Lamb & prune "tagine"

Enough for 4.
4 lamb shanks
4 red onions, quartered lengthwise
200g pitted prunes
1 can tomatoes (400g)
1 stick cinnamon



1. Place lamb, onions, prunes, tomatoes and cinnamon in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water.

2. Cook on low for 10 hours.

3. Taste and season. Serve on cous cous or mash.




Next time: up the cinnamon

Winter greens pie

Filling:
2 3 cups silverbeet or kale (or stinging nettle) cut into rough 2.5cm pieces, lightly steamed and allowed to dry
90g fetta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup currants
dash olive oil


Pastry:
1 cup nut flour
1/4 cup flour
1 egg yolk
juice 1/2 lemon
pinch sea salt
80g butter

1. Start by making the pastry: blend together all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Check for additional salt.

2. Roll out 60cm of baking paper, fold it in half and place the pastry in the middle of both sheets (like a sandwich). Refrigerate until firm.

3. Make the filling by combining all ingredients. Toss well with your hands, add a generous dash of olive oil and season to taste.

4. Rub the bottom of your pie dish with olive oil then pour in the filling.

5. Remove the pastry from the fridge. Keep the baking paper folded in half and roll out the pastry between the sheets of paper using a rolling pin. It should be about 0.5cm thick. Remove the paper from one side of the pastry, then place the pastry on top of the pie. Pull off the paper on the other side and ensure the pastry sits evenly flat atop the filling. Trim the edges around the top.

6. Place pie in a pre-heated oven at 180C and cook for 20 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp on top.

Lentil granola

For about 2 cups:
165g red lentils

65g rice bran syrup (more for a sweet flavour)

1.5tsp vanilla extract

2 x 15ml olive oil

135g almonds

35g shredded coconut

Boil medium pot of water, add lentils and boil for 5 minutes until al dente. Drain and air dry lentils.

Oven to 150C. Mix lentils with oil, syrup, vanilla. Spread on a tray & bake 10 minutes. Stir, add almonds and bake another 45 minutes, stirring every 15.

Add coconut and bake another 15. Cool & store in an airtight container.

Serve with yoghurt & fruit.

Apricot lamb shanks

4 ppl:

4 lamb shanks

200g dried apricots

2 onions, diced

1 tin tomatoes

2 sprigs rosemary
1/3 cup water

Put in a slow cooker, low for 8 or 10 hours. Skim some fat, season & serve with cauliflower rice or cous cous.

Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

(Next time try with brandy &/ cardamom.)

Ginger puddings

4 hungry ppl:

100g butter

2 x 100g brown sugar

2 Tbsp grated ginger (or 2.5 tsp ground ginger)

2 eggs

100g plain flour with

1.5 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 180C. Melt butter, stir in 100g sugar & ginger. Then eggs, then flour. Add to ramekins.

Add 1 cup boiling water to remaining sugar, stir & poor over puddings. Bake, covered with foil 25 mins & uncovered for 5. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Baked chicken with tomato, olive & caper salsa

2 people:
4 skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 T olive oil
salsa:
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives (used garlic & herb marinated)
3/4 cups cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T capers
1 t caper juice
2 T good quality olive oil
1/4 large red onion, diced
1 to 2 T chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper


Pre heat the oven to 180C.
Heat he olive oil in a frying pan, and when hot, pan fry the chicken breasts on each side until golden. Remove and set aside in a medium size roasting tray.
Mix all the salsa ingredients together and spread over the chicken breasts and in the tray.
Roast for 25 minutes until cooked through.

Served with cauliflower rice.

Pumpkin feta pie

Short olive-oil pastry:
500g plain flour
½ tsp salt
60ml olive oil
250ml cold water

Pie:
1.5kg kent pumpkin, seeded, peeled (ends up about 1.3kg) and cut in 2cm dice
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Knob of butter
2 leeks, white part only, finely sliced
5 eggs
120g parmesan, grated
200g feta
4 gratings nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Handful walnuts, toasted and roughly broken

1. Preheat the oven to 185 degrees.

2. To make the pastry, whiz the flour and salt in a food processor. Drizzle in the oil, then add 250ml of cold water while processing until a ball forms.

3. Tip onto a floured surface and knead briefly until you have a smooth ball. Rest in the fridge for an hour, wrapped in cling film.

4. Season the pumpkin with salt and pepper, toss in oil and roast until well cooked and the flesh has dried out and concentrated, about 30-40 minutes - the pumpkin should not colour too much. Leave to cool.

5. While the pumpkin cooks, melt the butter in a small pan and sweat the leeks until softened.

6. In a food processor, add half the pumpkin, four of the eggs, the parmesan, half the feta, the nutmeg and cinnamon. Puree until smooth. Season if necessary.

7. Raise oven temperature to 170 degrees fan-forced, 190 degrees conventional.

8. Grease a 30cm pie dish and line the base with baking paper. Roll out the whole round of pastry into a large even circle, allowing enough so that the edges can be folded over to form a lid (this doesn't need to cover the whole of the filling, but allow some to fold on top). Lay into the dish.

9. Pour in the pumpkin puree and distribute evenly. Press the remaining pumpkin pieces into the puree, then spread over the leeks, sprinkle over the remaining feta and scatter the walnuts on top. Pull the edges of the pastry in to form a lid, working around the pie, pleating the pastry to form a petal-like pattern, leaving a hole in the centre of the pie. Beat the remaining egg and glaze the pastry.

10. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and leave to cool.

Served with sourdough and a tetsuya-dressed oak lettuce salad - perfect!

(Suggestion: Drink Viognier)

Kraken good bananas

2 serves:

1 Tbsp butter

2 ripe bananas, halved lengthwise, then crosswise

1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

4 Tbsp dark rum (preferably Kraken)

1 Tbsp water

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons sliced or chopped toasted nuts

Whipped ream or vanilla ice cream to serve

 

Melt butter in a skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté banana, cut sides down, shaking skillet, 1 minute. Remove from heat and sprinkle brown sugar & rum around banana. Return to heat and continue to sauté, shaking, until sugar begins to melt, about 30 seconds.

Add water, nutmeg, cinnamon and cook over moderate heat, shaking occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve banana hot, sprinkled with nuts.

(Could this be a tart?)

 

Sausage supper

serves 2:
2 brown onions, peeled & cut into 6 segments
4 parsnips, trimmed & cut into batons
1 small head garlic, broken into individual cloves
5 thick pork sausages
1 cup chicken stock

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the veg in a baking tray, drizzle with some olive oil, top with the sausages and pop it in the oven.

2. After about 40 minutes, give everything a stir and add the stock.

3. Bake for 50 mins or so until the veg and bangers are brown and the stock has reduced to almost nothing.