Practically Perfect

The other day I bought some blackberrys in Portobello Market. I was planning to eat them neat, but sadly they tasted too sour. Luckily they did, as I decided to make some muffins :o]

You will need 400g plain flour, 175g caster sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 275ml jersey milk (this is rich and creamy milk. You can also use buttermilk), 2 eggs, 85g butter and lots of blackberries.

Blackberry Muffins Ingredients

- Preheat the oven to 190 degress celcius

- Butter the muffin (ex yorkshire pudding) tin

- Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl

- Make a well in the centre of the bowl

Flour, sugar and baking powder

- Melt the butter

- Mix the milk, eggs and butter in another bowl

Milk, eggs and melted butter

- Add the liquid into the flour bowl bit by bit mixing it in gradually

Adding liquid

Adding more liquid

Liquid nicely mixed

- Add the blackberries and mix gently

Blackberries mixed

- Scoop the mixture into the muffin tin

Muffin tin

- Put the muffin tin in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the muffins look scrumptious!

Scrumptious muffins

- De-tin and put on a wire rack to cool

De-tinned yummy muffins

- Enjoy!

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Red duck curry

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:16:15 +0100

This is a very tasty thai dish that I absolutely love and I hope you will too.
You will need duck fillets, red chillies, shallots, garlic (only 2 cloves), red peppers and plum tomatoes.

Red duck ingredients

For the sauce you will need lemon grass, cumin, galangal, nutmeg, lime leaves, thai basil, red curry paste, coconut milk and a lime. You will also need rice to soak up the tasty sauce.

Sauce ingredients

- Steam rice
- Prepare red chillies, shallots, garlic, red peppers and plum tomatoes
- Cut duck into bite sized chunks

Preparing duck

- Fry oil and red curry paste and cumin and nutmeg

Frying curry paste

- Add garlic and chillies

Adding garlic and chillies

- Add peppers and shallots

Adding peppers and shallots

- Add coconut milk. Bring to a boil.

Adding coconut milk

- Add duck and 1/3 mug hot water

Adding duck

- Simmer for 15 minutes
- Add lemon grass and galangal

With lemon grass and galangal

- Add lime leaves, basil and tomatoes

Adding lime leaves, basil and tomatoes

- Serve and Enjoy!

Red duck curry and rice

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Sesame beef

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:56:54 +0100

This dish is ridiculously tasty and pretty healthy. You just need to be organised enough to marinate the beef the day before.

You will need sirloin steak, mushrooms, mangetout, onion, clear honey, mustard, light soy sauce, sesame oil, white wine vinegar and dry sherry.

Sesame beef ingredients

- Chop onion finely
- Add the onion to steak
- Add 2 tablespoons sherry, 3 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Season with pepper.

Marinating beef

- Cover with clingfilm and put in fridge overnight
- The next day steam rice
- Chop mushrooms

Chopped mushrooms

- Wash and chop the ends off the mangetout

Mangetout

- Remove the steak from the marinade
- Fry on a high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side
- Leave to cool on a wire rack

Fried steak

- Remove the onions from the marinade and fry them

Frying onions

- Prepare the dressing. Mix together 3 tablespoons sunflower oil, 1.5 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 2.5 tablespoons mustard and 1 teaspoon honey.

Dressing

- Put the fried onions in the dressing

Onions and dressing

- Fry mushrooms and mangetout in the marinade

Frying mushrooms and mangetout

- Mix these with the onions and dressing

Mushrooms, mangetout and onion

- Slice the steak into fine strips

Sliced steak

- Mix the steak with the mushrooms, mangetout and onions

Mixing steak

- Serve with rice and enjoy!

Sesame beef

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Chicken stuffed with feta cheese and sundried tomatoes

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:02:00 +0100

A friend of mine cooked me this delicious dish recently. Yummm... I have simplified it a little bit to make it feel more achievable, for myself and for you.

You will need chicken breasts, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, unsmoked bacon. I had mine with potatoes and rosemary, but it would work equally well with rice, pasta or salad.

Stuffed chicken ingredients

- Chop the potatoes in quarters and put them in a pan with enough water to cover them

Boiling potatoes

- Bring the pan to the boil
- Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees C
- Cut the feta cheese and sundried tomatoes into chunks

Feta and sundried tomatoes

- Stretch out the chicken breast
- Place the feta cheese and sundried tomatoes down the middle

Chicken with feta and sundried tomatoes

- Wrap the chicken around the feta cheese and sundried tomatoes

Wrapped chicken

- Wrap the bacon around the chicken

Bacon wrapped chicken

- After the potatoes have been boiling for 3 minutes, drain them and place them in an oven dish with some olive oil and rosemary

Potatoes and Rosemary

- Put them in the oven
- Put the bacon wrapped chicken in an oven dish in the oven for 30 minutes

Ready to bake stuffed chicken

- Serve and enjoy!

Stuffed chicken and potatoes

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Frozen banana and grapes

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:01:48 +0100

The frozen banana is a great tasty and easy dessert which tastes like icecream but is healthier.
The frozen grapes are a great alternative to icecubes for refreshing drinks with.

You will need a banana and some grapes.

Banana and grapes

- Peel the banana

Peeled banana

- Put the banana in clingfilm

Banana in clingfilm

- Put the banana in the freezer
- Wash your grapes and remove the stalks

Destalked grapes

- Put the grapes in the freezer
- When you fancy a healthy dessert take the banana out of the fridge and enjoy!

Frozen banana

- When you fancy a refreshing and fun drink get the grapes out of the freezer and pop them in your drink and enjoy!

Drink with frozen grapes

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Hangover cure

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 21:58:51 +0100

A lecturer whilst I was studying biology taught me one of the most useful things I learnt at university - the perfect drink to cure a hangover.

You will need orange juice, sugar and salt. No, you do not need more alcohol, this would only help temporarily but you're basically in pain because you're dehydrated. The trick behind this drink is that it is isotonic. By that I mean the drink has the same salt concentration as your cells in your body and your blood. This drink will help the body to replace fluid and minerals it lost while drinking.

Hangover cure ingredients

- Fill your pint glass with half a pint of orange juice

Half pint OJ

- Add a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar
- Stir

OJ, sugar and salt

- Add half a pint of cold water
- Enjoy! Hope you feel better soon and remember next time to drink a little less alcohol and a lot more water :o]

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Bacon and Mango Salad

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:13:18 +0100

This is a great summery dish with beautiful flavours and colours.

You will need unsmoked bacon rashers, mango, young spinach leaves, chillies, feta cheese and bread.

Bacon and mango salad ingredients

- Cut chunky bread cubes from a thick slice of bread (crust-free)

Bread cubes

- Cut half a mango into cubes

Mango cubes

- Put into a bowl
- Cut ~50g feta cheese into cubes and add to the bowl

Mango and feta cubes

- De-seed and thinly slice half a red chilli and add to bowl

Mango, feta and chillies

- Chop ~75g bacon into chunks

Bacon chunks

- Heat some vegetable oil in a pan
- Fry the bacon

Frying bacon

- When nicely golden place onto kitchen roll to drain some of the grease

Yummy bacon

- Wipe the pan clean with a kitchen roll
- Heat some vegetable oil in the pan
- Add the bread cubes and fry on each side till golden brown to make crunchy croutons

Croutons

- Place on kitchen roll
- Wash the spinach and add to the salad bowl

Mango, feta, chillies and spinach

- For the dressing, mix olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper

Dressing

- Heat the bacon and dressing. Stir quickly.

Bacon and dressing

- Add to salad bowl and stir

Bacon and mango salad in bowl

- Serve and do not forget to add the croutons!

Bacon and mango salad

- Enjoy!

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Chicken katsu curry

nobody@vox.com(Practically Perfect) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:50:50 +0100

This is an extremely tasty dish and it really is worth breading the chicken yourself. Note of warning however, the kitchen mess factor of this dish is high!

You will need chicken breasts, carrots, flour, golden curry sauce, rice and breadcrumbs.

Chicken katsu curry ingredients

- Cook the rice
- Prepare 3 dishes for dipping the chicken into
- Put equal amounts of flour and water in dish 1

Dish 1

- Stir
- Put flour with salt and pepper in dish 2

Dish 2

- Put breadcrumbs in dish 3

Dish 3

- Chop the carrots and boil them

Boiling carrots

- Pat the chicken dry with kitchen roll

Dry chicken

- Heat some vegetable oil in a pan

Vegetable oil

- Put the chicken from dish 1 to dish 2 to dish 3 to the pan

- Repeat with second chicken breast
- Fry on both sides till golden brown. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked

Golden brown chicken

- For the sauce, remove some of the water from the boiling carrots
- Add the golden curry sauce

Carrots and golden curry sauce

- Stir and reduce (boil off excess water till the sauce is to your desired consistency)

Reducing curry sauce

- Serve the chicken and curry sauce on a bed of rice
- Enjoy!

Chicken katsu curry

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