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Vegetable and Lentil Moussaka August 29, 2010

Filed under: Potatoes,Vegetarian — delishuss @ 9:13 pm
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This recipe is from the Cornucopia cookbook.  This one can be made and the leftovers put in the freezer for a later date.

Note: I couldn’t find puy lentils at the time, so I used a tin of green lentils. I also added some vegetables (peppers) to bulk it up a bit.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Sauce

340g fat free natural yoghurt

1 tsp of mild curry powder

¼ tsp of ground turmeric

2 egg yolks

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

75g of grated cheddar cheese

Base

2 tablespoon of olive oil

200g of tinned puy lentils

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

25g of fresh oregano

1 can of tomatoes

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of ground cumin

2 large (3 medium) aubergines

4 large waxy potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Fry off the onion for 5 minutes on a medium. Add in the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the herbs and spices and fry for 1 minute. Add the puy lentils and tin of tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat once cooked.
  3. While the base is simmering, peel and slice the waxy potatoes.
  4. Par-cooked in salted water for 15 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.
  5. Slice the aubergines and spray with low cal spray. Cook on a griddle pan until slightly charred on each side.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  7. Mix together the yoghurt, curry powder, turmeric, egg yolks and nutmeg in a bowl and season to taste.
  8. Spread some of the base sauce on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Layer some aubergine on top and then some of the potato. Repeat process.
  9. Cover the top with the creamy sauce mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.
  10. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
 

Macaroni Cheese

Filed under: Meat,Pasta — delishuss @ 9:05 pm
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This is my own version of Macroni Cheese. It’s a good one for midweek as it doesn’t really take that long to cook. It’s a good family favourite.

Ingredients

Serves 4 (or 3 hungry people)

300g of macaroni pasta

1 onion, finely chopped

40g of butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 heaped dessertspoons

100ml of milk

25g parmesan cheese, grated

½ ball of mozzarella, roughly chopped

5 medallions of bacon, chopped roughly

½ teaspoon of mixed spice or nutmeg

Salt and pepper

 

Instructions

  1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. I find that macaroni pasta takes longer to cook, so it may take longer than on the packet. Add salt and a splash of oil and stir to avoid the pasta sticking.
  2. Meanwhile, fry off the onions and bacon in a frying pan until golden brown. Set aside.
  3. In a saucepan melt the butter and oil, add in the flour, little by little creating a buttery consistency. It is best to use a whisk and stir vigorously lifting off the heat regular to avoid burning. Add in the milk, little by little until it is a nice creamy consistency. This is known as a roux. Add in the spice, grated parmesan, salt and pepper to the sauce and stir. Take off heat.
  4. Add the cooked pasta to the onions and bacon and pour in the sauce. Stir ingredients together and 
  5. Pour all the ingredients into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the mozzarella over the mixture.
  6. Place until a grill until the cheese has melted and golden. Serve immediately.
 

Red Prawns and Mango Curry

Filed under: Curries,Fish — delishuss @ 8:55 pm
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This is a nice change from the regular curry. I got it from a Nigella Lawson cookbook. It’s a good way to get some fish if you are not a major fan.

Ingredients

1 x 15 ml wok oil

1 spring onion, finely sliced

1 ½ tablespoons red Thai curry paste (or according to taste)

½ x 400ml coconut milk

250 ml chicken stock made from concentrate

2 teaspoons of fish sauce

1 x 350g packet of butternut and sweet potato cubes

1 x 200g packet frozen prawns

1 teaspoon of lime

150g mango cubes, diced

3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

 

Instructions

  1. Heat the wok oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan, and fry the sliced spring onion for a minute, then add the curry paste.
  2. Whisk in the coconut milk, chicken stock and fish sauce and bring to the boil.
  3. Tip in the butternut squash and sweet potato cubes and simmer, partially covered for about 15 minutes, or until tender.
  4. Drain the prawns under running water to remove excess ice and tumble them in to the pan, letting the sauce come back to the boil. When it does, add the lime juice and diced mango and cook for another minute or so until the prawns are cooked through.
  5. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander as you serve over plain rice or wide rice noodles, or even both.
 

Chicken Korma

Filed under: Chicken,Curries,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:48 pm
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I was a bit sceptical of this recipe as I’m not a big fan of the weight watchers curry sauces in the jars; however, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s pretty good for a low fat curry.

Servings 4

Points value- 5

Ingredients

1 spray low fat cooking spray

2 medium onions chopped

1 medium apple chopped

4 teaspoon of curry powder, mild

450g skinless chicken breast, uncooked, cut into chunks

1 stock cube (make ½ pint)

25g sultanas

1 tablespoon tomato puree

125g dried rice, basmati

1 medium banana

8 tablespoons natural low fat yoghurt, plain

Salt and black pepper

4 sprigs of coriander to garnish

 

Instructions

  1. Mist a large saucepan with spray cooking oil. Sauté onions and apple for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the curry powder.
  2. Add chicken. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, until sealed all over.
  3. Add chicken stock, sultanas and tomato puree. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for about 4 minutes.
  4. 12 minutes before end of cooking time, put rice on to cook in plenty of lightly salted boiling water.
  5. Just before serving, add sliced banana, chopped coriander and 4 tablespoons of yoghurt to curry. Season. Cook for 2 minutes.
  6. Serve curry with hot cooked rice, adding 1 tablespoon of yoghurt to each portion. Garnish with coriander.
 

Green Bean and Coconut Soup

Filed under: Chicken,Favourites,Soups and Stews — delishuss @ 8:44 pm
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This has to be one of my favourite recipes. It’s great as a soup but I often add some cooked chicken and serve with rice.  The recipe is from one of the Avoca cookbooks. Anyway give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

15g/1/2 oz butter

2 spring onions, chopped

1 medium carrot cut into fine strips

2 teaspoons of finely chopped lemongrass

2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

2 teaspoons of ground coriander

2 green chillies, chopped

12 green beans, roughly chopped

2 x 400 ml cans of coconut milk

½ vegetable stock cube crumbled or 2 tbsp of liquid stock

110g/4oz bean sprouts

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
  2. Add the spring onions, carrot, lemongrass, garlic and ginger and stir over a medium heat for 1 minute.
  3. Add the turmeric, coriander, chillies, green beans, coconut milk and stock cube and mix well.
  4. Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in the bean sprouts and fresh coriander, season to taste and serve.
 

Tray Baked Chicken Maryland

Filed under: Chicken — delishuss @ 8:37 pm
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This recipe is really good. It’s pretty calorific so it wouldn’t be the best for those on a low fat/low cal diet. It’s one from Jamie Oliver. I would recommend trying it at the weekend when you have more time.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, skin removed

4 fresh corn on the cob/1 large can of sweetcorn

1 x 410g tin of cannellini beans or butter beans drained

2 bananas, peeled

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large wine glass of white wine

300ml/10fl oz of double cream

55g/2 oz butter

12 rashers of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius/425 degrees Fahrenheit, gas mark 7 and get yourself an appropriately sized roasting tray in which you can snugly fit the chicken breasts side by side.
  2. Run a knife down the length of the raw corn on the cobs to remove the lovely sweets bits of corn. It takes literally no time at all to do this. Once done, add the corn to the tray and discard the cobs.
  3. Using a fork squash up half your cannellini or butter beans until you have a pulp and add these, with the un-squashed half the beans, to the tray.
  4. Next thing to do is to put the chicken breasts on a chopping board. You will notice each breast has a little strip or flap of meat on one side. If you fold that back using the knife and make a cut you can carefully form a little pocket inside the chicken breast.
  5. Once you have done this to all 4 chicken breasts, squash half a banana into each pocket. Then fold the flap back over to cover the banana up and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
  6. Turn the fillets the other way up and carefully place them on top of the corn and beans.
  7. Add the wine and double cream, then divide the butter into little knobs and scatter these all around the tray.
  8. Drape the bacon or pancetta slices over the chicken breasts and bake in an oven for 35 minutes to 40 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. The smoky flavour from the bacon and the smooth flavour of the bananas will have really cooked into the corn and the chicken.
  9. A lovely combination of flavours. Taste and correct the seasoning if it needs it. I usually serve this in the dish at the table, with a handful of fresh mint thrown over, and let people help themselves.

I served this with some baby potatoes and some green beans.

 

Lamb Meatball Tagine

Filed under: Uncategorized — delishuss @ 8:33 pm
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I enjoyed this one, it’s quite sweet so if you don’t like sweet and savory then it’s probably not for you.

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 medium red onions

2 carrots

2 parsnips

½ swede

3tbsp sunflower oil

4 garlic cloves, bruised

2 x 500g lamb mince

30 fresh breadcrumbs

½ 200g jar tagine spice paste

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

Lemon juice, to taste

½ 25g pack of fresh coriander, chopped

250g couscous, to serve

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees celsuis/275 degrees Fahrenheit, gas 5. Cut each onion into 8 wedges. Peel and cut the remaining root vegetables into 2cm chunks.
  2. Put 2tsbp oil in a roasting tin. Add the veg and garlic, season and toss together. Cook for 35-40 minutes until tender and golden.
  3. Meanwhile, mix together the lamb mince and breadcrumbs and season. Roll into 24 equal-sized balls. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and brown the meatballs all over.
  4. Discard any excess fat from the pan, then add the spice paste, chopped tomatoes and 175ml water. Bring to the boil, then cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the meatballs are completely cooked through.
  5. Carefully stir the meatballs into the roasted vegetables. Check the seasoning, adding lemon juice to taste. Stir through the chopped coriander, reserving a little to garnish, and serve with couscous.
 

Chicken and puy lentil salad with coriander

Filed under: Chicken,Healthy Eating,Salads and Dressings — delishuss @ 8:30 pm
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I got this recipe from TV3 ‘s Expose show. Clodagh McKenna was the name of the chef making the dish. It’s pretty quick and easy.

Ingredients

Preparation method

  1. Using a sharp knife, make a few long shallow incisions on both sides of the chicken breasts.
  2. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the ground coriander, garlic, a pinch of black pepper, two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Mix the marinade with the chicken in a bowl, making sure all the meat is evenly coated in the marinade. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes (or one hour if you have the time).
  3. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8.
  4. When the oven is hot, spread the chicken out on a baking tray and cook it for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. To ensure the chicken is cooked through, cut into the breast with a knife. Once cooked, take the chicken out of the oven and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, place the still-warm lentils in a saucepan, cover with water and boil for about 20 minutes, until cooked through.
  6. When cooked, drain the lentils then dress them with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and chopped coriander, and season with salt and pepper.
  7. To serve, slice the chicken thinly and toss with the lentils (they can be still warm) and the mixed salad leaves. Place on plates or in a large bowl and sprinkle with the crumbled feta and a small drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
 

Spicy Turkey Burgers

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Meat — delishuss @ 8:15 pm
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My friend Anita gave me this recipe recently in a restaurant when I had already drank a few glasses of wine, so this may not be exact but the basis is the same :-). These can be served in a burger bun or in a wholemeal pitta with some salad and some curry mayo.

Ingredients

1 tbsp of curry powder

1 finely chopped red chilli

1 tbsp of cumin powder

1 tbsp ground coriander

small bunch of coriander, chopped

1 large onion finely chopped

500g turkey mince

75g breadcrumbs

50g flour

1 egg, beaten

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp of olive oil or cooking spray

Curry Mayo

1 tbsp of curry powder

4 tbsp of mayonnaise

Method

  1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil or cooking spray in a pan and fry off the onions for 3 minutes, add in the chilli and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  2. In a bowl, mix the mince, spices, curry powder, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, coriander, onion, chilli, and add the seasoning. Season very well as the turkey mince can tend to be quite bland.
  3. Place the flour on a plate. Bind the mince into patties and place on the flour turning over to dust on both sides.
  4. The mixture should make 4 burgers.
  5. Heat the remainder of the oil in the frying pan and fry off the burgers, you could use the grill or a griddle pan also.  I would suggest frying the burgers until golden brown on both sides, turning occasionally to prevent burning. They take about 7-8 minutes on either side.
  6. Mix the mayo and the curry powder together in a bowl. You can smear this on your burger bun or pitta bread. Alternatively, serve it as a dip with wedges to complete the meal.

 

Method

 

Hot corncakes with avocado, bacon and basil

Filed under: Brunch,Meat — delishuss @ 7:51 pm
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I got this recipe from www.bbcgoodfood.com. The recipe instructions were really bad so I have edited their version. I tried the recipe with the avocado and I really don’t think it needs it. I didn’t have basil so I just used spicy italian herbs instead (from Schwarz). I also doubled up on the batter and kept the remainder in the fridge for the following day. These are not really the healthiest option but you have to indulge sometimes.

  • 100 ml olive oil for deep frying
  • 1 red pepper , diced
  • 1 fresh red or green chilli , deseeded and chopped
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 2 egg , beaten
  • 6 tbsp milk
  • 2 x 330g sweetcorn nibblets, drained
  • handful basil leaf , chopped, plus extra to serve (or use 2 tsp spicy Italian herbs)

TO SERVE

  • 8 rashers, back or streaky bacon
  • juice 1⁄2 lemon
  • 1 or 2 avocado , peeled, stoned and sliced

Method

  1. Heat grill to high. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large non-stick frying pan and sizzle the pepper for 5 mins until softened, adding the chilli for the final min. Remove and set aside.
  2. Put the flour into a large bowl, make a well, then stir in the egg and then the milk to make a batter, whisking to remove any lumps. Stir in the corn, peppers, chilli and chopped basil, then season well.
  3. Heat a wok and add the remaining oil and heat until very hot. Then carefully drop 4 large tbsps of the batter into the pan. Don’t panic they look like they will seperate but they bind together. Try not to agitate them while they are cooking.
  4. Cook for 2 mins until risen and golden underneath, then cook for 1 min more. You’ll need to do these in batches, remove and drain on the kitchen paper to remove the excess fat. Keep warm.
  5. Meanwhile, grill the bacon.
  6. Mix the lemon juice and remaining oil together with seasoning. Serve 4 cakes each, topped with the avocado, bacon, a scattering of basil leaves and a drizzle of the dressing.