Tortilla Soup

The boys have been watching a serious amount of Food Network recently on the television and requested this after one particular programme.

Here in Australia, it can be hard to find the correct chillies to make this a truely authentic tortilla soup so I’ve improvised with what I can find.

I like to make a batch of chicken stock from chicken wings for this and then use the meat from the wings in the soup at the end, I love the no waste way it works!

I start this recipe by making a paste that has tonnes of flavour, using the same technique as I use for starting my curries off. By the time you have cooked he paste down you shoul have half to a third of the original quantity and it should be really thick.

With two chipotle chillies this is pretty spicy so play around with your chilli amounts, younger kids might like one chilli with the seeds removed.

Tonight I didn’t have any corn tortillas lying around so nachos did just as well!

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1-2 chipotle chillies in Adobe sauce, seeds removed

6 large roma tomatoes, quartered

80mls water

30mls olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

4 teaspoons ground cumin

2 litres chicken stock

juice of 1 lime

EXTRAS

Chopped chicken

Sliced avocado

Grated cheese

Tortillas

Method

Using a stick blender, whizz up the onion, garlic, chipotle chillies and Adobe sauce, tomatoes and water.

Heat the oil over medium heat in your soup pan, once hot, pour in the tomato mix and cook down, stirring regularly, allowing the water to evaporate until you have a thick paste in the bottom of the pan.

Add the stock and bring up to the boil, add the lime juice.It’s now ready to serve, I fill the soup bowl with chicken, top with the soup, cheese, avocado and fried tortilla strips or nachos.

Cheats Salmon Tikka

I love all Indian cooking and sometimes it’s nice to mix it up a little as salmon wouldn’t usually be used for a tikka curry but for a quick dinner option this is fab and doesn’t have a huge long list of ingredients.

Serve with rice and dhal, on top of a crunchy salad or I sometimes make this for nibbles and just pop a little salmon onto baby cos lettuce leaves which works beautifully too

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

150g Greek yogurt

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons garam masala

3 teaspoons paprika powder

1/2-1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

8 teaspoons chickpea flour

juice of 1 lime

salt and pepper

600g skinless salmon fillets, around six small fillets

Method

Combine the yogurt, garlic, garam masala, paprika, chilli powder, chickpea flour, lime juice, salt and pepper in a zip lock bag and mix well.

Add the salmon, gently squish it around to make sure that it is all covered in  marinade and then pop back in the fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven or BBQ to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment if using the oven.

Place the salmon onto the baking tray, spreading it out so the fillets aren’t touching and then top with the remaining marinade and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Coriander Dressing

This is one of those fab dressings that goes with so many things, we have it poured over roast chicken pieces, salads, barbecued meat and roast vegetables.

I delight in the fact that some of the vibrancy of the sauce comes from a sneaky handful of spinach leaves, what the boys don’t know won’t hurt them!

Ingredients

a large bunch of coriander, around 70g

1 cup firmly packed baby spinach

1 green chilli, deseeded

1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

juice of 1 lime

60-80mls olive oil

salt and pepper

 Method

In a food processor, whizz the coriander, spinach, chilli and garlic.

Pour in the lime juice and with the motor running pour in enough oil to get it to the consistency that you are after.

Mexican Green Chorizo

This is so tasty I always make double!

Can’t get the kids to eat greens? Give this a try, I serve it with mini tortillas and the boys make their own, we can get through an entire lettuce, 2 capsicums, 4 avocados and 10 tomatoes, never mind the sneaky spinach and capsicum in the chorizo!

Although I crumbled this for tonight’s dinner it also works well as a burger and sausages.

Leftovers are brilliant with eggs, over an omelette or scrambled eggs is a favourite in our house of I have thrown a little chorizo crumble into the boys school wraps for added zing!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

small green capsicum

80g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

30g green jalapeño chilli, deseeded

4 garlic cloves, peeled

50g baby spinach leaves

1 lime, zest and juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

500g minced pork

a little oil to fry

Method

Over a BBQ or gas ring, singe the skin of the capsicum, all over until it is completely black. Pop the capsicum in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Wait for 15-20 minutes and then remove from the bowl and rub off the skin, remove the seeds and stalk too.

In a food processor, whizz the capsicum, coriander, jalapeño, garlic, spinach, lime zest, lime juice, oregano, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper to form a bright green paste.

Weigh the meat into a bowl and add the paste, mix really well with your hands.

Form into any shape that you want, patties, sausages or crumble as I use.

Heat a large frying pan, I use a 32cm non stick pan, add a splash of oil and once hot tip in the green meat.

Using the side of a wooden spoon break up the meat, turning and squishing all the time.

To begin with lots of fluid will release but just keep cooking, on high heat until the water evaporates and the meat is beginning to colour up.

Serve immediately.

 

Peri Peri Chicken

Who doesn’t love peri peri chicken???

I use jalapeño chillies for this just to reduce the heat a little for my sons but feel free to add more chilli or consider using the seeds.

I always roast two chooks, one just isn’t enough these days in my house, leftovers are great in quesadillas and nachos or topping a crunchy salad. Consider making stock with the bones, roast the chooks on the removed spines so they act as a rack and then all the bones can be used for stock, I like to make a sweetcorn soup with this stock.

Ingredients

2 x 1.4kg chickens, spines removed and butterflied

2 limes

8 large garlic cloves

4 green jalapeños, 2 chopped with seeds, 2 chopped with seeds removed

50mls honey

salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the chicken by removing the spines with poultry shears and then pressing down on the breasts to flatten.

Combine the lime juice, garlic, chilli, honey and seasoning in a bowl and then use a stick blender to process.

Pour the marinade over the chicken, cover and marinade for 6-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Lift the chicken out of the marinade and lay in a roasting tin, reserve the marinade. Wrap a little foil around the wing tips if they are on the upper side of the chicken like mine.

Slide the chicken into the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, brushing regularly with the reserved marinade and pan juices. Towards the end of cooking, remove the foil from the wings and marinade with the rest of the chook.

Allow to rest for 10-20 minutes before serving.

Barbecued Lamb And Haloumi Salad

In a family of males, meat features regularly on the menu but this is a favourite, known as cave man salad by the boys and with the added bonus of bribing them to eat the salad as it has the meaty juices all over it!

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.4kgs well trimmed lamb cutlets

4 garlic cloves, crushed

8 teaspoon zatar

2 teaspoons sumac

2 teaspoons ground cumin

zest and juice of 1 lime

50 mls oil

200g haloumi

200g mixed lettuce leaves

1 carrot, grated

1 capsicum, thinly sliced

6 tomatoes, quartered

1 pomegranate, seeds only

Method

Combine the lamb, garlic, zatar, sumac, cumin, lime zest and juice, salt, pepper and oil, allow to marinade for thirty minutes.

Heat the barbecue flat plate over a high flame.

Mix all the salad ingredients and plate up.

Cook the haloumi on both sides and then place it on the salad.

Now pop the meat into the BBQ and cook, turning once, to your liking.

Place the cooked meat on the salad, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and serve.

Stove Top Chicken With Jalapeño, Garlic and Lime

This might not look like much but this is one of those finger licking chicken dishes that becomes a favourite very quickly!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

150g butter

100mls olive oil

1.6kg chicken cut into 10 pieces

salt and pepper

1 jalapeño, deseeded and sliced

4 cloves garlic, just squashed in their skins

2 limes, juiced

350mls chicken stock

Method

Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan with a lid over a medium to high heat.

Once hot, add the chicken, skin side down and cook for 10-15 minutes until well coloured.

Turn the chicken pieces over and cook again for 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and drain out most of the butter and oil, leaving around 2 tablespoons in the pan.

Return the pan to a medium heat and add the jalapeño and garlic, swirl around the pan for 1 minute and then add the lime juice and chicken stock.

Return the chicken to the pan, turning it over a little in the sauce and cover.

Cook gently over a medium to low heat for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the lid and turn the heat to high, simmer down the sauce, turning the chicken regularly,  until it is thick and clinging to the chicken.

Prawn and Mango Tostadas

Prawns and mango, summer must be coming!

These are simple but flavour loaded, I like to oven bake my corn tortillas to crisp them up, it’s healthier than frying!

I also like to add a few slices of avocado to make a more filling tostada if these are for a main course.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

16 large raw prawns, tails on

1 large red chilli, quartered lengthwise and then sliced

juice of 2 limes

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

1 large mango, cubed

fresh coriander

4 corn tortillas

Method

In a bowl, combine the prawns, chilli, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Allow to marinade for 30minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade, pop the corn tortillas onto two baking sheets and bake for 5-7 minutes to crisp up.

Heat a large frying pan until very hot.

Add the prawns, chilli and all of the liquid and quickly fry until the prawns are pink and cooked through and the liquid has evaporated.

In a bowl, combine the cooked prawns, mango and coriander.

Spoon onto your tortillas and serve.

Apple And Walnut Salad

A lovely crisp and crunchy salad.

Summer is fast approaching in Western Australia so salads are making a come back. I find that fussy kids are more likely to eat salad when it features fruit and nuts!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced finely

75g walnut halves, broken a little by hand

150g baby spinach

2 spring onions, finely sliced

a handful of roughly chopped coriander

DRESSING

2 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lime

salt and pepper

Method

Take a dry frying pan, add the nuts and heat gently over a medium heat until a little roasted, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Layer up the salad, leaves apple, nuts, onions and coriander.

Combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad.

Serve immediately or the apples may brown.

Chipotle Chilli Mushroom Tostadas

There’s no missing the meat with these tostadas!

Mushrooms are such great carriers of flavour and these aren’t too spicy, I’ve been known to eat any leftovers for breakfast.

If you are not avoiding dairy, a little sour cream over the top when they are hot is a lovely addition, otherwise I like a squeeze of lime and some fresh coriander.

I like to just crisp my corn tortillas up in a hot oven or on a hot pan, you can fry them in oil the traditional way but we are trying to cut down a bit so baking it is!

Serves 2 as a starter.

Ingredients

30mls olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

1 small red chilli, finely diced

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

pinch chipotle chilli

250g mushrooms, I quarter mine

salt and pepper

a little fresh coriander and lime juice to finish

4 small corn tortillas

Method

In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the fresh chilli and onion, cook until soft.

Add the chipotle chilli and smoked paprika followed by the mushrooms, cook quickly over a high heat.

Once cooked, spoon onto your tortillas and sprinkle with coriander and a little squeeze of lime juice, serve immediately.