Sausage & Caramelised Onion Quiche

Sausage & Caramelised Onion Quiche

2 sausages

8 sundried tomato strips, sliced into small chunks 

1 brown onion

5 basil leaves

3 eggs

1/2 cup cream

1 piece short crust pastry (I used frozen)  

Cheese 

Chop the sausages into small chunks (remove skins if you wish) and fry in butter until cooked through and beginning to crisp.

Slice the brown onion and lightly fry on a very low heat until soft, golden and beginning to caramelise (will smell and taste sweet) - don't allow onion to burn or crisp. 

Lay the pastry into a tray (I used a round 20cm pie dish). Arrange sausage, sundried tomato and onion to fill the base of the pastry. 

Whisk the eggs and the cream and carefully (and gently) pour over pastry filling. 

Top egg with cheese and chopped basil leaves.

Bake in 180 degree oven for 30minutes. 

Mashed Pea Fritters

A great money saver for us has been incorporating a vegetarian meal into our weekly meal plans. I'm always on the look out for vegetarian dinners that aren't totally pasta based but are also filling. These fritters tick all those boxes and are amazing served with salsa and sour cream.

Mashed Pea Fritters
2 cups frozen peas
2 eggs
100g crumbled feta
1 cup self-raising flour (or just less than a cup of wholewheat flour)
1/2 cup milk

Cook the peas in boiling water until bright green (3 to 5 minutes) then drain and cool.

Whisk the eggs then mix in the flour, milk and feta. Using a potato masher or hand held mixer, mash the peas until they form a chunky paste then add to the egg and flour mixture. This will form quite a thick batter, be mindful not to mix it too much or you will lose the texture of the peas and end up with green mush.

Spoon portions of the mixture into a medium heat frying pan (lightly sprayed with oil). Cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Fish Tacos

 When we were in Hawaii we stayed across the street from the Cheesecake Factory or, as it is commonly understood in Australia, "the place where Penny works". Obviously this place rated highly on my list of holiday must dos. 

Suffering a severe case of jetlag we headed out to dinner around 8pm. After a 45 minute wait outside to get a table we were greeted by a stressed out and busy waiter. He left us to peruse the tome they call "menu" and eventually returned to take my order of chicken tacos and something covered in cheese for my husband. Perhaps another 45 minutes later he reappeared more stressed than ever and full of apologies that our food would still be some time. We were on holidays, we had another fancy multi-coloured drink and continued to people watch. Some time later a manager appeared with our waiter, equally full of apologies. At this point, in normal world, we would no doubt be fuming but, we were on holidays...in Hawaii....at the Cheesecake Factory...with chicken tacos pending. What could go wrong? 

Fish Tacos.

Of course, by this time, we had been lavished with praise. We had been told we were the "coolest customers ever" (a rarity for us). We had been gifted a multi-coloured drink. There was no way I could now turn my nose up, point a finger in the waiter's face and demand a chicken be murdered, smothered in salsa, wrapped in a tortilla and arrive at my table immediately.

As the waiter rushed away I looked at the husband and tentatively said, "I think it's fish"....at this point I was hoping he would say, “Oh so it is! I know you hate fish so here, you have my cheese covered cheese with cheese and I’ll have the dregs of the ocean that have been served up in front of you.”  Naturally, through a mouthful of cheese, my husband said, “That’s hilarious, you hate fish!”

So that is where this post originates. Six months on I decided to give the fish tacos another go because fish is actually pretty good for you …or something to that affect. I headed to this website for inspiration.

Slightly Edible Fish Tacos

1 cod fillet cut into 6 small pieces

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

corn tortilla wraps

salsa

coleslaw with herb dressing

Rub the spices onto both sides of the fish pieces and grill until cooked through.

On a tortilla layer salsa, fish, coleslaw and serve with rice combined with black beans, parsley, coriander and lime juice. 

Tuna Fish Cakes

I hate tuna. I would really love to love it. It is apparently like some sort of super food ....how is tinned fish a super food? I find it consistently disappointing and "too fishy" .....if that is even possible. I'm picky with fish.

In a bid to save a few more dollars each week I am trying to introduce some more tuna meals to our dinners. Each fortnight I sit down and figure out what our dinners will be for the next 14 nights. It can be a pretty involved and time consuming process but doing so for the last year has really paid off for planning and saving. I have tried to include my husband in this process but he always says that I'm doing a fine job and that he doesn't really care. So when he asked what we were having for dinner Saturday night and I announced Tuna Fish Cakes....gosh, the overwhelming disappointment I was met with was shocking. Apparently he also dislikes Tuna. However, when I served up our fish cakes we LOVED them. This truly is the Tuna Fish Cake recipe for people who hate Tuna.

Tuna Fish Cakes
425g tin of tuna
2 eggs
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup garlic chives
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon mustard (I used seed)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used bottled)

Combine all the ingredients, then divide into pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and squash into a pattie shape. Lightly fry patties in a little olive oil until browned and crisp. Serve over salad with tartare sauce.

Oriental Meatballs

I didn't have a meatball until I was 21. I never really understood what the appeal of them was. Even the meatball I had then was a bit strange. It was steamed and seemed to be more breadcrumbs than anything else. Over the last week or so though I've had a bit more time for meatballs. Which is good, because they do take a little while to make. I blame My Kitchen Rules . I've been massively sucked into this show - first time watcher. When you push aside all of the drama, there are actually some pretty decent meals coming out of their kitchens. My Spicy Meatballs with Polenta were a creation based on combining this and this. This dish was so delicious I decided to try another MKR inspired dish - 5 Spice Pork Meatballs. However, I'm not a fan of 5 spice and I don't like pork so this is my own version.

Oriental Meatballs 

500 grams beef mince 

1 egg

5 waterchestnuts

1/2 teaspoon coriander leaves

2 spring onions, chopped

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons garlic

1 teaspoon ginger 

1/4 teaspoon fish sauce 

2/3 cup breadcrumbs 

Break the mince up in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the egg and pour over the mince. In a food processor, process the water chestnuts and the spring onions until finely chopped. Add to the mince. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and fish sauce and mix to combine. Gradually add the breadcrumbs to ensure mixture isn't too wet or too dry. Using a tablespoon portion the meat so you end up with uniform size balls and place onto a baking tray. Bake in a 150 degree oven for about 50 minutes (until cooked through and brown on the outside)

Sauce 

1 cup of chicken stock

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 spring onion chopped

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon garlic

2 teaspoons corn flour 

Bring the chicken stock to the boil and add the soy and oyster sauce. Allow mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes then add the spring onion, sugar, ginger and garlic. Let mixture simmer for a further 5 minutes. Mix the corn flour with about 1/8 cup of water. Gradually add to the sauce, stirring, until the sauce is at desired consistency. 

Serve meatballs with sauce drizzles over the top on white rice with Asian greens.

Broccoli Soup

Since May my hubby has been on a major health kick. Without even really thinking about it, he has become one of the people who are on those "whole food diets" - but he doesn't call it that, and doesn't flounce about with it and lets himself have a day off here and there to indulge. He has also been lifting and heading out to the gym on a fairly consistent basis. Really, I have to applaud him. Two months and quite a few more kilos lighter he has really been the driving force behind us eating a whole lot better (excepting Sunday Night Desserts!)

With India a mere 5 HOURS away (!!!) we are preparing ourselves, and our delicate first world digestive systems, for 14 days of NO fresh fruit and veg. We are saying goodbye to the fresh stuff because... well, according to our very cheery doctor, it will attempt to kill us. Ever seen Attack of the Kill Tomatoes? Apparently cholera isn't as hilarious as a badly scripted late 70s film.

Each week more and more vegetables have been invading our lives for the better and, as much as I love it, occasionally, just the thought of crunching and munching away on all that green makes me feel ....a little green.  Welcome Broccoli Soup.

 Broccoli Soup
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon oil
1/2 brown onion, sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)
1/2 teaspoon parsley (fresh or dried)
4 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup water
2 cups vegetable stock
dash of milk and cream
pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and the oil. Add the onion and the celery and sauté until softened.

Add the garlic, herbs, broccoli, water and stock. Bring to the boil and then let simmer until broccoli has softened.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool before blending. Blend in batches (include liquid with broccoli in each batch). Once blended and smooth add in milk/cream if you wish and add pepper to taste.

Reheat soup if necessary. Soup keeps in the fridge for about 3 days and freezes well.


Have a lovely 2 weeks, I'm looking forward to some Indian sweets!

Lamb Pie

 

 I made this, it was amazing but didn't look anything like this. Mine also overflowed my pie dish and burnt to the bottom of my oven. I also added lots of delicious garlic-chives and parsley from my garden to the potato crust. It made it super amazing. Also I didn't actually follow the instructions for this at all. I made this pie in about 40 minutes instead of the HOURS prescribed in the recipe. After a very hectic weekend this was the perfect way to end it all up. I accidentally locked my teaching partner and myself out of our report card writing program on Friday night. I spent all day Saturday at a Grammar PD. I learnt lots. This is now my 4th Grammar PD and I think I might actually be starting to "get it" now. Activities are on the way. I was up until about midnight Saturday night writing reports. Spent all day Sunday trying to prepare for this Indian Adventure that is just around the corner and then more reporting. I think it's mostly all done now, so hopefully I will stop neglecting my kitchen and my blog so much.

Mexican Pie

Winter is just around the corner which means it's pie season in my house. The perfect excuse for meat, pastry and sauce to combine into deliciousness.....and lets not forget dessert pies.....

Mexican Pie 
1 brown onion, diced
500g beef mince
140g tomato paste
40g packet Burrito seasoning mix (or make your own)
400g can diced tomatoes
400g can mixed or kidney beans
400g can corn kernels
tortilla wraps
1/2 cup grated cheese

Fresh Salsa
1 avocado, seeded and diced
1 tomato, diced
1 green onion, finely chopped
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
drizzle of olive oil

corn chips & sour cream to serve

Brown the onion in a large saucepan. When tender, add the mince and cook until browned and easy to break up.

Stir in the tomato paste and the burrito seasoning mix and cook through for about a minute. Add the diced tomatoes, beans and corn. Allow to simmer until the sauce thickens.

Microwave the tortillas for 40 seconds then arrange in a large pie dish or in individual serving dishes. Spray with oil then bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.

While in the oven, make the salsa by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.

Once the tortillas have started to brown and become crisp, remove them from the oven and spoon the meat mixture into the tortilla shells. Top with grated cheese and return to the oven until the cheese melts.

Remove from the oven and top with sour cream and salsa, serve with corn chips.

In The Garden: The Beginning & The Basil

While we lived in Far North Queensland we spent a lot of time watching our friends cultivate and grow their own sustainable fruit and vegetable gardens. While we both agreed that we wanted our own garden, at the time, we were happy reaping the benefits of our friend's fertile ground in the form of jams, salads and rich egg based sauces. When we moved back to the city and found ourselves within 15 minutes of Bunnings Warehouse and it seemed almost silly not to at least experiment with what we could grow.

We had very meagre beginnings. We armed ourselves with 3 pots, 4 sweet basil plants, 4 Italian parsley plants, 4 Tommy Toe tomatoes plants and a little pine tree we hoped to grow all year and use as our very own Christmas tree!

Our parsley died almost instantly (my husband was able to salvage one plant). Over the next few weeks our tomatoes magically sprouted delightful little yellow flowers. Our basil took on a life of its own and the Christmas tree even started to take shape. Then. Without any real warning. Our city was struck by torrential rain, flooding and a cheery cyclone roared through our backyard. In the ruins of our little garden we found our tomato plants had been destroyed, including 5 little baby tomatoes. Our Christmas tree was beyond repair and whatever was left of the parsley to begin with looked doomed.

The basil, on the other hand, seemed to have laughed in the face of danger and was growing like a weed. For a few weeks there we had about 7 pots worth of basil. We didn't know what to do with it. We tried drying it and freezing it but in the end we thought the most *clever* thing to do, was eat our beautiful produce!

Since the beginning of March our basil has provided us with 3 (large) pesto based pasta meals. It is delicious (and deliciously cheap!). So at the moment we are pretty proud of our little garden and we have slowly extended it since the damage of the storm. I would really like to share our progress (or not so progress) stories over the year to see how we do.

Pesto
2 cups of fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, halved
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Toast the pine nuts in the oven for about 10 minutes (they burn quickly once their oils release so watch them!). Add the basil, pine nuts, cheese and garlic into a food processor. Process until combined. Gradually add the oil while mixing until pesto is at desired consistency. Stir through the lemon juice.

(Stir through pasta, adding cream for richness if you like it!)

Nasi Goreng

When we were on our honeymoon in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu we came across Nasi Goreng and were informed that it was the "national dish" of Malaysia by many locals. We got to enjoy this dish on a trip into the jungle. We were taken right out into the middle of no where to this small village, we ate at a small open walled shed, the air-conditioner consisted of a water sprinkler on a tin roof. We were served Nasi Goreng with chicken that was killed only hours earlier. I was scared to eat it, so sure I would get food poisoning but in the end I couldn't resist.

Nasi Goreng 

Chicken & Marinade 
Chicken breast
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 red chilli, seeds removed thinly sliced

Combine all of the ingredients with the chicken and let sit in marinade for at least 30 minutes. Put chicken and sauce into an oven tray and roast in a 180 degree Celsius oven and cook for 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Nasi Goreng
2 cups white rice
1/2 brown onion, diced
1/2 carrot, diced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 red chilli, seeds removed thinly sliced
1 bunch pak choy, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Eggs

Bring 2 cups of water to the boil and add the rice, reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes. In a wok or electric frying pan, fry carrot and onion until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir through the cooked rice, add the pak chou, soy sauce and brown sugar and stir through to combine.

Fry the eggs, ensuring the yolk is still soft. Serve the rice topped with the fried egg with the chicken on the side.

Spicy Meatballs with Fried Polenta

We spent the Easter weekend in Newcastle being very well fed by my mother-in-law and indulging in a lot of chocolate and wine.

It was a long drive home yesterday and I woke up this morning so happy that I didn't have to go to work! I really wanted to make use of the time I had today so spent some time in the kitchen doing something new that I am now declaring a "regular" on my dinner list.

Spicy Meatballs with Fried Polenta 

Polenta

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup polenta

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup milk

chives

salt & pepper 

Bring the stock to the boil and gradually add the polenta, whisking to avoid lumps forming. Continue to whisk until the stock and polenta mixture thickens. Reduce heat and simmer until polenta is no long crunchy. 

Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream, milk, salt and pepper. Stir through the chives. The mixture will be moist and thick. Use a spatular to scoop the mixture into a pan (line with baking paper for easy removal later on). Spread out the mixture evenly using your hands or a spatular, it will begin to congeal and thicken more. Place in the fridge to allow to set (mine took about 6 hours to set properly).

After setting, remove from the fridge and cut into desired pieces. Spray a fry pan with oil and lightly cook the polenta on each side until golden and crispy. Place in the oven on a low heat to warm through before serving. 

Meatballs

500 grams beef mince

1 egg

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon sugar 

Whisk the egg and combine with the mince and all other ingredients. Roll the meat into balls (about 1 tablespoon of mixture for each ball and add more breadcrumbs if mixture is too moist to roll ). Rest in the fridge before cooking for about 10-20 minutes. Cook meatballs in a hot fry pan, ensure they are browned on the outside and cooked through. 

Sauce

1/2 brown onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

140 gram can tomato paste

3/4 cup of canned, diced tomatoes 

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes 

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

Cook the onion and garlic in a saucepan until soft. In a bowl combine the sugar, chilli flakes and tomato paste. Mix to combine then gradually add the diced tomatoes until sauce is at desired consistency. Add sauce to the onion and garlic and heat through.

Serve the polenta topped with meatballs and sauce and sour cream if it's too spicy! 

Chicken Tagine

There are a few celebrity chefs that I love.

Nigella Lawson is amazing to watch. Her kitchens are beautiful, her food is delightful and she is absolutely spectacular to watch. Jamie Oliver is a kitchen whiz and I love "At Home with Jamie" where he shares all kinds of secrets about his garden.

One celebrity cook I can't stand to watch is Bill Granger. I can't figure out what it is, but on television I don't like him. That said, I have been in love with his cook books since I was in primary school. His books are gorgeous and filled with delicious and achievable recipes. While my Jamie Oliver and Nigella cook books gather dust, my Bill books stay off the bookcase and on the kitchen bench.

This is a delicious dish that is great for weekend dinners when you have a bit more time to spend in the kitchen but don't have to sit and watch while it is cooking. The other great thing is that it is super easy and is served with couscous. Couscous is my secret pleasure. I love the way it soaks up the juices of everything it is paired with.

Here is my take on Bill Granger's Chicken Tagine from "Simply Bill"

Chicken Tagine
Chicken breast or thigh
1/2 brown onion
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
handful of diced green capsicum
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Couscous
1/2 teaspoon butter
mixed herbs

In a large saucepan place the chicken, onion and spices in 500ml of water. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. The meat should be very tender. As the liquid thickens add the capsicum and the lemon juice and take the lid off until the mixture is at your desired consistency. I like mine a little more juicy to soak into the couscous.

Prepare the couscous (for 2 people I did 3/4 cup couscous to 3/4 cup water). Boil the water and pour over the couscous. Cover with a lid and let sit until water is dissolved. Stir through the butter and mixed herbs. Serve the tagine over the couscous.

Honey Chicken

This is a delicious dinner that I like to make about once every 2 months. It always seems like a lot of clean up but it is worth it and I love it.

When I was a kid we used to get Chinese food very rarely. It was always a super awesome treat for birthdays or Mother's Day. When I moved to the middle of nowhere a few years ago there was no local Chinese food shop to go to so I wasn't even able to have it on special occasions! There were times when I dreamt of honey chicken, no really, dreamt! Eventually I came to my senses and realised - it's chicken and honey.....how hard can it be?!

My Fried Rice & Honey Chicken 
Rice
2 eggs
2 bacon rashers
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup corn
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
Chicken breast
1 cup flour
1 cup water
Vegetable oil to fry
1/2 cup honey

Cook the rice as you wish. Whisk the eggs and put them into a frying pan with a little piece of butter. Cook like scrambled eggs, once cooked through remove from the pan and rest on a plate. Dice the bacon and fry until cooked. Add to the egg and put the peas and corn on the plate with them. Add anything else you feel is necessary to make your fried rice awesome (like mushrooms, capsicum, shallots). Once the rice has cooked drain the water out and tip the egg, bacon, corn and peas into the rice. Add soy sauce to flavour and let the whole thing sit on low heat.

Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Mix the batter by combining the flour and water (whisk if it becomes lumpy). Add the water gradually depending on the consistency - obviously you want the batter to stick to the chicken and not drip off everywhere!

Pour about 1cm of oil into a large frying pan and let the oil heat. Dip the pieces of chicken into the batter and place *carefully* into the oil. Let the chicken cook through and brown evenly. Turn carefully and keep an eye on the oil temperature to avoid spitting and burning yourself!

After the chicken is cooked put into a large bown and stir through honey. Serve the fried rice with the chicken on top and drizzle on more honey because it amazing!

*ugly photo :(

Worth It Vegetable Lasagne

I love lasagne. Meaty, tomato goodness sandwiched between smooth lasagne noodles and blanketed in heavenly, crispy melted cheese. What's not to love? But in this heat it is just not happening for me. This vegetable lasagne, however, is a delightful addition to my summery kitchen. It takes a little while to make but the end result is totally worth it!

Worth It Vegetable Lasagne
Lasagne sheets/noodles (fresh or dry)
1 cup extra light ricotta cheese
handful of spinach leaves
a few leaves of basil
1 egg
dash of cream
1 sweet potato
1 tin crushed tomatoes
1 zucchini thinly sliced and quartered
half eggplant (or 1 labanese eggplant if you can get it), cut the same as the zucchini
a few mushrooms, diced
1/2 onion, diced

Start with the sweet potato, leave the skin on because it is delicious and thinly slice it. Put it in a 180 degree oven for about 15 minutes until it is soft (not crisp!).

As the sweet potato is cooking slice the other vegetables. How you slice them and how thick is a personal preference. I like mine thin, they are easier to cook and have much better texture once the lasagne is complete. Put these vegetables into a sauce pan with a dob of butter. Let these cook away...I think the actual word is sauté (how's that for fancy. It is important that the vegetables are very well on their way to being quite soft as you add the crushed tomatoes and combine. Let the sauce heat through then remove and let cool.

Remove the sweet potato and let it cool. In a small bowl whisk the ricotta and egg. Add the cream bit by bit because this mixture can become too runny very quickly. You don't even have to add cream if you don't want to, I just find it makes it go that little bit further and makes it, well....creamier. Once whisked stir in the spinach leaves and basil. You might want to tear these up or leave them whole.

Let the layers begin. Lightly spray your lasagne pan or line with baking paper. Start with a little of the tomato-vegetable mixture and layer lasagne noodles, ricotta mixture, sweet potato and more tomato-vegetable mixture. Top the whole lot off with a delicious handful (or 2) of cheese because lasagne without cheese is like......well, I wouldn't know I've never been silly enough to do that.

Bake it all in the oven for about an hour until the lasagne sheets are cooked through the cheese is melted and browning.

Serve with a salad and freeze or enjoy the left overs hot or cold.

Spicy Lamb in Coconut Sauce

Yay!! We have finally got our new life started. After a 5 hour flight delay we are finally back together in our "old-new" house and it is great. The best part: the kitchen! I'm talking bench space. Dishwasher. One and a half ovens!! And to top it all off - Christmas is just around the corner (but more on that later). Tonight I cooked my first meal in the kitchen I designed - Spicy Lamb in Coconut Sauce.

I always get a bit funny about lamb cutlets. Sometimes they are really fatty or there isn't much meat on them and I never seem to cook them quite right but I totally committed to cutlets tonight and it was awesome. Also, they are called "spicy" but they really aren't and you can decide how spicy you want them to be anyway.

Spicy Lamb in Coconut Sauce

What you need

250g pumpkin

1/3 cup peas

small tin chickpeas

coriander leaves

parsley leaves

lamb cutlets 

1 teaspoon curry powder (more or less!)

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons chicken stock

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius and dice the pumpkin into about 1cm chunks. Pop in chunks into an oven dish with a splash of oil and put into the oven for about 10minutes.

Rub the lamb cutlets with curry powder (as much as you like) and place into a lightly greased fry pan on medium heat. 

Meanwhile add peas, chickpeas and leaves to the pumpkin and return to the oven on a 140 Celsius until the cutlets are cooked as desired. 

Once cutlets are cooked, put on top of vegetables and leave in the oven to keep warm. In the fry pan add the coconut milk, garlic and stock and bring to the boil. Let the sauce simmer until it is as thick as you like. 

Serve the cutlets layered on the vegetables and drizzle sauce over the top. 

Chicken Kofta

I have made a little pact with myself to *try* not bake anything for the next 3 weeks because, in 4 weeks, I have to be able to fit into a wedding dress and not look like I eat cupcakes every day. What?! No! Okay...most days. Especially when my students do cooking in Home Ec and bring me the delicious things they bake (especially especially especially chocolate chip filled muffins that I am totally getting the recipe for). It's bad manners to turn down cake. 

So, to avoid any wedding day wardrobe malfunctions-bulging out in weird places-back cleavage scenarios, I have got to lay off the baked goods. 

Which actually makes me sad, not only because I will be missing out on my daily sugar binge but because I  LIKE to bake. It's my thing. Right now I seem to have very little control over many aspects of my life - my transfer, the wedding guest list, moving house, my timetable - but the one thing I can control is how many chochips and how much buttercream. 

To fill the void in my oven I am trying out a few new savoury things that are hopefully healthy as well. Tonight was Chicken Kofta. These probably didn't live up to my expectations because Lamb Kofta is just heaven on a stick. That said they were still delicious, I just had higher hopes. Fortunately a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce really helped boost them along.

Chicken Kofta
1/2 brown onion
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup pinenuts
1 tsp cumin
a collection of herbs...coriander, parsley etc..
600g chicken mince 
1 egg
1/2 cup couscous

Whaz the pinenuts into little chunks, dice the onion and combine with the garlic and the cumin. Fry this mixture on low heat until it smells delicious.

Whisk the egg in a large bowl, add the chicken, herbs and nut mixture and the couscous and mix to combine.

This will be a fairly sticky mixture but try the best you can to make sausage like shapes out of similar sized chunks of the mixture. Obviously you want them to cook evenly so similar size is good. Mine were about 10cm long. Lay the sausage shapes on a tray and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

This gives the mixture some time to become less sticky so once they are done take them out and reshape it you need to. Insert a skewer into the centre of the chicken sausage shapes and then grill. I actually put mine on a sandwich press which worked great and then popped them in the oven for about 15minutes just to ensure they were cooked through.

Serve with salad, greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce. - These also work amazingly for lunch the next day on a pita wrap.