freeg131: Philip Gamble

Because Alonso’s “victory” in last week’s German Grand Prix wasn’t quite controversial enough for me I broke the rules this week.

Instead of having a meal at the weekend I had a series of very loosely German themed sandwiches throughout the week.  Sadly unlike in Brimingham I don’t have a large collection of German meats a couple of minutes up the road at Aldi so I had to be content with slices of Sainsbury’s “German Salami”.  How generic.  And I just realised I ate it after its use by date.  Hardcore.

I think I am going to get this Rob Smedley t-shirt from unlap in honour of the moment and the most famous formula 1 race engineer:

Not so much an F1 dinner on Sunday as a snack.  Canada = Maple Syrup = Pancakes.

You should know how to make pancakes so I’m not posting a recipe!

I cooked Paella for my Spanish Grand Prix formula 1 dinner.

Ingredients:

• 250 grammes paella rice
• Large red pepper
• Onion
• Garlic
• Pint of Chicken Stock
• Frozen Peas
• Cooked, Pealed Prawns
• Sliced Chorizo

As briefly seen on TV in the run-up to today’s race (6/10) Satay is a popular dish in Malaysia so formed part of today’s Formula 1 dinner.

Photos and ingredients below:

Satay Chicken
Sauce: Peanut butter, soy sauce, little bit of chilli powder, water.
Bring sauce to boil in pan, let it simmer for a bit. Coat cut chicken breasts with sauce. Grill. Simples.

Coconut Rice (Nasi Lemak)
Loosely based on this recipe.
Rice, coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger, lots of water to continually top it up.

Served with salad. Apparently cucumbers are big in Malaysia.  MalaysianFood.net has a good selection of information about cuisine in Malaysia.

Annoyingly the peanut butter coating had a tendency to fall off whilst the chicken was grilling.  I made something similar before and didn’t have this problem so I blame our electric grill.  Who wants an electric grill?  It doesn’t even have a flame…

Not all my formula 1 meals will consist of chicken and rice.  I promise.

Up next:  China.  Lots of choice here.

Previous: Bahrain

Today marked the start of the 2010 Formula 1 season. Because the people who know best decided to start this year’s championship in Bahrain instead of Australia I was robbed of an early-morning start. Even races taking place on the other side of the world no longer require 4am wake up calls as their start times have been pushed further and further back. Not only are the races moving eastwards they are also getting later. This year’s Australian Grand Prix for example starts at 7am UK. Far too late! These changes have robbed me of the chance to make nice cooked breakfasts.  Even McDonald’s don’t serve all-day breakfasts.

I briefly considering participating in Red Andy’s Bahrain Grand Prix drinking game however decided that given the high probability of death resulting from Legard’s continued employment as commentator I would pass at this opportunity.  Not sure what the total drink count was after the race.

I like Formula 1 and I like cooking though so how to mix? Formula 1 Dinners.

Each Grand Prix weekend I will force my housemates to consume food from far-flung places of the world. Today’s race being in Bahrain I made Quwarmah Ala Dajaj with Muhammar (a fancy way of saying Chicken and rice). Quwarmah Ala Dajaj is strictly Kuwaiti but I can’t be too fussy about these things  otherwise we would starve – it was recommended on the Muhammar page and I must say they went very well together.

Here is the evidence:
Not everything here went in. I didn’t think bold 2-in-1 would make a great taste.

Bubbling away

Mark and Ben anxiously await their first experience of Bahrainian cuisine whilst I force them to pose for a photo.

Even Clarkson liked it. Though he did seem preocupied with car company themed Christmas gift ideas at the time.

I was surprised by how well this turned out.  I think I got the mix of spices, garlic and lime just right.  The rice was pleasantly sweet but not sickly and the chicken was tender inside and the coating wasn’t overpowering.

Next up:  Australia.  Kangaroo steak anyone?