Cheap-ee-Cheap Cheap!

Mmmm Yum.

Recipe #55 and #56 : Spicy Chilli Rice and Salmon Fishcakes with my 'On the Spot' sauce.

The Salmon Cakes I have to admit now I did on the cheap because fresh salmon can get quite expensive and I feel the recipe could be adapted for canned salmon. I gave it a go and it was FABULOUSLY DELICIOUS!

So here's Jamie's Salmon Fishcakes with canned salmon instead of fresh Salmon (which I can imagine would only make this taste even better). First things first: Peel and boil 600g of potato's and cook you rice (I used 3 cups of rice). While the potato's are boiling chop a small bunch of parsley and throw it in a large bowl with one egg, a tbs of flour, S&P and zest of 2 lemons (I used zest of one lemon and juice of half a lemon because the zester is crap). Mix in a large (415g) can of salmon; removing any large bones and the cooled potatoes. Smash and mash with a potato masher or fork until combined and potato has mashed and broken up.

Roll mixture into about 8-10 patties and cover with flour. I would advise putting on gloves here if you don't want your hands to smell like cat food after. We ran out of gloves so I used two freezer bags instead which worked like a charm. (I promise a photo of me wearing my plastic bags later). Stick the patties in the freezer for 20min or in the fridge for an hour.

Next chop your 2 fresh chilli's for the rice and add it to a hot pan with olive oil, butter, a tbs of tomato paste, 4 cardamon seeds and 2 cloves (Jamie says 4 but i thought with my sauce it might be too many flavours)and of course S&P. This is where the trick is... put the rice into the pan and coat then transfer the rice back into the rice cooker to keep warm while you heat the same frying pan up with oil to cook the fishcakes. I'm a girl who hates washing up :)

Now make the 'On the Spot' sauce in a old Vegemite jar. 6 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, 4 tbs of soy sauce, 2 small cloves of garlic crushed, 1/2 a tsp of grated ginger, half a red onion finely diced and the juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons. SHAKE and your done. easy or what??

While the rice is keeping warm stick some green beans and broccolini on fresh veggies (don't diss the microwave, it can be your best friend and your extra set of hands in the kitchen) and cook the patties in 2 batches. 

Serve the Salmon fishcakes on a bed of the Chilli rice (find the cloves before serving... nasty when you bite on them) and drape the green beans and broccolini over the patties then pour the dressing over to give the dish that mouthwatering smile we all love.
EAT, LAUGH  and LOVE it.


I promised a picture and here it is :)

How far away until Valentines day?

Last night I cooked Chicken Rogan Josh. It should have been with lamb but the only lamb we have was lamb chops and I couldn’t be bothered to cut the meat off the bone. Jamie says it would be ok with chicken so I trusted him and even though it was delish I think Lamb would have made it even better. You need a stronger meat then chicken for this curry.

Recipe #53 and #54: Chicken Rogan Josh (with home made curry paste)

I had a helper in the kitchen last night who ground the toasted spices into a powder for me with the tiny tiny mortar and pestle. (I love the mortar and pestle from the movie Julie and Julia; the one Paul Child gives Julia on Valentines day. Hmmm I love that movie and Julia Child. She had such romance with Paul, I love that he sat in the kitchen while she cooked away. Sorry back on track...) Rogan Josh curry paste. The recipe for this past can be found at Jamie's website.

First I toasted coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns and gave them to my handy helper for the night; Tris, who ground them into a fine powder for me. They went in the blender with: roasted capsicums, ginger, garlic, coriander, paprika, smoked paprika, turmeric, fresh red chilli (seeds and all), garam marsala, salt, peanut oil and tomato paste and whizzed until it formed a paste.

Next was to get on with the actual curry. Sauté onions, fresh red chilli (seeds and all), fresh ginger, bay leaves and coriander stalks in peanut oil with a nob of butter until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken (or lamb which I would advise) and cook until slightly browned, add some balsamic vinegar, S&P, can of diced tomatoes then the curry paste and cook for about 2 min until fragrant. Next add 800mL of chicken stock (or water) and a couple of handfuls of red lentils and cook for about 40 min for chicken and split lentils or an hour for lamb and whole lentils. Tase to see if more salt is needed.

Serve with basmati rice and home made condiments of yoghurt and cucumber. Mmmm EAT, LAUGH and LOVE it.
**Heads up: Even better the next day!

Does anyone know the trick to get chilli off your fingers?

Tonight for dinner I cooked (recipe #50 and #51) Mexican-style corn and Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham. It was an incredibly easy dinner.


You slice the chicken but not all the way through, just to make scores on one side then you sprinkle over pepper, fresh thyme, lemon zest and parmesan cheese. Top with prosciutto and olive oil. Cover with glad and smash with a hammer/mallet till the chicken is 1cm thick. Heat a frying pan and add the chicken prosciutto side down and cook for 3min. the turn and cook until cooked through.


While the chicken is cooking, cook your corn (I used the microwave- mum style). Chop your chilli finely, grate your parmesan and spread both over a large plate and sprinkle with pepper and salt. When the corn is cooked add butter to it and make sure it melts and overs the corn. Roll the buttered corn in the cheese and chilli.


Serve Chicken and corn on a hot plate (we also had a baked potato with dinner) and ENJOY! Dinner was delish I just wish I didn't have crackers and cheese when I got home.


**do not add salt to the chicken as the posh ham is very salty. 

Lesson number 1 learnt. Tick.

Recipe # 35 and 36. Last Night we had Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Sauce served over hot pasta and Mediterranean Chopped Salad.

Crème Fraiche. The dictionary meaning should be 'Devouring Delicious-ness'... although you do pay for the DD.

First I deseeded and chopped the (home grown) chilli, then the bacon and mushrooms. I heated the oil in a pan and forgot about it until it started smoking.

I added the bacon and gave the kitchen a oil shower of oil and bacon fat.... mmm mum loves me :) While the bacon was frying I had put the water on to start boiling for the hot pasta. I started chopping the Mediterranean Chopped Salad. Again I started with a home grown chilli which I deseeded and chopped along with tomatoes, onion, olives, lettuce and some wilted home grown basil. I made the dressing in a jar and DID NOT pour it over the salad yet as I have learnt my lesson with 'Soggy Salad'.


I added the tube pasta to the water and put the timer on so I wouldn't forget about it like I had forgotten about the oil. Next the mushrooms, chilli and fresh thyme was added to the now crispy bacon. Stirred until the mushrooms were coated in the bacon juices and then 4 tablespoons of Devouring Delicious Crème fraiche was added till bubbling.


Pasta is done and drained and poured into the pan of bubbling creamy bacon stirred through and seasoned with salt and pepper. Served straight away and sprinkled with some parmesan cheese.

Pasta and crème fraiche... Do I need to say anymore??


Salad was nice but the wilted basil made it bitter. Will leave it out or add fresh oregano next time.

Mum's is better by far!

Receipe #25: So last night we had Jamie's Chilli Con Carne. It was well… lets just say I cannot look at chickpeas again. I LOVE(d) chickpeas but this dish made everything go mushy, watery but also if possible dry. The flavours of chilli, cumin and cinnamon were delicious but the texture was all wrong and I did not need to add the extra can of water which Jamie says to do.


Jamie instructs: Chop garlic, onion, carrot and celery and fry with spices for about 7min. Add a can of chickpeas, kidney beans, 2 cans of tomatoes and then your mince.
When do you brown the meat???...I guess never.
If your reading the recipe in front of you now you’ll notice that I did not include the capsicum. We didn’t have any and as it was raining outside no one was willing enough to go to the shops and buy one.
Next to use a can from the tomatoes and fill it with water. Add it to the mixture. Then chop coriander stalks and add them to the watering uncooked mince stew looking thing on the stove. The only coriander stalks we had were frozen ones… I think they loose their flavour when frozen. Believe it or not you couldn’t taste them at all and there was quite a lot in there.


It takes and hour to cook so thank goodness netball was cancelled from wet weather.
Serve it with rice and sour cream (Jamie says yougart but we have our traditions still).


While everything was cooking I made lumpy guacamole with a hard avocado. I would say it was the highlight of dinner (not being sarcastic).


Fish for dinner tonight but all I can think about is Duck Ragout from MKR. Could I get any more opposite?

Oops i did it again...

Dinner tonight was Griddled lamb chops with chunky salsa, best new potato's and salad with yoghurt dressing. Recipe's #21,22, and 23.


    Lets start with the chops. Jamie asks you to cut your tomatoes in half, deseed your chilli and pepper, cut your chilli in half and your pepper in quarters. Sounds easy enough don't you think... well not to me. I deseeded the chilli's and diced them. Next thing Jamie asks is to put your fingers in your mouth after chopping the chilli's... no wait. Thats just me who does that.
    Drizzle lamb with olive oil and season. Place upright on a hot griddle pan and add veggies cut side down. Cook for 4-5 min turning in between.
   Meanwhile the potatoes should be boiling as they take 15 min. While everything is left cooking, Chop salad. Warning: Do not try hold cucumber and knife in same hand and unwrap cucumber with the other hand. You will cut your self on very sharp knife. Make dressing (yoghurt, white wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt in a jam jar.) 
    Once the potato's are cooked and the lamb is also cooked and the veggies are tender and juicy turn everything off. Add butter, petter salt and chopped min to the potatoes and serve. Chop basil, the cooked pepper, tomato and chilli (eh! one step ahead of you Jamie)  into a chunky salsa and add a dash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt. Warning: Do not try and pick up the salsa with your fingers and move it to a bowl. This will burn your finger and make them sting for hours after.


Serve chops with salsa on top and potatoes in a bowl for people to serve them selves. Salad is great after as a refreshing finish. It was yum! Mum even liked the dressing better then hers... but I have to disagree. Nothing can beat Mum's dressing.

Snot, Slime and Friends

Recipe #11- Chicken Chow Mein last night. Wondering what the snot, slime and friends means? let me explain. I chopped the garlic, spring onions, ginger and chilli as Jamie asks. The chicken was defrosting and the noodles were sitting their packet ready to go. Next step was to pick the leaves of the coriander and chop the stalks. Out came the fresh coriander from the fridge... 'Mmmuuummmm!!!' Lets just say it did not like sitting in the fridge over the past couple days. It was half snot and half coriander.


While mum sorted the snotty coriander I got the mushrooms out of the fridge to start chopping. When I pulled one out of its box I not only had a mushroom in my hand but also a little creepy crawly friend too. 'Mmmuuuuuummmm!!' So mum sorted the slimy mushrooms and my little friend went straight into the compost. After the Snot, slime and friends catastrophe everything was ready to go for some wok action. Except the fact that the only bit of sauce used in Jamie's Chicken Chow Mein is soy sauce it was the only sauce we didn't have at home. So off Dad went -as he so often does when I am half way through a recipe and realise I don't have everything to make it- to the shops to get some soy sauce. He came back after failing at the local Shell to then be successful at the Asian grocers across the road.


Dinner was served and eaten within 15 min of getting the soy sauce in the door.
 

Saving my ABC's for another day

Recipe # 7 & 8- Korma Chicken (with Jamie style homemade curry paste). I had no alphabet songs going through my head staring at the spice section in Coles yesterday.

I made my own ground almonds for the curry which worked well and we added dried coriander leaves in stead of coriander stalks and half a red chilli instead of a green one. I avoided putting my fingers in my mouth this time while chopping the chilli but we did have our mouths burning within the 2nd mouthful!

Hmm there is still Vindaloo to cook.... haha we might have more then our mouths burning with that one :)

Bring a Salad

Recipe #2 (& #3)- Rice Salad. BBQ at Chloe's house sitting house last Friday and it was a 'Bring a Salad' do. I'm a sucker for them! Last time I made a couscous salad that had too much chilli and not enough of anything else but couscous. Plus I have this problem of over catering so there was a lot of this too much chilli too much couscous salad. I have dissed that recipe as a bad day and will never make it again. This time I felt confident with my salad choice. Jamie's Rice Salad.

First things first was to cook the rice so it could cool. The rice for the salad is a mixture of long grain and wild rice. I mixed the both of the rice together assuming that it all takes the same amount of time to cook. Wrong. The wild rice takes longer as Mum came in and told me about 30 seconds too late. (At this point I could hear Tris's voice in my head saying "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups") Two words to describe how my rice turned out trying to cook it Jamie's way instead of in the trusty rice cooker. Burnt Pan.

The rest of the goodies for the rice were chopped and ready to go, this included fresh chilli's. Tip #1: Never think that you've washed your hands enough after chopping chilli. I learnt this the hard way last Friday. How you ask? I kept burning my fingers while cooking the rice and would put them straight in my mouth. It felt like I’d transferred the heat burn from the rice pan to my fingers and then into my mouth. I felt like I could have breathed fire!

The salad was then dressed (with Jamie's Lemon jar dressing) but I was still not. After I threw on a pair of shorts and top, packed my bag and got out the door mum had me back inside cleaning the stove top that to my eyes was clean but to hers it was not.

Finally at the party an hour late with a glass of bubbly in my hand.... couldn't get any better! -ok maybe if I had a pina colada in a coconut :)

Curry, Curry, Curry!

I have already cooked all the curry's in Jamie's Ministry of Food about 100 times. The night before last all I did was dream about curry's, Cooking curry, eating curry, serving curry... curry, curry, curry! It was curry mania if someone tapped into my dream waves.

Recipe #1: Vegetable Jalfrezi. Sounds exotic, don't you think? This exotic curry started off with Erin and I going to Coles on our lunch break to find fenugreek seeds, brown mustard seeds (no not ordinary mustard seeds. Brown mustard seeds) green chilli's, red chilli's, groundnut oil and whole coriander seeds. We stood in front of the spice wall in Coles which is in alphabetical order and tried to find the spices in F, B, S and C. After going through the alphabet about 3 times in our heads singing the song we were taught in school we still had no fenugreek seeds or brown mustard seeds. I gave up on fenugreek seeds and got plain mustard seeds instead. Next was groundnut oil. We stood in front of the oil section found peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, virgin olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil... Wtf is groundnut oil? well let me tell you... Its actual the same thing as peanut oil. Only they call it groundnut in stead of peanut in the UK. (I didn't find this tiny piece of information out until I was back at my desk after the shopping experience).

Back at the office I had a slight stress out that I couldn't do my exotic Jalfrezi, so I called mum. Mum's always know best. I have learnt this over the years that if Mum says take an umbrella you do anyway because for some reason or another her sixth sense knew that the hot day would turn rainy and you would be left walking home from the bus stop looking like a drowned rat. She found the damn groundnut oil and fenugreek seeds... It was her sixth sense I have yet to inherit.

After feeling sightly travel sick from reading on the bus I started cooking my exotic dinner, beginning with the home made curry paste.

Firstly, the spices needed to be toasted then crushed to a powder in a pestle and mortar. I thought this was easy having only ever watched Jamie do it on his shows. I put all the whole toasted spices in Mum's small pestle & mortar and began. They started flying everywhere! The mortar was too small and the pestle was too small... Everything was just too small! I have come to the conclusion that my Mum likes tiny appliances. Every appliance in our kitchen is small. Small oven, small sandwich press, 1 cup processor and now I have discovered the small pestle & mortar. However, I overcame the obstacle of small and did manage to smash, crush and powder the herbs.

Next was add the other ingredients and process. Now this is where Mum's tiny processor called Oscar came out of the cupboard. Small Oscar was perfect for the job!

Everything was added to the pot and cooked for 45min. To reveal a delicious looking and exotic tasting Vegetable Jalfrezi which was served with Poppadums and yoghurt. Now, you think I'm being cocky saying it was exotic tasting but the fool proof test is... Mum had seconds!