Baked Egg and Zucchini Cups

These are versatile little cups that we have for dinner when the non gluten free boys are having quiche.

This recipe makes 6 standard muffin cups.

Ingredients

3 large eggs, beaten

70mls milk

130g grated zucchini

30g ground almonds

15g fresh coriander, chopped

1 red chilli, shedded and sliced finely

Salt and pepper

1-2 teaspoons black chia seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Take out a muffin tin and cut squares of baking parchment to line 6 of the muffin holes.

Squish the paper up under a running tap and then shape to line the holes.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chia seeds, in a bowl.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and then sprinkle over the chia seeds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen, they will sink again as they cool.

Satay Burgers

Some nights there are too many comings and goings to allow us to sit down and eat dinner together.

Those nights the boys cook their dinner on the bbq and burgers are a favourite.

I’ve used pork in this recipe but minced chicken is delicious too. As the gluten rolls that we like are long and skinny, I just make the patties to fit the roll.

Makes six burgers.

Ingredients

500g minced Pork

3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

30g fresh coriander chopped

Salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and form into burgers.

Heat your bbq or pan over a medium flame.

Once hot cook the burgers, as it is pork, you need to cook it all the way through.

Mexican Corn On The Cob

The picture really doesn’t do this corn justice but quite honestly, it doesn’t last long enough for photos to be taken!

With a household of boys if you serve food on a stick or with a bone they will eat their fill of it without complaining, I’m sure it harks back to caveman days!

These are moreish, you can use the whole cob but these half cobs are cute and if you are feeding smaller mouths, a little more manageable.

I have given instructions for cooking indoors but these work well on the bbq. Peel the husk  off, remove the fronds and put the husk back over the corn and bbq. Once cooked, unwrap, dip in the sauce, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

6 corn cobs,husk and fronds removed, cut in half

150g sour cream

110g mayonnaise

1/2 lime, juiced

15g fresh coriander levels, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Salt and pepper

60g Parmesan, grated

Method

Boil the corn for 5-6 minutes in salted water until cooked.

In a bowl, combine the sour cream, mayo, lime juice, coriander, garlic, salt and pepper.

Heat a large dry frying pan over high heat.

Tip the corn into a colander to drain.

Now add the corn to the dry pan and turn regularly until it has coloured.

Stick a small skewer into the end of each cob half.

Using the skewer, pick up the cob and dip it in the sour cream dip, swirling it around to cover it.

Place on a serving plate and repeat with the remaining corn, sprinkle over the cheese and serve. 

Kerala Beef Curry

This curry is very popular in our house. It isn’t the prettiest of dishes but the flavour is amazing!

 I love the fact that the meat and veg are all in one pot and the boys love that they get to eat it with bread and poppadoms while using their fingers!

Serves 12, this curry freezes well so I tend to make this quantity and freeze half for a night off another day.

Ingredients

50g ghee

15 whole cloves

15 cardamom pods

20 black peppercorns

4x5cm sticks of cinnamon

2 medium onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised

30-40 curry leaves

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1.75kgs diced beef, around 3cm

1 litre water

Salt

750g potatoes, kipfler are great, cut into 4cm pieces

1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

500g frozen baby peas

270mls coconut cream

2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 3 tablespoons water

75g fresh chopped coriander, stalks and leaves

Method

In a large pan with a lid, heat the ghee, once hot, add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns.

As soon as they begin to sizzle, add the onion and cook over a medium to high heat until colouring a little.

Add the garlic, curry leaves and ginger to the pan and cook for two minutes.

Add the beef to the pan and over a high heat, brown the meat, around 4 minutes.

Pour the water into the pan, cover, bring up to simmering and simmer for 90 minutes. Uncover for the last 30 minutes.

Now, add the potatoes, cayenne and salt to the pan, bring back up to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes covered and then ten minutes uncovered.

Carefully pour the cornflour slurry into the curry sauce and stir until thickened.

Now add the peas and coconut cream, bring up to a simmer and sprinkle over the coriander. Serve.

Peach Salsa

Summer is well and truly with us here in Western Australia.

With summer comes delicious stone fruits so I like to use peaches or nectarines in a salsa just to mix it up a little.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 yellow flesh peaches, stoned and diced

1/2 a jalapeno, deseeded and  finely diced

1 small shallot, peeled and  finely sliced

1/2 lime, juiced

a handful of fresh coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.

Let the salsa sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Slow Roast Lamb With Ancho Chilli And Garlic Marinade

Spring is finally here in Western Australia and lamb is back on the menu!

This is a great recipe of you are feeding people who aren’t too keen on chilli, bags of flavour and not too spicy. It is also slow cooked so, ideal if you are entertaining as you really have very little to do once the lamb is in the oven.

It can easily feed a bigger crowd, just add more side dishes but the leftovers are divine too, I’ll share my Mexican Stir Fried Rice recipe soon using leftovers from this lamb!

I serve this with steamed rice, fresh salsa, salad, guacamole, tostades and refried beans, that way everyone can have as little or as much as they like!

Serves 10.

2.5kg leg of lamb

3 red onions, peeled and sliced into 1cm rings

3 dried ancho chillies

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

200mls water, just under boiling point

8 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1.5 litres chicken stock

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Centigrade. Line the base of a roasting tin with the onion rings to create  a rack to keep the meat off the base, initially.

Prepare the marinade now. Place the chillies in a heat proof bowl, add the nearly boiled water and cider vinegar. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Once the chillies have soaked, carefully lift them from the water, remove the stem and seeds and return to the water. Now add all of the remaining ingredients except the onions, lamb and stock.

Using a stick blender, whizz the marinade to a thick paste.

Take the leg of lamb, using a sharp knife, stab it multiple times to at least 5cm at its thickest part.

Pour the marinade over and push it down into the cuts, make sure all of the meat is covered, underside too.

Lay the lamb onto the bed of onion rings, pour the chicken stock around the lamb, seal completely with foil and slide into the oven.

Bake for 6 hours, turn the oven up to 200 degrees Centigrade, spoon off as much of the fat as you can and return the lamb to the oven to crisp up a little, around 30 minute

Now, using tongs, pull off large chunks of meat and drop them into the pan juices, as you come across the bones remove them all. You should now have a pan of meat, juices and onions, I give this a gentle stir and then serve.

 

Spicy Hummus

I love hummus as a dip and this recipe is no exception. I top it with my own home made dukkah, the recipe is on the blog. Leftovers are great as a spread in wraps with lots of crunchy salad.

Ingredients

400g tin chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved

1 garlic clove

juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon tahini

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 tablespoon dukkah

Method

Measure the reserved liquid from the chickpeas and add olive oil to it to make a volume of 160mls.

Pour this liquid into a food processor followed by the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Wizz to form a thick paste.

Spoon into your serving dish, drizzle over some more oil and then sprinkle over the dukkah.

Dukkah

Dukkah, what can I say, one of my favourite ingredients for so many things!

On its own with bread and olive oil, as a crust for chicken and fish, spooned over salads, sprinkled over rice, popped into soups, sprinkled over a mashed avocado, added to an egg for breakfast and even sprinkled over the top of barbecued meat.

This is a totally non traditional recipe, no hazelnuts and no roasting of spices but it works for us and keeps in a jar for a couple of weeks so this is the minimum quantity that I make.

Ingredients

60g macadamia nuts

50g pistachio nuts

4 teaspoons sesame seeds

3 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

a pinch of ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

a really good grinding of fresh ly ground pepper

salt to taste

Method

In a frying pan, toast the nuts until just beginning to colour. Tip onto a plate to cool.

In a large mortar and pestle, crush the nuts so that it’s mostly powdery with a few bigger pieces, don’t over do it or it will be oily and stick.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Taste and add a little more salt if needed.

Store in an airtight container.

Pomegranate Lamb Chops

Known as caveman food in our house, these chops have to be eaten with you hands for complete enjoyment and satisfaction!

By cooking these in a very hot oven you get a lovely spicy crust on the outside that I think goes rather well with the garlicky green dressing.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

850g lamb chops

3 large garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

3 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

DRESSING

100mls olive oil

1 garlic clove

small bunch fresh parsley, leaves picked

2 large stalks of fresh oregano, leaves picked

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the lamb ingredients and leave to marinade in the fridge for 8-24 hours.

When you are ready to cook, take the lamb out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.

Preheat the oven as high as it goes, I cook these at 240 degrees Centigrade.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Lay the chops on the prepared tray and pour over any excess marinade.

Pop the tray into the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your chops, the meat in the photo baked for 10 minutes.

While the chops bake process the dressing ingredients to form a thick green dressing.

Once the chops are cooked, allow to rest for 5 minutes and then plate them up with the dressing poured over the top.

 

 

Pickled Shallots

Who doesn’t love a pickled onion with some gutsy cheese?

Start this recipe a couple of days ahead.

Fills a 1 litre jar.

Ingredients

500g shallots, peeled and topped and tailed

600mls water

60g salt

150mls sherry vinegar

500mls white wine vinegar

4 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon peppercorns

2 dried chillies

Method

Pour the water into a large bowl, add the salt and swirl around until the salt has dissolved.

Add the shallots and pop a plate on top to keep the shallots under the brine.

Leave for 48 hours.

Sterilise the jar and lid.

Add the remaining ingredients to a pan and bring up to a simmer.

Turn the heat off and allow the vinegar mix to cool.

Drain the onions and pat dry.

Place the onions in the sterilised jar.

Pour over the vinegar, make sure all of the coriander, pepper and chillies go in too.

Seal the jar and keep for one week before eating.