Chilli Coconut Chicken Curry

I came up with this the other night it was very good, my son thought it was a bit too spicy, but my hubby who is not into anything that has to much spice loved it, so I guess make your choice. I made just with Kumara as the side instead of rice but feel free to mess around with recipe.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1kg Chicken breasts, sliced into strips
2 Medium onions, sliced
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh lemon grass
2 Teaspoons red chili flakes
1 Teaspoon ground coriander
1 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon turmeric
2 Teaspoons fish sauce
1 Teaspoon chicken stock
250ml Coconut Milk
200ml Coconut cream
11/2-2 Tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped finely
120g Bean sprouts

Baked Kumara (sweet potato)

800g Kumara
2 Tablespoons olive oil
11/2 Teaspoons cumin seeds


Method

1. Cook chicken in batches until browned all over, remove and set to one side, wipe pan.

2. Add onions and garlic, cook until onion is soft, add lemon grass, chili, ground coriander, juice, seeds, turmeric and sauce, cook a couple of minutes until fragrant.

3. Return chicken chicken to pan with stock, sugar, milk and coconut cream, cook covered about 15-20 Min's until chicken is cooked through, remove lid about 5 Min's before the end, add bean sprouts and fresh coriander, cook remaining time without lid served with baked kumara.

Baked Kumara

1. Peel kumara and cut in half, then slice halves into strips.

2. Combine kumara, oil and seeds in a bowl. Transfer mixture to a baking dish.

3. Bake, uncovered, in a hot oven 10 Min's (200c) Turn heat down to moderate (180c)for a further 15 Min's of until kumara is tender.


To Serve: Place spoonfuls of chicken on a plate and serve kumara on the side.

You can also serve with brown rice if desired, we try to limit our carbs so the kumara is plenty for us.

All photos 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.

Tuna and Sweet Potato (Kumera) Patties

This was another recipe I made for the recipe swap on the recipezaar site. I found these delicious as did my hubby, the combination of the sweet potato with the tuna was really delicious. I did make a herbed mayonnaise to go wuth them, it was lovely, but they are very moist so it was not necessary. If you would like to read all the reviews of this recipe please click here.

Ingredients

1 Medium about 300g orange sweet potato, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 (425g) Can tuna in water, drained
2 Eggs, lightly whisked
25g Dried breadcrumbs (packaged) (I used panko flakes, Japanese breadcrumbs.)
1-2 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Method

1. Steam the kumera in the mircowave until tender.

2. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the sweet potato until coarsely mashed. Add the tuna, egg, parsley and breadcrumbs, and stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Divide the tuna mixture into 8 equal portions.

5. Use wet hands to shape portions into 8cm patties.

6. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.

7. Add the patties and cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden brown. Remove from heat.

8. Divide among serving plates and season with salt and pepper.

9. Serve with lemon wedges, fries and a garden salad.


4 Servings


All Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Flathead Fillets with a Tarragon Butter

This is a very simple dish, it does not take much time to make, is really healthy and looks wonderful. When I lived in Australia I used to make this with flathead fillets, but these fish are native to Australia, so now I have moved I have had to adapt. The other night when I made these I used really small fillets of perch, so adapt the recipe for what you can get, I have also made this with small sea brim fillets, so it is versatile, just make sure they a little fillets.

Ingredients

12-16 Small fish fillets, flathead if you live in OZ (I say 12-16 depending on whether you want to do 3 or 4 fillets per person, I prefer 4 so take your pick.)
2 Tablespoons plain flour
2-4 Teaspoons garlic powder (Depending on personal taste.)
2 Medium Sweet Potato (about 500g in weight.)
Salt and pepper
200g Baby asparagus
200g Snow peas
80g Melted butter
11/2 Tablespoons tarragon, coarsely chopped.


Method

1. Peel sweet potato and cut into thick slices (about 2cm each slice). Boil steam or microwave until just tender. Heat some oil in a pan, add sweet potato slices and brown on both sides.

2. Mix flour with some salt and pepper, sprinkle fish with garlic on both sides, dip fillets into flour, shake off any excess.

3. Add fillets to a heated pan and cook until browned on both sides, remember they are small fillets so cooking time will be quick.

4. Boil, steam or microwave the asparagus and snow peas until just tender.

5. Mix tarragon with melted butter.

To Serve: Divide sweet potato among plates, top with vegetables, then place fish on top of them. Drizzle combined melted butter and tarragon over.


All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Caribbean stuffed pork with Orange Sweet Potatoes and Plantains

This was definitely a huge experiment I had no idea how this would turn out or if the flavours would work and it turned out great. I have a caribbean cook book that we brought in St. Lucia on our honeymoon, I got the sweet potato recipe from this and I have made plantains for years they make a wonderful snack, and keep in an air tight jar for quite long periods of time. The pork was an experiment and my hubby and myself thought it was wonderful. The pork came out so tender and moist, one of the most tender pork recipes I have made.


Ingredients

650g Pork tenderloin (This was the weight of my pork and served 3 nicely, if you wanted to serve this for 4 either up the weight of the tenderloin or buy 2 smaller ones.)


Stuffing

1 Onion, finely chopped
30-35g Butter
3/4 Cup breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon basil, shredded finely
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons rum
1 Medium mango, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mango Sauce

1 (425g) Can mango, in juice
4 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Small onion, finely chopped
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 Cup white wine vinegar
4-5 Teaspoons pineapple mango jam (if you can get just mango that is fine I couldn't and this worked great.)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
1 Teaspoon hot pepper paste (I used Harissa I know this is more african,b ut it is what was in my cupboard, Whatever you habanero etc... just a good hot paste.)
3 Tablespoons pork juices

Orange-Baked Sweet Potatoes

4-5 Large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 1KG for 4 servings.)
5 Large oranges
3 Tablespoons cream
25g Butter
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 Teaspoon orange zest
1 Tablespoon dark rum
pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste


Plantain Chips

3 Large Plantains (will make to many for the dinner, but I always make extra as they make a great snack.)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying


Method

1. Cut the pork down the centre making sure not to go all the way through (basically butterflying.) Pound pork with a meat mallet until same thickness all over. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

2. In a frying pan melt butter, add onions, cook until soft, add herbs, breadcrumbs, rum, chopped mango and salt and pepper to taste, stir to combines.

3. Spoon stuffing down on half of pork remembering to leave enough of an edge so when you fold, the other half over, it will cover the stuffing completely.

4. Fold the other half of the pork over and secure with kitchen string at 11/2-2 inch intervals. In a lightly oiled roasting pan, place pork and bake in a pre-heated oven 180c for about 1 hr (cooking time may be longer if your meat weight is more and I'm not sure if it will be less if you do 2 smaller loins, just check towards the end of cooking time regularly, to see if it is cooked through.)

5. Baste meat several times during cooking with reserved juice, I even poured a little over the pork when I started, so the pork juices combined with this made for some great juices I could use for sauce later. (don't pour too much though and make sure it is natural juice and not syrup as it will burn and also forms a glaze on the pork because of the high sugar content.)


Mango Sauce

1. Drain the mango reserving the juice, blend or process mango until smooth, pour into saucepan, leave on a low heat.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add onion and garlic cook until onion is soft and garlic has just started to brown, add to mango, turn up the heat to medium.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until jam has melted and sugar dissolved, that's it easy peasy sauce is done. This can just be left over a very low heat to keep warm. When the pork is cooked just add the 3 Tablespoon of juices and stir to combine. If sauce is not quite hot enough, turn the heat up at this time and heat for a couple of minutes until hot. Serve over pork.


Orange-Baked Sweet Potatoes

1. Peel sweet potatoes and chop into pieces (just like you would regular potatoes that you were going to mash.) Place in a pan cover with water and boil until tender then drain.

2. While potatoes are cooking, slice the tops off of 4 oranges and scoop out the flesh be careful not to break the shells. Cut the peel from the tops into thin strips to use as garnish later. Squeeze the juice from the pulp (there will be more juice than you need but I squeeze it all and drink the rest, there is nothing like fresh orange juice.) and grate a teaspoon of rind from the fifth orange.

3. Mash the sweet potato until smooth (I use a bar mix) Add butter, cream, sugar, rum, orange juice and cinnamon, whisk to combine or bar mix away whatever is easier (Hint: Bar Mix, Bar Mix) Mix in grated rind and season with salt and pepper.

4. Spoon mashed potato mixture into the orange shells. Place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180c (perfect already at that temp from pork.) Bake for 15-20 Min's, until you have golden brown top. Garnish with the reserved strips of orange peel and serve.


Plantain Chips

1. Peel plantains and thinly slice them into rounds.

2. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry plantains until crispy and golden.

3. Drain on absorbent papper and season with salt.

Oh so easy and oh so delicious, just remember you need some for dinner, so don't sneak to many while cooking :)

To Serve: Arrange pork slices on plate pour sauce over the top. Arrange plantain chips and place orange shell on top of them.

Bon Appetit

All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.