Posts Tagged ‘Tomato’
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Its as cold as a witches tit here in London at the moment. The kind of cold that gets into your bones, and wont shift until it’s made to. Which is where this chorizo and chickpea stew comes in. A bit of a riff on the Spicy Spanish Stew I do, this is hotter, spicier, smokier and has all the ingredients to give you that Ready Brek glow, but without having to shovel some unpleasant gruel down your neck.
I use Brindisa’s picante chorizo, as I like it the best, but you can use whichever cooking chorizo floats your boat. Don’t use the salami like cured stuff, as it doesn’t really work for this recipe. Lets crack on.
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
6 cooking chorizo
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium hot red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp maras biberi
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
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Tags: Brindisa, Chickpea, Chilli, Chorizo, Cold, Garlic, Hot, Maras Biberi, Onion, Piquant, Ready Brek, Smoked Paprika, Smokey, Spicy, Stew, thyme, Tit, Tomato, Weather
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 3 Comments »
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Since arriving in San Fran, we’ve heard quite a few people say that In-N-Out burger are the cream of the crop when it comes fast food. In-N-Out are the originators of the ‘drive-thru’ phenomenon, having opened the first one ever in 1948, and as a result most of their outlets tend to be in not very handy locations to those without cars like us. So when we passed one on the way home from Tahoe last weekend, we seized the day.
When we got in there, the first thing that struck us was the size of the menu. They only really have 6 things on offer. Three kinds of burgers, fries, shakes and soft drinks. That’s it. It’s pretty refreshing to have such a limited choice, and must have been a pretty bold decision for a country like the US where people are used to having things their way.
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Tags: Beef, Bun, Burger, Diner, Drive In, Fries, In-N-Out, Lettuce, Meatwagon, Restaurant, Tomato, Vanilla Shake
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Opinion, Reviews, Travel | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
As you may know, Hand To Mouth is a big fan of the avocado. Particularly for breakfast. And we couldn’t be be better placed right now to feed our addiction. California produces around 90% of the US’s crop, so San Francisco is awash with them, and seeing as we’re living in a Mexican area of the city, I thought I’d pay homage to the ‘alligator pear’ by throwing together a guacamole.
I’ve got a lot of love for guacamole. Eating a bunch of it with some corn chips and washing it down with a couple of cold beers is, in my opinion, time well spent. Whole Foods does a pretty good one, but at 6 or 7 dollars a tub, it’s not exactly cheap, so we’ve been making our own. We’re living on a budget after all.
Before we get cracking, a quick couple of pointers. Avocados will discolour pretty quickly once cut, so prep all the other ingredients first. I also like a few chunks in my guacamole, so keep back one quarter of chopped avocado to add to the bowl once you’ve mixed together all the other ingredients.
Ingredients
2 ripe avacados
1 habanero chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2-3 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 a plum tomato, de-seeded and diced
1/2 handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
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Tags: Avocado, Beer, Chilli, Coriander, Corn Chips, Garlic, Guacamole, Habanero, Lime Juice, Spring Onions, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Travel | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Here’s another meat free offering for your bad selves. Don’t worry, I’m not going veggie, but this baked aubergine classic is a winner, and might even make it into my top 5 Italian dishes. Failing that comfortably top 10.
The mozzarella and the aubergine give great texture to the dish, and I like to griddle my aubergine before layering to add a bit of a smokey flavour.
Lets do this.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 glass of white wine
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Small bunch of fresh basil
1 large aubergine, or 2 small
180g mozzarella
Salt & pepper
Parmesan
Olive oil
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Tags: Aubergine, Baked, Basil, Italian, Meat Free Monday, mozzarella, Onion, parmesan, Parmigiana di Melanzane, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch | No Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2011
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before or not, but we start every week with Macca’s ‘meat free Monday‘. Don’t hold it against us.
As a confirmed carnivores, it can be quite tough to build up the enthusiasm to cook a bunch of vegetables, but this curry is healthy, tasty, and as it uses a ready made paste, its fast too. I use a spicy madras paste in this recipe, but you can use what ever floats your boat.
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons madras curry paste
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 tin chick peas (400g)
200 ml water
150g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
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Tags: Basmati Rice, Chick Pea, Coriander, Curry, Garlic, Ginger, Madras, Meat Free Monday, Onion, paste, Paul McCartney, Spinach, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
They’ve been repeating the Jamie Does… series on More 4 recently, and aside from the shocking title sequence, I think it’s a pretty enjoyable show. I like the idea of zeroing in on a region’s cuisine as opposed to skimming the surface of a whole country, something that the late great Kieth Floyd did so well.
One of the dishes that got my mouth watering the most was the tomato risotto he cooked in Venice. There was just something beautifully simple about the risotto and the tomatoes cooked in olive oil that made me want to give it a go. I’m sure there’s an accompanying book for the series, but I haven’t bought it, so this recipe is a approximation of what I saw of the idiot box. It worked for me, so should do for you too.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the risotto
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
100g arborio rice
100 ml white wine
1 litre vegetable stock
Handful of grated Parmesan (about 25g)
Olive oil
Unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the tomatoes
15-20 mini plum / cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
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Tags: Basil, Butter, Celery, Jamie Does..., Jamie Oliver, Kieth Floyd, Olive Oil, Onion, parmesan, Risotto, stock, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
As I may or may not have mentioned before, my other half’s family are a real mixed bag in terms of nationalities. Chinese, Indian, and South African to name but three. A veritable melting pot compared to my comparatively mundane ancestry.
As a result, my future mother in law, Connie, seems to be able to cook anything. From insane curries and whole fried Chinese fish, to cream horns and South African doughnuts. And the speed she does it at is mind blowing. Turn your back for 10 seconds and when you look back there’s a plate of food in front of you. Brilliant.
This recipe is for her quick lamb curry that I tried whilst over in Oz and she kindly wrote the recipe down for me. It’s very tasty, and also very easy. If you can get your lamb on the bone, so much the better as it’ll give your curry more flavour.
Ingredients
750g stewing lamb, diced
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pounded
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, pounded
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
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Tags: Chilli, Coriander, Cumin, Curry, Garam Massala, Garlic, Ginger, Green Lentils, Lamb, Onion, Rice, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Recipes, Travel | 4 Comments »
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
It’s probably not on the top of most people’s shopping list, but rabbit is in season, it’s pretty cheap, it’s lean, and it’s really tasty. This recipe for a rustic Italian style ragù takes a bit of time and effort, but trust me, it really is worth it. One tip, if your butcher is any good he / she should sell you the rabbit with the liver and kidneys. Don’t throw these away, they’ll add richness to the dish. The ingredients below will serve 4-6 people.
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large rabbit (around 1kg with the liver and kidneys), jointed
100g pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
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Tags: Celery, Futtucine, Herbs, Onion, Pappardelle, Pasta, Rabbit, Ragu, Rosemary, Tagliatelle, Tomato
Posted in Dinner, Opinion, Recipes | No Comments »
