This is by far the fastest Sunday lunch I prepared. I had no intention of cooking. Hubby gets off the phone with a friend at 11.45 and announces Connie’s coming for lunch. After a few expletives I jumped up to think! Luckily he had bought smoked pork neck at the German butcher (again!) for his sarmies for work and I had to get creative with frozen chicken. Thank Goodness for Pressure Cookers, so I made curry and good old fashioned bread pudding was the quickest I could come up with for dessert. We ate at past 2pm. Recipes follow.
SMOKED PORK NECK
1.5 kg smoked pork neck
Submerge in a pot and cover with cold water
Add :
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tblsp garlic ginger past
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Boil for 1 hour
Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Glaze
¼ cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce
Add some water so that you can brush on
Bake 1 hour basting every 20 minutes
Roast Potatoes – I just peeled, washed and parboiled potatoes in water with vegetable stock cube till half done, drained well – seasoned with salt, pepper and chicken spice – dusted with flour mixed with egg yellow powder and put in preheated oil in oven and roasted till golden and crisp
Stuffed Squash
4 gem squash
butter
Salt and pepper
1 can cream style sweet corn
Paprika for sprinkling
Method
Insert a sharp knife into the middle of the squash and slice in half.
Put in to a pot of water, bring to the boil and cook until squash is tender.
Remove the seeds and add a heaping tsp of butter to each half of the squash.
Season with salt and pepper. Fill each squash half with sweetcorn. Sprinkle with paprika.
CHICKEN CURRY WITH FROZEN CHICKEN IN PRESSURE COOKER
8-10 chicken pieces (Thighs and legs)
2 onions (chopped)
1 ½ cups passata
3 chillies slit
coconut oil (just enough to coat bottom of pot)
3 – 4 medium sized potatoes, halved and quartered
1 tblsp ginger/garlic paste
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tblsp kashmiri chili powder
1 tblsp leaf curry powder
2 tsp Kashmiri masala
1 tsp garam masala
2 teaspoon dania/jeera powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tblsp biryani seeds
4 green cardamom pods
1 bay leave
Salt to taste
1 sprig curry leaves
Hot water as needed
½ bunch chopped coriander + leaves to garnish
METHOD:
Dry roast all seeds and grind in coffee grinder till course but not a fine powder. Heat oil and add onion and chilies and saute till onion tender.
Add ground spices and fry a few minutes. Add frozen chicken and seal lid and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
Add ginger/garlic paste and masalas (chili powder, curry powder, coriander powder, jeera, garam masala and and turmeric powder, kashmiri).
Toss until meat well coated. Add salt, passata and curry leaves and seal lid and cook on high pressure another 15 minutes.
Add potatoes and hot water and cook on high pressure for another 15 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves. (which I didn’t have)
BREAD PUDDING
4 slices of bread
Butter
Apricot jam
4 tblsp coconut
4 eggs
4 tblsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup milk
A few slivered almonds or raising (optional) (I used almonds)
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Butter the bread and spread with apricot jam.
Slice into triangles and place in oven proof dish.
Scatter the almonds/raisins over.
In a blender add the eggs, sugar, milk and essence.
Blend until smooth. Pour over the bread.
Bake until set and golden. Serve with custard.
Prepared, tried and tested by: Melanie Kramar
