Modern Greek Salad, Spinach, Chickpea and Feta Parcels

Meal 104 - December 3rd - Modern Greek Salad, Spinach, Chickpea and Feta Parcels

So as a result of Lolz's mussel induced bout of sickness what was supposed to be a weekend of three 15 minute meals turned into a weekend with just one 15 minute meal. Unfortunately, one of the two cancelled meals (for which I had already bought ingredients) was the Moroccan mussels which unsurprisingly Lolz wasn't too keen on. So I set about finding another meal in the book for which the ingredients were similar, which is quite a challenge when you only have 16 left to do.

Chicken Tikka, Lentil, Spinach and Naan Salad

Meal 77 - September 14th - Chicken Tikka, Lentil, Spinach and Naan Salad

To be honest I'm not sure whether my cooking has really improved over the course of this year but I have certainly learned a few things. One is to cook the "Jamie Oliver way": multitasking, battling the clock, showing a little flamboyance but complete disregard for whoever will be doing the washing up. I have also become very well acquainted with my local supermarket - things like tikka paste, lentils, cashew nuts - I can find them with my eyes closed. If only Supermarket Sweep hadn't ended back in 2007 - I'd have been nailed on for the jackpot. Although that would have meant interacting with Dale Winton.

Pasta Pesto, Garlic and Rosemary Chicken

Meal 50 - June 4th - Pasta Pesto, Garlic and Rosemary Chicken

It was with some trepidation that I reboarded the pasta train as my last trip took me to Prawn-Linguine-Ville - a destination that lay somewhere between the uninspired and the downright scary. I was planning to cook seared asian beef and best noodle salad but was foiled by my inability to find alfalfa sprouts (or, for that matter, establish exactly what they were) and this was a hastily chosen back up option. I was encouraged however by the fact that the dish required just two pans and one platter - no faffing about with side salads or breadcrumb sprinkles -  and also had fond memories of the only other pesto pasta dish I cooked, the "inventive and brilliant" (© One Man and His Food Processor) Broccoli Pasta.

Poached Fish, Coddled Eggs and Tomato Loaf

Meal 37 - April 21st - Poached Fish, Coddled Eggs and Tomato Loaf

If you glance to the right you may notice that I've joined this revolutionary communications / socialmedia tool called "Twitter". For those unfamiliar with such technological wizardry it's basically Facebook with the status bar and nothing else. I'll be posting various food related nonsense that you couldn't care less about, so why not follow me?! And you needn't worry you'll be the only one - I already have two followers, although I suspect they may be spam. Anyway I've already Tweeted the picture so you probably already know what I'm going to write about.

Tasty Daal Curry, Warm Tomato Salad and Naan

Meal 19 - Feb 23rd - Tasty Daal Curry, Warm Tomato Salad and Naan

I do find it a little strange how some meals in the 15 Minute Meals book have incredibly positive adjectives attached to their names. "Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad" or "Gorgeous Greek Chicken" for instance. That this particular dish is described merely as "tasty" makes me think it may turn out to be a bit meh.

Anyway, Lolz has been struck down by the same man-flu bug that I was afflicted by last weekend (although apparently when transferred to females it becomes just "flu") and she was requesting something spicy to clear her sinuses. Curry was an obvious choice and despite being vegetarian, we thought this would be a good option for a cold February evening. The first task, obviously, was to do the shopping and, as is becoming a frustratingly regular occurrence it wasn't without it's difficulties. I was unable to find mixed colour cherry tomatoes and had to make do with the standard red cherry variety (although one did have a slight orange tinge). Curry leaves also eluded me and I concluded that you would need to find an Indian supermarket to find such an item. I also begrudged buying rapeseed oil when I already have an array of oils in my cupboard so decided to make do.

The cooking would have been straightforward if my food processor hadn't refused to work. Lolz helpfully suggested I check it was plugged in, and although that wasn't the problem, I did manage to patch it up.  I also discovered that mustard seeds are fairly excitable little things. Upon hitting the hot pan they promptly jumped straight back out, popping like popcorn. Some did remain in the pan (probably because at that point I decided to put a lid on) thankfully and I managed to crack on with the tomatoes.

The dish was nice but lacked a bit oomph. Lolz described it as being a bit like an Innocent Veg Pot and I think she hit the nail on the head - nice but not really a meal in itself. Personally I would have loved to have added some prawns or something into the equation. The tomatoes were bizarre – does the recipe really tell you to chop the whole lemon or have I misread something? Unsurprisingly, the outcome is really bitter. If you cook this dish, only use the juice and zest!

Lolz gave the dish 8/10. Difficulty rating 3/10.

Spiced Chicken, Bacon, Asparagus and Spinach Lentils

Meal 13 - 3rd Feb 2013 - Spiced Chicken, Bacon, Asparagus and Spinach Lentils

With friends coming over to enjoy the third 15 minute meal of the weekend, the pressure was on to deliver and I had barely finished my spinach smoothie when Lolz ushered me back into the kitchen and back to work. I chose this dish not because of some bizarre spinach infatuation (although we will have got through nearly half a kilo over the course of the weekend) but because it looked like a good, hearty, warming Sunday lunch.

I was quite excited as, although I had been unable to find tinned Puy lentils in any local supermarket and ended up using something called "Bijoux Verts" lentils (which actually turned out to be Puy lentils after all), we had purchased four incredibly plump, juicy looking chicken breasts from our new friends at the butchers. After flattening them out and deliberating somewhat, I decided there was no way all four would fit in our frying pan. Because they were so big, I decided to make do with three breasts and cook the first two and let them rest and then cook the third one, adding the asparagus and pancetta towards the end. It all went pleasingly according to plan and I ended up with a HUGE pot of creamy lentils and spinach (although I'm not sure blitzing the spinach in the processor really adds anything - I think adding whole leaves may have even given it a bit more texture), three suitably golden chicken breasts accompanied by crispy pancetta and some nicely charred asparagus.

The dish was enjoyed by all and the crusty bread was a welcome addition. If Greg Wallace had been dining with us he may have complained that the lentils lacked seasoning or maybe a squeeze of lemon juice or that the chicken would have benefitted from slightly more than a meagre half teaspoon of cayenne pepper (especially for a dish called "Spiced chicken"). Thankfully the only food critic in attendance was Lolz who gave the dish 9/10. She also cooked a lemon souflee which was much more delicious than the picture below suggests...

Difficulty rating 3/10.

Super Smoothie - Green

Meal 12 - Feb 3rd - Green Super Smoothie

Not really a meal but if it's in the book it's in the blog. To be honest I'm not really a fan of smoothies and the combination of spinach and banana, amongst other things, did not look appealing. Still, I knocked it up in about 15 seconds and gave it a go...

Taste wise, the smoothie is a pleasant surprise. The spinach, despite making it look a rather toxic green, is a fairly neutral flavour and overpowered by the apple juice, lime and banana. Unfortunately however, Lolz tends to take offence to banana and gave it a mere 3/10.

Swedish Meatballs, Celeriac & Spinach Rice

Meal 10 - Jan 30th - Swedish Meatballs, Celeriac & Spinach Rice

Big night tonight. Not just because a romantic weekend away meant this was my first opportunity to cook a 15 minute meal for a week, but also because Lolz' fave football team, Norwich, were playing Tottenham and if things went badly, Lolz would not be getting any dinner. I decided to go for a quick, calming  pre-dinner run, but ended getting caught up amongst the Fulham fans making their way to Craven Cottage. Not the best start to the evening. And not only that, for once my food processor stood redundant as I picked possibly the only recipe in 15 minute meals which requires neither fine chopping, slicing, grating, whipping, liquidizing or indeed any of the other seven as yet unknown function which said processor can apparently perform. I was a little nervous.

Shortly after beginning my prep, Norwich scored the opening goal of the game. Despite Lolz' (admittedly rather sheepish) celebrations I put it out of my mind and, unlike the Tottenham defenders, focussed on the task at hand. First job was putting on the rice and I decided to test out the Jamie method of using 2 cups boiling water for one cup rice. Since the rice was the standard wholegrain stuff that takes 20-25 minutes to cook, I knew that the 15 minute cooking time was out the window... The peeling and chopping of the celeriac was also a more laborious task than expected. Anyway, before too long the celeriac was frying away, rice cooking and meatballs sizzling, and I psyced myself up for the next task: flambeing the meatballs! I was slightly dubious given the proximity of the cupboards to the stove, and having never flambed before I was unsure how big the flames would be, and exactly how big a danger there was of setting fire to the kitchen. Results can be seen below.

Thankfully Gareth Bale scored a spectacular equaliser for Tottenham so Lolz did get her dinner, although (secretly sulking at the late equaliser I imagine) did say that she would have appreciated some kind of cold yoghurt/ cranberry based sauce on the side. Personally, given that I did not set fire to the kitchen, and that the finished dish was one of the tastiest so far, I thought it was a bloody triumph.

Lolz gave the dish 9/10. Difficulty rating 5/10 - just need to make sure you regurlarly stir the celeriac to prevent burnage, and give the meatballs an occasional shake.