Still on the Quinoa Train…

I recently borrowed Cooking With Quinoa: The Supergrain from work. It’s a great resource for quinoa recipes, and here is a lamb dish that I’ve adapted. The only time-consuming part was grinding a tablespoon of cumin seeds – as I have quite weak wrists I find using a mortar and pestle not that easy, but I do prefer to grind the spices freshly as I need them. I sat outside in the sun with my neighbour, grinding away whilst stopping regularly for champagne liquid refreshment to keep me going!

Lamb With Quinoa

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium brown onions, cut in half & thinly sliced

500 gms minced lamb

5 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds, whole

1 tbsp cumin seeds, ground

3/4 cup quinoa (rinse it if you prefer)

1/4 cup black rice

1 tbsp light soy sauce (I like Pearl River Bridge)

1 tsp chilli paste

2 cups hot water

1 cup frozen peas

1 red chilli, sliced

10 dried prunes, roughly chopped

preserved lemon & low-fat Greek yoghurt, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large deep pan, and saute onion until soft and golden. Add lamb mince and cook until well browned.

Stir in the garlic, cumin seeds and ground cumin, and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Add the quinoa, rice, soy sauce, chilli paste and water. Stir, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the quinoa is almost cooked.

Stir in the frozen peas and prunes, and cook for a further 8 minutes. Add the sliced chilli and cook for a final 2 minutes.

Serve with pieces of preserved lemon and yoghurt, if desired.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Aloo Dhal Curry

This website promotes Australian potatoes (including some varieties that I’ve never heard of!) and every now and then puts out a leaflet of recipes in the supermarket, which is how I came across this vegetarian lentil curry recipe. And, it tastes amazing!!

Below is my tweaked version – mainly I’ve just changed a few quantities to suit my taste or the weight of vegies I happened to have, and of course I upped the garlic lol. I also found it took longer than the stated cooking time, but then I did cut my vegies in quite large chunks so that could be my fault, not theirs.

Anyway, this is lovely and flavoursome, and hearty warming Winter fare for this last burst of cold weather (which I really hope is the last….). Or you can check out my similar-but-not-exactly-the-same Potato & Lentil Curry, a great vegetarian curry standby that is a no-fail easy dinner.

Aloo Dhal Curry

1 brown onion, cut into wedges

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground

2 tbsp olive oil

450 gms potatoes, cut into large dice (leave skin on)

500 gms pumpkin, peeled & cut into large dice

1 1/4 cups brown lentils, rinsed & drained

425 gm can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

cracked pepper, to taste

1 bunch (about 1 cup) fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium heat, and saute the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, ground coriander and cumin for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add all remaining ingredients except coriander leaves. Bring to a simmer, and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add coriander and stir through to serve.

Serve with yoghurt or raita and naan bread, if desired.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Vegetarian (or Not) Barley Stew

This Barley Stew is something I’ve been making for years, from the Internet somewhere, no idea where. It is true comfort food, perfect bowl food for a chilly Winter’s evening. This time, however I decided to make it as a meat dish, by simply adding a couple of chicken breast fillets to the pan. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked – no tweaking of the recipe was needed, I just added them along with the onion etc at the beginning.

So it’s your choice – without chicken as a great vegetarian main dish, or with chicken for the meat eaters.

Barley Stew

2 tbsp olive oil

2 chicken breast fillets, chopped into 2cm cubes (optional)

1 brown onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

1/2 green capsicum, chopped

300 gms button mushrooms, chopped

1 cup pearl barley

425 gm can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1 tsp cumin seeds, ground

a few drops Tabasco sauce, to taste

cracked pepper, to taste

1 tbsp soy sauce

4 cups vegetable stock

Heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken (if using), carrot, onion, garlic and capsicum and saute until onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until barley is tender (about 50 minutes).

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

1 medium carrot, peeled & finely chopped

Disappointing….

Recently in the Coles junk mail (since I moved I am finally getting junk mail in my letterbox again – yay!) was one of their “feed your family for under $10” recipes that looked pretty good – Lamb, Cauliflower & Coconut Curry – so I tried it. I don’t believe the under $10 rubbish – the recipes are supposed to use in-season products so that the prices are good, but I don’t call $5.65 for a cauliflower a means to a low budget dinner! Just the cauliflower and the mince came to almost $10 for a start.

Anyway, in theory it should have been lovely and tasty – loads of spices, garlic, ginger etc, but really it wasn’t up to much. Lacking in flavour I thought. Maybe they like things to be child-friendly ie no really strong flavours. Certainly it was quite easy – simple enough to make after a 7 hour work shift, – I wouldn’t bother with too much complication at the end of a work day when there’s only myself to cook for.

Oh well, it filled the spot, as they say, but I won’t make it again. Or if I do, I’ll really add some hot chillies to pep it up a lot!

Happy Fooding!

Real Falafels…

I’ve been making my own baked falafels for a few years. About a year ago I tried one of those dried falafel mix boxes, where you just add water and an egg or something. Disgusting! Then a couple of months ago I saw some nice looking ready-made ones in a vacuum-sealed packet, in the supermarket. They came in different flavours and were on special so I thought I’d try them, as we were going away on the boat that weekend and wanted easy nibbles to take with us. Also disgusting! SO dry and tasteless.

I think I’ll just stick to my tried and true homemade ones. I bake them rather than fry, as I do not like food where all you can taste is oil. These are easy and delicious, and if you don’t like the yoghurt dipping sauce, sweet chilli is just as good.

Falafels

425 gm can chickpeas, drained

3 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled & grated

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 egg

1 tsp cumin seeds, ground

Sauce for Serving:

1 cup low-fat Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp chilli paste (optional)

Mash the chickpeas in a food processor until smooth. Place in a bowl and mix with all other ingredients.

With clean hands, form into smooth oval shapes of about 1 tbsp of mixture each. Refrigerate for an hour, then bake on a greased oven tray at 200C for 20 minutes (turning over after 10 minutes).

Serve with dipping sauce – mix all sauce ingredients together and refrigerate until needed.

Makes 16.

Happy Fooding!

Vegetable Curry

Freshly ground spices and garlic make this into something out of the ordinary – not particularly hot, but full of flavour. Serve with brown rice, yoghurt & naan bread, and take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day (if there are any….).

Vegetable Curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds (whole)

1 cinnamon stick

1 large brown onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

250 gms button mushrooms, cut into 3mm slices

425 gm can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp cumin seeds, freshly ground

2 tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground

2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chilli paste

2 x 425 gm cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

cracked pepper, to taste

100 gms baby spinach leaves

1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat oil in medium saucepan over moderate heat.  Cook cumin seeds and cinnamon stick for 30 seconds, stirring until fragrant.  Add onion and garlic; cook for 3 mins until soft.  Add mushrooms; cook until wilted.  Stir through tomato, water, ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli.  Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.  Add chickpeas and coriander and pepper; simmer for 10 mins longer.  Stir through spinach and lemon juice until wilted.

Remove cinnamon stick before serving.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

Vegetarian Nibbles…

 

I tweaked this recipe from one in a Spanish food mag when I was living in Chile. Actually to have deciphered the Spanish and worked out how to follow the recipe is something I am pretty happy that I could do! Now that I’m starting to think of Christmas and all the food-related activities that go with that time of year (yay!), I’m practicing a few things. I need to decide what to make for a NYE party I’ll be having, as well as Christmas itself. These little balls are easy, healthy and quick to make, and are great for vegetarians at a party. Use gluten-free breadcrumbs to make them okay for your wheat-free guests as well.

Pea & Feta Nibbles

350 gms frozen peas

150 gms feta cheese, finely crumbled

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 egg

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp light soy sauce

cracked pepper, to taste

1 cup breadcrumbs

Cook the peas in a little water in the microwave; drain and blend in food processor or with handheld blender, until a paste forms.

Place peas in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix well and form into 3cm balls.

Place balls on a greased or lined oven tray, and spray lightly with olive oil spray. Bake at 190C for 15 minutes. Turn the balls over and spray again with oil spray, then cook for a further 15 minutes.

Serve with sweet chilli sauce for dipping. Serve warm or at room temperature (ideal for making the day before).

Makes about 28.

Happy Fooding!

Not-So-Greek Tagine!

I’ve been away for a couple of days, as we had a long weekend here in Perth.  Back to the real world of study now, although I still feel like I’m swaying, from being on a boat for 2 nights!

This very yummy tagine is from a Greek cookbook and was originally made with lamb; however, when I was living in Suriname a few years ago there was no lamb to be had – the very wet, tropical and humid climate just doesn’t lend itself to sheep breeding.  A fellow Aussie expat living in the same compound, did once manage to obtain a supposed leg of lamb pre-ordered through some her local housekeeper – for about $80!  Having shared the then roasted meat amongst a few families one evening, we came to the conclusion it was probably a very pathetic, stringy goat, and we would not go looking for lamb any more!

SO, I made the “lamb tagine” with beef instead, and liked it so much I’ve been making it with beef ever since – and with a few changes to the original.  Delicious served with raita or plain yoghurt, naan bread and rice or couscous.

Beef Tagine

1.5 kg chuck or stewing steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked pepper

extra 1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

600ml beef stock

splash of red wine

2 tbsp lime pickle OR 1/4 of a preserved lemon

425 gm can chickpeas, drained

1 cup green olives (pitted)

chopped fresh coriander, to garnish

Combine the garlic, olive oil, cumin, ginger, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, salt & pepper.  Add to the beef in a non-metallic bowl and mix well to coat.  Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.

Heat the extra olive oil in a flameproof casserole; brown the beef in batches over high heat then remove from pan. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Return meat to the pan and add beef stock.  Stir well, cover and place in an oven preheated to 180C.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours, then add the pickle (or preserved lemon), chickpeas and olives. Return to oven, uncovered, and cook for a further 45 minutes.  Serve topped with fresh coriander leaves.

Serves 6.

If you wish, you can cook this completely on the stovetop – instead of placing in the oven, just simmer on low heat for the same times as given above.  And you could of course place it in a crockpot after adding the stock as well – I haven’t done this, but would guess that 8 hours on Low setting would be fine, adding the chickpeas etc after say 6 hours. If you do try it this way, please let me know how you go.

Happy Fooding!

Chicken Enchilada Stack

This yummy dish is my adaptation of a recipe from the Aust Women’s Weekly Easy Mexican Style Cookery book from 20+ years ago.  Some of the ingredients in the original are just too difficult to find, even now when we have such a great array of foodstuffs available to us, so I came up with my own version of the sauce part of the recipe.

The best flavours, in my opinion, are when you make this using a green sauce ie made from tomatillos, green tomatoes or green chillies. It is, however not always easy to find a jar of this, so for this current effort I used a roasted capsicum flavour taco sauce.

There is a bit of preparation in this dish, but once you have chopped up all the bits, the assembly is easy and then you just stick it in the oven.  Nice served with rice and /or salad.

The “stack” is intended to be served hot, cut into wedges, but is also really yummy served cold, so works well as a sort of chicken “slice” thing to take on picnics.

Chicken Enchilada Stack

1 L (4 cups) water

1/2 medium onion, peeled

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 fresh parsley sprigs

3 chicken breast fillets (skinless)

5 x 18cm flour tortillas

200g feta cheese, finely chopped/crumbled

1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Sauce:

1 jar of EITHER a taco sauce of your choice or (if you can get it) green chilli/green tomato relish (ie Banditos or Nandos)

1 3/4 cup reserved stock from chicken

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds, ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, ground

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp chopped jalapeno chillies (the ones you buy pickled in a jar)

Combine water, onion, garlic and parsley in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, add chicken and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until chicken is tender, turning once during cooking.

Drain chicken, reserving 1 3/4 cups of the stock for the sauce.  Finely chop the chicken and put aside.

For the sauce, heat olive oil in a pan, then saute the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add cumin and coriander seeds, stirring, for about 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until thickened.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the sauce, into an ovenproof baking dish.  Dip a tortilla in the remaining sauce, place on baking dish, sprinkle with a quarter of the chicken and cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, sauce, chicken and cheese, finishing with a tortilla. Spoon 1/4 cup of remaining sauce over top of stack, then sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake, uncovered, in a 180C oven for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Makes 8 wedges.

Happy Fooding!

Failure! Messed Up Macadamias…

Disaster zone in my kitchen the other day!  I really wanted to make these yummy Sweet & Salty Toffee Macadamias to take away for the weekend, that my aunty made for our family Christmas dinner last December.  Believe me, these are sooooooo delicious and moreish, they were a huge hit.  A bit sweet, a bit spicy, and salty to take away too much sweetness.

The recipe is apparently from a Melbourne newspaper and is the creation of Belinda Jeffreys.  I followed the directions to the letter, but as you can see by my results below, the “toffee” didn’t caramelise and instead, it cooked into very hard bits, without actually adhering to the nuts.  Not ideal!  Obviously I mucked up the temperature or something – not sure what – and I didn’t have any more macadamias on hand to try again.

I took the nuts away with me, and we ate some of them – certainly wouldn’t waste yummy macadamias! – but it just wasn’t the same as when I had them at Christmas.  I will consult my aunt before trying again, to see where I went wrong – or if anyone else has a go and has any tips, please let me know.

Sweet & Salty Toffee Macadamias

1-2 tbsp olive oil

280 gms macadamia nuts (unsalted)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cumin seeds, ground

3/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp sea salt flakes

Line a large baking tray with paper. Heat oil in large, heavy-based pan over medium heat. When warm, tip in the macadamias & shake the pan to coat them with oil. Reduce heat to low and sprinkle 1/2 cup of the sugar over the nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown and the sugar has caramelised. Take care not to burn.
Mix the castor sugar with the salt, cumin & coriander. When the nuts are ready, add them to the spice mix and toss to coat.
Turn nuts out on to prepared baking tray, and separate them as much as possible. Sprinkle with sea salt and leave to cool & set.

I’ve been away for the last 4 days, with internet access only via my phone, hence the lack of posting.  Back to the real world now!

Happy Fooding!