crayfish fettuccine with herbs and lemon

This is what I had for my dinner last night at work.  Yes I ate all that crayfish for myself.  The family had fresh snapper so I didn't feel too bad.   Fish and crayfish caught out at Great barrier Island courtesy of Dean and Phillipa, Thank you.

Start by chopping about 6 cloves of garlic finely and adding it to the fry pan with sizzling herb butter and some olive oil.  Gently cook the garlic.  Turn off the pan if gets too hot.  Meanwhile cook the pasta (about 225g) or enough for 2-4 people.
Once the pasta is cooked add to the herb butter along with zest and juice of 2 lemons more chopped herbs, whatever you have (basil,chervil, tarragon, parsley) as long as it is fresh.  Use plenty.  Finish up with the cooked chopped crayfish a few shakes of chile flakes and salt and pepper and loosen up with some pasta water and olive oil.

crunchy chicken and sticky rice with 3 sauces of awesome

This meal seems to be my kids favourite at the moment.  It is very good and I bet there isn't a kid out there who wouldn't agree.  The 3 sauces of awesome (that is what Finn calls them) bring it all together.
The 3 sauces of awesome are tarmari soy sauce, kewpie mayonaise and sweet chile sauce.  There is something about the combination of all 3 that is just deliciousness.

The chicken tenderloins are coated in rice or corn flour dipped in beaten egg then crumbed in panko and glutenfree crumbs for Finn and of course 2-3 tablespoons of sesame seeds.
The rice is of the sticky variety and the coleslaw is green and red cabbage with grated carrot.
Just have a little bit of everything in each mouthful.

soy maple glazed grilled salmon

 I have a sort of love hate relationship with salmon.  I know it is very good for you and probably one of the top ten healthiest foods but I just seem to struggle with it.  I have decided that I just need to buy it and give it a go, so today I did.

This is the quickest, simplest way to cook it.
I used equal parts tamari soy sauce and 100% maple syrup, a tablespoon of each was enough.

I grilled it in the oven for 3 lots of 3 minutes basting at each interval and it came out perfect.
This was a 200g piece.
I ate it just like that, the sweetness and salty of the glaze seems to cut through the richness just right.  A squeeze of lime juice wouldn't go a miss either.
I think some sticky rice would go nicely with it for next time.
Don't use baking paper like I did as it burnt, so I would recommend foil instead.

chile, kaffir lime leave beef with fat rice noodles

This was my lunch the other day.  I had some beef left over and I got a craving for rice noodles,
so without putting a lot of thought to it, this is what I came up with.

For the marinade I used

sliced fresh ginger
kaffir lime leaves
2 chilies
2 tablespoons brown sugar
sesame oil
tamari soy sauce
fish sauce

Sorry not good with the quantities as it just came out of the bottle.  Just taste it.

Let the beef marinade for a while,  1/2 an hour is good.
Then cook the beef in batches in a wok or a fry pan on high heat very quickly and then remove from the pan.
Meanwhile cook your noodles in boiling water for about 5-6 mins, check them though.
Add the noodles and beef back to the wok and pour over the marinade (with all of the bits in it) and add a bit more of any of the sauces if you want too.
I finished it up with the herbs from the garden, coriander, mint and basil and some chopped peanuts.
Actually there was some cabbage in there too, I must have cooked that after the beef.
The kaffir lime leaves are definitely the star of the dish.

cheap easy lazy chicken dinner

 I was working yesterday so I just grabbed some vegetables and some chicken drumsticks from the butcher in greenlane on my way home.  This is
just a throw together dinner and I know it looks like it too.

For this dinner you will need - feeds 5

• 2 kg of chicken drumsticks (that equates to about 15)
• 10 carrots ( at least, peeled and split in half)
• 5 onions (red or brown will do chopped into quarters)
• a bunch of asparagus
• a bag of beans
• lots of salt and pepper

Put the carrots and onions in the bottom of a large roasting pan with lots of salt and pepper.  Put the chicken on top with more salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil.

Put it in the oven at about 190c for twenty minute episodes.  Pull it out and give it a toss in the fat that is rendering from the chicken.  Nothing really comes together for at least and hour.  I think I did another 20 minutes as well.  Just keep going until it looks the way you want it too.  The chicken is just releasing  its juices and creating a delicious sauce.

 When the asparagus is so thin and fresh like this I just pour on boiling water to cook it and it stays in the water until I am ready to use it without over cooking it.  For the beans I steamed them for 4-5 mins and then blanched them in ice water.
To assemble, find a large platter lay down the chicken with the carrots and onions followed by the greens and then pour on the pan juices.  Then add more salt and pepper.  This dish would so not do when I was a kid because I had very strong views about not allowing my different food groups to touch.  I would be horrified if that came to the table like that.  Anyway I have grown up now.
This is a really simple and easy satisfying dish.  The time is in the cooking so put it on early.

 Dinner was followed by strawberries and icing sugar.

beef salad with thai dressing

Well I thought it was about time that I got myself organised and started posting again.
This was what I had for lunch yesterday, left overs from last nights dinner. The beef and the dressing were the same but the choice of vegetables were different.
What really makes this salad good is the dressing the coriander and mint, some crunchy vegetables topped of with some peanuts and deep fried shallots and of course some chile.

For this salad I used

• lettuce leaves
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• yellow pepper
• cucumber
• a little bit of carrot, just because I like carrot
• avocado
• spring onions
• red chile
• mint
• fresh coriander
• asparagus was used on the sat night
• chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• deep fried shallots
• And don't forget the beef,  I used finely sliced BBQ rump

The dressing is really simple and goes perfectly with the beef, herbs and crunchy toppings

• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or more depending on how sweet you like it
• 2 tsps of fish sauce
• I also used some kaffir lime leaves as they were in the garden pounded in the mortar and pestle with the sugar before I added the juice and fish sauce

Combine until all the sugar has dissolved and add at the very last minute before serving

Actually this is what the salad really looked like before I ate it.

lemon chicken

I have never made lemon chicken before but I decided to yesterday as I had a big bag of Meyer lemons and some left over chicken thighs in the fridge.  I used Neil Perry's recipe from his book 'balance and harmony'.  Actually now that I am looking at it I didn't follow it exactly.
I will give you his recipe and then tell you what I did differently.

For this recipe you will need

• 300g chicken thighs cut into 1 cm slices - I cut mine bigger
• 1 egg lightly beaten - I used an extra egg yolk
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of cornflour
• vegetable oil for deep frying - I use my wok
• 2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar - I used rice wine vinegar
• a pinch of Sichuan pepper - I didn't have any - I used chile powder and sesame seeds
• 2 spring onions

Put the chicken, egg and sea salt in a bowl, toss together and leave for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the egg, allowing the excess to drip away, and toss in the cornflour until evenly coated.  I actually added the flour to the egg mixture and formed a batter (by accident).

Heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer until smoking (180C) and deep fry the chicken pieces until golden and cooked through, then drain on paper towel.  I shallow fried and turned them over.

For the sauce, finely grate the zest from half a lemon, then juice the whole lemon. Peel and fillet the other lemon.  Put the sugar, vinegar, 3 tablespoons water, lemon fillets, zest and juice in a small pot.  Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and remove form heat. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with Sichuan pepper and spring onions to serve.  I added a little cornflour so the sauce was thicker.

These are really just glorified chicken nuggets that would go with any type of sauce.

tomato chicken pappardelle

Lily and my favourite pasta at the moment is pappardelle, big wide ribbons of deliciousness.
This is a simple sauce which is just my sweet tomato sauce  that I use for just about everything.  I did add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the sauce to add more depth of flavour (but not essential).  The key to the sauce is to make sure you reduce it right down so there is no liquid left.

For this recipe I used

• 3 serves of pappardelle
• 2-3 tablespoons of tomato sauce - you don't need much
• 1 chicken thigh chopped
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped italian parsley
• parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper 
• olive oil

Put your pasta on first.  Cook your chicken in a large fry pan (so that you can add the cooked pasta to the pan).  Next add the tomato sauce, then the pasta, followed by the parsley.  Add some pasta water to loosen it up a bit.  Toss it all around, serve in it your favourite bowl and add some olive oil and parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Other recipes that use my basic sweet tomato sauce can be found here and here on pizza, here with spicy lamb and lebanese bread and here, with meatballs and couscous.

brown rice salad with butternut pumpkin

I made this salad yesterday to use up the ingredients that are floating around in my kitchen.  I have had a butternut pumpkin sitting on my bench for over a week now and the nut mix was not going to be nice if I didn't use it soon.  The last of the goat cheese was used and so was the sweet tomato sauce that was left over from the weekend dinner.  There are always onions and brown rice in my pantry.

For this  salad I used

1 cup of uncooked brown rice - cooked
1 butternut pumpkin - that was a lot you probably only need to use half
handful of nuts that I toasted  (tasti do a nut mix that have cashews, pumpkins seeds, sliced almonds and pinenuts)
2 onions cut into 1/8ths
bulb of garlic (optional) I over cooked most of mine
handful of water cress or rocket
chile flakes
a few crumbles of goat cheese or feta
chopped chives - they were in the garden - you can use any herb
sweet tomato sauce dressing

Start off by cooking your rice.  I did that as soon as I was up so it was already to go at lunch time.
Next cut your  pumpkin into whatever size you like.  (Jacob said he thought ours was too big).
Roast with the onions and garlic.  Divide up the bulb but leave the skins on.  I like to put all in a bowl and mix with the olive oil and salt and pepper before putting in the roasting pan so they all get a good coating.  Space out the vegetables as they will go soggy and gently turn them over 3-4 times during their cooking time.  A little care is required so the pumpkin retains it shape.  If the onions are getting too scorched, take them out ahead of the pumpkin.
While the veges are cooking make the dressing.  Use 2 tablespoons of the sweet tomato sauce along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.  Whisk together and add to the brown rice along with some chile flakes and combine well.  Always a good idea to dress your rice first so it can absorb the flavour and it doesn't mush up your vege if you added it later.
Once the veges have cooked to your liking let them cool for about 15 mins then add to the rice mixture along with the rest of the ingredients.

Roast chicken, Israeli couscous, roast cabbage

This is a really simple easy dinner.
I tend to roast 2 chickens so we have plenty for dinner, leftovers for lunches and 2 carcasses to make chicken stock.

I like to roast my chickens on a bed of sliced onions, lots of maldon salt and olive oil.  I used 4 onions.
I put a lemon cut in half and some rosemary up its bum for some flavour.  This does mean a longer cooking time if you have something in the cavity.

I put the chickens in a 200C oven for 20 minutes and then turn down to 180C for another 2 lots of 30 minutes basting as you go.  Keep the onions tucked under the birds so they don't burn too much.
I do not turn them over during the cooking time, as I think it makes for better presentation.
Once the chickens are done remove from the roasting pan as you want to make way for the cabbage.
Take out the onions and some of the juices for the couscous leaving just enough to coat the cabbage.
Slice the cabbage into thin wedges.  I have used half a cabbage and coat in the juices at the bottom of the pan, finally add some salt and pepper and roast for about 10 - 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on it as it can scorch easily, this does add to the flavour though.

For the couscous, cook as the packet directs.  You can do this in advance as it doesn't have to be hot.  Add the onions and the some of the saved chicken juices from the roasting pan  and squeeze the juice from one of the lemons from the cavity and add what ever else you like.  I added 1/2 a finely chopped red onion and some sliced raw spinach and italian parsley, (just because it was in the garden).  I wanted to add some chives but I forgot about them.

 Really simple and devine and enjoyed by all...
I have the left overs for my dinner  tonight at work along with some of the beetroot relish that was left over from the previous post.

carrot curry chicken soup

I haven't made a carrot soup before as the thought  hasn't really inspired me.
I do like carrots so I thought I would give it ago.  Anything with vegetables and chicken stock has got to be good.

For this recipe I used -   Serves 4 people

• 6 medium carrots roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions roughly sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 2 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks
• 275 mls approx of homemade chicken stock
• 1 table spoon of homemade curry powder
• S and P
• chopped chives

Start off by frying the chicken pieces in a fry pan on medium heat with a small bit of olive oil to render some fat by browning the skin.  You are not cooking the chicken.  Take out the chicken and put aside.
Add the onions and garlic to the pan with the chicken fat and gently cook for a couple of minutes and then add the curry powder and salt and pepper.  Remember fat is flavour.

Next in goes the carrots, give them a stir around and deglaze with stock which will also cook the carrots.  This will only take about 10 - 15 minutes.
Taste for flavour.  It should be pretty good.  Let it cool and whiz in your blender or what ever whizzing device you have.  I used my stick blender.
Meanwhile remove the skin from the chicken add it to the wizzed soup that you have put back in a pot and cook for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove, take the chicken off the bones.  You can either add the chicken back to the soup at this stage or just add it to the top of the before serving.
 

 I added a little bit of water after I whizzed it as it was a little thick.
Add some chopped chives or any other green herb you have if you want too.

prawn pasta

I decided to make this for lunch today as my old friend and neighbour Cathy who now lives in Canada, left me a comment saying she had made my prawn linguine.  I love to get comments and feedback as it reminds me of some of the recipes that I haven't made in a while.  This recipe is not the same as I didn't have all the ingredients.  I have come up with a flavour base that is not new but one that I have not done before.  That is to melt anchovies with garlic and olive oil.   Really delicious..

For this recipe I used

• 500g of dried linguine or bavette pasta
• 400g of raw prawns
• 4 large anchovies in oil
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of capers
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 cup of chicken stock ( I used some stock that I had  made from the scampi tail shells that I had in the freezer.)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• a few shakes of chile flakes
• handful of italian parsley
• black pepper

Start off heating a good glug of olive oil in a large frying pan on low heat.  Add the garlic and anchovies.  You do not want the garlic to colour.  Once the anchovies had melted in the oil add the capers, chile flakes and tomato paste.  Stir around and cook the rawness out of the tomato paste and then deglaze with the stock.  Let it bubble away and reduce by at least half.  Add the prawns.  They will only takes minutes to cook through.  Next goes the butter, zest, and parsley.  The butter thickens it up a little.  Lastly add the cooked pasta to the pan mix through the lemon juice and the black pepper.

easy stirfry

Like the fried rice recipe this has no rules.

I know the stirfry is very 80s - 90s but it is a goodie for a week night family dinner.
We would probably have some sort of stir fry once a fortnight.  This is one way of getting your 5 fruit and vege a day in one go.  I always make a huge amount so there are some left overs as Finn and Lily like taking it to school for their lunch.  Use what ever protein and vegetables you have at hand or choose, asian greens are perfect also, but the idea is to have a lot.

For this recipe I used

• 2 pieces of rump steak chopped into small pieces
• 10 chicken loins (they were on special at New World) chopped into small pieces
• 2 courgettes sliced julienne
• 1 head of broccoli cut into small flowerets
• 1/2 head of large cauliflower chopped into small flowerets 
• 2 brown onions sliced julienne
• 1 small red pepper sliced julienne
• 1 small yellow pepper sliced julienne
• 2 carrots sliced julienne
• 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• sticky sweet soy sauce with cornflour and water added
• brown rice 

Start off by heating your wok on medium to high heat with some oil, peanut oil goes well until smoking.  Stir fry your beef and chicken in small batches and then put aside.  The idea is to get some colour and not to cook it right through as that will finish off when you add the sauce at the end.

Once you have done the meat put aside.  Add some more oil to the wok and put in the onions, courgettes and garlic  and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then add the carrots and the peppers and the broccoli and cauliflower (that I have previously steamed) and mix around and stir fry for around 2 minutes and then finally add your sauce.  I make quite a large quantity of the sauce mixed with cornflour and water and add until I have the amount I want.  Lots of sauce its good as you want plenty for the rice.  The sauce will thicken as it heats up.  Finally add the beef and chicken and give it one more stir through and serve with rice.  I used brown rice as I am going through a brown rice  phase.

'Fleurs' Irish lamb stew with seaweed dumplings and glazed carrots- made by Anna

Anna shared this wonderful picture of her dinner the other night and the recipe.  It came from 'Fleur Sullivans' new book called 'Fleurs Place'.  The same name as her renowned restaurant in Moeraki Bay Central Otago.  Fluer is known for sourcing her regions finest local produce and getting her seafood supply straight from the jetty outside her restaurant.  A visit to her place is a definite must on my culinary bucket list.

Anyway this is what Anna said about the dish...
"This was an amazing recipe from 'Fleurs Cafe'...my photo not as good as hers in the book...tasted amazing apart from the dumplings!  Made from suet with karenga fronds (didn't think flavour mixed well) it was a classic Irish lamb stew with glazed carrots, was thickened by taking stock out of stew after cooking, then cooking potatoes in rosemary in stock, pureeing it, then adding back in...was pretty delish... nice simple ingredients, and lamb so tender...

Thanks Anna for your contribution.  I will give it a go.  I especially like the first step of the recipe where everything just goes into the pot and stock it added.  So simple.

roast vegetable salad with beef fillet

I do like a beef salad and this is my 3rd variation. Using the beef added to the salad makes it go a lot further.  I made a basil, chipotle mayonnaise with my stick blender as well but the colour of it was a hideous muck green so I did not post it.  It tasted ok though.


For this recipe I used

• 4 small pieces of beef fillet, marinated in garlic and olive oil and BBQ
• 5 medium sized carrots
• 2 handfuls of mushrooms left whole
• 4 small orange kumara
• 5 smallish red onions
• 2 whole beetroot (roasted in foil separately so the rest of the vege do not turn purple)
• 1 small red pepper finely sliced in strips
• 1 small yellow pepper finely sliced in strips
• 4 tomatoes into wedges
• rocket
• sprig of rosemary and thyme, only because they are in the garden
• handful of finely chopped basil 
• parmesan cheese about 1/2 to 1 cup grated on a fine grater plane
• handful of finely chopped italian parsley
• balsamic dressing made with good olive oil.

I started by roasting the beetroot in foil with its skin on for an hour and a half at 180C.  Once cooled peel off the skin.  It comes off very easily.  Cut into chunks.
Next peel and cut the carrots and kumara lengthways , quarter the onions, leave the mushrooms whole and toss with lots of salt and black pepper and olive oil, rosemary and thyme.
Roast in the oven at 180C for about and hour, turning regularly at 10-15 mins intervals.  Watch that they do not scorch too much.
I then mix the parmesan with the basil, parsley and black pepper.

To assemble the salad start with the rocket and a sprinkling of the parmesan cheese mixture.
Then the roasted vege and beetroot, some more cheese sprinklings, peppers and tomatoes, more cheese sprinklings and finally add the beef and the dressing and toss.

duck ragu with fettuccine

This dinner we had last night was devine and I will definitely make it again.
I have only cooked with duck twice before so when I saw these duck legs on special at 'Nosh',I thought it was time to cook with them again.
As duck is expensive a ragu is a really good way to make it go as far as it can go.
I bought 4 legs and that easily feed 6-8 people.
You need to start early for this recipe or you could do it in stages.  You could make the sauce in advance and put it in the fridge and just heat it up and cook your pasta when you are ready to eat.  This makes it a good dinner party recipe.

For this recipe I used

• 4 duck legs
• 1-2 carrots finely diced
• 2 stalks of celery finely diced
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 leek washed and finely sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 cup of  red wine
• 1 can whole tomatoes in juice
• 500mls of homemade beef stock
• sprig of rosemary
• salt and pepper
• parmesan cheese 
• parsley
• 500g dried italian fettuccine 

Start off rendering the fat from the legs by placing them skin side down in a cold pan on medium heat until golden brown.  You only need to cook it on the skin side.
Set them aside to cool.  Once cool remove all of the skin and fat from the legs.
In a heavy based pan add some of the rendered duck fat and add your flavour base of finely diced onions, carrots,celery, leeks and garlic and salt and pepper.  Cook it down gently until well softened and just starting to colour.  It should take about 20 mins.
Next, add the tomato paste, mix it through the veges and cook it out.
Deglaze with the wine, then add the tomatoes and beef stock.
Next, add the duck legs (skin and fat removed) and bring to the boil and then gently simmer uncovered for 2 hours.  Keep an eye on it as you may need to add some water from time to time so it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan.

Take the meat of the bones and add back to the sauce along with the sprig of rosemary and cook for another 20 - 30 minutes to get your sauce right.  Remember taste and tweat to your liking.  The sauce should be rich and luscious and thick and tasty.

Cook the pasta and pour on the duck ragu, finish it off with some finely chopped parsley, parmesan cheese and black pepper.

I  hate to waste anything so the skin and fat that I took off, I fried it until it became golden and crispy like crackling and finely chopped it, and sprinkled it on the top for those who wanted it.

thai chicken curry

 I have been making this chicken curry for years and is a firm favourite in our house.  Unfortunately I don't follow a recipe so it is slightly different every time I make it.  I will try my best to get quantities right.

For this recipe I used

• 3 large chicken breasts, chopped and lightly salted
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic or about 3 tablespoons finely chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 green chiles or more it you want really hot
• 2-3 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander root and stems
• 2 courgettes diced
• 4 small coloured capsicums or 2 large
• 1 can of coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons of jaggery, palm sugar or brown sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 2 kaffir lime leaves

 Finely chop the onion, coriander stems, chile, garlic and ginger and gently fry in the wok with some plain oil, ( I used coconut oil, only because I had it) for about 5 mins until nicely cooked down.  Do not colour.
Then add the diced courgettes and capsicums and some salt and cook for about 10 mins,  they  should become very soft.
Next add the coconut cream, fish sauce, kaffir lime and sugar and simmer until you get a nice consistency of sauce.  Taste for balance of flavours and add more fish sauce or sugar if you need to.
Next, add the chopped raw chicken and let it cook in the heat of the sauce on a gentle simmer.  Stir it around until just cooked.  The chicken can remain tender if you watch it.
Lastly add the lime juice and zest and some chopped coriander leaves.
Taste and tweak again and then serve on some plain boiled long grain rice.