Pi Approximation Day (yesterday)

Of all the random dates already in my calender, I have just added another! The so called Pi approximation day, which I missed this year, is on the 22nd of July and is so ‘celebrated’ because it mathematically gives a close approximation (divide 22 by 7) to the true value of Pi. Oh well, this time next year (sans one day) I will make a Pi pastry and who knows what else…:)

Awesome geekness. Source.

Homemade Meat Balls – the gamer’s choice!

Well two recipes in less than a week, let no-one accuse me of being too focused on one subject area with my blog 🙂 This is another recipe that I just made up and it turned out better than I expected so I thought I would share it.

What is it ? Very simply it is a rice (although pasta would work) dish with meatballs in tomato sauce and it is extremely easy to make.

UPDATE: I made it a few more times and it works much better with a few alterations. Firstly, use beef not pork. Secondly, make smaller sized meat balls as the cook better. Thirdly, powder 1/2 a vegetable stock and sprinkle over mixture of beef and onions along with small amounts of salt and pepper. If you have any around, gently drizzle a small amount of Peri Peri sauce over the mixture. Mix together well before compressing into meatballs. 

The following will serve 2:

500g Lean Pork Mince (Although Beef should work too with a few tweaks)

1 Large red onion

1 Can of chopped tomatoes

1 Vegetable stock cube

50ml Olive Oil

200g Brown rice

2x Pita bread

One spring onion

Oregano and Coriander

Chop up the red onion into very fine pieces (smaller the better) and gently fry for 10/15mins until soft. At this point I removed the onions from the pot and placed them on a plate. Take the mince and gentle mix the onions and mince until you get a nice even mix.

Take the mixture and compact in your hands to form small/medium sized balls, apply as much pressure as you can as this will be important later. I made about ten meatballs from my mince although they were on the large side. Lightly add Oregano and Coriander to each meat ball. Add these to oil (1/2mm in bottom of frying pan) and fry. It is important that you turn the meatballs frequently so they are cooked throughout and so they do not burn, you have to be careful or they might fall apart on you.

Once the meatballs are cooked thoroughly on the outside, leave simmering in oil while you make the tomato sauce. This is extremely easy, take 100ml of water and add a stock cube. When it has dissolved under heat, add a tin of tomato sauce and a bit of tomato puree stirring well. Leave this mixture on medium heat for at least ten minutes. Also start to cook a normal rice portion for two people, I recommend brown rice but feel free to use anything.

Once you are confident the meat balls are completely cooked through and through (cut one in half carefully) remove and drain the oil. Once this is done, add the tomato sauce and meatballs and cook it down for about ten minutes until the tomato mixture thickens.

Serve, adding chopped spring onion either into the sauce at the end, or just sprinkling over the top for the served dish and add a toasted pita bread to the side.

Spicey Chicken!

When I started blogging a few months ago, I never though I would be posting a recipe. However when I made this a few days ago it turned out rather well so I thought I would share it. Enjoy 🙂

This serves – 2 people, preparation time – around 45mins.

You will need :

300-400g of Chicken Breast(s)
5-8 medium sized green jalapenos
35/40ml of oil (either ordinary or with garlic)
45ml of Peri Peri Sauce (Nandos brand – hot)
1/4 Spoon of paprika (crushed / powdered)
1/3 Spoon of crushed garlic (omit if using garlic infused oil)
Salad lettuce
Pita bread – Brown works best but any can be used.
A few slices of Cheddar cheese (mild)
Mayo (around 20g but can be added to taste)

Take 35ml of oil and bring it slowly to boil (care) and add 45ml of Peri Peri sauce. Stir well and add 1/4 spoon of paprika and 1/4 spoon of garlic (see above) along with 5-8 finely chopped jalapenos.

Boil this mixture for 20 mins after which, separate oil and solid mixture. Retain solid mixture for later.

Prefry chicken (300-400g) in oil for about 10-15mins on low heat. Do not cook the chicken all the way through, just gently simmer and cook the outside in the oil prepared from previous step.

Add a splash of peri peri sauce during cooking to infuse flavour.

Remove chicken, cut into small pieces and put on a grill pan. Before grilling, paint one side of the chicken with solid part of the sauce from earlier.

While grilling, cut pit bread in half and pretoast briefly until it is nice and crispy. In each half pita, take (and wash) a small lettuce leaf, a small amount of mayo and a thin slice of cheese.

Turn periodically and serve when cooked through and crispy on outside. Put the chicken inside the pitas and serve immediately. 🙂