Tag Archives: cooking blog

Spinach and chickpea curry with potato stuffed parathas – free recipe

10 Wednesday Nov 2010

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This recipe is really easy and, though I do say so myself, the stuffed parathas are really, really nice. I hope you enjoy the recipes.

Ingredients – Chickpea curry

1 can chickpeas

A handful of green beans

1/2 can coconut cream

2tsp Massel chicken-style stock powder

1 squeeze Gourmet Garden Mild Chilli

1 squeeze Gourmet Garden Garlic

1 squeeze Gourmet Garden Ginger

1/2 sweet potatoes cut into dice

Olive oil

water

salt to taste

Method

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil gently and add the chopped sweet potato and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the washed, shredded spinach (or silverbeet) and put the lid on for 2 minutes.  Top and tail the beans and add. Stir in the chilli, garlic and ginger and add the drained chickpeas. Stir well for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut cream and a similar amount of water. Cook on a gentle simmer with lid on, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes and beans are cooked. Serve with potato stuffed parathas.

Ingedients – Potato stuffed parathas

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry

5 medium potatoes

A bunch of fresh coriander

Salt to taste

Sunflower oil

Method

Peel, cut and boil the potatoes in salted water until they are soft enough to mash but not so soft they are water logged. Take the pastry sheets out of the freezer and allow to thaw slightly while you prepare the filling.

Chop half the bunch of coriander. Mash the potatoes and then stir in the coriander. Taste the mixture and season it with salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Cut each sheet of pastry into quarters. Take one quarter and spread the warm potato mixture over it almost to the edges. Then place a second pastry quarter over the top and seal the edges by pressing with a fork all the way around. Put this one on to cook while you prepare the others. To cook, you need a non-stick frypan and 1/2 a teaspoon of oil. Heat the frypan to moderately hot and place the potato stuffed paratha on it. Lift from time to time to ensure that it isn’t getting burnt. The oil in the puff pastry together with the tiny amount you’ve added will be enough to make it crisp up. Once it is browned flip it over and cook the other side.

If you like you can add chilli to the mash for an extra boost of flavour.

Date and coconut scones – free recipe

08 Monday Nov 2010

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We’ve been on a sugar-free regime at my house for the last couple of months. It’s going really well but sometimes I like a little something sweet. This recipe has NO Sugar and uses Splenda but you can change that for the same amount of sugar if you prefer.

Ingredients

250g self-raising flour

30g butter

1 cup coconut cream

1/2 cup Splenda

1/2 dried dates chopped

2 tbsp full cream milk powder

Method

Cut the butter into the self-raising flour with a round-bladed knife and then rub in with clean hands until it has the consistency of fresh breadcrumbs.

Add the Splenda, chopped dates and milk powder and mix well.

Once all the dried ingredients are thoroughly mixed you can add the coconut cream (make sure it is cream and not milk). Add a little at a time mixing with your round-bladed knife. Once the either the mixture is wet enough for you to bring it together into a ball, or you have used the whole cup of coconut cream, use your hand to gently bring it together into a ball. DO NOT KNEAD – if you do the scones will be tough!

Turn the dough out onto a board where you have scattered desiccated coconut. (You can use a floured board if you like but this gives a nicer texture to the finished scones.)

Cut them into rounds with a cutter – I use a champagne flute – and place on a greased silicone tray.

Cook at 200degC for 8 minutes then turn up to 220degC (and put the fan on if you have one) for another 4 minuets.

The scones should be a light brown and the desiccated coconut should be nicely toasted. This recipes makes 12. Serve warm or cold, split with a little butter. Enjoy!

Tasty red lentil dhal – free recipe

18 Wednesday Aug 2010

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I love dhal. It’s one of my comfort foods just as much as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is. Sometimes I serve it along with a main dish, salad and rice and sometimes just with rice. I made this one last night. It took less than 30 minutes from start to finish. While it does a have little midl chilli added it is not spicy, more piquant and really tasty.

Tasty red lentil dhal

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

1 can of chickpeas, drained

1 medium sweet potato cut into chunks

1 medium onion finely chopped

handful of green beans, topped and tailed

bunch of coriander

10 cherry tomatoes

2 heaped tsps of Massell Chicken-style stock

1 squirt of Gourmet Garden mild chilli

1/2 squirt (you know what I mean) of Gourmet Garden garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

25-30g of butter

water

salt to taste

Method

Put the red lentils in a bowl and cover with cold water. Swish them around so the water becomes cloudy and then decant the water off into the sink. Repeat this two more times. If you don’t wash the lentils like this you will get an unsightly scum on your dhal.

Place the oil and butter in a heavy saucepan and heat on medium heat until the butter is melted and foamy. Add the onions and cook until they start to turn opaque then add the lentils and stir well. They should become opaque and buttery coloured. As they begin to change colour add the garlic and mild chilli. Stir constantly so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Then add the chickpeas, stir through and add enough water to cover. Add the sweet potato chunks and the chicken-style stock and give it a good stir. When the stock boils turn it down to a simmer and add the green beans. Cook with the lid on until the sweet potato is cooked.

While the dhal is cooking cut the cherry tomatoes in half and roughly chop half of the bunch of coriander. When the dhal is cooked pour into a large bowl and stir in the raw tomatoes and coriander. Add salt to taste. Serve with steamed or boiled rice for a simple meal. Or add a salad and/or a main such as chicken curry for a more flash meal.

Smoked chicken and leek quiche – free recipe

26 Monday Jul 2010

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Last night we had smoked chicken and leek quiche and I thought you might like the recipe so you can try it for yourself. It really was tasty.

Smoked chicken and leek quiche

Smoked chicken and leek quiche

Quiche pastry ingredients

260g plain flour

40g self-raising flour

60g butter

8-9 tbsp water (depends on the flour as some are drier than others)

pinch of salt

1/2tsp oregano

1/2tsp paprika

Quiche pastry method (for an 11 inch quiche dish)

Mix the flours, salt and herbs in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and then rub in until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. Add the water and mix in with a round-bladed knife. Knead the pastry gently until it forms a ball and leaves the sides of the bowl clear. The less kneading the better as the more you work the dough, the more you will develop the gluten and the pastry will become tough. Turn it out onto a lightly floured board and roll out to fit your quiche dish.  Grease the dish lightly and line with the pastry. Don’t cut to size until the filling is ready. Set aside and leave it to rest while you make the filling. Turn your oven on to preheat it to 200C.

Smoked chicken and leek quiche filling ingredients

1 small pack of smoked chicken (you won’t use all of it so some will be left over for sandwiches)

2 medium leeks

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small carton of sour cream

4 large eggs

Smoked chicken and leek filling method

Cut the dark green tops and the roots off the leeks, remove the outer layer and then split lengthwise.  Wash under running water to remove any grit that is between the leaves. Slice the leeks and sauté in the olive oil until the leeks are slightly caramellised then remove from the heat. Remove the skin and any fat from the smoked chicken breast and slice. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly then pour in the sour cream and whisk gently until homogenous. Don’t be too vigorous here you just want the sour cream mixed in thoroughly.

Place the leeks in the bottom of the pastry case and then trim the pastry. Layer the smoked chicken on top of the leeks. You need enough chicken to cover the leeks. Pour the sour cream/ egg mix over the chicken. Sprinkle either a little paprika or a little oregano on the top. Place the quiche in the middle of the oven for around 40 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with fresh salad.

Note about seasoning: I don’t add salt to this recipe because the smoked chicken is fairly salty and I think if people want it saltier then they can add it themselves.

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