One of my very favourite cookbooks is a slim volume first published 1948, Cooking in Ten Minutes, by Edouard de Pomiane. That’s my elderly and rather battered copy on the left.

When I first got the book I was immediately hooked when in the first couple of pages I read this instruction, intended to be followed the moment you arrive home:

“Put a large saucepan of water onto the fire. Slip on the lid and let it boil. What is the use of this water, you will ask? I don’t know. But it is bound to be useful, either for cooking or washing-up or making coffee.”

How could you not love that?

His language is as concise as his recipes. Take this recipe for Plaice Meuniere:

“Wash the plaice. Dry it. Flour it. Fry it in a pan containing smoking butter. Salt. A slice of lemon.”

Some instructions are less practical, such as the bit on cooking trout, which begins: “You must buy a live trout.” Right.

The easiest thing in the world after a rough and tiring day, such as I had yesterday, is to reach for the phone to order up a take away. But in much less than the time it would take to arrive it’s possible to have tasty and much more satisfying food on the table, by adopting or adapting de Pomiane’s minimalist recipes or, even if it might make him turn in his grave, sometimes just by using a few store cupboard cheats.

One of the things about getting dinner on the table fast when you are tired is that you don’t want to have to think.

Measuring and weighing is out, chopping needs to be kept to a minimum, stir-frying is the cooking method of choice and the dish doesn’t need to have a name or to follow any rules, it just has to taste good. Having a few little cheats on standby is not just permissible but advisable.

The cheat in this particular 10 minute dish is Lidl’s Thai curry paste. This isn’t always available, but I’ve taken to buying a three or four jars to have in the cupboard whenever it is.

Although it is not by any stretch a brilliant or authentic curry paste, if you completely ignore the name on the jar, and just think of it as a sundry condiment it actually has a good robust flavour and a nice bite. A couple of judicious additions and you end up with a dish that tastes as though you took a lot of time over it.

For two people you need:

1/2 jar lidl Thai curry sauce
2 chicken breasts
A fistful of green beans
A few baby sweetcorn
Onion
Red pepper
Lidl green pesto
Lime or lemon
Oil or butter

I’ve been deliberately vague about the amounts of veg and other ingredients, since exact quantities don’t really matter. Actually the veg you choose doesn’t really matter that much either - this is about making it tasty and making it fast, so use what you’ve got, just pick veg that only needs a little cooking. Green beans and baby corn work great because you can just grab them and chuck them in.

If you’re thinking that using Thai curry paste and green pesto in the same dish seems a very peculiar thing to do, well, maybe it is, but it honestly works.

To do this in 10 minutes, which is exactly how long it took, proceed as below.

Put the oil a large pan or wok and set on a hot ring. Then put on the rice to cook.

Slice the onion and pepper and put in the pan with the other veg. Stir them occasionally and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a location close to the pan so you can continue to stir, thinly slice the chicken breasts.

Tip the veg into a bowl and set aside for the moment. Add some more oil to the pan and let it heat back up to smoking point. Put in the chicken and toss it around the pan to brown the pieces on all side. When the chicken is well browned return the veg to the pan. Add the curry paste and a good generous teaspoon full of green pesto. Stir though well and cook for couple of minutes. If it gets a bit dry add a couple of spoons of water.

It’s done. The rice is cooked too. Squeeze a little lemon or lime over the the chicken and serve.

Let someone else do the washing up.

Tags: Curry Paste, Fast, Pesto, Staples
Posted in Low carb, Recipes, Staples | 1 Comment »

I remember the precise moment I first tasted Pesto.

It was on a school trip to Rome, in a small cafe overlooking the Villa Borghese Park, and I was completely blown away. It was without question the most delicious taste I’d ever experienced in my life to that point and it changed how I thought about food.

I’m not saying the Lidl’s Green Pesto, at €1.39 a jar, is likely to have that big an effect on anyone and I know pesto is not much bother to make - I do make it quite often. But when you just want a spoonful or two even a little bother can be too much. And be honest, how often do you actually have basil and pine nuts to hand?

Well, apparantly Lidl don’t often have pine nuts to hand either - this pesto uses cashew nuts instead, with just a token 1% pine nuts, which is presumably to allow them to add “alla genovese” to the label.

The purists may tut-tut and say that it’s not the real deal, but it tastes good enough to qualify as a staple and I always keep a jar handy, it’s a quick and tasty ingredient or flavouring for everyday cooking.

I use it all the time - to flavour mayo, stirred into sauces and soup, on vegetables, as a topping on grilled fish, simply spread on toast and of course with pasta - pasta and pesto has to be one of the ultimate comfort foods.

Last night I used it to make chicken stuffed with pesto and garlic cheese and wrapped in Prosciutto, which is a favourite dinner around these parts.

The picture isn’t wonderful - I need to take the time to use a tripod - but it tasted great.

It’s simplicity to make. Just slice the chicken breasts in two lengthways, almost the whole way through, and flatten them out. Smear one side with pesto, the other with garlic cream cheese (I used Lidl’s Crefee Cheese, which I love), fold the breasts over again and wrap in slices of Prosciutto. Then into a preheated oven (at 190 C) for 20-30 mins depending on size. These took 25 mins.

Aside: Fear of salmonella means too may people overcook chicken to the point of dry stringiness. I’ve seen suggestions that boneless breasts should be in the oven for 45 minutes.

No they shouldn’t.

While you do need to take care that they are fully cooked, don’t cremate the poor things. People regularly complain that chicken is a tasteless and dry meat - 9 times out of 10 that’s because it’s been over cooked.

I always make at least one more of these than I need for dinner, because nice as they are hot they are even better sliced thin when cold to use in sandwiches or with a salad.

For dinner we had them with mushrooms in a creamy sauce, broccoli and roast turnip. This is what it cost to serve two:

Lidl Ingredients: Pesto: 35c, Cheese: 20c, Prosciutto: €1.00, Turnip: 35c; Broccoli: 50c; Mushrooms: 60c; Red Pepper: 15c; Cream: 20c.

Other Ingredients: Chicken breasts €2.00 (These were actually free range and very big and tasty, I found 12 of them at a great price on the reduced shelf in Dunnes a couple of weeks ago and froze them); various seasonings, about 10c.

So a very nice and hearty dinner cost €5.45 for two, or about €2.73 each.

Tags: Chicken, Pesto, Recipes, Staples
Posted in Recipes, Staples | 2 Comments »

I’m defining cupboard staples here as things that are so useful you should always have them in your kitchen. They can be used to rustle up almost instant meals with whatever else you happen to have to hand or make the ordinary a bit less ordinary with pretty much no effort from you.

Puszta Spice Mix is definitely one of those things. I don’t use it all that often, but it’s a very handy thing to have around.

Some the things I use it for include:

• Spicy Potato Wedges
  Cut scrubbed but unpeeled potatoes into wedges, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with Putza. Spead on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 mins, turning halfway through, in a hot (about 210-220 C) oven, it’ll depend on the size of the wedges. Kids love these and they are definitely healthier as well as a lot cheaper then the packaged frozen ones.
• Quick Chicken Wings
  Cook just like the wedges - toss in oil, then in Putza and then into the oven. Simple, quick and tasty.
• Spicy Cheese Toasties
  Toast sliced bread or rolls on one side only. On the untoasted side spread some grated cheddar and sprinkle with Putza. Grill until bubbling and eat immediately.

You get the picture - it basically just spices things up with minimal effort from you.

I find it less salty than other spice mixtures, though it does contain salt and also MSG, so if those things worry you give it a miss. I don’t really mind about these since it’s not like I use the stuff everyday. The other ingredients are paprika, onion, pepper, mustard seeds, parsley, garlic, celery, thyme, chive, dill, basil and curry.

You don’t need to use very much - 1 pack costs 99c and lasts me for months.

There is a Puszta Herb Mix also, in similar but green packaging. I’ve never bought it - I’m not really big on dried herbs - and I don’t seem to be alone since there will often be boxes of the herb mix left when the spice mix is almost sold out.

This Spicy Cauliflower Cheese was made with Puszta.

It’s made like this:

1. Put evenly sized florets from one large cauliflower into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 3 mins, then drain well and cool completely. It won’t be cooked, just slightly softened.
2. Toss the cooled florets in a bowl containing one beaten egg until well coated, then in a large bowl containing 3-4oz of finely grated cheese, I used a mixture of 3 parts cheddar to 1 part Parmesan.
3. Arrange in a single layer on a lightly oiled oven tray, sprinkle with Puszta.
4. Cook in a hot oven (about 200 C) for 15 mins or so, until the cheese is nicely browning.
5. Serve immediately - there will be enough for 4 people.

Cost: Cauliflower €1.49, Cheese €1.20, Egg 25c, Spice 3c (wild guess!)
Total: €2.97

Tags: Products, Spicy, Staples
Posted in Best Buys, Staples | 1 Comment »