Shadowcat on 17/3/2006 at 12:52

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This one comes from Roz Denny's "The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook". I consider it a crowd-pleaser, yet it's pretty durned simple. Note that baking the pumpkin shell is entirely optional (it's purely presentational) so you don't actually need the oven at all. As such, I invariably ignore that part of it when cooking it for myself, and just dice up and cook as much of the pumpkin as I can.

The ginger is absolutely vital, but that aside you can successfully mess around with the ingredients in lots of ways.

Paz on 11/9/2006 at 18:43

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This is blatantly stolen from one of those little BBC recipe books, but no-one will know that if I don't mentio ... oh balls.


Spiced Mince and Couscous in a North African styleeeeee
Serves 2 (but can easily serve more!)

Here's what you need:

(for hot mincing action)

~ About half an onion, roughly chopped (more if you love onion, or if the onion you've found is tiny for some reason).
~ 300g of beef mince (also works with Quorn mince, vegetarian fans!)
~ 1 tablespoon of ground cumin (I use cumin seeds actually)
~ 2 teaspoons of ground turmeric
~ 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
~ 100g-ish ready-to-eat dried apricots (halved or quartered, whatever turns you on)
~ 300ml beef or chicken stock (or veggie stock if you've taken that option)
~ 50g unsalted cashews, toasted under ZE GRILL (just enough for a couple of scattering handfuls)

(for couscous)

~ 150g couscous (adjust accordingly for however much couscous you'd normally do for two people, I'm not mad keen on huge portions of it)
~ Some fresh mint, or some dried mint. Hey, just some mint to add to it, ok?


The exciting cooking part:

1). Heat some oil in a pan (quite a big one, everything is going in here except the couscous), add the onions and let them cook for 5 minutes or so. Until they soften a bit.

When they have, stir in the mince and the spices. Let the mince cook for a bit until it changes colour and says HI I'M COOKING.

Then add the stock and the apricots. Stir that all around a bit and bring the whole concoction to the boil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer away cooking gently for 10-15 minutes.

2). Meanwhile, in a parallel universe (well, on another oven hob anyway), create your couscous. Instructions might vary on this - check your packet, but for 150g of couscous, I usually add about 200ml-250ml of water to the pan. It looks like nothing, BUT FEAR NOT. Anyway, once that water starts boiling, stick the couscous in it (turning the heat off at this point). Stir it around a bit and bung the lid back on the pan. I usually do this while the mince is simmering away.

Yeah, ok, you know how to make couscous. But some people don't!

Anyway, wait a couple of minutes and then revisit the couscous which will probably have FLUFFED UP a bit. Chuck your mint in and mix it up a bit (you can add lemon zest too if you're, say, less lazy than me). Stick the lid back on the pan again and leave it. It'll be happy.

3). Grill your cashew nuts (beware, these can burn quite easily if you hilariously stop watching them - believe me :erg:)

Once they're done, plonk the couscous into bowls or on plates, divide up the mince and scatter the cashews on the top. Wheee!

4). EAT IT FOR HEAVENS SAKE.

The apricots in particular make it taste fabbo. Mmm.

Strangeblue on 12/9/2006 at 16:54

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Been grillin' in the end of summer dry spell. I found myself with a lot of meat and not a lot of prep time, but I wanted the meat flavorful. So here's what I did over two days.

Spicy steak rub paste

1 heaping tablespoon ground, pressed, or very finely minced garlic (it's OK to use the stuff in a jar if you have to)
1/4 teaspoon Dave's Total Insanity Hot Sauce with garlic (very, very hot, but thick and tasty, do not substitute Tabasco--too vinegary and wet)
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt or Margarita salt
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of rubbed sage
1 teaspoon fresh ground peppercorns

2 medium or 1 large size steak.

Fire up the grill and get it medium hot.

Mix all the ingredients very well in a small bowl, making sure to get anthing clinging to the sides down into the goop. Don't use a plastic bowl if you want to use it for anything else ever again.

Unwrap the meat and pat it dry with a paper towel to remove surface moisture. Using the back of your spoon, not your fingers, spread half the paste into a thin coating on the upward side of the steak/steaks. Let sit for a couple of minutes while you prep your veggies or whatever.

Lay the steak on the grill paste side down. Smear the remaining paste on the naked upward side of the steak--once again with the spoon, not the fingers. Cook steak to desired doneness (I like medium rare, so about 7 minutes on a side for a 3/4 inch thick steak.) Don't poke or turn the steak more than you have to. Ber very careful not to get the rub on your fingers or stick you fingers in your eyes or rub your face if you do--the garlic and the Dave's burn like hell.

Whisk off the grill and let sit for just a minute or so before digging in. I serve with fresh veg steamed on the grill in foil and plain rice or good bread. Yumm! Leftovers make great sandwhiches, too.

Serves 2 (or one very huge garlic lover.)


The evil salsa chicken

2 plump boneless skinless chicken breasts (or as many as you have need for)
A tub o' fresh, spicy salsa
Limes (you can use the bottled juice if you have to)
Crushed garlic--1 clove per chicken bit
Extra hot sauce if you am a fire-eater
Fresh green onions (scallions/spring onions)
Aluminum foil

Fire up the grill to hot

Clean the onions and cut of the roots and long crappy bits of green, leaving pieces about 5 inches long. Set aside.

Rinse the chicken bits to get rid of any glop from the package. Pat dry if desired, but not necessary. Place each chicken on a large rectangle of foil. Glob a big spoonfull of salsa onto the chicken. Squeeze on a quarter of a lime's worth of juice, crush on a clove of garlic and add a dash of the hot stuff if you want it. Seal the mess up in the foil, folding to make sure the juices don't escape.

Plop the packets onto the grill for 4-5 minutes per side (depending on the size o' the chicken bits). Spread the green onions all around over the packets of chicken. Turn the packets once, redistributing the onions. Pull everything off the grill when done and let stand while you finish up the side dishes. Tear open the foil and dump the chicken onto your plate. Garnish with another small spoonful of fresh salsa a quick squeeze of lime and a handful of the grilled onions.

Really good over rice with beans, or shred it all up and put it in a tortilla. Very quick and easy to clean up after.

Thief13x on 13/9/2006 at 13:27

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:p this one's really easy to make but really really good.

First, open about 3 cans of tuna and put them in a bowl.

Then add about a tablespoon of mayo.

Crush about 10 black olives up and add them, then heat it up for a few minutes in the microwave being sure to stir it so the mayo doesn't burn. Mix well and serve on bread just like a sandwich. Garuntee you havn't had somthing that good in a while.:ebil:

Ulukai on 13/9/2006 at 19:57

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The following also evolved from a BBC recipe book, but now it has more awesomeness.

Chicken with Wine & Sweet Onions

Serves 2, takes about 55 minutes.


* A huge onion
* Some skinless chicken pieces (4). Legs, thighs, breasts. It's all good.
* 1/4 pint white wine
* 1/4 pint apple juice
* A smallish slab of butter
* Olive Oil
* Tomato puree (approx 2 heaped Tablespoons)
* 1/2 Jar of some kind of vegetable pasta sauce
* Rice
* Fresh peas
* Plain Flour


Get a huge wok. Make sure it has a lid. (A large frying pan will also do, but it must have a lid)

Slat the butter and a small amount of olive oil into the wok and heat so the butter melts. Whilst this is happening, chop the onion into fine strips. Dry your eyes. Turn the heat down and fry the onion slowly for about 15 minutes until it's golden brown and sugary.

Put the onions somewhere warm whilst you're doing the next bit.

Dust the chicken pieces with flour and then fry them in the wok for about 10 minutes until the chicken is visibly white.

Mix the white wine, apple juice, tomato puree and pasta sauce in a jug, and add to the wok. Grab the onions and add them back in. Stir about a bit with a wooden spoon, turn up the heat to it gets hot quickly (especially if you've had the apple juice in the fridge), then turn down the heat again. Place the lid on your wok/pan and leave to simmer for 25 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through.

Go and talk to your spouse/lover for 10 minutes.

15 minutes before time is up, heat a pan of water until it's boiling. Add enough rice for the two of you. Throw a few peas in 5 minutes before the time on the rice is up.

Heat two plates, arrange the rice into nice donut shaped pools and add the chicken & sauce. Put some parsley on the top. Serve with a nice bottle of wine and some good music.

Eat, be happy, try to ignore the huge amount of washing-up you've generated.