Tag Archives: easy

Millefoglie di Melanzane

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We recently spent a week in Sicily where we hired a car and drove from Palermo to Patti, Taormina, Syracuse and back to Palermo. We spent a couple of days in each of these cities, soaking up the history and visiting some amazing churches and ancient monuments in the area. I won’t go into details of where to stay and what to do – there’s plenty of information on Trip Advisor and we found most of our accommodation on Airbnb.

Lots of windy roads and a few crazy drivers made the driving something of a challenge. The weather was considerably hotter than we had expected for mid-September, so we avoided sight-seeing in the middle of the day. Nonetheless we had a great time and would definitely recommend a trip to this part of Italy.

On the whole, the food in Sicily is good, especially if you’re a fan of pizzas and pasta. Finding good places to eat other dishes was more of a challenge. Everything we ordered which involved eggplants (aubergines) was delicious – stuffed eggplant, capponata (an Italian version of ratatouille with eggplant as the main ingredient) and eggplant fritters to name a few.

Our favourite city was Syracuse, especially the old city located on the island of Ortigia. Our favourite restaurant in Syracuse was Notre Dame where we ate outside enjoying the balmy evening weather. This bistro is run by an enthusiastic young couple and serves an interesting menu including this delectable Millefoglie di Melanzane – a layered Eggplant Terrine. It was so good we went back twice and on the second occasion the chef gave me the recipe.

Millefoglie di Melanzane

Canola or a mild-flavoured olive oil
2 large eggplants or 3 smaller ones
400g red capsicum (peppers)
2 eggs
2 sheets gelatine, soaked in water or 3 tsp powdered gelatine
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut capsicum into quarters and remove stalks and seeds. Cook in boiling, salted water for 15-20 mins or until soft. While still hot place them in a food processor with the eggs, gelatine, salt and pepper and process until smooth.

Meanwhile slice eggplants thinly lengthwise, discarding the first cut which is just skin. Heat some oil in a large frying pan and fry the eggplant slices, about 3 at a time, until golden brown and cooked on both sides. Add more oil as required. Drain on paper towels.

Choose a silicone loaf pan which doesn’t need to be lined, or line a metal one with non-stick baking paper. Starting and ending with a layer of eggplant slices, layer the eggplant and red capsicum puree in the loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Using a serrated knife, cut terrine into 4-6 thick slices and serve with some lightly dressed rocket leaves.

Serves 4-6

Spinach and Roast Pumpkin Risotto

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Even when the fridge is looking pretty empty you can usually find enough ingredients to make a risotto. An onion, Arborio rice, Parmesan cheese and olive oil are essential. Then you just need one or two ingredients to be the focus of the dish.

In this recipe, istead of pumpkin and spinach try mushrooms, asparagus or zucchini (courgettes). You can also add a few prawns or some sliced chorizo, fried when you cook the onion. Optional additions include chopped fresh herbs, sundried tomatoes, a pinch of saffron. Use your imagination.Spinach and Roast Pumpkin Risotto

3 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 clover garlic, crushed
2 cups Arborio rice
500g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm dice
1 cup white wine
About 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water and stock cube
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4-6 cups baby spinach
To serve:
Extra virgin olive oil
Grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 Tbs pine nuts, toasted

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Mix pumpkin cubes with 1 Tbs of the oil then spread over a shallow cookie tray – lined with baking paper if you want to save the washing up – and bake for 20-30 mins or until browned and cooked.

Meanwhile in a large heavy-based saucepan heat the remaining 2 Tbs oil and gently cook onion and garlic, stirring often, for 3-5 mins or until soft but not brown. Add rice and continue to cook, stirring, for 2 mins. Gradually add wine, stock (or water and stock cube), allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more. Stir frequently and keep adding liquid until rice is al dente and rice is very moist but not soupy. Add the roasted pumpkin, baby spinach and season to taste.

Serve drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil and topped with grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts.

Serves 4

Variations: use rocket instead of spinach

Strawberry Panna Cotta

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When I was growing up in Kent – otherwise known as the garden of England – we ate everything in season. In early June the local strawberries were ready and there were a few places where you could pick your own. They were cheap and plentiful, so we ate big bowls full, with a dollop of double cream and a sprinkling of sugar, just to add a little crunch. Now, thanks to imports from warmer climes you can buy strawberries pretty much all year round wherever you live in the world. But they never taste the same as when you pick your own and eat them the same day.

Like bacon and eggs, strawberries and cream is a marriage made in heaven. As I was looking for something to serve at a dinner party recently I came across this beautiful dessert on a site called Home Cooking Adventure.

You can make them the day before, so they’re perfect for entertaining.

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta:
400ml milk
400ml cream
½ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 Tbs gelatine
4 Tbs water
Strawberry Sauce:
750g strawberries
2-3 Tbs sugar, to taste
2 Tbs water

Place milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Meanwhile place gelatine and water in a small bowl then zap in the microwave briefly to dissolve. Mix gelatine mixture and vanilla into cream then cool a bit and divide among 8 attractive glasses such as Martini glasses. Chill overnight.

Save four nice strawberries then wash and hull the rest. Cut into four and place in a saucepan with sugar and water. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat. Blend until smooth in a blender, then pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Chill overnight.

To serve, divide strawberry sauce among the 8 glasses. Top each with half a strawberry.

Serves 8

Variations: use raspberries instead of strawberries.

Quick Chicken Satay

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Everyone loves chicken satay and this recipe can be made in no time with ingredients you probably have in the pantry. It’s easy to halve for two or three people.

The first time I made this the washer upper complained that the frying pan was very difficult to clean, because of the honey. A week or so later I was chatting to a friend about the virtues of using non-stick baking paper to line an oven tray when you’re baking salmon or chicken, so there’s nothing to wash up. My friend said this trick also works when you’re cooking something in a frying pan.

So I tried it and it works. Just cut a circle of non-stick baking paper to fit the base of the pan and cook the satays on top. It doesn’t affect how they brown and the pan is so much easier to clean. No complaints from the washer upper this time.

DSCF11481 kg lean chicken thigh meat
Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbs oil
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp honey
½ tsp salt
Sauce:
¼ cup peanut butter
¼ cup Thai sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1/3 cup tinned coconut milk (shake can first)
To serve:
Steamed rice
Lime or lemon wedges
Sliced red or white onion and cucumber

Cut chicken thigh into cubes. Mix marinade ingredients and add chicken. Leave to marinate for at least half an hour. Meanwhile, soak 16-20 short wooden bamboo skewers in warm water.

Thread chicken cubes onto skewers. Heat a large non-stick frying pan or griddle pan and cook satays for a minute or two on all four sides, until cooked through and browned. Alternatively, cook the satays under a grill, on a barbecue or in an air fryer, turning once during cooking time.

Meanwhile mix all ingredients for sauce. Serve satays with the sauce, steamed rice, sliced onion, cucumber and lemon wedges.

Serves 6

Sweet Potato Soup with Cheesy Thyme Toasts

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Sweet potatoes keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. They’re great for adding to soups or casseroles and a good stand-by vegetable to serve mid-week, when you’ve run out of other options. One of my favourite ways to serve pan fried fish is on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes.

This sweet potato soup is perfect for lunch or supper. Use any kind of bread to make the toasts – I used English muffins.

25g butter or 2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cubedsoup
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
1 litre (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Milk
Cream
Cheesy Thyme Toasts
4 large thick slices sourdough bread (or 4 muffins, split)
1 cup grated cheddar
3-4 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped (or 1-2 tsp dried thyme)
pinch salt
¼ cup cream

Heat butter or oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, for a few minutes, or until softened but not brown. Add sweet potato, stock and mixed spice or cinnamon. Simmer for 20 mins or until vegetables are soft then allow to cool a bit.

Blend soup in a blender or food processor, in two batches, until smooth. Return to the saucepan and add enough milk to make to desired consistency. Season to taste. Reheat and serve topped with a swirl of cream and accompanied by the toasts.

Lightly toast bread or muffin halves in a toaster. Meanwhile turn grill on to high. Mix cheese, thyme, salt and cream and spread over the toasts. Place under hot grill until bubbly and golden.

Serves 4

 

No-Bake Raspberry Cheesecake

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We were staying with Catherine in Newcastle for a few days when she said “Oh by the way, we’re invited to a BBQ lunch tomorrow and we’re taking a dessert. What shall we make?”

We found cream cheese, cream and 2 punnets of raspberries in the fridge and a few other ingredients in the pantry. The result was this delicious no-bake cheesecake which was popular with the adults and kids alike.

Make this the day before serving.

IMG_0695300g white chocolate
500g Philadelphia-style cream cheese (at room temp)
300ml thick cream
3 Tbs caster sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries
½ cup red jam (preferably raspberry)
About 12 sweet biscuits or sponge fingers
To serve:
1-2 cups fresh raspberries
Honey to drizzle

Melt chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. In another bowl, with electric beaters, beat cream cheese, cream and sugar until smooth. Add melted chocolate and mix well.

Line a loaf tin with plastic wrap, leaving a generous overhang. With a fork, mash 1 cup raspberries with the jam on a plate. Spread half the cream cheese mixture in the loaf tin. Spread the berry mixture over the top. Then spread the rest of the cream cheese mixture over the jam mixture. Arrange a single layer of biscuits or sponge fingers over the surface, pushing them in slightly – this will be the base. Rectangular or square ones are easier than round ones. Bring excess plastic wrap over the top to cover, then refrigerate overnight.

No-Bake Raspberry Cheesecake

To serve, tip cheesecake onto serving plate and remove plastic. Arrange raspberries over the top and drizzle with honey.

Serves 12

Variation: use strawberries instead of raspberries

Three Easy Chicken recipes made in a Slow Cooker

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I found a recipe online for a really easy chicken recipe made in a slow cooker. Basically you cut up some boned and skinned chicken thighs, put them in the slow cooker with a few other ingredients, cover and cook on high for five hours. And that’s it.

So following this basic idea I developed three variations. Perfect for busy people – this one’s for you Fiona.

Three Easy Chicken recipes made in a Slow CookerSweet and Sour Chicken
1kg chicken thigh meat, trimmed and cut into 1 inch (2-3 cm) cubes
2 cups tomato passata or sauce for pasta
1 can pineapple cubes, drained
2 tsp sugar
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs grated or finely chopped ginger
1 red capsicum (pepper) cut into 1 inch (2 cm) squares
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

Satay Chicken
1kg chicken thigh meat, trimmed and cut into 1 inch (2-3 cm) cubes
½ cup peanut butter
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can coconut milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1 chicken stock cube
Fresh chilli, finely chopped, to taste (optional)
Juice of half a lemon or one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Mexican Chicken
1kg chicken thigh meat, trimmed and cut into 1 inch (2-3 cm) cubes
1 jar Mexican salsa
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
Fresh chopped chilli, to taste (optional)
Juice of half a lemon or one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes
Thinly sliced spring onions for the Sweet and Sour – serve with rice
Chopped peanuts and coriander for the Satay – serve with rice
Diced avocado & red onion, grated cheddar for the Mexican – serve with wraps or tortillas

To serve
Steamed rice, wraps or tacos

Place chicken and chosen sauce ingredients in slow cooker, stir. Cover and cook on High for about five hours, stirring once or twice during cooking time. Check seasoning.

Serve with steamed rice or tacos or wraps.

Serves 4-6

Barramundi with Romesco Sauce & Sweet Potatoes

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Romesco Sauce goes well with pan fried fish, chicken, roast lamb or beef, or in sandwiches, as a change from mustard or mayonnaise. It’s quick and easy to make, keeps in the fridge for up to a week and can be frozen.

Here I served it with pan-fried barramundi fillets, cooked until the skin was nice and crispy and mashed sweet potatoes. A delicious flavour combination.

Romesco Sauce:
1 large roasted red pepper from a jar (about six large pieces)
1 garlic clove, crushedBarramundi with Romesco Sauce & Sweet Potatoes
½ cup slivered/flaked almonds or pine nuts
¼ cup tomato paste
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 Tbs sherry or red wine vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Other ingredients:
1 large or two smaller sweet potatoes
25g butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces Barramundi (about 180g each), skin on
2 Tbs olive oil
Parsley leaves to garnish

Sauce: Place all ingredients except oil, salt and pepper in food processor and process briefly until chopped. Scrape down the sides then with the motor running slowly add the oil and process till chunky-smooth. Season to taste.

Peel sweet potato, cut into chunks, place in a saucepan with some salt. Cover with boiling water then simmer for 15 mins or until tender. Drain and mash with butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Place olive oil in a non-stick medium sized frying pan. Pat fish fillets dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Place fish in the cold frying pan, skin side down, then turn on the heat and cook for 4 mins or until skin is crispy. Turn fish over and cook for 2-3 mins on the other side or until cooked through. Serve fish on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes, topped with a dollop of Romesco sauce and garnished with parsley.

Keep any leftover sauce in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.

Serves 4

Barley Risotto with Mushrooms and Thyme

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I’m always looking for new recipes which use pearl barley – a much under-used grain in my opinion. Basically you can use it in any recipe which calls for rice – it just takes longer to cook. This recipe is slightly adapted from one which appeared recently in Delicious magazine.

4 Tbs olive oil
500g white or brown mushrooms, wiped and quartered
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1¼ cups pearl barleyDSCF1115
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves (or 2 tsp dried)
1 cup white wine
4 cups (1 Litre) chicken or veg stock (or water and cubes)
Extra water if necessary
2-3 cups baby rocket leaves washed and dried
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To garnish:
½ cup grated parmesan cheese, extra
Extra Virgin olive oil
2 Tbs chopped walnuts or pecan nuts

In a large heavy-bottomed pan heat 2 Tbs of oil and fry mushrooms for 4 mins or until browned. Remove from pan. Heat remaining 2 Tbs oil and cook onion and garlic until soft. Add barley, mustard, thyme and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add wine and stock, bring to the boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 40 mins or until barley is tender. Add more water, a little at a time, if necessary – I didn’t need any extra.

When barley is cooked the liquid should have all been absorbed. Season to taste then mix in the cooked mushrooms, rocket and parmesan cheese. Serve garnished with the extra parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and the chopped nuts.

Serves 4

 

Spicy Baked Eggs in Avocados

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My cousin Ricky who lives in Los Angeles posted this recipe on Facebook and I couldn’t wait to try it. Eggs and avocados are two of my favourite ingredients, so what could be better than a recipe combining the two?

Choose large avocados and small eggs. Even so, you will need to scoop out a bit of avocado flesh after removing the stone to make the hole a bit bigger. This recipe will serve 4 as a starter or light breakfast or 2 as a more substantial lunch, brunch or supper.

Spicy Baked Eggs in Avocados2 large ripe avocados
Hot sauce (Tabasco or another brand)
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Chilli flakes (optional)
4 small eggs
Extra Virgin olive oil
4 slices sourdough bread, toasted and buttered

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Halve avocados and removes stones plus a bit more flesh (about 1 Tbs) to increase the size of the hole. Place them in a greased baking dish where they fit snugly so they don’t fall over. I used four of those avocado serving dishes which were popular in the 70s and 80s and which you often see in second hand shops. Grease them well.

Season avocado halves with salt and pepper and drizzle a little hot sauce into the cavity. Break an egg into each then drizzle with a little olive oil Bake for 10-15 mins or until eggs are done to your liking – whites set and eggs still a bit soft is ideal. Remove from the oven, season with more salt, pepper, hot sauce and chilli flakes, to taste. Serve with buttered toast.

Serves 2-4

Variations: serve with a dollop of pesto on top. Serve with some crispy bacon.