Pumpkin, Feta and Sweet Chilli Frittata (or quiche) GF

I often stop at the Chifley supermarket on my way to work in the mornings (it's a great little sueprmarket) and have recently become addicted to their pumpkin, feta and sweet chilli quiches ;) mmmmmmmmmm

anyway, i decided to make some for breakfast this morning. i only had GF pastry and that is supposed to defrost for a few hours before use, so went with fritatta. however you could easily make this in a pastry shell - probably shortcrust would work best, with either gluten or gluten free pastry.

it's sooooo easy and delicious!!!

i had a quarter of a small pumpkin left, probably around 400g. peeled and cut into 1.5cm dice.

drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in a hot oven until they are brown around the edges.  remove from oven and let cool a little while you do the rest. turn the oven down to around 160'c

i used 8 eggs because that is what i had and it was about right, though you could get away with less. beat them up with around 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce and 2 tabs plain flour (regular or gluten free). chop 1/2 block of feta in 3/4cm cubes (or crumble)

grease a quiche or pie dish and sprinkle the pumpkin in. sprinkle feta over. pour egg mix over the top and sprinkle with a tiny amount of nutmeg.

bake for around 20-25 mins until cooked through and serve.

i think some chopped parsley would be great for colour, maybe some braised leeks... and done in cake or muffin tins for finger food would be delish!!!

Honey Chilli Chicken

Love this one for being so easy! it's also great for the slow cooker (though it only takes about 6 hours on low).

Honey Chilli Chicken

Ingredients
3 spring onions, finely chopped
6 skinless chicken thigh fillets (we use breast)
1/2 cup water or chicken stock
3 tabs clear honey
1 1/4 tspns sesame oil
4 tspns hot chilli sauce (we use Thai sweet chilli sauce)
1 1/2 tspns salt (if not using stock)
2 tabs sesame seeds

Method
Preheat oven to 190'C (375'F)
Spread spring onions in a casserole or microwave dish into which the chicken will fit snugly.

Arrange the chicken pieces side by side on top of the onions and pour in the water or stock.

In a small bowl combine the honey, sesame oil, chilli sauce and salt (if using) and pour evenly over the chicken. Scatter sesame seeds over.

Cook uncovered in preheated oven for 25 mins, basting occasionally with the sauce. Check if done and cook a little longer if needed.

MICROWAVE: cook on HIGH for 8 mins, baste with the sauce and cook for a further 6 mins.
Baste again and leave to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: a saute of spinach, or of sliced green and gold zucchini with shredded ginger, plus steamed white rice, potatoes just about any way, or buttered noodles.

from the "Fast & Fiery" Cookbook by Jacki Passmore

Christmas BBQ Lamb Cutlets

i know that lamb cutlets are generally horrendously expensive but that makes them a lovely treat for christmas! this recipe is really yummy - just don't burn them lol

CHRISTMAS BBQ LAMB CUTLETS
(For 18 cutlets)


1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh rosemary, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic crushed
4 small red chillies, halved, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup jellied cranberry sauce
18 trimmed lamb cutlets

Combine ingredients and marinate cutlets overnight

Grease bbq plate and preheat to medium high.

Cook cutlets, basting occasionally with marinade, for 4 mins on each side for medium.

Serve immediately

(i've tagged this gluten free as i'm assuming cranberry sauce is GF. will confirm later)

Chick Pea Patties with a Chilli and Tomato Salsa

i made these a few years ago and we LOVED them! however i don't think i've done them since :( a good one to try again soon as chickpeas are high in iron. i'm going to C&P all my fave recipes here now because too many of my links are broken now and i don't want to lose any more good ones!!!

this recipe is originally from the Women's Weekly


Chickpea Patties With A Chilli And Tomato Salsa

Serving size: Serves 6
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes
Special options: Kid friendly, Lactose free, Low cholesterol, Low fat, Vegan, Vegetarian
Course: Lunch, Main

INGREDIENTS

2 cups tinned chickpeas, drained
¼ cup coriander leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
sea salt and pepper
½ cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 red capsicum, roasted, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil

Salsa
4 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
splash balsamic
1 teaspoon brown sugar
¼ cup coriander, chopped or basil leaves

METHOD

Combine chickpeas, coriander, mint, ginger, chillies, cumin and seasoning in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped and add the corn. Pulse briefly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl.

Stir in the breadcrumbs and capsicum until well combined. Form into 12 patties. (It may help to have wet hands when forming patties).

Combine all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl. Season.

Heat oil in a non stick pan and fry patties for 3 minutes on each side or until well browned and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve patties with the salsa.



hmmmmm i think this will be a good one to convert to the thermomix ;)

Butter Chicken

2 tb oil
1 kg chicken
60g butter of ghee
2 tspns garam masala
2 tspns sweet paprika
2 tspns ground coriander
1 tab finely chopped fresh ginger
¼ tspn chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods, cruised
350g pureed tomatoes
1 tab sugar
¼ cup plain yoghurt
½ cup cream
1 tab lemon juice

Heat wok til very hot, heat oil and stiry fry chicken half at a time.
Reduce heat, add butter and melt, add spices and fry 1 min. return chicken and coat in spices
Add tomato & sugar, simmer 15 mins.
Add yoghurt, cream & juice and simmer 5 mins
Serve with rice & pappadums
Serves 4-6

one of my workmates shared this recipe with me - it's from the book Bowl Food which looks like a good one (like i need another recipe book lol).

we made it the other night and it just didn't taste or smell as good as his but he said he cooks it a lot longer than the recipe says, so i'm going to give it a try in the slow cooker. he does his on the stove but our stove doesn't cook as low as he says his does.

and some more "New Ideas" - dips

and from another New Idea magazine

creamy tomato & bacon dip
fry 2 rashers bacon, finely chopped, until crisp. drain and add mccormick lemon, basil & thyme seasoning
put in bowl and add sour cream, finely chopped semi dried tomatoes, finely chopped gherkins and finely chopped basil.
refridgerate
serve with crudites

beetroot & hummus dip
mix hummus (damn, i didn't realise this used bought hommus), can of baby beets (drained), garlic, cumin and lemon juice in food processor
season and refridgerate
serve with asparagus spears, toasted naan bread wedges & slice sausages

corn & chilli dip
in food processor mix cream cheese and half a can corn (drained) til smooth
in bowl mix in remaining corn, sweet chilli sauce, lime zest, lime juice and a long red chilli, finely sliced. season and refridgerate
serve with lime wedges, rice crackers and grissini sticks

Day 2 - No-Meat Week

no pics tonight as i wasn't in the mood (plus i skipped lunch and was very hungry)

we had pizza, was very good.

kids had garlic and parmesan pizza (that is the only pizza they will eat)

we had pizza with bbq & sweet chilli sauces, roast pumpkin, onion, feta, sundried tomatoes and cashews.

bases were the thermomix recipe and i made an extra (sometimes we need more than one batch, but not tonight) which i have put in the freezer so it will be ready to go for another time.

some shopping...

forgot to say that today i went to the belconnen markets and picked up a few things i'd been wanting for a while.

first stop was the Food Lovers store which smelled divine! no idea what they were cookign but everyone who was walking past was intrigued too! lol anyway, i picked up my usual sweet chilli jam, which i had just used up, and after a sample got a jar of spicy bush tomato chutney. YUM!

then to the health shop there to stock up on bulks beans and grains. i finally got some whole wheat to try using to make my bread, though it's actually very expensive compared to ready ground flour (though i just noticed it's organic) at $3.45 / kg and i couldn't find a bag bigger than 1kg. there other bulk food places in town, i just don't ever go near them! if this works in our house i will investigate further ;)

i also bought dried pinto beans (the ones they make refried beans out of - from what i've read online they're supposed to be quite hard to get in australia?), kidney beans and something else i've forgotten LOL Lara tells me that it works well to presoak and cook the beans and freeze them in portion sized packages. perfect for me as i can rarely plan ahead far enough to go through that process and hence we have about 40-50 - tins of assorted beans in teh pantry atm !!!

lastly i bought some popping corn and YAY! i've discovered (at last) a healthy snack all my kids love!!!

after that up to the deli where i spent a bit more than i should have (unintentionally) buying expensive dips and cheeses and maple syrup when all i went there for was turkish bread!! (and i needed pancetta too)

over to the F&V shop where i totally forgot to stock up on 99c bread (aaagh) and discovered they no longer have their huge rack of huge sized herb and spice packets wahhhhh where to get them from now???? i don't know of anywhere else that sells them!

then i snuck a quick coffee in the sun at beppe's before racing back to M&D's to pick up the girls (well actually i raced straight to preschool to pick up ryan as i'd lost track of time - again! ooops)

we are still sick ("just" colds this time!) but i haven't been motivated or inspired to do much good cooking yet again. a lot of the organic express order from last week just went into the compost tonight :(

anyway, i have decided a meal plan of easy meals is called for. it's hard balancing the fact you obviously need healthier food when you're unwell but it's harder to actually DO it.

at least last night we had a good (delicious) meal - mum cooked! we always have a family meal to celebrate birthdays and last night's was a roast chicken dinner with a ton of vegies - mmmmm

tonight was quick and simple (otherwise it would have been a choice between takeaway or baked beans on toast for the second time in a week LOL)

spaghetti aglio, olio and - not pepperoncini (the traditional) - parmigiana
spaghetti, we use one packet
olive oil, ummm maybe 1/4 cup?
garlic, finely chopped - i used about 12-15 small cloves, you do need quite a bit though as it provides most of the flavour!
parmesan, grated / shaved / chopped whatever, maybe about 1/3 cup *
parsley, finely chopped, optional

cook spaghetti, drain
heat oil over lowish heat while you chop garlic
gently cook garlic until translucent (you do not want to brown it! if you were using chilli you'd cook it now too)
mix all ingredients and serve :)

* if you want the chilli (it's really really good!) just leave out the parmesan, finely chop one small red chilli and add with the garlic, don't breathe the fumes!!!

to follow we are having homemade (thermomix-made) chocolate custard :)

Gai's Vegetarian chilli

Vege Tex Mex Chilli (mild to med)

1x Lg onion
2x cloves garlic
2x capsicums}remove seeds
2x jalepenos }& ribs

sate above in oil, add a little salt

add 1/2 bottle beer or 1 cup liquid vege stock

1xlg or 2x sm cans crushed tomatoes
1x can kidney beans
1x can black beans (or 3 bean mix)
1x can vege refried beans - add gradually whilst stirring

add (note I use handful in lieu of tab)
1 tab cayenne pepper sauce
1-1 1/2 tabs cummin powder
2 tabs chilli powder

stir and add salt & pepper

ready to serve in 1/2 hour or cook longer

serve with grated cheese / guacamole / corn chips / bread / salsa / shallots
or whatever takes your fancy

Deb's Bodacious chili

from an american friend who was living here for a while

Here's mine, except I usually used cooked chicken and cook it all day in a crock pot. I also tried to translate it from American to Aussie.

BODACIOUS CHILI.

1 kilo boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large onions, chopped
1 large green capsicum, coarsely chopped
1 large sweet red capiscum, coarsely chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons chili powder (mexican chili powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup Burgundy or other dry red wine
2 410 gram cans whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 410 gram can tomato puree
1 420 gram can kidney beans, drained
1 420 gram can chick-peas (garbanzo beans), drained
Spicy Sour Cream Topping
Shredded Cheddar cheese

• Cook first 7 ingredients in olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until meatbrowns. Drain and return meat mixture to Dutch oven.

• Stir in cocoa and next 13 ingredients.Bring mixture to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with Spicy Sour Cream Topping and shredded cheese

SPICY SOUR CREAM TOPPING

1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup salsa
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chili powder (mexican chili powder)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (sweet curry powder)
Dash of ground red pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients; cover and chill