Meal Planner Number One!

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Awesome chicken stir fry

I’m sorry this is appearing a little later than I hoped … nowhere near in time for a Saturday shop! But I had a few issues (ahem) getting the image in and I did want to make this look a little pretty!

So … here is the first Eating Adelaide Meal (or menu) Planner. Depending on your browser settings, this should open in your browser, so you can print, save, click through to the recipes at your leisure.

There are five dishes, plus a sweet treat. Each week the five main meals will be a cross section of proteins and cuisines. I’ve labelled the meals Monday to Friday but, er, obviously that’s not prescriptive! I’ve chosen five, rather than a full seven, because I figure that most people will have either a night out or a commitment that means that one or two nights a week are something super quick and easy. I know we certainly do!

The meal planner includes a shopping list which I’ve deliberately chosen NOT to pre-populate in anyway – because only YOU know what’s in your freezer or pantry!

I’ve found meal planning a great way of trying new recipes, having a much more varied diet AND saving money – so I hope you find these useful!

Of course, if there’s anything that’s missing or you just want to tell me what a great idea this is – please fire away!

Chicken Biryani

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

IMG_3393

Usually we do a really good job of our menu planning but the last couple of months the ball has been rather dropped. However much work doing a meal plan on a Saturday afternoon is (not a lot) it’s a lot less work than getting to 4pm on a Thursday and realising that the toddler needs to be bathed and fed and some shopping needs to be done and … I have no idea what to cook for dinner.

So it’s time to get back in the routine which has kicked off this week. To help both myself and other hungry families, I’ll be publishing a meal plan each Saturday morning (in time for the Saturday shop hopefully!) – more details this Saturday when the first one appears. You’d better make sure you’re following Eating Adelaide on Facebook or subscribed to the email updates!

This week’s meal plan had to have something easy for Monday dinner because Monday’s moments of spare time would be spent cooking the pie filling for Tuesday’s dinner. Andy in particular loves biryani and so this (almost) one pot recipe hit the nail on the head.

The supermarket I went to didn’t sell any biryani paste (it did sell a jar of biryani stir through bake stuff but that all started to sound a bit too pre-made for me!) so thanks to a combination of the internet and what we had in the drawer, we made our own.

The finished product was an absolute HIT – with everyone, including the toddler. As is almost always the case with these things, we found that the cooking time was almost double what the recipe specifies … But that aside, this is a very easy recipe that is hearty and filling. Yes, you do need to have your oven on for a while – so choose a cooler day if you’re in the southern hemisphere and things are starting to heat up.

Print
Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

    Biryani Paste
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tsp onion flakes
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp garam masala (we used my mum's spicy Sri Lankan curry powder)
    • For the Biryani
  • oil
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • 3 large chicken thighs, skin on or off
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 175g basmati or jasmine rice
  • small handful of flaked almonds
  • ~ 500mL vegetable or chicken stock
  • generous handful of green beans, cut into chunks
  • fresh coriander for garnish

Instructions

    Biryani paste
  1. To make the biryani paste, mix all the ingredients together and set aside.
    2. Biryani
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
  3. In an oven proof dish, heat the oil and ghee and brown the chicken thighs. Remove and set aside.
  4. Add a little more oil to the pan and soften the onions and garlic.
  5. Add the biryani paste and stir though, cooking for a few minutes.
  6. Add a little more oil, and then add the rice. Stir the rice through, ensuring it is well coated with the spice mix.
  7. Add the almonds and stock. I use the little pots of jellied stock and boiling water. Return the chicken to the pan and ensure that there is enough liquid to cover the rice.
  8. Cover the pan tightly with til foil and a lid (if you have one) and place in the hot oven.
  9. After around 20 minutes, check progress. You may need to add more hot water and give it a good stir.
  10. After another 10 minutes, stir through the beans and add more liquid if required.
  11. Return to the oven until the beans and rice are cooked.
  12. Stir through some chopped coriander leaves and maybe some more almonds.
https://eatingadelaide.com/chicken-biryani/

A Little Light Bar Crawling

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Cage Under Lights
photo by Theen Moy, cc licensed
Peel Street … not actually this quiet …

As you’ll know if you live in Adelaide, our liquor licensing laws have changed, making it much easier for small venues to open.  And boy has there been a rush: bars are opening faster than … um, something very fast.

Thanks to an insanely hectic couple of weeks, I’ve actually had a chance to check out some bars, miss out on others and generally wear myself out.

What have I missed? Yes, I’m still the only person in Adelaide (or so it seems) who hasn’t yet been to Clever Little Tailor (CLT). In fact, I’ve got a friend who lives in London who’s been there so maybe I’m the only person in Australia … Every time I wander down Peel Street, CLT is full to the brim and I’m just not the kind of person who queues. In addition to this, I’m also old and grumpy and once I have my drink, I like to sit down quietly and have a nice chat. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that next time I head there I get there at 4pm when it opens!

So whizzing past CLT but staying on Peel Street, we headed in to Peel St, where we managed to find a sneaky seat at the bar, only to be told that it was booked for about 20 minutes or so. So now we book seats at bars in Adelaide? Peel St is actually more restaurant than bar and the menu, wine list and friendly service were enough for it to be put on the ‘to do’ list. If you want to head there for a meal I’d recommend booking. If you’re just having a cheeky drink, you’ll have to try your luck.

On the same evening, with still an hour or so to kill til our dinner reservation at Cos, we headed to Leigh Street. We knew that Udaberri would be totally rammed (and we were right) so we sat outside Casablabla and enjoyed a couple of drinks. We were actually able to hear each other talk! We left just before the belly dancing kicked in though …

On a separate occasion (this time a Wednesday night) I ducked in to Proof (at just 8 weeks or so old this is nowhere near the baby of the Adelaide bar scene …), and enjoyed a glass of Austrian Grüner Veltliner and a conversation with some friends. However, it was busy and I suspect come Friday nights you can expect to be shoulder to shoulder with the bar men (who, I might add, were nattily dressed in shirts, ties and waistcoats). Proof is on Anster Street, just off Waymouth Street (usually described as being behind Press*).

Meal wise on these occasions I ate at Cos, on Leigh Street, and Melt, on Waymouth Street. At Cos we had a lovely meal (sweetbreads, steak tartare and lemon tart for me, pork belly, fish and affogato for Andy, accompanied by Rieslingfreak No 8) and were very well looked after. At Melt, they were happy to adapt the tasting menu (insanely reasonably priced at $39 a head) to accommodate the vegan at our table. While some of the dishes were a little under-seasoned some were absolutely amazing. The stand out dish for me was the No 38 pizza: chargrilled courgette/zucchini, caramelised onion, speck, lemon and mint. That was one serious pizza.

This is just a tiny bite of the bars popping up all over Adelaide … what’s your favourite new drinking hole?