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A few weeks ago I brought a book: “Anyone Can Cook” from Better Homes and Gardens.  After having it sit around for a while I decided to give a try and cook a 3 course meal, with one main dish and two appetizer.

The two appetizers I made were Roasted Asparagus and Skillet Scalloped Corn, while the main dish was Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions (not found on the website).  After slaving myself in the kitchen for 1.5 hours I finally finish making the dishes.  Take a look to see if they look like the pictures in the website

My First 3 Course Dinner

Now I realized that cooking a real dinner is a lot of hard work, not to mention I needed to wash all the dishes and clean up the mess I made in the kitchen.  I think I won’t be doing this again for a quite a while.

I was hungry, and I had a craving for a BLT sandwich; so I went to my local grocery store to pick up some bacon, lettuce and tomato.  When I got home I went straight to work and starting making my first BLT sandwich.  3 slices of toasted bread, 6 strips of bacon, 4 slices of tomato, lots of margarine and 2 scoops of mayos!  When I finished, I laughed at myself; it stood 5 inches and didn’t look very good.  But looks are deceiving, because it tasted really good to me!

BLT sandwich

I don’t cook very much but here are two recipes that I tried out. The chilli chicken is really hot!

Scorching Chilli Chicken

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs, skinned
• 5 ml/1 tsp garam masala
• sliced green chillies, to garnish
• chapatis and natural (plain) yogurt, to serve

For the paste

• 30ml/2 tbsp tomatoe puree (paste)
• 2 garlic clovers, roughly chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies, roughly chopped
• 5 dried red chillies
• 2.5ml/½ tsp salt
• 1.5ml/¼ tsp granulated sugar
• 5ml/1 tsp chilli powder
• 2.5ml/½ tsp paprika
• 15ml/1 tbsp curry paste

For the sauce

• 30ml/2 tbsp oil
• 2.5ml/½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaves
• 5ml/1 tsp ground coriander
• 5ml/1 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5ml/¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 150ml/¼ pint/2/3 cup water

1. Put the tomato puree, garlic, fresh green and dried red chillies, salt, sugar, chilli powder, paprika and curry paste into a blender and process until smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the cumin seeds for 2 minutes. Add the onion and bay, and fry for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the chilli paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the spices. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and water. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
4. Add the chicken and garam masala. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is tender. Serve the curry with chapattis and yogurt, garnished with sliced green chillies.

Seared Tuna with Red Onion Salsa

Ingredients

• 4 tuna loin steaks, each weighing about 175-200g/6-7oz
• 5ml/1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
• Pinch of dried red chilli flakes
• Grated (shredded) rind and juice of 1 lime
• 45-60ml/3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and salt and ground black pepper lime wedges and coriander (cilantro) sprigs, to garnish

For the salsa

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 6 red or yellow cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, stoned (pitted) and chopped
• 2 kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
• 1 fresh red or green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
• 60ml/4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
• Leaves from 6 fresh mint sprigs, finely chopped
• 5-10ml/1-2 tsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
• About 5ml/1 tsp muscovado (molasses) sugar

1. Wash the tuna steaks and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with half the crushed cumin seeds, the dried chilli flakes, a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and half the lime rind and juice. Rub in 30ml/2 tbsp of the olive oil and set aside in a glass or china dish for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the salsa: mix the onion, tomatoes, avocado, kiwi fruit, fresh chilli, chopped coriander and mint in a bowl. Add the remaining crushed cumin, the rest of the lime rind and half the remaining lime juice. Add Thai fish sauce and sugar to taste. Set aside for 15-20 minutes for the flavours to develop, then add a further seasoning of Thai fish sauce, lime juice and extra virgin olive oil to taste.
3. Heat a ridged, cast-iron grill (broiling) pan for at least 5 minutes. Cook the tuna, allowing about 3 minutes on each side if you like it rare or a little longer for a medium result.
4. Serve the tuna steaks immediately, garnished with lime wedges and coriander sprigs. Serve the salsa separately or spoon some or all of it on the plates with the tuna.