Instructions below with my additions in italics.

Cook’s Illustrated’s Chicken Curry in a Hurry

Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1/2 to 1 tablespoon curry powder (or to taste; mine is mild so I use about 2 tbsp)
Salt (I omit the salt since the stock has lots of salt in it)
4 garlic cloves, minced (optional, I hate chopping garlic so I skip it)
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
½ cup water (or vegetable/chicken/beef stock)
2 cups shredded of thinly sliced cooked chicken
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen peas (I don’t like peas)
1/4 cup raisins (or raisins)
1/2 cup plain  yogurt
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (I didn’t bother with this either)

1. BUILD CURRY BASE: Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, curry powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until onion is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. ADD WATER, MEAT, VEGETABLES, AND COOK: Stir in water, meat, chickpeas, peas, and raisins. Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. GARNISH AND SERVE: Off heat, stir in yogurt and cilantro and serve. Over brown rice is a good option. (I’ve also served it over couscous and it’s delicious!)

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Enjoy! I know I do ^_^

We don’t have US-style biscuits in the UK; closest thing is savoury scones. I made soup a few days back, veggies with barley and lentils, and had some left over and decided I’d like to make American biscuits to go with it. Found a promising recipe, tried it, and they came out fantastic.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

2.5tsp baking powder

0.5tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup milk

1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 205C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Method:

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. I used self-raising flour so only added 2 level teaspoons of baking powder.

Cut or rub in the butter (I used salted, either works) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. The butter has to be very cold for this, and if you’re rubbing it in, your hands must be cold too.

Add the milk and the beaten egg and stir either with a metal spoon or a knife until the mix is sticky, moist and lumpy.

Knead the mixture only enough to bind it. If you knead it too much the biscuits won’t rise as well.

Roll it out to around half an inch thick and cut with a cup/glass/cookie-cutter into circles. Try not to twist the cutter – this pinches the edges together and you’ll get flatter biscuits.

Brush the tops with a little milk and pop them in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out  clean.

Nom!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

1tsb honey or golden syrup

4pz salted butter

3oz brown sugar (I used caramel sugar, I imagine any light brown sugar will be good)

1/2 tsp baking powder

4oz self-raising flour

Vanilla essence

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar until soft and well mixed. Add the honey/syrup (melt in 1tsp water if it’s very thick) and a couple of drops of vanilla essence.

Slice in the flour, baking powder and oats until well mixed.

Gather walnut-sized balls of the mix in your hands, press together until the mix holds firm and place on a greased or lined baking tray. Makes ~10 depending on the size of your balls. *cough* You can squish them flatter if you like thin biscuits, but they do spread out when cooked.

Cook at around 160C for 15 minutes.

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 medium to lge onion, chopped

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

1 slice white bread, crusts removed

pinch of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper (or seasoning to taste)

method.

blitz everything in a food processor until very fine, shape into around 8 burgers, depending on how thick you like them, then chill for at least 30 mins.

grill under a hot grill for a few minutes on eavh side untill cooked through, again depending on how thick you like them, and according to taste.

Serve in buns with salad and mayo

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tblsp Yeast

2 tsp salt(use more  if you use sea salt/kosher salt, up to 1 Tblsp)

3 Tblsp honey

5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour(also called graham flour)

3/4 cup quick oats(not old fashioned oats)

Prep time: 3 hours to make the dough(makes 4 loaves), 40 minutes to make a loaf

Cooking time: 30 minutes

First add the yeast, salt and honey to the warm water and mix it thoroughly.

then put all the flour and oatmeal in a large bowl/container and add the water mixture

Now mix it until it is just a nice mass, do NOT kneed it(it doesn’t need it heh)

OK now you let it rest lightly covered at room temp(around 70 f) for 3 hours, it should poof up and start to flatten out on top.

at this point the dough is done, it can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks(lightly covered) or it can be used right away, you can even divide it up into 4 portions and freeze them for later use, thawing them in the fridge before final loaf making.

To make a loaf: dust your hands well with flour and grab off a nice sized hunk of dough, this recipe makes four smallish loaves but can easily make two or three bigger loaves, it’s all in how much you take. As soon as you have the dough gob in your hands quickly form a  French Boule loaf, just pull the sides under, give the loaf a 1/4 turn and repeat, set the nice little loaf on a cookie sheet OR cutting board OR pizza peal that is dusted with cornmeal(it keeps the loaf from sticking) slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife to assist it with the rising process.

Now leave the loaf to rise and set a timer for 20 minutes, when it goes off set a baking stone OR cast iron skillet in the oven along with a shallow pan(like a broiler pan) on the shelf below it, set the oven to pre-heat to 450 and set the timer for another 20 minutes. When the timer goes off this second time quickly slide the bread off the cutting board directly onto the hot stone, dump a cup of water into the shallow pan below it and close the oven door, set timer for 30 minutes.

There it is, crusty on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside, yeasty, flavorful and GOOD

It can be made on a regular cookie sheet if you don’t have a baking stone or cast iron skillet but the crust texture won’t be the same.

2 small yellow onions

2 large celery stalks

2 Tablespoons butter(30 ml) use olive oil if you are making it vegan

2 large carrots

1 large(or 2 small) potato

1/2 cup(125 ml) frozen peas

1 can(250 ml) tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes

1 tsp(5 ml) salt

pinch of pepper

1 tsp basil(5 ml)

1 Tblsp parsley(15 ml)

2 cups vegetable stock/broth(I use “better than bullion”)

2 1/2 cups(625 ml) milk, omit the milk or use soy/rice milk if making it vegan

1 sliced scallion/green onion

Prep time: about 45 minutes

Cooking time: about 1 hour

peel the onion and wash the celery, chop them into small pieces.

Melt the butter in a large stock pot(olive oil if making it vegan) and then saute the onion and celery for 7 to 10 minutes, just until they get soft.

While that is cooking chop the carrot and potatoes into small pieces, also measure out the peas and set these veggies aside.

Now place the tomatoes(fresh or canned) in a bowl and add the spices, smash them about a bit with a spoon so the flavors start to mingle.

Once the onion and celery are soft add the veggie stock and all the veggies except the peas to the pan, bring it to a boil and simmer for 3o minutes, then add the peas and simmer for another 10 minutes. Test to see if the root veggies are soft(potatoes/carrots) if they are soft place the soup in a large bowl to cool a bit.

Once it’s cool enough to handle “wizz” it (small ammount at a time) in a food processor or blender until it’s  smooth as you want it(I left mine just a bit lumpy but you can make it 100% smooth or chunky) return it to the pot and add the milk(soy/rice if making vegan), cook for another 15 minutes just to warm it back up, be careful not to let it boil and scald it. This tasted great before adding the milk so if you don’t want to you can just eat it as is, no milk at all.

Top each bowl with the sliced green onion(I didn’t seeing as I don’t like onion) and eat with some hearty whole grain bread, Mmmm so good.

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon of curry paste, or to taste

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks

2 red peppers, de-seeded and cut into strips

1 mango, peeled and cut into chunks

1 good handfull of raisens or sultanas

seasoning to taste

METHOD

1  Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until soft but not brown

2  Stir in the curry paste and sizzle for 2 mins

3  Add all the other ingredients except the mango, and stir in 1/2 pint of water

4  simmer for 10-15 mins until the veg is soft but not mushy

5  Stir in the mango and simmer for another 2 mins

This tastes just as good as it looks!

This recipe is for very yummy pumpkin and spice drop cookies, they are very easy to make and taste quite good, they might be too “spicy” for younger children but they are a hit around my house. This cookie is very soft and moist, almost like pumpkin bread or muffin in bite size form(and easier to make) they look like brown blobs but they taste like harvest time. It’s the cookie on the right

1 cup shorting(I used part butter for flavor)

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups Pumpkin Puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1/2 cup whole wheat/graham flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon EACH Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Clove

Cream together the sugar, shortning and egg.

Add in the pumpkin and vanilla extract.

Sift together the flours, baking soda and spices.

Gradually add the flour/spice mix to the wet ingredients.

Chill for at least 1 hour

Drop by rounded teaspoon full onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 400f for 8 to 10 minutes (I found 10 to be just right)

Makes about 6 Dozen cookies.

These are very tasty pumpkins and spice cookies that you can roll out and cut into cute fall shapes then decorate as you like, I did fall leaves and acorns here but last week I made some that were Jack-O-Lanterns. This cookie is firm almost like thick sweet pie crust(but moister) they have a good flavor to them and don’t really need the frosting if you wish to leave that off.

1 cup butter(it is safe to use half shorting if you want them to have a longer shelf life)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Orange Zest OR 1 Teaspoon Orange Extract

1/2 cup packed pumpkin puree

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2  1/4 cups regular flour

1/4 cup whole wheat/graham flour

1/2 teaspoon each Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Clove

Prep time: 1 hour

First Cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest/extract.

Then add the pumpkin, egg yolk and vanilla.

Sift together the flours and the spices.

Carefully mix the flour/spice into the wet ingredients.

Chill the dough for 30 Minutes.

Roll out on a well floured surface and cut into desired shapes, place slightly apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 375f  for 10 minutes. Makes about 2  1/2 dozen cookies.

Let them cool, and frost with Simple Icing. (1 cup confectioners sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1Tblsp milk)

Ingredients:

• 16 oz of soaked and boiled chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 2 fluid ounces of the liquid from boiling the chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons of natural lemon juice
• 1 ½ -2 tablespoons of tahini
• 2-3 crushed cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil

Some people add red pepper powder to the mixture. Others, just sprinkle it later on the dish.

Process:

Soak about 3 ounces of chickpeas during a minimum of 12 hours. Boil them and set aside from boiler. Keep the water. Combine the chickpeas with the rest of the ingredients in blender. Add 2 fluid ounces (about ¼ of cup) of water from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low speed until is properly mixed and get a smooth consistency.

Place in a dish, forming a type of basin with hummus, with a shallow well in the center.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of virgin olive oil in the center of the dish. Sprinkle some red pepper and garnish with parsley (both optional). If you want a low calories hummus, don’t add olive oil and reduce the amount of it you put in the food processor

Serve accompanied with warm or toasted pita bread.

Calories of a cup (8 fluid ounces or 250 grams) of hummus: from 350Kcal (low fat) to 500 Kcal. It is a rather rich food.

Hummus is very healthy. It lowers bad cholesterol, due to the cheakpeas. It is very caloric and should be eaten moderately.