan last week as inspiration, i decided that chocolate biscuits were the way to go. Of course i could not decide on one recipe, so i made two kinds (but of course!)... Chocolate fudge cookies and chocolate & macadamia nut cookies! Thanks to Rob who is the official taste tester for these ones!! Happy happy eating, Ange xx

For the choc fudge cookies:

360g semisweet chocolate 250g unsalted butter (softened)

2 cups P.flour 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 c cocoa (sifted) 3 large eggs

1 tsp bicarb.soda (sifted) 2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp fine sea salt 120g white chocolate

Preheat oven 150C, Melt the dark choc, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla till blended. Mix in the melted choc, then add in all dry ingredients till just combined. Scoop round Tbsp of the dough and drop onto baking paper, leave room as they spread. Bake for about 20mins. Cool on wire rack. For topping drizzle melted white chocolate over top of cooled biscuits.

Choc & Macadamia nut cookies!

1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts 40g cornflour

150g butter, softened 200g plain flour

160g brown sugar 1/2 tsp bicarb. soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 75g coarsely chopped white choc

1 large egg 90g raisins

30g cocoa powder 50g milk choc chips.

Preheat oven 160 fan forced. Place nuts on tray bake 5mins till lightly golden, remove from oven set aside. Cream butter, sugar & vanilla. Add egg beat well. Sift dry ingredients into butter mix till combined. Stir in white choc, nuts, raisins & choc chips. Roll Tbsp of mixture into a ball, place on baking tray, flatten slightly with palm of hand. Bake for 15mins.

Lvl Difficulty: Can watch tv at same time

Time: Flight syd to melb.

Verdict: Super hi 5's all 'round!

CB's Annonymous

My name is Angela, it's been 63 days since my lasy buy - I'm a cookbook addict. I have 80 odd...cookbooks and counting.. i have my eye on two or three i would like to add to my collection. I mean sure, i have no more shelf space, and no i have not even come near to trying every recipe in all those books- i mean people we are talking thousands of recipes!! I have improved though, i have cut down on my purchase of the food magazines.. that's good right?..
So why can't people understand that it's reasonable to have all those cookbooks? They are very informative and inspirational, i refer to them like a reference source. They are a great resource when planning a dinner party or a special function. Or indeed when i'm in the mood to create something new! or lets be honest, just when i feel like flipping through them. Sure it may not be all good for my carbon footprint (sorry trees), but it does bring pleasure (mostly when it works out) to me and to those who get to eat the food. Also i shop local (mostly) so that supports the economy, and i go to growers markets and buy seasonal so helping the environment in that way...
Wow.. ok this is not a problem at all.. it's my lunch break, i'll just run up to the bookshop to get one of those books i have been eyeing as clearly there is no real good reason not to!!

Happy food reading everyone!
Ange
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