Thai Pork and Baby Corn Stir-Fry

This is a great quick recipe that you can just throw together and tastes wonderful. The amounts listed below I served for 2 people but I made no rice to go with it and it was perfect amount, apart from the fact there was a little to much corn for 2, it would be fine for three. If you prefer to serve it over rice it would feed 3. If you wish to do this for 4 I would up the pork amount to 750g and keep the other ingredients the same.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons peanut oil
500g Pork strips (I bought pork tenderloin and sliced it into strips.)
5 Tablespoons green curry paste (or adjust for your personal taste.)
125g Fresh baby corn halved (It came in that size package I would lower to 90-100g for 2 people if not serving dish with rice 50-60g if doing with rice.)
1 Medium red capsicum, sliced thinly
200g Baby spinach leaves
1/3 Cup coarsely shredded fresh basil.
11/2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Teaspoons fish sauce
1 Teaspoon grated ginger (fresh or jar is fine.)
1 Teaspoon sugar
1/2 Cup coconut milk (I used just over about 130ml, if you want to serve over rice, I would add more milk as there won't be enough sauce for rice.)


Method

1. Heat oil in a large pan or wok, stir-fry pork until browned all over, add paste stir to coat.

2. Add lime juice, fish sauce, ginger, sugar and milk stir-fry a few minutes to cook pork through.

3. Add capsicum and corn and stir-fry about 4 Min's, add spinach and basil, stir-fry tossing until leaves are just wilted.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Korean Lamb Chops

I made this the other night, again from a zaar member it was a wonderful marinade. I had lamb racks, which I browned on the meat side and then finished off in the oven. I basted several times while cooking then sliced into individual chops. You will notice from the photo I slightly overcooked my lamb, as I was waiting for my hubby to get off the phone and I was trying to keep the lamb warm, but thanks to the marinade and basting it came out tender and was not tough. If you would like to read more reviews on this please click here.


I am also thinking about starting back catering again, I have catered before for small dinner parties and for large parties of about 50 people, although never anything huge like a few hundred, but am always up for new challenges. I am based in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland and would like to cater from Lausanne to the Geneva area, if you are reading this site and are from around this area I would love to know what you think, so all comments welcome.

Ingredients

8 Lamb chops
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1/3 Cup tahini
2 Tablespoons chili paste
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 Cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Cloves garlic , crushed
3 Tablespoons water


Method

1. Mix together all the ingredients and pour over lamb chops.

2. Marinate 4 hours or overnight.

3. Heat oven to 375.

4. Remove chops from marinade.

5. In a large ovenproof skillet brown chops 5 minutes per side.

6. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes, serve.


All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Chicken Curry

I usually make this recipe with beef but when I went to the store the other day they were completely out of rump steak and only had expensive cuts of meat, so I bought chicken and it tasted fine, but feel free to do this with beef as that is the way I usually make it and it tastes great. I just refused to pay those prices for beef when I was only doing a curry.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1KG Chicken, chopped into cubes
2 Medium onions, sliced thinly
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
2 Teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons dry white wine
3/4 Teaspoon turmeric
4 Cardamon pod's bruised (using a flat knife, press down on pod, with palm of hand, until pod splits.)
3 Teaspoons curry powder
2 Teaspoons vindaloo paste (I did quite generous teaspoons.)
11/2 Cups water
3-5 Tablespoons sweet mango chutney (I say 3-5 depending on personal taste as to whether you prefer more sweet or more spicy.)
1 Teaspoon chicken stock
2 Teaspoons cornflour


Method

1. Heat some Olive oil in a large pan, add onions and garlic, cook until onion softens.

2. Add meat and cook a couple Min's more, turning chicken pieces.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cornflour, bring mixture to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer, covered about 45 min's, stirring occasionally. (If making with beef simmer 11/4-11/2 hours or until steak is tender.)

4. Remove cover, add a little water to the cornflour, pour into sauce and continue to cook until mixture boils and thickens.

I served mine with mint yogurt, I used 150g natural yogurt mixed with 11/2 teaspoons mint sauce. I don't usually make the yogurt when serving with beef but I am sure it would go.

I also served this over bean sprouts to make it lower carb, I know this works with chicken, am not sure how it would go with beef as I have always served it with rice.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Honeycomb Cheesecake

I made this last week, it again came from a zaar member and we all loved it. It was first time for me doing a no bake cheesecake as all my recipes require baking. It tasted awesome and was lighter than my baked cheesecake recipes, but I think I will say I still much prefer baked cheesecake it is much denser in texture which I love. But the whole family even my sister who came over and tried some thought it had a really good flavour. If you would like to read all the reviews on this recipe please click here.

I am also thinking about starting back catering again, I have catered before for small dinner parties and for large parties of about 50 people, although never anything huge like a few hundred, but am always up for new challenges. I am based in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland and would like to cater from Lausanne to the Geneva area, if you are reading this site and are from around this area I would love to know what you think, so all comments welcome.

Ingredients

1x250g Packet honey snap biscuits
90g Butter
3 Teaspoons gelatin
1/4 Cup water
375g Cream cheese
1/2 Cup caster sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla essence
300 ml Thickened cream
2 Violet crumble chocolate candy bars (Chocolate covered honeycomb bars)


Method


Melt Butter, add biscuit crumbs, mix well.

2. Press mixture into a base of 22cm spring form tin.

3. Refrigerate while making filling.

4. Place water in a small bowl, sprinkle with gelatin, heat on medium in microwave for 30-40 seconds,DO NOT BOIL.

5. Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl, add sugar and vanilla essence, beat until smooth with electric mixer.

6. Beat cream in a separate bowl until soft peaks form.

7. Stir gelatin mixture into cream cheese mixture, add cream and crushed honeycomb bars mix well,pour into crust.

8. Refrigerate until set.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Moroccan Prawns with Couscous

This is sounds like such a big recipe but if you just follow the steps it is not as daunting as it sounds and the end result is gorgeous. I made this as I have been trying to recreate a recipe I have had at a local restaurant. I know this is not exactly how they would make it but it tasted wonderful and both myself and my hubby absolutely loved this.

I am also thinking about starting back catering again, I have catered before for small dinner parties and for large parties of about 50 people, although never anything huge like a few hundred, but am always up for new challenges. I am based in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland and would like to cater from Lausanne to the Geneva area, if you are reading this site and are from around this area I would love to know what you think, so all comments welcome.


Ingredients

Sauce

1 Cup water
2 Teaspoons fish stock granules (a good flavoursome one.)
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 Teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
1 Teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
4 Tablespoons hot mango chutney (as I add it I like to remove any big mango chunks.)
2 Tablespoons sweet mango chutney

Prawns

3 Tablespoons olive oil
10 Large green prawns
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Teaspoon paprika
1 Teaspoon cumin
1/2 Teaspoon ginger
Pinch cayenne
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

Vegetables

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Small red capsicum, finely chopped
1 Small yellow capsicum, finely chopped
1 Medium carrot, finely chopped (diced)
1 Small zucchini, finely chopped
100g Red currants

Couscous

1 Litre water
2 Teaspoons vegetable stock granules
1x125g Sachet quick cooking couscous


Method

Sauce

1. Combine all sauce ingredients, heat over medium heat and stir until well combined, leave over a low heat while making the rest, stir occasionally.

Vegetables

1. Add the oil to a pan, cook vegetables, stirring, until just tender, keep warm.

Couscous

1. Add water to a large pan with stock and bring to the boil, add sachet and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or according to packet instructions.

2. Remove and pour into a large bowl, fluff with fork, combine vegetables. Gently stir in red currants reserving a few to sprinkle over the top.

Prawns

1. Heat oil in a pan over a medium heat, add garlic, cook stirring until aroma rises, add the rest of the spices, stir for a minute, add prawns and toss to coat in spice.

2. Cook until prawns are opaque, add parsley coat and cook for another minute or until prawns are cooked through.

To Serve: Place couscous in a mound on a plate, arrange prawns over couscous and spoon sauce around the outside of the couscous.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Red Curry Oysters

I made this the other night, it is another recipe from a zaar member and I loved it, it such a different way of preparing oysters apart from the more traditional kilpatrick, mornay and rockafeller. They are spicy, so if your not a spicy lover these are not for you, I love spicy food and these were a great combination and you still got the flavour of the oyster coming through.

I am going to be posting a few zaar members recipes as I have made so many lately, but I also need to catch up on mine, I think, I have about 3 or 4 recipes still waiting to be posted.

I am also thinking about starting back catering again, I have catered before for small dinner parties and for large parties of about 50 people, although never anything huge like a few hundred, but am always up for new challenges. I am based in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland and would like to cater from Lausanne to the Geneva area, if you are reading this site and are from around this area I would love to know what you think, so all comments welcome.

Ingredients

12 Oysters , fresh with shell
4 Tablespoons red curry paste
1 Lemon , juiced
4 Tablespoons coriander or cilantro , chopped


Method

1. Place the oysters on a dinner plate which could be used in a microwave. Make sure the top bit of the oysters is facing towards the end of the place to catch any of the juices.

2. Distribute red curry paste in each oysters, you can add less or more paste it depends on you.

3. Squeeze lemon juice in each oyster. Once again depending on your taste bugs.

4. Place it in the microwave for 1 minute on high.

5. Garnish oysters with Coriander/Cilantro.


If you want to see other photos or read more recipes by this chef please click here.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Lamb Leg Steak with a Maple Chevre Shiitake Sauce

I have to try and catch up I have made so many recipes lately and quite a few from recipezaar, and am getting behind on posting them all. I guess I will start with this zaar members recipe. I tried this one the other night, it was really good, I was very skeptical of how the flavours would come together, I only ended up making this as other reviews had stated it was good. Whilst I am sure it will not be for everybody I thought it was really yummy I did make this with a lamb fillet as this is what I had on hand and I also used less goats cheese as I felt the entire amount would be too overpowering. Anyway if you would like to read the other reviews of this recipe please click here.

Ingredients

4 (1/2lb) Lamb leg steaks
10 Ounces shiitake mushrooms
1 lb Chevre cheese (or other goat cheese)
4 Ounces maple syrup
4 Ounces capers
2 Tablespoons olive oil , to saute
1 Sprig rosemary
Salt and pepper
1/4 Cup flour
1/4 Cup dry white wine (if you can't drink it don't use it)



Method

1. Salt and pepper lamb leg steak.

2. Grill or broil (approx).

3. Prepare sauce: Sauté sliced shiitake mushrooms in olive oil (approx), add leaves of rosemary, deglaze pan with wine, rid alcohol (smell will go from dry to sweet), add flour to make roux.

4. Lower heat to low.

5. Add diced parts of chevre.

6. Continue stirring mixture until cheese is integrated.

8. After cheese is fully incorporated into sauce add capers and maple syrup.

9. Stir through.


To Serve: I served mine over potato crisps topped with sauce and served individual ramekins of cauliflower Au gratin on the side.

Fish Patties with Two Dipping Sauces

These can be served as an entree or a main course and also make for a lovely light lunch. They are great as a one of the dishes you prepare when doing a BBQ, they cook well on an oiled BBQ plate. I have listed two different dipping sauce below you can make both or try the one that you think you will like best or even make your own.

Ingredients

1 Carrot, grated
1 Zucchini, grated
3 Green onions, sliced thinly
3 Garlic cloves, quartered
1 Red chili, seeded, chopped
2 Teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
11/2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
1 Teaspoon grated lemon rind
500g White fish fillets, chopped
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
1 Teaspoon turmeric
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 Cup panko flakes (Japanese breadcrumbs if you can't get these don't use regular just use plain flour.)
40-50ml Peanut oil

Sweet Chili-Coriander Sauce

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Teaspoon brown sugar
100ml Sweet chili sauce
1 Teaspoon dried basil or 1 Tablespoon fresh
11/2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped

Coriander Chili Yogurt

150g Yogurt, natural
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, finely grated
3 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce

Method

1. Blend or process carrot, zucchini, onion, garlic, chili, ginger, coriander and rind until finely chopped.

2. Add fish, sauces and turmeric blend or process until well combined. Shape into patties and for ease of handling refrigerate about 20 min's before using.

3. Heat the oil in a pan or on a grill, press panko flakes onto each side of patties and cook over a medium heat, until browned on both sides and cooked through. Serve with dipping sauces.

Sweet Chili-Coriander Sauce

1. Combine the first three ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves (I usually just zap it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, to heat enough, to dissolve sugar.)

2. Stir in herbs and serve.


Coriander Chili Yogurt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and serve.


To Serve: Arrange patties on a platter plate and serve dipping sauces along side.


All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Marinated Chicken Kebabs with a Peanut Satay Sauce

I have been making this recipe for years and everytime I make it I get rave reviews. It really is nothing special, I think, it is just that, the falvours all come together so well and the peanut sauce is so yummy. I make my sauce with smooth peanut butter as I am not a fan of crunchy, but I think this would be fine if you prefer to have the peanut chunks in the sauce.

Ingredients

5 Chicken breasts (about 800g in weight.)
8 Long skewers

Marinade

5 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
11/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Teaspoon ground coriander
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
2 Teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
Pepper to taste

Peanut Sauce

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Cup water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Teaspoons curry powder (I use hot curry powder.)
3 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce

Vegetables for Skewers

1 Large onion, chopped into wedges
8-16 Mushrooms (depends on size if they are large chop in half and you will only need 8 if small and using whole mushroom 16.)

I usually use red and yellow peppers as well but as I was serving these over a thai-style salad that already had peppers in it I chose to omit them.

Salad

150 Fresh egg noodles, cooked and chopped roughly
125g Baby asparagus
1 Large carrot, cut into thin strips
1 Red pepper, cut into thin strips
200g Bean sprouts
125g Snow peas, sliced thinly
1/2 Cup roasted cashews

Dressing

2 Red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1 Cup Lime juice
2/3 Cup brown sugar, firmly packed (I use a cane sugar that is almost powder form otherwise you will end up with the coarse sugar not dissolved.)
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 Teaspoons lemon grass, finely chopped
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

This will make up too much dressing, I made this, as I was making a salad for 10 people. I have listed the amount of vegetables I think will be fine for 4 Servings but I am not sure how halving the ingredients will work with the dressing so feel free to experiment.


Method

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl or storage container. Chop chicken into about 2cm cubed pieces, add to marinade and marinate for several hours or overnight.

2. Soak skewers in water for about 30 min's prior to using to prevent them from burning while cooking.

3. Reserve marinade. Thread a piece of chicken follwed by a mushroom, chicken, onion, chicken, mushroom, chicken, onion, chicken. Repeat with remaining chicken and vegtables.

4. Grill or BBQ skewers turning a couple of times and basting with the reserved marinade. Until cooked about 15-20 Min's.

Sauce

I prefer to make this ahead of time and just re-heat as this allows for the flavours to really come out.

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and garlic and cook to soften onion.

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine, leave on a low heat, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens. Sauce can be made a day ahead and just re-heated.

Salad

1. Boil, steam or microwave asparagus until tender.

2. Plunge carrot, pepper and peas into boiling water for about 1 minute, drain.

3. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss through salad.

4. Salad again can be made ahead of time, but this salad is supposed to be served warm, so just re-heat in the microwave, don't over do it though as the veg are meant to be crunchy and salad just warm not hot.

Dressing

1. Place all the ingredients in a large jar and shake well, until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.


To Serve: Place a few spoonfuls of salad on a plate, place skewers on top and serve with peanut sauce in individual dipping bowls on the side.

This is also a great one if your having guests over to do on the BBQ, I have made these skewers, when we have had a party of 35 people over as one of the many other dishes I did, you can up the ingeredients fine.


All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Scallops with a Miso Mustard Sauce

I made this the other night as a starter it was very good, it is a recipezaar's member recipe. I did do the end a little differently just for presentation purposes. I placed the scallops in scallop shells, spooned sauce over and the sprinkled with cheese and melted it under the grill. I then placed some salad greens on a plate and placed the shells on that, looked great and tasted wonderful, definitely a different way to prepare scallops.

Ingredients

12 Sea scallops
To taste salt and pepper
1 Garlic clove , minced
All-purpose flour , for dusting
2 Tablespoons white miso or miso
1 Tablespoon mirin
1 Teaspoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon superfine sugar
1 Bunch watercress , thick stems removed
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons dry white wine
1/2 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 Cup parmesan cheese


Method

1. Season scallops on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic, and lightly dust with flour. In a cup, combine miso, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and enough water (1 to 2 tablespoons) to give a pourable consistency; set aside. Arrange watercress on a serving plate as a bed for scallops.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear scallops on both sides until lightly browned and just firm, about 4 minutes a side. Turn off heat, and remove scallops to a plate. Pour wine into skillet, and stir, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add miso mixture to pan, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring. Turn off heat, and stir in mustard and cream.

3. Place scallops on watercress, drizzle warm sauce on top and shower each scallop with cheese. Serve warm.

If you liked this recipe and would like to view other recipes by this chef click here.

Five Spice Duck Breast with Bok Choy and Gai Lan

This is a very simple recipe that is quick and easy to do and tastes wonderful. I love duck and cook it all the time, whilst I have made duck with friut sauces and Asian sauces and they are wonderful. Sometimes I think you can overcomplicate recipes and they are tasty, but they are time consuming with lots of steps and sometimes simple is the best way to go.

Ingredients

4 Duck breasts
1-11/2 Teaspoons five spice powder (depending on the size of breasts.)
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
5 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Star anise
4 Bunches Gai lan
2 Bok choy
200ml Water
1 Teaspoon chicken stock
1-2 Tablespoons honey, depending on personal taste
6 Green onions, sliced 2cm long
11/2 Teaspoons cornflour


Method

1. Cut diagonal slits in the skin being careful not to go all the way through to the flesh. (not to far apart as these will be the size of slices, you will slice the duck when finished.) Rub five spice over breasts.

2. Heat a pan and add duck skin side down cook for 8-10 min's to crisp up skin and render fat. Place breasts on a wire rack in an oven proof dish. Cook in pre-heated oven 180ºC for about 25 Min's, or until cooked as desired.

3. Remove duck from oven, allow to rest for about 5 minutes then slice along slits.

4. While the duck is cooking cut the ends off of the bok choy and trim gai lan, in a large pan or wok, add soy, garlic, star anise and gai lan stir-fry a few minutes.

5. Add water, bok choy, chicken stock and sugar stir-fry a few minutes more and then add onions and cook about a minute more remove vegetables to warm serving plates. Mix a little water with the cornflour and add to sauce, thicken slightly. (sauce will not be too thick it is not ment to be.) If not using a wok you will probably have to cook the vegetables longer as regular pans do not get as hot as woks.

To Serve: Arrange vegetables on a plate, top with duck breast and drizzle sauce around plate. Decorate with some star anise if desired.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Crab Stuffed Chicken Breast with a Mustard Caper Sauce

I made this with fresh crab meat so I am not sure what the difference in taste will be with canned, I know sometimes with the other ingredients you add to a recipe it does not make a difference if it is canned or fresh. With this one I could really taste the crab coming through so having fresh was so yummy, where as canned to me can sometimes have no flavour or a real funny flavour.



Ingredients

4 Chicken breasts
200g Lump crab meat
120g Cream cheese
2 Small green onions, sliced thinly
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
11/2 Tablespoons parsley
3/4-1 Tablespoon dill, chopped finely
1 Teaspoon tarragon, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons paresan cheese, Grated
8 Prosciutto slices

Sauce

1/2 Cup dry white wine
1/2 Cup water
11/2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped finely
2 Teaspoons Dijon mustard
11/2 Teaspoons chicken stock granules
1 Teaspoon cornflour
5 Teaspoons capers
1/2 Cup double cream
2 Egg yolks
Pepper to taste


Method

1. Pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet until of equal thickness about 1/4 inch.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients, except prosciutto, in a bowl and mix until well bleneded.

3. Dived stuffing mix equally among the breasts on one half, fold other half of chicken over stuffing, wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around each breast to secure.

4. Place breasts in a lightly oiled oven proof dish, drizzle a little oil over the top of breats, cook in a pre-heated oven 180ºC for 25-30 Min's or until cooked through.


Sauce

1. While chicken is cooking make the sauce. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan add onion and sweat a couple of minutes.

2. Add wine and water bring to the boil, add mustard and stock, stir until both are dissolved, turn the heat down.

3. Mix a little water with cornflour and add, stir until sauce thickens slightly. Add capers and cream, stir to combine.

4. In a bowl pour 5 tablespoon of sauce into the eggs, add 1 tablespoon at a time and mix after each addition (this will stop the eggs from scrambling when it hits the hot sauce.) add egg mixture to sauce, stir over a low heat until sauce thickens, add pepper to taste.

To Serve: Slice chicken in half and arrange atop asparagus or spinach or sliced potato chips whatever you like. Pour sauce over.

All photos taken by me unless othrewise stated

Salmon Fillets in Pesto Sauce

This is a really easy recipe to make it sounds like a lot of ingredients but they are just going in a blender so it does not take a really long time to prepare. This recipe could also be done on the BBQ cooking salmon as a whole rather than cutting it down into individual fillets.


Ingredients

4-6 Salmon fillets (This makes enough sauce for 6 servings.)
3/4 Cup chopped fresh mint, packed
3/4 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Cup chopped fresh coriander, packed
8 Cloves garlic, peeled
3 Green onions, sliced
1/2 Cup roughly chopped fresh basil
2 Teaspoons chili sauce
1/2 cup olive oil, divided use
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup white wine, divided use
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 Teaspoon chicken stock
Parmesan Cheese, grated (extra for topping)



Method

1. In a food processor, add mint, Parmesan cheese, coriander, garlic, green onions, basil, chili sauce. Carefully pour 1/4 cup olive oil in while blending thoroughly, set to one aside.

2. In a large dish, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, 1/4 cup white wine and pepper. Add salmon and marinate 15 minutes.

3. Heat some oil in a pan and cook salmon until starts to flake 4-6 Min's a side depending on the thickness of the fillet. Or grill on the BBQ 12-15 Min's, again according to the weight you have bought.

4. While salmon is cooking. Combine in a saucepan, cream and 1/4-cup white wine and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer stirring a couple of minutes until reduced slightly, add chicken stock and stir to dissolve, add the garlic mixture, simmer a few more minutes, stirring to allow the potent flavour of the garlic to settle down.

To Serve: Arrange salmon on a plate pour sauce over and top with grated parmesan cheese. I served mine with wild rice and herbs, but serve with you favourite vegetables or salad whatever you prefer.


All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Cheddar Bar-B-Q Chicken Breasts with Boursin Twice Baked Potatoes

I was looking for something easy with no fuss for a meal the other night and I found these two on recipezaar. I did my baked potatoes in the oven instead of the microwave, so that took a bit of time, but I prefer them cooked this way. I topped my potatoes with a mixture of Parmesan, Gruyere cheese and topped that with breadcrumbs to brown rather than paprika and peppercorns, I then garnished with a few chopped chives.

Both recipes were great and the boursin cheese made a nice change to the regular way of making twice baked potatoes. The chicken was oh so easy and tasted great for just a few ingredients thrown together. I used homemade BBQ sauce for the recipe and I cooked it in a pan on the stove rather than in the oven. I then just transfered the chicken to an ovenproof dish and topped with the rest of the ingredients and grilled for a few minutes to melt the cheese.


Ingredients

Chicken

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Pre-cooked bacon, strips
Shredded cheddar cheese
Green onions
Barbecue sauce


Boursin Potatoes

4 Medium russet potatoes
5 Ounces wheel of boursin garlic & herb spreadable cheese
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup milk
Paprika
Green peppercorns, cracked



Method

BBQ Chicken

1. Cover Chicken breasts with bar-b-q sauce and bake until done, usually about 15-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven (I don't pay attention to the time to much) When chicken is done pour on more sauce, add bacon strips to cover the breasts and cover with cheddar cheese, return to oven until chees melts.

2. Add sliced green onions and serve.

If you want to see more photo's of this recipe or read all the reviews please click here.


Boursin Twice Baked Potatoes

1. Wash the potatoes carefully and pierce each side with a fork to release steam while cooking.

2. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees or microwave approximately 13 minutes on high until they are soft on all sides.

3. Once removed from the oven or microwave, allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes until you can easily handle them.

4. Once they can be handled easily, slice off the flat side neatly and remove the potato carefully with a soupspoon, being careful not to rip the skin.

5. Place the hot potato into a mixing bowl.

6. Mash the potato with a hand masher, mixer or potato ricer and add the Boursin cheese and butter.

7. Mix well.

8. Add the milk slowly while mashing until the consistency is that of mashed potatoes.

9. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

10. Once the potato mix is perfect, stuff it back into the potato skins, making sure that the potato mix sits high above the skin.

11. Sprinkle with paprika and cracked green peppercorns for flavor and color.

12. Before serving, reheat in the oven or microwave.

If you want to read all the reviews and see more photo's of this recipe click here.


All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Braised Lamb Fillets with a Creamy Risotto

This is a wonderful recipe, the lamb comes out moist and juicy and the risotto is a wonderful accompaniment, that is full of flavour and lovely and creamy. It is my son's favourite risotto recipe and he always asking me to make it.


Ingredients

Lamb

Olive Oil
4 Lamb Fillets (you could also use one large fillet of about 600g if that is all you can get.)
1 Small leek, finely diced
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Small carrot, finely diced
300ml Water
2 Teaspoons beef stock granules
200ml Dry red wine
25g Butter
50ml Balsamic vinegar
21/2 Teaspoons cornflour
Truffle oil
2 Tablespoons shaved parmesan (extra)


Risotto

30g Butter
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 Cup risotto rice
21/2 Cups water
1/2 Cup dry white wine
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
11/2 Teaspoons chicken stock granules
20g Parsley, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
11/2 Tablespoon mascarpone cheese
Pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pan, add lamb fillets and sear to brown both sides.

2. Add leek, carrot and garlic stirring a couple minutes to soften leek, do not allow vegetables to brown.

3. Pour in water and wine, add stock, balsamic vinegar and butter, stir to combine.

4. Cook over a very low heat for 45 min's to 1 hour, until lamb is tender. Turn lamb a couple of times during cooking. (If using a whole lamb fillet cooking time will be longer becuase of the weight.)

5. Remove lamb and keep warm, turn the heat back up, mix a little water with the cornflour and pour into pan, stir until sauce thickens. ( I use this more just to drizzle a little over the meat, rather than as a sauce, as it is already full of flavour, as is the risotto.)

Serve meat over risotto, drizzle a small amount of pan sauce over, top with shaved parmesan ans drizzle with truffle oil.


Risotto

1. Melt butter in a pan, add onion and garlic stir until onion softens, add rice and stir to coat in butter.

2. Pour in water and wine, stir, add chicken stock and bring to the boil, turn heat down and simmer over a low heat until liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked about 20 min's.

3. Just before all the liquid has been absorbed add herbs, stir to combine.

4. Once it is cooked remove from heat and add cheeses and pepper to taste, stir gently until cheese has melted.


To Serve: Place risotto in the centre of a plate, slice lamb fillets into thin slices, drizzle a very small amount of reserved pan juice, top with parmesan shavings and drizzle with truffle oil.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Boursin Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Raspberry Sauce and Zucchini Rice Patties

The stuffed chicken recipe is a recipe I got from a recipezaar member and it was absolutely delicious. It made for a lovely presented plate, and got rave views by all. If you would like to see more photo's or read more reviews of this recipe click here.

The second recipe the rice and zucchini patties, are one of my recipes. They are very good and easy to throw together, just make sure the pan is heated quite hot before adding as if it is too cool, it makes it harder to handle them and when it comes to flipping they will tend to want to break up.

Ingredients

Stuffed Chicken

4 Boneless skinless chicken breast halves (pounded flat to 1/4-inch thickness with a mallet)
1 (4 ounce) Package boursin cheese, with herbs, cut into 4 chunks
1/2 Cup walnuts, very finely chopped (approximately)
4 Leaves fresh spinach (or several leaves of baby spinach)
1/2 Teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 Teaspoon pepper, to taste

Rasberry Sauce

1/2 Cup dry white wine
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar and oil salad dressing (homemade or purchased)
1/4 Cup seedless raspberry jam
Fresh raspberries, garnish (optional)
Fresh herbs, garnish (optional)

Zucchini Rice Patties


3/4 Cup uncooked brown rice, should make 11/2 cups cooked
2 Medium zucchini, coarsely grated
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
2-3 Eggs, lightly beaten (I say 2-3 depending on the weight of eggs.)
11/2 Cups panko flakes (Japanese breadcrumbs, you may have to adjust amount if using regular as they are of different texture.)
130g Creamed corn
1/4 Cup olive oil


Method

Chicken

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and have a baking pan greased and ready to go.

2. If you haven't already pounded your chicken breast halves, do so now- they need to be 1/4" thin.

3. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.

4. Using tongs, briefly dip spinach leaves one at a time into the boiling water to blanch- just a few seconds each leaf or they will get soggy- they should still be mostly raw. (I used baby spinach and didn't bother with step just placed leaves on breast.)

5. Pat dry and set aside on a plate.

6. Pour finely chopped nuts into a small bowl and roll each chunk of boursin cheese in the nuts to coat and set aside (discard extra nuts that don't stick to cheese).

7. Lay pounded chicken breasts on top of a sheet of wax paper on your counter and season both sides of each breast half with some of the salt& pepper (to taste).

8. Set 1 well dried blanched spinach leaf on top of each piece of chicken, trimming with kitchen shears if needed so the spinach doesn't extend over the edge of the chicken piece.

9. Next,place a nut coated cheese chunk on top of each chicken piece in the center.

10. Fold chicken ends up over the cheese to make a bundle, securing with toothpicks if needed.

11. Set chicken rolls in a greased baking pan and cover with foil (season with more salt& pepper to taste).

12. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked all the way through.

Raspberry Sauce

1. Meanwhile,combine wine,dressing,and jam in a small skillet.

2. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced by half (this may take several minutes- be patient and don't be tempted to raise the heat to quicken the process).

3. If the sauce is ready before the chicken, simply remove from burner and reheat slightly before pouring over the cooked chicken.


Zucchini Rice Patties

1. Combine rice, zucchini, onion, parsley, egg, panko flakes and corn in a large bowl, stir with a wooden spoon to mix well.

2. Shape into patties (I usually get about 14 patties from this.)

3. Heat oil in a large frying pan, once quite hot, but not smoking, add patties in batches and cook until browned on both sides and heated through. Drain on absorbent paper. I served mine with a dollop of corn relish and cream. Recipe follows.


To Serve: Place salad some salad greens on a plate, arrange patties on this and top with relish if desired. Cut chicken into slices, drizzle sauce over and garnish with fresh berries and herbs if desired.


Corn Relish and Cream

I think this relish is quite delicious and goes great with the patties, I can't get corn relish where I am so I make my own. I am not sure how using a jar of store bought will adjust the taste, (as this is what I have listed below for the recipe.) but I am sure it will still taste great.

Ingredients

250g Jar corn relish
11/4 Cups sour cream
2 Tablespoons chives, chopped finely
Few drops tabasco sauce

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. That's it easy peasy, This makes about 2 cups.


All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Stuffed Veal Scallops with a Mushroom Sauce and Carrot Rosti

My veal scallops were huge, in fact I have never bought scallops of veal this big before, I made one per person. I have made this before with small veal scallops and I made three per person, I used about 1-2 teaspoons of stuffing for each slice and made them as little bundles, so either way will work fine. You will see from the photograph just how large it was I was able to cut each veal scallop into four pieces. Maybe where you are in the world this will not seem strange to you, this may be standard size, but where I am I usually get small scallops of veal, not that I am complaining it was delicious and took me half the time because I wasn't rolling up 12 little rolls, just 4 huge ones.

Ingredients

4 Large veal scallops or 12 small, which is how I usually make it (3 per person.)

Olive oil
2 Shallots, finely chopped
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
30-40g Butter
250g Mushrooms, 1 Cup finely chopped mushrooms for the stuffing (Save the ramining mushrooms for the sauce.)
2 Teaspoons rosemary, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
4 Sage leaves, finely chopped
3 Bacon rashers, chopped
1/2 Cup herbed stuffing mix (I use paxo sage and onion.)
100ml Hot water
knob of butter (extra)
1/2 Teaspoon vegetable stock
130g Veal mince
1 Large egg, lightly beaten
2-3 Tablespoons parmasan cheese
8-16 Slices prosciutto (8 if slices are thick, 2 per scallop, 16 if thin, 4 per scallop. If using small veal scallops I do 3 scallop rolls per person so 12 slices prosciutto 1 per roll.)

Sauce

10-12 mushrooms, sliced thinly (the remainder of mushrooms from the 250g.)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 Cup dry white wine
1/2 Cup water
1 Teaspoon chicken stock granules
50ml Thick double cream
50ml Light cream
Pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons chicken instant gravy granules (I use bisto brand.)

Carrot Rosti

1/2 Cup sour cream (light is fine)
1 1/2 Teaspoons cumin
1 Tablespoon dill, finely chopped
5 Medium carrot, coarsely grated (about 600g in weight)
2 Eggs, lightly beaten (you may only need 1, mine were of a small weight.)
1 Egg white, lightly beaten
1/3 Cup plain flour, 50g


Method

1. Add a little olive oil to a pan, add shallots and garlic, cook uintil onion softens. Add butter and melt, add mushrooms, cook and stir until liquid has evapourated.

2. Meanwhile in a small pan cook chopped bacon, until browned.

3. Add herbs and bacon to mushroom mix and stir to combine, remove from heat.

4. Boil some water, add a knob of butter and veg stock to a measuring jug, pour 100ml of hot water into jug, stir until butter has melted and stock has dissolved. Add this liquid to the stuffing, mix to combine, finaly add this to the mushroom mix.

5. Add the veal mince to the pan and stir to combine, add the egg and parmasan cheese, again stir to combine.

6. Season veal scallops with salt and pepper, spread stuffing over veal, leaving just a small border around the edge. Roll scallop up and wrap prosciutto slices around the veal to secure. If you have any stuffing left over I just cook that seperate.

7. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan add rolls to brown both sides. Transfer to a lighlty oiled ovenproof dish, drizzle a little oil over veal rolls and bake at 180ºC for 30-40min's or until done. Check regularly towards the end of cooking as you do not want to over cook and toughen it up.

Sauce

1. While pork is cooking makt the sauce, add the oil to a pan along with the sliced mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are browned and soft, add wine and water, simmer a few minutes to reduce slightly.

2. Add chicken stock and stir to dissolve, add thick double cream first and stir until it well combined, add light cream, season with pepper, finally add gravy granuels and stir to thicken, serve over veal.

Carrot Rosti

1. Combine sour cream, cumin and dill in a small bowl, refrigerate until needed.

2. Combine carrot, egg, egg white and flour in a large bowl, Cook serving spoon size rosti's in an oiled pan until browned on both sides and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper.

Note:I say serving spoon size as you want it bigger than a tablepoon, they should be large in diameter but quite flat, you will get the idea from the picture.

3. Serve with sour cream mixture.


To Serve: Either arrange little rolls on a plate and pour sauce over or slice into thin slices if you have used larger scallops like me and again pour sauce over. Place some salad greens on plate top with carrot rosti's and dollop with sour cream mix.

All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Smoked Salmon and Guacamole Bundles

This is a very elegant starter, it makes for wonderful presentation and tastes gorgeous. I serve 2 per person as a starter but for photo purposes I arranged 3 on a plate. I also am not a big fan of salmon eggs, I don't like how big they are or the taste, so you can use salmon eggs to top, instead of my little red caviar eggs. I also know taditional guacamole is made with chopped tomato in it, but again I do not like tomatoes so I did not use them, so do please add them if you like. This takes quite some time to prepare as it is a little fiddly tying the chives around the salmon, but the final result is well worth the effort and I have always had rave reviews. Is definitately a dinner party affair.

Ingredients

8 Large tranches of smoked salmon
2 Medium avocado's
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon guacamole spices (where I live they sell this in a spice jar just like garlic powder, so either make your own guacamole recipe if you can't get this or I suppose if you know of a good packet mix, that would work, just don't follow my directions and make according to the packet instructions.)
100g fish eggs (You can use salmon or what ever you prefer.)
8 Chive strands (make sure they are of good length.)
20g Fresh dill for garnish.


Method

Guacamole

1. Cut avocado in half and remove pip, spoon avocado in to a medium bowl.

2. Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with the tablespoon of lemon juice, mash until your likness, some people like smooth guacamole and others prefer more chunky. Add 1 tablespoon of spice and mix. At this time if you want to add chopped tomatoes, add those and mix to combine.

Assemble

1. Lay a tranch of salmon flat, place 1-2 teaspoons of guacamole into the centre (I say 1-2 depending on the size of the tranch.) gather salmon up, so it forms a little bundle.

2. Secure the top with a strand of chive, and top with eggs, garnish with a little dill.

To Serve: Arrange a few sprigs of dill on a small plate, arrange bundles around these. Bon Appetit.

Serves 4

All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Spicy Chili With Beans

This is the last recipe I made for the recipe swap on recipezaar, I am not a big fan of chili, My hubby adores a good chili. He said this what quite good, he says he has had better, but still gave this 4 out of 5, it was also for me really easy to make with no effort which I love. If you want to see other recipes by this chef click here.

Ingredients

2lbs Mince meat
2 (10 1/4 ounce) Cans chili beans
2 (10 1/4 ounce) Cans corn, drained
2 Tablespoons chili powder (I added more)
2 Teaspoons pepper
1 Teaspoon salt (optional)
2 (10 1/4 ounce) Cans Rotel tomatoes
1/4-1/2 Cup minced onions (I just finely chopped 1 onion.)
2 Teaspoons minced garlic
1 (10 1/4 ounce) Can tomato soup


Method


1. Cook onion and garlic until soft, add mince meat, and brown.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients.

3. If you like it more saucy, add a can-or-two-full of water.

4. Simmer on stove until hot/boiling, I simmered about 30 min's to make sure the meat was cooked through and to allow the flavours to caome through.

5. You can also cook this in a crock pot on low for up to 10 hours.


To Serve: Place chili in a bowl, top with sour cream and sprinkle some fresh chopped chives over.

Juicy Thick Steaks with a Morel sauce and Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois

I made this the other night as an experiment it was so good, very rich and full of flavour, I am sure it is not to everyones taste, but my self and my husband loved it. You will see from the photo we were rather piggy and our steaks were huge, I think they were about 300g each, it was aged Argentinian beef. The fillets were so juicy and tender and bursting with flavour, becuase of the size I did have to cook for about 20-25 Min's for medium rare.

Ingredients

4 Steak fillets (200-250g each I was a little piggy on the weight as you can see from the photo.)
160g Fois gras pate (40g cut round slices to top each steak.)

Sauce

Olive oil
1 Shallot, chopped finely
1 Cup Madeira wine
2 Teaspoons beef stock granules (Mine is quite hearty, so adjust for taste with the brand you use.)
1/2 Cup water
2 Teaspoons French mustard
3 Tablespoons morels, chopped finely
1-2 Teaspoons cornflour


Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois

1Kg Potatoes, sliced into thin slices
2 Cups milk
2 Cloves garlic, smashed
11/2 Cups Gruyere cheese
1 Cup thick double cream
1 Cup light cream
25g butter
Pepper to taste


Method

1. Cook steaks on a BBQ or under the grill or in a pan until desired doneness, my steaks were huge so mine took about 20-25 Min's and that was for medium rare.


Sauce

1. Add a small amount of olive oil to a pan, add shallots and cook until tender, add madeira, water and beef stock, simmer for a few minutes.

2. Add mustard and stir to combine, mix a little water with the cornflour and add to the sauce to thicken, lastly add chopped morels, serve over steak.


Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (360ºF).

2. Put the potatoes in a pan and cover with milk. Add one of the smashed garlic cloves, cover and bring to the boil, turn heat down and simmer uncovered about 10 min's, until potatoes are just tender.

3. Mix the 2 creams together until well combined.

4. Rub a ovenproof dish with garlic and grease it well with butter. Transfer half of the potatoes in the gratin dish. Add half the cheese, cream and pepper to layer. Put the second half of the potatoes and pour the other half of th cream over, top with remaining cheese.

5. Put the dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Gratin Dauphinois is ready when the top is gold and brown.

This makes 6 servings


To Serve: I served mine on a bed of spinach with garlic, mushrooms and bacon. Place steak on plate top with pate and pour sauce over, serve dauphinois on the side.

All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Ginger Tuna with a Wasabi Drizzle and kumara Ginger Fritters

This dish came together by accident and it was absolutley delicious, I have been experimenting again lately combining new ingredients and flavours.

Some of them have been ok, but not a wow, and some have surprised me and my hubby has just raved through the entire meal. This dish is really good, Tuna is always yummy and it is such a healthy meal.

The Kumara (sweet potato) fritters were oh so yummy, the recipe below makes between 16 and 20 fritters depending on how big you dollop the mixture into the pan. It is the right amount if your making this for 6 but I was only making this for 4 so I had fritters left over, instead of throwing them out, I saved them and they were still great the next day. As they were already cooked I just heated a pan first, then added them and just cooked for a few minutes to re-warm it made for a great lunch.

Ingredients

4 Tuna steaks
80ml Olive oil
3 Teaspoons ginger, grated
2 Red chillies, seeded, chopped finely
2 Tablespoons lemongrass, chopped finely

Wasabi Drizzle

1 Cup dry white wine
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
80ml Cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon wasabi, I used powder (I say 1 as I did 11/2 and it was a bit to much for my hubby, I thought it was great so just adjust for personal taste, if I had my way I probably would have added 2 but my hubby can't handle too much spice.)
180g Sour Cream

Kumara Ginger Fritters

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Onion, chopped finely
1 Medium zucchini, coaresly grated
2 Teaspoons ginger, grated
2 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce
2 Medium sized kumara (approx 400g), coarsely grated
1 Tablespoon coriander, finely chopped
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
oil for deep frying

Chili coriander yogurt
180g Natural yogurt
11/2 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped
3 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce


Method

1. In a large bowl combine oil, ginger, chilli and lemongrass, add tuna. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 Min's or until required.

2. Drain tuna over a small bowl, reserve marinade.

3. Either BBQ tuna or as it is winter where I am, I placed tuna on a wire rack in an oven proof dish and cooked under the grill about 4 inches from the heat, for about 3-4 min's a side.

Wasabi Drizzle

1. Combine wine, sugar and vinegar in a pan, heat until liquid just comes to the boil, turn down and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half, cool slightly, stir in wasabi and sour cream.

Kumara Ginger Fritters

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, zucchini and ginger, cook until onion softens, stir in chili sauce.

2. Combine onion mixture, kumara, coriander, egg, flour and seeds in a large bowl

3. Heat oil for frying, add mixture in 1 tablespoon lots to oil, cook until browned on both sides and cooked through, drain on absorbent paper.

Chili Coriander Yogurt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix well.


To Serve: Place tuna on a plate and drizzle with wasabi sauce, arrange some salad greens on the plate top with fritters and dollop yogurt on the top of each fritter. I served 3 fritters per person but serve as many as you like.


All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.