Chicken Cacciatore, Spaghetti and Smoky Tomato Sauce

Meal 99 - November 19th - Chicken Cacciatore, Spaghetti and Smoky Tomato Sauce

Thick and fast these 15 minute meals are coming now. If I'm not cooking them I'm writing about them and if I'm not writing about them... well... I should be. I seem to constantly be about three posts behind where I actually am - I'm writing this about a week after I cooked it. But I guess that's what happens when it gets to the point where I have to pretty much cook a meal every other day in order to complete the challenge. I hope Lolz isn't expecting a crazy New Years Eve - on December 31st I'll be cooking my way through whatever is still left to do and so our midnight champagne may well be accompanied by some steak medallions or camembert parcels or one of the other 20 meals I have yet to cook...

Minestrone, Poached Chicken & Salsa Verde

Meal 95 - November 7th - Minestrone, Poached Chicken & Salsa Verde

Being a man with a rather healthy appetite, I wouldn't normally consider making soup as an evening meal. I need carbs, calories and dollop of saturated fat. Flavoured water doesn't cut it. But, Lolz had a cold and it was a pretty grim night, and to be honest, this looked like it had a bit more about it than your average can of Baxter's... "souped up" you could say... so I thought I'd give it a go.

Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad

Meal 51 - June 15th - Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad

Regular readers of my blog may be wondering why it's been almost two weeks since my last post. Have I become lazy? Have I succumbed to the temptations of the chippie down the road? Have I fallen victim to some gruesome food processor related accident? Well no (well, strictly, I have succumbed to the chippie a couple of times), I have been away on a business/pleasure trip to Northern Ireland. Without digressing from the main point of my blog for too long, I will quickly say that it is a beautiful part of the world and Belfast, amongst all the other many things it has going for it, is home to the Ginger Bistro - one of the best and least pretentious restaurants I have been to in a long time. Somehow, over the course of the 6 days I was away, I managed to consume seven cooked breakfasts. Not only that, but on Sunday I am due to be taking part in the 55 mile London to Brighton cycle ride . To successfully complete the ride I would have to conquer the gruelling Ditchling Beacon - a 4 km slog up a winding country road to the third highest point in the South Downs. It's not quite the Tour de France but something healthy would definitely be required.

Beef Kofta Curry, Fluffy Rice, Beans and Peas

Meal 40 - April 30th - Beef Kofta Curry, Fluffy Rice, Beans and Peas

Now here's a thrilling statistic: according to the Office for National Statistics around 92 percent of UK households own a microwave. Lolz and I are one of the 8 ish percent who rely on more traditional cooking techniques. Therefore, these 15 minute meals are about as fast as it gets when we are looking for a speedy dinner. As I got to Waitrose on my way home from a crazy day at work I was torn between doing a 15 minute meal or taking advantage of their curry themed dinner for two for £10 deal. I wasn't exactly overflowing with enthusiasm but, given that our lack of a microwave meant that "ready meals"  would take longer to cook than the Jamie alternative I decided to opt for the former.

Keralan Veggie Curry, Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt

Meal 28 - March 23rd - Keralan Veggie Curry, Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt

I've been getting pretty good lately at maintaining some degree of order in the kitchen as I cook my 15 minute meals. Occasionally this is at the expense of going very slightly over 15 minutes but I've definitely developed a bit of a technique for minimizing mess. And so I was surprised when, taking a step back to survey the damage and assess the amount and difficulty of washing up that lay in store for Lolz, that the kitchen resembled some kind of bomb site. The picture below I feel does not really do it justice, but the rather large glass of wine is telling.

Koh Samui Salad, Chilli Tofu and Thai Noodles

Meal 26 - March 17th - Koh Samui Salad, Chilli Tofu and Thai Noodles

When I cooked my broccoli pasta meal last week I was quite excited at the prospect of embracing occasional vegeterianism. I even cooked (sorry, we, it was a joint effort...) some Chinese leaf parcels for dinner on Friday night. Today's dish however, despite including a range of vegetables and that gastronomical enigma tofu (seriously, I have no idea what it is or where I might find it in a supermarket), is not actually vegetarian. And, ironically, despite my cluelessness surrounding tofu it was actually the prawns which proved the most elusive ingredient on the list. For some reason Waitrose were all out of prawns. Refusing to accept defeat though, I cunningly purchased a pre-made prawn cocktail pot, rinsed off the Mary Rose sauce, and hey presto - 100g of prawns!

Broccoli Pasta and Chopped Garden Salad

Meal 24 - March 14th - Broccoli Pasta and Chopped Garden Salad

It's been a bit of a momentous week for Lolz and I, gastronomically speaking. Not just because Lolz cooked for once (chilli - delish - 9/10 I'd say), but because the one thing I'd been looking forward to most about co-habiting finally happened.

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.

Sausage Gnocchi, Warm Kale and Bean Salad

Meal 18 - Feb 19th - Sausage Gnocchi, Warm Kale and Bean Salad

Once again I found myself not 100% on my game today. Not this time because of a hangover resulting from a night of heavy drinking and falling asleep on the night bus, or because I was distracted by a stack of mostly cooking themed birthday presents. No, this time I felt the dreaded tickly beginnings of man-flu. I was, however, quite excited about this dish because a) a fellow Jamie enthusiast highly recommended it and b) I'd never tried gnocchi before and so, to a hilarious backdrop of Arsenal getting schooled by Bayern Munich, I soldiered on.

When laying out my ingredients (I have adopted a stress-relieving and mess-minimizing strategy of laying out pre-measured quanities of all ingredients prior to stating cooking) I was initially struck by the similarity of this dish to the last sausage pasta dish I cooked last month. I remembered how underwhelmed I was with that particular dish while Lolz was also nervous about the gratuitious use of fennel seeds, but any doubts quickly faded away once the rosemary leaves hit the casserole pan and kitchen was filled with that incredible aroma that only happens when fresh herbs hit a hot pan.

It's actually one of the trickier recipes I have tried so far. You have three pans on the stove, all of which require attention and additional ingredients added to them over the course of the 15 minues. The sausages in particular require constant stirring to avoid burnage. I was also highly confused by apparent requirement (as specified in the prep section of the recipe) of the food processor (slicing attachment). At no point was this required. Still, the end product was a success. The sauce had an incredible richness (probably as a result of the wine) which the other sausage pasta lacked, whilst the greens and especially the maple glazed bacon, were a hit.

Lolz gave the dish 7/10. She felt there was a bit too much going on and felt the sauce would have been better with pasta than gnocchi. I personally would have scored it higher, particularly in the categories of leftoverability and use of trendy platters! Difficulty rating 7/10.

Veggie Chilli, Crunchy Tortilla & Avocado Salad

Meal 11 - 2nd Feb - Veggie Chilli, Crunchy Tortilla & Avocado Salad

As I write this on Sunday night I'm reflecting on what's been a fairly stressful weekend, in a culinary sense. Poor Cinderel-Lolz claims to have washed up 20 times, I'm debating whether to go to A&E after slicing off the top of my finger in the food processor (slight exaggeration maybe) and three 15 minute meals were cooked to varying degrees of success...

The first of the three was this rather funky looking chilli, my first veggie attempt. After getting through ten dishes in January including a knockout Swedish meatballs on Wednesday maybe we were due a bit of bad luck. The first problem was finding dried smoked chipotle or ancho chillis... Waitrose did not stock them, nor, after an internet search do any other major supermarkets. Even our trusty Lebanese corner shop could not fix us up. Not a major disaster though as we had some chipotle paste from a previous dish. The second problem was finding a ripe avocado, we bought the best we could find and decided to make do.

The centre piece of this dish - the chilli - is extremely simple - basically chuck it all in a pan and turn on the stove. The salad however, although simple on paper, relies on the dressing to pull it together. Unfortunately, our unripe avocado meant we couldn't blend it effectively, even after switching from the hand blender to the liquidizer. It did liquidize eventually, but the flavour wasn't right. What we ended up with was a fairly basic/ boring salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, chilli and rather odd "croutons" (which also didn't really work) with an overly limey dressing.

Thankfully, the chilli was a 15 minute miracle with all the flavour of any other chilli I've ever cooked. The chipotle adds a really good zing and the dried chillis were not missed.

Lolz gave the dish 8/10, think I probably added too much chipotle paste. Said it was too spicy for her delicate lady palate. Difficulty 2/10. Just make sure you get a good, ripe, soft avocado!

Sausage Fusilli, Creamy Garden Salad

Meal 9 - Jan 23rd - Sausage Fusilli, Creamy Garden Salad

As I type this latest post, I am literally munching my way through a rather impressive mound of leftovers from last night's latest attempt at a Ja-meal (does that work? No?), and to be honest that is where this dish scores highly - leftoverability. You can easily chuck it in a tupperware and heat it up the next day. Unfortunately though, it is this simplicity that is also the downfall of this dish: for me it is not drastically better than a hastily thrown together pasta and a jar of sauce, albeit a good quality jar of sauce. With the cost of putting the dish together (the jarred peppers cost £2.19 alone) and the mess created during the cooking process (sorry Lolz) I don't think I would be in any hurry to do this again.

I also thought the fennel overpowered the sauce slightly, and the salad was a little boring.

Lolz gave the dish a very generous 8/10, although later downgraded this to a 7 when she saw the state of the kitchen... Difficulty factor 4/10. The only real challenge was in fitting a griddle pan, large saucepan and frying pan all on the same stove.

Greek Chicken, Herby Vegetable Couscous and Tzatziki

Meal 5 - 13th Jan - Greek Chicken, Herby Vegetable Couscous and Tzatziki

Clearly on a roll, I decided to attempt a third meal in just 24 hours. I should confess however that I had already made this dish before, and that this was in fact the dish with which I christened my new food processor and I guess inspired this challenge way back on December 30th. I decided to attempt it again as we happened to have most of the ingredients in the fridge/ cupboard.

On the face of it, it looks a very simple cous cous and chicken recipe, but having cooked it before, I was aware that it was actually quite fiddly with lots of ingredients and lots of multi tasking, so I decided to cheat a bit and prepared the tzatziki in advance and stashed it in the fridge ready to serve. I have a few minor issues with recipe. Frist, two chicken breasts between four people is a little stingy. Second, 1 mug of cous cous is not equivalent to 300g. I used 300g the first time around and ended up with about twice as much as was needed. Third, the whole dish is just a little soggy - using 2 cups water for one cup cous cous is excessive, and the chopped veg also produces a lot of liquid.

Overall though, the dish is a success. The feta works well and adds another flavour and texture dimension, and whoever knew tzatziki was so easy to make?! Looks quite fancy too.

Lolz gave the dish 9/10. Difficulty factor 8/10. Definitely some potential as a next day lunch. Sadly on this occasion though, it all got eaten up...

Crispy Parma Pork, Minted Courgettes and Brown Rice

Meal 2 - Jan 9th - Crispy Parma Pork, Minted Courgettes and Brown Rice

Ooh brown rice healthy. After making a "safe" chicken dish first time round, I decided to venture into slightly less well known territory for meal 2: pork fillet. It's a cut of meat that to me always looks a little scary in the butchers. My first difficulty was sourcing different coloured courgettes. I knew yellow ones did exist but could not find anywhere that stocked them. Waitrose do a variety of round/baby courgettes in addition to the more traditional variety but none that are not green. I decided to go half and half with aubergine (that's egg plant for all my American fans out there).

In another minor diversion from the book, I used standard brown rice as opposed to the pre cooked option (with brown rice taking some 25 mins to cook this does admittedly defeat the 15 minute object of the recipe). Lolz was out running (seriously!) so I cooked the rice in advance and left it to cool. When Lolz returned from her run I began the recipe proper. The pork got prepped, veg sliced. You need a very big pan for all that veg! It all went rather smoothly. Warming the rice through in the pork pan with a bit of lemon juice and sundried tomato paste was a fantastic touch.

Once on the plate Lolz was immediately requesting extra yoghurt (Jamie seems to have adopted natural yoghurt as his condiment-du-jour) saying the dish was a little dry (although she was at pains to point out that this was not due to my cooking skills/ interpretation of the recipe, but down to the lack of any kind of sauce item in the recipe). She also thought that the chilli/ garlicky-ness of the courgettes overpowered the flavour of the meat, and on this point I would have to agree.

Lolz gave it 6/10. Difficulty factor 4/10. Leftover courgette and rice warmed through made a good next day lunch (although come to think of it I should probably not be reheating the rice so many times...)

Liquid Refreshment: I accompanied this meal with a bottle of St Peters Golden Ale. I can't really claim to be any kind of ale connoisseur but I did like the shape of the bottle and it was on offer in Waitrose.