smoky chipotle chicken nachos

The base of this meal is Jonas’ amazing Shredded Chipotle Chicken. I cannot emphasise how amazing it tastes after 6 hours of slow cooking in our wonderful NewWave 5 in 1 MultiCooker.

The chicken absorbs the wonderful spice of the chipotles (smoked jalapeños) and Jonas breaks it apart into shreds that soak up the sauce it sits in.

The shredded chicken recipe will make enough nachos for a group of 8 people, but if there’s only a few of you then the leftover chicken is a beautiful filling for another meal like tacos, enchiladas or burritos. It’s as versatile as it is tasty.

The best part is just how easy it is to make. Fry up some garlic, onion and chilli, throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and then shred. That’s it.

Shredded Chipotle Chicken

Jonas’ very own recipe.

Ingredients:
½ brown onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 chipotle chillies in adobo, finely chopped
1kg chicken thighs (no bones)
800g canned organic tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for frying
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Fry onion and garlic until soft.

2. Added chillies and fry until softened.

3. Add all ingredients to slow cooker, cook for 6 hours.

4. Remove chicken, shred into fine strips.

5. Return to sauce, stir through and keep warm until ready to serve.

Smoky Chipotle Chicken Nachos

Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Jonas’ shredded chipotle chicken
Tortilla chips
Cheese
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Sour cream
Salsa verde or salsa de chipotle y tomato

Method:

1. Spread tortilla chips over baking tray covered in baking paper. Scatter with cheese and grill until cheese has melted.

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the chipotle chicken until warmed through.

3. Once the cheese has melted over tortilla chips, remove from oven and place on serving dish.

4. Top with shredded chicken, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and sauce of your choice.

5. Eat blissfully, perhaps with a tamarind margarita.

batida morango

I could drink this Brazilian strawberry cocktail rain, hail or shine.

It's amazingly delicious and Jonas makes a mean one.

Coming home, after a long day at work, to a smiling husband and a fat batida is too good to be true.

Batida Morango (Strawberry Brazilian Cocktail)

Jonas' very own recipe. Makes 1.

Ingredients:
4-5 strawberries
½ lime, cut into wedges
60ml cachaça
15ml sugar syrup
Crushed ice

Method:

1. Muddle the lime and strawberries in a cocktail shaker.

2. Add the sugar syrup and cachaça then ½ cup crushed ice.

3. Shake until chilled through then pour into a glass and serve immediately.

västerbottenostpaj - swedish cheese pie

It’s a little known fact that Sweden produces some spectacularly delicious cheese (ost in Swedish).

Herrgardsost is a very popular cow’s milk cheese with a slight grassy flavour, full-bodied tang and soft texture.

Hushållsost, which just means “household cheese” is a typical farmer's cheese being semi-soft and mild in flavour. It’s easily for sliced and melted which makes it good for cooking and eating.

My personal favourite is prästost, meaning "Priest Cheese" in Swedish. Apparently the name comes from the days when farms gave a tenth of their produce to local clergy. Prästost is strong, biting, moreish and reminiscent of tangy, soft Cheddar. It’s wonderful, and another cow’s milk product.

But we’re here to discuss Västerbottenost, the so-called emperor of Swedish cheeses, being reserved for the most special of occasions. It’s produced in huge wheels and aged for almost a year, making it hard, crumbly and strong. Its flavour is similar to a young Parmigiano Reggiano (which makes a good substitute) and it’s perfect eaten on its own as a decadent nibble.

Jonas made this pie and it was AMAZING.

It’s not healthy, so don’t even pretend. But it does taste wonderful.

On Easter Sunday we were hit with our first taste of winter’s cold winds and torrential rain. It was enough to make us retreat into my dad and stepmum’s cosy home to enjoy a slice of the fabulous pie followed by some sticky Middle Eastern Orange Cake and an excess of Lindt chocolate.

If you don’t have access to Sweden’s wonderful Västerbottenost, just substitute with a combination of parmesan and taleggio.

Västerbottenostpaj (Västerbotten Cheese Pie)
Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 8.
Ingredients:
250g västerbottenost (or 200g parmesan and 50g taleggio)
1 brown onion
3 eggs, beaten
200ml thickened cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
Butter, for frying
20g extra västerbottenost (or parmesan), for garnishing
Prepared pastry shell, as per below
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180’C.
2. Dice the onion very finely.
3. Heat the butter in a frying pan then cook onion until translucent and a little golden. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. Whisk together the eggs and cream.
5. Add the salt and pepper, onion and cheese and whisk to combine.
6. Pour into the prepared pastry casing and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until set.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese has melted.
8. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Note: The pie can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight. The next day simply reheat and serve.

Savoury Shortcrust Pastry
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes 1 pastry case.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
125g butter, chilled and cubed
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons hot water
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180’C. Grease and line a springform tart tin.
2. Blend the ingredients in food processer until it forms a ball of dough.
3. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.
4. On lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to about 5 mm thick.
5. Line the pastry tin and bake for 15 minutes until golden.

harissa roasted lamb

One evening I came home from work to the mouth-watering aromas of this lovely lamb dinner. After I’d mentioned I was craving meat, Jonas prepared this wonderful roast smothered in spicy, tangy harissa. It’s divine served pink with a Moroccan cucumber salad and a side of yoghurt & herb chickpeas.

Harissa Roasted Lamb
Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
1kg boneless shoulder roast
3 tablespoons harissa (see below)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
1. Cover lamb roast in harissa. Refrigerate for a few hours to absorb flavours.
2. Preheat oven to 160’C.
3. Roast for around 40 – 60 minutes until an inserted knife produces clear juices.

Harissa (North African chilli paste)
Anna’s very own recipe. Makes 1 medium jar.
Ingredients:
2 small capsicums, char-grilled, skin & seeds removed
5 large red chillies, seeds removed & chopped
5 large red chillies, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, dry-roasted & then ground
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, dry-roasted & then ground
3 teaspoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method:
1. Purée all ingredients in a blender.
2. Pour into a jar and top with a little olive oil to seal. Keep in fridge.

cambozola & taleggio potato bake

 
This is last of the Potato Week recipes and is the best potato bake ever! It’s rich, hearty, cheesy and simply delicious.

Using two oozey, melty cheeses I think we hit perfection (and the heights of cholesterol inducement).

First up is Cambozola. If you’ve never tried it before, once you do you’re going to regret living all those years without it!

Cambozola is a soft, cow’s milk cheese from Germany. It’s white rind exterior and soft, triple cream centre is a similar to Camembert, while it contains threads of mild blue mold just like Gorgonzola.

If you had a cheese plate, buy a wedge and leave it out at room temperature before serving. The oozing, delightful result is just divine.

The name Cambozola could be a reference to Cambodunum, the Roman name of the city (Kempten) where the manufacturer (Champignon) is located. It might also refer to the cheese being a unique combination of Camembert and Gorgonzola.

The second cheese is Taleggio, which most of you are very familiar with. It’s a soft, washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from Italy that melts easing with heat. It’s mild but has a strange yet pleasant flavour, not unlike overripe fruit.

Cambozola & Taleggio Potato Bake

Jonas & Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 6 as an accompanying side dish.

Ingredients:
1kg potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
100ml milk
100g crème fraîche
200g cambozola, sliced
200 taleggio, sliced
½ cup parmigiano, finely grated
1 large red onion, sliced into half circles
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. In a large bowl mix the milk, crème fraîche, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined.

3. In a large baking dish, make alternate layers of potato slices, onion, taleggio and cambozola.

4. The final layer should be covered in taleggio then sprinkled with parmigiano.

5. Pour the cream mixture over the potato layers and flatten potatoes with a spatula so that the top layer is resting in the sauce.

6. Cover with foil and bake in oven until potatoes are tender (about 1hr 15-30mins).

7. Once potatoes are tender, remove foil and continue baking until top has turned golden brown.

Note: this recipe was written after we made it when we were trying to remember everything! Use your instinct with the measurements (ie more or less cheese / cream mixture etc.

tortilla de rosamaria

Day 3 of Potato Week and guess what? It's Jonas' birthday!!!

Happy Birthday old man! I love you!

So on his birthday I'll share one of his recipes, this simple rosemary and potato tortilla.

Tortilla de Rosamaria

Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 2 as dinner.

Ingredients:
300g waxy potatoes, peeled
1 red onion
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Slice potatoes and onion into thin rounds.

2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan

3. Sauté onion and garlic until softened.

4. Add potatoes and sauté until soft (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat.

5. Pick leaves from rosemary twig and discard twig.

6. Mix rosemary leaves, salt and pepper into eggs.

7. Combine the potatoes and onions with egg mixture.

8. Clean the frying pan then add a little more oil and heat.

9. Add potato mixture, shake to settle evenly in pan, then allow to cook until set (5-8 minutes).

10. Lift edges gently with a spatula then flip tortilla onto a plate, sliding uncooked side into pan to be cooked a further 2 minutes.

11. Serve cut into wedges with a side salad.

tomato, caper & feta potato bake

Day 2 of Potato Week!

This dish is probably best as a side, but could easily be an easy and comforting winter meal.

The flavours are almost like spaghetti alla puttanesca, but instead of pasta it's baked with slices of potatoes and topped with cheese. There's also feta throughout the dish.

OK, so it's not the healthiest, but surely it's better for you than a creamy potato bake?

And definitely delicious!

Tomato, Caper & Feta Potato Bake
Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 6 as an accompanying side dish.
Ingredients:
1kg potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmigiano
½ cup crumbled feta
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup capers
500ml tomato passata
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry onion and garlic until soft.

3. Add the tomato passata, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. In a baking dish, spoon a little of the tomato sauce to “grease”, then alternate layers of potato slices, capers, feta and tomato sauce.

5. On the final layer ensure it is topped with tomato sauce then sprinkle over mozzarella and parmigiano, then dried oregano.

6. Cover with foil and bake in oven until potatoes are tender (about 1hr 15-30mins).

7. Once potatoes are tender, remove foil and continue baking until top has turned golden brown.

Note: For a non-veggie version, add anchovies to onions and fry until broken up before adding the tomato passata.

rösti

Announcing the spud themed Potato Week on Morsels & Musings!

My relos, Lynn and Chris, have a farm in Robertson where they grow a number of things including potatoes. This year there was a bumper crop and Jonas and I were lucky to receive a sack of potatoes. They were the most delicious potatoes we have tasted in a long, long time.

In honour of this potato bonanza, starting today, I plan to blog a potato recipe for seven days straight. On the menu is:
Rösti (today)
Tomato & Caper Potato Bake
Tortilla de Rosamaria
Colcannon
Gnocchi w Sage & Burnt Butter
Patatas Bravas
Taleggio & Cambozola Potato Bake

Prepare yourself for a delicious starch and carbohydrate overdose!

Today I begin Potato Week with the delicious Swiss rösti. These pancakes of grated potato are spectacular for breakfast with smoked salmon, as a fair snack or for dinner alongside meat or poultry.

There are great debates about making rösti: whether to use boiled or raw grated potatoes, whether to add ham or cheese or apples, whether to only fry or also bake . . . the list goes on.

Jonas is the rösti maker in our home, and this is the recipe he uses to great, great success.

His rösti are always crispy on the outside and edges, but with a centre of soft, moist potato (yet never mushy).

The only problem with his recipe is that they are too delicious and one is never enough.

Rösti
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes 2 large (breakfast) or 6 small (sides).

Ingredients:
5 potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Parboil potatoes in salted water, for approximately 10 minutes. Potatoes should be firm but not hard.

2. Cool potatoes to room temperature.

3. Coarsely grate potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Heat oil and butter in frying pan until very hot.

5. Form potato into patty and fry until golden (approximately 5 minutes on each side).

The potato is my theme ingredient for WHB this week.

I have already waxed lyrical about potatoes previously, so forgive me from stealing straight from my own post.

The root of the Solanum tuberosum is the world's most widely grown tuber and is in fourth place as the most produced food crop after rice, wheat, and corn. China and India are the world's largest potato producers.

Research seems to put the potato’s origin in the Andes from Colombia / Venezuela to northern Argentina and the first evidence of cultivated took place in Peru 7,000 years ago. Some 99% of the world’s cultivated potato varieties descend from a subspecies indigenous to South-Central Chile, probably due to the trading routes that carried the first plant exports.

Potatoes made the journey to Europe in the mid 1500s and quickly became a staple food crop, particularly for the poor.

Lack of genetic varieties in Europe left potato crops vulnerable to diseases, such as Phytophthora infestans, which resulted in the infamous Irish famine and a reduction of Ireland’s population by 25% from starvation, disease and emigration to the New World.

The English word potato comes directly from the Spanish patata, which itself is a compound of two Native American words for potato and sweet potato: papa (Quechua) and batata (Taino)

Many Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Scandinavian and Balkan languages derive their word for potato from an ancient word for potato which also meant “truffle”. French, Dutch, Hebrew, Finnish all have names meaning “earth fruit/apple/pear”, whereas Slovak and Polish use words that mean simply “ground”. Different Chinese languages have meanings such as “foreign taro”, “horse yam” or “earth bean”. Although the Hindi and Nepali word for potato is aloo and in Indonesian it is kentang, I don’t know what the base meaning of these words are.

Potatoes have excellent carbohydrate content but also good levels of Vitamin C, potassium, Vitamin B6 and traces of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

The glycemic index (GI) of potatoes can vary considerably depending on the type, location grown, cooking methods and with what it is consumed.

Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids such as solanine and chaconine, which are toxic compounds found in high concentrations in wild potatoes. Light exposure and aging increases toxin levels but cooking at over 170°C (340°F) partly destroys the toxins. Affects are weakness, confusion, headaches, diarrhea and cramps and although coma or death could occur, poisoning from potatoes is very rare.

Common international varieties include Bintje; Désirée; Fianna; King Edward; Kipfler; New; Nicola; Pink Eye; Pink Fir Apple; Red Pontiac; Rooster; Russet Burbank and Spunta.

Fun Wikipedia facts!
• Potatoes are part of the deadly nightshade family, a group of poisonous plants including tomatoes and tobacco.
• There are about five thousand potato varieties world wide. Three thousand of them are found only in the Andes, where over 100 varieties of potato can be found in one valley alone!
• In France the potato was considered suitable only for cattle. In the mid 1700s Antoine Parmentier devised an ingenious strategy to encourage the French peasants to eat potatoes. Apparently he grew a field of potatoes and had it heavily guarded to make it look like a delicacy for the nobility. The peasants stole samples and started to enjoy them.
• Belarus has the world’s highest consumption of potato per capita with each Belorussian consuming 338 kg in 2005.
• The fibre content of a potato with skin equals that of many whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals.
• The notion that all of the potato’s nutrients are found in the skin is an urban legend. While the skin does contain approximately half of the total dietary fibre, more than 50% of the nutrients are found within the potato itself.

Our Weekend Herb Blogging host this week is Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook.

Other potato recipes on the Net are:
Beetroot & Potato Salad - Nami-Nami
Cheddar, Chive & Potato Bread - Apple Pie, Patis, Pate
Crab Boil Potato Salad - Bacon Concentrate
Creamy Garlic Potato Gratin - Freestyle Cookery
Curried Potato Chips - TriniGourmet
Cypriot Potato Salad - Morsels & Musings
Feta Mash - Morsels & Musings
Gamja Jorim (Korean braised potato) - Kitchen Wench
Jeera Aloo (Indian cumin potatoes) - Book of Yum
Lentil & Potato Curry - Cooking with Amy
Potato & Cabbage Casserole - Vanessa Barrington
Potato & Long Bean Rendang - Feeding Maybelle
Potato Breakfast Curry - Morsels & Musings
Potato Chip Cookies - Cooking with Amy
Potato Kugel - Off The Broiler
Potato Skins - Simply Recipes
Potato, Squash & Goats Cheese Gratin - The Kitchn
Pytt i Panna (Swedish hash) - Morsels & Musings
Rosemary Potato Pizza - Apple Pie, Patis, Pate
Rustic Potato Chowder - 101 Cookbooks
Schoppala (Hungarian noodles) - Delicious Days
Schupfnudeln (savoury German noodles) - Book of Yum
Schupfnudeln (sweet German noodles) - Addicted Sweet Tooth
Sour Cream, Potato & Chive Bread - Knead for Bread
Spicy Potato Empanadas - From Argentina With Love
Swordfish & Potato Tortino - The Perect Pantry
Warm Potato Salad w Smoked Trout - Morsels & Musings

-------------------------------------------------------
This time previously on M&M:
2008 - Swedish food
2007 - Mulberry & Cinnamon Cake
2006 - Caprese salad

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Irish_Famine

warm roasted vegetable salad

Families come in all shapes and sizes.

Until I was 7 I grew up with a mother, a father and two brothers. Then my parents divorced and I suddenly had two extra sisters, a step father and an extra mum and two wonderful extra grandparents.

Not to mention my stepsisters' mother and her new husband and his kids. And my mother's two close female friends their children. Whoa!

You get the picture. It's a mega tribe that was not without its fights and frictions but now that we're all adults the bad egg was weeded out and the true, loving family members remain.

I'm reflective of all of this because one of my closest friends just had a baby. She had planned, so hopefully, to have a home birth but her son showed his first streak of parental rebellion. He refused to come out and too late grew too big for my friend’s tiny frame and she ended up having to have a caesarean.

I felt bad for her because she's wanted that home birth so much, but then I also felt so happy for her that she was able to make all the right choices throughout her 9 months that led to a beautiful, healthy boy - at 9.1 pounds no less (4.1kg)!!!

She is only my second friend to have a child so it's all very new (and frightening!) to me. It makes me think about my own family and when Jonas and I will decide to have kids.

To be honest, I'd rather someone just hand me a 2yr old and say "it's yours!" because babies and pregnancy do not interest me in the slightest. But I highly doubt some tired mother would hand over her toddler in the supermarket and let me keep it, so it looks like I'll just have to grow my own.

I am so jealous of men’s roles in the baby-making process. As a woman I feel utterly ripped off.

Somehow, this little whinge leads into the February Monthly Mingle theme of "healthy family dinners". The host is Michelle from What’s Cooking Blog.

Although most people think “kids” when they think “family” not everyone has kids and so my contribution to this healthy family dinner theme is a recipe for my own little family of two: Jonas and me.

Since he is a vegetarian, my recipe contains no meat. And since it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, where most of my blogging pals and readers reside, I decided to go with a recipe we cooked last winter.

Enjoy!

Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad

Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes ½ cup.
Ingredients:
250g cherry tomatoes
6 potatoes, chopped into chunks
¼ butternut pumpkin, chopped into chunks
1 parsnip, chopped into chunks
150g baby spinach
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon sumac
Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C.

2. In a baking tray, toss root vegetables with olive oil and crushed garlic.

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Then add another baking tray holding cherry tomatoes tossed with sumac and olive oil.

4. Bake for another 20 minutes until tomatoes are soft and starting to wrinkle and burst.

5. Check the root vegetables and remove when they are tender.

6. Drain the excess olive oil from the tomatoes and vegetables to use in sauce.

7. Toss the warm vegetables with the baby spinach and herb and mustard sauce (recipe below). Serve warm.

Note: cheese in this salad would taste very good too.

Herb & Mustard Sauce
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes ½ cup.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
5 tablespoons olive oil (use oil from roasting vegetables)
Freshly milled salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. In a food processor or blender, combine the herbs, mustard and vinegar until pureed. Add salt and pepper.

2. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until it emulsifies with the sauce. Taste to ensure acidity is balanced and adjust as needed.

Note: Use as much of the olive you can salvage from the roasted tomatoes and vegetables but ensure at least 5 tablespoons are added to the sauce.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes salad roasted vegetables vegetable salad winter recipes vegetarian recipes sauce recipes salad recipes roasted vegetable recipes vegetable recipes

salt & pepper tofu

This is my third time participating in the vegetarian food bloggers event AWED, also known as A Worldly Epicurean’s Delight, which has a regional focus every month.

This month it’s China so I decided to share Jonas’ recipe for salt & pepper tofu, a tasty, spicy snack that can be had any time of the day or eaten as part of a banquet.

Most people would use firm tofu for this recipe, with a dusting of cornflour to make a crisy exterior, but I just love to use bean curd puffs (taufu bok) because they’re light and fluffy and the crispy outside is almost there before you even begin cooking.

Call me lazy, but I know what I like.

Visit the Culinary Bazaar for the AWED round-up.

Salt & Pepper Tofu

Recipe by Jonas. Serves 4 as starter in banquet.

Ingredients:
1 packet taufu bok (bean curd puffs)
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon Szechwan pepper
¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sliced scallions
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Peanut oil, to fry

Method:

1. With a mortar and pestle, grind peppers, chilli flakes, salt and garlic powder into a fine powder.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan or wok.

3. Brush tofu puffs with a little oil then dust each in pepper powder.

4. Fry puffs until hot and crispy.

5. Combine scallions, ginger and soy sauce to form a dipping sauce. Serve with hot tofu puffs.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes snacks starters entree recipes starter recipes snack recipes tofu vegetarian recipes tofu recipes chinese recipes chinese food chinese cuisine

lemon & garlic broccoli

Jonas discovered this recipe online one evening and made it for me and my friend. It is so deliciously lemony that even avid broccoli-loathers will be converted.

I remembered when George Bush Snr publicly admitted he hated broccoli. I thought all the growers were ridiculous when they rallied in rage against him. So some people don’t like broccoli, get over it! Who is going to stop eating broccoli because the President doesn’t like it? Come on, surely it's an incentive to start eating it by the truckload!

I have always liked broccoli. As a child it was one of the few greens I didn’t detest. Broccoli and beans, liberally sprinkled with vinegar. Mmmm. Yum. Now I’ve switched to lemon juice, but it’s the same theory.

I remember once my little sister, Amy, told Mum that she only liked the broccoli leaves. Mum spent quite some time scouring the shelves for broccoli that still had leaves attached. When dinner was served we all had some pieces of broccoli on our plates, except Amy who had some steamed leaves. She wrinkled her nose and said, “what’s this?”

Turns out Amy meant the flower heads, not the actual leaves. Of course all us kids knew what she’d meant from the outset. What kid doesn’t think broccoli florets look like miniature trees with their green stalk/trunks and flower heads/leaves!

This is one of my favourite side dishes because it’s healthy and really cheap to make.

Lemon & Garlic Broccoli
Jonas’recipe. Serve 4-6 as side dish.
Ingredients:
500g broccoli
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 small red onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Break broccoli into small florets. Peel stem and slice into rounds.

2. Steam or boil broccoli florets (not stems) until tender but firm, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat; add the onion and sauté until translucent

4. Add garlic and broccoli stem and sauté until stems are soft.

5. Add the broccoli florets, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, cooking briefly to combine.

Here's my entry to the weekly food blogging event, Weekend Herb Blogging. Our host this week is Astrid from Paulchen's Food Blog.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb garlic broccoli lemon broccoli side dish garlic lemon broccoli vegetarian recipes garlic recipes lemon recipes broccoli recipes

spaghetti alla puttanesca

This is probably my all time favourite pasta sauce. It’s got all the right strong, pungent ingredients to make a punchy, lively sauce: garlic, capers, chilli and anchovies.

All my favourite sour, bitter and salty flavours!

The irony with this dish is that Jonas makes it so well, even though he can't eat it because it contains fish.

For those who speak Italian, the name of this sauce is slightly perplexing, translating to “whore style”. What makes it whore-like is beyond me, but there are many theories.
• normal Napoletana sauce “tarted” up to have a spicy flavour and pungent smell
• offered to prospective customers at a low price to entice them into a brothel
• quick, cheap meal that prostitutes could prepare between customers

A more thoughtful origin came from Diane Seed who wrote in her book, Top 100 Pasta Sauces:

“Conscientious Italian housewives usually shop at the local market every day to buy fresh food, but the [prostitutes] were only allowed one day per week for shopping, and their time was valuable. Their specialty became a sauce made quickly from odds and ends in the larder.”

Whatever the origins, it is not a traditional sauce and only entered the written word in 1961. The Unione Industriali Pastai Italiani (Italian Union of Pasta Makers) claim the sauce came into its own in the 1960s.

Traditionally puttanesca is served with spaghetti, but truth be known I prefer it with short pasta such as penne or rigatoni that are rigate (grooved) to catch more sauce.

I’m sharing this recipe with Ruth from Once Upon A Feast as part of her Presto Pasta Night Friday event. I can’t always get myself organised fast enough on Fridays to contribute to PPN, but when I can, I do!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 4.
Ingredients:400 grams spaghetti
500ml tomato passata
½ small Spanish onion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon small capers
1/3 cup black olives, halved
3 anchovy fillets (from can or jar with oil), finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 dried bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

1. Begin boiling water for pasta. When ready, add pasta.

2. While waiting for water to boil, heat oil in saucepan, fry onion for 1 minute.

3. Add garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes and cook for another minute, mashing anchovies slightly.

4. Add tomato paste, cook for 1 minute.

5. Add passata, oregano, capers, olives and bay leaf then turn down heat to simmer until pasta is ready. Sauce should thicken a little and anchovies will disintegrate.

6. Mix through pasta and put into serving plates. Serve with plenty of grated parmigiano.

Note: for a vegetarian version, omit anchovies and add 1 extra tablespoon of capers.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes pasta spaghetti spagehtti puttanesca spaghetti alla puttanesca spaghetti recipes olive recipes anchovy recipes caper recipes pasta recipes italian recipes italian food italian cuisine

cinnamon twists

Imagine you're hard at work, your fingers are cold from too much typing and your feet have been stationery so you developed pins and needles. Imagine you’re tired and sleepy but you have to get the report done for tomorrow.

Then imagine that the second you hit save, and congratulate yourself for finishing your work, you hear your husband calling from the kitchen to tell you that he’s made you an evening snack.

~~~

I came out from the study to discover this yummy little cinnamon twists and a big cup of Mexican-style hot chocolate waiting for me.

He’d just whipped it all up from ingredients we had on hand!

Cinnamon Twists
Jonas’ very own recipe. Makes 6-8.
Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Milk, for wash
Method:
1. Preheat oven to temperature recommended by pastry manufacturer.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl then sprinkle over pastry.
3. Slice the pastry sheet so that you cut rough pie slice shapes.
4. Roll the wide ends in so that the twist finishes in a point that can be folded decoratively on top.
5. Brush with milk to encourage a glossy finish.
6. Bake in the oven until puffy and slightly browned (around 15-20 minutes). Eat while still warm.
Note: you could do any number of different flavours: nutella, jam, fruit, cheese, tomato and garlic – the possibilities are endless.


What a dreamy hubby :)

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes dessert cookie snack snack recipes cookie recipes dessert recipes

gochujang salmon w chilli & ginger bok choy

I must admit I have been very remiss and haven’t been blogging much of late. Work is very busy, I have been writing articles for a travel website called Gridskipper.com and Jonas has been home nights so we actually get to spend time together. I hardly want to be attached to the computer when I could be hanging out with him.

Nonetheless, I am going to make a concerted effort to blog at least two or three times a week again. Starting today with this bok choy WHB post.

You couldn’t ask for a more simpler recipe than stir fried bok choy. First you blanch it a little to soften it, then you fry it with oil, ginger and chilli. The End.

And it tastes marvellous.

Bok choy can be eaten stir-fried, blanched and steamed. You can add it to stir fries, noodle dishes, soups and you can use young leaves in salads. Tougher leaves can be pickled and since they are cool climate plants, usually grown in spring and autumn, they lend themselves to various types of preserving for winter months.

Bok choy has bright green leaves with paler, chunky, smooth surfaced and oval shaped stems. In fact its shape is a bit like a squat celery bunch.

In English speaking countries, bok choy also known as buk choy, pak choy, pak tsoi, Chinese chard, Chinese celery cabbage and Chinese white cabbage.

Chilli & Ginger Bok Choy
Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
1 bok choy
2 tablespoons diced bamboo shoots in chilli oil
1 teaspoon minced red chilli
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Method:
1. Blanch bok choy in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pat dry.
2. Heat sesame oil in a wok.
3. Add garlic, chilli and ginger then stir until fragrant.
4. Add bok choy and stir until thick stem softens a little.
5. Add bamboo shoots and heat through. Remove from heat.

I ate the bok choy with steamed rice and salmon marinated in gochujang - a Korean chilli paste. I first discovered it on a shopping expedition in Chinatown and it’s turning out to have many uses.

Gochujang (고추장) is not too spicy and has quite a sweet flavour. Apparently it’s made from glutinous rice powder (or wheat or barley), soybeans, chilli powder, salt, sugar or honey and then fermented in the sun. It comes out a dark red colour and is quite sticky (at least the brand I use is). Wikipedia claims gochujang was invented in the 1500s, as soon as chilli made its way to Korea, and that there’s a similar paste used in Szechuan cooking too.

Gochujang Salmon
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
2 salmon fillets
1 tablespoon gochujang
1 teaspoon red miso paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Sesame oil for frying
Method:
1. Mix the gochujang with the miso paste, soy sauce and lemon juice then smothered over salmon. Refrigerate and leave for 1-2 hours.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add salmon and cook to your liking.

Weekend Herb Blogging is being hosted by the Panamanian gourmet, Melissa, from Cooking Diva. Be sure to click over to her blog to view the results of our international cooking frenzy.

References:
http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5300.html
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_pak_choi.html
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/knowhow/glossary/pak-choy

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb main course side dish pak choy bok choy salmon gochujang gochujang recipes seafood recipes fish recipes salmon recipes bok choy recipes pak choy recipes korean recipes korean food korean cuisine

arabic flatbread pizza

Last night Jonas and I threw a housewarming to introduce our new apartment to our friends.

We had fun, but we suddenly realised that we’re older now. Those raucous, vodka-guzzling plastic-cup parties of our youth have been replaced with much more civilised discussions over Penfolds in real wine glasses. It was obviously a gradual process but we were still shocked to discover where we ended up.

With the morning after hangover firmly in place - red wine is much worse than vodka - I have junk food on the mind and so my WHB entry this week is khoubz pizza (herb: oregano).

Jonas created this little treasure one evening when were low on everything except flatbread and cheese. The recipe is the incredibly easy and the results are deliciously satisfying. Really!

The version in the photograph is a margherita (cheese and tomato) but you can obviously add anything you want. I love a variety of combinations using olives, artichokes, fetta, cooked sausage and salami.

Margherita Khoubz Pizza
Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 1 for dinner, 2 for a snack.
Ingredients:
1 round of khoubz (Arabic flat bread)
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Good sprinkling of dried oregano
As much chilli paste/powder/flakes as you desire
As much cheese as you can take
Method:
1. Crush garlic and mix with tomato paste. Add chilli and a pinch of dried oregano. Spread over the flatbread.
2. Top with cheese then toppings.
3. Sprinkle over as much dried oregano as desired then bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and the edges of the bread are crispy.

This week’s Weekend Herb Blogging host is Rachel from Rachel’s Bite (Florida, USA). The herbaceous round-up should be live in a few days or so but in the meantime you can read about her recent Alaskan food experiences.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes main course pizza cheese pitapita bread pita pizza weekend herb blogging whb snack recipes pizza recipes

jonas' breakfast beans

 

How’s this for a spur of the moment breakfast treat?

I was totally bored of plain old eggs so Jonas decided to whip up something a little different. The beans tasted absolutely wonderful, spicy and flavoursome all at once. I cannot recommend this recipe more highly.

Jonas’ Breakfast Beans
 
Jonas’ very own recipe. Serves 3.
 
Ingredients:
300g can cannellini beans, drained
4-5 ripe tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 small red onion, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
¼ cup passata
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced chilli or chilli paste
1-2 teaspoons sumac
1-2 tablespoons Greek style yoghurt
Poached eggs and bread to serve

Method:
1. Fry onions, chilli and garlic until soft.
2. Add tomatoes and passata, sumac, bay leaf, salt and pepper then cook for approx. 20 minutes over very low heat. Stir occasionally and add more passata or water if liquid levels decrease.
3. When the tomatoes have broken down and become a sauce, add beans. Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add fresh herbs and cook for 5 minutes more.
5. Take off heat and stir through yoghurt.
6. Serve with a poached egg and bread.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes breakfast eggs beans baked beans breakfast recipes breakfast food

tomato carpaccio

Sometimes I'm bored of green salad. I'm bored of Greek salad. I'm bored of rocket and parmigiano.

On one of my "bored" days, Jonas came to the rescue with this wonderful Japanese style salad dressing. We eat it all the time now. On mixed greens, on rice, with fish, with chicken and now on thin slices of tomato.

It's tangy, healthy and great for summer.

Oh, and it's bloody easy too.

Tomato Carpaccio
Jonas' very own recipe. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
3 egg (Roma) tomatoes
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon shoyu (or light soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons sesame oil
2.5 cm piece of ginger, finely grated
Chopped green shallots (ecshallots), optional
Method:
1. Slice the tomatoes as thinly as possible (our photo was a rush job but it's nicer if it's thinner)
2. Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the top.
3. Eat with gusto.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes tomato carpaccio rice wine vinegar shoyu soy sauce sesame oil ginger salad dressing salad dressing japanese japanese food