This is one of those recipes for me. I discovered it when we were running the ski chalet in France years ago and it became my favourite recipe for the week. It’s a Jamie Oliver invention that requires a leg of lamb, a bottle of white wine, a few herbs and vegies and a bit of forward planning. It braises in a slow oven for 5 hours until the meat is tender and the vegies are infused with the wine and lamb flavour. Apart from the divine taste what I love about this recipe is that after 5 hours cooking the meat just falls off the bone so there’s no tricky carving (and a leg of lamb goes a lot further if you’re budget conscious). It fills your house with beautiful aromas for most of the day - a perfect greeting for guests when they arrive, plus there’s no last minute preparation. It’s hearty and filling and perfect for a winter’s evening.

1 large leg lamb
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
6 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay)
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
6 large carrots, scrubbed and halved
3 parsnips, scrubbed and halved
1 bottle white wine

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F. In a large casserole pot or a deep-sided roasting tray, fry your well-seasoned lamb in a couple of good lugs of olive oil until brown on all sides. Add the bacon, onions and garlic and continue to fry for 3 more minutes. Throw in your herbs and vegies (you can substitute any root vegetables for the ones listed above), pour in the wine and an equivalent amount of water (750ml), bring to the boil, and tightly cover with aluminium foil or a lid if your casserole dish has it.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 hours until tender, seasoning the cooking liquid to taste. To serve, pull away a nice portion of meat, take a selection of vegies and serve with some crusty bread to mop up the gravy.

As you can see from my photo above, I often leave the potatoes out of the casserole and serve with mashed potato. The ultimate comfort food!

Enjoy!

You start with hard (fried) corn tortillas, spread with frijoles (refried beans), top with fried eggs and then a dollop of salsa rojo o verde (red or green salsa). You really have to try it to believe how good it is!

We were also served a beautiful arrangement of fresh fruit and (what the Mexicans and Americans call) scones. Not the devonshire tea, English style of scone but a fried biscuity-cake often with citrus peel added for flavour.

I would have happily had the same thing the next day and thought maybe the Huevos Rancheros was the signature dish served day in day out, but no! Day 2’s breakfast was even better!

To begin with a poached pear (served cold) and nutty toast.

Followed by the most divine tasting breakfast I’ve ever had! The cooks told me it was called casserola and I will make it my mission to discover a recipe before we leave. It is very similar to the filling to a tamale, a savoury “pudding” made with cornmeal and baked in individual pots.

I’m so glad I got to experience a few proper Mexican breakfasts while we’re here. Some of them shouldn’t be too hard (!) to recreate at home, so I’ll have to add them to my list of traditional Mexican meals I might be able to make when we move back to Australia!

I haven’t made dumplings for so long and yesterday when I was trying to think of something to do with mince that was a bit more interesting than Spaghetti Bolognaise I came upon my dumpling recipe.

My husband loves dumplings and usually I put them on top of a veal goulash or a traditional beef casserole (using beef strips) but really there’s no reason they can’t accompany any type of casserole.

So feel free to adapt this recipe to any casserole you like, but for now I’ll give you my recipe using a mince base.

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g beef mince (I buy the best quality I can find to keep the fat levels down, or if you’re really keen, you can make your own)
1 tin crushed or whole tomatoes
2 tblspns tomato paste
italian herbs such as basil, oregano and thyme, fresh or dried (I use whatever I have available, but I almost always have these three on hand)
1 tblspn curry powder (optional) This is my secret ingredient to give it a little twist!
chopped vegetables such as carrot, mushroom, capsicum or celery (this is a great recipe for hiding vegetables in - just chop them up very small and the kids won’t even notice they’re there)

Herb Dumplings
2 cups self-raising flour
60g butter or margarine, softened
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
¾ cup beef stock

Cook onion until soft, add garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add mince and cook, stirring frequently until browned.

Add herbs, tinned tomato, tomato paste and vegetables. Simmer for 20 minutes (or longer if desired) to let the flavours develop.

To make the dumplings, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter or margarine and, using fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir the parsley through, add stock all at once, stirring, and mix to form a sticky dough.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Put mince mixture in a casserole dish and drop spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture evenly over the mince to form a lid. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through and golden.

Enjoy!

Anyway, this is a cooking blog, not a political one, so lets get on to the biscuits, OK? The story behind these biscuits is that they were sent to the soldiers fighting in Europe in World War I because they had to remain edible for months on end (since they were being sent by ship) and packed the most nutritional value into them. Eggs were scarce, so the binding agent used was golden syrup or treacle. (Again, I had to substitute molasses) They were packed in tins which were airtight, so that the biscuits wouldn’t soak up moisture in the air and go soft.

I was excited to find this variation on the traditional recipe with the addition of macadamia nuts. I happened to have a jar in the cupboard and although I always associate macadamias with Australia, these were actually Macadamias de Veracuz (a Mexican resort town). They add a lovely flavour to the Anzacs we know and love.

75g (½ cup) whole macadamia nuts
115g (¾ cup) plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
165g (1½ cups) rolled oats
165g (¾ cup) caster sugar
45g (½ cup) dessicated coconut
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
125g butter, cubed, melted

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Spread the macadamia nuts over 1 tray and cook in preheated oven for 6 minutes or until lightly toasted. Transfer to a chopping board to cool slightly, then coarsely chop.

Sift the flour and ginger into a large bowl. Add the macadamia nuts, rolled oats, sugar and coconut, and stir to combine.

Combine the boiling water, golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda in a small jug. Once the mixture froths up, stir in the butter. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Add the cooled butter mixture to the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine.

Place 2 heaped teaspoons of mixture onto 1 of the lined trays and use the back of a spoon to flatten slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture, leaving about 3cm between each. Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes for chewy biscuits or 16 minutes for crunchy biscuits, swapping trays around halfway through cooking. Set aside for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Biscuits can be kept in an airtight container for 1 week.

Probably best not to try keeping them for 2 months…even in a in a Billy Tea tin.

Enjoy!

Source: Taste

A few of them have made their way back onto our menu again, though. The dishes that were so tasty that you just keep coming back. This Chicken Tagine is one of those - the flavours and smell of the spices when you cook it are heavenly! It’s very easy to make and a nice change of cuisine from our usual European, Asian and Mexican, of course inspired food. I have always been a big fan of Middle Eastern food, and this dish is a good example of why.

8 (880g) lean chicken thigh fillets (or breast)
cooking oil spray
2 medium (300g) onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1½ teaspoons ground coriander (cilantro)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1½ cups (375ml) chicken stock
1 cup (250ml) water
½ cup seedless dates, halved
¼ cup (60ml) honey
¼ cup (40g) blanched almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Slice chicken into strips. Coat a large saute pan or flame-proof casserole dish with cooking spray and cook chicken in batches until browned all over. Set aside.

Cook onion, garlic and spices in same pan, stirring until onion is soft. Return chicken to dish with stock and water and bring to the boil.

Bake, covered, in a 180C oven for 1 hour, then remove cover and bake for a further 45 minutes or until chicken is very tender and the mixture has thickened slightly. Check regularly to make sure it is not too dry and if so, add more water or stock.

Remove from oven and stir through dates, honey and almonds. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve with couscous or rice.

Enjoy!

Source: Women’s Weekly

I’ve been thinking about my Nanna a lot lately since the first anniversary of her death has just passed. And I’m always thinking about chocolate so it seemed perfect to make her famous Chocolate Value. My daughter was a great help at sifting flour and mixing the ingredients for the base, but this recipe has to be cooked in stages and needs to cool before the chocolate topping goes on, so it can be a bit frustrating for impatient little ones (and Mums) who want to taste the fruits of their labour immediately. It is well worth the wait though, and an impatient sweet tooth can always be placated with cleaning condensed milk out of the tin with your finger. Did I just say that out loud?

I’m going to give you the original recipe here, but I’ll also give you my substitutions for ingredients not available here. In my quest to find a Copha replacement I discovered that both Copha and Chocolate Caramel Slice are Australian specialities. Who knew?

Base

1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup coconut
½ cup brown sugar
125g melted margarine or butter

Caramel Topping

1 tin sweetened condensed milk
1 dessertspoon butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup

Chocolate Topping

125g chocolate
30g copha

Mix self-raising flour, coconut, brown sugar and margarine or butter and press into a lamington tin, pushing down well. Bake for 15 minutes at 180-190°C.

While the base is cooking, mix the condensed milk, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan. Warm enough for the butter to melt and mix, without cooking.

Pour over the hot biscuit, spread and put back in the oven for 15 minutes at a slightly lower temperature.

When it is cold, melt the chocolate and copha and pour over slice. Allow to set. You may need to put it in the fridge if ambient temperature is warm.

The ingredients I couldn’t find were golden syrup and copha. Apparently golden syrup is a British/Australian thing, so I substituted molasses, which I picked up last time we were in the States. This gives the caramel a richer flavour so you may want to reduce the amount used, if you prefer.

I found another recipe for chocolate caramel slice which used vegetable oil instead of copha, or I guess you could use butter, but in the end I just left it out and used straight chocolate (a bit more than 125g) and it was fine.

Enjoy!

Lightening tagged me for my first meme on the new blog and it’s all to do with food porn, which started at Smoky Mountain Breakdown.

Here are the really simple rules. Answer each of the five questions. Tag five bloggers you would like to pass the meme to. Have them link back to you and to this post as the source meme. You and they can take the graphic from here if they like.

1. What food do you consider the best “date” food? In other words, what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around?

Well, it’s a long time since I went on a “date” but I think the best food to share with someone you really luurve is food you’re passionate about. Your favourite food is a great thing to share with a special person. I have a hard time picking what my favourite food is but one of the best meals my husband and I had was a degustation menu for our first wedding anniversary. That’s my ideal meal - the chance to try lots of different dishes!!

2. What well-known person would you like to share a meal with—with or without clothing. (saying whether or not clothes are involved is optional).

Ben Harper, he would be clothed and singing and I would probably be so enthralled I would forget to eat.

3. What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls?

Well, for a start, if its going to be perfect, it’d have to be a late brunch so I can sleep in. To eat I’d have potato pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, a glass of pineapple juice and a cup of hot chocolate. I stayed in a B&B in Tasmania years ago where the lady made potato pancakes for breakfast every morning and they were DIVINE.

I don’t need candles or music of flowers, definitely not a hot tub (that’s more of a late supper venue ) and uh, yeah - no dancing girls!

4. What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?

Warm Sticky Date Pudding with icecream as well - or on top of a hot chocolate. Mmmmmm.

5. Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?

Chocolate definitely. No question. The buzz lasts lots longer than champagne.

OK, so now I need to tag 5 people to talk dirty about food and I’m going to tag all new people I’ve started reading recently or who I’ve never tagged before:

Sarah

Planning Queen

Fairlie

M

Dee

My husband and I spent our honeymoon back in early 2000 skiing for 4 months in Whistler, Canada. It was an idyllic holiday full of fantastic powder runs, cosy nights indoors and a constant stream of visitors to stay and ski with us. (I know, it was our honeymoon, but we did have several weeks on our own at the beginning. )

I found this recipe amongst one of the cookbooks in the condo we rented and it became an afternoon tea staple - it is important to keep your energy up after a hard day on the slopes, after all! I’ve now cooked them in at least 10 different ovens with great results, but you will need to adjust temperatures and times depending on how slow or fast your oven is. The original recipe called for shortening, but since I’m not sure I even know what it is, let alone have it in my house, I substitute butter. If you do know what it is and want to use it, then just replace half the butter with shortening.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plain flour
1 tspn baking soda
½ tspn salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Chill for a few minutes or let stand at cool room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly and smooth edges to make 1 cm thick cookie.

Bake in a 190°C oven for 8 or 9 minutes (adjust for your oven) or until golden brown around the edges and still slightly soft in the middle. Let stand on baking sheet for 5 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy! They won’t last long…

So I still make this recipe very regularly at home, but I can’t claim that its authentic. I usually serve it with rice and sour cream, but it freezes well and is very handy for leftovers. It’s great with tortillas, jacket potatoes, on nachos, in a taco, on toast, you name it!

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 red capsicum, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or add to taste)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
500g lean minced beef¡
300mls beef stock
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar (or 1 square of chocolate)
2 tbsp tomato paste
410g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Heat oil in a large frying pan or saucepan and add onions, cooking for about 5 minutes. Tip in garlic, capsicum, chilli, paprika and cumin and stir, bringing the aroma of the spices out. Add the mince to the pan and cook until browned then add stock, tomatoes, salt and pepper, tomato paste and sugar, or chocolate if using. (Chocolate is a traditional Mexican ingredient to give a smooth flavour and counteract the acidity of the tomatoes.) Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat to simmer gently with the lid on for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the kidney beans and bring to the boil again. Gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding more water if it looks too dry and more seasoning if necessary. Take off the heat and leave to stand covered for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! ¡Buon Provecho!

Sometimes, though it’s nice to actually get some new ideas and follow a recipe, so I recently sought out a pork stir-fry recipe to cook for the family. My usual approach to recipe hunting is to do a quick search of the food blogs I subscribe to (using the search function in Google Reader) and also check out some favourite recipe websites. I seem to find a lot of recipes I like on Taste at the moment. They have a good variety of recipes taken from a number of popular food magazines in Australia - the ones I used to read religiously when I lived there - Australian Good Taste, Delicious, Super Food Ideas and more. The recipe I settled on appealed since we always have limes in the house. We are in Mexico, after all, and Mexicans love to have limes with everything!

100ml sweet chilli sauce
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons fish sauce

650g pork fillets, trimmed
2 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 green onions, cut into 5cm lengths
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 5 cm lengths
125g snow peas, trimmed
100g water chesnuts, sliced
lime wedges, to serve

Combine sweet chill sauce, lime juice and fish sauce. Thinly slice pork across the grain and place in a dish or plastic container. Add half the chilli & lime sauce and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heta a wok over high heat utnil hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat. Add half the pork and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until sealed. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining pork.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, green onions, garlic, asparagus and snow peas and water chestnuts to the wok. Add reserved sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with lime wedges. Serves 4.

Of course, you can vary this in many ways - I substituted broccoli for snow peas and it can be served with rice or noodles. You could also make this stir-fry with chicken or beef.

Source: Taste