Make your own Katsu Curry!

Hey guys its Alex!

Japanese Inspired Katsu Curry!

So I have a big obsession over Japanese food, but really fail at cooking it (especially sushi) so when I was really board the other day i thought; wouldn't it be nice to find a simple katsu curry recipe 

Katsu Curry can't be that hard? Can it??

I eventually found the perfect recipe that seemed simple enough that I could follow and adapt in my own little quirky way- Here's the link for the non quirky recipe :) 

To start I bought some chicken goujons and Uncle Bens microwavable rice, this cut time and cost!! and after getting all the basics of the dish I needed to concentrate on the sauce….

This is how I got on :) 

What you will need….

Ingredients:

3 tbsp sunflower oil 
2 medium onions, roughly chopped 
25g chunk of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped- this was debatable and i didn't add in the end
4 garlic cloves, sliced 
3 tbsp medium curry powder 
1⁄2 tsp ground star anise- or I have Chinese 5 spice which did the trick 
1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric 
4 tsp of plain flour 
500ml chicken stock (made with 1 chicken stock cube) 
4 tsp tomato purée 
2tsp freshly ground black pepper
ohh and then i added a tad soy sauce when cooking the onions.

-My first move was to fry the onions with some sunflower oil for about 5 mins- but make sure not to burn them like I did, just let them go golden - I may have aded soy sauce- you don't need it though.

-Then add in 4 garlic cloves with the onions, sliced into iddy, biddy, diddy chunks 

-With them slowly frying, add and mix in all the turmeric, curry powder, black pepper, the star anise/five spice and sprinkle in the flour. 

-Once mixed up in the pan add the chicken stock slowly, then add in the purée, I suggest at this point taste the mixture and see if it needs more flavouring. 

-Let the sauce mix on a light flame to simmer. If its turned thick and paste like, add more water and slowly stir mixture. This is when I popped the rice in the microwave and the chicken was nearly finished being cooked in the oven.

-Once everything looks cooked put the rice and chicken on the plate with the sauce, you need to pour the sauce into a blender or use a stick blender to grind the mixture down to a smooth and creamy appearance and then its ready to serve

Daaadaaaa easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!

Tuck in and enjoy, let me know how you get on!

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Quick Carbonara

The first time I had carbonara was actually at Pizza Express (kids menu). So that was a long time ago, but ever since then I was hooked. This is originally made with spaghetti and parmesan cheese, but I made it with the spirally pasta (Fusilli) and Cheddar cheese. YES people! Cheddar cheese! Obviously if you prefer parmesan do use that, I'm not much of a fan so I use Cheddar. 

For the people who are not sure what carbonara is, it basically is a pasta dish made with bacon, eggs and cream. It super easy to make and you properly have these ingredients at home already! So lets get started. Oh and this recipe is just the right amount for 1 person

You Need:

• 1 egg
• 70ml double cream
• 30g grated Parmesan or Cheddar cheese
• 3 slices of pancetta or bacon of choice
• 2 handfuls of pasta
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

 1) start of by boiling water in the kettle. Add the pasta to a pan with some salt and olive oil, then add the boiling water and cook pasta according to the instructions on the packet. 

2) In a bowl add the egg, cheese, cream, salt and pepper. This will be out sauce so just leave that to the side for the time being. 

3) Grab a none stick frying pan and add the olive oil. Once the oil has warmed up add the bacon. What I normally do it a cut the bacon into pieces by using a pair of kitchen scissors. Once the bacon is nice and crispy (about 5 minutes) you can add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. I crushed by garlic using one of those garlic crusher thingy bobs. I know it looks like a lot of garlic but I do love my garlic! 

4) By this point your pasta should be cooked and before you drain all the starchy water away, grab a spoon and pour 4 tablespoons of the starchy water into your sauce mixture. The reason I do this is to bring up the temperature of the sauce. Not sure if that makes sense but it works just trust me! Add the pasta to frying pan.

5) Mix everything together and then turn the heat off. 

6) Add the sauce and toss pasta to mix everything together. The egg should cook with the warmth of the pasta and bacon. If you do keep the pan on the heat when adding the sauce, you will end up with a scrambled egg sauce rather than a smooth rice sauce. 

7) Your done! plate it up and serve immediately. 

If you do manage to make this please tweet me a picture!! 

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Garlic and Rosemary Mushrooms

This is a quick and easy recipe if you're in a rush. I used to make this a lot a uni, all you need is a couple of ingredients and 10 mins!

Ingredients: 

• Chopped Mushrooms
• Garlic cloves (add as many/little as you want) 
• Oil (4 tablespoons)
• Rosemary (can use mixed herbs instead)

First- Chop the garlic cloves and rosemary into big or small pieces. In a bowl add the oil, rosemary and garlic so they can infuse. 

Second- Chop up the mushrooms and pour the oil into pan along with the mushrooms. Keeping the heat to medium. Once the mushrooms have shrunk and become darker in colour, you can add the rosemary and garlic as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook these all together for about 2-3 minutes. And your done!  

You can add a sauce to this and boil some pasta and it becomes and instant meal. Hope you enjoy making it :)

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