Paella (my friends love this) - serves 6

I've deliberately not put quantities, for most ingredients, as it's a matter of personal taste.

4 Chicken Breasts - diced
Olive Oil
1 Red Pepper - chopped
2 Red Onions - chopped
Garlic Puree
Tomato Puree
Chilli Sauce (I use Lee and Perrins Garlic and Chilli Sauce)
Mushrooms
Frozen Peas
Paella Rice (75 g per person)
Turmeric
Chicken Stock
Chorizo Sausage - diced
Prawns and Mussels (I use Asda's frozen prawns, mussels and squid, but defrost them first)
A few large shell-on prawns

Heat oil in pan.  Fry off diced chicken till cooked.  Add onions and pepper.  Fry until soft.  Add garlic, tomato and chilli puree to taste.

IF YOU WANT YOU CAN SWITCH IT OFF NOW AND FINISH IT LATER.

Add chopped mushrooms and chorizo sausage and heat up, then add rice and fry for a few minutes.  Sprinkle on about a teaspoon of turmeric.

Add chicken stock and keep stirring to prevent sticking - though some say that paella should be stuck to the pan.  Add more hot water as required. 

When not much liquid left, add peas, prawns and mussels (and squid if using) and heat through.  Test to see if rice is cooked.

Add a few 'shell-on' prawns on top and leave long enough for them to heat up.

Aubergine Pirogues (serves 4)

I love this recipe - though I don't follow the quantities - just throw it all in!

2 large aubergines
60 g butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped (I use red or yellow)
1 celery stick, chopped
175 g peeled prawns (I use raw king prawns)
90 g button mushrooms, chopped
60 g/1 cup soft white breadcrumbs
salt and cayenne pepper
125 g grated cheese

Halve the abuergines and cut out the centres, leaving 1 cm thick shell.  Chop flesh coarsely and set aside.  Cook aubergines in boiling water for 5 minutes then drain thoroughly.  Meanwhile, melt butter in pan, add onion, pepper and celery and cook until softened.  Add aubergine flesh and cook until golden.  Add prawns and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Remove vegetable mixture from heat and stir in breadcrumbs.  Season to taste.  Pile into aubergines and sprinkle with cheese.  Arrange in overnproof dish and bake at 200 for 20-25 minutes.

Curried Goat Recipe

Here is the curried goat recipe, courtesy of a goat-keeping website.  I thought it was lovely, though I did add a bit too much liquid and it was very spicy so if you don't like curry too hot, add a bit less chilli maybe.

http://www.boer-goats-farmstay-bed-breakfast.com/curried-goat-recipe.html

My recipe for mushroom bhaji is as follows - it's very simple:

3-4 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
half tsp turmeric
half tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
three quarters tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp tomato puree
225g chopped mushrooms

Heat oil over medium heat and fry onions till lightly broned.  Lower heat and add garlic, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander and cumin.  Stir and fry spices and add about 1 tbsp water to prevent sticking.  Add more water when dries up.  Continue for 5 mins.  Add salt and tomato puree, mix well and add mushrooms.  Stir until well mixed.
Sprinkle about 2 tbsp water and cover pan.  Simmer for 10 mins.  Should have small amount of gravy but not be runny.  If necessary, remove lid to allow to evaporate.

Goat Curry

Now cooking goat curry, or should  say Curried Goat.  Will also do mushroom bhaji.  Watch this space to see what it's like.  Having said I rarely use convenience food - I'm actually using a packed of pre-cooked rice today, as I found it in the pantry - we'd bought it for a recipe and it didn't get used.  Oh, and pre-bought naan bread, though I do often make my own.

Reason for the Blog

Like a lot of people, I love food.  I love cooking, and eating proper food, and generally 'convenience' food to us, is sausages or the odd bought pie.  Not that I've got anything against convenience food, but you can't beat home-made stuff for taste, often economy, and for being better for you.  At least we know what goes into things we cook ourselves - and besides, in a lot of cases we can have a home-cooked meal ready as quickly as we can a frozen meal.  I can imagine the reaction I would get from my husband if I put a 'ready-meal' in front of him after he's been to work.

So I thought it would be good to set up a blog, whereby we can maybe share recipes and ideas for food.  I'll be thinking of some things to post on here in the not to distant future.