Student kitchens
Easy, delicious, healthy(ish) recipes that won’t own your budget.Archive for home-made
Crackers.
I know it’s not really customary to make one’s own crackers (the effort to reward ratio may be a bit skewed for some) but all in all, it wasn’t too difficult…Okay, so my first batch failed miserably (I was craving this parmesan poppy seed cracker), but I used the second half of the “dough” (really it was oil with some flour sticking it together, but only just) to re-work into an actual dough which worked. So. below is a rough guide (because I think you need to use feel for cracker dough – as was evidenced by my initial failure, despite sticking to the recipe) for making parmesan poppy and sesame crackers (with some additions to make them a bit healthier. sigh. I love home baking). Great thing is – you are bound to have at least the base ingredients (oil, flour, cold water, salt).
You can make them as little or big as you like depending what you want to have them with (whitestone cheese…ohhhh yeah). There’s a good plain recipe at Cook Like Mad too.
Seeded crackers (you can omit the seeds if you want)
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
poppy seeds & sesame seeds
approx 1/2 c finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp ice-cold water (or more as needed)
Mix everything together in a bowl until it forms a dough – it should be firm but not be too much effort to tear in half. Add water or flour as needed to adjust. Knead until everything looks smooth. Let the dough rest in your fridge for 10 or 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200C or 400F. Prepare a baking tray by lightly(!) greasing it, and a chopping board with a faint sprinkle of flour. Take 1/4 of the dough and roll out very thin – no thicker than 2mm (or they’ll be dry and take AGES to cook). Cut into desired shapes/sizes and place on the baking tray. Poke holes in the crackers with a fork, and place on middle rack in the hot oven. Bake for 10-15 mins, or until the crackers are just hard (and you can’t dent them without breaking them). Cool (preferably on a wire rack) and serve!
Clare’s butter chicken
I’ll leave it up to Clare’s words:
So you wana make a curry huh? Well I’m no real expert but I’ve made the odd butter chicken in my time so…
This is meant to be a sweet tomato curry with a wee bit of heat and a lot of flavour to it. It’s been a long term favourite of mine and my flatmates always love it when I cook it; the way it smells is divine and it’s such a gorgeous colour.
Butter Chicken
Basic formula:
-yoghurt/coconut cream
-tomato paste (no other flavours in it)
-sweet chilli sauce (personal preference)
-onion
-garlic
-spices! (see recipe)
-chicken breast
I tend to build my curries from a thick natural yoghurt (such as greek) up, but building from coconut cream (not milk) could also work (if you have tried this please tell me how it went!) Avoid using a sweetened yoghurt however, as it would detract from the natural sweetness we are going to add. For two people I use 150ml of yoghurt then add about half that much of tomato puree/paste. Don’t use the ones with Italian spices in! If you have a can of tomatoes available lob a few of them in too, the more tomatoey goodness the better. I also have a tendency to add a (healthy) squirt of sweet chilli sauce, but that really is my own personal preference as I put sweet chilli sauce on everything. Finely dice a whole onion and throw half of it into the yoghurt base and put the other half into a food processor (if available otherwise don’t stress too much about this step and just hold it in reserve) and blend till smooth, a splash of water may help this step. Finely dice 2 cloves of garlic and add to the yoghurt base. Now comes the fun of playing with the spices! I use; garam masala (a precombined ground spice mixture, our version consists of; pepper, caraway, fennel, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves), ground coriander seed, star anise, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, and cumin. I also shake in some almond power if I have it available just for the heck of it. Now i know that’s a pretty hefty seeming list but honestly, these spices are totally worth the investment, turmeric can be used to add colour to anything, garam masala potatoes went down a treat, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom are all used in baking gingerbread, etc. I start with probably 4tsp coriander seed and garam masala, 2 of turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg 1 of paprika and cumin and give it a sniff, if you can still smell yoghurt under it add more tomtato paste and a shake more of coriander and garam masala. Throw a skinless chicken breast chopped into bitesize pieces in and stir it like a crazy person. (i am well aware of exactly how unappetising it looks right now, but gimme a chance here :P)
Now to cook your creation! Start with a sizeable knob of butter (we’re talking 15-20gms here) and melt it in a pan till bubbling, then add the onion puree, three shakes of garam masala and a pinch of tumeric. “stir fry” till you can really smell the onion and spices and then tip your yoghurt-tomatoey-chickeny-spicy mixture into the pan and stir all around. You will initially be able to see the butter mixture as distinct from the yoghurt mixture, remedy this! Bring them together! Now is the time to add your star anise. Add an entire star, it imparts incredible sweetness and don’t chicken out like i did when i first smelt how strong it was, it really comes through a lot tamer than you expect. Give everything a good mix up and taste test what you’ve made. If there’s something missing add it, i tend to find a shake or two of garam masala is a good idea at this stage although adding it 5-10 minutes before serving will mean it holds its flavour best and comes through strongest; it weakens a fair bit on cooking. Now place a lid on your curry and leave it on a low heat for roughly 10mins before stirring, taste testing* and replacing the lid. Now is the time to start cooking your rice as the curry is about 20mins from ready. I wish I knew Andre’s rice cooking secrets but I don’t so you’ll just have to make it up to packet directions, however throwing in 1/2tbsp of salt per full cup of rice works very well. Return to curry after another 10mins and repeat taste test*. Now is the time to add a healthy final shake of garam masala if it seems required. If you prefer a thicker curry I would strongly recommend leaving the lid off for the final 10mins, which should see the rice ready and the curry should have your mouth watering. A portion of rice each and the curry either served on top of or to the side. Na’an is the obvious accompaniment to this meal…however I have no recipe for na’an…except calling your local Indian take away and ordering some sooooo…prolly your best bet is to do that! (try the garlic na’an its awesome stuff)
* Curry isn’t sweet enough = add a shake of nutmeg, a pinch of cinnamon and some coriander seed. Also remember that the star anise will just develop more sweetness as it cooks
Curry tastes too bland = add more of everything esp. garam masala and turmeric
Curry has achieved a “powdery appearance” = add a splash of water
Curry looks too runny = leave lid off for next 10mins
Curry is too hot/spicy for you = man up; there’s no such thing
Quiche can be wholesome, too – and not soggy!
I’ve got two quiche posts (this is what happens when you buy 300mls of cream that you don’t really know what you should use in…) for you. Now, some of you may have had terrible quiche experiences from the past (soggy, soppy, sloppy…any combination of the three), but I am here to soothe your worries, and give you (almost) no excuse to try making one yourself – pastry and all (oh yes). In the interests of getting some goodness out of your pastry, I’ve added some wheatgerm to it. Wheatgerm is the stuff that is shimmied out when flour gets processed into white (unless you use stoneground). Obviously you can use a combo of wholemeal or white with some added wheatgerm. But it just means you get a slightly more interesting crust (which I promise, even the next day, is NOT soggy). Make sure to get wheatgerm that is refrigerated! Often they only bother at health food stores, but this keeps the wheatgerm stable for longer.
spring onion quiche on baked chips and roast veges
mushroom asparagus quiche with herbed roast potatoes and asparagus, and garlicky bok choy
The first was done in a 9″ tart pan, while the second in an 8″ springform pan, just to prove that you can use pretty much anything as a quiche pan! Recipe for both sized crusts are at the link below.
The great thing about these quiches is that they’re dead simple to make and keep until the next day quite well, and reheat just fine. So you can make one large quiche and not have to worry about any leftovers.
Crust
85g butter, softened and cubed
1 c plain flour
1/3 c wheatgerm
a few Tbs cold water
Rub butter and flour together with your fingertips until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add water one Tablespoon at a time, bringing things together to form a soft dough, stopping when flour is fully incorporated. Roll it out to a 11″ or 10″ diameter circle (if using a 9″ tart pan, use the 11″, if not, use 10″). Slip into your tart pan and set aside. Note: springform cake pans work just as well, although it’s harder to check if the bottoms are done.
Quiche fillings:
Spring onion and cheese
100ml cream
4 free range eggs
about 4 Tbs chopped spring onion
some grated cheese (any is good really, just not the plastic kind… *shudder*)
salt and pepper
Asparagus and mushroom
100ml cream
4 free range eggs
a pinch of nutmeg
approx 1 Tbs mustard
2-3 asparagus spears, sliced diagonally
4 mushrooms, sliced
grated parmesan cheese (to cover the base and top)
salt and pepper
Directions for both:
Preheat oven to 200C or 400F
Whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper, mustard and nutmeg (if using). Pour into your tart pan and sprinkle over the rest of the ingredients. Pop in the oven in the center rack (or failing that, pop on the bottom rack for 5-10 minutes and the top rack for the remaining 20-30 minutes) for about 35-40 minutes until crust is golden and egg filling is not liquidy.
Comment if you want the recipe for garlicky bok choy (basically, oil, salt, garlic, bok choy), or crunchy baked chips.
Makes a great lunch/brunch the next day.
