Back to the tagine again this week

Moroccan Lamb Tagine on couscous

from Masterchef Australia

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2. 1 kg lamb (shoulder, leg), cut into 2cm cubes
3. 1 onion, chopped
4. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
5. 1 teaspoon ground coriander
6. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
7. 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
8. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
9. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
10. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
11. Zest and juice of 1 orange
12. 1 cup chicken stock
13. 1 tablespoon almond meal
14. 1/2 cup roasted blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
15. 100g pitted dates
16. Salt and pepper
17. Cous cous and plain yoghurt to serve
18. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Directions

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium high heat and brown lamb in batches. Remove and put into the pressure cooker.
2. Add onion and garlic to the same pan and cook 2-3 minutes or until softened. Stir in dried spices and cook a further 1 minute or until fragrant. Add orange zest, juice and stock and stir to release the flavours and sediment from the pan. Pour mixture over lamb and scatter over almond meal and almonds.
3. Cook in pressure cook for ½ hour on low heat. Release steam valve and remove lid. Add dates and cook a further 15 minutes with a lid until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve on a bed of cous cous with a dollop of yoghurt and topped with fresh coriander.

Simple and tasty!

Spicy Indian Omelette

Anyone who's been on an Indian train will know the delicious smell of omelettes being cooked on the station platform. These are served with fresh chapattis or naan bread, and with mango chutney - yum yum! The real taste of Indian street food!

Ingredients

1. Olive oil
2. 1 spring onion, sliced finely
3. 1 medium red onion, chopped
4. 1-2 green chillies, finely chopped
5. 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6. 1cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped
7. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
8. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
9. 1 teaspoon ground coriander
10. 4 eggs, beaten
11. Freshly chopped coriander
12. Freshly chopped mint
13. A few drops of lime juice
14. 1 tomato - sliced

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for five minutes. Add the turmeric and fry for a minute more. Add the other spices and cook for two more minutes.
2. Beat the eggs and add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked mix to the eggs. Add the fresh herbs and return the mixture to the pan (add more oil or some butter if needed).
3. Cook for a few minutes, sprinkle with lime juice and then flip over, cook until done. Add some fresh sliced tomato and serve.

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Quick Thai dish

Thai Chicken-Coconut Soup

Ingredients

1. 6 cups low-salt chicken broth/stock
2. 1–2 red Thai (or jalapeño) peppers, seeded and finely chopped (plus slices for garnish)
3. 3 cloves garlic, chopped
4. 1 tablespoon grated ginger
5. 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
6. 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
7. 1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
8. 4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, divided
9. 250g shiitake mushrooms, sliced (3 cups)
10. 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 150g each), cut into 5cm long by 1cm wide strips
11. 1 cup light coconut milk
12. 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
13. 2 tablespoon chopped coriander (plus sprigs for garnish)
14. 1 packet (120g) thin rice cellophane noodles

Directions

1. Place noodles in a bowl; add enough warm water to cover and let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Combine broth, pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoon fish sauce in a medium saucepan. Season with salt. Bring to a simmer, add noodles and cook 3 minutes more.
3. Using tongs, transfer noodles to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Add mushrooms to broth; season with salt, if desired; simmer 3 minutes more. Add chicken and coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until chicken is just cooked, about 3 minutes.
5. Stir in spinach until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Add chopped coriander and season with remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce.
6. Using tongs, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sprigs of coriander and slices of pepper.

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What started this food musing all off ..

Transferred from an old blog entry .. 


Saturday, 4 April 2009 1:50:16 PM



Food Musings


One of the few New Years' Resolutions that I made this year, was a promise to Hubby that I would endeavor to cook one new dish each week, either for lunch on a weekend when we were both home or for our evening dinner.

This resolution came about for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I get somewhat bored when I cook the same things over and over again, and while stir fries are a relatively new thing to Hubby they certainly aren't to me, and without fantastically new and exciting vegetables or new inspirations for tantalising sauces to bring out the flavour in the stir fry, I find that too many of them in a short period of time really doesn't inspire me.  Secondly,  over the years I've built up a lovely collection of good cookbooks through gifts from friends and family that really aren't used to their fullest potential (see exhibit A below):

Post script - 23rd August

Am very pleased to be able to say that apart from 1 week where I was away overseas for work, that since the beginning of the year I have been able to meet this target, and as a result we have had some really yummy cuisine this year!  

Of course I also should confess that as a reward for keeping on track with the new project, that I have justified (to myself) the purchase of another couple of recipe books along the way - BUT I do so now knowing that they will be put to good use, and are not just sitting on the bookshelf!

Quick and easy dinner

A really quick and easy dish to make!  In recent times I've taken to cooking the salmon on the BBQ or grill to give it a bit of a smokey flavour and taste and it's been just delicious.


Salmon Gnocchi Bake

If fresh salmon is not readily available, canned salmon can be substituted (just watch out for small bones if using canned)

Ingredients

1. 500g packet fresh gnocchi
2. 25g butter
3. 1 small leek, washed, trimmed and thickly sliced
4. 200g packet soft cream cheese 
5. 2 tablespoons tomato purée
6. 1/2 - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
7. Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
8. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
9. 150g salmon fillet, skinned and diced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°c/ fan180°c.
2. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the gnocchi and cook for 2-3 minutes, until cooked. (The gnocchi will float to the surface when they are ready.) Drain and reserve 250ml of the cooking water. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a wide, deep frying pan and gently fry the leek for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Stir in the cream cheese, tomato purée, chilli flakes, lemon zest, parsley and reserved water, until the cheese has melted and everything is combined. Adjust the seasoning.
4. Add the gnocchi and salmon to the frying pan and stir to coat. Spoon into a deep ovenproof dish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden on top. Serve immediately

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Perfect for dinner on a winters' night!

Roast Pumpkin Soup

A rich soup, slightly spiced and perfect served with a swirl of fresh cream and some thick, crusty, freshly-baked bread. Perfect for a winter meal!

Ingredients

1. 4 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
2. 1kg peeled, deseeded pumpkin
3. 1 tablespoon (20ml) oil
4. 1 large (about 160g) onion, finely chopped
5. 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
7. 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
8. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9. 1-2 rashers bacon, chopped
10. Salt and pepper, to taste
11. 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
12. Cream, for serving
13. Ground nutmeg, for serving
14. Parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190c (170c fan-forced)
2. Chop pumpkin into even-sized pieces (larger pieces will require a longer roasting time). Place pumpkin and unpeeled garlic cloves in a baking tray/dish, drizzle with three teaspoons of the oil and toss to coat with oil.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the garlic so that it doesn't overcook. Continue baking pumpkin until tender and cooked through. Keep an eye on the pumpkin to ensure it doesn't burn.
4. Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in large (at least 2.7l capacity) saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, nutmeg, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, bacon, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for two minutes.
5. Add pumpkin and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until onion is soft and stock has reduced, about 20 minutes. The more the stock reduces, the thicker the soup will be.
6. Peel roasted garlic and add to saucepan. Allow the soup to cool for about 1/2 hour before pureeing in batches in a blender.

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