Seriously! When your husband wakes you at 1am and there is a cyclone in Goa.

At 1 am this morning, hubby woke me.
"Jo, we need to get the lounge terrace blinds down."
Seriously! I was having a really.... nice dream about Michael Bennett a fictional detective I was reading before going to sleep. "Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously."
Shuffling into the lounge, hubby fetched the ladders.
"Seriously, there's a frigging cyclone out there and you afraid of heights, want to get on a ladder two floors up in a cyclone?"
Holding the ladder, the rain thrashing down and the wind so strong I thought it would take the blinds and hubby.
As 16 feet of blinds fell to the floor in a heap, hubby disembarked from the ladders.
"Seriously?" I said, as he went back inside to close the doors. "You’re just leaving them here?"
"Jo there's a frigging cyclone. Are you happy now, the blinds are down? Go back to bed."
SERIOUSLY! 

My Spanish Style Rice Chicken

Not just a recipe for this yummy, chicken dish. You also get a video of me cooking it!

Spanish Rice Chicken Serves 2

2 boneless chicken breasts       salt and pepper      1tbsp olive oil      1 onion sliced    

 ½ medium red pepper cut into strips      2 cloves of garlic chopped    

 300g tomatoes, skinned and quartered       1 cup chicken stock       1 bay leaf      

salt & pepper          75g rice            70g sweetcorn      70g green beans     

50g sliced olives      Basil to garnish

1.       Cut the chick into strips and season well with salt and pepper.

2.       Heat the oil. Fry the chicken for 3 mins. Set aside.

3.       Add the onion and the red peppers, fry for 3 mins.

4.       Add the garlic, fry for 2 mins.

5.       Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and stock. Bring to the boil.

6.       Add the rice. Season with salt and pepper.

7.       Bring to the boil, then lower heat and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.

8.       Add the chicken. Cover and cook for 10 mins.

9.       Add the sweetcorn and green beans.

10.   Bring back to the boil, and then lower the heat. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the green beans are tender.

11.   Remove bay leaf. Stir in the olives and then served garnished with basil.

MY Slow Cooked Vegetable Loaf

I love this easy to make loaf. Great for a healthy lunch served with salad. Keeps well for a Picnic, or served like a pate with hot buttered rolls for supper.

Vegetable Loaf

250g diced vegetables (I used Cauliflower broken into tiny florets. Carrots, green beans,

Sweetcorn)     40g butter    2tsp brown sugar    Salt and pepper   300ml vegetable stock 

100g mushrooms sliced     1 small onion finely chopped    1tbsp fresh chopped parsley

2 tbsp fresh chopped dill          3eggs             25g grated cheddar cheese

1. Cook the vegetables in 25g of the butter, until they just start to brown.

2. Sprinkle over the sugar, salt and pepper, then add the vegetable stock. Cook gently until the vegetables are tender and all the stock has evaporated.

3. Transfer vegetables to a bowl.

4. Heat the remaining butter and fry the mushrooms and onions until soft. Stir in the parsley and dill.

5. Beat the eggs and then stir into the vegetables, along with the mushrooms and onions. Stir in the cheese.

6. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Spoon in the mixture. Cover with foil. Put into a slow cooker, on top of an inverted saucer or side plate. Add enough boiling water to come half way up the tin.  Cook on high for 2 hours. The loaf should be firm to touch.

7. Take out if slow cooker and cool for a while then remove from tin and remove greaseproof paper. Put on a plate and put in fridge until needed.

Lunchtime review of Great-E-Punjab Fort Aguda Road Calangute Goa

Great-E-Punjab is a recently opened restaurant, near Jambhleshwar Temple, Fort Aguda Road Calangute. Menu offers veg, non veg, Punjab, South Indian, tandoori and seafood. Service was okay, staff seemed pleasant and surroundings, clean and tidy.

What we ordered

Veg Kofta Masala, Mixed Veg Masala and Veg Biryani.

Veg Kofta Masala-Rupees 170/£1:94/€2.19/₽155.20/$2.40 2 medium sized koftas

lightly browned on the outside, but oh my! So light and fluffy on the inside, they just melted in your mouth. Then the gravy sauce. Tiny shards of garlic that just gave an extra something to the masala gravy.

Mixed Veg Masala- Rupees 170/£1:94/€2.19/₽155.20/$2.40 Plenty of vegetables and paneer in a medium, spicy gravy.

Veg Biryani- Rupees 120/£1:37/€1.54/₽109.55/$1.69 more often than not, restaurants use cheap rice, that personally I find to stodgy and sticky for my palate. This was not the case today due to basmati rice being used for a lighter taste. I loved the addition of star anise and cinnamon sticks. Something I always add to my own biryani when cooking at home.

TOTAL SCORES

Staff and ambience: 2.5/5

Food: 5/5  4/5  4/5

Overall score 3:9 Red Hot Chilies Certainly worth a revisit.