A Week of Mild Experimentation

With my GDL course starting in earnest this week, I have been flying by the seat of my pants in terms of 'life outside study' and particularly so in feeding myself - catching a quick bite here, chucking whatever I've got in the fridge together, and keeping it cheap.  (As an aside, from my recent experience it seems that, far from being lazy, students actually have terrible diets because they're just too busy... Or maybe that's just me.)  Luckily, the results of this week's panicked approach to food - in between delving into the concept of property and learning about the history of EU law-making - have been pretty acceptable.  One could even go so far as to suggest successful.

First came an improvised Mediterranean chicken bake.  Chicken thighs are without question the best part of a chicken.  The meat to skin ratio is spot on, and the dark meat is more flavoursome and moist.  I coated the thighs (2 each) in flour and briefly fried them skin-side down in a drizzle of oil (the flour will be useful in thicken the sauce later).  I added peeled whole small onions (3 each) and fried these with the thighs, which I had now turned over.  I chucked in a chopped red pepper (big chunks), whole peeled garlic cloves (2 each) and some chunks of courgette.  I squeezed over a lemon and tore in some fresh rosemary and popped the pan in the oven at 180C (with the thighs skin-side up) for about 25 minutes, occasionally stirring around the vegetables.  Once it was ready, I checked the sauce and added a little further flour to thicken it up and served in bowls.  This would be good with mash for soaking up the sauce, but bread sufficed on this occasion.

My second successful experiment came last night in the form of a Thai-ish curry, upon my brother's request.  At the farmer's market I bought a basket of green beans and 2 large aubergines for £2 - total bargain!  I had chilli, garlic, ginger and other store-cupboard bits and pieces at home, so just needed to pick up coconut cream, fresh coriander and lemongrass.

Green Bean and Aubergine Thai Curry

Once home, I got the rice on.  I chopped up one of the aubergines and half the green beans and put them in a large bowl, sprinkling with ground cumin, ground coriander seed, smoked paprika and a splash of nam plah.  I bashed up two cloves of garlic, half a large red chilli, and about an inch of ginger, and mixed this in with the vegetables. I sliced along the length of the stalk of lemongrass, not cutting through the root, and then bashed this with the back of my knife.  This I added to my veg bowl along with a good handful or chopped coriander.  With 15 minutes to go before the rice was ready, I heated a little oil in a pan, and softened some roughly chopped spring onions.  I added the vegetable mixture and half a small tin of coconut cream, before pouring in about 200ml of vegetable stock.  I turned it down to a low simmer and left uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rice was ready.

The result was a very satisfying vegetable curry with lots of interesting flavour and a hint of heat.  A perfect way to end a successful week of experimenting.