Cook is a very important part of the site! We know how annoying it is to be "in the zone" in the evening, only to realise you are hungry, and have no idea what you're going to cook, how long it's going to take and whether you're going to gain a few kg or not. (Let's face it, unless you're really dedicated to your exercise, you probably will with six months of sedentary living!) So here we have a small selection of recipes, some very healthy, some not, but mostly very easy to prepare or with short cooking times. If people are interested we can also offer a "Menu Selector" in the future, where we can put up a suggested weekly menu at the start of the week, with a shopping list to go with it.

Archive for the 'Cook' Category

 

Marinaded Chicken…yum-MY!

Jul 18, 2010 in Cook

We can’t take credit for this one, since it comes from “ChickenMarinades.net“, but we have changed the recipe, since we didn’t have any Jack Daniels.  It still tasted damn fine though!

This one requires some prior preparation, so we suggest that you prepare this one weekend day when not on call, and really really bored of revising!

Ingredients:

  • 500g/ 1lb of chicken thighs/breasts/drumsticks/mixed
  • 1 1/2 cups of olive oil
  • 3/4 cups of soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of dry mustard
  • 2 teaspons of salt
  • 1/2 cup of Jack Daniel’s whiskey® (or we used Masala wine, same quantity)
  • 1 tablespoon of black pepper (we prefer freshly ground)
  • 1/2 cup of wine vinegar (red or white, we prefer white for this recipe)
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/3 cup of lemon juice/juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of parsley
  • 3 clove of minced garlic or 2 teaspoons of pre-chopped garlic.

Method:

  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients well in a large bowl or in a flat tupperware box.
  2. Butterfly the chicken breasts and lightly score on one side.  For thighs/drumsticks, poke the knife into them a few times, all the way through to bone, or out the other side, to let the marinade in.
  3. Thoroughly coat the chicken in the chicken marinade.
  4. Marinate for at least 4 hours.
  5. BBQ over a medium heat, or stick in the oven for about 45 minutes on 180 degrees C or equivalent.  Remember to always check that your food is properly cooked before eating it!!
  6. Enjoy with green salad, or potato salad!

Easy Summer Supper

Aug 24, 2009 in Cook

If you’re lucky enough to be able to sit outside for supper in the evening, then take advantage of it!  The weather certainly won’t last.

For an easy summer evening repast, try the following (for 4 people, but obviously can be divided up for smaller numbers):

You will need:

  • 1 ready roasted chicken from your local supermarket
  • 1 pack cherry tomatoes
  • 1 round lettuce (or 2 icebergs)
  • 1/3 cucumber
  • 1 bunch spring onions
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 loaf french bread (baguette)
  • 1 bottle balsamic vinegar
  • 1 bottle extra virgin olive oil
  • Coleman’s English Mustard powder, or mustard (powder is better)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Clove of garlic or jar of Easy Garlic (Very Lazy Garlic from The English Provender Company, for example)
  • Granulated sugar or caster sugar
  • 1 cook’s knife
  • 1 salad bowl
  • Small jam jar or jug or a glass (for making salad dressing)
  • Chopping board
  • Serving utensils
  • Plate, knife, fork

Now follow the instructions below:

  1. Deskin the chicken and tear the meat off the carcass.  Make sure to get as much of the meat as possible off.
  2. Wash tomatoes and slice them in half.  You may only need 2/3 of the pack, depending on how much you like the tomatoes and how hungry you and your guests are.
  3. Split the leaves off the lettuce, wash and dry (if you have a salad spinner, great, otherwise, toss them in a decent size colander).
  4. Wash and slice cucumber about 2-3mm thick (or bigger if that’s what you want!).  Now cut the slices in half down the middle.
  5. Wash spring onions and slice.
  6. Wash and de-seed the pepper.  Cut into strips about 5mm wide, and then cut these into thirds.
  7. Set the baguette aside.
  8. Make salad dressing as follows: 
    • In a glass, put 1 teaspoon of English mustard, or English mustard powder.
    •  Add black pepper, about 1/3 teaspoon. 
    • Add several pinches of salt (watch your Na intake though!). 
    • Add 1 crushed clove of garlic, or 1/2 teaspoon lazy garlic.
    • Add about 30ml (2 tablespoons) of balsamic vinegar.
    • Add about 90ml (4 tablespoons) Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
    • Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
    • Mix vigorously.
  9. Mix all ingredients except dressing in salad bowl (use your hands, it’s easier, honestly).
  10. Serve salad with bread (to be torn into hunks) and dressing on the side.

For an optional extra, you can make a simple potato salad, by taking some small potatoes, cutting them in half, boiling them, then running cold water over them, put them in a bowl, dollop several spoonfuls of mayonnaise on top, add some black pepper +/- chives, mix it up and put on the table.

Drink ice cold white wine, or, if revising after eating, some elderflower cordial (if feeling particularly “English Country Garden”) or apple juice.

Enjoy!

Summery Meal (with fish, so it must be brain food!)

Apr 20, 2009 in Cook

Here is a simple, easy cook meal, ready in 10 minutes, and not very expensive either!

  • Pasta for however many people - your choice of shape (fusilli, papardelle, taglietelle, whatever).
  • 185g or 160g tin of tuna per 2 people
  • 100-200g white cup mushrooms per 2 people
  • 100g rocket leaves
  • 1 lemon for up to 2 tins of tuna
  • 1 clove garlic for up to 2 tins of tuna
  • Olive oil
  • Blackpepper
  • Salt

To cook:

  1. Put the pasta on to boil.
  2. Zest and juice the lemon (Microplane Graters are great for zesting, they’re my favourite cooking gadget!)
  3. Put 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, medium heat.
  4. Mince/chop garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.
  5. Add sliced/chopped/ripped/whole mushrooms (your choice, but remember that the larger the pieces, the longer they take to cook!)
  6. Fry for further 1-2 minutes.
  7. Add tuna, rocket, zest and juice of lemon.
  8. Fry for further 1-2 minutes.
  9. Season to taste.
  10. Serve, with chilled white wine (unless revising after your meal, obviously!)

Stuff ‘em

Aug 20, 2008 in Cook

Here is a recipe for stuffed peppers, from our resident Ex-Girlfriend, Sassy.  This recipe takes slightly longer than the others on here, but we are assured it is worth it.  We’ll be giving it a go soon.  In total, the cooking time is about 1 hour, but preparation time is only a few minutes.  We think it’s ideal, because there are two distinct phases to the cooking, meaning you can break after 30 minuts of studying to begin the second phase.

You will need:

  • Some mixed peppers (green, red, yellow; number depends on how many you’re going to eat/feed)
  • Chopped garlic (1 clove per 2 peppers)
  • Chopped onions (1 medium sized onion per 2 peppers)
  • Sliced mushrooms (we reckon about 50g per pepper)
  • Chick peas or lentils (about 25-50g per pepper)
  • Sliced courgette (1 per 2 peppers)
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato puree or 50ml passata per pepper
  • 1heaped teaspoon of mixed herbs per 2 peppers OR fresh a few sprigs each of basil/oregano/thyme all chopped finely
  • Salt, pepper and chili (or chilli) powder to taste (leave out the chili if you don’t like spice!)
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • Cheese of your choice to grate over the top, but goats’ cheese is best.
  • New potatoes, enough for the number of people you’re going to feed.
  • Optional side salad.

What you need to do:

  1. Chop the top off each of the peppers, and de-seed the insides.
  2. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil, over a medium heat, until starting to brown, but only just.
  3. Add the courgettes and wait for them to start to soften (2-3 minutes).
  4. Add mushrooms, chick peas/lentils and tomato puree/passata.
  5. Add the mixed herbs.
  6. Put oven on to warm to 180°C.
  7. Cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes.
  8. Fill peppers with mixture.
  9. Place in oven for 30-40 minutes.
  10. Put potatoes on to boil.
  11. Serve with some butter over the new potatoes!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mascarpone

Aug 18, 2008 in Cook

This is very rich, and probably quite unhealthy, but it does taste good!

You will need the following:

  • Frying pan
  • Saucepan
  • Knife
  • Chopping board
  • Measuring jug
  • 1 mixing bowl (smaller = better) (any old bowl will do, really)
  • Teaspoons and tablespoons
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 teaspoons each of dried thyme and parsley (or a small bunch of each fresh, which you will need to chop finely)
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 2 chicken breasts (about 300-400g of chicken)
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
  • 5-10 peppercorns, or a good teaspoon of ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of chicken stock granules (Knorr preferred)
  • 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard or Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (more will be more acidic, obviously, so we leave it to you).
  • 100-200g mascarpone (depending on how rich you want it to be!)
  • Rice or salad to serve with chicken.

What you need to do:

  1. Chop the onion and garlic quite fine (crush the garlic if you want)
  2. In the mixing bowl, use a spoon to crush the wholegrain mustard, or if you are using Dijon mustard, just put it into the bowl.
  3. Crush the peppercorns or add the pepper to the bowl.
  4. Add 1 teaspoon of each of thyme and parsley to the bowl.
  5. Add the onion and garlic to the bowl.
  6. Mix with the olive oil.
  7. Pour into a frying pan and fry over medium heat until the onions are soft (may take 5 minutes)
  8. Make 100ml chicken stock in the measuring jug.
  9. Cut the chicken breast up into 1cm-2cm chunks whilst onions are softening.
  10. Add the chicken and fry over medium-high to high heat until beginning to brown.
  11. Add tomato paste.
  12. Add vinegar.
  13. Add remaining thyme and parsley.
  14. Add chicken stock to pan.
  15. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
  16. Taste, and if necessary, add more salt (1 or 2 pinches at a time) and pepper (ditto) until happy with the flavour.
  17. Now add the mascarpone, stir 5-10 times, and serve with rice or salad.

Guten Appetit!