Szechuan Style Pulled Pork

This is my take on a Szechuan dish.

Begin with two sliced brown onions
Two thinly cut carrots
Two thinly sliced red capsicum  
Place the pork atop of these 
Season with salt and pepper and 2 tbs of freshly ground Szechuan pepper
Add 4 tbs of chilli bean paste
Two cups of water

Cook on low for 8 hours and pull pork apart 

Serve with rice and vegetables
 

Brenda's Vege Surprise

This is a vegan stew at Brenda's request.

Dice two brown onions and brown in oil
Add 2 sliced red capsicum
Break down a cauliflower into florets and add
Cut into chunks 4 eggplants and add
Sprinkle liberally with vegeatable stock and pepper (no salt as powdered stock is high in salt)
Cover with water and simmer

Serve with crusty bread

Chicken Stew

This recipe was a way of using a frozen chicken I had in the freezer for too long.

Thaw the chicken in advance and break into pieces.
Place a base of diced carrot, eggplant, red peppers and tomato in the bottom of the slow cooker
Place the chicken pieces on top
Season with salt and pepper, oregano and basil
Add water till chicken just covered

Cook on low for 8 hours

Serve with crusty bread and freshly ground black pepper.

Chicken Chilli Slow Cooker Style

My version of chilli using chicken instead of beef, because... why not?

In your slow cooker:

2 sliced brown onions
2 sliced red peppers
3 celery ribs sliced
1 diced tomato
500gms of chicken mince
6 chicken drumsticks

400gms of three bean mix
400gms kidney beans
400gms condensed Chicken Soup
1 jar jalepeno peppers

2 tbs chilli powder
2 tbs coriander/cumin mix
2 tbs tomato paste
Water to cover

Cook on low for 8 hours

After 6 hours add 1 cup of quinoa

khalari style Eggplant Curry - Low fat/vegetarian

This is a curry that goes well with weight loss and vegetarians.

Begin by cutting 4 eggplants into cubes, spray with cooking oil and oven bake
Cut 2 brown onions and two red capsicum into slices and oven bake
I placed 2 trays in the oven at 180c until browned

In a saucepan bring to a light boil a little water and vegetable stock (I used vegeta)

Add the spice mix and boil lightly until fragrant
Combine the cooked vegetables and coat with the curry paste
Add the sauce mix and slowly simmer until done.
Note that the sauce will thicken and so water will need to be added.

Spice Mix:
2 tsp each
Cumin
Coriander
Chilli
Fenegreek
Garam Masala
Tumeric
Diced garlic

Sauce Mix:
300 mls no fat Greek yogurt
600mls water
3 tbs besan flour
Whisked till it forms a gravy (adjust ingredients as necessary)

Bacon, Smoked Sausage Pasta Sauce

I have many things in my freezer and hating waste I am determined to use them and create something nice. In this case I had some frozen bacon, I just never got to use it so I popped it in the freezer. I also had some Japanese style sausages (purchased for a reason I cannot recall).



In my slow cooker I created a layer of:

1 Diced brown onion
3 sliced celery ribs
2 crushed chopped garlic cloves
2 finely chopped carrots
1 thinly sliced red capsicum

To this I adeded while frozen
My bacon roughly chopped
My sausages whole (broken into individual sausages)

For the sauce I added:
1 tin tomatos
1 tin beans (cannolini)
1 jar pasta sauce
Approx 3 cups red wine

Cooked on low for 6 hours (was ready in 3)

Serve with pasta and cheese (I also add some hot sauce)

Needless to say the spirit of the dish lets you add ingredients you need to cook rather than bin. Tasted really great and left that sense of accomplishment you get when you use rather than throw out food.

Mushroom Onion Korma

I have adapted this recipe from:
http://www.meatfreemondays.com/recipe/creamy-mushroom-onion-korma-cashew-nuts/

It was origially vegan, if you want it to remain vegan swap out the cream for a vegan alternative.

Ingredients

• 4 medium onions, sliced
• 150 g mushrooms, sliced
• 50 g sultanas
• 40 g roasted cashew nuts
• 50 g Patak’s Original Korma Curry Paste (use this or any other animal-free brand, available from your local supermarket)
• 400gms coconut cream
• 150 ml cream 

Method

Heat some vegetable oil
 Add the onions.
Once the onions are browned, add the sultanas and cashew nuts.
Add the creamed coconut and water and stir well.
Add the sliced mushrooms.
Once the water has reduced by a quarter, add the curry paste and continue to cook.  Now turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and add the cream.  Stir in well and serve immediately.