Cajun Seasoning Grilling Rub

I love seasoning meat, especially chicken, with this delicious Cajun grilling rub. Eliot's Eats has cleverly put together a series of yummy meat rubs and packaged them up like you see in the gourmet gift section of specialty stores. These little bottles of herby, salty meat rubs were beautifully packaged in a wooden cigar box.
Still on my Christmas and family holiday hangover, and very disorganized in the blogging department, I left my Secret Recipe Club assignment to the last minute, and was very blessed to find a yummy, quick recipe to make, which also created a very tasty dinner for my husband at the end of the day. Don't forget to check out the other seasonings at Eliot's Eats that you can make to complete a seasoning gift pack! It's particularly hard to find presents for men, and I think this one would just about cover it for most--plus, it's DIY, awesomely unique, personalised, and who doesn't like meat? Okay vegans and vegetarians, I wasn't talking to you.

CAJUN SEASONING GRILLING RUB

5 tsp. paprika
4 tsp. fine sea salt
4 tsp. garlic powder
4 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried thyme

Combine all ingredients.
Place in a zip lock bag until ready to use or bottle to give as a gift.
For a recipe idea, check out this delicious Cajun chicken with mango and avocado salsa. Dinner sorted!

Dutch Spaculaas

My Opa was a Dutch gentleman with a family of 11 children. I suppose there wasn't a whole lot of money to go around. But when all the children left home I'm guessing there was more room for some niceties. I can still see him taking down a big square silver tin from the cupboard, beautifully embossed, and taking the lid off. There was a particular aroma that then flowed from within, marzipan and spices, and a delicious selection of European biscuits all on display.  There were the most delicious moist almond cakes and divine, large, round biscuits with a wafer  base. There were Spaculaas and chocolate dipped Bokkenpootjes. Pfeffernusse and Nurnberger Lebkuchen. All mouthwatering. I wish I could remember all the names of them!
There was a bit of a theme I noticed--spices and almonds. They seemed to be the common factor in a lot of the specialty biscuits.
This simple recipe for spaculaas combines both spices and almonds. Traditionally spaculaas has the imprint of a windmill on them, but I don't happen to possess any fancy molds. They're just as tasty without a pretty picture on them, or you can do as I did and roll a lace doily print onto the uncooked dough first. Slivered almonds also make for a lovely surface where a print cannot be found, and add lovely texture and flavour.
Prepare for your house to be filled with a cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and buttery aroma! It's truly magnificent. And these biscuits taste exactly like the spaculaas you can buy in the stores, with that fantastic melt in your mouth buttery texture.
God bless my Opa's cotton socks--he gave me some European taste buds I am most grateful for. I'm pretty sure I passed those onto my children too--they can't get enough of these biscuits! (And if you're one of those naughty raw cookie dough eaters, this recipe is egg-less, so you're safe to eat great quantities of it--if your heart so desires!)

DUTCH SPACULAAS

225g butter, room temperature
170g brown sugar
140g plain flour
140g Self Raising flour
2 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup slithered almonds

Preheat the oven at 180C.
Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the flours and spices. Combine until a soft dough forms. Roll out the dough between two pieces of plastic film (such as Glad wrap). If you wish to imprint the top with a lace pattern, leave out the top layer of plastic and lightly dust the surface with a little extra flour before placing the doily down and rolling once to achieve the print. Cut into rectangles or any shape using a cookie cutter. Place on greased and paper lined trays. If you want to decorate the biscuits with slithered almonds, do so when the raw dough is on the tray.
Cook for 15-20 minutes.
Allow to sit for 5 minutes on the tray before moving to a wire cooling rack.

Makes about 40

My handsome Opa on the right in the 1940s

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