Since i’ve been so busy lately, I’ve had to do a lot of last minute “What the hell do I have in the fridge and what the hell can I make with it” type cooking. If we combine this with any particular cravings I have on the day, the results can be quite ‘interesting’. I thought I’d share some of the more successful random experiments with you. I got some good photos so it would be a shame not to!
First up is the less than attractive sounding crustacean linguine.
This was more Goon’s craving than mine. He wanted prawns and he wanted pasta. In the Tesco freezer was a bag of ‘mixed seafood which was made of squid, mussels and king prawns. Some small scallops were on offer so I bought those too.
The dish was started by frying a finely diced onion in olive oil with two crushed cloves of garlic and some oregano. Then I added a 400g tin op chopped tomatoes, lots of tomato puree and 1/4 of a bottle of white wine. Once the sauce thickened and the flavours had developed I stirred in the seafood mix and added a couple of handfuls of shredded fresh basil before mixing in a couple of portions of linguine. I finished off by searing the scallops and sitting them on the pasta.
That was very tasty and fed me for another day too. 
Next isthe ostrich fillet with sage and onion sauce. This was a success from the point of view of how I cooked the ostrich. I wrapped it in foil and baked it for 12 minutes at 220C. It came out a rare/medium. Next time I’ll do it for 10 1/2 minutes but it did cook wonderfully evenly.
The sage sauce wasn’t the best thing for the ostrich. It was OK, but I think ostrich is better when its gamey flavours are highlighted. This sauce just didn’t do that. It would have been great with beef though!
And finally there was the salmon tikka masala. Yes, I know it usually is made with chicken, but the salmon needed using. 
The recipe is the same as for the chicken version. Take you meat and marinate it in a mixture of yoghurt, crushed cardamom, ground cumin, ground coriander seed, tomato paste, garlic and ginger for a few hours. the baked it until cooked and make a sauce for it with double cream, ground cashew nuts, tomatoes, and the same spices I mentioned above. I think this would work well with very fresh salmon. Mine only had a day left in it but it still made a tasty meal. I served it with coconut rice and tarka daal.
And yes, I garnished it with dill because I had run out of coriander. 
Since i’ve been so busy lately, I’ve had to do a lot of last minute “What the hell do I have in the fridge and what the hell can I make with it” type cooking. If we combine this with any particular cravings I have on the day, the results can be quite ‘interesting’. I thought I’d share some of the more successful random experiments with you. I got some good photos so it would be a shame not to!
First up is the less than attractive sounding crustacean linguine.
This was more Goon’s craving than mine. He wanted prawns and he wanted pasta. In the Tesco freezer was a bag of ‘mixed seafood which was made of squid, mussels and king prawns. Some small scallops were on offer so I bought those too.
The dish was started by frying a finely diced onion in olive oil with two crushed cloves of garlic and some oregano. Then I added a 400g tin op chopped tomatoes, lots of tomato puree and 1/4 of a bottle of white wine. Once the sauce thickened and the flavours had developed I stirred in the seafood mix and added a couple of handfuls of shredded fresh basil before mixing in a couple of portions of linguine. I finished off by searing the scallops and sitting them on the pasta.
That was very tasty and fed me for another day too.
Next isthe ostrich fillet with sage and onion sauce. This was a success from the point of view of how I cooked the ostrich. I wrapped it in foil and baked it for 12 minutes at 220C. It came out a rare/medium. Next time I’ll do it for 10 1/2 minutes but it did cook wonderfully evenly.
The sage sauce wasn’t the best thing for the ostrich. It was OK, but I think ostrich is better when its gamey flavours are highlighted. This sauce just didn’t do that. It would have been great with beef though!
And finally there was the salmon tikka masala. Yes, I know it usually is made with chicken, but the salmon needed using.
The recipe is the same as for the chicken version. Take you meat and marinate it in a mixture of yoghurt, crushed cardamom, ground cumin, ground coriander seed, tomato paste, garlic and ginger for a few hours. the baked it until cooked and make a sauce for it with double cream, ground cashew nuts, tomatoes, and the same spices I mentioned above. I think this would work well with very fresh salmon. Mine only had a day left in it but it still made a tasty meal. I served it with coconut rice and tarka daal.
And yes, I garnished it with dill because I had run out of coriander.
Hello, I know this is weird, but i have been looking for this recipe for ages and i cant seem to find the right one. The picture that you have of the Tikka Masala looks just like the one i have been trying to find…
it there anyway that you might be able to send me the recipe??? My e-mail is Cjs0083@hotmail.com I would really really apreciate it 
Comment by Jo — May 10, 2007 @ 7:20 pm