Crunchy Thai chicken rounds

Kathy put me on to this tasty recipe from the Women's Weekly. Although I can never find it on their web site :(

250g chicken mince
2 tblspns coconut milk
1 1/2 tblspns sweet chilli sauce
2 tspn finely chopped fresh lemon grass
1 1/2 tblspns lemon juice
2 tblspns finely chopped coriander
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large green cucumbers (800g)

Cook chicken in heated medium non-stick frying pan, stirring until browned slightly, cool 5 mins. Process chicken until finely chopped.
Combine chicken with coconut milk, sauce, lemon grass, juice, coriander & garlic in medium bowl, cover, refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
Cut cucumbers diagonally into 1cm slices.Divide chicken mixture among slices. Top with coriander leaves, if desired.
Makes 25

Quinoa, rice and lentil salad with spicy cauliflower

I hadn't cooked quinoa before, so I thought it was time. I spotted this recipe in The Age Epicure this morning. It's quite tasty and healthy!

200g quinoa
200g red rice
150g black lentils
100ml olive oil, 3 tbs extra
2 brown onions, sliced
100g dried cranberries
1 orange zested and juiced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp groiund coriander
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
200g pistachios
1 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Dressing:
1 lemon juiced
1/2 - 1/2 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt & pepper

Cook quinoa in pot of boiling salted water for 12-14 mins.
Drain and set aside.
Cook rice and lentils in pot of boiling water for 20 mins.
Drain and set aside.
Heat frying pan with 100ml oil. Add onions and caramelise.
Soak cranberries in ornage juice. until plump.
Mix cumin, flour and ground coriander and toss the cauliflower in this mix,
Heat 3 tbs oil in frying pan and fry cauliflower over low heat for 10 mins.
Toss drained quinoa, rice and lentils with the cauliflower.
Add onions, cranberries and zest and juice, nuts and herbs.
Shakle dressing ingredients rtogether and add to salad.
Mix well.

Doughnut Flavoured Muffins

Yes I make muffins often becuase they are good lunch box fodder. I know doughnut flavoured muffins sounds odd, but really you could call them cinnamon-nutmeg muffins. I love cinnamon, so I guess that's why they work for me!

2 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp nutmeg
½ cup oil
1 1/8 cup sugar
1 1/8 cup milk
1 large egg
Berry jam

TOPPING
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup sugar
1 – 2 tsp cinnamon
Set oven to 190C. Put muffin liners in 12 muffin pan.
Into large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
In another bowl mix together oil, sugar, egg & milk. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stirt to combine. Spoon mixture to half fill muffin pans. Add half teaspoon of jam in centre of each muffin, then top up with remaining mixture. Bake for 20 mins. Remove from oven and while still warm brush with the melted butter then sprinkle with combined sugar and cinnamon.

Lamb Kofta

This Lamb Kofta recipe from Matt Moran are absolutely delish. Rated 8/10 in our house! I don't bother with the pine nuts, and I serve with tzatziki.

1 cinnamon quill
2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons salt
50ml olive oil
1 brown onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
600g lamb mince
1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley finely chopped
50g pinenuts, toasted
50g panko breadcrumbs

lemon cheeks and tahini to serve

Wooden skewers




Place cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger and salt in frying pan and heat gently until seeds start to pop. Transfer to mortar and grind to fine powder.

Heat olive oil in small pan over low heat and saute onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Stir in spices and cook for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

Place lamb in a bowl, add spice/onion mix, parsley, pinenuts and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Divide into 6-8 portions and mould each portion around a wooden skewer.

BBQ or grill on high heat for about 10 minutes, turning so they cook evenly.

Amazing food printer

Check this link out...a printer that prints food!


http://inhabitat.com/cornells-new-3-d-printer-lets-you-print-food-in-any-shape-and-texture/

Turkish pizza

My fellow blogger, Val, took me to a Turkish Pizza class at Lezzet, in Elwood. A selection from my pictorial account follows, and Kemal does make great Turkish Pizza.

Types of pizzas that we made:

• Margerita: Tomato (cooked tomatoes, onion, cumin, wine, garlic), mozzarella, salt, oregano
• Cheese: garlic oil, fetta, goats cheese, cooked then topped with finely sliced cabbage mixed with saffron aioli and parsley
• Kofta: tomato, kofta balls, cooked then topped with finely sliced onion with olive oil, salt, herbs then drizzled with sumac and yoghurt
• Meat: Kofta mince (lamb mince w with onion, parsley, egg, bread crumbs, cumin and paprika)
• Salmon: garlic oil and goats cheese, cooked then topped with raw salmon minced with chilli, capsicum, cucumber skin, onion with fresh salad greens (fennel frond) and candied walnuts (pictured above)
• Sausage: Tomato, cheese and sucuk (turkish sausage) and egg (pictured above)

Tea-smoked duck breast

I haven't cooked a lot of duck, but with the plethora of duck dishes on Masterchef, I feel as best equipped as I ever will. The recipe is from the Masterchef Cookbook, Volume 1. I was running short of time making this dish, so sacrificed the ravioli which was supposed to adorn the duck. I was rushing so much I didn't take a photo, but Hayley grabbed this quick shot. The sauce was tangy and delicious, and the smokey flavour of the duck was excellent. I didn't have blood oranges so substituted navels. I didn't have any dried orange peel, so just left it out. I also changed the accompanying spinach in the recipe to whatever was on hand.


Tea Smoked Duck Breast

4 duck breasts
salt

Tea Smoking Mix
1/2 cup oolong tea leaves
1/2 cup jasmine tea leaves
zest 3 oranges cut into wide strips
4 pieces dried orange peel
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup brown sugar
5 whole star anise
1 tbs Sichuan peppercorns
6 pieces cassia bark (I used cinnamon)

Orange sauce
1 1/2 tbs caster sugar
1 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 cup blood orange juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
grated zest of 1/2 orange
25g butter

To make smoked duck, line a wok with foil then place all smoke mixture onto the foil. Turn the heat to medium and wait until it starts to smoke. Place duck breasts skin side down on a rack in the wok. Cover and cook for 7 minutes or until rare.

To make orange sauce, place sugar in a saucepan and melt it slowly. Add vinegar and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add orange juice and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half. Add stock and simmer again until reduced by half. Add orange zest and butter. Season to taste.

Place duck skin side down in a hot frying pan and cook until the fat has melted and skin is crispy. Rest a few minutes then cut into slices. Drizzle with sauce to serve.