Week Two - Handmade Ravioli with Caponata

The Boy took control this week and chose to make ravioli from scratch (without the aid of a pasta machine!)

The basic recipe and method for making the pasta dough is really simple. Kneading it was a bit tough though and by the time we had left the dough to stand while we rolled the first lot out it became really hard to manipulate at all. So it is possible to make this without a pasta machine but to get it really fine/thin and not completely break your wrists I would advise rolling it all out very quickly once the dough has rested!

The Caponata was a simple recipe but tasted great. I was dubious that the aubergine would cook through as the actual cooking time seemed really quick but my fears were totally unfounded as it was tender and well cooked by the end. A nice quick recipe that would make a great filling for jacket potatoes or served as a tapas with other dishes.

Jamie's Basic Pasta Recipe
Jamie's Caponata Recipe

Week One - Korma

I've made New Year's Resolutions for many years. Nothing major and life changing. One year I vowed to be 'more high maintenance' in an attempt to be a bit more of a girl, put make up on every day, have regular haircuts, that kind of thing. Another year I decided not to put off things any more, mainly dull purchases of things that I needed but would rather not have to buy. Each one has worked out quite well, I wouldn't say I'm still a high-maintenance, well-groomed, perfectly-organised version of the person I once was, but I think it all rubs off on you a bit over the years.

And so, as I mentioned in my last post, we decided to cook a new recipe every week for the whole year.

Week One - (Not) Chicken Korma from Indian Food Made Easy by Anjum Anand

I made this recipe using Quorn pieces instead of chicken as we are veggies (the same weight of Quorn as she recommended chicken), and I added peas as we love them, but apart from that we followed the recipe to the letter.

It was a great meal. The korma was really delicate in flavour and the coconut tasted delicious with the spices. If I was going to do it again I would crush all the whole spices very slightly before I put them in again as I feel like the flavours didn't really infuse into the dish as much as they could have.

It was very straight forward though, really easy to make. The Quorn was marinaded beforehand and then as long as you have everything out and ready it is only a matter of minutes to have it bubbling away on the stove. Otherwise it would only have been a few more minutes to fish around in the cupboard - either way it is more of 'throw everything in' dish than a 'complicated cooking techniques' one.

The Boy and I are thinking we will do this again as the centre piece for a curry night, serving this with Daal and making our own naan bread.

You can see the recipe in full here.

New Year, New... Er...

And so it is 2011. Here we are. Another year is upon us. And what is this year going to bring? Well, goodness only knows!

I liked 2010, it was a good year but trying to look at the next one stretching out in front of me I seem to feel like it is just so full of potential and possibility that I could easily end up doing nothing with it at all.

I've not made any resolutions - well, one with The Boy to cook something new from a recipe every week but that's for fun, not self-improvement.

So this could be the year I do anything at all. Set up a new business, find a new job, a new home, move to another part of the country. Anything is possible and suddenly it's exciting all over again...

Posh afternoon tea by the sea...