Come Dine With Gav

Here’s one for my Kabayans, Adobo, the national dish of the Philippines.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Thighs x 3 (or pork, lamb, any other meat with the bone still in)
• Onion - use about one quarter, chopped
• Garlic - 4/5 cloves, crushed
• Red Chillis - 4 small chillies chopped (optional)
• Green Beans
• Bay Leaves x 5
• Soy Sauce - half a cup (I have no idea how much a cup is, I just lobbed in a big glug)
• White Vinegar - slightly less of a glug than the soy sauce
• Water - one cup?
• Salt, pepper and paprika to taste

In a large pan, add some olive oil on a high heat and fry the onions, garlic and optional chillies for a few minutes until the onions turn brown.

Add the chicken then turn the chicken after a few seconds so both sides get some colour.

Then add the water, soy sauce and vinegar. You want the liquid to come about halfway up the chicken. You can also add the bay leaves, salt, pepper and paprika. Once the mixture has started to boil, reduce to a low heat, cover and leave to simmer for about 25-30 minutes.

About halfway, turn the chicken over and add the beans. If the sauce is very runny still, stir in some corn flour.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, remove from the pot and fry for a few minutes on each side to get a nice brown crispy coating.

Place the chicken pieces on a bed of white rice.

And pour the sauce over the top!

Salamat!

This is very easy to make and can make a complete novice look like a superstar in the kitchen. All you will need to achieve said superstardom is:

• Chicken Breasts
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Pesto
• Parma Ham
• Parmesan Cheese
• Olive Oil

Take a sharp knife and cut a slit in the side of each chicken breast. Spoon in some pesto and torn up pieces of mozzarella.

Close the slit and wrap 2 rashers of Parma Ham around each breast. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle some of the Parmesan Cheese. You may need to use some cocktail sticks to hold it all together.

And that’s it, ready to whack into the oven for about 25 minutes!

Voila!

Here we have a Mexican breakfast dish that’s easy to make.

Ingredients:

• Eggs x 2
• Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• Chopped Onions
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Olive Oil
• Tortilla Wraps

In a large frying pan, add a glug of olive oil then the onions, garlic, oregano and paprika and fry for about 5 minutes.

Once browned and soft, add the tin of tomatoes.

Stir and keep on a medium heat for a few minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. Then using a spatula, make some hollows into the mixture into which you’ll crack your eggs.

Cover the frying pan, reduce to a low heat and gently fry for another 5 minutes or so before serving with the tortilla wraps.

Time to try my hand at making a dessert!

Ingredients:

• Chocolate Hob-Nobs (or Digestives/cookies/Oreos) - about 200g
• Butter/Margerine - about 75g
• Soft Cheese - 2 packs of Philidelphia or similar totalling 6-700g
• 2 medium eggs (or 1 large egg plus another yolk)
• Caster Sugar - about 200g
• 2 x Vanilla Pods
• Milk Chocolate - about 300g (2 large bars)

Put the butter in a pan over a low-ish heat until it melts, then stir in the biscuits which you will already have smashed up into little pieces. Once the chocolate from the biscuits has fully melted and it’s all starting to make a paste, evenly layer across the bottom of a greased cake tin and put into the fridge to set.

In a large mixing bowl, add the soft cheese then beat well with a fork until it becomes soft and smooth. Add the sugar, then beat again until well mixed. Open up the vanilla pods with a sharp knife and scrape the contents into the bowl, then beat again. Finally, beat the eggs into the mixture until everything is fully mixed together. Put a small amount into a small bowl and set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water, then stir into the mixture above thoroughly. Once done, add the entire contents to the base in the cake tin which should be sufficiently set by now.

Add the mixture you set aside earlier to the top of the cake and use a chopstick or fork to creat a marbling swirl effect (hopefully doing a bit better than my attempt).

Put into a preheated oven at 180 for 30 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven until it returns to room temperature.

Put in the fridge to set for 4-6 hours, or preferably overnight for a better result. Then it should be ready to slice and serve.

When most people make this at home, they drown the spaghetti in a bland supermarket jar of sauce. There’s no need when it’s easy enough to make it properly.

Ingredients (for one portion):

• Spaghetti (about 100g)
• Egg Yolk x1
• Onion (half & finely chopped)
• Garlic (one or two cloves)
• Pancetta (about 2 rashers of chopped bacon)
• Fresh cream (about 50ml)
• Parmesan cheese (about 50g)
• Salt & Pepper

In a small mixing bowl, add the grated parmesan cheese, the egg yolk and the cream.

Stir thoroughly until all mixed together, adding plenty of black pepper while you do. If the mixture is too thick, add a little milk. You want the consistency of porridge. Once mixed, set aside.

Next, get a frying pan, add a little olive oil and add the bacon, onion and garlic.

While that’s gently frying, cook the spaghetti until al dente (about 10 minutes) with salt and a drop of olive oil added to the water.

Once the bacon is cooked and the onions browned, take off the heat. Return to the heat once the spaghetti is cooked, then drain the spaghetti.

Once drained, add the spaghetti to the frying pan over a medium heat and stir thoroughly.

Then add the egg/cheese mixture, stir quickly on the heat, remove from the heat and stir thoroughly. The idea is that you don’t want the egg to cook too quickly, the heat from the cooked spaghetti should cook it gently and create the creamy sauce once settled.

Empty the contents onto a plate and enjoy.

An easy one to throw together and lob into the oven.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Thighs x 6 (skinless and boneless)
• Chorizo
• Sweet Potato (new potatoes also work)
• Black Pudding
• Onion x 1 (red onion works better but I don’t like it…)
• Orange x 1
• Lemon x 1
• Olive Oil
• Oregano

In a shallow baking tray, pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add the chicken thighs, making sure you rub both sides in the olive oil and space them out. Then add thickly chopped onions, sweet potato, chorizo and black pudding. Get the zest from the orange and lemon and sprinkle over the top along with some oregano. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top and some juices from the lemon and orange (but not too much!).

Whack into a preheated oven at 200c for about an hour and a half, taking out every half hour to baste everything with the juices from the bottom of the baking tray.

Once ready (when the potatoes are soft enough to eat - they’ll be the last ingredient to be cooked), serve with crusty bread and/or a nice green salad.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts x 2
• Onion
• Garlic
• Olive Oil (3 tablespoons)
• Coconut Milk (half a tin)
• Lemon Juice (1 tablespoon)
• Ground Coriander (1 tablespoon)
• Paprika (1 teaspoon)
• Cumin (1 teaspoon)
• Chilli Powder (1 teaspoon)
• Turmeric Powder (half a teaspoon)
• Mustard Seeds (half a teaspoon)
• Salt (half a teaspoon)

Slice the chicken breasts into large cubes. In a mixing bowl, put the paprika, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice and a little water. Mix it all together to make a smooth but runny paste. If too thick, add a little more water.

Add the chicken to the bowl and mix thoroughly then set aside. If possible, leave to marinade overnight, but a few minutes will do if not.

In a pan over a high heat, add the olive oil and the mustard seeds and leave for a minute or two until the mustard seeds start to pop then jump around. Add the crushed garlic and chopped onions and leave to fry until the onions turn golden brown.

Reduce the heat to a medium heat, add the chicken (and any mixture left in the bowl) and mix thoroughly.

Keep gently stirring for around 10 minutes until the chicken is white all the way through.

Add the coconut milk, stir thoroughly and leave to simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If the sauce is too runny, stir in some corn flour to thicken it up.

Serve with rice.

Continuing the Indian food theme…

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts (skinless and boneless)
• Yoghurt (natural low fat) - half a tub
• Salt - half a teaspoon
• Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
• Garlic paste - half a teaspoon
• Ginger paste - half a teaspoon
• Cumin powder - half a teaspoon
• Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
• Mint sauce - 1 teaspoon
• Madras curry powder - half a teaspoon
• Coriander powder - half a teaspoon
• Garam masala - half a teaspoon
• Turmeric powder - half a teaspoon
• Chilli powder - half a teaspoon
• Dried fenugreek leaves - 1 teaspoon
• Red food colouring (optional - I used a squeeze of tomato puree instead - it didn’t make a difference)

Slice the chicken breasts into large strips.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Thoroughly mix the ingredients to make the marinade. Add the chicken to the mixture and continue to stir/mix until everything is coated.

You can either cover the bowl and leave to marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours (or preferably overnight) or you can do what I did and divide into portions and put into food bags, one in the fridge to cook with, another in the freezer to have another time.

Once sufficiently marinated, throw onto the old George Foreman for a couple of minutes and we’re good to go!

You can serve in a kebab/sandwich or use in a curry. Or you can do what I did and serve with rice and mango chutney.

An Indian restaurant favourite!

You’ll need:

• Chicken pieces (legs/wings/thighs/breasts/whatever’s left)
• Yoghurt (half a tub - natural low fat)
• Garlic paste (half a teaspoon)
• Ginger paste (half a teaspoon)
• Olive oil (1 tablespoon)
• Lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
• Coriander powder (half a teaspoon)
• Cumin powder (half a teaspoon)
• Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Chilli powder (1 teaspoon)
• Garam Masala (1 teaspoon)
• Paprika (half a teaspoon)
• Red food colouring (optional - I didn’t use it)

Remove the skin from the chicken and pierce each piece with a fork twice. In a small bowl, make a paste using the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and chilli powder.

Rub the paste into each piece of chicken and put into the fridge for an hour.

In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients (yoghurt, garlic/ginger paste, coriander, cumin, paprika and garam masala) to make the marinade.

Coat the chicken pieces in the marinade, put onto a plate, cover and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 220, places the chicken on a rack and put into the oven for around 30 minutes, turning the pieces over every 10 minutes then serve.

Obviously, if you use red food colouring, it’ll look more authentic but the taste should be the same. You can also grill or BBQ the chicken, probably with better results.

We’ll start with the base. None of that pre-made supermarket nonsense here, I’m getting my bake on!

You’ll need:

• Strong white bread flour (about 250g)
• Packet of instant yeast
• Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon/lump
• Salt - Half a teaspoon
• Water (about 100ml)

In a big mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt and mix it up.

Add the olive oil, then gradually add the water small amounts at a time while mixing until a good dough is formed. If you put in too much water, just add some more flour to get the right consistency.

Scatter some flour on a worktop and knead the dough for 3-4 minutes until the dough is smooth, then roll into a ball shape and put into a bowl lightly brushed with olive oil.

Cover the bowl with a wet (but not dripping - oo-er) towel and set aside for an hour until the dough doubles in size.

After the hour is up, remove the towel, and punch the air out of the dough (no really, give it a good thump) then knead again for a minute or two. Then get a rolling pin out and roll the dough flat into a pizza base shape.

The next bit is optional. Get a mozzarella cheese-string stick and divide it into enough pieces to place around the perimeter.

Fold the edges over to form a crust and seal in the cheese.

The base is now ready. You can use store-bought pizza sauce or you can very quickly whip up your own with the following ingredients:

• Tomato Puree - 3 tablespoons
• Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
• Chilli Powder - 1 pinch
• Italian Herbs - 1 pinch
• Garlic Powder - 1 pinch
• Onion Powder - 1 pinch
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Water - a little drop at a time until you have the right consistency

Put everything into a small bowl and mix thoroughly.

Now spread on the pizza base, add your choice of cheese (I used Monterey Jack) and toppings (I used feta cheese, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and some oregano). Drizzle some olive oil over the pizza then put into the oven at 180 for around 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven when it looks ready, slice, serve and enjoy!