Tag Archives: quick

Remar’s Broccoli, Bean & Nut Salad

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On a recent trip to Denmark we spent a couple of nights with our dear friend Remar Sutton. During the European summer Remar lives in a delightful thatched cottage in the grounds of Ledreborg castle. When the weather in Denmark starts to get nippy he moves to his other abode in the British Virgin islands, for the winter months.

Born in south Georgia USA, Remar is softly-spoken with a charming Southern lilt. So far he has led a full and very interesting life and I can’t see him slowing down any time soon. Washington post columnist, author, consumer and privacy rights advocate, he’s currently, amongst other things, Pro Bono Chairman of the Foolproof Financial Literacy Initiative. This scheme provides free and independent consumer and financial advice to young people and adults, to help them make sound financial decisions and avoid scams and fraud.

Remar regularly entertains eclectic groups of about 30 guests, ranging in age from late teens to nonagenarians. Having a zest for life and an opinion seem to be the only prerequisites for being invited.

DSCF0722DSCF0723The flickering citronella torches lining the paths and surrounding the protected sunken garden showed people the way. Bottles of wine and glasses were lined up, so guests could help themselves.

Remar is a seasoned host and has his culinary repertoire down to a fine art. Tender barbecued pork fillets were sliced and accompanied by colourful platters of asparagus spears and fresh mango slices. Crusty bread, a crock of Danish butter, steamed rice and Remar’s delicious Broccoli, Bean and Nut Salad completed the main course, with fresh blueberries and cream for dessert. The secret to feeding a crowd is to keep it simple.

Some of the guests sat outside and ate under the stars. Others found a spot in one of the two hexagonal glass atriums, where it was warmer. After coffee the evening grew cooler and some of the older guests set off to drive back to Copenhagen. The remaining few sat around the blazing fire pit, wrapped in shawls to keep the chill off our backs. The conversation was lively as we put the world to rights until the wee hours.

Remar’s Bean and Nut Salad makes enough to feed a crowd, but it’s easy to halve or quarter the quantities. It keeps in the fridge for up to four days, so any leftovers won’t go to waste. The recipe is fairly flexible, allowing you to adjust it according to what you have available. Pick your favourite nuts, including some cashews, for the nut mix.

Remar's Bean and Nut Salad6 cups broccoli florets (small ones no bigger than 2cm)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 can sweetcorn kernels, drained (or use frozen or fresh kernels)
2 cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans firm white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
4 cups mixed nuts
2-3 cups raisins or sultanas
2 cups dried cranberries or Goji berries
2 cups pomegranate seeds (if available)
Dressing:
¼ cup Extra Virgin olive oil
¼ cup Balsamic vinegar, preferably white
1 Tbs sugar

Cook broccoli in a covered bowl or in a plastic bag with a tablespoon of water for 2 minutes on High, then drain and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients together except for pomegranate seeds and shake dressing in a jar.

Mix dressing into salad then cover and refrigerate for several hours for flavours to blend. If preferred add the nuts just before serving, but Remar says they are nicer when they’ve absorbed some of the flavours. Tip salad into serving dish and top with the pomegranate seeds.

Keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Serves at least 20

Seafood Coleslaw

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I never travel without a small notebook in my bag, so I can make notes when I eat anything tasty or unusual. Dissection on the plate is usually enough to work out the main ingredients. This is my take on a delicious salad we ate at a café at Copenhagen airport last month. Light, healthy and summery, this recipe ticks all the boxes.

Seafood sticks or seafood extender as they are also known is something I rarely buy. I know they’re totally artificial – by which I mean they’re made from an inexpensive white fish and don’t contain any seafood –  but they work quite well in this recipe. If preferred use double the amount of chopped prawns. You can also substitute lobster (crayfish) or crab meat.

Seafood Coleslaw
About 6 cups finely shredded white cabbage
3 spring onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 large apple, cored, thinly sliced, then cut into fine julienne
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup flaked or slivered blanched almonds
150g seafood sticks (seafood extender)
350g large cooked prawns
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbs cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup pomegranate seeds (see note below)
Extra virgin olive oil

Place cabbage, spring onions and apple in a salad bowl. Place sesame seeds and almonds in a dry frying pan and stir over moderate heat until very lightly toasted. Cool then add to the salad bowl.

Peel all the prawns, leaving the tail and head on four (just remove shell from body) to use as garnish and slicing the rest – not too small. Cut seafood sticks into julienne. Shake oil, vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, mustard and seasoning in a jar then add to salad and mix well. Taste and add more salt or pepper if necessary. Divide salad between four individual plates. Arrange one whole prawn on each serving and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds around. If liked drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 4

Note: Fresh pomegranates are only in season for a very short time, so I used pomegranate seeds from Costco which I had frozen. I sprinkled them on when they were still frozen as they thaw very fast and I didn’t want them to go mushy. You could substitute dried cranberries, for that splash of red.

Lemon Feta Dip

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This recipe comes from a book called Sweet Paul Eat and Make by Paul Lowe who describes it as “the most blogged, tweeted and pinned recipe I have ever created.”

I made it this weekend and have to agree – it’s a keeper.

Following my grandmother’s rule of adding a little sugar to anything savoury and a little salt to anything sweet, to bring out the flavours, I added a touch of sugar to the original recipe. I also used some fresh red chilli to garnish as I have never seen red pepper flakes here.

Serve as a dip or as a spread in sandwiches or on bruschettas.

Lemon Feta Dip250g crumbled feta cheese (about 1 cup)
1 Tbs grated lemon rind
1-2 Tbs lemon juice (I used 2)
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 Tbs Extra Virgin olive oil
salt to taste
½ tsp sugar
To garnish:
Extra Virgin olive oil
Some finely chopped red chilli
A few cumin or fennel seeds
To serve:
Vegetable sticks, crackers or toasted baguette

Place feta in food processor with remaining ingredients and blitz until smooth. Scrape into serving dish and garnish with the oil, the chilli (or something else that’s red such as paprika powder or dried chilli flakes) and the cumin or fennel seeds.

Serve with vegetable sticks, crackers or toasted baguette.

Makes about 1 ¼ cups

Spanish Eggs with Jamon

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The Parlour Wine Room in New Acton Canberra has a great lunch menu at the moment where you can choose a main course from a selection of about half a dozen options for just $16, including a glass of wine or beer. I chose Spanish Eggs and it really hit the spot. The servings were quite large – I think there were 3 or 4 eggs per serve – so I have cut back a bit in my version. If you’re hungry this recipe will serve two rather than four.

Jamon is the Spanish word for ham and usually refers to dry-cured hams. Substitute Italian prosciutto or German black forest ham. I used the latter from Aldi.

Spanish Eggs with Jamon1 large onion, peeled, halved and sliced
4 red capsicums, seeds removed and sliced into strips
¼ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar
8 eggs
8 slices Spanish jamon (prosciutto or black forest ham)
4 slices sourdough bread, toasted and buttered
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a frying pan and add the onions. Fry gently until softened then add the capsicum strips. Continue to fry gently for 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Add half a cup of water and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is soft. Can be pepared to this stage and kept in the fridge until needed.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Divide onion and capsicum among four individual oven-proof shallow dishes. Break two eggs into each dish and top with the ham, cut with scissors into pieces about 2-3 cm long.

Bake for about 8 minutes, or until eggs are set and ham is crispy. Season with salt and pepper. For a low carb meal skip the toast!

Serve with buttered sourdough toast on the side.

Serves 4

Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce

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We ate minced beef at least once a week the kids were growing up. It’s cheap, easy to chew for small kids and makes a small amount of meat go a long way. Spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, meatballs, shepherd’s pie, beef burgers and various meatloaves were all favourites.

Now there are only two of us I don’t cook mince very often. If I did we’d be eating leftovers for several days. So this recipe is for the new generation of small people and their parents. Easy, quick and very tasty.

Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce

Mushroom Sauce:
50g butter
500g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
2 level Tbs flour
pinch ground nutmeg
2 heaped Tbs tomato chutney
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
Meatloaf:
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ cup fresh grapefruit or orange juice
¼ cup tomato ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, chopped very finely
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 kg minced beef

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Heat butter in a frying pan and cook mushrooms stirring, for a few minutes until softened. Add flour, nutmeg, chutney and sour cream.

Mix all ingredients together for the meatloaf. Put half in a greased loaf tin, make an indentation and spoon in about one third of mushroom sauce. Put rest of meat mixture on top, then bake for about an hour. Stand 5 mins, pour fat off, tip out onto serving plate. Add milk to remaining mushroom mixture, heat and serve as sauce.

Note: if the kids don’t like mushrooms, don’t put the layer in the middle of the meatloaf and serve it all as an optional sauce. For a low carb version leave out the breadcrumbs or replace with some grated carrot or zucchini (courgette).

Variations: use lamb, pork or chicken mince

Serves 6

Sweet Potato Rosti with Fried Eggs

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Sunday’s a good day for a leisurely cooked breakfast and about 3 weeks ago I decided to make this sweet potato rosti which I had seen in the free brochure published monthly by Coles supermarket and available at the check out.

Sweet potato, bacon, onion and thyme – preferably fresh – is a winning flavour combination, but I had to make this four times before I got it right. The first time I made one large rosti, as per the recipe, but the outsides started to burn before the middle was properly cooked. Second time I made individual rostis, like fritters, but they had a tendency to fall apart. Third time I added an egg and a bit of flour to the mixture and again made small fritters, but the flavour wasn’t the same.

The original recipe said to microwave the whole sweet potato for five minutes before grating it, but this overcooked the outside while leaving the inside raw. So on my fourth and final attempt, instead of microwaving the sweet potato I stir fried the mixture and then made it into one large rosti. This worked well and here’s my version of the recipe!

To make a more substantial meal serve rosti on a slice of buttered toast, with a green salad on the side.

Sweet Potato Rosti with Fried Eggs

1 large sweet potato (about 800g)
100g bacon, diced
1 brown onion, finely diced
3 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme (or use dried)
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs
Olive oil

Peel and grate the sweet potato into a bowl. A food processor with a coarse grating disc makes this a breeze. Alternatively use the coarsest side of a hand grater. Mix in bacon, onion, thyme, salt and pepper.

Heat a little olive oil in a medium sized non-stick frying pan. Add sweet potato mixture and stir fry for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture has softened. Heat a little oil in a smaller omelette pan about 20 cm in diameter. Pack sweet potato mixture into the pan and smooth the surface, pressing down with a spatula. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until golden underneath. Loosen around the edges, then place a plate on top and invert the pan so the rosti ends up on the plate. Slide back into pan, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Cook for 5-10 minutes on the other side.

Meanwhile in another pan, fry the eggs sunny side up, or however you like them.

Cut rosti into 4 and arrange on individual serving plates. Top each serving with a fried egg.

Serves 4

Prawn Cakes with Corn Salsa

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One of my foodie friends Karen sent me the link to this recipe for Seductive Little Shrimp Cakes. It comes from a book called Tacolicious by Sara Deseran and was recently reposted by Ruth Reichl. American-style, it calls for shrimp, which you can’t buy in Australia, so I used prawns and made a couple of other small adjustments.

Prawn Cakes with Corn Salsa750g cooked prawns (about 375g peeled)
1 egg
Juice of half a lime
1 stick celery
3 spring onions
Handful of parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp celery salt or garlic salt
3 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs juice from a jar of jalapeño chillies
1 cup Panko crumbs + extra (see note below)
Oil for shallow frying
Corn Salsa:
3 cobs corn
2 large tomatoes
1 Lebanese cucumber
½ red onion
1 jalapeño chilli from a jar
Juice half a lime
1 tsp salt

Place peeled prawns in food processor and pulse briefly to chop but still leave some chunky bits. Scrape into a large bowl and mix in the egg and lime juice. Place celery and spring onions – cut into 3cm lengths – in food processor Add parsley and pulse to chop finely. Scrape into the bowl with prawns. Mix in celery or garlic salt, mayonnaise, jalapeño juice and Panko crumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place some extra Panko crumbs on a plate. Take about a heaped tablespoon of mixture and form into a small cake with your hands. Roll in the crumbs and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. You should end up with 12-14 little cakes. Refrigerate for an hour or several hours. If only an hour, no need to cover, but if longer cover with plastic wrap.

Cut the kernels from the corn and place in a bowl. Quarter tomatoes, remove seeds and dice. Add to the bowl with the diced cucumber, red onion and chilli. Add lime juice and salt and leave to macerate. Taste before serving to see if it needs more salt.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan and cook the prawn cakes for about 3 minutes each side. Serve with the salsa.

Serves 4

Note: Panko crumbs are Japanese-style breadcrumbs. Very light and crunchy, they’re a good addition to your pantry. Sold in most supermarkets – ask if you can’t find them – or substitute ordinary dry breadcrumbs.

Persimmon & Shaved Fennel Salad

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I’ve tried persimmons a few times and I have to say I wasn’t impressed. When firm and slightly underripe they were very astringent and by the time they tasted good they were so ripe as to be almost mushy.

The good news is that you can now buy a variety of persimmon called Fuyu which Woolworths are importing from New Zealand and which are non-astringent. I was inspired by my friend Franca to combine them with shaved fennel to make a delicious and unusual salad which goes particularly well with salmon.

Fuyu persimmons are ready to eat when they feel firm, like a tomato, not soft like a very ripe avocado.

Persimmon & Shaved Fennel Salad2 firm Fuyu persimmons
1 bulb of fennel
Dressing:
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar

Wash persimmons, remove calyx then halve and thinly slice downwards. Wash fennel, trim off stalks (saving a few green fronds) halve then shave into very thin slices using a very sharp knife or a mandoline.

Arrange persimmon and fennel in a serving bowl. Place all ingredients for dressing in a small jar with a lid and shake well. Drizzle over the salad then decorate with a few green fennel fronds.

Serves 4-6

Irish Soda Bread

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A carton of buttermilk will keep in the fridge, unopened, for at least a month, so I always have one on hand to make Irish soda bread. This bread doesn’t contain yeast, so it’s quick to make. Delicious eaten fresh or toasted next day.

The owner of a bed and breakfast near Cork many moons ago taught me to make soda bread. She used sour milk – something people often ended up with in the days before refrigeration, when the recipe originated. As far as the method goes, our lovely Irish hostess said “just mix it up wit yer two hands”. As it’s a bit sticky, I usually use a spoon. I replace the sour milk with buttermilk, but a mixture of half plain yoghurt and half fresh milk also works well. You can use self-raising flour or plain flour with the addition of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

This is a very flexible recipe. Use white flour or wholemeal as I have with these rolls, or half and half. Leave out the oats and use more flour. If you like, add a little honey. Grated cheese, herbs, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, dried fruit or nuts also help to ring the changes. Top with oats, sesame seeds or poppy seeds. The options are endless.

The recipe makes one large loaf or about a dozen small rolls. I recently bought a baking mold for 8 tiny loaf shapes and was dying to use it, so I ended up with eight loaves and four round rolls. As you can see in the photo, I sliced some of the loaves and topped them with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers and red onion. Delicious.

Irish Soda Bread3 cups wholemeal self-raising flour, sifted
Or 3 cups plain four + 1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1 cup porridge oats (see note)
1 Tbs honey (optional)
1 Tbs vegetable oil
600ml buttermilk
Extra oats

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. I usually add a dash of water to the buttermilk container, swish it round and add that too. The mixture should be soft and slightly sticky – not as dry as a normal bread dough. Don’t over mix or knead. Place heaped tablespoonfuls onto a tray lined with baking paper. Or spoon into greased muffin tins or mini-loaf tins. Sprinkle with extra oats.

Irish Soda Bread with Smoked SalmonAlternatively, to make one large loaf, tip dough onto a floured surface and use floured hands to form it into a flattened round shape, place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or in a large greased loaf tin and sprinkle with extra oats. Bake for 20-25 minutes, then remove from oven and cool on baking racks. A large loaf will take longer than rolls – around 45 mins.

Makes one large loaf or 12 rolls

Notes: You can use quick cooking oats or ordinary stone-ground ones. If using the latter give them a quick whiz in the food processor, to break them up a bit.

Chocolate-Espresso Self-Saucing Pudding

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Every grandma worth her salt has a chocolate self-saucing pudding in her repertoire. They’re a cinch to make and because of the unique way the ingredients are assembled a delicious sauce forms under the pudding as it cooks.

Adding a couple of shots of espresso turns this into a more sophisticated dessert for coffee lovers. Adjust the amount of coffee to suit your taste or leave it out altogether and just use 2 cups (500ml) of boiling water. Kids will prefer it without the coffee.

Chocolate Espresso Self-Saucing Pudding

1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup caster sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
60g unsalted butter, melted
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Topping:
½ cup caster sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water and 1 cup hot coffee (2 shots)
To serve:
Cocoa for dusting
Thick cream or vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 180ºC and butter a 1.5L capacity ovenproof dish such as a lasagne dish. Sift flour, sugar and cocoa into a bowl and mix. Mix melted butter with milk and vanilla and beat in the egg with a fork. Mix thoroughly into flour mixture then tip into pudding dish and spread evenly. Mix sugar and cocoa for topping and sprinkle evenly over the pudding. Mix boiling water and coffee and carefully pour evenly over the top. Bake for 30 mins or until the top is firm.

Use a sieve to lightly dust the top of the pudding with cocoa powder. Serve with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6-8

Variations: use brown sugar instead of caster sugar. Add some chocolate chips and/or chopped walnuts.