Tag Archives: family

Smoked Salmon with Ricotta and Asparagus

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I’m always on the lookout for tasty, low carb lunches which can be made quickly. During the asparagus season we often have this easy combo. Aldi sells a fresh creamy ricotta in a 500g plastic container like a sieve, which we really like. It’s enough to make this recipe two or three times. Often the simplest of recipes are the best.

The smoked salmon rolls are quite filling, so if preferred use only two slices and less ricotta filling, to make them smaller.

6 slices smoked salmon
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese (or substitution see below)
2 Tbs chopped chives
Balsamic Glaze
10-12 spears of fresh asparagus
Kewpie mayonnaise or butter (optional)

Place 3 slices of smoked salmon on a chopping board, slightly overlapping, to make a rough circle or square. Mix the ricotta with the chives and season if you like – I don’t find it’s necessary. Place half the mixture on the smoked salmon in a sausage shape in the middle, then roll up into a neat package. Repeat and place one on each of 2 serving plates. Meanwhile cook the asparagus for about 6 minutes in boiling water, drain and pat dry. Arrange asparagus on the plates. Drizzle a little balsamic glaze over the smoked salmon packages. Serve with kewpie mayonnaise or butter on the asparagus.

Serves 2

Substitutions: soft goat’s cheese, queso fresco in South America, cottage cheese.

Shepherd’s Pie with Black Pudding and Bacon

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This delicious recipe for Shepherd’s Pie, slightly tweaked, comes from Prue Leith, now 81 years of age and one of the great British cooks of all time. It’s without a doubt the best Shepherd’s Pie I’ve ever eaten.

On the other side of the world, Margaret Fulton began the post-War crusade to improve what we were cooking and eating in Australia, closely followed by Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer.

These four women provided inspiration to aspiring cooks like me. However, I believe the real watershed came with the publication of the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook in 1970. In the mid-1970s they started to publish a series of paperback cookbooks, covering a different topic in each book. Every few months another title was published and my friend Ferne and I waited impatiently for each one. The recipes were simple to follow with great photography and we both cooked almost every recipe in every book. We spent hours browsing through, jotting down the names of recipes and swapping notes after we made something. They published a book on Chinese cooking, Italian cooking and other cuisines we hadn’t seriously tackled before. Local supermarkets started to stock the ingredients called for in these “exotic” recipes, because people kept asking for them. The children’s birthday cake book was a huge hit with our kids, who often chose the cake they wanted months before the big event. Here’s an interesting article about this cooking revolution.

If you’ve never eaten black pudding, give it a go in this recipe. With the bacon it adds depth to the meat sauce, but you can’t tell it’s there. Black pudding is available in Woolworths and IGA supermarkets under the Clonakilty brand. Adding sweet potatoes to the traditional potato topping is also a winner. Use half and half or any ratio you prefer. Sorry I forgot to take a photo until we had eaten half of it!

2 Tbs oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g minced beef or lamb
100g black pudding, skinned and diced
3-4 rashers rindless streaky bacon, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes, including juice
1 Tbs tomato paste
½ tsp dried thyme
1 beef stock cube (I used an Oxo)
1 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Water or wine (red or white) as required (1 cup or more)
Topping:
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
50g butter
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft but not browned. Add the minced beef, black pudding, celery and bacon and cook, stirring, for ten or more minutes, until nicely browned. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, stock cube, sugar and then simmer the sauce for 45 minutes, stirring often. As required during this time, add a bit more water or, if preferred, wine, so the sauce doesn’t stick. After 45 minutes it should be thick and syrupy. Season to taste then spread it in a lasagne-type dish, large enough to cover the meat sauce with the potatoes.

While the meat sauce is cooking, boil the potatoes and sweet potatoes in water to cover, with a teaspoon of salt for 15-25 minutes, or until tender. The sweet potatoes will cook faster than the ordinary potatoes. Cut them into larger pieces, so everything will be cooked at the same time. Drain well, add the butter and mash until light and smooth. Season with salt and pepper then dollop over the meat sauce and spread out evenly with a fork. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Dish can be prepared in advance to this point.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the pie for about half an hour if the mixture is still hot, or about three quarters of an hour if it’s been made ahead and is cold. Serve with a salad or green vegetable.

Serves 6-8

 

Mum’s Chicken Curry

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When I was growing up in the UK in the sixties, Mum used to make a chicken curry, using leftover chicken from the Sunday roast.

We were a family of five, so it’s hard to imagine there being any leftovers from one chicken, but meat was expensive and servings were small. Dad did the carving and gave everyone their modest ration. You were expected to fill up on veggies.

The Sunday roast rotated: chicken, beef, lamb, pork and back to chicken again and produced the protein element for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday’s main meal. After removing the chicken meat to make a curry on Monday, the carcass went into a pot with some sliced leeks, carrots, potatoes, onions and stock to make a hearty soup for Tuesday. Leftover lamb or beef was usually made into rissoles or a shepherd’s pie.

Mum’s curry wasn’t a proper Indian curry, but we didn’t know any better. Special events in our family were often celebrated in a Chinese restaurant rather than an Indian one. If you grew up in England you might recognise my Mum’s curry, because she wasn’t the only Mum who made it. Anglo-Indian recipes were passed around amongst the officer’s wives who had been posted to India and subsequently became quite popular in England during Victorian times. Grandpa was in the Army and although they were never posted to India one of her Army chums had taught Nana to make this curry, as well as an Anglo-Indian kedgeree which she passed on to Mum.

Occasionally I buy a cooked chicken at the supermarket when they’re half price and make Mum’s curry, with a few tweaks. She used curry powder, while I use curry paste. Fresh ginger, chillies, garlic and a few ground spices, plus a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach, mixed in just before serving, are also good additions. Mum sometimes added a handful of raisins or canned pineapple cubes, but I don’t.

Once the chicken has been added the curry only needs to heat through, so be careful not to overcook it. Side dishes are optional, but go down well, especially if the curry is a bit spicy. This will depend on how much curry paste you use and whether or not you add fresh chilli. Side dishes also make the curry go further. Mum was an expert at making a small amount of meat feed a family.

1 Tbs butter or ghee
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic
3-4 Tbs curry paste (your favourite or whatever you have on hand)
1 Tbs finely grated or chopped fresh ginger
1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 400g can tomatoes, including juice, chopped
½ a 400g can coconut cream or milk (optional) or ½ cup water
1-2 tsp sugar, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Leftover roast chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (half a kilo or so)
A couple handfuls baby spinach leaves, or larger leaves, shredded (optional)
To serve:
Chopped fresh coriander
Side dishes:
Steamed rice
Fruit chutney
One or two sliced  bananas mixed with shredded coconut
1 small diced cucumber mixed with plain yoghurt
Diced tomato and onion
Naan bread, warmed

Steam the rice and prepare the side dishes.

In a large deep frying pan heat the butter and oil and cook the onion and garlic, gently, until soft but not browned. Add the curry paste, ginger, chilli and ground spices and cook, stirring over low to moderate heat, for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and coconut cream/milk or water and simmer the sauce for a few minutes while you wait for the rice to cook. Add sugar and seasoning to taste.

Add the chicken a couple of minutes before serving and, if using, the spinach. Don’t overcook – serve as soon as the chicken is heated through, adding a little more water if necessary. Garnish with coriander and serve with steamed rice, naan bread and side dishes. If you add the spinach you can skip the coriander if you like, as you have some greenery.

Serves 4-6

Note: adding about half a 400g can of coconut milk or cream to the sauce is optional, but it does make it nice and creamy. Freeze the unused half to use another time.

 

Individual Rice Puddings

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Rice pudding is one of my favourite desserts. Hot or cold, with or without additions or accompaniments.

Unfortunately I married someone who was put off rice pudding and all similar desserts (custard, tapioca, semolina) after spending time at a boys’ boarding school in his youth. This is why I rarely make something I love.

Browsing on the internet recently I found a post by someone who also finds themselves alone in a house of people who are anti rice pudding. So she just makes one or two, or three or four individual puds, just for herself. What a good idea I thought, so that’s what I did. If you don’t want to turn on the oven just to cook one or two individual puddings, wait until you’re baking something else and cook them at the same time.

Mum used to make one large rice pudding when I was growing up. A delicious dark skin developed on top, which I gather some people prefer to discard. In our house we argued over who got the skin.

Per serving:
1 level Tbs short grain (eg Arborio) rice
1-2 tsp sugar, to taste
½ cup milk
A pinch of nutmeg or ½ tsp vanilla (optional)
To serve:
Pouring cream

You will need one cup ramekins or tea/coffee cups to make these puddings. Grease them lightly, as many as you want to make, and arrange on a baking tray or in an ovenproof dish. Preheat oven to 170°C.

Place the rice, sugar, milk and flavourings in each dish and stir to combine. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked and browning on top. You can discard the skin which forms on the tops, but I like it. Serve hot or chilled with cream.

To reheat in the microwave, drizzle a little milk on the top to moisten, then zap on high for one minute.

Makes as many as you want

Potato Waffles with Prosciutto and Rocket

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Do you have an electric waffle iron languishing in the back of a cupboard? If you do then you might be interested in today’s recipe. Especially if you have kids or grandkids. And even if you don’t.

With this recipe (which came from the American magazine Food and Wine) you squash some bought potato croquettes (Tater Tots in the US) with a waffle iron to make a potato cake. In Australia I found something similar to Tater Tots in Aldi, which are called Potato Jewels.

Once the potato cake is ready you can top it with anything you fancy. We had prosciutto, but smoked salmon or trout would be nice. I added a few roasted pumpkin cubes to the topping (because they needed using up) and they went well.

 

Non-stick cooking spray
About 50 frozen Tater Tots or Jewels, thawed
Salt flakes
¼ cup sour cream or creme fraîche
2 Tbs whole-grain mustard
2 handfuls rocket
1-2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
6 slices prosciutto (or smoked salmon or trout)
Thinly sliced gherkins for serving (optional)

Heat an 8 inch (20cm) electric waffle iron and grease with non-stick spray. Arrange about 25 Tater Tots or Jewels on the waffle iron to cover it. Sprinkle with salt, then close the lid and cook for 6-8 minutes or until golden and crispy on both sides. Open the lid a couple of times during cooking and press the potatoes down with a fork, in order to fill in any gaps. Repeat with another 25 or so Jewels to make a second potato waffle.

Meanwhile mix sour cream and mustard in a small bowl. Mix rocket with the olive oil and lemon juice.

To serve, spread each potato waffle with some of the mustard cream. Arrange 3 slices of prosciutto and half the rocket on each. If liked garnish with sliced gherkins.

Serves 2

Peanut Chicken with Rice

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This tasty family recipe takes almost no time to prepare. Serve with a salad or green vegetable.

If anyone has a peanut allergy, use cashews.

1 kg chicken thighs with skin and bone (see note below)
1 cup long grain rice
2½ cups water mixed with a chicken stock cube
½ cup peanuts (or cashews)
½ cup Hoisin sauce
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
½ cup water or white wine

Trim chicken pieces of any excess fat and place in a bowl. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place rice, water and crumbled stock cube in a baking dish and stir to combine. Cover with foil and bake for 30 mins.

Meanwhile place peanuts, Hoisin and rice wine vinegar in food processor and process until fairly smooth. Scrape into the bowl with the chicken and mix well.

When rice has cooked for half an hour, arrange chicken pieces over the top, skin side up. The chicken should cover the rice in one layer with no gaps. Mix the half cup of water or wine into any marinade left in the dish and pour it over the chicken. Bake for 40 minutes without the foil, or until nicely browned and cooked through – test with a skewer or fork.

Serve with a salad or a green vegetable

Serves 4-6

Note: if preferred use skinless, boneless chicken pieces which will take slightly less time to cook.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Hummus

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Hummus goes well with grilled or roasted meats, especially lamb. This quick and easy recipe for a mid-week dinner for two was inspired by British food writer Simon Hopkinson. It’s perfect for busy couples and is easy to double or triple for bigger families.

 

4 lamb cutlets or chops
Marinade:
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp dried chilli powder or flakes
1 small clove garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To serve:
1 cup hummus (bought or home-made)
A few fresh coriander leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Steamed green vegetable (snow peas, broccolini, green beans)

Mix marinade, add the chops and turn to coat well. Leave for an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge, turning them from time to time. Grill or barbecue the chops, or cook them on a lightly oiled griddle pan for 3-4 minutes each side, or until charred on the outside, but still pink in the middle.

Spread some hummus on two warm serving plates. Arrange the chops on top, two each. Drizzle a little oil around each serving and garnish with coriander leaves and a pinch of cayenne. Serve with a steamed green vegetable such as snow peas, broccolini or green beans.

Serves 2

Zucchini Fritters with Corn and Bacon

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This recipe, from one of my favourite recipe websites called Mind Food, makes a delicious light lunch or dinner.

400g zucchini, washed and coarsely grated
½ cup self-raising flour
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
50g feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 rashers bacon, rinds removed
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cob fresh corn, kernels removed (or substitute frozen)
1 Tbs snipped chives
1/3 cup sour cream
Extra virgin olive oil to garnish

Sprinkle a good pinch of salt over the zucchini, mix through then leave to drain in a colander for 20 minutes or so. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can then place in a large mixing bowl with the flour, two cheeses, egg and seasoning to taste. You probably won’t need any salt having salted the grated zucchini.

In a large non-stick frying pan fry the bacon until crispy on both sides then drain on paper towels and keep warm. Place the corn in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Wipe out the frying pan then heat the tablespoonful of oil and fry the fritters for about 3 minutes each side, using about a quarter of the mixture for each fritter. Just scoop it out using two or three big spoonfuls for each. If the pan is large enough make all four at the same time. If not make two and keep them warm while you make another two. Drain well on paper towels, then arrange one on each of 4 warmed serving plates.

Drain corn and mix it with the chives, then divide amongst the four fritters. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a folded slice of crispy bacon. Drizzle a little olive oil around each serving.

Serves 4

Variation: top with a slice of smoked salmon or trout instead of the bacon.

Char Kway Teow

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We lived in Kuala Lumpur for three years in the mid-1980s. The street food sold by people called hawkers was fantastic and my favourite dish was char kway teow.

A delicious mix of rice noodles, prawns, egg, garlic and other flavourings, I’ve tried many times to make char kway teow taste exactly the way I remember it. Unfortunately I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not possible. Even my Malaysian friends agree with me. You need to go to Malaysia or Singapore for the real thing.

My recipe has been adapted and tweaked over the years to produce a dish which might not be 100% authentic, but which you can make easily at home with readily-available ingredients. In Malaysia they add blood clams, known as kerang. If you can find them that’s wonderful, throw them in, but I just leave them out.

Fresh rice noodle sheets which you cut into strips are available in Asian grocers, but the ready to eat rice noodles sold in most supermarkets work well. Not quite the same, but still delicious. If you’re going to make a trip to an Asian grocer for the noodles you will also be able to find Chinese sausage and garlic chives there, as well as all the sauces.

This recipe serves 2. If you need to serve more people, make another batch, don’t double the recipe.

200g rice noodles (see note below)
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
12-15 peeled and deveined prawns (preferably uncooked, but cooked also work)
1 lap cheong (Chinese sausage) thinly sliced (see note below)
Good pinch of crushed dried chillies, to taste (or add a little Sambal Oelek paste)
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 tsp soy sauce, to taste
2-3 tsp kecap manis (see note below)
2-3 tsp oyster sauce
1 bunch garlic chives or spring onions
200-250g beansprouts

If using rice noodle sheets (available in Asian stores) cut them into 1cm strips and separate them with your fingers. If using ready to eat rice noodles, cut the end off the bag and zap it in the microwave for 1 minute.

If using garlic chives (available in Asian stores) cut them into 4cm lengths. If using spring onions, slice thinly on the diagonal.

Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic, prawns and sausage and stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the noodles and the crushed dried chillies and toss well to combine. Let the noodles get a bit stuck and charred, before you scrape them off. Add the spring onions or garlic chives and beansprouts and mix in.

Push everything to one side, pour the eggs into the space and cook them like scrambled eggs, allowing them to set, then breaking them up.

Add the 3 sauces. Start with a couple of teaspoons of each, taste and add more if necessary. Gently mix everything together. The beansprouts and chives or spring onions will still be raw and crunchy. Don’t overcook – you want the egg to still be soft.

Serves 2

Notes: (1) in Australia shelf-stable (long life) rice noodles are located in the Asian aisle of big supermarkets under the Wokka brand. Inside the packet are two packets each weighing 200g. I used one for this recipe. You might also find ready-to-eat rice noodles in the refrigerated pasta and noodles section of your supermarket. (2) Chinese sausage is sold in a shelf-stable (long life) packet in the Asian aisle of Woolworths and Coles. (3) if you can’t find kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) use more ordinary soy sauce and add a good pinch of sugar.

 

Quick Lemon Loaf

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I had a sudden urge to whip up a cake in Covid lockdown. We have heaps of lemons on our tree at the moment so I didn’t have to think too far about which flavour.

There’s just the two of us at the moment and no visiting allowed, so I didn’t want to make anything huge. This little loaf was perfect and SO lemony! Lemons vary in size and the amount of juice they produce, but you will need about 3 lemons for this recipe.

125g butter at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups self-raising flour, sifted
Grated zest of 2 lemons
¼ cup lemon juice
Syrup:
6 Tbs lemon juice
6 Tbs icing sugar

Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper, or use a silicone pan (shown in the photo) which doesn’t need to be lined. Preheat oven to 180°C. Mix butter and sugar in food processor until smooth and creamy, stopping halfway to scrape down the sides. Add the eggs and when combined add the sifted lour and lastly the lemon juice. Scrape into the loaf tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to touch in the middle. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. Don’t overcook or cake will be dry and crumbly.

Meanwhile for the syrup mix the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small bowl. When cake is ready prick it all over with a toothpick or skewer to make holes right to the bottom. Pour the syrup slowly and evenly over the hot cake. Leave to cool.