Monday Night Meals: Salmon Steaks in Chraimeh Sauce

Salmon Steaks in Chraimeh Sauce

Typically served as a starter, the hero of craimeh is the sauce so use any large firm fish steak.  Typically served with bread for dipping, or over rice or couscous, I served mine with a root vegetable slaw and labneh.  Both recipes are in my latest cook book obsession - Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

Ingredients:

110ml sunflower oil

3T plain flour

4 salmon steaks

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2t sweet paprika

3T caraway seeds, dry-roasted and freshly ground

11/2t ground cumin

1/3t cayenne

1/3t ground cinnamon

1 green chill, roughly chopped

150 ml water

3T tomato purée

2t caster sugar

1 lemon cut into 4 wedges plus 2T lemon juice

2T coriander

Salt and black pepper

Method

Take a frying pan with a lid that will comfortably fit all four fish fillets.  In a bowl or plastic bag, season flour with salt and pepper.  Toss fish until coated and shake off excess.  Heat 2T oil in pan and lightly sear fish on both sides until golden. Remove from pan, set aside and wipe pan clean.

Blitz spices, chili, garlic, 2T oil in a food processor to form a thick paste.  Add a bit more oil if you need to bring it together.

Heat remaining oil in frying pan, stir and fry the spice paste for 30 seconds (so it doesn't burn) and then add water and tomato paste (it will probably spit!) to stop the paste cooking.  Bring the paste to a simmer; add sugar lemon juice, 3/4t of salt and black pepper.  Season to taste.

Add fish to sauce, bring to a gentle simmer, cover pan and cook for 7-11 minutes, or until fish is just done.  Remove from heat and allow to cool until warm or room temperature. Serve with lemon wedges and coriander over rice or couscous.

Looking for more Jerusalem recipes?  I have another one here for aubergine stuffed with lamb mince.  Delicious! 

Have you tried any of the recipes from Jerusalem?  Do you have any favourite Middle Eastern staples to recommend?

Back to Jerusalem: Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb Mince

Three and a half years ago I wandered the well-worn streets of old Jerusalem.  Just four days there was enough to leave a permanent indent in my heart.  Jerusalem (the city) has an incredible energy bubbling away under the surface of a concentration of deeply significant sites (if not the most significant) for four main religions.  The history, the people, the smells, the food...!  As the meeting point of Europe, Asia and Africa, a wide and varied influence is ingrained in the most simple and sophisticated cuisine.

When my friends Jess (check out her awesome blog here) and Jono gave me Ottolenghi and Tamimi's new cook book Jerusalem I couldn't wait to dive into the pages and (hopefully) resurrect some of those memories.  Aside from the mouthwatering recipes, one of the things I love about the book is the introduction - eight pages explaining the importance and passion invoked by food in the region and how history has shaped what you are about to prepare.  The gorgeous street life photography captures the hustle and bustle, and the gritty character of every day life.

Stuffed Aubergine with Lamb and Pine Nuts

Ingredients
4 medium aubergines halved lengthwise
6T olive oil
1 1/2t ground cumin
1 1/2T sweet paprika
1T ground cinnamon
2 medium onions, finely chopped
500g minced lamb
50g pine nuts
20g flat leafed parsley, chopped
2t tomato puree
2t caster sugar
150ml water
1 1/2T lemon juice
1t tamarind paste
4 cinnamon sticks
salt and black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Place the aubergine halves, skin-side down, in a roasting tin large enough to accommodate them snugly.  Brush the flesh with 4T olive oil and season with 1t of salt and plenty of black pepper.  Roast for about 20 min, until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

While the aubergines are cooking, you can start making the stuffing by heating up the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan.  Mix together the cumin, paprika and ground cinnamon and add half of this spice mix to the pan, along with the onion.  Cook on a medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, stirring often, before adding the lamb, pine nuts, parsley, tomato purée, 1t sugar, 1t salt and some black pepper.  Continue to cook and stir for another 8 min, until the meat is cooked.

Place the remaining spice mix in a bowl and add the water, lemon juice, tamarind, remaining sugar, cinnamon sticks and 1/2 t salt; mix well.

Reduce the oven temperature to 195°C.  Pour the spice mix into the bottom of the aubergine roasting tin.  Spoon the lamb mixture on top of each  aubergine.  Cover the tin tightly with foil, return to the oven and roast for 1h 30min, by which point the aubergines should be completely soft and the sauce thick  twice though the cooking, remove the foil and baste the aubergines with the sauce, adding some water if the sauce dries out.  Serve warm, not hot, or at room temperature with some bread or simple rice.

My Notes:  Lamb mince wasn't available so I substituted for beef mince and it still tasted delicious.  I forgot to cover the pan with foil during the cooking and mine dried out pretty quickly (as you can probably see by the photos).  My aubergines also cooked very quickly, so you might not need the full 1h 30min for roasting.  Instead of rice, I served mine with an adaptation of the artichoke and herb salad, using artichokes from a jar, green apple roughly cubed, finely sliced fennel and lots of fresh herbs.  Delicious!

You can get your own taste of Jerusalem on The Book Depository (here) with free international shipping.

Quick Rogan Josh and Spicy Carrot Salad

I find myself searching for more and more Monday-night-meal options lately as work has been heating up.  At home this often means leafing through Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, where I found rogan josh curry and spiced carrot salad.

I definitely seem to be a little Indian influenced recently with Saag Paneer and Chicken Tikka (here) or Channa Chat (here), but when it's home made it's easier to make healthier versions of what I would get eating out.


Quick Rogan Josh Curry with Spicy Carrot Salad

I made my own rogan josh paste using another of Jamie's recipes - he has a fabulous page with a multitude of different curry paste recipes for an easy reference (here).  I followed the recipe as written and ended up with almost exactly the right amount of paste.

I was also 'shopping in my pantry' so used frozen spinach and a tin of cannelini beans instead of chickpeas.


Curry
2 onions, sliced
1 medium pumpkin, cut into 1cm chunks
1 small cauliflower, separated into florets
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
a bunch of fresh coriander, chopped including stalks - keep a few leaves for garnish
1/2 283g jar of Patak's rogan josh paste
1x400g tin of chickpeas, rinsed
100g prewashed baby spinach
1x500g tub natural yoghurt

Cook onions in a pan with a few good lugs of olive oil, add cauliflower and pumpkin, chilli, garlic and coriander with a few good splashes of boiled water.  Add curry paste, chickpeas and half a tin of water.  Season and cook, stirring occasionally.  Closer to serving time check the consistency of the curry - add more water if needed.  Season if necessary, add spinach and stir through.  To serve, dollop some of the yoghurt onto the curry, sprinkle with coriander leaves and take to table.

Spicy Carrot Salad
a handful of flaked almonds
5 or 6 small carrots
1 fresh red chilli
a bunch of fresh coriander
2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 lemon

Toast almonds in a small pan over a medium heat, tossing until golden.  Set aside in a small bowl.  Grate carrot, chilli, most of the coriander leaves and ginger.  Tip into serving bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, add a pinch of salt.  Grate lemon zest and squeeze lemon juice over the top.  Sprinkle over the almonds and remaining coriander leaves and take to the table.

To Serve
basmati rice (cook with a few cloves for added flavour)
naan bread or chapattis or poppadoms

You're Never Too Old for a Birthday Cake

You're never too old for a decorated birthday cake!

Like so many New Zealand children, I have vivid memories of leafing through the Women's Weekly birthday cake book as my birthday approached to select my masterpiece for the year (or rather my Mum's masterpiece).  I'm pretty sure with three girls Mum made it right the way through the book several times.

With Sander's birthday on the weekend I decided to have a go at creating my own 'masterpiece', and as he is obsessed with golf (he was playing when I was deciding what to bake), the '29th Tee' seemed appropriate.

The banana cake itself was delicious - very moist from the bananas and yoghurt, with a surprise chocolate chip and walnut layer in the middle.  I think my putter-making skills need a bit of work though!

Sander's 29th Tee birthday cake

Click here for the recipe at Epicurious but here is my version with a few substitutions:

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C all-purpose white flour
• 1/2 C whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 113g unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons, melted and cooled
• 2/3 C light brown sugar
• 1/3 C dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 2/3 cup natural unsweetened yogurt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 C cocoa nibs
• 1 cup walnuts , toasted , cooled, and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C with rack in middle. Butter a round cake pan.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat together softened butter  and 3/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in eggs 1 at a time until blended. Beat in bananas, yogurt, and vanilla (mixture will look curdled).
4. By hand (or with mixer on low speed), add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
5. Toss together chocolate, nuts, cinnamon, melted butter, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Spread half of banana batter in cake pan and sprinkle with half of chocolate mixture. Spread remaining batter evenly over filling and sprinkle remaining chocolate mixture on top.
6. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean (start checking at 30 minutes), 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely, right side up.

To make the green coconut:

1. Pour dessicated coconut into a ziplock bag or plastic Tupperware container
2. Add a few drops of green food colouring and shake to distribute
3. Continue adding food colouring a few drops at a time until the coconut is green enough

To make the icing:

1. Melt about 50g of butter in a small bowl
2. Add some lemon zest (about 1/4t - more if you like) and given the lemon a squeeze
3. Slowly add sifted icing sugar, mixing, until the icing is firm
4. Add more lemon juice/zest/icing sugar to taste
5. Spread icing on cooled cake with a hot knife and sprinkle coconut on top

Enjoy!

Monday Night Meals: Channa Chat

Continuing with my Indian-influenced meals, this one is a winner.  It's quick, light, tasty and a feast for both the eyes and stomach.

The recipe is from Vegetarian, by Alice Hart (here) - a well-used gift from a few girlfriends for my birthday last year.

Channa Chat

I used a large red chilli instead of green, olive oil instead of groundnut, and hot chilli powder (love the kick).  I also had cherry tomatoes in the fridge already, so used those.  You'll see from the photos that I also added some sugar snap peas, broccoli and corn, also already in the fridge - really, you can add whatever vibrant combination of veges you like.


A word of warning - wear an apron if you're deseeding the pomegranate wearing light coloured clothes - the juice will stain and splashes are common.  The best way to deseed a pomegranate (I find) is to slice it into quarters and then use your fingers to pull pack the skin gently.  The most of the seeds will begin to fall out with a gentle nudge.  Allow the seeds to drop into a bowl/sieve and after emptying the shell, shake the loose seeds and remove any bits of the bitter white pith you see.

For the Chickpeas:

• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 T groundnut oil
• 300g cooked chickpeas, or 1x400g tin, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 t mild chilli powder
• 1 t garam masala

For the Rest:

• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
• 2 vine tomatoes, diced
• a squeeze of lemon
• 1 small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped, plus extra leaves to serve
• 4 heaped T natural yoghurt
• seeds from 1 pomegranate
• 2 large cooked poppadoms, roughly crushed

Saute the onion, ginger and chilli in oil for 5 minutes until onion is soft.  Add the chickpeas and cook for a further 5 minutes until golden.  Ad the chilli powder and garam masala and cook for another 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat, season well and set aside to cool.

Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, lemon juice and chopped coriander in a mixing bowl.  Divide between 4 plates and top with the chickpea mixture, yoghurt, pomegranate seeds and the crushed poppadoms.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves an serve before the poppadoms soften.

Do you have any Indian (or Indian-influenced) go-to recipes?

Saag Paneer and Tandoori Chicken with Garlic Naan

Palak paneer (spinach curry) is one of my favourites (along with chana marsala - chickpea curry) so when I come across the recipe here at 101 Cookbooks, I had to give it a try.  It's perfect for a Sunday night with a DVD, and it's dead easy.  This was also my first attempt at home made tandoori paste - also very easy.

Saag Paneer

The 101 Cookbooks recipe suggests baby spinach to avoid chopping out all the stems.  I actually used frozen spinach (stems and all) and blended with a stick blender towards the end.  I’ll try it again with fresh spinach and see if there’s a difference.

The recipe also suggests halloumi as a good paneer substitute (which I did) but living just over the road from Little India so I’ll get the real deal when I pick up the spinach.

I didn’t have buttermilk, so I just added some water instead, and ended up increasing the spice level, especially the chilli.

Ingredients

680g fresh (baby) spinach, well washed and dried

2 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter, or unsalted butter

230 – 340g paneer cheese, cut into 1cm cubes

2 medium onions, finely chopped

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon spice mixture* (see below)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup buttermilk

Splash of cream or dollop of plain yogurt (optional)

Fresh lemon to finish, and toasted sesame seeds to sprinkle

Chop the spinach well, and set aside in a large bowl.

Cook the paneer in one tablespoon of the butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Cook the cubes in a single layer, turning regularly to brown evenly.  If using halloumi, keep an eye out because it will brown much more quickly than paneer.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the other tablespoon of butter in a large pot. Add the onions and salt, and saute until the onions soften up, five minutes or so. Add the garlic, ginger, spice mixture, and turmeric. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and nicely combined - a minute or two.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the spinach to the pan all at once, if possible. Cook, stirring all the while, until the spinach is collapsed and wilted, a couple of minutes. If you need to add the spinach in batches (adding more spinach as it collapses), that is fine too, just do it as quickly as possible.

Stir in the buttermilk and cream and heat gently while stirring. Taste and add more salt if necessary and more red pepper flakes if you like. Add a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice, stir in the paneer, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Serves 4-6.

*Spice Mixture: Use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind the following spices as finely as possible: 2 tablespoons cumin seed, 1 tablespoons coriander seed, 2 teaspoons mustard seed, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon cardamom seeds, 3 whole cloves.  Store in an airtight container and use as needed.

Tandoori Chicken

Paste

Recipe from Taste.com.au (here)

Ingredients

·         1/2 tsp sweet paprika

·         1/4 cup lemon juice

·         5cm cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

·         2 garlic cloves, skinned

·         1 tbsp salt

·         1 teaspoon chilli paste

·         1 tbsp garam masala

·         3 tsp ground cumin

·         2 tbsp oil

·         3 tsp chilli powder

·         1 tbsp natural yoghurt

Add everything together and mix well.

Coat chicken in paste (thighs, breast, drumsticks), cover and set aside for several hours.  Cook the chicken over a coal grill for a more authentic flavour.  I fried mine in a pan.

Serves 4

Garlic Naan

Soften several tablespoons of butter and mix in some well chopped parsley and minced garlic.  Dot naan with butter mixture and heat in an oven until piping hot.

Nothing left but crumbs!

What are your favourite Sunday night recipes?

April 30-Day Challenge: 28th Daily Limerick - Sunday Morning Pancakes

Sunday mornings should start with pancakes.

A few minutes is all that it takes.

At the pantry I muse

As I struggle to choose

Between chunky oat or lemony crepes.

Healthy banana bread pancakes

All Sunday mornings should be pancake mornings.  Quite possibly the easiest breakfast to whip up, and there's no one to see if I forgo cutlery and lick my fingers afterwards!

This morning I decided to go for chunky banana bread pancakes (here), but these crepes (here) are also a firm favourite, with much better finger-licking potential.

Crepe cooking in action

What's your favourite pancake recipe?

The Perfect Cookie - Chocolate Chips, Cocoa Nibs and Walnuts

Found:  the perfect cookie!

I'd been sitting on the recipe for a few weeks wondering where I could find cocoa nibs (quite difficult in Singapore) when I spotted a suspicious looking package at the Living Cafe (review here) - voilà!  As luck would have it, a wee girl I know was turning one and throwing a party, providing the perfect excuse to get baking.

They are utterly delicious (if I do say so myself).  Luckily I had already committed to taking them for the birthday party, because otherwise I would have stashed them and eaten the whole batch myself, I'm sure of it.

What are cocoa nibs, and what makes them so special?

Cocoa nibs are what you get after cracking the roasted cocoa bean when making chocolate.  After cracking, the nibs are ground into a paste ("liquor") which is then turned into chocolate by adding more cocoa butter and sugar, or turned into cocoa powder by separating out the cocoa butter.

Cocoa nibs are high in theobromine, which is used to treat high blood pressure and hypertension.  The proof is in the biscuit - guaranteed to make you feel gooooood!

Go on, take another one!


Chocolate Chip, Cocoa Nib and Toasted Walnut Cookies Topped with Artisan Sea Salt

The recipe (here) is from one of my favourite blogs - Design*Sponge - who has a regular 'In the Kitchen With' column with a plethora of talented contributors.  This perfect cookie was created by Jennifer Martine.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 sticks organic unsalted butter
• 2 large organic eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
• 3 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups toasted chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup cocoa nibs
• sprinkled sea salt crystals on top (optional)

Preparation

1. Mix both sugars and butter until soft, and add eggs to the mixer one at a time. Then add vanilla, then baking soda and then salt while continuing to mix. Next, add the flour one cup at a time. Last, fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts and cocoa nibs.

2. Drop teaspoon-sized amounts of the dough onto a non-stick sheet pan, or even better, use a baking stone and top with a few sea salt crystals.

3. Bake at 325ºF for 15–18 min. or until the edges are browned or they reach your preferred doneness. I personally love them a bit overdone so they get crispy, almost candy-like. Serve with cold milk, a glass of pinot or port. — Enjoy!!!

Chilli Chocolate Bundt Cake - Chocolate with a Kick!

When I first saw this recipe for a chocolate bundt cake on 101 Cookbooks I was half way through my sugar-free March challenge (more about that here). I couldn't wait for March to be over so I could try it.  A perfectly timed Sunday dinner on April 1^st gave me the excuse I needed (more on that here).

Two things stood out when I looked over the recipe: (1) this recipe doesn't require creaming butter and sugar - great for me since I don't have a stand mixer (hint hint, KitchenAid, birthday, Christmas, hint hint) and (2) this recipe is crying out for the addition of chilli.

The recipe from 101 Cookbooks uses a bundt tin, but I didn't have one so I split the batter into a loaf tin, a muffin tin and four soufflé ceramics. The muffin tin came out first (after 10 minutes), then the soufflé ceramics (5 minutes more) and then the loaf tin (another 5 minutes).

I added about 2t of chilli powder to the cocoa and butter mixture. The end result definitely had a kick, so if you're adding the chilli (highly recommended) then start with 1t and keep tasting.

To serve for dessert

From the muffin tin

Here is the exact recipe (without chilli) from 101 Cookbooks – an awesome blog if you’re a foodie!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

I use less butter here, than most other cakes of this sort. And I'd argue, you can't really tell. That said, scaling back much more beyond this wasn't a good idea. Also, I use buttermilk in the icing because I typically have it on hand, but you can certainly substitute stout/porter or water.

Chocolate Bundt Cake:

2 cups / 475 ml chocolate porter or stout beer

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan

3/4 cup / 75g natural cocoa powder (non-dutched)

1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour

1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g all-purpose flour

1 cup / 4.25 oz / 120 g muscovado or dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups / 355 ml plain whole yogurt

3/4 cup / 180 ml pure maple syrup

Chocolate Buttermilk Icing:

3/4 cup / 2.75 oz / 75 g powdered sugar

1/4 cup / 25g natural cocoa powder (non-dutched)

2 tablespoons buttermilk

flaky sea salt, to serve

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C, with a rack in the center.

Butter and flour (generously) a 11 or 12-cup capacity bundt pan (or equivalent). As I mention up above, you can bake this in other cake pans, just be mindful to avoid filling the pan(s) more than 2/3 - 3/4 full. Adjust the baking time as well - baking until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and the center tests clean when you insert a knife.

In a saucepan simmer the beer down to 1 cup / 240 ml. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the cocoa powder, mixing until smooth, then set aside to cool, stirring occasionally to let off heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, and maple syrup. Whisk well, until nicely blended and uniform in appearance. Gradually add the (cooled) stout mixture, stirring all the while. Stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture, folding until just blended, using as few strokes as possible.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 45 minutes if using the bundt pan, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You really don't want to over bake this cake - err on the slightly moist side if anything. Remove from the oven, and turn out onto a cooling rack after seven minutes.

In the meantime, make the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, cocoa, and buttermilk. Really go at it for at least a minute. The icing should end up smooth and creamy looking, adjust with a touch of powdered sugar or a few extra drops of buttermilk if you want to tweak the consistency at all. When the cake is completely cool, run the icing around the top with an offset spatula and let it set.

Serve sprinkled with a bit of flaky sea salt. But don't sprinkle with flakes of salt until ready to serve, or you'll end up with little divots.

Makes one chocolate bundt cake.

Prep time: 25 min - Cook time: 45 min

Italian Inspired Sunday Roast Dinner

What's not to love about Sunday dinners? Nice wine, great company; they're ultra relaxed and the perfect way to ease out of the weekend.

Inspired by the delivery of the April/May issue of Dish magazine, I set about creating an Italian-inspired menu. I didn't want too many courses and was searching for something that could cook unaccompanied so I wasn't a slave to the kitchen - missing out on the conversation. I also wanted to keep the vestige of the Sunday roast.  With that in mind, I settled on Roast Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Thyme, Crispy Roast Potatoes with Bay Leaves and Garlic and a Green Bean and Fennel Salad with Tomato Raisins. For dessert I made Chilli Chocolate Bundt Cakes and served them with passion fruit coulis, yoghurt and blueberries.

To help you with timing, here’s what I did:

Prepare in advance:  marinate chicken, semi cook potatoes, cook green beans, chilli chocolate bundt cakes and tomato raisins

Prepare just before getting ready/changed: wrap chicken, brown thighs, dress salad in container, get oven to temperature

40 mins before serving dinner:  chicken and potatoes in oven

Just before serving:  salad onto serving platter (or do in advance if you can leave it on the bench - it's too warm in Singapore)

Roast chicken with grapes and thyme

Marinate the chicken overnight if possible

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/4 C olive oil

2 cloves garlic

2T chopped rosemary or thyme

finely grated lemon zest

8 strips streaky bacon

1T olive oil

2 red onions, sliced

2 bay leaves

1C white wine

1C chicken stock

2C seedless grapes

2T chopped flat leaf parsley

8 toothpicks or kitchen string

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lemon zest in a large bowl and season. Add the chicken and turn to coat well.  Wrap each piece of chicken in a strip of bacon and secure with toothpick or kitchen string,

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan and brown the chicken on all sides.  Transfer to a plate. Drain off most of the fat, leaving 2 tablespoons in the pan.  Add the onions and bay leaves and cook for 2 minutes.  Pour in the wine and let it bubble up rapidly, scraping the bottom of the pan to release all the crispy bits. Stir in the stock then return the chicken and any meat juices to the pan and roast for 30 minutes. Add the grapes and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through.

To serve: Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Stir the parsley into the pan juices and spoon the grapes and sauce over the top.

Serves 4

I should wrap more things in bacon...

Crispy Roast Potatoes with Bay Leaves and Garlic

1kg small waxy potatoes, scrubbed

8 bay leaves

12 whole garlic cloves, skin on

3T olive oil

Large knob of butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 180°C

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until 3/4 cooked.  Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle then scrape each potato with a fork to rough up the surface.

Place in a large roasting dish with the bay leaves and garlic cloves and toss with olive oil. Season generously and dot with the butter. Roast for 40 minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp, golden and tender when pierced with a knife.  Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Serves 4

Green Beans and Fennel Salad with Tomato Raisins

400g round green beans

1 very small red onion, finely sliced

3T olive oil

1T white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, crushed

2T chopped mint plus extra mint for garnish

1 medium fennel bulb, finely sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Tomato Raisins

1 punned cherry tomatoes

Olive Oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 100°C

Place tomatoes on a lined baking tray and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake for about 11/2 hours until shrivelled and golden in patches. Cool.

Salad:  Cook the beans in plenty of boiling salted water until done to your liking. Drain and refresh in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Drain and dry on kitchen towels.

Soak the onion in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel.

Whisk the oil, vinegar and garlic in a bowl and season then stir in the mint.  Toss the beans, onion, fennel and half the tomatoes with the dressing and transfer to a serving platter. Scatter with the remaining tomatoes, a grind of black pepper and extra mint.

Serves 4

Tomato Raisins - before

And after - now you see why they're called Tomato Raisins

Click here for the Chilli Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe.

Here's a sneak peek to keep you interested...

Ruby Rhubarb

Do certain foods plunge you down memory lane at 100 miles an hour?  Rhubarb is one of those foods for me.  It conjures up my mum, breakfasts, desserts, the veggie garden, and my pony.

What?!  My pony?  Yup!  Because aside from being an incredibly delicious food, rhubarb leaves are really toxic and it would be disastrous if my pony leaned over the veggie garden fence and ate them.  Did you know that rhubarb is actually a vegetable?  It's from the same family (Polygonaceae) as buckwheat and sorrel.

While wandering through the farmers market (here) I spotted some raw rhubarb for sale.    This veggie is not at all common in Singapore, so I couldn't pass up a chance to recreate Mum's stewed rhubarb for my breakfast - perfect with breakfast quinoa (recipe here) and a few dollops of yoghurt.

I've only ever stewed rhubarb, and eaten it as a breakfast or dessert food.  How else can it be eaten?

Don't forget the chia sprinkle

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta

I love it when you stumble on to a healthy, rich, filling and quick Monday night meal.  Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, you can eat this with your fingers!

Cooks Notes:  I used only a small glug of oil (original recipe calls for 1/4 C) and four eggs instead of eight.  Instead of the sweet paprika I used the same volume of smoked paprika tabasco sauce, and pickled jalapenos from a jar I had in the fridge.  I forgot to add feta, but sprinkled parmesan over the pan at the end and it tasted delicious.

This recipe is from my favourite iPhone/iPad app - Epicurious.

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta

Glug of olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeños, chopped
1 400g can chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoon of smoked paprika tabasco sauce (in place of 2 teaspoons of sweet paprika)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 400g can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, juices reserved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup coarsely crumbled feta (I forgot this)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (I forgot this too!)
Warm pita bread

Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeños; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Add chickpeas, paprika, and cumin and cook for 2 minutes longer.

Add crushed tomatoes and their juices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle feta evenly over sauce. Crack eggs one at a time and place over sauce, spacing evenly apart. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 5–8 minutes. Garnish with parsley and cilantro. Serve with pita for dipping.

Spicy Sausage with Eggplant, Chickpeas and Spinach

Looking to spice things up a little?  Give this spicy lamb and eggplant dish a whirl - you won't regret it, I promise.

The recipe is the January issue of Cuisine magazine (bought during my recent NZ trip).


Spicy Sausage with Eggplant, Chickpeas and Spinach

Serves 4

Ingredients
3/4 C canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Olive oil for frying
500g spicy lamb sausage, sliced on diagonal
2 eggplants, cut into large chunks
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons harissa (or more if you like it hot) -- if you don't have harissa use 1teaspoon of lightly crushed cumin seeds and chilli flakes
1 teaspoons coriander seeds, lightly crushes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 C water
150g baby spinach
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Method
Brown sausages in a little bit of oil in large saucepan over medium heat and then set aside.  Add a little more oil and lightly colour the eggplants in batches - set aside.  Cool garlic for about one minute then add harissa and coriander seeds and cook for a further few minutes until fragrant.  Add tomato paste and chickpeas, and cook for a further few minutes.  Stir in the sausages and eggplant, and then the water.  Mix well and cover for 20 minutes.

Stir in spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper, then scatter pine nuts.

Serving options:  couscous, rice or crusty bread and a yoghurt dressing (cucumber, yoghurt and coriander)

My notes:  I didn't have harissa, so I used the cumin/chilli alternative and added a dollop of sambal (courtesy of Monngang, our guide from our Indonesian adventure - click here) for heat.

Healthy and Delicious Banana Bread Pancakes

Feeling a little fuzzy this morning, I decided to make myself some banana bread pancakes I'd seen in a fabulous blog I follow called My New Roots (definitely check it out!).  Wow, talk about a winner!  Not only are these healthy (yes, they are) and tasty, they're gluten-free (and totally flour-free) and are easy peasy to whip up using ingredients I always have in my pantry.  Considering I usually have oats and milk for breakfast, all that's different here is the addition of honey, baking soda, walnuts, some olive oil and some vanilla essence.

The recipe is for two, and despite being incredibly rich, I polished off half for breakfast and half for afternoon tea (yup, they're fantastic cold as well).

Here's the recipe.

Pho-bsession

Breakfast over Christmas and New Year took on a different form this year.  Between the five of us we must have consumed litres of delicious, delectable phở (pronounced 'fur').  Our breakfast obsession led us on a breakfast-time venue hop around the Old Quarter of Hanoi where we were the often the only Western faces around (apart from a few gazing curiously at us from the street).  Our search was over when we found Phở 10.

Our phở venues were always packed, but it never mattered too much because one huge difference between Vietnamese street-side restaurants and food markets and their counterparts in Singapore is that patrons in Vietnam are happy to move (or be moved) to make way for new customers.  The number of times two small groups of people shuffled around so our bigger (in physical size and numbers) group could sit down were countless.  God forbid you try that in Singapore – you’d get the death stare at best, and I shudder to imagine what at worst.

Over the nine days we played around with different accompaniment combinations – chili sauce, fresh chili, lime, coriander, fish sauce, bread… my favourite combination was three or four small drops of chili sauce, a couple of slices of fresh chili – but no seeds, two quarters of lime, a squirt of fish sauce and a bread stick to sop up extra juices.  Just spicy enough to jump start your morning, not so spicy that the sweat starts to prickle my scalp.

Prior to this Vietnam trip I was definitely a phở ga (chicken) devotee, courtesy of my friend Paul’s mum, who makes the best phở in New Zealand – hands down.  Now I must admit I prefer phở bo (beef), especially when the beef is raw fillet (it's sliced to finely it cooks almost instantly when the broth is poured over).  

Now, back in Singapore my obsession has shifted from eating someone else's to recreating my own phở.  I found this authentic-looking recipe (at least to my untrained eyes) on Epicurious and gave it a whirl on Sunday.  Not bad for a first attempt, but definitely a few things to learn for next time.  Beef is veeeerrrry expensive in Singapore, so I skimped by omitting the chuck and picking a knuckle with less meat on it – big mistake.  The finely sliced fillet was delicious but the broth lacked the deep meaty flavor.  Next time I will make sure my knuckle has enough meat, and definitely add the chuck.  I’ll add a bit more salt as well.

It’s actually a really easy recipe, but the simmer takes a long time.  As the recipe suggests, it might be easier to start in advance.  Apparently phở broth will keep in the fridge for around three days – I’m wondering how well it freezes…

Here’s the link to the recipe – if you can’t make it to Phở 10 in Hanoi, it’s a great alternative.  Let me know how you get on!

Where:  Phở 10, corner of Chân Cầm and Lý Quốc Sư, Hanoi

Authentic Hanoi version

My version

Coriander, mint, chilli, sprouts, lime, fish sauce... glass of red wine!

The kitchen of  Pho 10 - that could be my bowl in the foreground

I know it's well over due, but I promise I'm getting there with a few posts on my Northern Vietnam Christmas/New Year holiday (or food extravaganza) AND volcano-climbing in Java.  Stay tuned.