Eddie

It does look good, just missing some doner meat perhaps?

Et voila...

Ready for the oven...

Basically it's a 'meat feast' consisting of ground beef fried with paprika and garlic, chicken marinated with garam masala and red chilli, Spanish chorizo and mozzarella cheese.
An hour until oven time.
No, I still haven't mastered the art of getting it round.

Et voila...

Et voila...

Ready for the oven...

Basically it's a 'meat feast' consisting of ground beef fried with paprika and garlic, chicken marinated with garam masala and red chilli, Spanish chorizo and mozzarella cheese.
An hour until oven time.
No, I still haven't mastered the art of getting it round.

Patience

You can’t have it perfectly round or it’ll not look home made.

Just stretch it over something round and trim the edges with a knife.
Not a coin obviously.

recipe, in case anyone is interested...
Aubergine Parmigiano
Ingredients – tomato base
·        1 onion, finely chopped ·        2 cloves garlic (1 teaspoon crushed garlic) ·        1 teaspoon dried oregano ·        0.5 teaspoon dried basil ·        1 bay leaf ·        0.25 teaspoon dried cinnamon ·        0.25 teaspoon red chilli powder ·        1 dessert spoon plain flour ·        4 fl oz red wine ·        400 g chopped tomatoes ·        1 dessert spoon tomato puree ·        Aubergine cut into 0.5 cm slices ·        olive oil for frying ·        250 g Maris Piper potatoes ·        Mozzarella cheese, sliced ·        Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated ·        Sea salt & freshly-ground black pepper Method – tomato base
·        Fry onion, garlic, chilli for 10 minutes, stirring continuously ·        Add wine ·        Stir in flour, add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the cinnamon, oregano, bay, basil and stir. ·        Add tomatoes, and tomato puree. Stir, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes until sauce has thickened. ·        While simmering, prepare aubergines as follows: o   Place aubergine slices in colander o   Sprinkle with 1 dessert spoon of salt o   Set aside for 10 minutes o   Rinse aubergine thoroughly in cold water o   Pat dry with clean tea towel o   Paint aubergines with olive oil both sides ·        Fry aubergines for 2 or 3 minutes each side. Add more oil if required. ·        Remove from wok, place slices on dry kitchen towel to remove excess oil. ·        Cook potatoes in boiling water for just 5 minutes. Place in colander, cool under running cold water. ·        Cut potatoes into slices. Method – Construction and cook
·        Layer half the tomato sauce, aubergines, potatoes (in that order) ·        Add a layer of Mozzarella ·        Repeat sauce, aubergines and potatoes (plus any leftover Mozzarella) ·        Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese ·        Bake for around 50 minutes at gas mark 5

Patience

I take mine, chuck 'em in a polythene bag, dash of sunflower oil, teaspoon of smoked paprika, a bit of cumin, shaky shaky, air fryer - job's a good un.

That’s the name of the complaints department.

Fillet beef and three mushroom stir fried noodles, all washed down with a glass of IPA.

This is where we are now - ready to go in the oven.

recipe, in case anyone is interested...
Aubergine Parmigiano
Ingredients – tomato base
·        1 onion, finely chopped ·        2 cloves garlic (1 teaspoon crushed garlic) ·        1 teaspoon dried oregano ·        0.5 teaspoon dried basil ·        1 bay leaf ·        0.25 teaspoon dried cinnamon ·        0.25 teaspoon red chilli powder ·        1 dessert spoon plain flour ·        4 fl oz red wine ·        400 g chopped tomatoes ·        1 dessert spoon tomato puree ·        Aubergine cut into 0.5 cm slices ·        olive oil for frying ·        250 g Maris Piper potatoes ·        Mozzarella cheese, sliced ·        Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated ·        Sea salt & freshly-ground black pepper Method – tomato base
·        Fry onion, garlic, chilli for 10 minutes, stirring continuously ·        Add wine ·        Stir in flour, add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the cinnamon, oregano, bay, basil and stir. ·        Add tomatoes, and tomato puree. Stir, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes until sauce has thickened. ·        While simmering, prepare aubergines as follows: o   Place aubergine slices in colander o   Sprinkle with 1 dessert spoon of salt o   Set aside for 10 minutes o   Rinse aubergine thoroughly in cold water o   Pat dry with clean tea towel o   Paint aubergines with olive oil both sides ·        Fry aubergines for 2 or 3 minutes each side. Add more oil if required. ·        Remove from wok, place slices on dry kitchen towel to remove excess oil. ·        Cook potatoes in boiling water for just 5 minutes. Place in colander, cool under running cold water. ·        Cut potatoes into slices. Method – Construction and cook
·        Layer half the tomato sauce, aubergines, potatoes (in that order) ·        Add a layer of Mozzarella ·        Repeat sauce, aubergines and potatoes (plus any leftover Mozzarella) ·        Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese ·        Bake for around 50 minutes at gas mark 5

This is where we are now - ready to go in the oven.

Making aubergine parmigiana later today, with a lovely layer of buffalo mozzarella.

Making aubergine parmigiana later today, with a lovely layer of buffalo mozzarella.

Been eating some Italian inspired sandwiches lately.
Big crusty bloomer roll or crusty baguette. Layer with provolone on each side of the bread and then a couple of slices of these meats; prosciutto, parma, capicola, coppa ham Add some lettuce and sliced tomato inside, salt and pepper too. Repeat step 2. Chuck in the oven for 5 minutes at 200. Salut!

There's one in oakham called "wok this way" I'm presuming after the song. 
 

Al Fresco is a funny name for a Chinese takeaway, but I did once know of one in Thornbury called Ho Lee Khow.

How do you jerk chicken?
just pullet.
 

Pig-out tonight.
I made a beef balti and a brinjal bhaji side-dish (which frankly was a meal in itself), keema samosas and three different naans (peshwari, keema and mushroom).
All that we left was a tiny bit of the brinjal bhaji and half of the peshwari naan.
I may never move again.
No pics - I was rushing around trying to get everything ready at the same time.

I can't match @froggg for his artistic presentation. 
Just had my first attempt at making samosas. They don't look great (they're a bit tricky, and I'm an absolute novice at rolling pastry), but they sure were tasty...

 
Recipe if anyone is interested:
Samosas (makes 10 samosas)
Ingredients – dough
·        100 g Chakki Atta Flour ·        100 g Plain flour ·        0.5 teaspoon thyme ·        0.25 teaspoon salt ·        40 g oil ·        70 ml water Ingredients – filling
·        100 g lamb mince, fried ·        200 g potatoes ·        Half an onion, chopped and fried ·        I teaspoon cumin seeds ·        0.5 teaspoon fennel seeds ·        1 teaspoon ground coriander ·        0.5 teaspoon ginger paste ·        2 green chillies, chopped ·        0.5 teaspoon garlic paste ·        0.5 teaspoon garam masala ·        0.25 teaspoon red chilli powder ·        0.25 teaspoon salt ·        Handful of frozen peas Additional – flour+ water glue
Method – dough
·        Sieve flours into mixing bowl. ·        Add salt and thyme, mix well. ·        Mix in oil, working to incorporate using just fingers (3-4 minutes – should become like sand or crumbly gravel, when squeezed will hold shape) ·        Slowly add water, mixing until a stiff dough is formed. ·        Cover with damp cloth, leave for 30-40 minutes. Method – filling
·        Parboil and roughly chop potatoes ·        Fry onions until caramelised ·        Add peas, continue frying for 2 or 3 minutes ·        Fry keema/lamb 10 minutes until cooked ·        Add chopped potatoes, stir, fry for 1 minute ·        Add all spices with onions, potatoes and keema, mixing continually, fry for 5 minutes ·        Set aside, leave to cool Method – constructing the samosas
·        Divide dough into 5 equal balls ·        Roll dough ball (keep others covered with damp cloth) into 6 or 7 inch oval/circle ·        Cut in half ·        Construct cones (use the straight edge of each half to form the seam) ·        Fill samosa with meat/spice filling (2 or 3 dessert spoons – divide filling into 10) ·        Glue together with flour/water ·        Pinch edges to seal ·        Repeat with other half ·        Repeat with other dough balls (should now have 10 samosas) ·        Lightly oil (vegetable/sunflower, not olive oil) ·        Cook samosas (4 or 5at once) in air fryer for 10 minutes on low heat (160 C) – turn once ·        Cook for a further 5-10 minutes on higher heat (190 C) to brown – turn once