Knife Of Brian .co.uk - Ideas and Recipes

CURRY GOAT v.2021

10/2/2021

Over the last few years, I have added the classic Jamaican dish "Curry Goat" to my personal repertoire. Being of Bajan (Barbadian) heritage, this was not particularly a dish I grew up with. However, I was familiar with the dish through social events. Growing up, I was often at the Ipswich Caribbean Community Centre. A hub for West Indian and Pan African people to meet up and socialise. Famed for its events which were vital in helping integrate, inform and uniting people from all racial backgrounds. It was unfortunately shut down and turned into a car park.
I have little more to add on that.
I feel blessed to have grown up surrounded be the sights and sounds of the Caribbean Club and the scentof this dish is one of my fondest memories. Second only to the heavy dub reggae, ringing in my ears to this day.

Recipe:

1 kg Diced Goat
Some All Purpose Seasoning
1 Bag of Mr Browns Curry Seasoning (other Jamaican Curry seasonings are available)
1 large Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 piece of fresh Ginger (about the size of half your thumb)
1 Scotch Bonnet Chilli
6 cloves Garlic
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 Sprig fresh Thyme
some fresh coriander
1 Tablepoon Tomato Puree
1 bunch Spring Onions
450ml (approx) of Chicken Stock

method:

Ok. Do NOT be intimidated by the list of ingredients!!

Start of by marinating the Goat in a generous amount of the All purpose seasoning. Preferably overnight, but at least 4 hours!

Ready to cook? Like all great dishes, start with the Garlic and onion, (with a little oil) in a sensible sized pan and cook slowly until softened.

Add the about 3 tablespoons of the Curry seasoning and the chopped 2cm piece of ginger to the pan and stir over a low heat for a couple of minutes.

Get the goat in the pan now! Mix it up. You may need to turn up the heat a little.

Your kitchen should now be smelling incredible.

Once the meat is all evenly coloured and coated, add the chopped Green Pepper, Oregano, Sprig of thyme and the tomato puree. Mix again. Add the chicken stock and the whole scotch Bonnet Chilli. (Remove it just before serving)

At this point, lower the heat, a lid to the pan and let it cook slowly for 2 to 3 hours. This is GOAT. It will take a while to become tender. Low and slow. Check every 20 to 30 minutes.

I like to add thinly sliced spring onion and chopped coriander at the very end, prior to serving. This adds another dimension to the dish. Serve with rice n peas, Coleslaw, cold beer and a smile.

I think that's everything. Any Questions? Just holla at me!

my Caribbean chicken curry

29/1/2021

Here's the thing. This curry does not exist in the Caribbean. I just wanted to make that clear. It's called a Caribbean curry because it was inspired by my West Indian heritage, family and friends and visits to the Caribbean Club back when I was a young'un! The smells. The flavours. The Chicken skin. This is NOT supposed to be a "set your lips on fire!" curry. Think of it as a spiced casserole. It's about the flavours, not the heat!
Enjoy>

Ingredients

1 whole Free Range Chicken (Cut for Sauté/portioned on the bone)*
1 large Onion
8 cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoons of Turmeric
1 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds
Mr Browns Curry seasoning (Celery salt/ garam masala/coriander/dried garlic mix)
1 large red pepper
1 teaspoon coriander seed
Half teaspoon fennel seeds
Chilli flakes (to taste)
pinch of dried oregano
Thyme sprigs
strong Chicken stock about a pint
Zest of 1 lime
Half a tin of coconut milk

method

Start off by marinating the chicken pieces for at least 24 hours before cooking. Its a dry marinade. Use Mr Browns curry seasoning or any other Caribbean Curry Seasoning and some of the garlic. These are available from ANY Afro/Asian convenience store/supermarket.

The marinade just helps with the depth of flavour for this dish.

Once its ready, start to colour the chicken pieces in a large oven proof frying pan. When you are happy it has an even colour, remove the chicken from the pan and set them to one side temporarily.

Now, into the pan which had the chicken in, add the garlic, onion, peppers and spices. cook on a low heat until they become slightly translucent. Usually around 2 minutes. Then return the chicken to the same pan and pour in enough chicken stock to come half way up the chicken pieces. Then add the coconut milk, the oregano and the sprigs of thyme.

Cover and place in the oven at 180 ℃ for around an hour.

Once cooked, check the seasoning. add a little salt if required. Bare in mind that the Caribbean seasonings usually contain salt already!! I like to grate a little lime zest over the dish along with some thinly slice spring onions and chopped parsley.

ProTips: You can thicken the sauce with cornflour at the end if you want the sauce thicker. But this is NOT essential.
The whole chicken gets used in this dish. Use the carcase to make the chicken stock. This can also be used for the Rice & Peas. Which is traditionally served with this dish.

*

bajan Fishless cakes (vegetarian)

13/6/2020

Here's the thing... I've been wanting to try this for a while. My daughter is vegetarian and always misses out when I make the Fishcakes. I had the idea of making them with cauliflower and here is Version 1.0
Recipe:

1 Cauliflower (See notes)
1 bunch Spring Onion
4 Cloves Garlic
Diced sweet pepper
tsp all purpose seasoning
1 egg
250ml milk (coconut milk can be added to make this dairy free)
1 chilli
tsp Curry powder
tsp Turmeric
Fresh chopped parsley (to taste)
vest of 1 lemon ( Save the rest to squeeze on them once done)
tsp mixed herbs
tsp Hot pepper sauce
300g Self raising flour (Gluten free can be used)

The cauliflower should be salted/brined for 24 hours before use. Just sprinkle with salt in a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave in the fridge. Wash thoroughly, chop raw and add to batter.

All the ingredients can go in a blender together. Gently add to bring the mix together. You want to be able to drop a fairly solid spoonful into the deep fryer (180c)

sort of jollof

13/6/2020

So, I have never made Jollof rice before and being totally honest, I don't recall ever eating it. It's just one of those dishes which has passed me by. Coming from a West Indian background, my family hailing from Barbados. We were firmly raised on Rice n Peas. My mum's version of which, was made using Black Eye Peas. Jollof is a popular as part of Nigerian cuisine. That's about the extent of my knowledge. Totally embarrassed by that. I understand that my Bajan rice n peas is grandchild of Jollof. Generations later, here I am doing a google search to find out how to make it.
Here is the recipe I used. It takes the recipes I found online and blends them with what I actually had in my cupboard.

Fry a finely chopped onion with Garlic, Chilli, Cumin, Curry powder, Ginger and Smoked Paprika
Add a cup of easy cook Long grain rice
Add 2 tablespoons on tomato puree
Add a cup of Passata (blended tinned tomatoes)
add a cup of good quality stock (Chicken or Vegi)
Cover and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes.

For my experimental version, I actually threw in half a tin of kidney beans which were hanging around in my fridge. As well as a small bag of frozen vegetables. I believe this may be frowned upon in the African cookery community. But I wont tell, if you won'tðŸ˜Š

Topped it off with some grilled Plantain and chopped parsley.

Read more about Jollof here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jollof_rice

View this post on Instagram

Made a Jollof rice. I've never actually made it before. This one had to be vegetarian for my daughter. Rice was cooked in Tomato, onion, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, thyme, smoked paprika, chillies. With some peppers. I threw in the vegetables and the beans cos they were hanging around in my fridge and needed using up. (Call off the food police?) I'm fully aware that they are NOT traditionally in Jollof. But "me nah wanna waste food" Served with some Plantains and I was a bit excessive with the parsley ?? Where's the best Jollof in IPSWICH?

A post shared by Brian Pow (chef n bits) (@knifeofbrian) on Jun 11, 2020 at 10:51pm PDT

yuca/mogo fries

9/6/2020

It was while watching the movie "Chef" starring Jon Favreau, that a saw the guys cooking up Yuca fries. I had never heard of them, but they looked pretty tasty. A quick google search and I realised they were made from what I know as Cassava.

I picked up the Cassava from Rajahs on Cavendish Street, Ipswich. Sorry I've forgotten how much it was. But definitely cheaper than it's been when in Morrisons.

The Photo slideshow will take you through the process. But in brief:

Peel
Cut in to even blocks
Gently boil until cooked through
Cut in half to real core/heart and remove the stringy stuff
Cut into wedges/Chips/Fries
Deep fry until golden brown

Edit: I have been given a follow up tip that these are really nice with lemon juice squeezed over them before serving. So I'll be trying that next time. Thanks to Simmie Vedi for that tip.

This would make a great side dish to serve with a chilli and all the usual dips.

Let me know how you get on in the comments below.

Brownies on facebook live

14/5/2020

On Wednesday afternoon I hosted a live, cook along, using Facebook Live. Aimed at beginners, this was a chance for me to try out Live Cookery Classes. Something I've been looking into for a year now. I will definitely be doing more. Watch this space.

The Recipe

Brownies live
Posted by Knife of Brian Cookery on Wednesday, 13 May 2020

a few results. Happy students.

Link to FB session https://www.facebook.com/KOBsuffolk/videos/526216748073434/

sourdough bits

21/4/2020

I've had a few people asking me for some sourdough tips. I have finally managed to get it right (once) So i'm declaring myself the master of all things sourdough LOL.

In all seriousness, what i'm actually going to do, is attach a couple of links to the video and pages I used.

My Sourdough is PENG!!!

The Recipe I used:

400g Flour
225g tepid water
5g salt
160g starter

The video below was brilliantly helpful. It's very clear and this guy is a real baker. Not an other avocado blogger. He really knows his stuff. I'll link his page directly too, at the bottom of this page.

links:

https://www.instagram.com/firehousebread/ FireHouse Bakery Instagram page

https://www.instagram.com/fitnaturally/ Fitnaturally is also really good at making Sourdough. Knows more about it than I do. Was doing it before it was cool!

Puy Lentil Cottage Pie type thing

26/3/2020

Experimenting with video content again....

Toad in the hole

6/2/2020

So, Sunday evening at the Pub, I thought I'd knock up some Toad in the Holes for the specials board. They look good right? Well they didn't sell, so I had to eat them. Thanks! I'll start my diet next week, I guess?

For the batter:

Equal volumes of Egg- Plain Flour- Milk (Coffee cup/cereal bowl)
Mix together in a blender. Or just beat it like it owes you money!
Rest the mixture for AT LEAST 1 HOUR.

Depending on what type of sausages you use, I'd usually advise pre cooking them before adding the batter.
Use a nice nonstick dish. Way less stressful when it comes to washing up.
Cook in a very hot oven and don't keep opening the flipping door!

Serve straight away.

Question is..... What would you serve this with? Chips? Mash? New potatoes? Salad? Peas?

answer in the comments below?

This chocolate tart

3/2/2020

Next generation of desserts are happening. Very happy with this first version of my new chocolate tart. Still not 💯! Way better than the brownie though, this is for the chocolate lovers out there.

The recipe for the filling is

250g butter melted with 420g 75% cocoa chocolate buttons
whisk 600g of sugar with 3 medium yolks and 3 whole eggs
then fold the two mixtures together with a shot of espresso

Bake for around 20 minutes at 130 degrees C

This recipe was scribbled down in one of my notebooks years ago. I cant claim to own it, but I hope you all like it.
One thing ive found is that the eggs and sugar needs to be mixed really. Otherwise you can taste the sugar crystals after the bake.
Give it a go. Comment below.