Spicey Chicken Bites

1 cup finely diced cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup hot sauce
 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
 To make the buffalo chicken mixture
,In a small bowl, combine the chicken, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, melted butter and hot sauce; set aside.
Using thawed frozen puff pastry
Wrap chicken mixture and place on baking tray.
 Bake buffalo chicken bites in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from oven (some cheese may have melted out.) and brush tops with melted butter before serving (optional).

These were very rich and may be much better as mini bits.

Lasagne Soup

Ingredients
for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
8.  pork sausages
3 chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1ltr chicken stock
fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cheese
1 small tub ricotta
Grated Parmesan cheese
 salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cook the pasta separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheese in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Potato Bacon and Cheese

Ingredients
2kg potatoes
10 slice bacon
8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup chives, minced
2½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180c.

2. In a frypan over medium heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp and browned, turning once. Transfer to paper towels to drain; let cool, and crumble into pieces.

3. Mash the potatoes until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream, and stir until combined and smooth. Add the chives, 2 cups cheddar cheese, half the bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined.

4. Transfer to a buttered baking dish. Top with remaining ½ cup cheddar cheese. Bake until top is slightly golden and potatoes are heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven; garnish with remaining bacon. Serve immediately.

Macaroni and Cheese done in a slow cooker

1 1/2 cups milk
One can evaporated milk (I used skim, evaporated milk keeps the egg and milk from curdling)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled to room temp
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups  shredded cheese
5oo gms
elbow macaroni or mini penne tubes, par cooked and drained (this means cook them for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until until smooth (or you can use an immersion blender to do the whisking for you).

Add the shredded cheese (not the Parmesan) and macaroni, sprinkle with black pepper (and whatever other spices you want to use). Stir gently with a spatula to coat evenly.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to LOW and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until custard is set in the center and the pasta is tender. The macaroni and cheese may sit in the cooker on the KEEP WARM setting for 30 minutes before serving.

American "crack" Dip

1 package of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup buffalo sauce or buffalo style barbecue sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Pre-heat oven to 180c. In a deep baking dish, mix cream cheese, salad dressing, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in chicken.
 Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is heated through.

NOTE: Depending on your tastes and the ingredients on hand, you can use 1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese salad dressing rather than 1/4 cup of each. Similarly, you can mix blue cheese and mozzarella, or use portions of each.

Rick Stein's India

Rick Stein has one of those great talents to appear as an everyday bloke who you would be happy to have a glass of wine or a cup of tea with. This belies the fact that he is a talented chef who has a number of successful restaurants.

His easy charm and openness make him the ideal host for television. This book is the companion book to his new series where he journeys to India, to find out first hand what is the real Indian food.  The range of recipes includes many regions and many cooks from home cooks to restaurant chefs. The range of recipes is amazing, I can hardly wait to see the television show.

The recipes are not always easy to cook but they are very well laid out. The recipes are designed for a western home cook with lots of suggestions about how to bring the flavours of India into your own kitchen. I have found the ingredients easy to source from local stores and the recipes well structured and accurate.

If you enjoy Indian food this is a great book to add to your collection.

"Whenever I hear the word curry, I'm filled with a longing for spicy hot food with the fragrance of cumin, cloves and cinnamon. I see deep red colours from lots of Kashmiri chillis, tinged with a suggestion of yellow from turmeric. I think of the tandoor oven, and slightly scorched naan shining with ghee and garlic. When Indians talk of their food, they talk about their life. To understand this country, you need to understand curry." Rick Stein

Butter Chicken

This is another Rick Stein dish and a favorite in my house.

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts, skinned, each cut into 2 or 3 pieces at an angle For the first marinade Juice of 2 limes 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1 tsp salt For the second marinade 50g natural yogurt 50g double cream 20g/4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 25g/5cm ginger, roughly chopped 1 tsp Garam masala (page 303) 1 tsp turmeric 3/4 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp beetroot powder (for colour; optional)

For the sauce 50g ghee 25g/5 cloves garlic, finely crushed 25g/5cm ginger, finely grated 400g tomato passata 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder. 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp Garam masala (page 1 tsp desiccated coconut 11/2 tsp salt 200m1 water 25g cashew nuts 25g pumpkin seeds 2 tbsp boiling water 1 tbsp dried fenugreekl 1/2 tsp caster sugar 45m1 double cream To finish Pinch of Chat masala (page 303) Handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped 15g/3cm ginger, finely

Method:

For the first marinade mix the chilli lime and salt together in a  large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade, then cover and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.

For the second marinade, put all the ingredients apart from the chat masala into a mini food processor. Blend until smooth, then add this to the marinated chicken and stir well to coat. Cover and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 240°C/Gas 9 (or 220°C if your oven doesn't go that high). Thread the chicken on to lightly oiled metal skewers (you can put more than one piece per skewer, but leave space between them) then suspend the skewers above a roasting tin. Alternatively place them on a wire rack over a roasting tin. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly charred in places but not completely cooked through, as you'll finish cooking them in the sauce.

For the sauce, while the chicken is cooking, heat the ghee in heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a minute, then stir in the tomato passata and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add all the spices, coconut, salt and 100m1 of the water and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

In a mini food processor, or using a pestle and mortar, blend the cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds and boiling water into a paste. Stir this into the sauce followed by the chicken pieces and another 100m1 water.

Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through, then stir in the fenugreek leaves, sugar and cream and cook for a further 2 minutes. Sprinkle with chat masala, garnish with fresh coriander and ginger, and serve.

Lamb and fenel cutlets

Another Rick Stein Dish from India.

Ingredients

For the lamb

12 green cardamom pods,

lightly bruised with

a rolling pin

12 cloves

One cinnamon stick

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 'Indian bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp ground ginger

1.5 litres whole milk

500ml-water

1kg lamb cutlets

(from a rack of lamb)

  For the batter

75m1 vegetable oil           

250g plain flour

2 tsp cornflour

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp toasted ground

fennel seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cardamom

(seeds from 30 green pods)

1 tsp salt

3 green chillies, finely chopped, with seeds

2 egg whites

Pinch of Chat masala , to finish

Method

Put the cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, bay leaves, Mae* peppercorns and ginger into a deep, sturdy pan and add the milk and water. gently for 10 minutes. Add the lamb cutlets and simmer very gently for 10 Leave to cool in the liquid (the lamb should still be pink in the middle at this

Make the batter by sifting together the flour and cornflour, then stir in the pepper, fennel, ginger, cardamom and salt, followed by the chillies. Lightly beat the egg whites until just frothy then whisk into the dry ingredients with emu* of the cool milky stock to make a thin batter the consistency of single cream. Add the cooled cutlets to the batter and turn to coat evenly.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Take a few cutlets from the batter, add to the pan (don't overcrowd it) and fry for 2-3 minute on each side until golden brown. Keep these warm while you cook the rest Sprinkle with chat masala, and serve hot.

Prawn Molee

The next few recipes come from Rick Stein's new book "India". I always enjoy Rick Stein's books and TV shows. I can hardly wait till this new series starts the recipes are an exciting mix bringing together so many interesting recipes.

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 3 green cardamoms, lightly bruised with a rolling pin 6 cloves 2 medium onions, thinly sliced 15g/3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 25g/5cm ginger, finely shredded 2 green chillies, slit lengthways, seeds removed 1 tsp salt

Small handful of fresh curry leaves Small pinch (Vs tsp) turmeric 400m1 coconut milk 11/2 tsp toddy or white wine vinegar 500g large tail-on raw prawns 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced into rounds, to garnish Boiled basmati rice to serve

Method

Heat the coconut oil in a heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat. Add the pepper, cardamoms and cloves and fry for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes until translucent, then stir in the garlic, ginger, chillies, salt and curry leaves and fry for 1 minute.

Add the turmeric, coconut milk and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 4-5 minutes until reduced slightly, then add the prawns and simmer for a further 4 minutes until the prawns are cooked. Scatter the tomatoes on top, turn off the heat, cover the pan and set aside for 3-4 minutes. Serve with rice.

Jamaican slow cooker goat curry

There are a few preparations before you start cooking the goat. I got mine from Coles.  I used a goat leg, before cooking there is a caul over the fat it needs to be removed. As this was a slow cooked curry you need to break the leg into pieces, make sure to break the bone (don't want to miss that marrow) .

Ingredients

6-8 Tbsp curry powder (I used hot Madras)
1 Tbsp allspice
2 Tbsp chilli powder
1 goat leg broken into pieces
2 onions, chopped
8 birds eye chillis, chopped
A 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
1-2 cans coconut milk
400gm crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp dried thyme
3-4 cups water
5  potatoes, cut into chunks

Method

1 Make the curry powder. If you can find Jamaican curry powder, definitely use it. If not, use regular curry powder and add the allspice to it. You will need at least 6 tablespoons of spices for this curry, and you can make it up to depending on how spicy you like it.

2 Place the meat into the slow cooker add the dry ingredients

3 Add the onions, potatoes, tomatoes and chillis to the pot and the ginger and garlic.

4 Cover everything with water and cook on low for 8 hours

5 Remove the bones, strain the solids mixing enough of the cooking liquid to make a sauce in a large saucepan

6 Add the coconut milk and heat serve on rice

Quick Pizza

I often think of pizza as a way to get rid of leftovers.

In this case a Lebanese bread base (great for when the bread is a few days old)
Coat with tomato paste

Now add whatever you like
In this case frozen prawns and smoked salmon.
Cover with cheese in the oven and its ready.

You could use any leftover meat or vegetables.

Seven Spice Lamb with Basil Pesto Couscous

Take a selection of lamb steaks and coat with Lebanese seven spice and olive oil.
At least one hour.
Pan fry until desired level of cooking is achieved a little pink is good

Stir though the pesto into the couscous and serve with a selection of vegetables.

Beef and Quinoa Wraps

Filling:
500 gms of beef mince
1 diced onion
1 diced carrot
2 diced celery ribs
2 cloves of diced garlic

Saute till meat is browned and vegetables softened.
Mix with two cups of cooked quinoa

Each wrap is a single piece of frozen puff pastry
Wrap the filling up in the pastry leaving an opening on the top
Break an egg into the opening
Oven bake until golden.

Stuffed Eggplant.

Start with some diced onion sauté in olive oil
Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant and dice.
saute it with the onion, coat the eggplant with oil to stop browning.

Add some diced garlic and ginger.

Fill the eggplant with the saute vegetables
Add small tomatoes and cover with cheese.
Cook until golden.

Smoked salmon, prawn pasta

This is one of those meals that takes only the time for the pasta to cook to prepare.

Place your pasta of choice in boiling waiter.
As this is a quick meal I used frozen cooked prawns and dropped them in the water for a couple of minutes.

Drain the pasta BUT do not get rid of the water.
Stir the flaked smoked salmon through the pasta and prawns using a little sour cram and the pasta water to make a sauce.

Serve with a little grated parmesan .

Bean Ragu

Start with 750gms dried beans
Place in cold water and bring to the boil
Simmer for 5 minutes
Place in slow cooker
Add
1 diced brown onion
2 diced celery ribs
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 tbs of thyme
400gms of diced tomatoes

Cook for 8 hours in a slow cooker

This recipe didn't work, I suggest cooking the beans first.

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks

Start with a solid base of carrot, onion, celery cut finely.

On top of this base place your lamb shanks and 2 cups of stock (I used chicken)

Add salt, pepper, bay leaf, dried basil

400gm tin of diced tomatoes 

Use red wine to cover the shanks

Cook on low for 8 hours

Serve with mash and a gravy made from the cooking liquid.