Coriander, Ginger and Chilli Butter Chicken

This is Gordon Ramsay's take on his favourite Indian meal.  I got it from his book "The Ultimate Cookery Course" which literally has everything you would ever need to know about cooking.  There is a TV show based on the book on BBC at the moment which is just as awesome.

He recommends you start marinating the chicken the night before to allow all the flavours to develop.

Ingredients:
- 500g boneless, skinless chicken pieces cut into 4cm pieces (he recommends thighs but I used breast)
- Olive oil for frying
- 1 small onion, peeled and diced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 3cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
- Pinch of chilli powder, or to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 25g butter
- Small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves roughly chopped, to garnish

For the marinade:
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 4cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds 
- 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
- 150g natural yoghurt
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.  Put the garlic, ginger, chilli and lemon juice from the marinade ingredients in a bowl.  Toss the chicken into the mixture, cover and set aside.

2.  Continue preparing the marinade.  Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry pan for about 1 minute until aromatic and the coriander seeds are popping.  Grind to a powder, then mix with turmeric, yoghurt, salt and pepper.

3.  Pour the yoghurt mixture over the chicken.  Mix well, cover and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.

4.  When ready to cook the chicken, heat a large heavy based pan over a medium heat and add a little olive oil.  When the pan is hot saute the onion with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until lightly golden before adding the ginger and cooking for a further minute.

5.  Add the ground coriander, garam masala turmeric and chilli powder and stir into onions over a medium heat until aromatic.  Add the tomato puree and stir for 30 seconds.  Add the butter and allow to melt before stirring it through.

6.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and wipe off any excess.  Add the chicken pieces to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, turning now and then until cooked through.  Lower the heat, add the remaining marinade to the pan and cook gently for 5 minutes until piping hot (be careful not to let the sauce boil as this will cause it to split).  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.  Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

I added 2 chopped tomatoes when I added the chicken, which worked out quite well, and served on basmati rice.

Oreo Cupcakes

I found this recipe for cookies and cream cupcakes on www.annies-eats.com and it is delicious!

Ingredients:
- 24 Oreo halves with cream filling attached
- 2.25 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1.66 cups of sugar
- 3 large egg whites (at room temperature)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup of milk
- 20 Oreo cookies coarsely chopped
- 240ml cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups of icing sugar
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- Oreo cookie crumbs
- 24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line the wells of the cupcake pan with 24 paper liners, and place and Oreo half in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.

2.  Combine the flour (sift it in), baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork and set aside.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  (Should take approx. 2 minutes)

4.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Then blend in vanilla extract.

5.  With the mixer on low speed beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add milk and beat until just combined, then mix in remaining dry ingredients.

6.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos until evenly incorporated.  Be careful not to over mix.

7.  Evenly divide between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 - 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

8.  To make the frosting combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium high speed until smooth (about 1 minute).  Blend in vanilla extract.  Beat in icing sugar (I sifted it in) until incorporated and smooth (1 - 2 minutes).  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy.

9.  Frost the cooled cupcakes, and decorate with Oreo crumbs and Oreo halves.

10.  Enjoy!  Because of the Cream Cheese frosting, depending on the temperature you may have to refrigerate them if you are not going to eat them straight away, but they should be alright for a day.

Bacon and Blue Cheese Swirls

Another quick and tasty party snack:

Bacon and Blue Cheese Swirls

Ingredients:

1 roll of store bought Puff Pastry
1 pack of streaky bacon
150g blue cheese

Method:

Roll out the pastry and cover with bacon and blue cheese.  Roll up quite snugly, and slice into thin sections.  Lay flat on a baking tray, and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 25 minutes (until the pastry is golden brown).  DONE!

You can serve warm or cold.