Spiced Indian Pies

This is one of my favourites and you can have a bit of fun with the spices as well. It's one of those simple dishes that are easy, no fuss and they are delicious hot or cold.

You will need:
- A good handful of diced zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes and fennel (or any of you favourite vegetables, like eggplant etc)
- Short crust pastry (1 sheet will make 4 small-med tarts)
- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves (up to you how many)
- Milk
- 6 curry leaves (fresh are best, but dried work fine)
- Paprika/cayenne pepper


Spice mix:
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- chilli flakes
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp garam marsala


For yoghurt mix:
- Natural yoghurt
- A good squeeze of lemon juice
- Cucumber, finely chopped

How to create:
- Defrost pastry sheet(s)
- Combine all vegetables in a bowl, drizzle with oil
- Put spice mix in a mortar and pestle and crush together
- Sprinkle the spice mix over veggies and stir to coat them all, add the curry leaves
- Place on a baking tray and bake for about 40 mins, or until cooked through 
- Cut the pastry into quarters and put a good spoonful of the veggie mixture into the
centre, twist the sides in a clockwise format to create a case around the veggies
- Brush the edges of the pastry with milk and sprinkle with paprika or cayenne pepper
- Bake at 180 for about 15-20 mins or until the pastry is cooked and golden
- For the yoghurt mixture, combine all ingredients in a bowl


Serve these delicious pies with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture and a nice fresh salad.


All I can say to that, is YUM!!

Crab and Prawn Salad

There is nothing better than eating a meal that you have cooked entirely on your own... 


Nat and I decided to branch out the other week and venture to the Footscray Markets to see what all the fuss was about. Whilst it's not a fancy 'suburban' market- it has a plethora of cheap fruit and vegetables and a phenomenal amount of delicious seafood. I decided to give crab a try so bought myself a small blue swimmer crab and some green prawns.


It was a boiling hot day and I thought that an Asian Crab Salad would be amazing- but fogot that I had to boil the crab to cook it, not well thought out but a delicious result though.        

You will need:


Handful of picked crab meat

5-8 green prawns

Glass noodles, soaked in boiling water, drain

Bean shoots

Coriander

¼-1/2 avocado, roughly chopped

Small red chilli

Lemon, juiced

¼ Spanish onion, finely chopped

Cucumber, cut into pieces

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing:

Natural yoghurt

Lemon zest + juice of half of a lemon

Pepper

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan, cook garlic and chilli
• Then add the prawns, when almost cooked through pour in the lemon juice- put aside to cool
• In a bowl, combine noodles, cucumber, Spanish onion, bean shoots, crab meat and avocado
• Add the prawns and juices to the bowl
• Shred the coriander and put into bowl
• Combine the ingredients for the dressing and serve either on the side or on top of the salad 

Haloumi Breakfast Burgers

When I think about Australia day, I immediately think about relaxing and food (and for those who are lucky enough- the beach!!) For breakfast this morning we made grilled Haloumi Breakfast Burgers with some left over condiments and rolls from a dinner party. 

You will need:


Bread rolls
Haloumi, cut to fit in a bread roll
Eggs, soft boiled or fried- however you prefer
Baby spinach
Caramelised onion


condiments:


Tomato relish 
Aioli


Trick to the easiest, fail proof and mess free soft boiled eggs


- in a saucepan, boil some water
- if you can prick the base of the egg to stop it cracking but this is not critical
- add the eggs, gently swirling the water so that the yolk stays in the centre
- put a timer on for 6 mins
- when timer is up, place the eggs in cold water to stop the cooking process
- when cooled slightly, peel and serve

Chicken Tortillas

I always find Monday night's, the first night after the weekend always call for an easy dinner, something you can whip up quickly but still tastes amazing. This Monday, Nat and I decided to make Chicken Tortillas, taking a stab at making the actual tortillas as well.

Let me just say- this is definitely going to be a regular dinner of ours, it was delicious.

Such a fresh flavoursome dinner

This is super easy, and the result is absolutely worth it!

Tortillas (makes about 10)

2 cups plain flour

25g butter, cold

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1/4 tsp salt

In a bowl, combine the flour and salt then rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a fine crumb

Then using a wooden spoon stir in the boiling water and combine until a dough forms

Place dough onto a well floured bench and make about 10 balls of the dough

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out is it is about 5mm thick

Cook with a dash of oil in a pan for about 2 mins per side

Crispy Chicken

1 chicken breast, cut into about 4 strips

good handful of bread crumbs, we used panko breadcrumbs which are lighter

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

olive oil

1 lime, halved

Combine all ingredients except egg and chicken in a bowl and combine

Dip the chicken into the egg and then into the crumb mixture

Cook the chicken in a pan with a dash of oil until crumb is nice and golden and chicken is cooked through, whilst cooking the chicken place the lime halves in the pan cut side facing down so it caramelises and lightly flavours the chicken

Filling

bocconcini, halved

baby spinach or rocket

grated carrot

coriander leaves, roughly ripped 

optional: you could have cucumber, capsicum, any other cheese etc

natural yoghurt/ aioli to serve with

The Festive Season

Although the holidays have come and gone I thought that while it's still 'summer' (even though Melbourne fails to recognise that) it might be nice to look back at the wonders of the festive season.

I was down in the Riverland- Renmark to be exact- for Christmas and was fortunate to spend some time with Nat's wonderful family. There were clue treasure hunts for presents, a puppy with a Santa hat and lots and lots of delicious food. Needless to say it was a wonderful holiday and I can't wait for next time.

 

 

Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

As a quick dinner the other night, using Donna Hay for inspiration, we made Roasted Cauliflower Pasta.

To create this dish:

1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
pasta, I often use fresh lasagne sheets and chop then up
2 tbsp philly cream cheese
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
pine nuts, lightly toasted
lemon, a dash of juice
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
parmesan, shaved to serve

Crush the cumin, coriander and chilli in a mortar and pestal until combine
Toss the cauliflower with the herbs, salt, pepper and oil
Place on a roasting try and bake until cooked through and slightly crunchy
Cook pasta in salted water
In a frying pan, add the pasta with a dash of oil, and the egg
Then add the philly cream cheese to make a sauce
Top with cauliflower mixture and squeeze over a bit of lemon juice

Enjoy.

Who would have thought...

After trolling through the blog sprinklebakes the blog of Dessert Queen- Heather Baird, I stumbled upon a little recipe for Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes. I decided to give them a try and made them on the weekend. There was caramel all over the kitchen and I felt sick from eating way too much icing, but the result was well worth it.

With a rich cupcake base, a spoonful of caramel in the center, buttery caramel icing with salted caramel toffee on top... what more could you want?
These were- and there is no other way to describe them- Heaven!!

See Heather's blog for the recipe. Enjoy.