Vindaloo has a pretty bad rep, being the lager louts favourite, but it’s actually a very traditional dish and a great example of early fusion cookery. It originated in Portugal - the Portuguese spice traders brought their traditional pork dish “vin des alhos” to the sub-continent, where the meat is braised in wine and garlic. The Indians substituted wine for wine vinegar and added lots of chilli and a little spice. This traditional recipe has a fantastic flavour. It might look a little strange to see beef  in a curry as it’s not often seen in Indian restaurants here. But many Indians, such as Parsees, Muslims and Christians regularly eat beef and many traditional recipes exist for beef. Even some Hindus will eat “bull” beef or buffalo, only omitting... Similar posts

For the month of January, The Sunday Times has been offering up a ten-point plan to a better you in the style section. A plan that encourages you to ‘Learn to relax’, ‘Find your purpose’, ‘Revel in strong moments’ and ‘Boost your chi factor’. When reading it, I kind of zoned out and couldn’t help feel that it was aimed at a bunch of naval gazers with too much time on their hands. ‘Revel in strong moments’ - I mean come on. Could you imagine saying to your mate: “Give me a second - I’m reveling in a strong moment”. What did catch my attention and what I will swallow is some really creative recipes that look totally delicious. Dishes like ‘Vegetables and Edmame in Chilli and Coconut Broth’,... Similar posts

Yesterday morning I was rudely awoken by the sound of crows outside my bedroom window, great start to my Labor Day lie in. The crows were chomping down on the nice juicy figs hanging off the tree in my back yard. I decided that was it, if I wasn’t going to get my lie in, they weren’t going to get my figs and so begun and unplanned day of Fig chutney and preserve making. I toyed with the idea of making a nice fig and goat cheese tart, figs wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with Manchego cheese or even a lovely chocolate and fig pie, but I resisted. All of the above would haunt me in the refrigerator for the next week saying ‘eat me, eat me’ when I’m trying not to. With the chutneys and preserves I would have the satisfaction of using up all my lovely ripe figs but not consuming... Similar posts

A couple of months ago I tried Conor O’Neill’s fabulous recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala, one of Britain’s favourite dishes. It was a fantastic recipe, full of intense flavour with a hint of heat. I’ve actually made it a few times since. If calories are not an issue, I highly recommend you give it a go. However recently, I’ve been watching the old calorie count and found myself in trouble when I had an insatiable craving for Indian food. it was then that I remembered I had this book tucked away from my Weight Watchers days. I remembered trying a few of the recipes and really enjoying them, so I set out to create a low-cal Indian feast! The tikka masala is extremely tasty and you’d never know it was low calorie. The samosas though are the winner... Similar posts