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.

pollo en salsa verde

Chicken Baked in Green Tomatillo Sauce

I am a sucker for Mexico’s salsa verde (green sauce). What’s not to love? Tang, acidity, spice and salt.

It’s great on anything and everything, but this is one of my favourite applications. In fact, this is quite possibly one of the tastiest and easiest dinners you’ll ever make.

Either prep your own salsa verde or buy it in a can or jar. If I am feeling lazy and just want to use a can, I love Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce. Those living in the Americas (north, central or south) will no doubt find Mexican ingredients on their regular supermarket shelves but those of us in Australia are not so lucky. Fireworks Foods is a brilliant online store that ships nationally across Ausland and, if you’re in Sydney, Fiji Market in Newtown is a great supplier.

I serve this with Arroz Verde, which is basically rice cooked in a green stock of puréed chillies and coriander, finished with lime.

My Mexican friends jokingly call this meal “chicken rice” due to its sheer simplicity, but this belies the astounding flavours. I think of this as comforting homely food with a wonderful punch of gutsy Mexican sabors.

Pollo en Salsa Verde (Chicken baked in Green Sauce)

Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
8 chicken thigh fillets (deboned)
2 pickled jalapeños, chopped
750ml salsa verde
Olive oil, for browning
Coriander, for garnish
Queso freso (or crumbly feta), for serving
Arroz Verde, for serving

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C (360’F).

2. Put salsa verde in a sauce pan on the stove and heat over high.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the chicken thighs to give them a little colour. No more than a minute or two on each side.

4. Remove from pan and place them in a large baking dish. Scatter with chopped jalapeños.

5. The salsa verde should now be at boiling point, so pour over chicken thighs and place baking dish in oven.

6. Cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and salsa verde has thickened slightly around the edges of the baking dish.

7. Sprinkle with coriander and queso freso, then serve hot with arroz verde.

pan-fried duck breast

A while ago I attended an event hosted by Bitton Café for Game Farm, a company producing predominantly chicken (corn-fed and spatchcock/poussin), quail and duck.

Since their farm is in Galston, an rural-like area on the northern outskirts of Sydney (and also where I spent the first seven years of my life) I was keen to try their products.

It was interesting they felt the need to promote their products to Australian consumers in this way, primarily because they were concerned people saw ducks and quail as something exotic and difficult to cook with. They wanted people to understand how easy and tasty they are (and cook/buy more).

I think duck is pretty easy to cook. It's certainly no harder than chicken.

For dinner, I knew I had some pretty delicious sides dishes (potatoes roasted in duck fat, crispy brussels sprouts with bacon, sautéed apples and sage) so I just wanted a simple duck breast recipe.

No-nonsense, pan-fried duck breast. As every chef and their dog says these days “I wanted the ingredients to speak for themselves”.

To test the mettle of Game Farm, I decided to use the recipe on the inside of their duck breast packaging.

It was fantastic, and just as easy as cooking a steak.

A quick rendering in the pan, to give it colour, and then gently finished off in the oven for a few minutes.

This could be a dinner party favourite, for when you want to put on a bit of a show, but better still it’s easily a meal Jonas and I would enjoy during the weekday, even after a hard day at work.

You could serve it sliced into a salad, or as a slab with awesome sides. Too easy.

I served mine with a little cabernet wine jelly I bought on our Easter road trip to Mudgee.

Pan-fried Duck Breast

Game Farm packet instructions! Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
Salt
Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200’C.

2. Score or prick the skin of the duck with a sharp knife - this will allow the natural juices under the skin to render during cooking.

3. Season with salt & pepper, or your favourite spice mix. Heat a non-stick frying pan to a low heat. Do not grease the pan.

4. Place the fillet skin-side down and cook for 3-4 minutes to crisp the skin, turning and cooking for a further 1 minute.

5. Place into a hot oven, skin side up, and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until cooked through.

Note: Appliance temperatures can vary. You may need to adjust cooking times accordingly.

If you're interested in more duck, quail and chicken recipes, Game Farm has a pretty extensive online library.

I've also made:

Armenian Yoghurt Soup w Dumplings
Avgolemono
Buffalo Wings & Blue Cheese Dip
Coq Au Vin
Creole-Spiced Chicken
Duck w Cherries
Hungarian Chicken Paprikas
Kentish Pigeons w Plums
Moroccan Chicken Tagine
Palestinian Chicken w Sumac, Za’atar & Lemon
Portuguese Chicken
Senegal Chicken
Walnut & Pomegranate Spatchcock

tuscan chicken

Audrey Gordon’s Tuscan Summer

This cookbook is a riot.

A group of Aussie comedians, known as Working Dog, have invented this hilarious celebrity chef Audrey Gordon to take the piss out of our obsession with chefs, cooking and all things food!

There have been so many cooking shows, cookbooks and reality rat races on TV these days. People are a little cooked out.

Now there’s Audrey Gordon, an invented caricature combining the funniest aspects of Nigella, Gordon, Delia and Jamie into one delicious satire.

They’ve created a resume and accolades for Audrey, including her time as lifestyles editor of Implausible Homes magazine or her three year reign as “Britain’s Sternest Chef”. She’s even got her own website.

They have really lavished a lot of time and attention into this book with daily diary entries by Audrey, quotes, tips on etiquette and cultural reflections. It chock-full of content to laugh over.


And the 60 recipes are real, and tasty.

I came home from work and Jonas, who had been chuckling away at the book during his day off, had decided to give it a test run.

The results were superb.

Pollo alla Toscana (Tuscan Chicken)

Recipe from Audrey Gordon’s Tuscan Summer. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 x 900g chicken, preferably corn fed
1 large lemon
60ml EVOO
8 sliced prosciutto, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
4 large potatoes, quarteed
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven and a roasting tray to 220’C. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry with kitchen towel.

2. Using your fingers, separate the skin from the breast meat, being careful not to rip the skin. Slice the lemon and work the slices under the skin over each breast. Smooth the skin back in place and wipe the chicken dry.

3. Rub 2 tablespoons of olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper over the bird. Really massage it in, paying particular attention to the back, shoulders and other common areas of tension.

4. Push the prosciutto, garlic and thyme into the cavity and put your chicken on the hot roasting tray and into the oven for 20 minutes.

5. While the chicken is cooking, parboil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes and drain. Add the potatoes to the roasting tray and continue to roast for 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200’C and cook for a further 15 minutes.

6. To tell whether the chicken is done, insert a skewer into one of the thighs. If the juices run clear, then it’s ready to eat. If you detect blood either the chicken is under-cooked or you’ve stabbed yourself.

7. Remove the chicken to a heated platter and cover loosely with foil. The potatoes may require a further 10 minutes in the oven for crisping.

Audrey’s tip: If you can’t find proper prosciutto at your local shops. You can use ordinary bacon or perhaps consider moving to a better suburb.

Anna’s tip: If you don’t want to do a whole chicken, choose drumsticks or thighs with the skin still attached.

The book is published by Hardie Grant (who sent me a copy to check out, thanks!) and Australians will know Working Dog as the people behind classic Aussie films like The Dish and The Castle, or the TV shows Thank God You’re Here and The Panel.

If you want a little taste of the tongue in cheek humour this book delivers, you can watch YouTube clips of the lady herself whipping up a tiramisu (below) or cooking pasta with prosciutto.

Watch out Nigella!

chicken w sumac, za’atar & lemon (m’sakhan)

How does a recipe for Palestinian M’sakhan, a London restaurant, an Aussie blogger, a birthday present and Barcelona all come together into one story?

Because my wonderful pal , Nicki, gave me this cookbook from the London restaurant Ottolenghi for my birthday when we celebrated together in Barcelona!

This birthday I gained an extremely unwanted year, forcibly prodding me into a new decade, something I was not at all pleased about.

Despite this anxiety-ridden turn of events, I managed to celebrate the hideous day with some of my closest friends and my sisters in Barcelona.

Who can complain about that?

Well, I still cried a little but when I blew the candles out.
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, right?

But seriously, what are the chances that so many of your peeps can be on the other side of the world at the same time to meet you in one of Europe’s party cities? It was amazing!

And with my June birthday now a distant memory, last weekend I spent my time busily leafing through the Ottolenghi cookbook, marking out the most beautiful recipes.

There are so many that have caught my eye, but I want to share these particularly exciting options with you:
• Cucumber & Poppy Seed Salad
• Puy Lentils, Sour Cherries, Bacon & Gorgonzola
• Jerusalem Artichoke & Rocket Soup
• Lamb & Beef Meatballs Baked in Tahini
• Roast Pork Belly w Gooseberry, Ginger & Elderflower Relish
• Seared Tuna w Pistachio Crust & Papaya Salsa
• Cheddar & Caraway Cheese Straws
• Lavender & Honey Teacakes
• Plum, Marzipan & Cinnamon Muffins
• Prune & Brandy Truffles

But my cookbook will be used first to make this adaptation of the Palestinian Roast Chicken with Sumac, Za’atar & Lemon (M’sakhan).

As the Ottolenghi crew explain, it’s great served with a garlicky-yoghurt sauce with lemon and warm pita bread. I also made an Ottolenghi salad of Radish, Broad Beans & Green Tahini to go on the side.

The results? DELICIOUS!

Palestinian Roast Chicken w Sumac, Za’atar & Lemon (M’sakhan)

Anna’s adaptation from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook. Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 chicken marylands
Red onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
¼ teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons sumac
1 lemon
200ml chicken stock
1 teaspoon smoked sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
2 tablespoons za’atar
50g pine nuts
20g butter
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method:

1. Wash then juice the lemon, then cut the juiced fruit into slices.

2. In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the onions, garlic, lemon juices and slices, cinnamon, smoky paprika, allspice, sumac, salt and pepper. Marinate overnight or at least a few hours.

3. Preheat oven to 200’C.

4. Put the chicken and all its marinade in a baking dish, ensuring the chicken is flat and not touching each other. Put the chicken skin side up.

5. Sprinkle the za’atar over the chicken and onions then roast for 30 – 40 minutes until the chicken is coloured and just cooked through.

6. In the meantime, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the nuts with a pinch of salt until golden, stirring constantly. Drain on kitchen paper.

7. Transfer the hot chicken to serving plates and finish with chopped parsley, toasted nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

I've blogged about sumac before as a Weekend Herb Blogging ingredient, so I'm going to pinch the content directly from my own post. Apologies to myself.

Commence!

Sumac is the name of all 250 species of flowering plants from the genus Rhus.

Also known as sumach, sumak, summak, tanner’s sumach, sommacco, zumaque and sammak, in this particular case sumac refers to the spice created from grinding the Rhus coriaria’s dried berries. This produces a tart, sour deep red-purple powder which is extremely popular in Arabic, Levant, Persian and Turkish cuisine.

Sumac berries form tight clusters of red drupes or bobs. They are harvested just before ripeness and sun dried. In growing regions you can buy whole dried berries whereas the rest of us need to make do with sumac powders. The powder keeps in an airtight container for several months.

The Rhus coriaria comes from the Mediterranean but sumac in general grows in subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout the world. It has been used in Mediterranean cooking since Ancient Rome and is a major souring agent in Middle Eastern cooking, replacing lemon juice, tamarind and vinegars.

There are numerous ways to employ sumac in your kitchen:
• on kebabs, fish or chicken before grilling
• popular in salad dressings, marinades, stews and casseroles
• enhances the flavour of fresh tomatoes and avocados
• mixed with yoghurt and fresh herbs as a dip or sauce
• dusted over feta or labneh cheese
• mixed with olive oil as a dip with bread
• common ingredient in za'atar (a spice mix)

North American sumac is also employed for culinary purposes. Native Americans used smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) to make rhus juice, also known as sumac-ade or Indian lemonade. They would soak the sumac berry clusters in water to remove the essence then strain and sweeten the liquid.

Other North American sumac includes Rhus glabra, an excellent leather tanner which produces flexible, light weight and almost white leather products, and Rhus toxicodendron, also known as Poison Ivy.

Sumac is said to have diuretic effects and the assist bowel problems and fever. In the Middle East a sour drink is made from sumac to relieve indigestion.

And one last weird fact: dried sumac wood glows under UV lighting. Who would have thought!

That’s it for WHB for another week. Check out the recap with our host Janet from The Taste Space.

References & Photo Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SumacFruit.JPG
http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/sumac.html
http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/52/sumac

armenian yoghurt soup w chicken & pistachio dumplings

I had dreamt of making this recipe for some time so I made it one of my 2010 Food Challenges to make sure I finally did it.

I liked the idea of a warm, sour, creamy soup. It seemed wholesome and hearty, but somehow still fresh. And the tasty dumplings stuffed with spiced chicken and dotted with pretty green pistachio were pretty.

The soup actually has a very mild flavour. It might be considered bland to some people, or homely and comforting to others.

The dumplings were also gently flavoured, although the mild spice added more impact. The nuts add a soft chew to the texture and I certainly would prefer to eat the soup with the mante rather than on its own.

It wasn’t a bad meal, it just probably wasn’t as exciting as I’d imagined, but you can’t win them all.

Tahnaboor (Armenian Yoghurt Soup)
Based on these two recipes. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
¼ cup rice
1 teaspoon salt
500ml chicken stock
1 litre water
1 egg
250ml plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon cornflour
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
½ teaspoon dried mint, to serve
Method:
1. Boil rice in stock and water with salt until very soft.
2. Beat together the egg and cornflour, then add yoghurt and mix well. Add 2 teaspoons water to loosen the mixture a little.
3. Pour the yoghurt into a large pot and cook on a very, very low heat to prevent curdling. Cook for 15 minutes stirring continuously.
4. Slowly add in rice/water/stock mixture, a bit at a time, stirring continuously to combine.
5. Turn heat to medium, allow mixture to come to the boil, then turn down again and cook for another 10 minutes. (meanwhile boiling mante)
6. To serve, ladle into serving bowls, top with mante then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of dried mint.

Mante (Chicken & Pistachio Dumplings)
Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
100g minced chicken
20g coarsely chopped pistachios
½ small onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
40 wonton wrappers
Method:
1. Combine all ingredients except wonton wrappers in a bowl and season to taste with sea salt.
2. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each wonton wrapper, brush edges with water, place another wonton wrapper on top and join ends together, pressing to seal.
3. To cook mante, boil a pot of water and gently lower in dumplings, cooking for 3 minutes or until mante float to surface. Be careful to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Note: the original recipe called for 20 round wontons, folded in half, but I used two wonton wrappers pressed together per dumpling, to create more substantial dumplings.

This is my entry for the Presto Pasta Nights event. This week's PPN is hosted by Daphne from More Than Words, so be sure to visit her blog for other pasta and noodle recipes. PPN's founder however is Ruth from Once Upon A Feast.

cock the hammer, it's time for coq au vin

To say Coq au Vin is just chicken in red wine is to say that foie gras is just fried liver.

Yes, it is essentially chicken cooked in red wine, but the results are something much, much more wonderful.

While France celebrated Bastille Day in the sun, Jonas, Shamu, TomBob and I huddled together for warmth over a plate of this delicious French stew.

Jonas has recently started eating chicken and that fact is simply marvellous.

He cooked this recipe, following it to the letter, and the results were superb.
I highly recommend it.
And a husband who can cook it.

The recipe apparently served four, but in our experience it easily stretched to six, especially with the cream infused potato base.

Do try it.

Coq au Vin (Chicken & Red Wine)
 
Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller. Serves 4.
 
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
90g butter, coarsely chopped at room temperature
1.6kg free-range chicken, jointed
150g piece of pancetta, cut into 1cm pieces
12 small pickling onions
125ml (½ cup) brandy, warmed
750ml (3 cups) Beaujolais
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
3 parsley stalks
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 small heads garlic, halved lengthways
1 tablespoon plain flour
200g mixed small mushrooms such as pine, Swiss brown and button, trimmed
¼ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1kg desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
50g extra butter, coarsely chopped
125ml (½ cup) pouring cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160’C.

2. Heat oil and 20g butter in a large casserole over medium-high heat, add chicken pieces and cook for 10 minutes, turning until golden, then transfer to a plate and keep warm.

3. Add pancetta and onions and cook for 5 minutes or until golden, drain off excess fat.

4. Return chicken to pan, pour over brandy and ignite with a long match.

5. When flames are extinguished, add wine, stock, herbs and garlic and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6. Bring to the boil, cover and place in oven for 1 hour or until chicken is tender and cooked through.

7. Transfer chicken, onions and pancetta to a warm dish, cover with foil and keep warm.

8. Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve, discarding herbs and garlic.

9. Heat sauce in clean casserole over medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups.

10. Combine flour and 20g butter into a paste, whisk into sauce and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.

11. Meanwhile, heat the 50g of extra butter in a frying pan over medium heat, add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until golden, season to taste and set aside.

12. For mashed potato, cook potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender, drain and pass through a potato ricer into saucepan, add butter and cream, season to taste and stir to combine.

13. To serve, return chicken, pancetta, onions and mushrooms to sauce and cook for 5 minutes, turning to coat and warm through.

14. Serve chicken and sauce scattered with parsley, with mashed potato on the side.

kentish pigeon w plums

It was a case of Revenge of the Dinner!

When I stuck my hand into my pigeon to clean out the cavity, the sharp claws of the little beast dug into my flesh and scratched me quite painfully. The little bird unknowingly committed a small act of retribution before he was roasted and devoured.

As promised when I posted my Duck w Cherries recipe, here is a great Autumn recipe for those in the northern hemisphere. I suppose it's named after the area of the UK where the recipe comes from?

Like many ingredients that taste great together, pigeons and plums become widely available at the same time of year, allowing you to easily prepare this delicious Autumn dinner.

Just make sure there’s enough for everyone!

Kentish Pigeons w Plums
Recipe from cookitsimply.com Serves 4.
Ingredients:
25g (1 oz) butter
15ml (1 tbsp) vegetable oil
4 young pigeons, prepared
10ml (2 tsp) plain wholemeal flour
1 medium onion, skinned and chopped
2 cloves
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) or 1 tsp dried
100ml (4 fl oz) port
450g (1 lb) purple plums, stoned and halved
Salt & pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg
Method:
1. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan.
2. Coat the pigeons lightly in the flour, shaking off any excess, then add to the pan and fry, turning occasionally, until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole.
3. Stir the onion into the frying pan and fry gently until beginning to soften. Spoon over the pigeons, then sprinkle the cloves and herbs over the top.
4. Stir the port into the frying pan, bring to the boil, then pour over the pigeons.
5. Arrange the plums over the top. Cover tightly and bake at 170°C for 1½ hours, until the pigeons are tender.
6. Transfer the pigeons and plums to a warmed serving platter.
7. Boil the juices for 2-3 minutes to thicken them and concentrate the flavour.
8. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then pour over the pigeons. Serve at once.

For Weekend Herb Blogging this week I'm focusing on the pretty little plum.

In Australia, where there are more than 200 varieties grown, plums are available from October to May with the peak season being February to March.

European plums are more oval whereas Asian plums are rounder and heart-shaped.

Plum skin is usually rather tart whereas the flesh is quite sweet. Most of the sugar in plums is glucose (rather than fructose or sucrose).

One of my mother’s favourite memories was when she left me alone with her father and a tray of overripe blood plums. Since those plums were so squishy, and neither my grandfather nor I had any teeth, when she came back we were both smothered in red juices! Generational pincer movement!

I was surprised to learn than red-fleshed plums have more nutrients and high sugar contents than yellow-fleshed plums. Maybe that’s why my grandfather and I were so eager to eat those juicy blood plums!

Prunes are just dried plums, and both are known as natural laxatives. I’ll never forget how annoyed my brother was after I absentmindedly shared an entire bag of prunes with his 3yr old daughter.

Substances within the plum’s seed can decompose into hydrogen cyanide gas and in large enough doses could be harmful, so don’t leave two tonnes of plum seeds to compost in your backyard.

This recipe and the plum are my Weekend Herb Blogging entry for the week, hosted by Cinzia from Cindystar a lovely blog from Lake Garda in Italy.

Other online plum recipes:
Brioche Plum Tarts - A Whisk & A Spoon
Chicken Plum Pie - Ja Mange la Ville
Damson Jelly - The Cottage Smallholder
Dimply Plum Cake - Smitten Kitchen
Ginger Plum Jam - Andrea Meyer
Green Gage Plum & Vanilla Jam - Chez Pim
Hungarian Plum Dumplings - FXCuisine
Moroccan Nectarine & Plum Chicken Tagine - Closet Cooking
Plum & Blue Cheese Pannacotta - Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once
Plum & Muscat Gelato - White on Rice Couple
Plum & Peach Crisp - 101 Cookbooks
Plum & Radicchio Panzanella - Not Eating Out in New York
Plum Cake - La Tartine Gourmande
Plum Chutney - Green Gourmet Giraffe
Plum Kernel Oil Ice Cream - David Lebovitz
Plum Mayo Dressing - Simply Recipe
Plum Sorbet - Simply Recipes
Plum Tart - Rutic Kitchen
Quetsche Plum Tart w Walnut Cream - Chocolate & Zucchini
Roasted Plum Mousse Cannelee et Vanille
Rosewater & Plum Compote - 101 Cookbooks
Rosemary Plum Jam - Lucullian Delights
Upside-Down Plum Ricotta Cupcakes - Baking Obsession
Wild Plum Sauce - Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Yeasted Olive Oil Plum Cake - Wild Yeast
Yellow Plum Sorbet - The Nourishing Gourmet
Zwetschgendatschi (Bavarian plum cake) - Delicious Days

This time previously on M&M:
2008 - smoked salmon, raisin & feta spoons
2007 - moqueca de peixe (Brazilian dendê oil & coconut fish)
2006 - grape & aniseed schiacciata & pavlova martini

References:
http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/plum/plum.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum

duck w cherries

This recipe came from Australian Gourmet Traveller’s 40th Anniversary Issue where they reprinted some of the recipe over the years in a decade-by-decade history of food trends.

Duck w Cherries was firmly wedged in the 1960s along with Black Forest Cake. From the 1970s we got steak tartare and fondue, the 1980s gave us flaugnarde and neenish tarts and the 1990s was all about laksa, pannacotta and sticky date pudding.

Ahhh the memories (OK, so I’m only old enough to have memories of 1½ of those decades, but you get the idea).

I love sweet fruit sauces with meat, as you’ll see in a few weeks when I post a recipe for pigeon & plums or my archives of kangaroo & quandong, emu & rosella, venison & blueberries and pork w prunes & apples.

But for now enjoy the duck!

Duck w Cherries
Recipe from Gourmet Traveller (August 2006). Serves 4.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1.8kg duck, quartered
125ml light-bodied red wine
500g cherries
1½ teaspoons cornflour
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Melt butter in a large casserole over medium heat.
2. Add duck and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until browned.
3. Add wine and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour
5. Drain excess fat from pan and add cherries, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
6. Combine cornflour in 1 tablespoon of water and mix until smooth.
7. Remove duck and cherries from pot then bring juice to a boil over a medium heat
8. Add cornflour mixture, whisking continuously for 1 minute or until thickened. Strain.
9. Divide duck and cherries among serving plates then spoon sauce over.
Note: frozen cherries can be used, but should be added 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

The area of Turkey, today called Giresun, was once known to the ancient Greeks as Kerasous and is the origin of most European words for cherry.

Greeks and Romans imported cherries from this area of Anatolia and called the fruits κέρασος (Greek) then cerasum (Latin) and eventually cereza (Spanish), cerise (French), kirsche (German) and cherry (English).

There are two main types of cherries: wild cherries (prunus avium) and sour cherries (prunus cerasus). Although they originate in the same place, they don’t cross-pollinate.

Cherry trees have silver-grey bark, long slender leaves and, in spring, beautiful pink and white blossoms. The Japanese have made an art out of cherry blossom enjoyment (hanami).

The peak fruit season depends on your location and those in the northern hemisphere enjoy them around June and July whereas in Australia they are best from November to January.

Cherry anthocyanins (red pigment) are potent antioxidants and they are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin E and dietary fibre. They are also being researched for their suspected benefits in combating the progression of cancer, chronic inflammatory conditions, neurological diseases, ageing, cardiovascular disease and allergic conditions (for instance asthma, hay fever, eczema and hives).

Our Weekend Herb Blogging host this week is the lovely Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once. If you haven’t visited this blog before, please spend some time reading over Haalo’s recipes: it’s one of my all time favourite blogs out there.

M&M's cherry recipes:
Cherrylicious (cocktail)
Meggyleves (Hungarian sour cherry soup)
Schwarzwälderkirschtorte (German black forest cake)

Other cherry recipes from the blogosphere:
Beef Short Ribs w Cherry Balsamic Sauce - Mrs Glaze's Pommes d'Amour
Black Cherry Iced Tea - Appetite for China
Blue Cheese & Dried Cherry Meatloaf - A Year of Slow Cooking
Cherry Champagne Jellies - Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once
Cherry Hazelnut Loaf Cake - Chocolate & Zucchini
Cherry Jam - David Lebovitz
Cherry Mallow Salad - Eat Me Daily
Cherry Marzipan Tart - Nami Nami
Lamb Chops in Cherry & Port Sauce - Closet Cooking
Macaroon Cherry Tart - 101 Cookbooks
Persian Cherry Pilaf - Tigers & Strawberries
Sour Cherry Almond Frozen Yogurt - Always Order Dessert
Sour Cherry Barbecue Sauce - Habeas Brûlée
Sweet Cherry Pie - Smitten Kitchen
Venison w Cherry Mostarda & Chanterelles - Cook Eat Fret
Warm Cherry Port Sauce - Je Mange la Ville
Zucchini w Sour Cherry Couscous - Fig & Cherry

From the M&M archives:
2008 – Ecuadorian tuna & yuca soup
2007 – garlic scape pesto
2006 – mangosteen sorbet

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry
http://www.cherries.org.au
http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/cherry/cherry.html

buffalo wings w blue cheese dip

Apologies for disappearing again! After recovering from the inner ear virus, can you believe I contracted a cold and was knocked out for another 3 days! Looks like I might have given it to Jonas too.

Despite it all, tomorrow Jonas and I are flying off to the USA for 2 weeks.

The first week we’ll be in Daytona (Florida) with my grandfather, aunt and cousin and then the second week we’ll kick back in New Orleans (Louisiana).

Even though the present winter in Sydney is more like spring, the sultry humidity of the South is going to be a shock to our senses.

Visiting New Orleans will make Louisiana my 28th state. Somewhere between a father from LA, grandparents from Pennsylvania, family in the south-east and south-west states and doing my own time in NYC, I’ve managed to see a fair whack of the US.

I doubt I’ll have any time at all to blog while we’re away, so I have pre-written some posts and scheduled them to pop up intermittently throughout our vacation period. In line with the destination, I’ve chosen to post mainly American inspired recipes:
- Buffalo Wings w Blue Cheese Dip
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Roasted Banana Ice Cream
- Beef Jerky
- Southern Belle (nectarine & bourbon cocktail)

Now, first off I have to apologise for the quality of this buffalo wing photo. The reality is that once these suckers were out of the oven then feeding frenzy was on and I was lucky to get this crappy shot. The blue cheese dip didn’t even get a photo before wings were submerged.

So, ignore the unappetising happy snap and just imagine these glorious little suckers in your belly!

I have to say, making these in Australia was somewhat expensive. The chicken wings are very cheap, but Louisiana-style hot sauce is a rarity in Australia. Given that I am totally addicted to the stuff and it’s impossible to come by (and therefore expensive), using so much in one dish made me squirm with discomfort.

It was like throwing beluga caviar on baked beans.

But I persevered and the results were well worth it. I even set aside some of the sauce for Jonas to marinate his tofu in and he was overjoyed with the results.

These are not my recipes, but a Recipe Road Test from Elise from Simply Recipes.

Buffalo Wings

Recipe by Elise from Simply Recipes. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings (about 12 wings)
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank's Original)
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Blue cheese dip (see below)
Celery sticks (optional)

Method:

1. Cut off wing tips (discard or reserve for other use such as making stock). Cut wings at the joint.

2. Put chicken wing pieces in a plastic bag. Set aside.

3. Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper.

4. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.

5. Pour remaining marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. Seal the bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour. When marinating is finished, discard marinade and bag.

6. Place wing pieces on the rack of a grill pan. Grill 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink.

7. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.

8. Serve with Blue Cheese Dip and celery sticks. Makes approximately 24 pieces (about 12 appetizer servings).

Blue Cheese Dip

Recipe by Elise from Simply Recipes. Makes 1.5 cups.

Ingredients:
½ cup sour cream
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced

Method:

1. Combine dip ingredients in a blender or food processor.

2. Blend or pulse until smooth.

3. Cover and chill. Keeps for up to one week in fridge.

moroccan chicken tagine

I requested a tagine for Christmas and my parents kindly obliged. I have made two of the Moroccan casseroles since then, the chicken and olive version I'm posting here and a vegetarian version that I'll share soon.

Both were delicious.

Tagines are rich with spices and flavoured with preserved lemon, my Weekend Herb Blogging theme ingredient for the week.

Making a tagine was one of my 2009 food challenges, so I’m felling pretty positive about moving through my goals of the year too.

Tagines are so easy to make and you don’t really need the specially shaped conical pot. A good casserole dish will suffice, and may even be necessary for cooking large portions when juices may slosh out of a shallow tagine base.

Djej Emshmel (Moroccan Chicken Tagine w Lemon & Olives)

Anna’s adaptation of Elise’s recipe. Serves 4 - 6.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1.5kg chicken thighs and drumsticks
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 zucchini, sliced
2 potatoes, sliced
1 preserved lemon (see recipe below)
1 cup green olives, pitted
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup raisins
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, for seasoning
Olive oil, for frying

Method:

1. Rinse preserved lemon in cold water. Discard pulp then cut peel into thin strips.

2. Combine all the spices in a large bowl.

3. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. In a tagine (or heavy bottomed skillet), heat the olive oil on medium high heat.

4. Add the chicken pieces and brown for five minutes.

5. Remove chicken, lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions and any spices left in the bowl. Fry until soft.

6. Add potato. Fry for 5 minutes.

7. Add zucchini. Fry for 3 minutes.

8. Add the preserved lemon, olives, raisins and stock.

9. Bring to a simmer then add chicken. Cover and let cook for 10 minutes.

10. Turn chicken pieces over. Cook another 10 minutes (without lid if you need to reduce liquid). 11. Adjust seasonings to taste then mix in fresh parsley and coriander just before serving. Serve with couscous or rice.


My focus for WHB this week is preserved lemons.

I wrote a previous post about lemons, but now specifically I’m drawing your attention to Morocco’s preserved lemons.

They are central to North African and Middle Eastern cuisines and are actually a pickle, since the lemons are preserved in brine (salty liquid).

The flesh can be used, although the rind is preferable. To use, simply wash to remove excess salt and chop. The lemons add an extremely citrus flavour to stews, soups, salad dressings, slow braising casseroles and even as a cocktail garnish.

Hamad Muraqqad (Moroccan Preserved Lemons)

Recipe by Maggie Beer.

Ingredients:
Thick-skinned lemons
Salt: 1 dessertspoon per lemon + one extra for the jar
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preserving jars

Method:

1. Cut lemons into quarters. Place the lemons, flesh side down, in the jar, sprinkling each quarter with salt as you add it to the jar.

2. For every lemon use a good dessertspoon of salt, and one for the jar.

3. When the jar is full, press right down on the lemons to squeeze as much juice out, filling the jar with more slices, again squeezing right down. Pack them in very tightly as they will shrink.

4. Immerse all the lemons by topping up the jar with fresh lemon juice.

5. Put a lid on the jar and 6-8 weeks later they will be ready to use.

Note: To hold the lemon quarters under the lemon juice, use the little plastic devices found in takeaway pizza boxes that stop the topping from sticking to the cardboard lid.

To read the WHB round-up for this week, visit Haalo's Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once.

And for more preserved lemon recipes . . . .
Algerian-Style Duck w Preserved Lemon & Olives
Baby Cos Hearts & Asparagus w Preserved Lemon Dressing
Chicken, Haloumi & Preserved Lemon Skewers
Chorizo & Preserved Lemon Turkey Roll
Cumin-Spiced Snapper w Preserved Lemon Moghrabieh
Fennel & Preserved Lemon Salad
Feta & Preserved Lemon Salad
Fettuccine w Preserved Lemon & Roasted Garlic
Fried Artichokes w Preserved Lemon Dressing
Grilled Striped Bass w Preserved Lemon Rub
Kumera & Preserved Lemon Skewers
Marinated Yellow-Tail w Preserved Lemon
Moorish Lamb Cutlets w Preserved Lemon Yoghurt
Preserved Lemon & Goats Cheese Croutes
Split Pea, Sausage & Preserved Lemon Soup
Swiss Chard, Potato & Preserved Lemon Pot Pie
Tuna Tartare w Preserved Lemons
 

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserved_Lemon
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-moroccan-preserved-lemons.htm
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/pr/Preserved_Lemon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Preserved_Lemons.jpg
Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb tagine chicken tagine preserved lemon chicken tagine recipes preserved lemon recipes chicken recipes tagine recipes moroccan recipes moroccan food moroccan cuisine north african recipes north african food north african cuisine

creole-spiced chicken

This is the first Creole/Cajun recipe I've made for my 2009 Food Challenges. The flavours worked well and made chicken breasts, something I'm not a huge fan of, taste very good.

Creole-Spiced Chicken
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 batch Creole spice mix (see below)
¼ cup lime juice
1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Method:
1. Combine spice mix with lime juice and liquid smoke.

2. Marinate chicken breasts overnight.

3. Barbeque chicken over charcoal for 10 minutes.

I served my spiced chicken with grilled zucchini & chimichurri sauce and arroz congrí (tomato and black bean rice).

Creole Spice Mix
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon filé powder
Pinch of nutmeg

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes spice blend creole-spiced chicken chicken main courses main course recipes spice recipes chicken recipes creole recipes creole food creole cuisine