Sunday, May 30, 2010

Sylvania Chicken


This is my first dish cooked with the new slow cooker.

Take 4 boneless chicken breasts and cut in half and de skin

Pound the breast till they are thin place a layer of bacon on each.

Now combine two blocks of lite cream cheese with one jar of hot salsa

Thinly slice a bunch of spring onions

Stir through the mixture until fully mixed.

Place a dollop of the mixture on each chicken breast and roll up.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker spooning the rest of the mixture over the top.

Cook on low for 6 hours serve on rice.

It looks messy because it was, but it had a lovely taste.

Quick and easy Pasta


Sometimes we want to get tea ready quickly and easily. This one one of those.

Take 3 fresh chorizo sausages remove the casings and roll into meatballs

Oven bake 180c for about 30 mins

Combine with 250gms cooked pasta and a jar of pasta sauce

Mix through top with grated parmesan

Oven bake 160c for 20 minutes

Quick an easy.

Oh and a glass of red of course!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Beef Bourguignon Pie


This recipe I have wanted to cook since reading Julia and Julie

Yes its pretty much Julia Childs recipe

Saute several matchsticks of bacon in olive oil retaining the bacon fat in the pan

Remove the bacon and place in a casserole dish.

Cut pieces of beef to 2cm cubes dry with paper towel
Brown in bacon fat on all sides in batches
Set aside in the casserole dish
Fry one sliced onion and one sliced carrot

Add the vegetables to the casserole and cover with stock and red wine

Add 2 tbs tomato paste
2 crushed garlic cloves 
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

Simmer covered at 160c for 3 hours beef should be falling apart

Meanwhile

Take 8 or 9 small onions de skin and saute in olive oil and butter
When browned cover with stock and simmer for 40 mins or until soft

Blind bake your shortcrust pastry for the pie base

Saute a generous portion of swiss brown mushrooms in olive oil and butter.

When the Casserole comes out of the oven separate the solids from the liquid by sieving
Return the solids to the casserole dish

Place the liquids in a saucepan including the stock the onions simmered in
Reduce the liquid and thicken with gravy flour
Remember its not a stew so it will need to be thicker than Julia's recipe suggests

Now place the filling in the pie case
Cover with puff pastry
Spray with olive oil

Oven bake 180c until golden brown

Serve with a nice French red

Combine with the beef and onions and mushrooms stirring through to mix



Left over roast beef sandwiches


Cut in half drizzle with olive oil and toast 1 large Turkish bread

Top with a good sauce (see earlier recipes)
Place a slice of the leftover roast beef
Sauce again
Place sliced tomato and thinly sliced Spanish onion
Top with grilled Haloumi
Salt and pepper and a little bit of basil

Yakisoba


Grate a 3cm pice of ginger and squeeze the juice into a bowl
Combine with 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, Tonkatsu sauce and soy sauce set aside

Fry chicken thigh fillets cut into bite size pieces until browned
Stir in one clove of garlic crushed
Add a finely sliced white onion
Add red capsicum cut into bite sized pieces
Add one yellow capsicum cut into bite sized pieces

Now add in strips of carrot and sliced shitake mushroom

Add in pre cooked noodles and combine with the sauce

Serve with pickled ginger as a garnish

Cataplana

Yes I know you are thinking what the hell is a Cataplana? It is a Portuguese cooking pot that has several unique features it keeps in the juices and steam of the dish being cooked which is also called cataplana. Once the catches are fastened it can be turned over during cooking to ensure even cooking. I am looking forward to using it sometime soon.


Monday, May 17, 2010

Sauces - Steak/Beef

Niether of these is original or difficult but both are tasty.

1. 2 tbs mayonaise, 1 tbs ketchup, 1tsp Worcestershire sauce - mix well


2. 1 tsp hot english mustard, 2 tbs ketchup

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Hearty Meat Pie


Blind bake a sheet of short crust pastry in your favourite pie dish

In a fry pan saute
1 diced onion
2 sliced cloves of garlic
Then brown 5oogms of diced beef

De glaze with a cup of red wine
Then add
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1 diced red chilli
Dash of Wostershire sauce
1 tbs  of dark soy
5-6 sliced mushrooms
Simmer until it thickens

Spoon into pie base
Cover with puff pastry

Bake 180c until golden brown.

Meatballs



Combine 500 gms minced beef
1 finely diced onion
1 beaten egg
1 finely sliced red chilli
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Black pepper

Roll into meat balls, chill in fridge for 15 minutes
Oven bake at 180c for 15 minutes

Meanwhile combine in a fry pan
Olive oil 
1 diced onion saute then add
2 sliced cloves of garlic
1tsp  grated ginger
1tsp turmeric
1tsp cumin
2 400gm tins diced tomatoes
2 tbs tamarind extract 

Simmer and reduce liquid add in the meatballs and coat before serving with the sauce 
Garnish with coriander


Served with:
Eggplant and Ricotta Bake

Slice 4 eggplants into strips drizzle with olive oil and brown

Dice 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic saute on olive oil
Add 1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste

Then

In a baking dish place a layer of eggplant followed by a layer of
the tomato sauce and a mixture of sliced bocconcini and Ricotta
Repeat until finished 
Top with the last of the sauce and 1/2 a cup grated parmesan

Oven bake while covered uncovering for the last 10 minutes to brown.