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Crustless Quiche November 18, 2013

Filed under: Tarts & Pies — delishuss @ 10:59 am
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The plan was for my team to bring in a dish each to work for our team meeting. I had a look around on the web for a recipe and came across this (www.foodnetwork.com). What appealed to me was the fact that I didn’t have to make pastry. It actually took me so long to make the base that it would have been quicker to make the pastry. I’m going to blame my tools for that. I was using a tiny little food processor and blunted the blade over time. Time to upgrade I think. I ended up tearing small pieces of the sourdough bread. It didn’t affect the final product, which I was delighted with. The dish turned out great and was very well received at work.

Ingredients

680g courgettes or a mixture of summer squashes

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 handfuls 1-inch, day-old bread cubes, preferably sourdough

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram or oregano

480ml single cream

Salt to taste

2 large eggs

2 egg yolks

Freshly ground black pepper

170g young goat’s cheese, such as Montrachet.

55g grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
  2. Shred the squash/courgette on the large holes of a box grater, into a colander. Sprinkle with a heaping tablespoon salt and toss well. Place in the sink and drain for 15 minutes. Rinse and squeeze firmly. By the handful, to remove excess water. Set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, pulse bread into crumbs in a food processor. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add bread crumbs and stir until evenly toasted, about 5 minutes.
  4. Evenly spread breadcrumbs in a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan. Place pan on a baking sheet.
  5. Wipe out the pan, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, the onions and garlic and season with ½ teaspoon salt, cover over medium high heat, until onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in the herbs.
  6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  7. Whisk the eggs and add the cream little by little.  Season with salt and pepper.
  8. Spread the courgette mixture in the prepared pie pan. Crumble the goat cheese and evenly scatter on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle Gruyere on top and pour the custard over the fillings.
  9. Bake until the quiche is just set in the centre, about 40-50 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

 

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Baked Eggs with Chorizo October 13, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast,Favourites,Meat,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 7:55 am
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I woke up last weekend and had a craving for baked eggs. I didn’t have the ingredients in stock so I marched off to the supermarket and got them. By the time I had the eggs baked, I was well and truly starving so I made a bit of a brunch out of it and had the whole lot myself 😮

I made the recipe up as I went along.

I took on board the feedback from ‘binary option signals’ and have added a few photos of the process. I will aim to do that for any future posts 🙂

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 small capsicum, chopped

1 tin of tomatoes- I used one with garlic, chilli and herbs

1 onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 eggs

200g chorizo, sliced

Olive oil spray

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp smoked paprika

75g feta cheese

Salt and pepper

2 thick slices of sour-dough bread or ciabatta

Butter for the bread

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2. Heat a frying pan and spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion, capsicum and chorizo and sauté to golden brown. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

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3. Add the tin of tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and simmer down until the sauce has thickened.

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4. Add the sauce to an oven proof dish or 2 ramekins.

5.  Crack the eggs and add on top of the sauce.

6. Crumble on the feta cheese on top of the sauce and eggs.

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7. Cook in the oven until the eggs are cooked to your taste. I overcooked one of the eggs in this dish, I like it slightly runny so that it’s oozes into the sauce.

4. While the eggs are cooking toast the bread on a griddle pan. Slather on the butter.

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5. Serve the eggs with the bread on the side for dunking into the tomato sauce and running egg, Yummy.

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Asian Style Chicken Salad

Filed under: Asian,Chicken,Salads and Dressings,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 6:56 am
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I saw this recipe in the Woolworths Fresh store magazine. I think it’s really tasty and simple to put together but before you start the chicken needs to be marinated for 30 minutes. It’s worth doing to be honest because it infuses the flavours and also makes the meet more tender. This recipe is great if you are looking for something nice and light in the evening.

Serves 4

Ingredients

275g sachet of sweet chilli stir fry sauce. I used a Blue Dragon one with garlic in it.

1 large lime, juiced

600g free range chicken breast stir-fry strips

Spray oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

2cm piece ginger, peeled and grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

350g Ready to Stir-fry Asian Leaf Blend

1/2 bunch coriander

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 red chilli, sliced

Method

1. Combine sauce, lime juice and soy sauce and chicken in a bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.

2. Spray a chargrill pan with oil. Place over a medium-high heat.

3. Reserve marinade and cook chicken strips, in batches, for 1 minute on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to the bowl.

4. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add reserved marinade and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Divide leaf blend between serving plates. Chop coriander and sprinkle over leaves. Top with the chicken. Drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle over chilli. Serve.

 

Spicy Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip September 28, 2013

Filed under: Chicken,Starters — delishuss @ 3:34 am
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I always order these when I see them on the menu. I have a bit of a weakness for wings. I made these along with the Shredded Chilli Beef as an entrée. It was supposed to be a Mexican themed night. I’ve always associated wings with Mexican food as some of the Mexican restaurants that I have been to had them on the menu. I was curios about their origins so I did a bit of research and they supposedly originate in Buffalo, New York’s Anchor Bar. I was really chuffed with how these turned out.  The recipe for the wings was adopted from: http://americanfood.about.com/od/appetizersandsoups/r/bufchicwing.htm

The blue cheese dip recipe I used was: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/fried-buffalo-wings-with-blue-cheese-dip-recipe/index.html

This recipe served 5 hungry adults

Wings Ingredients

  • 1 kg chicken wings
  • Olive oil spray
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons hot sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

Dip Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 small clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon milk or buttermilk
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix the flour and paprika in a bowl and coat the chicken wings in the flour mixture.
  3. Spray an oven-proof dish with olive oil spray.
  4. Add the chicken wings to the dish and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. 10 minutes before the wings are cooked (they should be starting to brown), remove from the oven and pour over the sauce, ensuring that the wings are fully coated in the sauce. Place the wings back in the oven and cook for the remaining time.
  6. While the wings are cooking make the blue cheese sauce. Pulse the sour cream, blue cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, milk and lemon juice in a food processor until combined but still chunky. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dip.

 

Pumpkin Pasta with Blue Cheese Sauce September 24, 2013

Filed under: Pasta,Vegetarian — delishuss @ 11:55 am
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We were discussing cheeses at work and everyone had their cheese of choice. My preference is goats cheese normally. Someone mentioned that they loved the classic blue cheese and walnut salad and I asked anyone if they tried pasta and blue cheese as it was something I had been thinking about.  One of my colleagues sent me on a recipe for pumpkin pasta with blue cheese sauce and I realised I had all the ingredients so I gave it a shot. The original recipe came from Taste.com.au but I have modified a fair bit so it’s not in its original state but I would say better really 🙂 I roasted the pumpkin the night before for a salad I was making so the leftovers just needed a reheat. You can do that or make it on the night if you don’t mind waiting. This recipe comes with a health warning, it’s on the calorific side but boy does it taste good.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg pumpkin, diced

1 onion, cut into large chunks

Olive oil spray

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp harissa paste

20g feta

20g roasted pine nuts

150g blue cheese

250g pasta shapes of your choice

100ml light thickened cream

20g chopped walnuts

Salt & Pepper to season

Handful of rocket leaves to serve

 

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/360 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the pumpkin, onion, garlic cloves in their skins to an oven-proof dish. Stir in the harissa paste and spray with the olive oil.
  2. Cook in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the pumpkin has softened.
  3. 15 minutes before the pumpkin has finished cooking, start preparing the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
  4. Add the blue cheese and the cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer until the sauce has started to thicken. Sprinkle in the feta.
  5. Once the vegetables are ready, squeeze the garlic out of their skins, discard the skins and mix the cloves through the other vegetables. Try and break the garlic up so that you don’t get large clumps of garlic.
  6. Add the vegetables, pasta, pine nuts to the sauce and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Serve sprinkled with the walnuts and some rocket leaves.

 

Shredded Chilli Beef

Filed under: Meat,Mexican — delishuss @ 10:17 am
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We often go to this Mexican restaurant in Brisbane called La Quinta. They have this awesome chilli beef. I had been meaning to give it a try for a while and I finally got around to it for a Mexican style dinner party that I was having.  I made this dish in the slow cooker. I started preparing it at about 8 o’clock in the morning and left it all day in the slow cooker. I got a big thumbs up from my guests. Personally I thought it turned out superbly if I do say so myself. I got the basis of this recipe from Taste.com.au and of course put my own spin on it. It’s very easy and straight forward to make. Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients

1.2kg beef chuck steak, cut into 10cm pieces

1 tbs olive oil

2 brown onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground allspice

500ml passatta

375ml water

1 tbs finely chopped pickled jalepeno peppers

3 dried bay leaves

1 oxo cube

1 tbs cayenne pepper

1 can of red kidney beans

To serve:

Flour tortilla, warmed to serve

Steamed rice, to serve

Sliced avocado, to serve

Fresh coriander sprigs, to serve

Sour cream, to serve

Pickled Jalepenos, to serve

Fresh lime quarters

Method

1.  Season the beef with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Heat the oil in a large flame proof casserole dish or pan over a high heat.

2. Cook half the beef for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining beef. Remove all beef from the pan.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-low for about 10 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic.  Combine the spices in a bowl and add to the onion mixture cooking for another 1 minute or so. Add the passatta, water, jalepenos, oxo cube crumbled, and bay leaves. Bring to the boil.

4. While the flavours are marrying, switch on the slow cooker and heat. Transfer the mixture over.

5. Let the slow cooker work its magic. Leave for as long as you can, stirring occasionally.  I left it from 9am to 8pm. It sounds excessive but worth it, you’ll see.

6. One hour before serving, add the red kidney beans.

6. When you are nearly ready to serve, shred the meat in the slow cooker with a fork. It should shred away easily.

7. Serve with all the accompaniments.

 

Beef Meatballs with Orecchiette, Kale and Pine Nuts August 18, 2013

Filed under: Favourites,Meat,Pasta — delishuss @ 11:54 am
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I saw Gordon Ramsay cook (Gordon Ramsay’s Cookery Course) this along with a number of meatball recipes which I have to try and I thought it looked delicious. I was a little worried that it might be a bit bland but it’s not at all. This is one for making at the weekend when you have plenty of time to prepare it in advance. It doesn’t really take long to cook, it’s just prep time. Just a point to note about the orecchiette, it take a fair amount of cooking time, my packet took 18 minutes. The milk and breadcrumbs concept really works, it makes the meatballs moist.

I loved this recipe. I’m not sure how many people this serves but I would say 4-6 serves.

 

Ingredients

500g dried orecchiette pasta

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

200g kale or cavolo nero, shredded

4 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

 

For the meatballs

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

olive oil, for frying

1 tsp dried chilliflakes

500g minced beef

75g fresh breadcrumbs

3-4 tbsp milk

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

1. First prepare the meatballs. Sauté the onion and garlic with seasoning in a hot oiled frying pan for about 5 minutes until soft and lightly coloured, adding the chilli flakes after a minute or two.

2. Place the mince in a large bowl and add seasoning. Put the breadcrumbs in a separate bowl and moisten with the milk. Add the seasoning, then stir the breadcrumbs and onion mixture into the mince and combine well. With wet hands, shape the mince mixture into small balls about 2cm wide. Transfer to a lightly greased plate or tray and chill for 30 minutes until firm.

3.  Start cooking the pasta in boiling salted water as per the pack instructions.

4. Meanwhile, heat the large frying pan over a medium and add a little olive oil. Brown the meatballs for 6 minutes until coloured on all sides.

5. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes until tender, then add the kale and season. Sweat the kale over a medium heat for 5 minutes with a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then stir in the pine nuts.

6. Drain the pasta, reserving a few tablespoons of cooking water. Tip the pasta into the pan with the meatballs and stir over a medium-low heat until well mixed. Add a good handful of finely grated Parmesan, an mix well with a little cooking water to help to coat the pasta. Tate and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

7. Serve garnished with another grating od Parmesan.

I’m dying to try out the other meatball recipes. Will keep you posted if I do.

 

Lemon Ripple Tart July 7, 2013

Filed under: Desserts — delishuss @ 12:47 pm
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I made this recipe a while back for a dinner party. It was a stinking hot day and all I could think of was my mum and my former home economics teacher harping on about keeping everything cold and not overworking the pastry. I thought it was going to be an unmitigated disaster but it actually turned out very well. I was telling my dinner guests about my episode with the pastry and they looked at me as if I had two heads on me and said who makes pastry nowadays. Part of my was thinking yep that’s a fair point and then when I was tasting the end results I was pretty chuffed with myself. I think it’s a cracker, I will definitely try this one again.  By the way, this is a Jamie Oliver recipe. If you have the time or the inclination I would probably make the pastry the day before.

Serves 10

Ingredients

6 egg yolks

5 eggs

270g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways, seeds removed

250ml lemon juice, plus the grated zest from the lemons

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature

250g raspberries

1tbsp caster sugar

Icing sugar, for caramelising (optional)

 

Pastry

500g plain flour, plus extra

100g icing sugar

250g cold unsalted butter, cubed

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs, beaten with a splash of milk

 

Method

1. For the pastry, sieve the flour and icing sugar onto a surface, then use your fingers to gently work in the butter till you have ‘crumbs’. Sprinkle in the zest, then gradually add the egg mixture till you get a ball of dough. Dust this with flour, flatten slightly, then wrap in cling-film and chill for about 30 minutes.

2. Grease a loose-bottomed 28cm to tart tin. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll the pastry into a circle that’s 5mm thick and big enough to line the tart tin. Lightly press the pastry into the tin, trim off the excess, then cover with cling-film and put in the freezer for at least an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Unwrap the tart case, line it with greaseproof paper, then fill with rice or dried beans. Bake the pastry in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans and return to the oven for about 15 minutes or until light brown.

4. For the filling, put the yolks, eggs, sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon juice and zest into a heavy-bottomed pan; whisk over a very low heat until the mixture starts to thicken. Stir in the button, making sure you get all the bits of curd from the bottom of the pan. When it looks like really thick custard and coats the back of a spoon, take it off the heat and let it cool a little. Give it a whisk, then strain through a sieve.

5. Mash the raspberries with the sugar in a small pan. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until it starts to look like jam.

6. Spoon the lukewarm lemon curd into the tart and give it a shake so that the mixture spreads. Spoon the raspberry jam over the lemon and gently stir to create a ripple effect. Cool the tart for 30 minutes, if you like, dust the top with a layer of icing sugar and caramelise it with a kitchen blowtorch.

 

Jambalaya July 3, 2013

Filed under: Fish,Meat,Rice and Grains — delishuss @ 10:34 am
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I picked myself up a slow cooker. I was surprised at how popular they are here in Australia considering how warm a place it is. It’s more the convenience of it I think; you bung the food in the cooker, leave it for the day and hey presto a lovely cooked dinner waiting for you when you get home. I wasn’t really sure what the process was so I bought myself a cookbook to try out a few ideas from it (Simple & Delicious Slow Cooker)

One of the first recipes I tried out was this Jambalaya. I will be straight with you, I thought the flavour would be a bit punchier. Maybe a bay leaf or bouquet garni might work to give it a bit more flavour. Here you go.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

350g/12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced

2 tbsp corn oil

2 onions, chopped

2 green peppers, deseeded and chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

115g/4oz chorizo sausage, sliced

400g/12oz canned chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

225ml/8floz chicken stock

450g/1lb raw prawns, peeled and deveined

450g/ 1lb cooked rice

Salt and pepper

Snipped fresh chives, to garnish

 

Method

1. Mix together the cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt and the thyme in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, green peppers and celery and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for a further 5 minutes until golden all over. Stir the ham, chorizo, tomatoes, tomato puree and stock and bring to boil.

3. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Add the prawns and rice, re-cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.

4. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to warmed plates, garnish with chives and serve immediately.

 

Roxy’s Rockin Cheesecake

Filed under: Cakes,Desserts — delishuss @ 10:07 am
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I told my work colleague that I had a blog and she said I made the nicest cheesecake at the weekend so she shared her creation with me and I said I would post it. I have to try it myself soon, it sounds gorgeous. I’m a sucker for cheesecake.

EQUIPMENT

20cm spring form tin
Food processor
Electric mixer with mixer blade

INGREDIENTS
1 packet Nice Arnotts Biscuits
125g melted butter
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 vanilla bean pod
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup thickened cream
500g (2 blocks) Philly cream cheese, diced
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 teaspoon gelatine
1/4 cup boiling water

METHOD
Base: In a food processor, blend whole packet of Nice biscuits until a small crumb. Add cinnamon and quick blend to mix in.  Add melted butter and blend to combine.  Scoop out combine base into a spring form tin.  Press base and sides.  Chill in fridge while making the filling.

Filling: Boil water and dissolve gelatine in a small bowl, stir until dissolved. Place a plate or lid to allow stubborn crystals to dissolve and set aside.

Set up your electric mixer with the mixer blade (not whisk). Add caster sugar and diced Philly cheese.  Mix until completely smooth and creamy.

With mixer running on low, gradually drizzle in cooled desolated gelatine and beat until just combined.  Add vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract and thickened cream and continue beating until smooth and fluffy.

Remove chilled base from fridge and scoop mixture into pre-prepared base.  Gently smooth to edges, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.