Saturday, November 26, 2011

Vegetarian Tagine

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 onions, chopped
cut baby carrots
1 celery rib with leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
can diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
1 medium eggplant, chopped into roughly cubes
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 box prepared couscous


Heat up olive oil in large stew pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrots, onions and garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then turn heat down to medium. Let cook about 7 minutes. Add dry spices and let cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add lemon juice. 

 Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Add in vegetable stock, chickpeas. Cook, simmering, 1 hour. 

Salt eggplant pieces, let rest 2 minutes then rinse well with water and add, along with crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped red pepper to stew. 


Friday, November 25, 2011

Tex Mex Casserole













I find tacos boring this is a way of mixing it up.


Ingredients:

  • 500gms of minced meat 
  • 1 can red kidney beans drained and rinsed 
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 cup salsa
  • Hot sauce 
  • 2 cups tortilla chips crumbled up (but not too fine – kind of chunky)
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 onion chopped fine
  • 1 tomato chopped in medium sized chunks
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • Toppings as desired (guacamole, salsa, lettuce etc)

Directions:
  1. Brown the meat in a skillet until done and drain off excess fat.
  2. Mix beans, water and salsa in with meat and add hot sauce or chilli
  3. Stir mixture until it comes to a boil and then remove from heat.
  4. Spray a casserole dish  with non-stick cooking spray 
  5. Place crumbled chips in bottom of pan.
  6. Spread meat mixture evenly over chips.
  7. Spread sour cream over top of meat.
  8. Sprinkle onions and tomatoes evenly over sour cream.
  9. Cover all with cheese (can use more cheese if a big cheese fan).
  10. Bake at 180c for around 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
  11. Serve plain or with any traditional taco toppings.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Mushrooms & Macadamias










Sometimes a mushroom will hit the spot.

    Six large mushrooms

    80g butter

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 sprigs thyme, picked
  • 3 tbsp port or dry sherry
  • 2 medium onions
  • 200g/7oz breadcrumbs
  • 200g macadamias chopped

Preparation method

  1. Pre heat the oven to 180C
  2. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms to allow them to be stuffed and lay in a large oven dish. Place a little knob of butter in each one and then drizzle the olive oil all over. Sprinkle the thyme into the mushrooms and finish with a few generous glugs of Madeira wine. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes.
  3. Now for the stuffing, roughly chop your onions and soften in a frying pan with a little butter till golden.  Tear in the remaining herbs, add the breadcrumbs and allow to cook through slightly. Chop the macadamias and add to the pan and mix the contents well.
  4. After about 20 minutes remove the mushrooms and generously heap your stuffing into the mushrooms, piling it as high as you dare. Don’t worry about there being extra stuffing, simply shape them into little balls and place them around the mushrooms.
  5. Now return the dish to the oven for a further half hour. Serve when the stuffing is crisp and golden.

    Can be topped with a little goats cheese. Serve with a green salad and road kill potatoes.

    In this case I used 2 variants:

    1) Instead of nuts I dusted the base of the mushrooms with Zaatar (some people don't like nuts)

    2) For the meat eaters opened up a few nice sausages and used the seasoned meat to stuff the mushrooms


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Mediterranean Vegetables

Place the following in a baking dish

5 small potatoes (boiled)
2 roughly chopped red onions
1 eggplant cut into small pieces
5 whole cloves of garlic
Several vine grown tomatoes

Season with
1tsp cummin
2tsp smoked paprika
salt
pepper
Crumble fetta over the top

Cover generously with olive oil
Oven bake at 180c until cooked

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Cajun Chicken











Slice one brown onion and brown in vegetable oil
Add 300gms of chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
Slice 2 chorizo sausages and add
 When the chicken starts to brown slice and add
1 red pepper
2 chillies
5 stalks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 tin red kidney beans
1 cup of chicken stock
Simmer for 35 minutes
Serve with rice

Monday, November 21, 2011

Mexicana Beef












Take 500gms cubed beef
Brown, you can flour and brown them if you wish and remove from pot
Saute 2 chopped onions
1 diced capsicum
2thinly sliced green chillies
3 sliced garlic cloves
Deglaze with white wine
Add one tin tomatillos
2 cups of beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
Season well
Simmer gently for 2 hours
Serve on rice and garnish with sour cream

Aloo Ghobi


Preparation method


1.
Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high heat and add onion. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes, then stir in garlic and cumin. Continue to cook until onion begins to brown.
2.
Stir in tomatoes and coconut milk and the coriander, salt, turmeric, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Stir until mixture begins to boil, then put in the potatoes, cauliflower and chickpeas. Blend well. Reduce heat to low and cover.
3.
Simmer until the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to an hour (this will depend on the size of the potato chunks). Sprinkle in the garam masala, stir and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Nigel Slater's Ribs


I love ribs and this recipe is just wonderful. I take no credit it is from Nigel Slater, and if you have never read his books or seen his tv shows you have missed a treat.

Honey roast ribs with anise
Watch recipe3 mins
Sticky ribs are a classic example of sugar and spice working brilliantly together. You might never have thought of making them at home, but the results are amazing.

Ingredients

  • 6 tbsp thickish honey
  • 3 heaped tbsp oyster sauce
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes
  • 4 whole star anise
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black peppercorns
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1.5kgmeaty pork ribs

Preparation method

  1. To make the marinade, spoon the honey and oyster sauce into a roasting tin or baking dish. Add the chilli flakes, star anise and salt. Grind the peppercorns and add them to the marinade.
  2. Toss the ribs in the marinade and tuck the garlic cloves whole between the ribs, then set aside for at least 2 hours. It wouldn’t hurt if they stay there overnight.
  3. Roast the ribs at 160C 90 minutes, turning them in their sauce from time to time.
  4. Then turn the heat up to 200C for 15 minutes, Keep an eye on them, as sometimes they burn easily. They are ready when the meat is tender, though far from falling off the bone, and the ribs are sticky and almost charred.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Lentil Tart


Aromatic Lentil Tart
An aromatic lentil tart based on a simple mixture of aromatics and roasted vegetables, topped with a light sprinkling of Parmesan.
Ingredients

1 square sheet of ready-rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed

  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • a cup (200 grams) of brown lentils, rinsed
  • 2 cups of vegetable stock or water
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced
  • 2 tablespoon of olive oil
  • a medium onion, finely diced
  • 5 fresh button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon of thyme
  • 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, deseeded and diced
  • 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
  • 1 loose handful of grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. Cook the lentils in a pot of simmering vegetable stock or water over medium heat for 10-15 minutes and set aside.
  3. Place the sliced tomatoes in an over-proof dish, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes.
  4. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  5. Sautée the onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent then add the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of thyme until tender and set aside.
  6. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius again.
  7. Lay the puff pastry sheet out on a baking tray and fold over 3 cm of each side to create a border.
  8. Poke holes with a fork inside of the border you’ve created and brush lightly with olive oil.
  9. Brush the border of your pastry with the whisked egg.
  10. Begin to layer the tart. Spread half of your cooked lentils and garlic slices to cover the bottom of your tart.
  11. Begin to layer your roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers and olives then top with a second layer of lentils and sautéed mushrooms.
  12. Drizzle with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and move the tart to the oven.
  13. minutes into baking and using a light hand, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top and continue to bake until the pastry reaches a golden brown color.
  14. It should take around 15-18 minutes to bake in total.

Tomato Stew

This is one of Nigel Slaters recipes.









Ingredients

  • 2 medium sweet onions
  • 3 tbsp peanut oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium red chilli
  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 8 tomatoes
  • 100g thick yoghurt

Preparation method

  1. Roughly slice the onions and soften in a large shallow pan with a little mustard seed oil. Add the garlic and cook to a pale golden colour. Thinly slice the red chilli and add to the pan without its fiery seeds. Now in with the cumin and brown mustard seeds, then brighten the mixture up with the turmeric. Stir well ensuring all the spices cook through.
  2. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and then an equal amount of water again using the empty tomato tin. Now place the tomatoes, whole, in the pan. Cover with a lid allowing them to cook in their spicy tomato steam for 25 minutes.
  3. When the tomatoes have softened significantly but still hold their shape, gently shuffle them to one side of the pan. Stir the yoghurt through the spicy tomato juices and serve.