Quickest & Easiest Chicken

When there truly is only 5 minutes to get dinner ready, this is an amazing recipe.  Annabel Langbein “gets” busy households and this recipe is always welcomed by the family at the end of a frantic day.

Baked Lemon Grass & Chilli Chicken

As many chicken breasts as you need (125 – 150 g per person), skin on or off
3 tsp finely grated lemon grass (if you don’t have this, don’t worry)
1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves finely chopped (or use grated zest of 2 limes)
2 tbsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic

Place chicken in a baking dish and pour combined ingredients over.

Bake at 200 C until chicken is completely cooked (30 – 35 minutes, possibly longer)

Serve with jasmine or brown rice, we often also have Annabel’s Green Vegetable Toss (below)

Source: Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook

Green Vegetable Toss

1 bunch asparagus
1 head broccoli
2-3 zucchinni
200 g snow peas
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper

Parboil cut vegetables in lightly salted boiling water for 2 minutes.  Drain and then refresh in cold water. Veges can be prepared ahead to this point.

Place vegetables in a heated pan with remaining ingredients, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Source: Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook

Brown Rice Salad

Everyone in the family loves this Brown Rice Salad adapted from a Ceres Organics recipe.

1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp tamari soy sauce
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
6 spring onions finely diced
2 red capsicums finely diced
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup fresh parsley

Cook rice.

Toast seeds until just crisp.

Mix dressing ingredients (juice, sauce, garlic, olive oil).

Mix all ingredients together in a salad bowl.

Delicious Low GI Kumara

Everyone loves a carbohydrate salad, and this amazing salad from Cuisine, promoted as a great Christmas salad, was hugely popular when I made it last week.

Check out the Spicy Kumara & Feta Salad from the latest Cuisine.

1.5 kg kumara, peeled and cut into 4 cm pieces
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp olive oil
200 g curmbled feta
1 red chilli, finely sliced
zest of one lemon and one orange
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing

75 ml olive oil
3 tbsp each of lemon and orange juice
1 tbsp crushed palm sugar
handful coriander sprigs

Bake kumara with cumin seeds and 3 tbsp olive oil at 200 C for 30-40 minutes until tender and browned.

When cool, mix with feta, chilli, zests and cranberries.

Mix dressing ingredients, pour over salad and sprinkle with coriander sprigs.

While I was looking for this recipe online, I found another amazing kumara salad which I’m going to have to try out very soon – a very similar salad to the Cuisine version above, but with chickpeas and a spicy lemon dressing.

Check out My Darling Lemon Thyme’s Roast Kumara, Chickpea & Feta Salad with Spiced Lemon Dressing here.

For the Love of a Plain Boiled Fruit Cake

My first Christmas gift from my not yet mother in law 30 years ago was an Alison Holst cookbook … Revered amongst Karori domestic goddesses, she was definitely the Annabel Langbein of her time!

There are still a couple of her books on my shelves (including one that belonged to Malcolm way before I knew him).  It’s that book that has the evidence of a plethora of boiled fruit cakes baked in my kitchen over the many years, in fact a recipe first introduced to me by Malcolm!  The book is so old it still has the old imperial measurements in it.

I trust that 30 years later Janet is happy that her son now has a domestic goddess looking after him (and thrilled that I still occasionally turn to Alison Holst in times of need!).

Boiled Fruit Cake

500 g sultanas
1-2 tsp lemon rind
250 g butter
1 cup water
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange essence ( I use orange blossom water)
2 – 2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Boil sultanas, butter, water and lemon rind for 10 minutes then cool to room temperature.

Beat eggs and sugar until thick.  Add remaining ingredients including fruit.  Do not add the last half cup of flour unless the mixture seems too thin.

Bake in lined 20 cm square tin at 150 C for 60 to 75 minutes.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

When there’s a crowd for dinner and I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen with visitors in the house, Moroccan Lamb is the perfect solution – always wows visitors, even family who have eaten it a hundred times!

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 kg lamb cubed into 2.5cm pieces
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 cup prunes
3 tbsp liquid honey
6 juicy sweet mandarins, halved & pips removed

Garnish :

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp blanched almonds
2 tbsp plump raisins
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

In a large saucepan, heat the oil, add the onion, garlic and lamb. Stir-fry to lightly colour the meat and soften the onion. Add all the other ingredients except the garnishings. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for one and a half hours, stirring every now and then.

Serve in a large bowl or platter with the garnishes sprinkled over. Serve with rice or couscous

Source : Cuisine

Healthy Beef Curry

It’s great when you can find a delicious curry that also ticks all the health boxes as well – the following is one of our favourite easy to prepare beef curries – I usually make a double batch of this to feed the starving masses and make sure there is some left over for lunches or snacks the day after.

The preserved lemon turns this from good to great!

Coconut Beef Curry

480 g lean stewing steak
1 red onion
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 can chopped tomatoes
¼ c coconut milk powder
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
strip lemon rind (or preserved lemon)
2 tsp brown sugar
1 cup canned chickpeas
1 cup cold water (add as required)
1 cup torn and lightly packed spinach
½ c chopped coriander

Dice the meat and chop the onion.

Heat a non-stick frying pan then add meat, onion, spices, garlic and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add everything except spinach and coriander. Place in an ovenproof dish and cover. Marinate in fridge for 1 hour.

Bake at 160C for 1 ¼ to 2 hours or until cooked.

Add spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or until wilted.

Serve over basmati rice and sprinkle with coriander.

Source: Nosh Cookbook

Lamb on a Spring Evening

Though we eat lamb all year round, there is something quintessentially “spring” about lamb, and one of our first “go to’s” on the barbeque when the weather becomes promising.

Team lamb up with Nadia Lim, one of my favourite fresh food cooks, and you get a winning combination.

We tried this amazing spin on a recipe from Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cook Book earlier this week.

Salsa Verde Lamb  with Roast Tomatoes, Spinach and Cannellini Beans (page 176)

Salsa Verde

3/4 cup very finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped capers
1 clove crushed garlic
2 finely chopped anchovy fillets
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Lamb, Tomatoes & Beans

Lamb cutlets, or other cut of lamb
Cherry tomatoes
Salt
1 can drained cannellini beans
freshly ground black pepper
baby spinach

Mix salsa verde ingredients together (I found it easiest using the food processor). Rub half on the lamb and reserve the remainder.

Season the lamb and barbeque or bake at 200 C until cooked to your liking.  Rest for 10 minutes. Roast or bbq tomatoes at same time.

Toss beans with roast tomatoes and remaining salsa verde.  Stir fry spinach until wilted.

To serve, spoon some beans, tomatoes and spinach onto each plate and top with lamb.  Spoon over any juices from the resting lamb.

Loving One Pot Dinners

There’s nothing more satisfying than dinner quietly bubbling on the stove while you go about your other business in the evening (most often accompanied by a glass of wine in hand!).

That’s tonight, we have Eleanor Ozich’s Apple & Sage Pork Cassoulet quietly working its magic in the kitchen while we work on broken lawnmowers and hatch Trade Me deals – love multi-tasking families!

This is a more wintry meal than today’s summery skies call for, but is a perfect solution to diced pork almost near its use-by date.

In Eleanor’s words from My Petite Kitchen Cookbook:

The rich, creamy slow-cooked pork just melts in your mouth, the sage adds an earthy undertone, and the soft sweetness of the apple shines through perfectly.

No need to repeat the recipe, as Cuisine has kindly done this for me – check out the recipe here.

Treats for Boys on Holiday

Everybody breathes sighs of relief as exams finish and the l-o-o-ong summer holiday starts.  Baking consumption usually goes up around this time, and this week’s treat was a choc chip biscuit with just a tiny hint of goodness (rolled oats) to make the mother feel less guilty.  Another amazing recipe from Baking Dish.

Double Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp sea salt (gives that delicious salted caramel flavour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
3/4 cup each of white and dark chocolate buttons (change the type and quantity of these as you please, would also work with sultans / raisins for a healthier option)
3/4 cup melted butter (around 150g I think)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 C.

Combine dry ingredients and chocolate in one bowl, mix all other ingredients in another. Stir together to combine well.

Place tablespoonfuls of the dough on baking trays, with room to spread.  Flatten very lightly with the back of a fork.

Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until golden.

Another favourite choc chip biscuit are known as Finn’s twice-baked biscuits, since he would help me make these when he was a toddler, and they became known in the neighbourhood as Finn’s biscuits.  These are a great crisp compact biscuit.

Finn’s Twice Baked Choc Chip Biscuits

250g softened butter
½ cup caster sugar
½ can sweetened condensed milk
2 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add other ingredients and beat until combined.

Roll heaped teaspoons of mixture into balls, place balls onto greased oven trays about 4 cm apart; flatten lightly with a fork. Bake at 180 C about 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown; cool biscuits on trays.

Bake cooled biscuits at 180C about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 45 smallish biscuits.

Source : Best Sellers for Fairs and Fetes (AWW)

First Things First

We’re creatures of habit in our family, and if you happen upon us at breakfast time, you’re most likely to find us with two poached eggs, a scattering of pumpkin seeds and whatever salady type things are lurking in the fridge … same old, same old, seven days a week (with the rare exception of a black pudding cook up or bacon and eggs if Malcolm is in the kitchen on the weekend).

However, every now and then a home needs some freshly made muesli and Aunty Claire’s muesli is just the one … check this out!

CLAIRE’S MUNCHY MUESLI

2 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup wheatgerm
½ cup oatbran or bran
½ cup fine or medium coconut
½ cup pumpkin kernels
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup honey
¼ cup sugar
2 tbsp water
¼ cup oil
1-2 cups chopped dried fruit, yoghurt sultanas, chocolate nuts etc.

Mix the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl.

Heat together honey, sugar, water and oil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir hot liquid over dry mixture and mix well

Spread mixture onto 2 large baking trays and bake at 150 C fan bake for 20 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes and change the position of the trays. When evenly golden brown remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

When completely cold add dried fruit.