Thursday, November 28, 2013

Hashed Brussels Sprouts With Lemon Zest

Hashed Brussels Sprouts With Lemon Zest
Adapted from “The Union Square Cafe Cookbook” by Michael Romano and Danny Meyer
This is a pain-free way to cook a whole lot of brussels sprouts, so long as you have a food processor.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1kg brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, or poppy seeds
1/4 cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION
Place lemon juice in a large bowl. Cut bottoms off sprouts, and discard. Working in batches, use a food processor fitted with the slicing blade to cut sprouts into thin slices. (If cutting by hand, halve sprouts lengthwise, and thinly slice them crosswise. The slices toward the stem end should be thinner, to help pieces cook evenly.) As you work, transfer slices into bowl with lemon juice. When all sprouts are sliced, toss them in juice and use your fingers to separate leaves. (Recipe can be prepared to this point and refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 hours.)
When ready to serve, heat oil and butter over high heat in a skillet large enough to hold all sprouts. When very hot, add sprouts, garlic and seeds, and cook, stirring often, until sprouts are wilted and lightly cooked, but still bright green and crisp, about 4 minutes. Some leaves may brown slightly.
Add wine and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Turn off heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and more lemon juice if desired. Stir in the lemon zest, reserving a little for top of dish. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with remaining zest and serve.
Mashed Potato Casserole With Sour Cream and Chives


INGREDIENTS
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, and more for the pan
6 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons finely chopped chives
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

PREPARATION
Lightly grease a  baking pan.
In a large pot, bring the potatoes,water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil. Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
Mash potatoes with 10 tablespoons butter, sour cream, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper. (If you have a food mill or ricer, now is the time to use it; push the potatoes through and then gently combine them with the butter, sour cream, salt and pepper.) Mash in the chives. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Spread potatoes into the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, bread crumbs and cheese.
 Mix together until it forms coarse crumbs.
Heat the oven to 200c. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the potato casserole and bake until golden and crisp, 30 to 40

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Chicken and vegetable bake

This is a great dish for using up all those vegetables in the fridge and making sure you get your 5 servings per day.

Begin by browning your cubed chicken pieces in a fry pan, I would suggest using thigh meat which is full of flavour, set aside.

Follow this with browning 500gms of minced pork and set aside.

In your casserole dish place your vegetables.
In my case this included:

2 grated Zuchinni
2 grated carrots
1 thinly chopped brown onion
4 thinly sliced celery ribs
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of tomatillos (or tomatoes)
3 diced garlic cloves
2 diced chillies
2 cups of chicken stock

Mix the cooked meat through the vegetables  cover and simmer at 180c in a warm oven.

Before serving remove the cover and cover with grated cheese, return to oven until browned.

Serve with rice, sour cream and corn chips.


Turkey Pie


This is a straight forward recipe, low in fat and full of vegetables.

Sauté in olive oil
1 Diced brown onion
1 sliced green capsicum
3 chopped red chillies seeds icluded for extyra heat
2 sliced celery ribs
3 crushed and diced garlic cloves
2 finely diced carrots

Add to this 500 gms of lean turkey mince
Add 1 tine of beans (your choice) and one of tomatoes

Once meat is browned
Season with
2tsp of black rice vinegar, light soy sauce and xao shing wine.

Add 2 cups of chicken stock

Simmer until vegetables begin to soften and sauce thickens.

Place in pie plate and top with frozen puff pastry

Oven bake at 180c until golden

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Roasted Broad Bean Red Capsicuum Quinoa Salad

  • Ingredients

  • 1 jar roasted red capsicum 
  • 300gms  broad beans
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp chopped thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
  • 1 3/4 cups water (or stock)
  • 1/4 cup feta, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
  • 1/4 cup dressing

Method

  1. Meanwhile, toss the green beans in the oil, thyme, salt and pepper, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast in a preheated 180c oven until they start to caramelize, about 30 minutes, flipping them half way through.
  2. Meanwhile, bring the water and quinoa to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is tender and has absorbed the water, about 15-20 minutes, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, covered.
  3. Combine and serve with crusty bread

Roast carrot and quinoa salad

Roast carrot and quinoa salad.


Ingredients
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bunches dutch carrots, scrubbed and sliced lengthwise
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup raw almonds
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups large leaf rocket
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped


Method
Preheat oven to 190C.

In a small bowl, mix spices, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper. In a medium bowl, toss carrots with onion and 2 tablespoons of oil. Add 1 tbsp of spice mix and toss to coat. Spread vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender. Spread almonds on a baking tray and bake for about seven minutes, until golden, then cool and coarsely chop.

In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa with 2 tsp of spice mix and water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 17 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk 2 tbsp oil with 1 tbsp lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Add rocket, toss to coat and spread on a large platter. In the same bowl, whisk remaining oil with remaining lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard and 1 tsp of spice mix; season with salt. Add quinoa, almonds, parsley and roasted vegetables and toss well.

Spoon quinoa salad on the rocket and serve.

This recipe comes from: Good Food

Quinoa, red rice and black lentil salad with spicy cauliflower

Quinoa and red rice salad.

Ingredients
200g quinoa
200g red rice, rinsed
50g black lentils, rinsed
100ml olive oil and 3 tbsp extra
2 brown onions, thinly sliced
100g dried cranberries
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ cup plain flour
½ cauliflower, broken into small florets
200g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

For the dressing:
1 lemon, juiced
¼-½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and pepper
Method
Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling, lightly salted water for 12-14 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside. Cook red rice and lentils in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat frying pan, add 100 millilitres of oil and onions, cook over low heat for 10 minutes until well caramelised. Soak cranberries in orange juice for 10 minutes until plump. Mix cumin, coriander and flour in a small bowl.

Toss cauliflower in flour mix. Heat three tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, add cauliflower and fry over low heat for 10 minutes, until soft. Toss with drained quinoa, rice and lentils.

Add caramelised onions, with any extra oil from the pan. Add cranberries with orange juice, pistachios and fresh herbs. Make dressing with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk well to combine, taste and adjust if necessary.

Add to salad and mix well.

This idea came from:Good Food

Baked Portobello mushrooms topped with quinoa, feta and Herbs


Caroline Velik's baked portabello mushrooms topped with quinoa and feta.

Ingredients
8 medium portobello mushrooms
50g unsalted butter
A few sprigs of thyme
150ml dry white wine
150ml vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
320g jar marinated goat's feta
 Herbs for garnish

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Place mushrooms in a large baking tray, dot with butter and scatter over thyme sprigs. Add wine, stock and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tray with foil and cook for 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring two cups water to the boil, add quinoa, reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork.

To serve, spoon the quinoa over the mushrooms, add a dollop of goat's feta and scatter over the micro herbs. Season with extra salt and pepper if required.

This idea came from please check it out: Good Food