Malaysian style chicken.

I’m back after a nice long break. I’ve had long service leave and we’ve been renovating our ensuite bathroom for the last couple of months and it is finally finished with all but the painting to go now 😃. The following recipe is from the UK version of delicious magazine and we had it for tea tonight. It is a very tasty dish that you could make as hot or mild as you like. Very easy to make as well and I followed the recipe to the letter first time around. I will make a couple of small changes next time I make it by using fresh grated ginger rather than ground ginger powder.

Ingredients.

Vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)

8 free-range chicken thighs, skin on and bone in

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves

4 medium-hot red chillies

1 lemongrass stalk, sliced finely, white part only

1 tablespoon ground ginger

Groundnut oil

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

5 kaffir lime leaves

400ml coconut milk

100ml chicken stock

2 teaspoons palm sugar , optional

Fish sauce

Wedges of lime to serve
Method

Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken thighs, skin side down until the skin is crisp and golden. Remove the chicken and set aside.

  
  

Blend in a food processor the onions, garlic, chillies, lemongrass, ginger and a good glug of groundnut oil.

  
Fry this paste in the pan you partially cooked the chicken in over medium heat for a couple of minutes, add the turmeric, cinnamon stick, star anise and kaffir lime leaves, then fry for three minutes.

  
  
Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock, sit the chicken thighs in the pan, skin side up, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is just cooked and the sauce has reduced. Add the sugar and fish sauce. Serve with lime wedges go squeeze over.

  
  
  
Serve over white fluffy rice and enjoy!

  
Bon appetit! 

Friday night Seafood Laksa.

After a stressful and hectic work week, I was craving something tasty, but with a little bit of a difference, to make for our tea. Jason had gone home early from the high school he teaches at with the flu and had a sore throat. What a coincidence it was to discover the latest edition of Dish magazine in my email box with the perfect recipe for Laksa in it! Like Jewish Chicken soup but Thai and made with seafood! I’ve never made a laksa from scratch but the recipe was easy to follow and quick to make. 

First assemble your ingredients for the laksa paste.



Laksa paste ingredients.

1 small red chilli, de seeded

1 stalk of lemongrass, centre only

6 coriander stalks 

4 cloves garlic , chopped

2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons shrimp paste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric 

2 tablespoons rice bran or peanut oil

To make the paste, put all ingredients bar the oil in a small food processor, blend whilst adding oil. You could also pound the ingredients in a mortar and pestle if you feel like working out that stress 😉. I just put everything, including the oil in my little processor and whizzed away. It turned out just fine. 



Now you can assemble all your other ingredients for the soup.



4-6 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon peanut or rice bran oil

1 1/2 cups of  fish stock

2 kaffir lime leaves , thinly sliced

400ml coconut milk

2 teaspoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Pepper and salt

115gm rice noodles

12 large raw prawns, peeled

100gm firm fleshed fish, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup bean sprouts

Fresh coriander sprigs to garnish

In a medium saucepan over a low heat, gently cook the sliced mushrooms in the oil for one minute. Add the fresh laksa paste and cook for another minute or until it smells fragrant.





Add stock, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and ginger. Gently simmer for 7-10 minutes , then taste and season if needed with sea salt and black pepper.



While the soup is cooking, soak the rice noodles in hot water as per packet instructions. I soaked the vermicelli rice noodles I used for no more than five minutes. Drain thoroughly.

Add prawns and fish pieces to soup and cook till the fish is opaque. Drop in the sprouts and remove from heat.



Divide the noodles between serving bowls. Ladle the soup over noodles and garnish with coriander.



This was such a satisfying dish to make and eat. I’m sure you will all enjoy it as much as we did. 

Bon appetit! 

Lamb and Potato Casserole.

I know it’s technically summer over here in Australia but the days and nights have certainly not been hot. I wanted to cook something a bit more substantial for our tea on Saturday night and came upon this delightful casserole. It’s not made with many ingredients either. Forgive the lack of pictures as yet again, I forgot to take photos till half way through making it.

Serves 6
Ingredients.
50gm butter, plus extra to grease
2 leeks, white part only,thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1kg lamb leg or shoulder, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and pepper
800gm waxy potatoes,peeled and thinly sliced
300ml lamb,chicken or beef stock
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
100ml cream
3 tablespoon flat leaf parsley,chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170C and grease an ovenproof casserole dish. Place the butter in a large frypan over heat and add the leak and onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until softened, then transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add oil to the pan and increase heat to high. When hot, add the lamb in batches and brown. Add the garlic whilst browning the lamb also.
Place half the potato slices overlapping on the base of the greased casserole dish. Layer the meat over the top and season well with salt and pepper. Next place the leek and onion mixture over the top and press down well with the back of a spoon to flatten. Top with the other half of the potatoes, overlapping them.

Pour over the stock and sprinkle on the thyme.

Cover with a lid or foil and bake for two hours in the pre heated oven. Take out of oven, remove the lid or foil and brush the potatoes with the cream. Pop back in oven for another 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden. Serve direct from dish sprinkled with parsley.

This lovely casserole reheats well and tastes even better the next day.
Enjoy 😄.

Basil Pesto

I was thinking about what to cook for tea tonight that won’t be too heavy in the tummy as we will eat late. Jason has karate practise until 8.30 and will need to have something easily digested. We decided on pasta and basil pesto 🙂

First assemble the ingredients. As there are only five of them, it didn’t take too long at all.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, halved or chopped
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
5 tablespoons olive oil

Get a small fry pan and heat it on a moderate heat. Add the pine nuts and gently toast till nicely browned.

Tip out onto a plate and allow to cool.

Add the basil leaves, shredded cheese, garlic and pine nuts to the food processor ( or mortar and pestle if preferred) and process till finely chopped.

Whilst your food processor is running pour in the olive oil in a thin stream till the pesto has reached a lovely wet and blobby consistency 🙂

I shall add this to his gluten free penne pasta when he gets home tonight. It tastes so good on its own and I bet it tastes even better on some crackers or even a rack of lamb! Yum!
Bon apetit!

Butter chicken with red lentil dhal and rice.

Hello friends 🙂

Yesterday I made a rather delicious meal for our tea.  I actually found it in the state newspaper (The West Australian) in the recipes pages. This recipe was compiled by one of the duos that appeared on the MKR (My Kitchen Rules) TV show and I have to say it turned out very well for a first time try.

This amount will serve 4.

First assemble your ingredients.

For the Marinade,

400gm can of crushed tomatoes

190gm yoghurt (I used Goats milk yoghurt)

4 garlic cloves

90gm ground almonds

2cm piece of ginger, grated

6 cardamom pods, bruised

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 cinnamon quill

1/2 teaspoon  ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pinch saffron threads

salt and pepper to season

1 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved

125gm Ghee

1 onion, diced

For the Red Lentil Dhal,

2 teaspoons vegetable oil ( I used Ghee again as I am in love with it!)

1 onion, diced

1 long green chilli, chopped

1 + 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 + 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

1 + 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 + 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

3 curry leaves

1 tomato, diced ( I forgot to use it so I make this optional :D)

200 gm red lentils, rinsed, drained

400ml can coconut milk

250ml water

To make the marinade, combine all of the ingredients down to and including the salt and pepper in a six cup capacity baking dish.

Add the chicken and rub marinade all over it.

(Trust me, there is chicken in there!)

Cover and refrigerate for one hour to marinate.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Melt ghee in a small frying pan over medium heat, add onion and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until softened.

Add to chicken mixture, cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is very tender. I like cooking till those yummy caramelized bits form on top of the chicken 🙂

Meanwhile, to make the dhal, heat oil/ghee in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and chilli and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until softened.

Stir in seeds and spices. Cook for a further 1 minutes or until fragrant.

Stir in remaining ingredients and the water.

Bring to a simmer, then simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until lentils are cooked and have absorbed all the liquid. Season with salt.

Divide rice between serving plates and top with chicken. Spoon dhal to the side and tuck in!

That is my appreciative husband Jason 😀

This recipe is completely gluten free, including that Naan bread you see in the picture. So happy to have found that the local supermarket (Coles) stocks the Livewell brand for Coeliac sufferers.

Bon appetit!

Indian Pilau Rice

Indian Pilau Rice

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups Basmati Rice

15ml oil (I use Peanut oil)

1 small onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

1 tablespoon of Sesame seeds.

½ teaspoon ground Turmeric

1 teaspoon ground Cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

2 whole Cloves

4 Cardamom pods, lightly crushed

5 black peppercorns, left whole

500ml container of Chicken stock or consommé (or vegetable stock to make it truly vegetarian)

Fresh coriander to garnish

Wash rice well and leave to soak in water for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a heavy based saucepan, add onion and garlic and fry gently for 5-6 minutes until softened, not browned.

Stir in the fennel, sesame seeds, turmeric, cumin, salt, cloves, cardamom pods and peppercorns and fry for about a minute. Drain the rice well, add to pan and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes.

Pour over the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then cover, reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently for 20 minutes without removing the lid, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and leave to stand 2-3 minutes. Fork up the rice, garnish with coriander and transfer to a warmed dish to serve.

This one is for Liz and anyone else who would like a nice side dish to a spicy chicken or fish (or whatever really :D) dish or just as a nice vegetarian supper on it’s own. Turn the heat off as soon as 20 minutes is reached and let it sit off the heat for a few minutes. The sesame seeds can sometimes stick if left too long cooking.

Bon appetit!

Potato and Lamb Soup

Now that the weather has decided it’s about time it was Winter in the south West of Western Australia, I felt I should share this most wonderous hearty soup that could also double as a stew it’s that thick. I call it a stoup when I make it because of it’s stew like texture. I think you could add more beef stock to thin it down or vegetable stock if that suits.

Recipe.

1 tablespoon of oil

1 kilogram of lamb shanks (about 4 shanks)

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 medium carrots (about 240gm) diced

2 sticks of celery, chopped

810gm can tomatoes, crushed

1 and a half litres of Beef stock

5 large potatoes, peeled and diced

2 medium zuchinni, diced skin on

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Half a teaspoon of sugar

Heat oil in large pot and brown the shanks all over. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery to the same pot and cook, stirring until onion softens. Return shanks to pan, add undrained crushed tomatoes and beef stock and simmer covered, for about 1 hour or until lamb is tender.

Remove the meat from the shanks and chop roughly, discard the bones. Bring soup back to the boil and add the chopped meat, potatoes, zuchinni, tomatoe paste, basil and sugar. Simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender. Serve with some crusty bread.

This tastes even better the next day.

Bon appetit!

My Chilli Marmalade tryout!

All praise for this delicious recipe must go to Emily over at chillimarmalade.com. She has the best food site i’ve discovered, plus she’s an expat Aussie so she’s great in my books 🙂

Here is a picture some of the ingredients you’ll need.Recipe follows.

Ingredients,

10 Red capsicums (Peppers), diced small

10 Long Red chillies, sliced with seeds left in

1 head of garlic minced

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, sliced finely

750gm Raw castor sugar

250ml Red wine vinigar

Combine all on top of stove and cook, stirring often until it resembles jam. Bottle into hot, sterilized jars and seal with lids immediately.

I made a heartful of chillies!

Boil all together just like this!

And this is what you end up with! It actually made 3.5 one cup jars of lovely sticky hot (but not devestatingly hot) chilli marmalade. One of the nicest I’ve tried. Great with cheese, steak and inserted into stirfries. Yummo!

Bon appetite!

Lamb Shank Soup.

Here is the most delicious, soul preserving, tummy filling winter soup that could also double as a stew. I made it yesterday for lunch and had it for lunch again today with a massive slab of crusty bread and butter.

Recipe
2 lamb shanks
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 medium sized sticks of celery, diced
1 large brown onion, peeled and diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large parsnip
1 large swede
2 litres of salt reduced beef stock
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
Olive oil
Ground black pepper
Couple of bay leaves

In a large soup pan add a good glug (3-4 tablespoons olive oil, don’t be shy!) and brown off the lamb shanks till nicely caramelised. Remove from pan and pop to one side. Add the diced carrot, celery, onion and garlic to the soup pan and stir-fry until starting to soften. Add the parsnip and swede and stir in to mix. Add the tomato paste and stir well for a few minutes till nicely combined and then add the Beef stock and mix. Add back in the lamb shanks, ground black pepper and bay leaves, bring to boil then lower heat to simmer for a good hour-hour and a half or until the lamb shank meat is falling off the bone slightly.
Remove lamb shanks, cut the meat off the bone into bite size chunks and add back into soup pan to reheat.
Serve in a bowl or mug with lots of crusty bread or maybe some nice herb and cheese damper or scones.

This is a thick soup so if you want a thinner soup, just add more beef stock or water. I didn’t use any extra water as I like my soup thick and chunky. I also found I didn’t need salt as the flavour is quite intense enough but add it to taste when you serve it up if you feel the need.

Gozleme of Lamb,mint, fetta and spinach.

Here is the yummiest snack/meal I’ve made in recent times. As my partner is gluten intolerant, I’ve just substituted the normal Self Raising flour for Orgran brand gluten free SR Flour. Give it a try!
This recipe serves 4 depending on your hunger 😉

Ingredients 200gm plain yoghurt (natural, unsweetened)
250gm Self Raising flour (substitute for gluten free here)
1 tablespoon olive oil
150gm minced lamb
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
a pinch of ground cumin
a pinch of chilli flakes
a pinch of dried mint
4 tablespoons of tomato juice (I used Passata)
50gm baby English spinach
100gm Fetta, crumbled
8 fresh mint leaves, torn
olive oil for frying
50gm butter, melted (optional)

Beat the youghurt and a pinch of salt in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add flour until it is a stiff dough, then knead on a lightly floured bench till it is soft and only slightly sticky. Transfer to an oiled bowl and leave, covered for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the lamb with a pinch of salt and pepper until browned. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the garlic, cumin, chilli flakes and tomato juice. Cook for another minute or until dry. Turn off the heat and leave to cool, then drain if needed.
On a floured surface, split the dough into four equal sized balls. Roll each ball into a 30cm circle. Place a quarter of the spinach over half of each circle, then sprinkle with a quarter of the fetta, then add the lamb and mint leaves and season. Fold the dough over and seal the edges with a fork.
Preheat a barbecue hotplate or large frying pan. Brush one side of each Gozleme with olive oil and cook until the base is golden. Brush the top with olive oil, turn and cook until golden.
Brush with melted butter, cut into four pieces (or two 🙂 ) and serve with a pinch of sea salt and lemon wedges if liked. Would also be good with an ice cold beer if your that way inclined.

These are so yummy and for a little bit of effort, you get a huge amount of flavour and enjoyment.
Enjoy!