Hot Dogs With Caramelised Onions And Blue Cheese

A quick and simple last minute dinner dish. You can use any kind of sausage meat you prefer. I made this recipe for 2 people, so if you are making for more or less people, adjust quantities accordingly. You need not add all of the ingredients or sauces, just choose the ones you like and omit the others or add in some of your favourites instead.

Hot Dogs with Caramelised onions and blue cheees

Ingredients:
hot dog buns
sausages
mustard sauce
ketchup
butter
blue cheese
tabasco
2 large onions
jalapenos from a jar
1 tsp brown sugar or regular sugar
2 tsps balsamic vinegar
2 tsps pomegranate molasses
salt to taste


Method:
To caramelize the onions; chop the onions in half rings. Sauté the onions in a little oil or butter. Add the sugar, vinegar, pomegranate molasses and a pinch of salt. Fry till the onions get a nice deep brown colour. For an extra kick, drizzle a few dots of tabasco or your favourite chilli sauce. Set aside.

Place the sausages in a pot of water and boil for 5 mins. Drain and then fry on a low heat with a little oil till nice and golden. Remove and set aside.

Butter the hot dog buns and place in an oven proof tray. Spread one side with mustard and the other with ketchup. Add a few of the caramelized onions then place the sausage on top. Top with more onions, jalapenos, tabasco (if you like more spice) and blue cheese.

Set the oven to broil (where only the top grill of the oven works). Place the hot dogs in the oven for about 5 mins. Watch and check till the bread is golden and the cheese has melted.

Indian Style Spicy Chicken Gizzard

You can make this dish as spicy as you like. I am pretty sure the kids will stay away from this one. Chicken gizzard is an acquired taste. Not everyone likes to eat it. Personally, I am not too fond of liver, but quite like eating gizzard.

This is an almost dry dish. You can dry it completely and it will serve nicely as a starter for a party with a few toothpicks and especially goes well with drinks. If you are serving it as a side dish, it pairs nicely with something milder. Curd rice, or a khicdhi (rice cooked with dal) would go nicely with this.

Indian Style Spicy Chicken Gizzard

Ingredients:
500gms chicken gizzard
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp tandoori powder (I recommend Shan's tandoori powder)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
2 tbsps Maggie's hot and sweet sauce (available at Al Adil's grocery store)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste

Method:
Wash the gizzard thoroughly. Cut some of the bigger pieces in half. Marinate with all the spices and sauces.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the chicken gizzard and sauté for 5 mins. Add 1 cup of water. Close the pressure cooker. Turn the heat on to the highest setting and when it whistles, lower and time for 25 mins.

Once the timer is finished, take the cooker off the heat. Pressure cookers are dangerous and need to be handled with care so this is what I usually do when I need to open it; to release the steam you need to lift off the counterweight gradually and bleed off the steam, I usually do this by levering the weight with a fork and adjusting it to let out the steam gently or just run the sides of the cooker under water until it has sufficiently cooled down to reduce the pressure in the cooker.

Do NOT attempt to open the cooker without letting off the steam as this could result in some serious steam burns.

Open the cooker and put the cooker (without lid) back on the fire. There will be quite a bit of water in the dish, which you need to dry up till almost all of it has evaporated. Serve hot.

Cheat's pizza on the run

Kids adore this one. You can get them involved in making it too. Get the older ones to cut the frankfurters and the mushrooms and drizzle the ketchup. They love being a part of this dish.

All you need is toppings of your choice and some store bought frozen pizza. I always keep a couple of them in my freezer. I buy the Dr. Oetker's quattre formaggi (four cheese) or the formaggi & pomodori (tomato cheese and basil).

This way you have a good cheese base ready for your toppings. The ones I have used below are kid friendly but you could add anything from chorizo to some rocket leaves, boiled egg.... the list is endless.

Cheat's Pizza on the Run

Ingredients:
4 frankfurters
2 mushrooms
2 slices ham
ketchup

Method:
Boil the frankfurters in water for about 5 -10 mins. Drain and slice them on the diagonal. Cut the mushrooms in slices and chop the ham. Arrange on the frozen pizza. Drizzle with ketchup (for the kids) or chilli sauce (for the adults). Using ketchup gives it a fresh burst of flavour.

Cook according to packet instructions. If you like, set the oven on broil for a few minutes to give the top of the pizza some extra cooking time. Give it a maximum of 3 minutes on the broil, keeping an eye on it, as it can burn easily if you wander off.

Serve hot.

Easy Thai Chicken Curry

This dish is fabulous for parties. It doesnt involve a lot of chopping and is so quick and easy to make, it a must do for any dinner party where you don't have a lot of time to prepare. All you need to go with it is a bowl of steamed white rice.

Thai curry pastes are now available everywhere. You can use them with any kind of meat, but I generally prefer to use the green paste with chicken, and the red with beef. The yellow can be used for either chicken or seafood.

Easy Thai Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
500gms boneless chicken breast
2 heaped tsps of green thai curry paste
sliced bird chillies (optional)
1 eggplant or potato
1 can of coconut milk
3-4 tbsps of coconut milk powder
lemon grass stalks, bruised with a mallot
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp of jaggery (or brown sugar)
1 lime
handful of fresh basil leaves

Method:
Cut the chicken breast into about 1 inch cubes. Thai curries are usually made with eggplant (pea aubergines in particular which aren't easily available). Use regular eggplant instead, which you dice in the same size as the chicken so that they cook together. But if you dont have eggplant at home, diced potatoes will taste just as good, again keeping the size the same as the chicken.

In this dish I used potatoes. The lemongrass and basil leaves were from my garden. Kaffir lime leaves stay very well in the freezer. Just put them in a ziploc bag and they will keep forever in there.

I like to use a combination of canned coconut milk and milk powder to achieve a thicker curry.

In a casserole, heat oil. Add the bruised lemon grass and the chopped chicken. Fry for two minutes. Then add the thai curry paste. If you would like it milder add just 1 tsp of paste or spicier then add 3tsps. For those that like it very hot, add in some sliced bird chillies. Add in your vegetable at this point. Either the potatoes or the eggplant. Crumble the jaggery and add a few drops of fish sauce. Fish sauce is extremely salty, so you just need a little. It can stay for a very long time in your pantry as well. Add about a cup of water and let it cook, keeping the lid closed. If you are using eggplant, check it every now and then, as you don't want the eggplant to get overcooked.

In the meanwhile, prepare your coconut milk powder, which you need to dissolve in about a cup of water.

Once your vegetables are cooked, open and add in the coconut milk can and the prepared coconut milk powder. Add in your kaffir lime leaves. By tearing them slightly keeping the full leaf intact, they help release their flavour. Squeeze in the juice of one lime. I like using the green usa key limes.

Keeping the fire on a medium flame, give it another 5-10 mins more of cooking time, till the coconut milk has cooked. Do not let it overboil or it could curdle. Once the heat is turned off, garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Serve it piping hot with some equally piping hot rice!

Rich Indian Chicken Curry

This rich gravy is a crowd pleaser at any party. I have also toned down the spice level so its suitable for children. You can add chilli powder or green chillies if you wish to increase the potency. 

Rich Indian Chicken Curry 

Ingredients:
10 chicken thighs, skinned and washed
3 onions minced to a paste
2 tbsps tomato puree
2 tbsps cream
salt to taste
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
4 tbsps curd/yoghurt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp Shan's achari powder (achari in hindi means pickle which is a mix of fennel, nigella seeds, fenugreek leaves, chilli, coriander, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, bayleaf, etc.)

Note: If you do not have achari powder, you can substitute it with this combination. I have added a few of the "must add" parts of the achari powder. 
1/2 tsp chilli powder
pinch of nigella seeds
pinch of fennel seeds
1 bay leaf broken into small pieces

Method:
Heat oil in a casserole. Add the onion paste, salt and ginger garlic paste. Cook till the onions till they are a nice golden colour but not overly brown. Add the tomato paste and spice powders and cook for a bit. Now add the yoghurt and cook further till you get a nice thick sauce.
Add the chicken and cook till the chicken gets a nice colour. Add some water about 1/2 a cup if you would like the gravy to be thinner. Cover and cook till the chicken is tender. Stir in the cream and cook for a bit longer.