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This page is dedicated to giving you hints and tricks, from how to cut an onion without bursting into tears, to how to make the best of some of the insipid mixes that we are told will spice up our dishes.

Curry Powder

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Fast and simple way to make the most of those insipid curry powders that are on sale in almost all supermarkets.

Using this method, instead of a packet per meal, you will only need a spoonful to get a far tasty dish. 

I think this is probably the only recipe I make where every ingredient is optional! But really, the ingredients you use are a matter of your personal taste, so experiment, make a mix, use it, then adjust it according to the result.

INGREDIENTS

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mild-Madras curry powder-2 teaspoons;

oregano-3 or 4 teaspoons;

chilli peppers- a teaspoon each of two;

cumin- 1 1/2 teaspoon;

coriander-3 teaspoons;

5 spice-2 1/2 teaspoons;

turmeric-2 1/2 teaspoons;

ginger-1/2 teaspoon;

black-pepper corns-1 teaspoon;

cinnamon-1 teaspoon;

supermarket curry powder-3 teaspoons;

garam masala-1 teaspoon;

mild paprika-1 teaspoon;

extra-hot paprika-1 teaspoon;

Tandoori masala-1 1/2 teaspoons;

colourant;

salt-3 teaspoons;

sugar-8+ teaspoons.

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STEPS

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Now this is where it starts to get complicated!!

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1)Place all the ingredients into a blender;

2)BLEND;

3)Pour the mixture into an air-tight jar and put a label on it.

Mexican Spices

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This is a fast and simple way to liven up uninspiring Mexican Spice packets.

Using this method, instead of using a packet for every four servings (basically each meal), you will use just a spoonful, and get much tastier dishes.

INGREDIENTS

any one of the enormous number of insipid mexican spice mixes that you can buy almost everywhere,

chilli powder (the hotter the better),

cumin,

5 spice mix,

oregano,

and sugar.

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STEPS

1)Empty the mexican spice mix into a blender;

2)Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of extra hot chilli powder. If your chilli powder is not extra hot then simply add a little more, or if you don't want the mix particularly hot, add less;

3)Add a spoonful of cumin;

4)Add a spoonful of 5 spices mix;

5)Add 2-3 spoonfuls of oregano;

6)Add 3-4 spoonfuls of sugar;

7)BLEND!

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THAT'S IT!    USE SPARINGLY!!!

A SPOONFUL SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU A SPICY MEXICAN MEAL.

YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD MORE IF YOU WANT YOUR FOOD HOTTER!!

Summer Peppers

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These little lovelies are brilliant for livening up your salads, and pastas.

Just 3 or 4 ingredients, and in five minutes you've got a delicious, tasty, and vibrantly coloured bundle of flavour.

Cheap, easy to make, and perfect for those hot summer days, and musty evenings.

 

All you need is ;

a tin of peppers,

a spoonful of cream cheese,

a spoonful of fresh or sour cream,

a spoonful of mascarpone cheese,

and dill.

Then, all you do is mix the cheeses and the cream together, with a generous amount of dill, and fill the peppers.

Lattice-Work Pastry

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This is an easy way to make spectacular looking pies.

Like most things, it looks far more complicated than it actually is, and there is a simple trick that makes it easier still.

Just follow the instructions in the video, it's pretty well fool-proof!!!!

A couple of tricks :

1)It is best to cut the pastry whilst it is semi-defrosted. It is far easier to manipulate that way. If your pastry is becoming too soft whilst you are working it, just pop it back into the freezer for five minutes, have a cuppa, then resume;

2)I find this pastry is at it's most impressive when used with fillings that are creamy. In order to avoid the filling spilling out, freeze the pies prior to baking, then just pop them into a preheated oven at 180°c, without defrosting them, for about 30 minutes. This should be sufficient time for the filling to be piping hot without burning the pastry, but keep an eye on them from 20 min onwards, each oven is different!

Taste Bombs

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If like us, you find that most food comes in portions that are not designed for your family (in our case we are three), and you invariably end up with left-over bits and bobs in the fridge.

Here's something you can do with a left-over hamburger. Mini-meatballs that create an explosion of taste when you make soups* and stews.

These are really easy and fun to make, so get the children involved in making them, they'll love it! it'll allow them to get messy, but, not too much!

*for example, chick -peas with taste bombs.   SIMPLY DELICIOUS !!!

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For the chick-pea recipe, click on the side-bar for my Seven times Chicken post of 10/03/17

Barbecue Sauce

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Easy way to make a delicious tangy barbecue sauce.

Boil the skin of an onion in 1/2 can of coca-cola (yeah, it sounds odd, but it will give your sauce a delicate smokey flavour), on a low flame for 10 minutes.

Once the 10 minutes have elapsed, remove the onion skin, and add two spoonfuls of brown sugar, a pinch of chilli pepper, 1/4 of bottle of ketchup (any ketchup will do), and 1/4 bottle of brown sauce (HP or other of it's kind). Simmer for a further 3-5 minutes.

ALLOW TO COOL.

Then bottle and store in the fridge.

As simple as that!

Aioli.

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The fast and easy way to make a perfectly acceptable aioli, and a lot cheaper than buying one of the many insipid versions they sell in supermarkets.

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Pizza Topping/sauce.

(How to emulsify)

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How to make a pizza topping/ tomato sauce, in about twenty seconds, including how to emulsify liquids.

p.s. It looks like my wife has found the zoom button on the camera!

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Salt and Pepper seasoning.
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This mixture is, apparently, fashionable. Well, I don't know about that, but it certainly is tasty, and can be used with a variety of dishes.
One of my favourites is salt and pepper roast ribs, but, It is also really good if you use it when making either barbecue or sweet and sour ribs.
I will present these recipes shortly, but in the meantime, this video will show you how to make a quick and easy mixture tailored to your own likes.
Slice an onion without tears.

No more crying when you cut an onion.

Well at least it works for me!

That said, you will always come across an onion that stings the eyes more than normal, but hey, that's life.

At least you will be able to cut the majority of onions without tears.

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Bread Dumplings

Really easy and fast way of making extremely tasty dumplings that will light up any soup, whilst making the best of bread that you would otherwise throw away.

Tear the bread into crumbs and place them in a bowl. Add the spices and herbs that you most like (I like to use a pinch of oregano, dill, ground garlic, pepper and salt) and an egg.

Mix all the ingredients together, and add packet bread crumbs, little by little, until you achieve a firm yet spongy mix, that you can form into a ball.

Leave the mixture to chill in the fridge a couple of hours, then divide it into small portions that you can shape like mini-croquets.

Lightly flour the dumplings and that's that.

Store them in the freezer for whenever you are going to make a soup. All you need to do is drop them frozen into the soup and allow them to cook while the soup boils.

You'll be surprised just how tasty they are!!!

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