Fish Wraps from Janella Purcell

This comes from Good Chef Bad Chef a really great cooking program on Lifestyle Food.

Steam 4 Flathead fillets cool.
Cook 1 cup of quinoa cool.

Mix 2 tbls of Miso paste
1/3 cup tahini
Juice of half a lemon
Flake in fish and mix well

Lay 1 piece of mountain bread (or any flat bread)
Cover with a sheet of Nori (seaweed for making sushi)
Place fish mix and some quinoa on nori and roll the whole lot up.

This is very nice when toasted under a sandwich press.

The Foodie Handbook

This wonderful book is written by Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim. Its not exactly a recipe book, but it has many recipes. I guess more than anything its a collection of material that has grown out of Pim's blog. The book is divided into four sections which look at eating, cooking, drinking and enjoying life. More than anything else the joy that food brings to life is at the heart of this book.

There are tips on how to dine out and get the most from the experience, how to match wine to food particularly if your on a budget. Also though hints for roasting the perfect chicken or preparing the ultimate pad Thai.

In short a huge selection of the sort of things that Pim has been writing about for ages. If you would like to check out her blog just click on the link in the right margin. This book is well worth buying and is a lot of fun.

Pork and salad

This recipe is adapted from Delicious magazine November 2009

Pork

Take lean Pork steaks and coat with ground pepper, fennel and salt pan fry.

Salad
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts drained
400gm can of lentils drained
120gms baby spinach
150gms crumbled fetta

Dressing
1tbs red wine vinegar
2tbs olive oil
1 crushed garlic clove

The Amazing Makerel Pudding Plan

This book is great fun, it appears while helping her parents clean out their basement Wendy McClure came across a collection of Weight Watchers recipe cards from the 1970's. The recipes and photos are very funny made even better by the authors comments on the contents and appearance of many of the dishes.

I should stress the actual card photos are shown but the recipes themselves. The is a really humorous look at how people used to diet. Some of my favourites are the healthy drink combinations perhaps combining coffee with diet orange soft drink, or to tempt the palate we could combine water, sherry extract and two beef cubes. The food is equally funny like the frankfurter crown roast which I am sure you would love to serve at your next family meal.

The book is great fun and would make a great Christmas gift.

Hot and Spicy Prawns

Thank you Nigel Slater, this is really lovely, from his latest TV program.

Spice Paste

2 red chillies roughly chopped seeds in for heat out for not.
2,3 large garlic cloves
Root ginger roughly cut
Black pepper corns
Cumin and coriander seeds
Ground turmeric
Handful of fresh coriander and fresh mint
Coconut cream to form paste

Blend in a blender until a rough paste

Take 700 gms of raw peeled prawns

Marinate for at least 2 hours

Cook quickly over high heat.

Yogurt dressing

Two tablespoons of No fat Greek style yogurt
Blend in diced fresh mint and coriander

Serve everything on coconut rice.

Nigel Slaters Baked Chicken

Take 6 chicken thigh cutlets (ie with bone and skin attached)

Place in a baking tray, skin side up.

Then Mix
Juice of 2 lemons
Approx half as much runny honey
1tsp grainy mustard
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of grated garlic

Mix well and poor over chicken

Oven bake 180c for about 40 minutes, till golden brown.

Serve on a bed of couscous with green beans.

Spicy Pork Stew

Take 500gms diced pork
Coat with 2 tbs of flour mixed with 1tsp of ground fennel
Pan fry and set aside

Fry 1 diced onion
Add in
1 diced chilli (more if you like it hot)
2 cans of diced Italian tomatoes
1 can of round beans
2 diced potatoes
2 diced carrots
200 mls of water
Return the pork to the mix and simmer for 30 minutes or until everything is cooked.

Fish Soup

This is a warming dish on a cold night and lends itself to whatever you have to hand.

Cut into bite size pieces 4 potatoes and boil.

Slice 3 Chorizo sausages and cook through

Saute 2 sliced onions in a generous amount of butter until soft and clear.

Add two cups of fish stock and 2 cups dry white wine and simmer

Add cooked potatoes (yes you can cook them in the soup (it will need to simmer for a bit longer)

Add chorizo pieces

Cut into bite size pieces your fish (firm fleshed fish is best) Use at least two different types of fish

Add the fish to the reduced soup base about 1 fillet per person, remember the more delicate the fish the less time it takes to cook.

When close to ready add 500gms prawn meat

Serve with crusty bread.

Boeuf Stroganoff

This comes from one of my older cookbooks and has always been a family favourite.

Marinate 500gm sliced beef in
1cup red wine
Salt, pepper, nutmeg

Then saute
2 sliced onions
100gms sliced mushrooms

Then add the marinated meat

Add
375mls beef stock
the marinade
4tbs tomato paste

Reduce, thicken with flour.

Just before serving stir sour cream through the dish

Serve on rice.

Sardine Pasta

Adapted from The Best in Australia.

1 finely diced spanish onion
1 Fennel bulb Finely diced
Saute adding 2 diced garlic cloves
2tsp roasted pine nuts
2tsp sultanas soaked in marsala
1/2 cup white wine

Simmer until it reduces stir through cooked sardines or place fresh ones on top then reduce

Stir through your cooked pasta and serve

garnish with lemon and Parsley

Flathead al Chipotle

This is a fried fish dish covered with a rich smoked chilli sauce.

Prepare two cups of rice by cooking in chicken stock.

Sauce
1 cup diced Shitake mushrooms
1 finely diced galic clove
2tbsp beef stock
1 can chipotle chille in adobo sauce
2tbsp chopped thyme
2 tbsp chopped corriander
1 cup light thickened cream

Saute garlic and mushroom
add cream, stock and chilli
Simmer until it thckens about 15 minutes
stir in herbs

Pan fry your flathead fillets and serve on rice with sauce poured over.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

This is a quick to prepare but warming beef pie.

Roughly chop 2 onions
Saute in olive oil and butter
Add 500gms of diced beef, floured

Add
3 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
250 gms sliced mushroom
1 can broad beans
700mls of beef stock

Simmer for an hour or until the beef is tender

Then add 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Place in a pie dish cover with frozen puff pastry sprayed with olive oil

Oven bake 180c until golden brown.

Low Fat Moussaka

Got the idea of this from Good Food and a UK tv show. It tastes very nice, apologies to Gina I know its not Greek.

Take 3 eggplants cut length wise into 1 cm thick sections, coat with olive oil mixed with a little lime juice and oven bake until soft.

Meat Mixture
Saute 1 finely chopped onion and 2 diced garlic cloves
Then brown 500gms lean beef or lamb mince (the beef will be much lower in fat)
Add
1tsp cinnamon and 1tsp allspice
400ml can of diced tomatoes
5 chopped fresh tomatoes
2tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped basil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 cup of white wine

Simmer until it thickens

Topping
Combine 350mls fat free Greek Style yogurt
1 tbsp arrowroot
2 beaten eggs
Stir until it forms a paste

Assemble your Moussaka starting with the meat mixture, then the eggplant in alternating layers
Top with your white sauce
Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Oven bake until golden brown

Yellow Curry Of Crab

A simple and quick mid week meal.

Take one spanner crab per person and remove all the meat.

Slice two shallots thinly
Slice finely one Spanish onion
Dice 1 red capsicum
Slice two baby eggplant

Fry 2 tbsp yellow curry paste in oil and add vegetables
When nearly cooked add 1 400ml can of coconut cream

Then as it comes to simmer add crab meat and a handful of prawns

Serve on jasmine rice and garnish with coriander and cashews.

Octopus Stifado

500 gms of dices shallots
5 garlic cloves roughly cut

Gently saute in olive oil until translucent

Add black pepper, 1tbsp all spice, 2 bay leaves
Two cans of diced tomatoes (400gms*2)

175 mls of red wine vinegar
2tbs balsamic vinegar
half a cup of red wine
500 gms baby octopus cut into bite size pieces

Simmer until octopus melts in the mouth about an hour and half

Serve with crusty bread

Gnocchi and Beef

Fry 500gms beef strips and set aside
Saute one sliced onion, 1 sliced capsicum, and 200 gms sliced mushrooms
Add
2*400 cans tomatoes
1tbsp smoked paprika
1tsp chilli powder

return beef to pan and add
500gms cooked gnocchi

Can be garnished with coriander

North African Meatballs

500gms lamb mince
1 small diced onion
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
2tbsp of chopped coriander
2tsp ground cumin
2tsp ground cinnamon

Mix together and form into meatballs place in fridge for 15 minutes to set.

Meanwhile saute
One sliced onion
2 diced garlic cloves
Add
2 *400gm cans crushed tomatoes
1 can chick peas
2tbsp Tomato paste
1tsp ground cumin
2tsp smoked paprika
1tsp ground ginger

Add in the meatballs to heat serve with crusty bread, garnish with coriander leaf

Asian Style Chicken

Another really simple and easy dish.

Spatchcock 1 small chicken
Marinate in Kikoman sesame Ginger & Soy marinade with diced spring onions
Oven bake at 180c for 1 hour

Serve on a bed of rice cooked in chicken stock with premixed thai spices.

Spanish Fish and Chorizo Soup

Stole (Adapted) this one from Jamie Oliver in this months Delicious magazine.

Fry 2 sliced chorizo sausages
2 diced garlic cloves
300gms of prawn meat
1 sliced red chilli (remember to remove the seeds for less heat and for Tamra use a red pepper)
Then add
1 diced deboned fillet of fish
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of chick peas
White wine

Simmer until fish is ready and serve dressing with basil leaves and crusty bread.

Spinach and Beef Cannelloni

This is simple and quick
Brown 250gms of beef mince
Mix in 250gms of microwaved frozen spinach
Stir through 250gms of lite ricotta cheese

Using ready made lasagna sheets create your filled cannelloni
Top with a jar of pasta sauce and gated Parmesan cheese
Oven bake until cheese melts

Chicken Roll

Thinly slice a chicken breast and roll flat
Lay out most of the chicken on a cooking board
Cover the chicken with prosuto slices
Dice the remaining chicken and mix with grated Keflo graveiro cheese (Parmesan will do)
Cover the procutto with the chicken and cheese mixture
Roll the chicken breast up and tie
Baste with 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup white wine
Oven bake at 180c for 30 minutes.

Prawn and Gnocchi Bake

I am enjoying trying a range of different baked Gnocci dishes.

lightly cook in olive oil

1 diced leek
2 diced spring onions
500gms of prawn meat

Cook 500gms of gnocchi according to instructions

Combine ingredients in a baking dish
Mix 1 tub of Greek yogurt flavour with J&B Curry powder (This is unusual as its Japanese but any curry powder will do)

Cover the ingredients with the yogurt mix and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 c

Kedgeree

2 cups of Cooked Basmarti rice
2 bonless white fish fillets cooked and flaked
4 hard boiled eggs

In olive oil fry
1 diced onion
1 sliced chilli
2 tbs madra curry paste
Sliced spring onion

Add the rice and coat then lightly fold in the fish and eggs

Garnish with corriander

Miso Salmon

This is a very simple Japanese theme meal for one.

Mix 2 tbs of white miso paste in boiling water
Add 1 thinly sliced carrot
Add 1 thinly sliced Shallot

Simmer for 20 minutes

Pan fry 1 piece of Salmon Skin on


Serve on Jasmine rice garnish with fresh coriander sprinkle powdered chilli for taste.

Beef steak stuffed with Chinese Duck

This is adapted from an episode of Dinner Impossible where Robert Irvine cooked for a Chinese and Irish wedding.

Stuffing
strip the meat from a Chinese cooked duck saving the skin and bones
marinate the meat in
Hoisin Sauce
Sesame Ginger Soy
With Sliced Spring onion


Sauce
Place Duck Skin and Bones in beef stock
Reduce by 50%
Reserve liquid and keep warm

Take a thick steak i used scotch fillet but any thick cut will do
Cut a triangle in the top of the steak and stuff with about a tablespoon of the stuffing
Brown the stuffed side in a fry pan (about 2 mins)
Turn the steak
Finish in the oven

Serve on rice with a drizzle of the sauce.

Sausages with Bacon and Cabbage

I have always liked sausages but I'm always looking for new ways to eat them. This idea is full of flavour and very tasty.

Cut several rashes of bacon into strips and cook

Take 1/2 a savoy cabbage shred
1 onion thinly sliced

Fry the onion and cabbage until soft and add the bacon

Flavour with a good quality vinegar

Serve your favourite cooked sausages on top of this delicious mix.

Chicken Mulligatawny

1 Diced red onion
1 Diced carrot
1 diced red capsicum
1 chopped red chilli
1/2 bunch chopped celery
4 sliced garlic cloves

Soften in olive oil in a large pot

Brown 500gms chicken mince
add
3tbs madras curry powder
2tbs tomato paste
1 ltr chicken stock

Bring to simmer for about 1.5 hours

Add 3 handfuls basmarti rice 40 minutes before serving

Serve with fresh bread

Chicken Korma Pie

This recipe was adapted from the July Delicious magazine.

4 oven baked chicken pieces, your choice, stripped down to meat.

Saute in olive oil and butter
1 diced Leek
1 diced onion
4 diced garlic cloves

then add
cayenne pepper
ground cumin
ginger
2tbs korma paste
300mls coconut cream

Combine all ingredients and heat

Place in a pie dish and top with your favourite pastry Oven bake until golden brown

Fish Pie

This simple recipe comes from Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food book which has a lot of really nice but straight forward recipes.

300gms Salmon Skinless
300gms White fillet
300gms Peeled prawn meat

1 grated carrot
2 stalks grated celery
150gms grated cheese
zest and juice of one lemon
1 sliced red chilli
1 diced tomato

Combine in a baking dish and top with approx one kilo of potatoes cooked and mashed

Oven bake for about 40mins at 180c

Beef Stew

500 gms diced stewing beef
Marinate in pepper, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, red wine for 20 minutes or longer
Then reserve liquid
Brown meat in olive oil and butter

Slice one onion, one carrot, three celery stalks in olive oil until soft

Place all in a casserole dish
with
2 bay leaves
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 quartered onion
100mls brandy
100gms diced pachetta
300mls beef stock
150gms Sliced button mushrooms

Cook at 180c for 90 minutes

Serve with a garlic cheese mash

Toad in the Hole 3

Bake your sausages wrapped in bacon with a little onion diced and olive oil for 30 mins at 180 c

Then pour in your batter mix:

2 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups flour

Add vine ripened Tomatoes and rosemary

Bake until Golden

Teenage Sex Symbol????

I must confess to understanding little of what goes on in the minds of teenage girls. I was surprised however with the popularity of masterchef with this group. I was even stunned to discover that a few of the girls thought that one of the presenters Matt Preston was a sex symbol.

Now not to knock Matt who comes across as a nice guy, but heart throb to teenage girls? Well clearly some things are beyond understanding. This entry is for Catherine who clearly has pinups of Matt at home.

Chicken Chorizo and Potato Bake

Take 4 Chicken thigh fillets cut into quarters
Slice two Chorizo sausages thinly
Take 4 large potatoes and cut into thin slices
1 small cup of pitted black olives
6 garlic cloves
1 cup of white wine
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a baking tray

Season cover with olive oil and bake covered in foil for about 45 mins at 160c
Then uncover and bake for 40 mins at 200c. serve with bread.

Gnocchi Bake with Salmon

A quick an easy winter supper.
1 pkt Gnocchi prepared as per packet instructions
1 sliced leek/ or onion fried until clear in butter
When ready add
200 gms of salmon cut into small pieces
200gms of light cream cheese
2 tbsp Tomato paste
I add a little dried chilli for taste

Finally grease a baking dish mix through all ingredients and bake 200c until golden.

remember to grease the baking dish .

Toad in the Hole 2

Bake your sausages with a little onion diced and olive oil for 30 mins at 180 c

Then pour in your batter mix:

1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour

Flavour with curry powder and mix

Bake until golden.

Chicken Pie

Take one BBQ chicken and strip down to meat

Saute
1 sliced leek
3 stalks of sliced celery
200gms of mushrooms sliced
In 50gms of butter

Add 200mls of thickened cream
500mls of chicken stock and heat
Thicken with gravy flour

Spoon into pie dish

Cover with pastry Frozen

Bake 200 for 20 mins

Fish Stew

This is a quick stew great for a winters night.

Slice one leek
Thinly slice one fennel bulb

Saute in olive oil until soft then add

2 diced garlic cloves
700 mls fish stock
700mls pasata

Bring to the boil and add

2 diced flathead fillets
1kg of mussels

Cook until mussels open

Serve with crusty bread and parsley for garnish

My Dirty Rice

This is not an authentic dish but my own version. Hope people like it.

1 Sliced onion
2 finely diced carrots
2 sliced spring onions
2 diced garlic cloves
1 sliced green chilli

Saute the above until soft and add

500gms diced beef brown

Then add

1 can kidney beans
3/4/ diced toms
diced roast pepper strips
2 cups of rice
1ltr beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
frozen prawns to taste

gently simmer until stock is absorbed and rice is soft add extra water if needed.

Steak and onion Casserole

1 piece of steak per 2 persons sliced thinly
4 onions cut into wedges
4 garlic cloves sliced
1 can diced toms
1 cup red wine
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 diced potatoes

Fry meat then add all ingredients cook at 180c for 1 hour
serve with parsley as a garnish.

Baked Beans

I have always loved this dish.

4 Chorizo sausages
2 sliced onions
4 Bacon rashes diced
2 cans white beans (your choice)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 jar pasata
2 cloves of crushed garlic

Fry meat and onion, garlic until cooked deglaze with wine and add other ingredients

Heat until warm

Serve with crusty bread.

Okayodon

This is from Bill Grangers new book Feed Me Now!

400mls dashi stock, add mirin 4 tbsp, 125mls soy. Bring to a simmer
Dice 2 Breast fillets of chicken
Thinly slice 1 onion

Simmer for 10 minutes

Then add 4 beaten eggs and cook for 2 minutes

Serve on rice with Sliced spring onions and chilli for garnish


A quick warming and filling winter meal.

Chicken Quesadillas

bbq chicken pieces
diced mild chilli
tortillas
bbq sauce
grated tasty cheese

Combine and toast. Simple Quick and very tasty. Who said i cant do simple?

Mission Cook Robert Irvine

For those who know Robert Irvine has caused more than his fair share of controversy in the last little while. Because he padded his resume considerably to gain a job on the Food Network, as a result his employment was terminated. despite that I enjoyed the program he starred in Dinner Impossible. I have also found some of the recipes in this book to be excellent.

The book follows his life with a short few pages on various things he has done. Obviously some of those may not be entirely accurate. However the recipes are very good and cover a range of cuisines in the eclectic way that he always cooked on the tv show.

There is a sound basis in European (french) cooking skills but Asian and Pacific influences are evident as is a strong emphasis on fusion cooking. I loved The Roasted Duck with white bean ragout or the blackened tenderloin of beef. There is a range of food here that would suit most families. The recipes are not complex and are clearly explained. The results though are excellent. I really like this book and the controversy surrounding the man adds to its appeal.

Veal with Asparagus and Mushrooms

This is not at all complex but boy does it taste good.

4 thin pieces of veal
500gms mixed mushrooms chopped
thyme
butter
thickened cream
asparagus

Saute the mushrooms until brown and soft in butter then add the cream

Cook asparagus and till just done

Fry Veal until golden brown.

Assemble and eat.

Tomato and Fish Soup

This is a simple dish but tastes really good and goes down well on a winter night.

2 onions chopped roughly
@chopped celery sticks
2 chopped carrots
2 potatoes chopped fine
1 capsicum chopped
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 can diced tomatoes
1 ltr chicken or fish stock
2 chopped zucchini
500gms blue eye fillet

Fry the vege for about 10 minutes then add the stock and tomatoes
Simmer for 30 minutes adding the fish for the final 10 minutes

Serve with crusty bread and a few drops of chilli sauce. garnish with flat leaf parsley.

Chicken and Masala Sauce

This is a simple recipe for a nice chicken dish with a very nice sauce.

Take a nice chicken maryland and brown in butter and oil. Then oven bake for 30 mins at 180c.

Boil some baby potatoes and coat with oil and also bake for 30 mins at 180c

Pour off extra oil from the chicken and deglaze the pan with masala, then add 2 teaspoons of djion mustard and 3 teaspoons of sour cream stir through and heat

Serve sauce over Chicken.

Rack of Pork

This is an unusual cut of meat for me I have not seen it before. However it makes the best roast with great crackling.

Score the pork roast making sure to cut through the skin to the underlying fat.

Pour boiling water over the meat until the skin starts to harden and separate dry completely

Bake for 20 minutes at 230 c then reduce to 180 for 1 hour finishing at 230c for 10 mins.

Serve with baked vege and a nice sauce in this case Mango and native mint chutney from Outback Spirit

Road Kill Potatos

I heard this on an interview with Stephanie Alexander.

Boil up double the number of potatoes you would use for mash and leave the skins on.

Take an oven tray and cover with baking paper.

Crush the potatoes on roughly

season (salt, pepper and any herb or spice mix that you like)

coat generously with olive oil

bake until top is golden

Risotto

I used to be one of those people who thought that Risotto was difficult to make. Nothing could be further from the truth it is a simple and tasty meal on a cooler night. Well worth having a go at doing yourself.

300gms prawn meat
1ltr chicken stock
1 cup abborio rice
1 onion diced
1 sliced spring onion
sliced mushroom
butter
olive oil

Heat the oil and some butter in a pan
Heat the stock till it simmers
Place rice in the pan and cover with oil and butter
Add the stock a ladle at a time stirring until the rice absorbs it repeat until rice is soft

Meanwhile:
Cook the onions, mushrooms and prawn meat in a separate fry pan

When the rice is ready stir through the prawns and mushrooms and onions

Serve with a little grated Parmesan or peccorino

Thai Red Chicken Curry

500 gms chicken cut into pieces
2tbs Mai Ploy Red Curry paste
2 tins of coconut cream
200 gms prawn meat
Kaffir Lime leaves
Palm sugar
Fish Sauce
Thai basil

Heat one tin of coconut cream and add the curry paste
When dissolved add the chicken and cook 15 minutes
Then add lime leaf, fish sauce and palm sugar
Add prawn meat cook for 5 -7 mins
Finish by adding the second tin of coconut cream heat and serve

Serve on rice and garnish with the Thai basil or coriander

Lamb and Kumara Chops

4 chump chops
1 sliced spanish onion
2 tsp grated ginger
2 diced garlic cloves
1/2 diced red capsicum
1 csn diced toms
1tbsp soy
1tbsp honey
1 cinnomen quill
1tbs ral el hanooouf
1 kumarama diced

brown the lamb and remove
then add the onion and other spices

add vege cover with water cook

and serve with cous cous

Heat by Bill Buford

There are lots of cook books out there but only a handful of really well written books that give a real insight into the world of the professional kitchen. This is one of those books. Buford a professional journalist quits his day job to work full time in Mario Batali's Babbo. The book is at once interesting and challenging as a whole new world opens up for both writer and reader.

Buford is nothing if not honest and holds nothing back about the difficulties of the experience and the incredible rewards that it offers him, both as a writer and in extending his skills as a cook. We see why Battali rose to fame as a chef and the reasons for the success of his approach.

In addition though Buford actually captures the heart of the enterprise he is looking at, why does food matter no so much? In a world of McDonald's and instant food why do so many take the time and trouble to learn age old cooking techniques? The love of good food and its value in our modern world really comes shining through in this book. Not to mention it is very well written and had more than enough to keep any reader amused.

Steak and Kidney Pie

This is my really healthy version. low fat and lots of good stuff.

Basic pie crust

Cook 2 cups of brown rice and put in the fridge overnight
Next day mix with three eggs and line a greased pie dish
Bake at 180 c for 15 -20 minutes

Filling

Brown one sliced onion
Add 500gms beef and kidney Brown
deglaze with 1 cup of beef stock
Add 375 ml beer
Simmer and reduce
add 1 bay leaf
season
Thicken if needed

Add filling to base and serve