Simple Chicken And Split Pea Curry

This is another one of those batch cooked recipes that is essentially a whole meal in a bowl. Rich, flavoursome, nicely spiced and filling, this is a fairly simple meal that'll keep you going without being too heavy and stodgy.

You will need:
1 tbsp vegetable oil (rapeseed oil)
2 medium onions, chopped *
4 large chicken legs, skin removed **
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
3 chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp curry powder ***
500ml chicken stock
250g yellow split peas
1 pack sweet peppers, roughly chopped ****
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped *****
200g bag of fresh spinach

Method:
1. Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large saucepan with a lid.
2. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until they begin to soften.
3. Add the chicken and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes, until the chicken browns and the onions start to caramelise.
4. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Stir in the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly to stop it catching, for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
6. Add the stock, split peas, peppers and sweet potato, stir to combine and cover with the lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for 60 minutes.
7. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 30 minutes, until the sauce darkens and thickens and the split peas are cooked.
8. Check the seasoning and add salt, if needed.
9. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the spinach then leave to stand, with the lid on, until the spinach wilts.

Notes:
* I say medium onions only because they’re what I have, 1 very large onion or 3 smaller ones would be fine as an alternative.
** I ended up using 8 chicken thighs because they're what I had in the fridge.
*** I actually used curry paste because I happened to have a small pot left over in the freezer.
**** Again this could be swapped out for 2 ordinary peppers, I just happen to have these to hand.
***** This could be left out completely if you're serving this over rice or, alternatively, could be swapped out for normal potatoes or even butternut squash.

Turkey Meatballs In A Savoury Moroccan Tagine Inspired Sauce

You can't really cook casseroles and onepots without coming across the tagine. Tagines are named after they're distinctive earthenware pot they're traditionally cooked in and are generally a heavily spiced, richly flavoured stew like dish. This is my take on a Moroccan meatball tagine, replacing the usual lamb or beef mince with lower calorie, lower fat turkey mince.

You will need:

For the meatballs:
500g turkey mince
1 egg
1 small onion, grated or very finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

For the sauce:
1 tbsp vegetable (rapeseed) oil
3 small onions, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 200g cartons passata
1 tbsp lemon juice (or half a lemon if you're using fresh)
1 can chickpeas

Method:
1. Add the turkey, egg and remaining meatball ingredients to a large bowl and mix until fairly well incorporated.
2. Form the mixture into roughly 2cm diameter balls, place on a tray and set aside in the fridge.
3. Add the oil to a fairly large, heavy based, pan with a lid and warm over a medium heat.
4. Add the onion and green pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
5. Add the garlic, ginger, spices and herbs and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
6. Add the passata, lemon juice and chickpeas, bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until the sauce is rich and deeply flavoured.
7. Remove the meatballs from the fridge, add to the sauce, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Notes:
Serve over couscous or alongside a decent sized chunk of lightly warmed, crusty, buttered bread.

Reworked Turkey And Potato Curry

This is basically a re-working of one of my earlier recipes. At the time I originally wrote this up I’d tried a few things, in an attempt to give the dish more flavour, that I thought didn’t work as well as they could have. With that in mind, and the fact that I’ve not been able to come up with anything new, I decided to change a few things, add a little more bulk in the form of chickpeas, and try again.

You will need:
1 tbsp vegetable oil (rapeseed oil)
500g turkey mince
3 small onions, chopped *
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
500g turkey mince
5 tbsp madras curry paste **
1 can chopped tomato
300ml chicken stock
500g salad potatoes, half any larger potatoes
1 can chickpeas
200g bag of fresh spinach

Method:
1. Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large saucepan, with a lid.
2. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the onion begins to soften.
3. Add the ginger, garlic and turkey mince, stir and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
4. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
5. Add the tomatoes, stock, potatoes and chickpeas, stir to combine and cover with the lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked though.
6. Check the seasoning and add salt, if needed.
7. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the spinach then leave to stand, with the lid on, until the spinach wilts.

Notes:
* I say small onions only because they’re what I have, 1 large onion would be fine as an alternative.

** 2 round tbsp of curry powder would be fine for this, I just happened to have some curry paste to hand, however, if you’re using curry powder I’d definitely recommend adding a couple of tbsp of tomato puree.

As with the original I’d serve this up in a bowl on its own, but if you want to bulk it out a little serve it over boiled rice or with a naan bread. Want a little extra veg? Throw in 150g of frozen peas, at the end of the cooking time, before taking it off the heat.

Jerk Seasoned Turkey With Sweet Potatoes, Greens And Kidney Beans

If you look back through the recipes I’ve posted over the last few years you’ll see that I’m a fan of caribbean food, I particularly love the flavours associated with jerk seasonings. This is my attempt at carrying over those flavours into my current experiments with batch cooking and turkey mince.

You will need:
1000g turkey mince
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp hot chilli powder
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.5 tsp nutmeg
0.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vegetable oil (rapeseed oil)
2 peppers, roughly chopped
3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into roughly 1.5cm chunks
1 tin of red kidney beans in water (do not drain)
200g chopped spring greens

Method:
1. In a large bowl mix together the turkey mince, onions, garlic, ginger and spices then set aside to marinade.
2. Warm the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.
3. Add the turkey mix and cook for 5 - 10 minutes, until the turkey is cooked through and the onions start to soften.
4. Add the peppers, sweet potatoes and tin of beans, including the water, cover with the saucepan lid and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
5. Add the greens and cook for 1 - 2 minutes, until wilted.

Notes:
As with previous recipes, this is meant to be an all in one meal, however, if you wanted to bulk it out simply serve this over plain boiled rice.

Caribbean Style Curried Turkey Mince And Sweet Potato Stew

This is a simple, hearty one pot stew recipe I’ve put together using flavours more commonly found in caribbean style curries. This is a genuine winter warmer that actually benefits from spending a couple of days in the fridge before eating.

You will need:
2 tbsp hot caribbean curry powder
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
2 medium onions, chopped
500g turkey mince
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 green peppers, sliced
2 medium sweet potatoes, roughly chopped into half inch cubes (I left the skin on for additional flavour)
2 chillies, finely chopped (alternatively use 1 scotch bonnet)
1 tin of black beans (red kidney beans will do)
500ml chicken stock
Salt to taste

Method:
1. In a large bowl mix together the turkey, onions and spices, then set aside to marinade.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over a medium high heat, add the turkey mix and fry until browned.
3. Turn down the heat to medium low, add in the garlic, green pepper and sweet potato, then cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add in the chillies, beans and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the sweet potato starts to break down and the sauce reaches the desired consistency.
5. Check the seasoning and add salt if necessary.

Notes:
This is another all in one meal that doesn’t really need any accompaniments, but if you wanted to bulk it out add in 4 good sized flour dumplings once the stock is boiling.

Additional:
I’ve been eating this for a few days now and If I’m being honest, although the flavour is good and it’s a pretty satisfying meal, this wasn’t my most successful of recipes. If I was to cook this again I would probably swap out the turkey mince for either diced turkey or chicken, increase the quantity of herbs and spices, maybe add in a little mace and nutmeg, add a tablespoon of flour at the first step, to help the stew thicken, and add some extra veg to bulk it out and provide extra flavour, probably some fairly chunky celery and carrot added with the sweet potato.

One Pot Turkey Dinner With Sweet Potatoes, Kale And Goats Cheese

This is another recipe that I can’t really claim as my own, I based this on a recipe I found in a newspaper for using up leftover roast turkey and vegetables from Christmas. I’ve modified this to use turkey mince and kale, and a few other ingredients I’ve had lying around for a while, over the roast turkey and brussel sprouts of the original recipe.

You will need:
1 tbsp vegetable oil (rapeseed oil)
2 small onions, chopped
1000g turkey mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp dried sage
3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into roughly 1.5cm chunks
50ml water
200g chopped curly kale
100g goat cheese, crumbled

Method:
1. Warm the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.
2. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions soften.
3. Add the turkey, garlic and sage then cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes, until the turkey is cooked through.
4. Add the sweet potatoes and the water, cover with the saucepan lid and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
5. Add the kale and cook for about 5 minutes, until wilted.
6. Add the cheese and stir through.

Notes:
This is basically an all in one meal and shouldn’t really require anything else as an accompaniment, however, if you wanted to bulk it out even more you could double the amount of water, sprinkle in a stock cube and serve this over plain boiled rice.