Not-Mince Comfort Food

I overdosed on red meat last week, with the Irish beef stew – so delicious, but eating it for 3 days in a row (plus what’s in the freezer) just made me need to stop eating meat for a few days. I do find I feel a lot healthier when I stick to seafood and veggies, but I like my curries, stir fries and roasts too much to completely becoming a vegetarian.

I wanted something healthy tonight but without meat – so I raided the cupboards and threw together this TVP based “mince stew” – reminiscent of an easy quick simmered stew my mum used to make when I was little. I loved it then, but my first husband had a distaste for minced anything (he was in fact Mr Food Fusspot personified), so a lot of things quickly made their way OFF the menu in my house for 15 years.

The one Mum used to make had, I think, Gravox in it to thicken the juices, and was probably a lot higher in fat content than what we can buy these days (mince was mince – none of this 3***, 5***, premium stuff!), but gee it was delish, especially served on hot, buttered toast.

This is today’s “what I had in the fridge” vegetarian version – lighter, but still tasting of meat. TVP is amazing!

You can add whatever veg you like to this – celery and baby spinach would be great. The chilli was from the garden of the lovely Carol from my work, who has been bringing them in to share with those of us that love cooking (there are a few of us and we are quick to reserve all the new cookbooks as they arrive!).

Vegetarian Mince Stew

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup dried TVP soy mince

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

3 baby potatoes, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

425 gm can diced tomatoes

1 small birdseye chilli, chopped

splash of soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

3/4 cup frozen peas

cracked pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in large pan and sauté onion, potatoes and carrots for 2 mins, stirring frequently.

Add all remaining ingredients, bring to a gentle simmer and cook, on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Serves 2-3

(that was really hard, wasn’t it!)

Last week was actually “meat free week” – oops I failed there – but I don’t eat meat all the time anyway so I don’t feel particularly cut up about it – however, the supporting website has some really lovely vegetarian recipes on it, so check it out, even if you are a carnivore.

Happy Fooding!

Ye Olde Soupe!

I’ve been borrowing a lot of medieval cookbooks lately, through the library I work at, and also ploughing through websites and generally having a good old medieval surf! I was looking at the latest information about the gorgeous kitchens at Kew and Hampton Court Palaces (when I was at HCP a few years ago I saw the most enormous mortar & pestle, amazing), and I saw that they now have videos and recipes for a couple of authentic recipes from the Georgian and Tudor eras.

I made the Soupe Barley from the Kew kitchens page, as it seemed so easy but nourishing – barley’s such great Winter comfort food – mind you, it’s stinking hot here at this time of year so doesn’t really go with that, but oh well never mind. I’ll be over there in May and Kew Palace/Gardens is on my list as a place to visit this time, can’t wait.

The soup was very easy and tasted good. The inclusion of a few raisins I found quite interesting and it did add a bit of a sweet flavour, without being overpowering. I did add a little fresh thyme at the end as well, which seemed to me to go with the barley and also be in keeping with the era.

It was intended to be a starter, and I can well imagine how the Georgian upper classes must have felt SO full after eating an array of courses, if just the starter was as filling as this broth!

 

You can find the recipe here.

This week I also tried out a barley soda bread recipe from a cookbook I got last year, but it was a failure, so I’m not sharing it with you!

Happy Summer (or not) Fooding!

Ranting Chef’s Salmon

As a variation on my often-made salmon with pesto topping recipe, this week I made The Ranting Chef’s salmon with a walnut, honey & dijon mustard topping. Delicious, easy and healthy – a double hit of super dooper brain food, with the salmon and the walnuts.

Served on top of tabbouleh, and topped with avocado and Greek yoghurt, this made for a light but filling and tasty Spring evening meal for one. Actually it was VERY filling!

Happy Fooding!

Please Go Away Winter

I tell you, I am so over the cold weather. Actually I was never into it in the first place, but this is the coldest Winter since I arrived here 3 years ago – and I hate it.  I need warmth, and my tiny place is like a freezer all the time, even with the heating on – on sunny days it is actually warmer outside – the place just never warms up.

SO……I am still in crockpot mode and have been raiding all of the local libraries, reading every slow cooker recipe book I can find (and there are LOTS as crockpots are very “in” at the moment) to get different ideas for mucking about with.

This is a combination of a pork and a chicken recipe, because I liked the flavours of both so I just mixed it all up! Definitely use chicken thigh fillets here, as breast fillets will be soooooooooooooo dry. This is adapted from two recipes in Stephanie O’Dea’s More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow cookbook (Stephanie has a slow cooking blog that she has turned into two successful cookbooks).

Teriyaki & Apricot Chicken

8 chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of skin/fat

1 large red capsicum, cut into large pieces

2/3 cup apricot jam

1/4 cup teriyaki marinade (try to find one without too many nasty artificial flavourings/preservatives – I used this Masterfoods one)

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tbsp fresh thyme

cracked pepper, to taste

Place chicken and capsicum in crockpot. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chicken; stir to mix well. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice or green vegies.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Vegie Pies

In a different twist to the yummy egg-in-pastry basket that I had the other day, last week my mum sent me the above photo of vegie pies that she made.

The recipe is from the Coles free recipe magazine. Looks pretty yummy, hey? And certainly easy.

Roast Vegie Free-Form Pies

2 zucchini,, halved lengthways and cut into 3cm pieces
about 700g small pumpkin, cut into 3cm pieces
1  red onion, cut into 3cm pieces
Olive oil spray
3 sheets frozen shortcurst pastry, thawed
100g fetta cheese
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 2tsp. water
Fresh thyme leaves to garnish (if desired)

Preheat oven to 190C or 170C for fan forced.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.  Spread vegetables on tray in  a single layer and spray with oil.  Roast for 25 mins. turning once, until tender.  Cool.

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.  Using a bowl as a guide, cut 6 x 13cm circles from pastry.  Crumble fetta into middle of each pastry round, and top with vegetables, leaving a 3cm border around the edge. Fold pastry up over vegetables, pleating edges with fingers so it stays in place.  Transfer to prepared trays and brush pastry with egg wash.

Bake pies for 25-30 mins until pastry is golden brown. Place on serving platter and sprinkle with thyme.

Happy Fooding!

Chicken Meatballs

Here is a super easy meatball dish…..I make the meatballs in the morning, because not being browned they hold together much better when cooking, after being refrigerated for a while.  Then it is really simple to just throw the sauce ingredients in, add the balls and simmer away. Perfect with rice and a big dollop of Greek yoghurt on the top to serve.

Chicken Meatball Neopolitana

700 gms chicken or turkey mince

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp dried thyme

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, basil or coriander (any fresh herbs will do)

3/4 cup chicken stock

2 x 400 gm cans diced tomatoes

1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, crushed

Combine mince, breadcrumbs, egg, thyme and herbs, and mix well in a bowl.

Shape meat mixture into balls and set aside in the fridge for a couple of hours (or more).

Place chicken stock, tomatoes, basil, sugar, salt and garlic in a wok or wide-based saucepan, and bring to the boil.

Add meatballs and simmer for 15 minutes (covered) or until cooked through.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Another Dinner For One….

Snacky Sunday night can’t-be-bothered meal here……I read recently an idea for adding feta cheese to egg dishes and thought hmmmmm I’ll try adding haloumi to some scrambled eggs. Great idea – I cut 90 gms of haloumi into small cubes and marinated them for an hour in a bit of lemon juice, with a generous sprinkling of dried thyme and merken (use chilli powder if you can’t get merken).  Then I simply dry-fried the cubes in a non-stick omelette pan, for about a minute (tossing about), added 3 eggs (beaten with a little milk, cracked pepper and some fresh garlic chives) and stirred until it was 3/4 cooked. Took off the heat, stirred through a few drops of truffle oil, served it on toast and YUMMO there was my easy supper.

Actually, it was very filling, so probably 3 eggs was too much for one person, but I don’t eat eggs very often so it was a nice treat. 2 eggs and a little less haloumi would be good next time. I couldn’t waste it though!

Enjoyed it with a glass of vino, of course…..

I know it looks a bit “grey” but thats because the herbs and spices kind of get into the egg mixture. It certainly wouldn’t win any prizes for looks, but then I only made it to please ME so who cares.

Happy Fooding!

First Pate Attempt

My aunt makes the BEST chicken liver pate in the world, it is divine. She only makes it for special occasions these days, I think because it is very high in fat and we’re all being careful about that kind of thing as we get older.

I saw some chicken livers on special this week and decided to have a go at making a batch myself – but I wanted a slightly healthier version if I could manage it. I did some surfing and compared a heap of recipes – my goodness, there are SO many versions out there! Some have a HUGE amount of butter in them, so I discounted those and in the end narrowed down 5 recipes that I liked the sound of, and then made up my own. I was a tad nervous but omg it was SO easy, I can’t believe I haven’t made it before! And it tasted great – I think I’ll play around with different herbs for different flavours, but as a base recipe I’m really happy with what I came up with. I’ve frozen it in several tubs, as it does freeze really well. I had some for breakfast this morning on a toasted English muffin. Heavenly. And definitely a bit healthier than many of the recipes out there.

Chicken Liver Pate

1 tbsp butter

1/2 brown onion, roughly chopped

500 gms chicken livers, trimmed of any fat/sinew

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion until soft. Add the chicken livers and cook until browned. Add red wine, salt, pepper & thyme, and simmer for 5 minutes or until livers are just cooked.

Place the mixture in a food processor and mix until smooth, then add the olive oil (with the motor running) until well blended.

Refrigerate for a few hours before using. Use within 5 days, or freeze.

Happy Fooding!

More Antipasto – Semi-Dried Tomatoes

Before oven

After oven - we've shrunk!

As promised the other day, here is how I make semi-dried tomatoes in the oven.  I searched for a future methods on the Internet years ago, and this is my blended version. Really simple.  I use roma tomatoes, partly for the shape and partly because I think so many “regular” tomatoes these days are pretty flavourless.  Of course if you have access to vine-ripened or better still, home-grown toms from your garden, you’ll get a stunning result flavour-wise…..

Because these tomatoes are not completely dried, they do not last indefinitely, although the oil does act as a part preservative. I recommend you eat these within 4-5 days for best flavour.

Semi-Dried Tomatoes

1 kg roma tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked pepper

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tbsp good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 150°C.  Cut tomatoes into quarters lengthways, and lay them (skin-side-down) on a wire cake rack over a baking tray.

Mix together the salt, pepper and thyme, and sprinkle this over the tomatoes. Cook in the oven for 2 hours (check occasionally and reduce cooking time slightly if they start to burn – depends on how hot/efficient an oven you have).

Remove from the oven and place in an airtight container. Evenly pour over the extra-virgin olive oil. Refrigerate for 24 hours, then eat as desired.

Happy Fooding!

Curried Chicken Soup

 

This is adapted from a soup my cousin used to make years ago. It is very thick and filling, a meal in itself.  Definitely great crusty-bread-and-red-wine-by-the-fire Winter comfort food.

Curried Chicken Soup

1 tsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

350 gms chicken thigh fillets (skinless), diced

3 rashers bacon (rindless), diced

1 brown onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp plain flour

3/4 cup white rice (I use basmati)

1 carrot, peeled and grated

420 gm can creamed corn

large pinch dried oregano

large pinch dried thyme

6 cups chicken stock

cracked pepper, to taste

Melt butter & oil together in large saucepan; add chicken and bacon and saute over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add onion, garlic and curry powder and sauté for a further 2-3 mins. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat.

Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low and cook for 40 minutes.

Stir the soup frequently as it thickens and sticks very easily as the rice cooks and expands!

Makes about 6 servings, depending on the size of your soup bowls!

Happy Winter Fooding!