Getting Your Life Together Student Recipes
Moving out for the first time? It’s been fun hasn’t it? Staying with other students, not having to let your parents know when you’ll be home and being able to control your own diet. Admit it though, are you really enjoying the third spice bag this week? Do those baked beans really cover your five-a-day? And is that 60 cent Tesco pizza really as filling as you’ve convinced yourself it is, or are you just trying to stretch that four euro left in your bank account to the end of the month? Well have no fear, because I have been there.So in order of increasing despracy, here are a selection of old faithfuls that have served me well and will hopefully provide some reprieve from those cold chips your co-loc was about to throw out (not that you shouldn’t relish those chips, low-key you and I both know that it gets so much worse). Mile High Thighs: 2-3 Servings 1KG of Chicken Thighs Food 1 1 Bell Pepper 1 Large Red Onion 200G Lardons (Slices of bacon can be chopped up as a substitute) 2 - 4 Cloves of Garlic (size dependent) 1 Tin of Tomatoes (Preferably chopped) A generous amount of Paprika (Pro -Tip: getting a portion of spices from home will make life 1000X less miserable) Set the oven to 200C. Cut a lump of butter and place it in a tray, which you can then place in the oven as it warms up. Dice the onion and the pepper. In the event that one is time-poor or lacking in technical skill, it is permissible to clobber veg into eighths with a large knife, but taking the time to be surgical will yield a far more even flavour. When the butter has melted, chuck the thighs in and season with pepper and paprika. Heat the lardons up in a dry pan. If you set the pan at a medium heat and keep stirring, the lardons will not stick. You will see the fat begin to melt like candle wax. When this happens, the vegetables can be chucked in along with a touch more paprika. Bash the garlic with the palm of your hand, rip off the skin and throw the remainder into the pan. Fry lightly until the onions soften. Turn down the hob and check if the thighs have browned. If they have, than it is time to proceed, if not it is wise to take the veg and lardons off the heat and cover them.
Words By Sam Hayes
When you proceed, take the thighs out and sprinkle some sugar across the top before throwing on the contents of the pan. Ensure the veg is spread throughout, then pour the tin of tomatoes over the top, covering the entire dish.
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Cover with tin foil and place the dish in the oven, turning down the heat to 150C. This is essentially all of the work done, just leave it for half an hour to 40 minutes and check on the dish by cutting open a chicken thigh. If it’s cooked through then happy days, if not leave it in for a bit longer and check with the same method.
Curried Baked Beans: (I swear it’s better than it sounds, but if you’ve gotten this far you’re probably desperate enough) 1 Tin of Baked beans If you have them lying around, an onion, a pepper and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic 1 Tablespoon of Cumin, 1 Teaspoon Paprika 1 Star of Star Anise (also turmeric for colour if you’re feeling boujee) 1 Small Chilli
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