Crazy For Cauliflower

I do like cauliflower. A lot. It doesn’t have to have cheese/white sauce on it or be anything too fancy, and I adore it as cauliflower rice. So the idea of roasting a cauliflower whole, slathered in a yoghurt/spice mixture, was something I could not resist trying when a friend shared the post on facebook recently. You can find the recipe here at PureWow blog.

This was very easy and smelt fantastic when cooking. I’m using an unfamiliar oven at the moment, whilst in my temporary home for a few weeks, and I wasn’t sure how it would go – it did start to burn on the top so I covered it with foil for the last 10 minutes.

The result was pretty good (apart from a pan with the bejeezus burnt out of it because I didn’t think to put baking paper underneath, and the yoghurt mixture kind of dripped down the sides like icing on a cake!), but I do think it needed something more. Maybe a type of gravy or some extra yoghurt, or a drizzle of lemon juice/EVOO would have given it a finishing touch. It was cooked beautifully without being soggy, which surprised me after such a long cooking time.

This would be well worth trying with broccoli too, I think! We had it with very easy Honey Baked Chicken, for a simple Sunday night lazy meal, as we’d already been out for lunch with friends at Edgecombe Bros winery in the Swan Valley. We had shared platters of delicious local nibbles, and tasted wines – a very relaxing way to spend a Summer Sunday afternoon!

Happy Fooding!

Relishing Royalty

Finally Summer has hit with a vengeance, and I’m loving it. My social life is crazy right now, as everyone is just happier in the warmer weather and there are so many outdoor things to enjoy in Perth when the sun is shining :), not to mention the silly season is upon us – Christmas parties, lunches, concerts, street festivals – so much is going on right now and I’m really having a ball.

I was recently reading historian Kate Williams‘ book Young Elizabeth : The Making of Our Queen, which mentioned the dish created by royal chefs to be served at the Queen’s coronation lunch in 1953. Aptly titled Coronation Chicken, this dish has become an iconic British chicken salad dish, with many variations.

Basically this is poached chicken, dressed with a mixture of mayonnaise, curry powder and fruit chutney.

You can see both the original recipe and a healthier, modern take by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, here. I made mine above by taking elements from both – I used low-fat mayonnaise and Greek yoghurt for the dressing base, and fruit chutney rather than apricots, but I did poach 2 chicken breasts rather than use leftover cooked chicken. I also topped with shaved parmesan to cut through the sweetness, but actually it was still too sweet for me – too kind of “fruity” in an overpowering kind of way.

I like the concept, and it was easy to make, but I will try it again with just yoghurt and no mayo next time, and chopped dried fruit instead of the very strong fruit chutney.

Happy Summer Fooding!

 

Damper / Soda Bread

I felt like soda bread one day this week, and decided to see if the recipe I’ve had for years worked in the bread machine, because things are so easy that way. It did work, really well, and made great open sandwiches with olive/feta dip, jarslberg cheese, roast beef & alfalfa sprouts on top.

For something different I added a small can of corn kernels and some caraway seeds – you can add lots of things to bread recipes to jazz them up a bit – sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives, walnuts, poppy seeds, herbs etc.

Soda Bread

3 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

125 gm can corn kernels, drained (optional)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or low-fat Greek yoghurt

Regular Method:

Mix dry ingredients, seeds & corn (if using) together with a whisk.  Make well in the centre and add 1 cup of buttermilk/yoghurt.  Mix with a fork then gradually add more of the remaining buttermilk/yoghurt until a soft dough is formed.

Knead dough lightly on floured surface for 1 minute. Form into an oval shape and place in a greased/lined loaf tin or on a greased/lined baking tray.

Bake at 190C (170C fan forced) for 45 minutes.

Bread Machine Method:

Place all ingredients in machine. Cook on Damper setting. After the first five minutes, scrape down the sides of the mixture with a spatula to make sure it all gets mixed in properly.

Yummy Lunch!

As with all quick breads, this is best eaten on the day of baking. Use leftovers for great toast!

Happy Fooding!

Quick Lamb Curry

This simple lamb mince dish is based on one from Simple Indian Cookery by Madhur Jaffrey – an old book that I came across at work recently, with loads of terrific and EASY Indian dishes.

There is no rocket science here; the key is in the use of fresh spices – get your mortar & pestle action on!

You could serve this as is, in a bowl, or make it a bit more glamorous with rice, tortillas or naan bread, raita, and maybe a side dish of sauteed mushrooms or mashed potato!

Minced Lamb With Peas

2 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds, ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 tbsp low-fat Greek yoghurt

500 gms minced lamb

cracked pepper, to taste

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup frozen peas

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger; stir until lightly browned.

Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper, and stir for 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes and yoghurt. Cook over medium heat until the tomatoes have softened, stirring often.

Add the lamb and cracked pepper. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, breaking up all the lumps.

Add the water and bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add lemon juice and peas, return to a simmer and cook gently, uncovered, for a further 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

Ravishing Runny Raita…

This yummy, slightly hot dipping sauce or raita, was originally supposed to be a “chutney”, but it turned out way too runny to be spread on anything. It is, however very very tasty, and spooned or poured over an Indian dish or a bowl of plain rice, it is very moreish and delicious.

Makes a great dip for poppadoms while you are waiting to serve your main curry.

Green Raita

12 tbsp low-fat Greek yoghurt

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

4 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 large green chilli, finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly with a hand blender, until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Fooding!

Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

Don’t be fooled by the title above and the ingredients below – this actually does not taste sweet! I think the soy sauce counter-balances the juice and sugar, making it just right.

Simple and tasty, this recipe is based on one of those random facebook postings that you get, designed as a sort of ad but giving you something to entice you into clicking the link. There are a lot of those popping up in people’s feeds lately I’ve noticed – not just recipes, but also a lot of home-remedy cleaning tips. I never click on the links, but I do sometimes write down the recipe ideas, and this one worked really well.

Definitely use thigh fillets here and not breast, as it will be way too dry with breast.

Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

1 kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of any fat/skin

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup light soy sauce

cracked pepper

1 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp cold water

1 cup sugar snap peas

Combine chicken, pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce and pepper in crockpot. Mix well and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.

Blend cornflour and water then add this and the peas, to the crockpot. Stir to blend and cook for a further 1 hour.

Serve with black rice, yoghurt & naan bread if desired.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

Wonderful White Stuff

Sometimes, you can go literally years in between making something, and then you suddenly rediscover it. That’s what happened with this recipe – I was looking for an easy dip to make, to take to a cheese-&-wine-by-the-river evening, so that I wouldn’t be just taking a lump of cheese and a packet of crackers. I wanted to flesh it out a bit, to make my little cheese platter contribution amongst 25 people, a little less plain.

Rummaging around in my recipe e-files, I saw this dip and thought hmmmm why haven’t I made this in so long?! A trip to the supermarket post-dentist (I am funding my dentist’s retirement at the moment, with all of the work I’m having done!) to buy a can of cannellini beans, and 5 minutes later the dip was sitting in the fridge alongside a Wensleydale-with-cranberries block of cheese and a bottle of Yellow, all ready to go.

The texture and flavour of this dip is similar to a chickpea hummus, only minus the garlic. It’s great spread on toast too.

White Bean Dip

425 gm can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup low-fat Greek yoghurt

1/4 cup hulled tahini (sesame paste)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp paprika

cracked pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together in food processor until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to eat, then serve with crackers, squares of fresh bread, triangles of pita bread, or carrot/celery sticks. And wine and friends of course 🙂

My city at dusk

Happy Summer Fooding!

Surprisingly Good!

The weather has been perfect this week – hot during the day, but still cooling down enough to sleep properly at night. Being at work sucks when the weather’s great though!

I wanted to try this easy broccoli side dish, Madras Hari Bhari (love that name!). I actually ate this as my main course, being still in a 95% non-meat phase at the moment – I say only 95%, because I can’t resist the occasional party pie for a snack I’m afraid. And not the gourmet homemade variety either – I just like the Woolworths own-bakery ones and I like to eat them cold straight out of the packet (yeah I know it’s gross, but they just taste so GOOD that way!).

Although this was super easy, when I threw it together I thought oh I don’t think this is going to be too exciting, but in fact it tasted great. Mild curry flavour and ready in half an hour. This made enough for 4 as a side dish, but could easily be increased to make a big bowl of it as a dinner party accompaniment or a vegie dish at a party. You could also add cauliflower as well.

Happy Summer Fooding!

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!

Cucumber Salad….and The Winner Is….

I’ve based this easy Spring side dish on Maggie-via-The-Ranting-Chef’s cucumber salad, with a couple of variations. I love fresh dill in things like this – a strong flavour but one which really melds well with fresh salad ingredients.

This would go well with a curry or other hot, spicy dish, as a cooling side dish or substitute for raita.

Cucumber Salad

1 large cucumber, sliced (use a V-slicer/mandolin if you have one)

3 spring onions, chopped

1 cup frozen peas, cooked in microwave or boiled, drained

Dressing:

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1-2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

pinch of salt & pepper, to taste

Place cucumber, spring onion and peas in a bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients together, whisking until blended, then pour over salad. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving, to blend flavours together.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Fresh asparagus or broccoli, lightly blanched, would also work well in this salad.

Congratulations to Michelle from Virginia Plantation blog, who is the winner of last week’s Poachies giveaway! Michelle’s little prize is already on its way across the oceans.

Happy Fooding!