Tag Archives: easy

Stir-Fried Prawns with Asparagus and Ginger

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Asparagus is in season and works well in this quick mid-week stir-fry. Some fresh coriander or a spring onion – sliced very thinly on the diagonal – would have made nice additional garnishes, but I looked in the veggie drawer and found neither! Instead of mixing in the vermicelli you could serve the prawns with steamed rice.

Stir-Fried Prawns with Asparagus and Ginger

350g peeled raw prawns, deveined
1 egg white
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch asparagus (5-6 spears)
2 Tbs oil
1 Tbs finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 Tbs dry sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
Extra sesame oil and soy sauce, to taste
100-150g vermicelli rice noodles
Fine slivers of red chilli to garnish

Mix prawns with egg white, cornflour, sesame oil, salt and pepper and leave aside for 20 minutes. Slice the asparagus on the diagonal, discarding the tough ends. Cook in boiling, salted water for 3-4 minutes until al dente. Refresh under cold water and drain. Pour boiling water over vermicelli, leave for 2-3 minutes then drain in a sieve.

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and when hot add the prawns and ginger. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the prawns turn white. Add asparagus, sherry and soy sauce and continue to stir-fry for a minute. Mix in the vermicelli. Add extra sesame oil and soy sauce, to taste and check for seasoning. Serve in bowls garnished with fresh chilli.

Serves 2

Variations: use snow peas or broccoli florets instead of asparagus.

Greek-Style Lamb with Rocket Salad

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This Greek-style roast lamb is very similar to a recipe I posted a couple of weeks ago. This one is accompanied by a rocket salad rather than roasted vegetables, making it a more summery dish. On one large platter it makes a good addition to a casual buffet.

Greek-Style Lamb with Rocket Salad

1 shoulder of lamb, bone removed
2-3 tsp salt (to taste)
6 cloves garlic
1 Tbs peppercorns
6 sprigs of rosemary
2 Tbs dry oregano
2 Tbs olive oil
100 ml white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine or sherry
To serve:
Rocket
Feta or goat’s cheese
Toasted pine nuts
Lemon and olive oil dressing
Pitta or Turkish bread

Preheat oven to 170°C. Trim excess fat from lamb. In food processor or using a mortar and pestle, make a paste with the salt, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, oregano and olive oil. Place lamb in a roasting pan and spread it on both sides with the herby paste, massaging it in. Add vinegar or lemon juice, water and wine or sherry to the bottom of the pan and cover with foil. Bake for an hour, then turn the meat over and baste with pan juices. Cover again with the foil and return to the oven for another hour or until the meat is very tender and almost falling apart. Remove foil, turn the meat over again and turn the oven up to 200°C. Cook for a further 20 minutes, or until browned on top.

Prepare a large serving dish or individual plates with a simple rocket salad, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. When the lamb is ready break it into pieces using two forks or cut it into pieces and arrange over the salad. Sprinkle with feta or goat’s cheese and toasted pine nuts. If liked, drizzle with some of the juices from the roasting pan. Serve with warm pitta or Turkish bread.

Serves 8

Healthy Oven-Baked KFC

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Served with oven chips and coleslaw or a mixed salad this healthy version of Kentucky Fried Chicken – baked in the oven, rather than deep fried – is popular with kids. It’s not haute cuisine as you can see from the photo, just a very basic, economical family meal. It featured regularly in our house when the kids were growing up.

A salsa made from diced fresh mango or peach, red onion, fresh ginger, Thai sweet chilli sauce and chopped coriander is a nice addition for the adults. A diced avocado is an optional addition.

Healthy Oven-Baked KFC1 packet corn chips (see note below)
1 packet breadcrumbs (preferably Japanese Panko crumbs)
1 kg chicken pieces with skin
½ cup plain flour
1-2 tsp powdered chicken stock or salt or celery salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tsp of dried herbs and spices of your choice (paprika, oregano etc)
1 egg plus 2 Tbs milk, beaten
Spray oil (olive, canola, whatever you use)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place some of the corn chips in a food processor and process to make crumbs. Mix with the packaged breadcrumbs in a proportion of about two to one. Place about 2 cups in a shallow bowl and keep the rest in a sealed container for another time.

Mix flour with salt, pepper, herbs and spices in another shallow bowl. Be generous with the chicken stock powder or salt – it needs it. Mix the beaten egg and milk in a third bowl. Coat chicken pieces with seasoned flour, then with beaten egg and lastly with the crumb mixture, patting it on well. Place chicken on a baking try lined with non-stick baking paper – not necessary but saves on washing up. Spray chicken lightly with oil. Bake for about about 45 mins, turning once and spraying the other side with oil about halfway through. The chicken is ready when it’s golden brown and cooked through – test with a sharp knife.

Serves 4-6

Note: if you don’t have corn chips substitute cornflakes.

Oven Chips: cut potatoes into thick chunky chips and cook in boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes or until half-cooked. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. Place in a bowl with a small slug of olive oil, mix to coat, then add a shake of plain flour and turn again to coat. Arrange chips in a single layer on a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle with coarse salt and bake for 45 minutes on the shelf above the chicken, or until golden brown. The flour is optional but gives the chips a nice crunchy coating.

Moroccan Cauliflower Salad with Yoghurt Dressing

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We’re very fond of Moroccan flavours so this recipe caught my eye when it appeared in the latest Delicious magazine. It comes from Mojo, Luke Mangan’s new wine bar in Danks Street in Sydney, which serves “sharing plates” to go with the wine.

Serve it on its own or with grilled lamb cutlets or my Moroccan lamb. As we’re in the middle of winter I served it slightly warm and it was fantastic – definitely a keeper.

Moroccan Cauliflower Salad with Yoghurt Dressing1 whole cauliflower
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup olive oil plus extra to serve
2 Tbs Ras el Hanout Spice Mix (bought or make your own, see below)
½ bunch coriander, leaves picked off
½ bunch Continental parsley, leaves picked off
1/3 cup port
1/3 cup currants
2 Tbs white wine
2 pinches saffron strands
2/3 cup thick Greek-style yoghurt
Juice ½ lemon, or to taste
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Trim cauliflower removing green leaves and stem. Slice cauliflower into 1cm slices from top to bottom – some will fall off as florets. Place in a roasting pan with chickpeas, oil and spices. Toss with your fingers to coat everything thoroughly. Bake 20-25 mins or until tender and golden. Cool a bit then mix with the herbs.

Meanwhile heat port in a pan or microwave. Add currants and leave to soak for 10 mins or until plump, then drain. The recipe says to discard the port, but why not drink it? Heat wine in a pan or microwave, add saffron and stand 15 mins, then strain into a bowl, discarding saffron. Add yogurt, mustard and lemon juice to taste and mix well.

Divide yoghurt dressing between 4-6 serving plates in a puddle in the middle. Top with cauliflower mixture, garnish with currants and pine nuts and drizzle with extra oil. Alternatively serve in one large serving bowl, drizzled with the dressing.

Serves 4-6

Ras el Hanout Spice Mix
3 Tbs black peppercorns
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds or powder
2 tsp coriander seeds or powder
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes or powder
¼ tsp cloves
2 tsp coarse salt

Grind the whole spices and salt to a powder in a spice mill or mortar and pestle. Add the powdered spices and mix well. Keep in a jar with a lid. Best used within a couple of months.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Rosemary

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I haven’t cooked a shoulder of lamb for some time, but we ordered one recently in a restaurant, to share between four, and it was delicious. When I saw them for only $7.99 a kilo at a local butcher’s this week I bought one.

A roast is perfect to serve in summer or winter because you can adjust the accompaniments to suit the weather. Oven-roasted vegetables served hot in winter or at room temperature in summer. A tabouleh, lentil or couscous salad or my Spinach Salad with Red Dressing are all good side dishes in summer.

As the lamb was roasting delicious smells wafted through the house. Our golden retriever Danske and our son’s chocolate lab Hershey, who was staying with us for the weekend, twitched their noses appreciatively each time they stirred from dozing.

Lamb cooked this way is moist with a delicious lemony-herby flavour. The outsides which have been in contact with the pan are chewy and slightly crispy. Very moreish. I served it with oven-roasted parsnips and carrots, with a drizzle of honey. The dogs had some of the pan juices from the lamb mixed with their biscuits for breakfast, which caused much excitement and tail-wagging.

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Rosemary1 shoulder of lamb, bone-in, weighing 1.8kg to 2kg
¼ cup olive oil
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs fresh rosemary sprigs
4 cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup dry white wine
½-1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 140°C. Place remaining ingredients except wine in a food processor or mortar and pestle and crush to a paste. Smother the lamb with this paste then place in a deep roasting pan, pour in the wine and cover with foil. Roast for 5-6 hours, or until lamb is very tender and falling off the bone. Ovens vary, so if the meat is ready but not brown enough, remove foil, turn oven up to 200ºC and put the meat back for about half an hour – you want some nice brown crispy bits. Serve with vegetables or salad.

Serves 4-6

Variations: use mint and oregano instead of rosemary.

Oven-roasted parsnips and carrots – peel 4 parsnips and quarter lengthwise. Peel (if necessary) 4-6 carrots and quarter or halve lengthwise depending on size. Place in a roasting pan, in a single layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 30-40 minutes at 180°C. If you’re cooking them with the lamb at 140°C they will take longer – between an hour and an hour and a half. Turn and baste from time to time. Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little honey.

Roasted Vegies with Hummus

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My daughter Catherine invented this delicious vegetarian recipe when she only had some beetroot, a leek and an avocado as inspiration. It’s at times like this when some of the best dishes are created. Remember the TV programme Ready, Steady Cook where participating cooks were handed a bag of ingredients and had to whip up a meal with no recipe, or even time to plan?

This recipe is flexible because you can use any vegetables you have on hand. I didn’t have any leeks so used a big onion and instead of potatoes I added carrots. I also used a creamy Danish feta rather than goat’s cheese and pecan nuts instead of walnuts.

Roasted Vegies with HummusHummus – homemade or bought
1 avocado
3 small beetroot
2 carrots
1 red capsicum (pepper)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion or 1 leek, or both
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs coriander leaves
50 goat’s cheese or feta
2-3 Tbs walnut or pecan halves, toasted
Balsamic glaze or a fruity finishing vinegar (I used apricot, Catherine used cherry)

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Cut vegetables into even-sized chunks or sticks, mix with a good slug of olive oil, salt and pepper and spread out in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 30 mins or until tender and starting to brown at the edges, turning them about halfway through. Remove from the oven and let them cool a bit. Spread about 3 Tbs hummus on two large serving plates. Arrange half an avocado, sliced, on each plate on the edge of the humus, as shown in photo. Pile the roasted vegetables on top, then garnish with the coriander, the crumbled cheese and the toasted walnuts or pecans. Drizzle with the vinegar.

Serves 2

Salted Caramel & Macadamia Cheesecake

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Salted caramel desserts are very “in” at the moment. I first tasted this combination of flavours in Brittany, where you can buy a salted caramel spread in jars to eat on toast like Nutella. The Bretons also use it as one of the many fillings you can choose for crepes sold by street vendors in the region. I know it’s not good to eat too much, but Matthew and our two boys are very keen on anything salty and this includes salted caramel desserts.

Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi created this delicious caramel and macadamia cheesecake. All I have done is to add salt to the caramel sauce, cut down a bit on the biscuits in the crust and the sugar in the cheesecake filling.

Salted Caramel and Macadamia Cheesecake

Base:
About 130g plain sweet biscuits (I used 9 Digestives)
40g unsalted butter
Filling:
500g ricotta cheese, at room temperature
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod or 2 tsp essence
Topping:
150g macadamia nuts
90g caster sugar
Sauce:
65g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
100ml cream
½ to 1 tsp salt, to taste

Base: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Lightly grease a 20cm spring-form cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Whiz biscuits to crumbs in food processor. Melt butter in microwave, add biscuit crumbs and mix. Tip into the cake tin and flatten with the bottom of a glass to create a level base.

Filling: In a bowl with electric beaters or in a food processor, mix all ingredients for filling until smooth. Scrape into cake tin and bake for 50 mins or until set in the middle. Cool then refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight, covered.

Topping: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Spread macadamias over a baking sheet and roast for about 15 mins or until light golden brown. Watch them carefully – mine got a bit too brown as you can see in the photo. Remove and set aside. Place sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently until it turns golden-brown. Do not stir, but you can lift and swirl from time to time. Add nuts and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Pour onto a tray lined with foil or non-stick baking paper and leave to set. Chop roughly with a large knife, leaving some of the nuts halved or whole.

Sauce: Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add sugar and stir constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, dark caramel. It may split, but that doesn’t matter. Add cream carefully – it will splutter – and stir to combine. Sieve to remove any gritty bits then cool.

To serve: Remove sides and base of cake tin and place cheesecake on a serving plate or board. If you want to present it whole, spoon the sauce in the middle, allowing it to spill over the sides a bit and scatter the nuts over the top. Alternatively arrange slices on individual plates, then decorate with the nuts and spoon over some of the sauce. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

Serves 10

Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Caramelised Onions & Apples

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When we were growing up my sister Dee used to say she couldn’t eat pork which tasted “hairy”. I think I know what she meant. If you’re going to serve pork with the skin it has to be crunchy. There’s nothing attractive about soft pork fat and skin.

Pork belly has become quite trendy in the last few years and there are lots of recipes on Google for different ways to cook it. Some are quite complicated, involving lots of ingredients. This is one of my favourite recipes for pork belly. It combines just two flavours with the pork – onion and apple – plus a few herbs.

Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Caramelised Onions & Apples1kg boneless pork belly with skin
salt, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 large onions
2 large green apples
¼ cup water
1 Tbs sugar

If the butcher hasn’t already done so, score pork skin all over in parallel cuts just under a centimeter apart, cutting through the skin only. Preheat oven to 160°C. Peel onions, cut into eighths and place in a roasting pan in the middle, like a nest. Rub pork all over with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Press herbs into the meat side. Place pork skin side up on the onions and bake for about 2 hrs. During this time do not baste. If after an hour or so you think the onions are starting to burn, take them out and put the pork back. You want them to be caramelised, but not overly so.

Meanwhile peel core and slice apples and place in a saucepan with water and sugar. Simmer for 10-15 mins until cooked. After 2 hrs, remove pork from oven and take it out of the pan. Tip off all the fat which can be kept and used for roasting potatoes. Turn oven up to 200°C. Mix onions with apples and place in the pan as before, like a nest, with pork on top. Bake for 30 mins or until skin is blistered and crunchy all over. Divide apples and onions between six plates. Cut pork into six neat squares or rectangles with a sharp heavy knife and place on top.

Serves 6

Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo

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This year we successfully grew our own pumpkins for the first time, on our property Woodlands. We only harvested six and the one in the photo is the biggest. Next season we will try to plant them earlier and see if we can do better. The good thing about pumpkins is that they keep for several months without refrigeration, until you cut into them.

Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo2 Tbs olive oil or butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 kg pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or use a cube and water)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup cream or sour cream
2 Tbs pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan
1 chorizo, casing removed, finely diced (see variations below)
Extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Heat oil or butter in a large, heavy-based pan and cook onion and garlic, stirring often, until softened. Add pumpkin, carrots, stock, cumin and paprika and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Allow to cool a bit then blend soup in a blender until smooth. Soup can be stored in the fridge at this stage for up to 3 days, covered.

Fry chorizo in a frying pan without oil for 3-4 mins, stirring, until browned. Reheat soup with cream and season to taste. If it’s a bit too thick add some milk. Serve soup garnished with pumpkin seeds, chorizo and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with fresh bread or toast.

Variations: instead of chorizo use pepperoni or bacon. If you don’t have smoked paprika use ordinary.

Serves 4

Salmon with Bois Boudran Sauce

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We eat salmon fillets about once a week. It’s quick and easy and we love it. Sometimes I spread the fish with a mixture of grated fresh ginger and Thai sweet chilli sauce and bake it in a very hot oven on lightly oiled aluminium foil for about 8 minutes. Other times I pan fry or bake the seasoned salmon and serve it with this sauce, adapted from a recipe by French chef Michel Roux. It’s really just a thick herby, tomatoey vinaigrette.

In 1967 Roux opened Le Gavroche in London with his brother Albert. The restaurant became the first in England to win three Michelin stars. In 1972 they opened The Waterside Inn, which went on to become the first restaurant outside France to hold three Michelin stars for over 25 years and is now run by Michel’s son Alain.

This sauce is great to have in the fridge because it goes with all sorts of things and keeps for at least a week. In fact I think it improves after a day or so. It goes well with roast chicken or steak and is absolutely delicious served in half an avocado. The original version uses tarragon which definitely gives the sauce a distinctive flavour. But fresh tarragon is not always available, so vary the recipe with different herbs and see what you like best.

Salmon with Bois Boudrain Sauce1 cup mixed fresh herbs, loosely packed (see note)
3-4 French shallots, peeled (or substitute one small onion)
¾ cup vegetable oil e.g. canola
2 Tbs white wine vinegar or lemon juice
½ cup tomato ketchup
A few drops of Tabasco
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place chopped onion or shallots in a pan with water, bring to the boil, then drain thoroughly. Place herbs and onion in food processor and chop finely. Scrape into a jar with a lid, add remaining ingredients and shake well to combine. Serve at room temperature on grilled or pan-fried salmon, roast chicken or steak. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

Makes about 1.5 cups

Note: the original recipe used chervil, chives and tarragon. In the photo I used dill, parsley and coriander. Use whatever you have available.