Some recipes from a student who actually cooks!
Well, the creator of this site, Alice (that's me writing this! :D) is now a student at Royal Holloway (wh00p!) and is therefore having to cook her own meals (shock horror!) so has therefore decided to share some of the things she has descovered with you lucky people (while talking about herself in the third person!) Some of the recipes will be cheap, others less so, unless you happen to find things on special offer (which is usually why she has made them!) So Alice hopes you will enjoy some of these recipes. (She is also assuming you have some knowledge of cooking, for example that you know how to cook rice, pasta etc. and how to fry things. If not, do e-mail her, and she will do her best to give you some hints. E-mail address is as usual in one of the side bars) And yes, Alice knows that she is in the minority, as most students live off of pasta, pasta sauce, baked potatoes, baked beans, tuna, pizza, ready meals and take aways!
Please note that the quantities are my guess of what I use. I never weigh things and I make a lot of guesstimates, and people will have different appetites, so feel free to try and adapt the recipes to your needs and likes.
Anyway, on with the recipes:
Mango chicken
This recipe is probably more expensive than most students can manage, but if you see a cheap mango/have more money than your average student it's well worth trying!
Ingredients:
1 Chicken breast per person (or more if you’re really hungry)
1 Mango (depends on the size, but a large mango will probably do 2-3 people) puréed (or at least squashed up a bit)
Small piece of root ginger – finely chopped
A dash of soy sauce
A dash of worcester sauce
Natural yoghurt – 2-3 tablespoons plus extra to serve
Other herbs, spices etc – anything that you think may go – suggestions include garlic, cumin, cinnamon, coriander
Method:
Fry ½ the ginger and any other spices being used (if using garlic use only ½ the garlic) in a little oil. Add the mango, soy sauce and Worcester sauce. Cook gently for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, chop the chicken into small chunks. Fry with remaining ginger and garlic (if using) until opaque. Drain off excess oil.
Add mango sauce to chicken, along with natural yoghurt. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. You may need to add a little water to the mixture.
Serve with rice or couscous and a little of the natural yoghurt on top.
Enjoy!
Bacon in a creamy mushroom sauce
The sauce part of this can also be used as a sauce to go with ravioli or anything like that. If you are, you probably don't need as much of it.
Ingredients:
Mushroom sauce:
Some onion (to your tastes... I use about 1/3-1/4 of an onion for me)
1/3 - 1/2 tin of creamed mushrooms per person
Some milk (I just guesstimate this, so I can't help with quantities!) [Note: if you don't mind spending more, cream is good instead of milk
If you have some natural yoghurt, that works well, but not essential
Other additions:
You can have anything you like in it that you think might go, but these are what I use normally for a meal.
2 slices of bacon per person sliced into square chunks (ish)
1 Chicken breast per person chopped into 'bitesized' chunks
Method:
Fry the onion in a pan. When starting to go soft, add bacon and chicken (if using) and fry until chicken is completely opaque/bacon is cooked looking (I don't know how to describe the appearance of cooked bacon!)/onion starting to brown (depending on what you are using.)
Add creamed mushrooms and heat through on a medium temperature for 2-3 minutes
Add some milk. This makes it more creamy, while 'bulking up' the sauce. Add natural yogurt if using. Heat through for a further 3-4 minutes (just use your judgement, if you think it's done before that, take it off the heat) Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking!
Serve with pasta, rice or new potatoes and salad or stirfried vegetables (recipe to follow)
Enjoy!
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