Tag: Cook

Multi Coloured Cauliflowe

In Season – September

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Multi Coloured Cauliflowe

Nourish the Roots – Coloured Cauliflower – http://bit.ly/1A0KuDi

Spring sprung and there’s a new crop of fruit and vegetables coming into season and onto your plates this September. This month, you’ll find some interesting fruit and vegetables on your green grocer’s shelves and will attain the best value and quality by cooking with:

Fruit

  • Blood Oranges
  • Grapefruit
  • Lemons
  • Mandarins
  • Oranges
  • Pineapple
  • Red Papaya
  • Rockmelon
  • Strawberries
  • Tangelo

Vegetables

  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Avocado
  • Broccoli
  • Broccoflower – a Broccoli x Cauliflower hybrid
  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Chilli
  • Chinese Greens
  • Gai Lan
  • Garlic
  • Ginger
  • Green Beans
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce
  • Mushrooms
  • Onion
  • Peas
  • Potatoes
  • Pumpkin
  • Silverbeet
  • Spinach
  • Shallots
  • Vine Sweeten Mini Caps – the tiny colourful capsicums

Remember, if there is a specific ingredient you’d like to know how to use,m or dish you’d like to know how to make, just pop it in the comments section below.

Enjoy!

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Pea and Avocado Gazpacho

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Pea and Avocado Gazpacho

This is honestly one of the easiest dishes I have ever made – measure, blend and top. It is delicious, in fact I surprised myself with how good it tasted, and it can be ready in a flash. The vibrant green of the gazpacho against the red of the prawns gives this dish instant visual appeal which means it’s a sure thing for summer get together’s, parties or Christmas do’s.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of McCain Frozen Peas – thawed
  • 3 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • 3 cups of vegetable stock
  • 1 ripe avocado – mashed
  • 2 tbs of lemon juice
  • ½ cup of thickened cream
  • 500g cooked peeled prawns
  • 1 red chilli – halved, seeds removed and finely sliced
  • ½ cup of pea shoots
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • ½ cup of McCain Frozen Peas – thawed, to serve
  • Salt and pepper – to taste
  • Oil olive – to serve, if desired.

Pea and Avocado Gazpacho Progress

Method

  1. Place McCain Frozen peas, garlic, vegetable stock, avocado and lemon juice in a large bowl and add in batches to a blender blitzing until smooth.
  2. Stir through the thickened cream and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Place the prawns, chilli, lime and pea shoots in a small bowl and toss to coat.
  4. Divide the gazpacho evenly among bowls, top with prawn mix, scatter with remaining McCain Frozen Peas and drizzle with olive oil, if desired.  Serve.

Pea and Avocado Gazpacho

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15 Minute Monday – Creamy Mushroom Sauce

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Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I love mushrooms, I can’t get enough of them – breakfast, lunch or dinner – they are a welcome inclusion to any meal. I especially love mushroom sauce/gravy, the pub kind is particularly delicious atop a perfectly cooked steak. Without heading out the pub every time I wanted this and to cut out unneeded  additives

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs of olive oil
  • 1 tsp of crushed garlic
  • 1 cup of thinly sliced brown mushrooms
  • 150ml of lite thickened cream – you can add more if you like it extra saucy
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat, add garlic and stir until fragrant.
  2. Add mushrooms and stir to coat and allow to brown slightly, approx. 2 minutes. Pop a lid on the pan and allow the mushrooms to soften and appear golden, approximately 4 minutes, stirring to ensure they don’t burn or stick.
  3. Remove lid, season with salt and pepper, add cream and stir until the cream reduces slightly or you can’t resist eating it!.

Best served atop a medium-rare steak, steamed greens and my delicious white bean and chickpea ‘mash’.

Enjoy xx

 

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15 Minute Monday – White Bean and Chickpea Mash

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White Bean and Chickpea Mash

White bean and chickpea ‘mash’ is the perfect accompaniment to steak and veggies or as a side for Christmas roasts. This garlicky, lemony, ultra-fabulous, utterly addictive bean mash is a wonderful substitute for those looking to kick potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1 can of white beans – drained
  • 1 can of chickpeas – drained
  • 1 tsp of dried rosemary
  • 1 tbs of crushed garlic
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of lite thickened cream
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Heat olive oil in a small pot over a medium heat. Add garlic and rosemary and cook, stirring until fragrant.
  2. Add white beans, chickpeas and lemon juice to the pan and allow to cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes or until warmed through.
  3. Add cream to the beans and use a potato masher or fork to roughly mash/squish the beans.
  4. Season with salt and pepper and serve!

Enjoy xx

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Spice Roasted Potato Wedges

15 Minute Monday – Spice Roasted Red Skin Wedges

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Spice Roasted Red Skin Wedges

These Spice Roasted Red Skin Wedges as simple to make, quick to cook and delicious to eat! They are the perfect party platter to whip up for Christmas entertaining or  to take to a BBQ.

Ingredients

  • 1 packet McCain’s Red Skin Wedges
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp ground onion
  • 1 tsp dried ground garlic
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp Moroccan spice mix
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Spray canola oil
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander – roots removed
  • 1 long red chilli
  • 1/3 cup of pine nuts
  • 200g plain Greek yoghurt
  • 2 lemons to serve – cut into cheeks

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 230°C degrees (210°C fan-forced) and line to baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
  2. Evenly divide McCain’s Red Skin Wedges among the two trays and spray with canola oil. In a small bowl combine all dried herbs and salt, mix to combine. Scatter herb mix evenly over the wedges and turn to coat. Bake for ten minutes or until golden brown.

Spice Roasted Red Skin Wedges - Progress 1

  1. Meanwhile, halve the chilli lengthways and remove seeds and membrane. Finely slice and set aside.  Heat a small pan over a medium heat and add pine nuts, cook stirring until golden.

Spice Roasted Red Skin Wedges - Progress 2

  1. Remove wedges from oven and place onto a serving platter. Top with fresh coriander sprigs, toasted pine nuts, yoghurt dollops and sliced chilli. Serve with lemon cheeks.

Enjoy xx

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Cherry and Yoghurt Ice Cream

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Cherry and yogurt ice cream

Living in the cherry capital of Australia, Young NSW, means that come summer we are inundated with delicious cherries. In fact there are more cherries than I can eat! I use them in recipes, eat them plain and make pot, after pot of jam but this year I thought I would try something different and make a deliciously refreshing cherry and yoghurt ‘ice cream’.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of fresh pitted cherries – finely chopped
  • 1 cup of natural honey yoghurt
  • 300ml of thickened cream
  • 1/4 cup of caster sugar
  • 1 tsp of vanilla essence

Method

  1. Combine the all ingredients in a bowl and gently fold until mixture is just combined.
  2. Pour into a shallow metal container. Cover with foil and place in the freezer for 4 hours or until almost set.
  3. Use a large metal spoon to roughly break up the ice-cream. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and use an electric beater to beat until smooth.
  4. Quickly return mixture to the metal container. Cover with foil and freeze for another 4 hours or until firm.
  5. Scoop into bowls and serve immediately.

Enjoy xx

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Beef Kofta

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Beef Kofta

Ingredients

  • 500g premium beef mince
  • 1 brown onion – finely diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic – minced
  • 1/2 cup of loosely packed coriander leaves – roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp of dried ground onion
  • 1 tsp of dried ground garlic – I like garlic
  • Freshly ground salt and pepper – to taste, about 1/2 tsp each

Method

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Shape mixture into small football shaped sausages – you should get about 15-20 per 500g of mince.
  3. BBQ, grill or pan fry until cooked.
  4. Serve with salad, pita bread, natural yogurt and lemon wedges.

Enjoy!

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Risoni and Pumpkin Salad

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Risoni and Pumpkin Salad

I recently attended a bring-a-dish dinner party to farewell a friend from town who happens to be a vegetarian. I was on salad duties and decided to whip up a Pumpkin and Risoni salad which is a personal favourite of mine. It’s light, fresh and delicious. This dish is perfect for a dinner party, BBQ or to be served with grilled fish or chicken. The lemon sings through and compliments the pepperiness of the rocket and the acidic bite from the tomatoes; while the creamy pumpkin and risoni balance the dish.

Ingredients

  • 500g risoni
  • 700g butternut pumpkin – peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
  • 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes – quartered
  • 200g baby rocket
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees and a line a large baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Par-cook pumpkin in a lare saucepan of boiling water, drain and place on a lined baking tray.
  3. Coat lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, place in the middle of the oven and bake 20-30 minutes or until golden.
  4. Meanwhile, cook risoni in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 8 minutes or until cooked through as per packet instructions. Drain and cool.
  5. Using a peeler, peel the rind from the lemon and finely slice. Juice the lemon and reserve.
  6. Add pumpkin, tomato, rocket, lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to risoni, toss until well combined and serve.

Enjoy!

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15 Minute Monday – Chicken Larb Gai

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delicious. - March 2010, Page 102. Photography by Ian Wallace.

delicious. – March 2010, Page 102.
Photography by Ian Wallace.

Chicken Larb Gai with mint and basil is a Thai-inspired dish that is perfect for those midweek dinners when you want something quick, easy and light. It doesn’t need oil, so the meat has a lovely light, un-fried quality to it. Served with rice, it’s a satisfying main meal.

Ingredients

  • 150ml salt-reduced chicken stock
  • 500g chicken mince – you could also use pork mince if you’d like
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
  • 5cm piece ginger, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbs lime juice, plus extra lime wedges to serve
  • 1 cup mint leaves
  • 1 cup basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup coriander leaves
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 small butter lettuce, leaves separated
  • 2 tbs roughly chopped salted peanuts

Method

  1. Heat the chicken stock in a wok or large frypan over medium-high heat,  add the mince, fish sauce and ginger. Cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until the meat has browned and cooked through. It might stick at first, but keep stirring!
  2. Add the chilli and sugar and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
  3. Add the lime juice and most of the mint, basil and coriander to the warm mince mixture, then gently fold through, allowing the herbs to wilt. Taste and adjust the lime juice, fish sauce and salt to your liking.
  4. Arrange the cucumber and lettuce leaves on 4 serving plates. Use a slotted spoon to pile the larb gai over the top. Scatter with the peanuts and the remaining mint, basil and coriander, then serve with the lime wedges.

Enjoy!

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15 Minute Monday – Meatzza

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Image: Fuss Free Cooking

This Meatzza is adapted from none other than a true Queen of the Kitchen – Nigella Lawson, from her book Nigellissima.

A Meatzza is the ultimate meat lovers pizza, or basically a giant rissole topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Which ever way you look at it, it’s still delicious! And, the way I see it is if the domestic goddess that is Nigella Lawson says that it’s okay to eat a meatzza. Then you follow, without any question.

With so many people on strict wheat-free or gluten-free diets these days, this recipe allows them to still enjoy the glorious world of pizza by creating a meat pizza base. Yes read that right – A PIZZA BASE MADE OF MEAT! While the recipe does call for some breadcrumbs, there is the option of replacing the breadcrumbs with porridge oats, which very well it works, too. All in all, it’s just about perfect.

Ingredients

  • 500g minced beef or lamb
  • 3 tbs parmesan – grated
  • 3 tbs breadcrumbs or porridge oats – not instant oats
  • 3 tbs fresh parsley – chopped
  • 2 free-range eggs – lightly beaten
  • 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • 1 tsp dried ground oregano – meat mixture
  • 2 tsp mixed Italian herbs
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Canola spray oil – for greasing
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and paste, drained
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano powder – tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
  • 125g ball of mozzarella (not buffalo) – halved, then sliced
  • Fresh basil – to scatter

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC.
  2. In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the mince, parmesan, breadcrumbs or oats, parsley, eggs, garlic, herbs and add some freshly cracked sea salt and black pepper. Do not overwork it, just lightly mix together, or the meat will become compacted and dense.
  3. Spray a shallow, round baking tin of about 28cm diameter with the spray oil and push the meat into it, pressing the mixture lightly with your fingers to cover the bottom as if the seasoned minced meat were your pizza crust.
  4. Drain as much runny liquid as possible from your can of chopped tomatoes, then mix the tomato with the oil, herbs and some salt and pepper and using a rubber spatula, pread lightly on top of the meat base. Arrange the mozzarella slices on top, and then put in the oven for 15 minutes, by which time the meat should be cooked through and lightly set and the mozzarella melted.
  5. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, top with fresh basil leaves and bring it to the table before cutting into wedges, like a pizza.

Enjoy!

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