Spanish Chickpea & Spinach Stew (Garbanzos con Espinacas)

I totally love my sweets and processed foods, but you only realise how they lack when you eat something that is delicious, nutritious and made of good, unprocessed natural ingredients. I find myself taking a spoonful and sitting up a little straighter, and thinking "Why the heck don't we eat like this everyday?"
It's the type of food that fills you with a sense of nurturing your system. You find yourself thinking on this food often, wanting more of it in the future, yet being completely satisfied and not needing more after a serve. All that processed food leaves you feeling momentarily satisfied, then almost instantly wanting more. It's like a drug. It doesn't fill you.
That's why I usually don't buy cereals for my kids, but give them porridge made on milk instead. After a bowl of cereal, my kids are asking me for snacks. After a bowl of porridge, I don't hear the word snack for a few hours.
This is one of those high fibre, super nutritious and utterly delicious meals that eaves your tummy feeling happy for a long time. If you're vegan or vegetarian, this is also the perfect meal for you and will leave you with a happy face as well.
It's great for meat free Fridays if you're Catholic like I am. (In case you where unaware, we traditionally don't eat meat on Fridays. Fish is permissible.) If you totally need your meat in every meal, shredded roast chicken is perfect in this dish too.
Whip this up and your house will be smelling amazing, with infusions of garlic, onion, paprika and cumin. You can serve with rice or cous cous- pasta would probably go well too! Buen provecho!

SPANISH CHICKPEA AND SPINACH STEW (Adapted from Lazy Cat Kitchen)

2 tbsp oil
2 heaped tsp crushed garlic
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp brown sugar (optional)
2x 400g tins diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
100g baby spinach, stalks removed
1/4 cup almond flakes

Heat up the oil in a large fry pan. Add the onion and cook on medium with the lid on, until almost translucent. Add the garlic and cook, stirring a little, for two minutes.
Add the spices and stir through the onion and garlic mix, careful not to burn these ingredients.
Add tomato paste, combine thoroughly.
Pour in the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper to your taste. (At this point you can add the optional sugar if your tomatoes are very tangy, or just leave out.)
Turn the heat to low and let the sauce thicken, with no lid on. Stir it from time to time so that it doesn't burn.
Stir in the chickpeas. Lastly, add the spinach and heat until wilted. Garnish with the almonds. Scoop generous serving on rice and enjoy!

SERVES 4

Cous Cous Salad

There's something fantastic about cous cous. To me, living in Australia, it seems like a foreign food, and I do get a bit of a thrill out of eating it when I do. I love cous cous salads with bbqed meats on one of those hot summer days we're heading into, so when I saw this recipe on Josie's Kitchen blog for the Secret Recipe Club Reveal, I just had to make it. I added some shredded turkey, and left out the mint (only because the caterpillars which have infested my garden have eaten it all!) but I think the mint sounds delightfully refreshing for a summer's afternoon dinner. It's a light salad yet hearty at the same time. My kids love it, my little one year old came back for seconds (which is amazing because she hates solids!) So thank you Josie! It's a wonderful recipe that makes me think of Moroccan dishes, warm weather and sitting out on the deck with a glass of wine on those sultry summer nights...

COUS COUS SALAD (Adapted from  Josie's Kitchen)

1 cup water
olive oil
1 cup dry cous cous
handful fresh parsley
1 cucumber
2 firm, large tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded turkey (pre cooked)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, boil water. Add one tablespoon olive oil to the water, plus the dry cous cous. Remove from heat and set aside with the saucepan lid on. When the water has been absorbed by the cous cous, remove from the saucpan into a salad bowl. Break up any lumps. If the lumps do not break down and it appears "gluggy", add a little more oil and mix through.
Finely chop the parsley.
Finely chop the cucumber and tomatoes. Mix the parsley, cucumber and tomatoes through the cous cous. Add the shredded turkey and mix through. Drizzle lemon juice over the salad. You may add salt and pepper to the salad if you desire.

Best Ever "Scrambled" Eggs and a Proposal

They say food is the way to a man's heart. I think it definitely is, and the way to a woman's heart too. Any man that can cook a nice feed at the end of the day gets brownie points in my books, and lots of them.
But can food really make someone fall in love? I don't know if it can, to be honest, but it can make a man get down on one knee and propose.
Never! you say.
Well, I'm about to share a recipe that did. Every six months or so, I give away one of my secret recipes that I have always sworn is signature and not to be parted with. Anyway, I'm feeling generous today, and feel like sharing some humour as well. Be warned...this might be a love potion of sorts!
So, I used to work and supervise at a small cafe, the Marmalade Deli. Yes, it was just as quaint and pretty as its name, with pots and colanders hanging from the ceiling, polished wooden surfaces, adorable cakes for sale and floral tea towels. I felt this place was mine in many ways, and any one who entered it was entering my house. I put my heart and soul into creating gourmet food for my guests and took pride in whipping things out at top speed.
Anyway, every morning for several months, a troop of tradesmen would come in and order breakfast, sitting down together at the large wooden table that had become a centrepeice of the cafe. There was one guy, a big fellow, and I cant for the life of me remember his name--so he shall be Russel, because he looked like one.
He would grin, blue eyes sparkling, lean in close in and order, then say something cheeky to me just before he walked away. He became a bit of an embarrassment to me, and the other guys would always laugh at how red he made me turn. Poor shy creature that I am! He ordered the same every day...Scrambled Eggs, extra bacon. Every day the same, every day a cheeky comment, and almost every time when he dropped the plate back at the counter he would tell me I made the "best eggs in the world".
One day I got up the nerve to be saucy right back, and after a very  cheeky comment from him, I had enough and told him I was indeed engaged. I proudly flashed my diamond ring in his face, and I still remember what he said. "Aw darling! Don't do this to me! I was getting up the courage to ask you--would you marry me? Marry me, and cook me those scrambled eggs for the rest of my life!"
Is there a deeper shade of red than scarlet? Crimson? Maroon!
Of course it was all in silliness, but forever more when he came in, he would give puppy dog eyes at me, order, and ask "Are you still going to marry him?"
He later disappeared and never came back, to my relief.
So, do you want to get a proposal out of you man? I'd say its worth a try!!

I posted this recipe a little while back, but decided to re-post it due to the questions that arose. I have added pictures to increase the ease of replicating these scrumptious, fluffy, creamy, folded "scrambled" eggs.

BEST EVER "SCRAMBLED" EGGS--THE SECRET RECIPE

2 eggs
a dash of cream (about 1/4 of a cup)
a dash of water (about 2 tbsp.)
a pinch of salt
a dash of pepper

Break eggs into a microwaveable plastic measuring container. Add the dash of cream, water, and salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously until well combined and fluffy. Place the container in the microwave and set on high. Check every 20-30 seconds, gently swirling the container to shift the cooked egg and coat with it with uncooked egg. Repeat until  the liquid egg is significantly reduced. Fold the cooked egg in with the raw gently using a spatula (do not break it up too much!) Microwave again until you get moist, creamy, folded eggs. The success is in the folding, and not letting any part of the egg become dry and over cooked. Sounds too easy? It is. Best eggs ever.

Want to watch me do it? I'll go through the folding with you. And give you a running commentary.

 You egg mixture should look a bit like this after the first 30 seconds or so of cooking. Of course this depends upon the power of your microwave. See how the edges are starting to cook yet the centre is still very liquid? Just give it a swirl in the bowl. No spoons yet! Pop it back in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove from the microwave and swirl again. Try to get the liquid egg mixture on top of the cooked edges. We don't want that egg to dry out! Pop it back in for another 30.

Repeat the above process, covering the cooked edges with the egg liquid every time, with a simple swirl of the bowl. It's a very gentle process, as we don't want to break up the egg too much, we just want the cooked egg to shift so it doesn't dry out.

There will come a stage where the cooked egg on the edges is quite thick and the uncooked centre reduces in size. If the cooked egg no longer moves when you swirl the bowl, gently ease it off the side with a spatula.

I'm just going to take a moment here to say YUM! And that's saying something. I don't even like egg. But I simply LOVE this scrambled egg we're making. It's...well, you'll find out. It converted me to eating eggs again. Okay. Stick it back in the microwave, we're almost there!

Be careful at this stage where there isnt much liquid egg left, because the cooked egg can dry out if not watched well. Get your spatula and gently fold the cooked egg into the uncooked to moisten it. You can now set it aside! The heat in the cooked egg will cook the rest on its own.
If the scrambled egg looks dry, you can try and save it by adding a dob of butter to the top and letting it melt in. It should moisten the egg sufficiently. Serve immediately.

If your using one egg instead of two, I recommend cooking the egg at 15 second increments.

Zesty Cannelloni

If you're in Australia and you love food, you have to make a trip to Melbourne. I know I am biased about that beautiful city, but it's been my romping ground for a while. Sadly I have moved away from it, only to take some pretty fond memories with me and a list of great foodie haunts. I've been away too long it seems, as new and exciting restaurants have popped up all over the place. I'm keen to try Chin Chin on Flinder's Lane, Manchester Press and Chez Dre. I cant say how good these spots are because I haven't been yet but the reviews on Urbanspoon sound pretty fantastic.
My hot spots for Melbourne visitors would be:

Lygon Street in Carlton, to tease and satisfy the Italian in you
Brunetti's for to-die-for cakes, great coffee, biscuits and desserts. My kind of place.
Flinder's Street Station Spanish Donuts stand--hot churros like you've never tasted in your life!
Spaghetti Tree, for some seriously fine dining.

You can tell I like my Italian, right? There are lots of brilliant places to dine in Melbourne, as it has a large Italian community. That's mighty fine for someone like me who's favourite cuisine happens to be Italian. Anyone who thinks Italian is just pasta and pizza is seriously missing out...there are so many Italian foods that don't even come close to being pasta or pizza!
But pasta is my "one weakness". There's nothing like a good home made pasta, made from scratch, with love. Left to rise, stretched and re stretched through a pasta press. Cut out into little circles, filled with some delicious mixture. That's how I like it.
If you like Italian foods, you will most definitely enjoy this recipe for cannelloni. Think of mozzarella cheese melted over herby pasata, and home made pasta that has been wrapped around a delightful, zesty, ricotta, cottage cheese, and spinach filling. Everyone who tastes this delicious vegetarian dish will be wanting seconds. So make two batches. You won't regret it.

Obviously if you have the time, home made pasta wins over store bought any day. You can even make the pasta without a pasta press, if you have some brawn in those arms and a good rolling pin. Try to roll the pasta as thinly as possible without it breaking, as the texture makes all the difference and the thinner the pasta, the less cooking time is involved.

ZESTY CANNELLONI (adapted from Heart of the House)

Basic Pasta:

2 1/2 cups plain four
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup virgin olive oil

Filling:

1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp. crushed garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
250g cooked spinach, chopped and drained
500g cottage cheese
500g fresh ricotta
100g parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (preferably flat leaved)
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of pasata, or tomato based pasta sauce
1 cup cheese, grated (we suggest mozzarella)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
To make the pasta, sift flour and salt into a large glass bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, and break each egg into the well. Add oil. Using your fingertips, gradually blend the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Continue to blend little by little until a thick dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes until smooth and elastic. Leave dough on surface, cover with the mixing bowl and leave for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, place the onion and garlic in a fry pan and cook with the oil until softened. Add to a large bowl, along with the cooked spinach, cottage cheese, ricotta, half the Parmesan cheese, the eggs, zest, nutmeg and parsley. Mix thoroughly to combine and season with salt and pepper if desired.
Take a quarter of the pastry dough and run though the pasta press until very thin and stretched into a long portion. Cut as desired into squares (about 15 x 15 cm) and place 1/2 cup of the mixture in the centre of each. Roll up and place, seam down, into a 19x13 inch glass dish. (You could also use high-sided foil tray or something similar). Fill the ends with a little extra cheese mixture once in the dish.
Repeat with the remaining pasta dough and cheese mixture, lining all the pasta parcels up along side each other, until the tray is full and all the dough and mixture is used up. Top with pasata and remaining Parmesan and grated cheese.
Cook for 45 minutes covered in foil. Remove the covering and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 8 adults, with a side of veggies.

Mushroom Feta Risotto with Wilted Spinach

Some one asked me the other day what it's like to work in a kitchen. I mean a real kitchen, back of house with production lines and yelling chefs, giant ovens and long, stainless steel benches, and tall trolleys decked with plated food.
I had the privilege of working for the prestigious Peter Rowland Catering company when I lived in Melbourne. He started out selling sandwiches down on the beaches of Melbourne, and the business expanded to event catering--weddings, corporate dinners, galas, the Melbourne Cup Races, you name it. Their exclusive venues include the beautiful Rippon Lea Estate, Melbourne Museum, Port Melbourne Yacht Club, The Ian Potter Centre, Gardens House, The Chapter House, and many more fancy locations.
It was all rather hoitie toitie--imagine Melbourne's polo playing, Ferrari-owning crowd and you're right in amongst them. They notoriously didn't hire staff without a private school education or some sort of social connection, and just about every staff member was a son of this well known person, or so and so that knew so and so. I managed to get through on the private school education part, and probably because I could also twist my long fingers into bizarre shapes and hold three dinner plates at once. (There's a story there about a hot quail flying off the plate, but I'll leave that for another time).
I didn't particularly like mingling amongst the guests front of house, sporting heavy trays of wine and champagne glasses, but loved being assigned to the kitchen. It was always abuzz with certain excitement and pressure. Everything had to be just so. No that salad wasn't high enough! The jus was swirled too far to the centre of the plate! That scoop of caviar was too small! There was often yelling and swearing, red faces and irritability.
The chefs were basically like over-seers and were responsible for everyone, rushing from production line to production line, making sure everything was being plated impressively enough. They had the worst job, in my opinion. They had the time pressure upon them and had to sort of work around the time schedule of the event, even if it was not going to plan. If the speeches were going longer than expected at a wedding, and the desserts were due to come out after they finished, we had to try and keep them warm somehow until the signal came that we were ready to go. Then there was a huge influx of waiters rushing in and out with multiple plates, and then the hullabaloo was over within 5 minutes.
Sometimes we had to plate up as many as five course meals for over 1000 guests. That was the first day I came to work. It was an event held at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building, and it was a sit down dinner. The kitchen was most impressive because it was all constructed on the day. You've never seen anything like it! There was a huge curtain separating the kitchen from the event, and it was the longest, largest kitchen set up you will ever see in your life. There were hundreds of long trestle tables set up for plating up food and as work benches, there were mobile ovens moved in and lined up in a row along the back wall. It was insane. I cant even tell you how many staff and chefs were working back of house. There were trolleys stacked with plated meals being wheeled to and fro and somehow we all had to work in silence so as not to disturb the event behind that curtain!
Anyway, I have many fond memories of working for Rowlands. And I have many more stories to come. I think I was very lucky to work with such creative and talented chefs and they taught me a lot about food.  Their food is amazing, and actually turned me from borderline vegetarian to full-on carnivore. Those chefs sure do know what they're doing with a steak! But...despite being carnivore, I have a wonderful vegetarian recipe for you all today. It really ticked my fancy because it was so packed with flavour and contained no meat what so ever. You cant go past a great risotto.

I didn't have any arborio rice, so I just used regular, and it was beautiful! I guess this made it less like a typical risotto however, and it meant less stirring (good for the busy mums who could do with a few more hands. I've noted the recipe changes below if you wish to use regular rice). Improvise as you like, I don't think you can go wrong with this flavour combo!

MUSHROOM FETA RISOTTO WITH WILTED SPINACH (adapted from Ezra Pound Cake)

Topping:
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tbsp. cooking oil
2 tbsp. white wine (we used a sweet Moscato, but dry white is great too--Chardonnay or Sauv. Blanc)
1/2 tbsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to season

Risotto:
5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if your are vegetarian)
3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
2 cups rice (arborio or carnaroli is recommended, see note below)
3/4 cup white wine
5 cups spinach, stemmed and chopped
1 cup feta, crumbled

To make the topping, heat oil in a medium frypan. Saute the mushrooms and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the wine and thyme and cook for a further minute. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Turn the stove off but leave the frypan on the element to keep warm until the rice is ready.
To make the risotto, heat the stock very gently so that it is at a low simmer. In another large pot, add the oil and saute the onions until light golden brown, on a medium-high heat. Add the arborio rice* to the onions and stir with a wooden spoon until all the contents are coated in oil. Add the wine and stir continuously until the liquid is completely absorbed. Take one cup of the stock at a time and add it to the rice. Cook, stirring frequently until each cup of stock is absorbed by the rice before adding the next cup of stock. Continue this process until all the stock is absorbed. It should take about 25 minutes and the rice should be al dente. Then add the chopped spinach and cook, covered, until the spinach is bright green. Stir the feta through the rice. Serve Topped with the mushroom mixture.

*If you are not using arborio rice and just the regular rice as I did, place the wine and simmering stock together in a large pot. Saute the onion in another pan and add to the stock mixture with the rice. Cook on high until boiling and turn down to medium. Give it a stir and leave it until holes appear in the rice. Turn it off and cover, leaving it on the hot element. It should absorb all the liquid just standing still. You can add some more liquid, such as wine or water if the rice is still looking too firm, and reheat until the rice is tender. Then stir though feta, wilted spinach and top with mushroom mixture.

Easy Mini Quiches

The truth is, most people are pretty busy in their day to day lives and more and more are turning to take away foods because its a quick and easy option. High in salt and saturated fats, it's often not a great choice for frequent eating for main meals. That's why I absolutely love freezable, prepare-ahead meals and snacks that you can simply pull out of the freezer in the morning and come home to eat in the arvo. Everyone needs those meals every so often. I'm pretty good with cooking up dinner every night, but freezable do-ahead food is always welcome. I love cooking but I tend to stress out before entertaining, and then feel like I cant manage to whip out a whole lot of appetizers or entrees on the day. This is where these little quiches come in. They're not only great on your entertaining menu, but can be eaten hot or cold, so you don't have to be near the oven while you have guests over if you would rather be enjoying a good glass of wine and a chat with them instead. They make great snacks too, and are healthy and quick to grab for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I made them in a 24 hole mini muffin tray (silicone for ease) but the same recipe would fit a 12 hole regular muffin tray or a pie dish depending what size you want. The mini size is fabulous for entertaining or as hors d'ouevres and look amazing  for finger-food at a party all set out in rows on a long plate. I made these ones vegetarian, but you can add bacon or ham if desired.
And...real men DO eat quiche.

EASY MINI QUICHES

4 eggs
1/2 cup cream
3 tbsp water
pinch salt
1 1/2 sheets pre-rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 small zucchini, grated and dried off in paper toweling
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup cheese, grated (I used Tasty cheese)

In a medium bowl, place the eggs, cream, water and salt. Beat on high with an electric mixer until well incorporated and light and foamy.
Take the pastry and cut the first sheet into four rows of four to make 16 small squares. Take the next sheet and cut it in half. Cut two rows of four squares from this, to make an additional 8. Using a 24 hole mini muffin tray (grease this first if it is not silicone like mine) press each pastry square into the base of each hole. Take a pinch of cheese and place it in the bottom of each uncooked pastry case. Repeat with the zucchini, sun dried tomato and onion. Ladle egg mixture over the top of each until the pastry case is full. Cook for approximately 35-45 minutes at 200C, or until pastry is puffed and lightly browned and tops of quiches are golden and firm.

Makes 24 mini quiches.

NOTES: You can use fresh tomato instead of sun dried tomato if prefered.

Silky Thai Sweet Potato Soup

For our Gourmet Garden Blog Off dinner party, we had a sublime Thai inspired sweet potato soup for the entre. I had invented this previously but with the simple addition of coriander powder, but when I was sent the delectable Thai Paste via Gourmet Garden, I knew I just had to try it in this silky soup.
This soup is all about textures and subtle flavours. It's an exquisite feast for the senses and is not to be eaten in haste, but relished and savored so as to experience all the flavours that come through along with the satiny smooth consistency. In addition to the soup, we enjoyed home made Garlic Bread Knots, hot from the oven and spread with butter, which tied in magnificently with the other flavours. Does food get any better? There's nothing quite like a delicious soup paired with hot, home made bread.

Course 2:

SILKY THAI SWEET POTATO SOUP (A Louise Creation)

2kg sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
600ml coconut cream
4 cubes of dry chicken stock (I use OXO brand)
2 tbsp. Gourmet Garden Thai paste
1 cup hot water
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
fresh or ground coriander to garnish (optional)

Peel the sweet potato and cut into large, rough chunks. Place in a large saucepan and fill the pot to the 3/4 mark with water. Place over high heat until the sweet potato is tender when pierced with a knife.
Drain away the liquid, and place the sweet potato in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, place the crushed dry chicken stock with the boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Stir the coconut cream until well combined and thick. Add to the sweet potato, along with the thai paste and chicken stock liquid. Blend with the electric beater until well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.
In batches, blitz in a food blender until a silky smooth consistency is reached. Return all soup to the pot and reheat. Serve with coriander as a garnish, if desired.

Serves 8-10 as an entre.

Beef and Red Wine Casserole

Wanting to appeal to the variety of different taste buds at our Gourmet Garden dinner party, I decided to go for two different main meals. One was the delicious Moroccan dish Aubergine Tagine, and the other was Beef and Red Wine Casserole for the meat-cravers among us. This is a Massey family favourite which I've adapted. I made it in the slow cooker and marinated the beef overnight to make the meat nice and tender. It was really delicious! The sauce is rich and hearty, thick with flavours of tomato and red wine, mushrooms and herbs.

Course 3:

 BEEF AND RED WINE CASSEROLE (An adapted Massey family favourite)

700g beef, diced
3/4 cup red wine (I used Merlot)
2 rashers bacon, diced (rind left on)
1 medium red onion, diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 tbsp. flour
30g butter
1 3/4 cup water
1 heaped tbsp. tomato paste
2 cubes of beef stock (I use OXO brand)
1 1/2 heaped tbsp. Gourmet Garden basil paste
1 1/2 tsp. Gourmet Garden Thyme paste
1 1/2 tsp. Gourmet Garden oregano paste
1 level tbsp. Gourmet Garden Garlic paste

Place the diced meat in a zip lock bag. Add the wine and seal overnight in the refrigerator.
Drain the wine from the beef and set aside for the sauce.
Brown the beef and bacon lightly. Remove from heat and place in the slow cooker bowl. Cook the onion until softened and add to the beef. Brown the mushrooms and add to the beef.
Place the butter and flour in the hot saucepan. Cook, stirring, until well combined and golden. Take off the heat and gradually add the water and the reserved wine, stirring to form a smooth paste. Return to heat and add crushed stock cubes, tomato paste and herbs. Stir until thick and then pour over meat in slow cooker.
Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over pasta or cous cous, garnished with fresh basil, parsley or oregano if desired.

Serves 6

NOTES: You can cook this meal without a slow cooker. Place all prepared ingredients in a casserole dish instead of the slow cooker bowl. Cover and cook in the oven at 180C for 1 1/2 hours. Marinating the meat over night is also optional, but we found it made the meat more tender and infused the meat beautifully.

Aubergine Tagine

Finally, a wonderful excuse hit me to take my wonderful red tagine down from it's nook in the kitchen corner. Moroccan has always been a favourite for us on those cooler night, and it certainly has been a cold May in Queensland! That combined with the fact that Gourmet Garden had sent me a variety of delicious herb and spice pastes was enough to get me looking for a wonderful main meal to whip up in this fabulous earthenware pot. We enjoyed this vegetarian dish as a meat-less alternative to Beef and Red Wine Casserole at our five course Gourmet Garden Dinner Party, and it was a big hit all around. It features a lovely combination of aromatic spices including cinnamon and turmeric and Gourmet Garden's very own garlic paste, coriander, and hot chilli paste. Paired with warm cous cous, this veggie packed meal was a real crowd-pleaser, and it's so healthy too.

Course 3:

MOROCCAN AUBERGINE TAGINE (Adapted from 500 Main Courses, Jenni Fleetwood, 2011)

1 medium aubergine, diced (1 cm cubes)
2 zucchinis, thickly sliced
4 tbsp. oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 tbsp. Gourmet Garden Chunky Garlic Paste
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp. Gourmet Garden Coriander paste
1 tbsp. cinnamon, ground
2 tsp. turmeric, ground
2 1/2 cups passata
1 heaped tbsp. tomato paste
1 flat tbsp. Gourmet Garden Hot Chilli paste
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
fresh coriander to garnish

Sprinkle salt over diced aubergine and zucchini. Set aside in a bowl for 30 minutes. Heat the grill on high and place the aubergine and zucchini on a tray underneath. Grill until tender and golden, turning occasionally to prevent burning, for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in the tagine, or heavy based pot. Cook the onion and garlic until softened, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and saute until tender; then add the spices. Stir through for 1 minute until aromatic and well combined. Add passata, tomato paste and 2/3 cup water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the aubergine, zucchini, chickpeas and apricots and chilli paste. Cook, partially covered, for a further 15 minutes, adding a little extra water if the tagine becomes too dry. Serve with cous cous and garnish with fresh coriander if desired, and serve.
Serves 6

Bacon Rolled Sour Cream and Chive Chicken Bites

I'm pretty excited to add yet another savory to the blog this month. Is that a round of applause? I know, I know,  I am basically a "sweets maker", and I often don't even try my hand at it because my husband rocks in the kitchen with savories. But this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment popped up and directed me to New York City Eats and I fell in love. I feel I should apologise to Lacy from New York City Eats, because I used the idea of her recipe but just sort of winged it when I got into the kitchen. You know, when you forget to buy the specific ingredients, and have to substitute when you get to it? Well, I guess that's the true beauty of cooking, adapting a recipe due to pantry limitations, and arriving at something similar but with a twist. I have been wanting to try out a few different recipes that would serve as hors d'oeuvres for a party my husband and I will be holding in the coming months. So I made these babies in a few different sizes--some man-sized ones for my husband to taste test, and some smaller ones that would be a good size for party finger-food. Man, these morsels are delicious! And very easy to whip up. Lacy from New York City Eats used butterflied chicken tenderloins for this recipe, but I only had chicken breast. The local butcher sells the biggest chicken breasts around, two of them weigh over a kg! So as you can imagine they are rather fat, chunky things, so I had fun belting it flat with a rolling pin...one way to get out some frustration without hurting anyone! I mean, who doesn't have some sort of frustration in the kitchen?
 Speaking of frustration in the kitchen, Lacy I hold you responsible for an amusing incident that happened today! While photographing these delicious morsels, my daughter Vienna was close by on the floor. Yes, I have a lousy photographing system by the back door, its the only place in the house that gets good natural light. Well, here I was busily clicking away and I realised there was a funny panting sound coming from my baby. Before I knew it, there she was, hands reached out to those bacon wrapped, chive and sour creamed, balls of chicken-y goodness. She had crawled her way over! Mind you, there was a trail of drool along the way (saves me getting out the mop I suppose!) Did I mention she's not even 5 months? Now if that's not a good reference for these Chicken Chive and bacon rolls, I don't know what is!

 BACON ROLLED SOUR CREAM AND CHIVE CHICKEN BITES  (adapted from New York City Eats )

1 large chicken breast (about 500g)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp. dried french onion soup powder
4 rashers of bacon (or a little more depending upon the desired size of each piece of chicken)

Cut the chicken breast in half horizontally to achieve two pieces of thinned chicken breast.  Lay each piece on a board and cover generously with plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, beat the chicken until thinned further, to a desired thickness. Cut into strips in any desired size.
Combine the sour cream, chives, garlic and onion powder together in a small bowl. Stir until well combined. Lather one side of each chicken strip with this sour cream mixture. Roll each from one end to the other to form a roll shape. Cut a piece of bacon the size to fit around each piece of chicken.
Lay on a lined tray and cook in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. To crisp up the chicken, place under the drill on high for a few minutes. Serve hot for optimum enjoyment!

NOTES: you can use cream cheese instead of sour cream and onion powder instead of french onion soup powder, if preferred.

Vienna Rose crawled to get a better look at the delicious morsels that were being photographed. She was only 4.5 months at the time! That's determination.

Bacon and Sage whole Stuffed Potatoes

Sitting down after a long Easter Sunday, I realized I had probably eaten a little too much. It brought back the memory of the days when food was my archfoe, and would have lived off dry crackers if my parents hadn't stepped in. In fact, I was so shocking with food at the time that my mother had to wake me up in the night to give me a steady dose of Sustagen ( nutritional supplement) to try and bring me back to my former self. I guess I was skeletal.
It's only since I got married that I've started to thoroughly enjoy food and eat properly. I have my darling husband to thank for that. He makes me want to actually eat, and now, here I am, food rocks my every day. So there's hope for those who don't fancy food as being a great and enjoyable part of being alive.
It made me think though, if I had been allowed to live off sweets, would I have? Probably not, I cant remember being addicted or interested in any food at all. But sweets is the way my mind thinks now, not so much the savories. My brother in law thought this blog could improve with some savories...so here it is, for you David. With extra cheese, just for you!

BACON AND SAGE WHOLE STUFFED POTATOES (adapted from Coles Autumn Magazine March 2012)


12 small potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to sprinkle

2 rashers bacon, diced finely
1/2 cup cheese, grated
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 tsp ground sage
sour cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C. Wash the potatoes and remove any residue. We recommend using potatoes that are brushed and washed. Place one potato on the chopping board and place an item, such as a chopstick or container lid, on either side. This ensures you do not cut through to the base of the potato in the next step.
Slice the potato thinly down to the chopstick level, and repeat until the whole top of the potato is a series of slices. Repeat with the remaining potatoes. Place on a baking sheet with the sliced side up, then rub with oil.. Sprinkle the tops with a little salt to flavour. Bake for 1 hour or until tender .
Meanwhile, pan fry diced bacon for one or two minutes. In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese and sage.
Remove the potatoes from the oven. Randomly wedge pieces of bacon into the cuts of each potato and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Return to oven until cheese has melted. Serve immediately with sour cream dolloped on the top.

NOTES: These were yummy as they were, but I personally found the skin a little hard to chew through. You could peel the tops before slicing, if preferred. This may increase the enjoyability of the stuffed potatoes. Also ensure they are served hot!

Golden Roast Potato Salad

It's got a bit of crunch. It's got a fresh tangy bite. It's mellow at the same time and looks divine...and tastes even better. All golden and roasted.
Why not jazz up the potato salad this Christmas? The pasty, soggy potato salad is a thing of the past, or could be, if you take a chance and try this combo.
It recently hit me that I had never seen a roasted potato salad, and wondered why on earth it had never come into my little mind until then. So I set about making it, with huge success. Yes, it takes a little more time than the slushy potato salad you see in the supermarkets and on dinner tables as a standard, but its so worth it. You will never want to look at another potato salad again!

GOLDEN ROASTED POTATO SALAD

5 large potatoes, diced
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1 stick of celery, sliced thinly
3 rashers bacon, fried till crispy
fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped roughly

Peel and chop potatoes into bite sized pieces. Place potato in a large saucepan and cover with water; boil for a little while until beginning to soften (but not too soft or it will just fall to bits). Remove from heat and drain.
Coat potato with a little oil and pop in the oven on a roasting tray, turning occasionally until roasted as desired. Cool. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and add potato.
Toss gently to combine. Serve.

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

My kitchen, after my bed, is my favourite niche in the house.
There are things in my kitchen I am very attached to...ingredients and objects alike. I have to have them always at hand and would not know what to do without them. Of course there are the other things I must always have stock of...flour, sugar, milk, eggs and real butter. I would go into panic without those. What cant you live without in your kitchen? Here are a few of my kitchen addictions.

One of them makes this delicious pizza!

Vanilla Essence--I put this stuff in just about everything. You cant go wrong with vanilla in baking!

Cookbook Stands-- I hate having to lean over a kitchen bench to read a recipe, I want my cookbook looking at me at all times! Besides, when you can buy shabby chic ones like this, who wouldn't have one in their kitchen?

Lemon Pepper--here's the vanilla essence of savory cooking. Adds a salt-free zing to anything and tastes amazing.

Chocolate Chips--do I need to explain? these little dudes are irresistible in anything.

Chef's Toolbox Saute Pan--This baby rocks my world. It's a stove-top oven, and you can also use it inside the oven if you want. It makes the most incredible pizzas, just sitting on the stove.

Its this last, but certainly not least, addictive appliance I mean to speak about. I have never tasted such amazing pizzas, and they are created with such little effort. You don't even have to wait for the dough to rise, and there's absolutely no kneading or bowl-use involved. It is the simplest, quickest and yummiest home made pizza you will ever have. And there's no fancy ingredients to buy! (unless you want gourmet topping).
The pan itself is excellent quality non-stick, and contains no bad chemicals like so many other non-stick pans.

Because of the excellent quality non-stick surface, the pizza simply slides out! and there is minimal cleanup in the saute pan...simply wipe it clean with a cloth!

Because it is like an oven itself, you can simply have it sitting on the stove top cooking anything you would usually have in the oven...without heating up the whole house! I cook everything in this saute pan and it has never once failed me. If you want to know more about it, head over to Pauline Phillip's Toolbox Tastings Facebook page and give her a holler. She sells them!

CHEF'S TOOLBOX STOVE TOP PIZZA

1 cup plain flour
1 cup SR flour
1 cup luke-warm water
1 tsp. dry yeast
1 tsp. honey
Pinch of salt
Topping of your choice

We used:
200g roast beef, sliced
good squirt mayonnaise
splash of hoi sin sauce
1 large tomato, sliced
1/2 cup cheese
3 mushrooms, sliced
handful of spinach, finely chopped
1/4 cup pasta sauce

In your Chef's Toolbox Saute Pan, add all ingredients. Using a silicone spoon, combine thoroughly to form a dough.
Press into the edges of the saute pan to cover the base evenly. You can use the silicone spoon or your fingers, as preferred. A little flour sprinkled on the dough may aid against sticking to hands or utensils.

Spread with your favourite toppings. (We spread the base with a combination of hoi sin and mayo, then added all the other ingredients to the top, lastly drizzling the pasta sauce, and then the cheese. So Yummy!)

Place on the stove top. Place the lid on with the vent closed for the first 5 minutes and have on a medium heat. Turn the lid to open the vents and cook a little lower for a further 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

NOTES: you can make a thin base by halving the mixture. Cooking time may also be reduced.