Hello Jamie and crew

My family and I have made 2013 our year of BETTER.  Living better, eating better and trying new things. Life is too short!

With this in mind we all went off to an Indian restaurant on the weekend (neither my husband or son have every eaten at one) to try something new.

Although they found the Butter Chicken too spicy, they liked a dish which was titled "Beef Curry". Not Madras, Balti or anything else, just called Beef Curry (As it was at the top of the menu, I think it was put there to avoid confusion for newbies).  It was a runny dark brown gravy style curry, not spicy or hot.  I was wondering if you could suggest a recipe that would be similiar that I could try at home.

I have made several dishes from both the 30 min and 15 min books and have adapted things as needed.  You used the Jalfreezie paste in the 30 min book, and unfortunately in Australia we can't seem to get it in in Pataks range.  So I swapped it for Balti - they liked it!   The REALLY good thing is that both my hubby and son see how hard I try when creating these dishes - neither of them are game enough not to try it.

Your suggestion for the mild brown gravy style Beef Curry would be appreciated (even a Pataks or Sharwood paste that may be suitable?).

Many thanks, love your books and shows!!
Much appreciated.

Bronwyn

Last edited by Busybron (Tue 08 Jan 13 5:32am)

Jamie,
what are your top tips (not recipes) for simple dinner parties????

Hi Jamie,

I will be making your roast lamb shoulder with smashed veg for guests and have one question. Rather than the bone-in roast you use in the recipe I have a boneless rolled lamb shoulder of about 2 kg. How will the cooking temperature and time change because of that?

Thanks,
Peter

Where to start, cheslaufren98?!  We don't know anything about your present cooking skills but I'm thinking you would like to prepare something simple.  Don't know where you are in the world either;  it makes a difference.
For a start, I'm actually cooking venison sausages braised in red wine.  It's simple and suspect extremely tasty.  I shall serve this with mashed potatoes and perhaps a green veg.  This recipe is with compiments of Delia Smith (sorry Jamie - ya can't win 'em all 

If you could be more specific in what type of meal you would like to cook, it would help and give us some clues as to your expertise.

You're very young and it's very encouraging to hear of your interest in cooking for the family.  Well done and good luck.  Come back if you want further advice.

chezlauren98: here's an idea.

Put a tin of tomatoes in an oven dish. Season with salt, pepper and sugar, and add some crushed garlic if you like.

Get some chicken breasts or thighs with the skin on and sit them in the tomatoes so that the skin is facing up. Rub a little oil on the skins and sprinkle with salt.

Bake in a hot oven (220C/450F) for 20-30 minutes. When it's done, the skin will be brown and bubbly and the chicken will be the same colour all the way through - cut one open to check.*

Serve with rice, pasta or boiled potatoes and a green vegetable like peas or green beans, or a green salad (just because it looks good).

That's a favourite simple meal for when I want to look like I'm being fancy but don't want to do anything too complicated. You can do the same thing with skin-on fish fillets, but it will cook quicker (15-20min). And you can use a jarred pasta sauce, or any sauce, it doesn't have to be tomato. Hope it helps!

*Usually you'd check the chicken is done by poking it and seeing if the juices run clear - but you can't do that when there's tomato sauce everwhere!

Last edited by hippytea (Thu 10 Jan 13 11:06am)