Tag Archives: family

Chicken with Spinach, Pine Nuts and Raisins

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We have six perpetual spinach plants in the garden. It’s a great leafy vegetable to grow because you just break off the leaves as you need them and it keeps on growing.

Ours are in a raised bed which we can cover at night in the cooler months, like a greenhouse, so the plants don’t get damaged by frost.

This is a healthy, quick and easy dinner for two, but easily doubled for four. If liked serve with rice, potatoes or Israeli pearl couscous

1 large or two small chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Herbs or spices of choice (paprika, thyme etc)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 bunch spinach, washed, stalks removed
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbs pine nuts
2 Tbs sultanas or raisins
Balsamic glaze

Cut chicken into six or eight lengthwise fat fingers. Season with salt and pepper and a good pinch of any spices or herbs you fancy. Last time I added a good pinch of curry powder. Place sultanas in a small bowl, cover with hot water, leave 3 minutes, then drain.

Pour boiling water over the spinach and leave for 2 minutes. Drain, squeeze out all the water and if spinach has large leaves, chop roughly. If using baby spinach, no need. Leave in a sieve to continue draining while you cook the chicken.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a frying pan and cook chicken on both sides for 8-10 minutes, turning a couple of times, until cooked through. When chicken is cooked, remove from the pan. To the pan add the second Tbs of oil – you might not need it – spinach, garlic, pine nuts and sultanas or raisins. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes then season to taste.

Divide spinach among two serving plates. Top with chicken, then garnish with olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Serves 2

Quick Falafel

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When we lived in Israel in the late 1970s, we loved the street food called falafel. Crispy chickpea patties served in a warm pita bread pocket with humus, tomatoes, cucumber, and onion.

Falafel are traditionally made with chickpeas. Using a can doesn’t work – they end up mushy. This recipe uses red lentils instead of chickpeas which you just soak for an hour. The photo shows the falafel ready to fry – which is why they look a bit insipid. Next time I think I’ll make them a little bit smaller.

Falafel:
1 bunch parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 cup red lentils soaked one hour in cold water then drained
1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and salt
4 tbs chickpea flour (besan flour)
¼ cup olive oil + extra for frying the felafel
To serve:
4 pita bread pockets
Hummus (bought or home-made)
1 small cucumber, diced
2-3 tomatoes diced (or 8-10 cocktail tomatoes)
½ red onion, diced
Coriander or parsley, chopped
Avocado diced (optional)
Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients for the felafel. I use the food processor to finely chop the parsley and onion, then add the drained lentils, spices, salt, chickpea flour and olive oil. Process just enough to get a chunky mixture. You don’t want it smooth. Form into 2cm flattened balls with damp hands.

Deep fry or shallow fry the falafel or spray both sides with oil and cook them in an air fryer for about 10 minutes, turning once about halfway through.

Meanwhile warm or toast the felafel pockets. Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, coriander or parsley and avocado if using. Add a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, fill each pita pocket with some hummus, cucumber and tomato mix and two or three crispy warm felafel.

Serves 4

Chicken with Israeli Couscous and Citrus Marmalade

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I know chicken with marmalade sounds a bit weird, but think duck with orange.

Choose a tart chunky marmalade such as Seville Orange, Grapefruit or similar. I used a home-made Cumquat and Ginger marmalade. If you’ve never cooked Israeli Couscous, also known as Pearl Couscous, it’s just bigger than normal couscous. It makes a nice change from rice.

1 very large or 2 smaller chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup Israeli (Pearl) couscous
2 Tbs chopped parsley
A knob of butter or 1 Tbs olive oil
2-3 Tbs chunky citrus marmalade

Pat chicken dry and season to taste. Flatten out a bit if it’s very thick in some parts. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook chicken for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway, or until cooked through. Remove from the pan and slice downwards. Meanwhile while chicken is cooking, cook the couscous in boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes or until al dente. Drain well then add the parsley, butter or oil and season to taste.

Divide couscous between two serving plates. Top with the chicken slices and the marmalade.

Serves 2

 

Lemon Slice

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There’s a recipe on Cafe Cat called Valli’s Amazing Lemon Tart which uses a whole lemon – peel, pith and all.

This is a recipe for a very lemony slice which does the same. I used a standard Australian 250ml cup for this recipe.

Base:
1 cup plain flour
¼ cup suar
¼ tsp salt
125g butter, melted
Lemon Topping:
1 lemon washed, dried, cut up, seeds removed
2/3 cup sugar
1 rounded Tbs cornflour
3 Tbs lemon juice
50g butter
3 eggs
To serve:
Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Place ingredients for crust in a food processor. Process until you have a smooth paste, then scrape it into the cake pan and  press it all over to an even thickness. Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.

Place all the ingredients for the lemon topping in food processor – there’s no need to wash it after mixing the base. Process until fairly smooth then tip onto the base and spread out. Bake for 20-25 minute or until set – it should feel firm to the touch in the middle. Cut into squares or rectangles when cool.

Keeps several days in the fridge and can be frozen.

Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Cuts into 12-16 squares or rectangles.

Chicken and Zucchini Burgers

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I made these tasty little burgers – rissoles, patties, frikadelle or whatever you like to call them – in the Air Fryer. If you don’t have one, cook them in a frying pan in a tiny bit of oil.

This is a good way to get kids to eat more vegetables as they probably won’t notice the grated zucchini in the mix.

To add a bit more zing add some chopped ham, salami or bacon. The sauce is optional.

500g chicken mince
1 large or 2 small zucchini (courgettes)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1-2 Tbs finely chopped fresh tarragon (optional) or parsley
1 egg
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sauce:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp honey

Grate the zucchini coarsely then mix with the rest of the ingredients. Form into patties – I made 10 but you could make less by making them larger.

Spray with cooking oil on both sides, then cook in an Air Fryer at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, turning once. Or fry in a little oil in a frying pan on both sides. Garnish with chives.

Sauce: mix ingredients together and serve with the burgers.

Serve with a salad or coleslaw. I made a coleslaw with shredded cabbage, grated carrot, pine nuts, sultanas and a little shredded red onion, with a dressing of mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice.

Serves 4

 

Weetbix Date Loaf

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Many Australians grew up eating Weetbix for breakfast and some are still fans. Not Weet-a-Bix, sold in England, but the Aussie equivalent by Sanitarium, called Weetbix.

In the post-War generation of my mother-in-law, when nothing was thrown away, women invented recipes to use up the broken Weetbix at the bottom of the packet.

This is an adaptation of a typical Date Loaf, with the addition of some crushed Weetbix. It’s quickly made, nice and moist and keeps for several days in a tin. If you don’t have Weetbix, use any crushed breakfast cereal such as raisin bran, All Bran or even cornflakes.

What I like about this recipe is that you just throw all the ingredients into a saucepan, so there’s minimal washing up and mixing involved. By the time the oven has heated, the loaf is ready to go in. It’s also a very flexible recipe so if you don’t have dates you can add any dried fruit or nuts you have available. To make this dairy free use olive oil instead of butter.

80g butter
1 cup (250ml) water
1 cup pitted dates chopped (or raisins, or mixed fruit, or fruit & nuts)
¾ cup sugar (white or brown)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 crushed Weetbix – about 2 cups
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf pan and line with baking paper. I just line the bottom of mine, but you can line the sides as well if preferred. Just a standard size, whatever you have.

Place butter, water, dates and sugar in a medium to large saucepan. Turn on the heat and when the butter has melted turn it off. Add the bicarbonate of soda, Weetbix, vanilla and sifted flour and lastly mix in the egg. Scrape into the loaf pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes then run a knife around the sides if you haven’t lined them with paper, tip out and remove paper. Serve as it is or buttered. Store in a container with a lid.

Makes 1 loaf

Black Bean Chocolate Brownie

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This is an interesting recipe for deliciously moist and chocolatey brownies which uses a can of black beans instead of flour and eggs.

It’s gluten-free and, if you want to cut down on the sugar, use a sugar-free fake maple syrup, stevia or another artificial sweetener. I used honey. You could leave the chocolate chips out.

1 can black beans, drained
3 Tbs cocoa powder
½ cup nut meal (ground almonds, walnuts or whatever)
1/3 cup olive or coconut oil
½ cup honey or maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
¾ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Extra: ¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in food processor. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. Add chocolate chips if using, then scrape into a small square cake pan. Mine was 7 inches or 18cm. You will need to grease and line a metal pan with baking paper. I used a silicone pan which doesn’t need lining.

Sprinkle the extra chocolate chips over the top then bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch in the middle. Cool then cut into squares. If preferred, make the brownies in muffin pans – it will make about 6 big ones.

Nice served as dessert with a blob of cream and some berries.

Makes 9-12 pieces

Substitutes and variations: use rolled oats instead of ground nuts; add some chopped nuts such as walnuts instead of or as well as the chocolate chips. Use 1½ cups cooked mashed sweet potato instead of the black beans.

Date and Nut Loaf

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The recipe for date and nut loaf originated in Scotland. It was brought to Australia by the early immigrants where it became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Back then home cooking was the only way to get cakes and pastries, especially in rural areas.​

Willow started business in 1887 as a metal working company based in Melbourne. They made canisters for tinned biscuits and tea, but the outbreak of the First World War saw their manufacturing change to making armaments and essential packaging for the war effort.

In the early 1920’s, the Willow brand was established and they began to make baking pans with the Willow logo printed on them. The nut loaf tin shown in the photo – cylindrical with a removable lid on each end – was developed by Willow at that time. Pretty much every housewife in Australia who married between 1920 and 1960 had one, my mother-in-law included. Nowadays they are considered a collectable item and I found one recently in a second-hand shop. It worked, although getting the cake out of the tin was no doubt more difficult than if I had bought one of the newer, non-stick versions you can buy online. If you’re using an old-fashioned one make sure you grease it well with melted butter, including the insides of both lids.

Don’t worry, if you don’t have one of these special tins, just make it in a standard loaf tin.

While you can always eat this as it is, some prefer it spread with butter.

Willow Nut Loaf Tin — Rustic Notions

1 cup water
150g dates, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3⁄4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
13⁄4 cups self-raising flour
1 egg, beaten
100g walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Bring water to the boil in a small saucepan. Add the dates, butter, sugar and soda and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. Add the flour, egg and walnuts and mix until combined. Spoon mixture into a well-greased nut loaf tin, standing up with the lid on the bottom. Fill to just under 3⁄4 full because the mixture will rise as it cooks.

Place the greased lid on top and cook in the oven, standing upright, for about 45 minutes. Any leftover mixture can be baked in greased muffin tins. If you don’t have a nut loaf tin you can make this in a loaf tin.

Serve sliced, plain or buttered.

Chicken with New Potatoes, Bacon and Herbs

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This recipe is quick to prepare and good when you only have one chicken breast to feed two people.

2 Tbs olive oil
1 large chicken breast or equivalent in tenderloin pieces
200-300g new potatoes
100g chunky bacon, speck or lardons, cut into small thick pieces
1 red onion, halved, then cut into wedges
3 Tbs fresh oregano or marjoram, roughly chopped
A few fresh herbs to garnish

Cut chicken into chunks about 2.5cm (one inch) square. Scrub potatoes, cut into quarters, then cook in boiling salted water. When cooked drain well.

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook bacon and onion, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken and potatoes and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes over moderate heat, turning the chicken pieces and the potatoes so they brown evenly. Lastly add the herbs and season to taste. Save a few fresh herbs to garnish.

Serves 2

Lamb with Eggplant and Ginger

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Lamb has become relatively expensive in Australia over the past year or two. A couple of years ago you could buy a leg of lamb for between ten and twenty dollars. You’re now looking at $40 to $50 from a supermarket and more from a butcher’s shop. For many familes lamb has gone from being an everyday staple to a special treat.

This tasty stir-fry recipe can be made using lamb fillets or any lean lamb, cut from the leg or shoulder. Adjust the amount of chilli to suit your taste and serve it with rice to make it go further.

350g boneless lamb cut into thin stir-fry strips
1 tsp cornflour
3 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice wine or sherry
2 tsp sugar
2 eggplants, sliced then cut into strips about 1.5cm wide
¼ tsp salt
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 Tbs cumin seeds
1-2 small red chillies, finely chopped
2 spring onions finely sliced on the diagonal
Fresh coriander to garnish

Heat the cumin seeds in a small dry frying pan and allow them to lightly toast, being careful not to burn them then put them aside.

Pat the lamb dry then place in a bowl with the cornflour, half the cumin, half the soy sauce, the rice wine or sherry and the sugar. Mix well and put aside for 30 minutes and up to an hour.

Toss the eggplant with the remaining cumin and the salt. Heat half the oil in a wok or large frying pan and cook the eggplant, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, until it’s starting to brown.

Add the ginger, remaining soy sauce and continue to stir fry until the eggplant is dark golden brown. Remove from the wok. Add remaining oil to the wok and when it’s hot add the lamb and stir fry for a minute or so, to make sure it’s not sticking together, then leave it undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir fry for another 2 minutes or until golden brown all over. Return the eggplant to the pan with the chillies, spring onions and toasted cumin seeds.

Serve with steamed rice, garnished with the coriander.

Serves 3-4