A productive weekend, during which we did nothing, left us with nothing to cook. We managed to have a night out on Saturday night, which left us prioritising Junior’s bath before food. We settled on a sausage sandwich for tea, and if truth be told the smell of frying onions motivated me to produce something for the blog.
After a few drinks on Saturday, I fancied something fresh and something curried! We decided on something simple, and consulted Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food. I had read, I can’t remember where, that ‘foodies’ tend to be a bit snobbish approaching this book. Its back to basics stuff – but it all just works, and it’s always tasty, if unspectacular. But that’s the thing: it’s not meant to be spectacular, it’s part of Jamie’s campaign to get families eating and cooking nutritious food, to remind the reader what their kitchen and themselves are capable of.
We settled on the Salmon Tikka with cucumber yoghurt. Not exactly a challenge, but I was tired and it ticked the boxes. To liven things up, I decided to serve with two varieties of Jamie’s rice – Spicy Chilli and Lime and Coriander. This is from the same section on rice as the Garlic and Nutmeg flavour I served alongside the Lamb Dopiaza below. I decided on the chilli rice as I had half a red chilli left over from making the Cucumber dip (the recipe specified one chilli, then in the method I was directed to use half – no mention was ever made of what to do with the other half!).
So, simple stuff. Make rice. Split into half, mix one half with Lime and Coriander, mix the other half with various spices, the remaining chilli and a touch of tomato puree in a frying pan. For the Salmon, apply Patak’s curry paste to the salmon fillets (if Jamie says using paste is good enough who am I to argue?!). Shallow fry. Serve with yoghurt dip on top of a Naan.
Verdict – more than the sum of its parts. While I enjoy making my own curry from scratch, Jamie’s right about the Patak’s range, its really tasty and time saving. In addition, Jamie’s tip for flavoured rice really adds something to a simple meal, and perks up a basic accompaniment to more of a star.
I’m going to end today’s update with a bit of an apology: I am sorry for the quality of my photography! I am taking photo’s on an iphone after I have finished cooking, and then treating on the iphone if appropriate. Please remember, I’m not a photographer, and I don’t have forever – it is my dinner, and I don’t want it to go cold!
Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food @ Amazon.co.uk
Video of Jamie producing the Salmon Tikka @ JamieOliver.com
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