Roasted Snapper with with leeks and olives

My son made this recipe and loved it!  This is made with snapper, but you could make it with any white fleshed fish fillets, or even a cutlet like blue eye.  Use the BEST olive oil you can afford as it will make a difference to the dish.  Also, sourdough is preferable, but you could use any bread.  Do not cook the leeks at too high a temperature.   Simple and delicious.

Balti Chicken Curry

I adapted this from one of Jamie Oliver's recipies, it suits my family because one does not eat coriander, another not so hot on the chilli.  This will serve 4 very large servings, if you want to increase it to 6 just add some sliced carrots and potatoes about 1/2 way through the cooking time.  This will extend the dish perfectly.

You can use chicken thighs (as I do) or chicken drumsticks, or a whole chicken cut up, it is quite versatile really.  It is important to use a yellow capsicum, it seems to have the right amount of acidity for the recipie.  If you don't have any fresh tomatoes handy you can easily leave it out, and if you dont have any tomatoe puree, you can use canned tomatoes, but make sure you drain the juice off.  

If you like fresh coriander, add about 1/2 a bunch to the curry paste and blend with the other ingredients.  As always, adjust the chilli, garlic and ginger to your taste.  If found it did not need any salt and pepper, but taste and adjust accordingly.

If you want a good curry one of the secrets is to cook the curry paste really well, you want the  onions and pepper to fry with the paste until the oil splits from it if possible.

Kofta Meatballs

An old recipie, and sounds a little complicated, but it isn't really.  Give it a go.    Originally, this type of recipie comes from Hyderabad area of India

Do not fry the onions on a high heat, they need to brown slowly.  You can make this for a crowd quite easily, making everything the day before and just cooking the last step (curry) on the day.  You can ommit the chilli and it will still taste wonderful.  It can also be made with beef, but lamb is better.

 

Thia Beef Salad for a crowd

This recipie is what I make when I need to feed a lot of people, its easy and quick to do and tastes great.  The secret is in the roasted rice, and the dressing. The amount of steak you use depends upon how many people you are feeding, but the salad ingredients make enough for about 6 people.

Always taste the dressing to see that it is balanced, it should taste a little salty and sour, but not too much.

 

Luke Nguyen makes Vietnamese cooking simple, and this is one of his recipies.  I first saw it on his TV show, and it was so simple I just had to try it, especially as they take just minutes on the BBQ.

You can use beef (fillet steak) instead of pork, and pop it into the freezer for about an hour so that it is easy to slice really thinly.  Make sure the BBQ is red hot and ready to go, but make sure you soak your skewers so that they do not burn. This dish is marinated for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best. 

I serve the skewers with a simple salad with peanuts on top, and a bowl of vermicelli noodles that have a few drops of sesame oil in them, along with some home made sweet chili sauce.  You can sprinkle the skewers with sesame seeds or coriander.

Little morsels of tender chicken.

Thanks to Madue Jaffrey for this wonderful recipie from many years ago.  It is so simple and you can make it in the oven.  But you MUST get the oven to the highest temperature possible, so preheating is the first step.  The chicken needs to be marinated overnight.  Don't be worried too much about the quantity of chicken, it is a forgiving recipie.  I was served Tandoori Chicken with coriander leaves sprinkled on the top at a wedding (the bride was from a traditional Indian family) and it tastes wonderful.

 

Rev up a Rissole

These are variations on the basic 500g of lean beef mince rissoles.  Cook rissoles on a char grill or in a non stick fry-pan.  Just change the rissole to suit the mood by adding in these ingredients.

 

BBQ Leg of Lamb

My family LOVE this recipie, use a leg of lamb that has been butterflied. 

I cook it for 15 mins for each 500g - this gives you a medium to well done roast.   You MUST REST the meat.  Then cut it across the grain and serve with a green salad that has been shoots, cashews and sliced mango added.  Dress the salad with a dressing of orange juice and olive oil

 

 

Fattouch

You can vary the recipie by using slightly different salad ingredients, sometimes I just use tomatoe, basil and cucumber.  Do what suites your family.  You can make this up the the lebanese bread, and leave it in the fridge.  Then at the last minute microwave the bread and toss.

Another variation, which makes it a full meal is to add chick peas.  The mint and parsley can be chopped (or not!) as finely as you like it, and you can sprinkle the sumac on the top if you prefer.

Spaghetti Bolongnese our style.

This is our family recipie for spaghetti, I would make it at least twice a month.  We always have fresh basil on hand, or in ice cubes in the freezer.  I also use the same recipie, but with mexican chili and beans added, for chili con carne.  Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Neil's Chicken and noodle salad

Neil Perry's Saturday recipie in the Herald is looked forward to in my house, we have tried quite a few of them.  This one has stuck for several years as a firm favourite.


To make your own chilli oil, lightly toast and seed 20 fresh chillies, then grind them in a spice grinder. Heat 2 cups of oil to 155°C and pour it on the chilli powder. Leave for 1 hour, then strain.
Prawns are also lovely in the salad.

The Mosquito's Fish Tagine

This was from a little restaurant in Sydney that speciallised in Moroccon cuisine, the Mosquito Bar.  I obtained it from a SMH Good Weekend Magazine.   The chief was Hassan M'souli, who originally came from Casablanca, but trained in Paris.  I notice SBS.com.au has a lot of his recipies online.  

Use a fish that is quite firm such as sordfish.  Begin this recipie 3 hours before you need to serve. (you need to marinate the fish) Cook in a tagine, or baking dish, but make sure it is covered tightly so that it does not dry out.  Serve it with couscous, and the carrot salad (recipie at the end).  You can also top with fresh coriander leaves.

You can also make this recipie using a whole snapper and the Chermoula.  Just make large slits in the snapper to make sure it cooks well.

Ainsley's Rogan Josh

This recipie came originally from Ainsley Harriet, I saw it on one of his TV shows.  We love it!  Originally this recipie is for Lamb Shanks, but I use diced lamb instead, and works perfectly. 

The spice mix for this rogan josh is very authentic, I do not vary it at all.The longer it is cooked, the more tender the lamb becomes, especially if you use lamb shanks, you can cook it for up to 3 hours, but remember to keep the lid on very tight, and add a splash of water to make sure it does not dry out or burn.

 

Thai Fish Cakes

This is the basic fish cake recipie I have used for years, I think it originally came from a Keens's booklet.

 

Serve with lime, coriander and peanuts, or a dipping sauce made from lime, fish sauce, water, sugar, and chilli.  You can omit the chillies, coriander and spring onions from the food processor and add them in with the beans if you like to have them more authentic - looking.  In Thailand they are mixed by hand.

Rocky's Chicken Korma

I got this recipie from Rick Stein's program, it is an authentic Indian Chicken Korma and tastes wonderful.  

If you can't get white poppy seeds just leave them out.  I used dessicated coconut as I could not get coconut flesh - it turned out fine.

 

Chang’s Original Crispy Noodle Salad

This is the original recipie that everyone brings to a BBQ!
You can add shredded carrot, or red cabbage in as well.  For a full meal add shredded duck or chicken from the Chinese BBQ store.

 

Basic sweet and sour sauce.

This can be made as a sauce, or directly in a wok with vegetables (such as capsicum, onion, pineapple) that have already been stir fried.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Rating : Easy

Ingredients:

3 tbls sugar
1 tbls soy sauce
1 tbls sherry
1 tbls vinegar
2 tbls tomatoe sauce
2 tbls cornflour
1/2 cup stock.

Mix together and bring to the boil for 2-3 minutes.

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Tabbouleh

This is filed under "Lebonese salad", and came from the 1970's. Once you have made one batch you will never buy tabbouleh again!

Ukranian Varenneky

This is my mother-in-laws recipie, as taken down by my nephew before Katherine died.  He is an expert at making it, me - not so much!  Varenneky are delicious though, and lovely the next day fried in oil and onion.  Definately NOT low cal.

You can make sweet ones by adding sugar to the cheese, and dusting with icing sugar & cinnimon at the end.

A note about the cheese - My mother in law used what she called "farmhouse cheese" the closest is a cream cheese - but not Philadelphia.  It needs to be one you buy from a good deli.  The best cheese to use is Quark if you can get it.

French Quiche Lorraine

I have no idea where this recipie came from, but I do know it is French, so it is probably from a French chef or cookbook.  This recipie is for the filling, and is delish!  I have doubled it and made a large quiche, and it works fine.

What is important in this recipie is the ratio of milk and eggs, and the seasoning.  Note that there is no salt, you can add pepper if you like, but the cayenne is usually enough.  Once you have the recipie under your belt, you can vary it with things like mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, spinach etc. but then it is not "Lorraine"