Old School Summer Chicken Pasta Salad

 Hi Everyone

I call this pasta old school because its one of the earliest recipes I created when roaming around in the old motorhome to dog shows. Those recipes (like most of mine) were very much a case of combining what was to hand. I actually made it again yesterday and was so nostalgic. So thought it was time to add it to my blog. 

Ingredients

A smoked chicken breast sliced or chopped up (preference is yours)

250-400gm of small pasta - spiral, penne or shell Ive used all of them to good effect in this dish

1 tablespoon of masterfoods moroccan spice mix

1/2 a cup of good quality mayo - I've used best foods or japanese mayo for example

1/4 cup of aioli (more if you like the flavour more then mayo

1 tablespoon of basil pesto (fresh is best but Ive used store bought no problem)

1 red capsicum diced (I often use the store bought charred red capsicums if I don't have fresh)

2 spring onions finely sliced

1 red onion finely sliced

1 avocado sliced or diced

a handful of cherry tomatos halved 

Garnish

couple fo tablespoons of pinenuts roasted

1/2 cup op chopped parsley or rocket leaves 

How to:

If you don't have smoked chicken you can bake a couple of chicken breasts coated in three tablespoons of the spice mix at 180 deg C for 25 minutes or until cooked.  Let cool slightly and the slice or chop. 

Cook the pasta until el dente I then empty into a colander and run the pasta under cold water to cool it down. Drain.

Combine all the veges ingredients in a bowl. Note I use whatever I have around (crisp raw small florets of broccoli are nice in this salad too) but I do think the capsicums and spring onions are essential. 

In a separate bowl combine the spice, mayo, aioli and pesto. You can add the juice of half a lemon if you prefer a thinner dressing. 

Combine all together and toss gently to combine. Taste and season as needed. I usually add the rocket in with the toss if using. If just parsley I garnish on top with the pinenuts at the end.

Enjoy with smoked meats or on its own :)

                                        

Beer Battered Fish and Salted Lemon Tartare

 Hi everyone

This is a lock down home cooked play on Friday night fish and chips. 

Beer battered fish

Ingredients:

4 - 5 fillets of fresh firm fish -  I love trevally, snapper, tarakihi and blue cod yum yum 

3/4 cup of plain flour

1/4 cup of corn flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup or in my case a 330ml bottle of ice cold beer - I used a heineken lager. Dont use a stout it will overpower the fish and darken the batter. 

How to:

Pat fish dry using paper towels or a tea towel. I cut in half if larger fillets. I try to keep them a reasonably comparable size as that means they cook more consistently. Season the fillets with salt and pepper before placing in the corn flour below.

Place ¼ cup corn flour in a shallow bowl and coat the fish shaking off any excess flour.

Heat 6cm of oil in a large heavy based pot or in a wok over medium high heat to 190°C. I don't use olive oil I find its not the best for deep frying. I used rice bran oil this time.

Just before cooking, whisk together the flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt. Add very cold beer into the batter and whisk just until incorporated evenly into the flour. Do not over-mix, do not worry about flour lumps.  The batter should be fairly thin but coat the back of a spoon. If too thick, add a bit more beer until its the right consistency.

Dunk a piece of fish in the batter, then let the excess drip off very briefly

Carefully lower into oil, one piece at a time. Don't crowd the pot; fry in batches. Fry for 3 minutes, flipping after about 2 minutes, until deep golden.

Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining fish. Serve hot! 

If you are doing a big batch of fish then Id suggest a double fry only because with the second fry you can get more fish in and therefore less risk of soggy fish from earlier batches waiting for you to cook it all. If you are going to cook twice this is how Id do it:

a. First cook: Fry fish in batches for 2½ minutes until crispy and golden, but not a deep golden. Drain on paper towels, continue with remaining fish.

b. Final cook:  This is to reheat and make it deep golden and crispy. Increase oil temperature to 200°C. Add fish and fry for 1 minute until deep golden. For this second run you can crowd the oil more. Drain and repeat with remaining fish. 

Serve all with a good sprinkle of salt and wedges of lemons and my tartare below

Salted lemon tartare

Ingredients:

1/2 rind of salted lemon pith removed and diced. I make my own when the lemon tree goes manic but otherwise you can pick a jar up in the supermarket or specialty food shops. 

Half a cup of good mayo. Dont go cheap and nasty as they are often really oily and dont work well with this recipe. I either make my own or I use the best foods brand

1/2 a red onion diced - white onion is fine too

1/2 a capsicum diced - I like red for colour but up to you

A couple of small gherkins rinsed then diced

A tablespoon of rinsed then diced capers

The juice of half a lemon

A handful of fresh italian parsley washed and chopped

A teaspoon of mustard or chunky relish (optional)

Half a lemon rind grated and sprinkle of smoked or plain paprika as garnish

How to:

Add all the ingredients together in a bowl except the garnish. Mix and taste season as required and then chill till fish is ready. When ready top with garnish lemon rind and or paprika and serve.

Enjoy

                                       

Mamas easy brisket

 Hi everyone

Over the last couple of years Ive been working through options for an easy and flavoursome cooked brisket. I have smoked one, I have slow baked one, I have pressure cooked one and frankly one day out of desperation to get a hunk of brisket cooked before family arrived I did all three! Ironically that moment of desperation helped me produce one of my best versions of the dish but frankly three different processes is too much even for me. So this recipe uses two but I have found it to be generally bullet proof. .

Ingredients

1-2 kilo brisket fat trimmed 

charcoal rub - I use Jess Pryles Black Beef seasoning but generally others are fine and the world wont end if you dont have it

Sweet Baby rays Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce -  I use a lot of it but really its too taste. I did find that this brand unlike some others with brown sugar doesn't make the meat sickly sweet once cooked (husband wouldn't eat it if it did as he hates sweet foods).

salt and pepper

red cabbage, red onions, other greens to go under the brisket 

To do

Heat your oven to 160 degrees 

Because Im never organised or have unexpected visitors my brisket is often coming out of the freezer. I dont actually mind it that way but you can defrost if you prefer. I pull out a couple of large sheets of foil and lie them flat on the bench. I add a couple of smaller non stick foil sheets on top. I place the brisket on the non stick foil and shake the rub over then I pour the bbq sauce over and brush it all over the meat. I turn it over and do the same to the other side making sure that the sides are covered too. I then wrap that meat up making sure that its secure and there are no gaps for the liquid that will come out of the meat as it cooks to go. I put it in my dutch oven with the lid on and pop it in the oven for 6-8 hours or as long as I can. I check it regularly to add more bbq sauce on and make sure that the juices are not seeping out as that can spell disaster (code for tough dry meat). If that happens pull it out and pour the escaped juices back on top and wrap it in more foil to keep it all in. Then put back in the oven. 

An hour before you are due to serve pull the meat out and put it and the juices into the pressure cooker. If its too big you may need to cut in half to get it in. I then make sure there is enough liquid and add half a cup of water or beef broth if need. I also add a tablespoon or so of the bbq sauce ..yeah its all in the sauce. I pressure cook the meat on high for 45-60 minutes depending on the size. Once done I release the steam and pull it out. It should be melting soft and yummy. 

I carve and place on top of the garnish in a disposable tray. I brush on some of the juice including between each slice and season. The garnish ensures that the meat isnt stewing in its juices while it sits and if you like sliced raw red cabbage or onion like I do the hot sauce actually cooks it a bit and you can eat it and enjoy that tanginess alongside the meat.  I then reduce the juice to a delicious ju and put in a grave jug for anyone who wants to add more. 

Then with a mac n cheese or big salad we all tuck in. 

                                

Smoky beans, eggs and bacon..whats not to love?

 Hi everyone 

I make this dish in one pan and husband eats it on his own or with smoked sausages. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic diced

half a red capsicum sliced thinly

2 teaspoons of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of diced tomatoes in juice

3 rashers of diced cooked bacon or pancetta

handful of baby spinach

6 eggs lightly beaten

topping

another handful of baby spinach

half an avocado sliced 

2 rashers of pancetta

Splash of good balsamic

Add the shaved parmesan

Fry the bacon or pancetta with the onions, garlic and capsicums in the olive oil for 5 mins. Add the spices and stir for a minute. Add the tomato and beans and cook for 5 minutes, stir in the spinach and season. Taste

Pour the egg over the back of a spoon all over the tomato and bean sauce. Put a rounded lid on top and allow to cook on a low heat until egg is cooked and puffy again season.

Top with final spinach in the middle of the pan, pancetta and avo. Then sprinkle the balsamic lightly over add the parmesan and serve immediately and enjoy :)

Nothin like a soup:The base of a good meal

HI all 

Its time for that winter wonder which is a good soup. This is my base recipe completed in a couple hours rather then forever. 

Ingredients

1 bacon hock

2 brown onions

2 garlic cloves

2 bayleaves

a cup of soup mix (optional)

water (enough to cover the hock in the pressure cooker and enough to cover the veg in the pot)

A mix of veg chopped. You can include for example

3 stalks of celery

2 carrots

1 large kumara (sweet potato)

1/4 pumpkin

a parsnip 

cup of spinach or silverbeet 

a cup of brocoli or cauli each

I cook the onions and garlic for 4 mins and then add with the bayleaves and the hock and enough water to cover to the pressure cooker. Pressure cook on high for an hour.

While the hock is cooking I pu the veg in a separate pot with enough water to cover and season. I cook the veg until soft (20-30mins) and then strain the veg and reserve the stock aside.

Once the pressure cooker is finished release and pull the hock out and put aside in a dish. Take the bayleaves out too. Check the bacon hock liquid for saltiness. If too salty half the volume and add vege stock. Check tast if still salty add more vege stock until tastes right. 

Now the options

If you want a chunky soup put the cooked veg back in the pot and add enough combined  stock to suit. Break up the bacon hock meat removing the fat. You can add more meat if you want I tend to add chopped ham or cooked chopped bacon  and or chorizo sausage f I want a more meaty soup. Bring back to a simmer to warm the soup and meat season to liking and serve

If you want a smooth soup add enough stock to cover the vege plus an inch or two. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. Add the meat back in and simmer again and season to liking and serve.

Another option with the smooth soup is prior to final simmer add a teaspoon or (if you like more heat) table spoon of green or red curry paste to give it a kick, Taste and I then add some coconut milk to give it some sweetness and yummy texture (also helps if I get the kick level wrong). Check seasoning and serve.

Enjoy

Italian Pork Meatballs in broth

This recipe is great for an entree when you want to impress. If you want to have it for a main Id increase the pork to a kilo and double the broth ingredients. Note go for the best liquid stocks not the packet powder ones. I went looking for the ones you can sometimes find in the refrigerated isle in the supermarket. 

Ingredients

500gms of pork

2tbsp finely chopped italian parsley

2 eggs beaten

20 - 30 gms grated parmesan plus more shaved for garnish

150 gms fresh ciabatta breadcrumbs or if you don't have those use normal or panko but reduce down to 12gm

2 litres of the best chicken stock you can get

half a cup of dried porcini mushrooms placed in a cup of boiling water and left to infuse for 20 mins

4 rashers of streaky bacon diced and cooked then spread on a paper towel to remove the oil (I've used ham or prosciutto when I didn't have bacon in the fridge)

2 tbsps of flour plus 1/2 cup for rolling the meatballs in after making

If you have it fry a couple of strips of prosciutto and let dry a bit on a paper towel then chop roughly

good olive oil or truffle oil if you have it for serving

salt and pepper

If using fresh then rip the bread into small chunks and place in a food processor. 

In a bowl add the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs and grated parmesan and blend to combine. Add the pork mince, half the bacon, to the mixture and season with a good amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Mix the flour and 2 tablespoons of the stock to form a paste, add to the bowl and blend until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. You can do this in the food processor if you want but I find there is the risk that it will over mix and get all mushy so I prefer to use a bowl, wooden spoon and ultimately my hands to mix.

Form the mixture into golf-ball-sized meatballs, then roll the meatballs in the extra flour to coat. Set aside in the fridge for 15 mins just to help them set.

Heat a large saucepan or wok over medium heat and bring the chicken stock and the water from the mushrooms to a simmer. Slice up the porcini and add them too. Also add the remaining diced bacon. 

You now have two options - to lightly fry the meatballs first or not.  

If you like you can heat a separate sauce pan with a tablespoon of olive oil to a medium high heat. Pop the rested meat balls in the pan and give them a quick roll around to create the crust. Don't let them sit or they might stick to the pan and all that crust will be on the pan and not the meatball. You might have to cook them in a couple of batches as you cant roll the meatballs and crowd the pan. 

Bring the stock back up to a simmer and add the meatballs (either fried or raw whichever you prefer). Simmer on very gentle heat for 30–45 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.

Once the meatballs are cooked taste the broth to check its seasoned enough. Don't let it reduce too much otherwise you will have nothing to serve with the meatballs at the end. If you are worried that you wont have enough broth you can take the meatballs out and keep them covered and warm and add a little more chicken stock in if you have it just to add volume but again check the seasoning and taste. 

To serve, ladle the meatballs and broth into bowls, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil or truffle oil and garnish with shaved Parmesan and prosciutto.

Enjoy

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