Home Cooking: Chorizo with Kale and Breadcrumbs (30 Jan 2013)

Kale of a dish

Ever wanted to eat more healthy kale but always found it too boring when boiled. I did. So when I discovered the simple Stone Soup recipe which used chorizo I thought I'd give it a whirl. Cutting up kale and chorizo is dead easy. Add some oil, I used olive oil, to a wok/pan and pan fry the chorizo. Smells so good at this point tempting you to stop right here and eat as a tapas dish but persevere. Take the chorizo out with tongs and retain the flavoured oil to quickly stir fry the kale. Only takes a couple of minutes. As an adaptation I made some breadcrumbs by finely chopping a slice of white bread and cooked in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees until dry and crunchy. I added the breadcrumbs soon after the kale had cooked and the chorizo was added back in the wok. Allow the breadcrumbs to soak up any excess oil or add a dash of extra olive oil if too dry. Add a splash of lemon juice and take off the heat with a final stir fry toss. I only had bottled lime juice on hand which seemed to work OK as well. Didn't take long to make and tasted pretty good although probably not as healthy with the oil and chorizo but makes it easier to eat your greens.

Ingredients:

• Chorizo

• Kale

• White Bread

• Lemon or Lime Juice

• Olive Oil

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Kale is very healthy for you, There's chorizo in this dish, Simple recipe and easy to cook with minimal wash up required

CONS: Chorizo is probably not the healthiest thing to eat but tastes so good

MUST TRY: Discovering more recipes to cook kale in a tasty way

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Chop up chorizo and kale

Breadcrumbs made by chopping up white bread and cooking in oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes

Cook chorizo in a bit of oil. Chorizo will produce extra oil when cooked.

Once the chorizo is cooked take out with tongs and keep to the side. Retain chorizo flavoured oil in wok.

Stir fry kale in chorizo flavoured oil on high heat

Once kale is about cooked add chorizo back in wok

Add breadcrumbs to soak up any excess oil and to flavour the breadcrumbs

Take off heat and add a splash of lemon or lime juice for extra flavour zest

Plate up and enjoy

Simple & tasty recipe: Mexican 'One Dip Wonder' Vegetarian Salsa (2 Dec 2012)

A dip that's sure to please

I was inspired to make this dish when I tried it at a friend's birthday/housewarming party which was hugely popular. The flavours work really well together, it's very easy to make and quite cheap. I think it works best served in a very shallow dish or use a pizza container which I used making it easy to store in a fridge and transport to another venue. The key to successful is making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed across the area of the dish so when you dip a corn chip through the mix it will pick up a bit of all the different ingredients. Spreading a thin layer of each ingredients is how this is best achieved. It probably doesn't matter which order you spread the ingredients but I found starting with the thicker ingredients on the bottom seemed to be the best way. Being a vegetarian dish makes it a crowd pleaser for everyone and I'm sure even the meat lovers will appreciate the tasty flavours in this dip.

Recipe (4-6 people)

1st layer: Refried beans (1 can, 435g)

2nd layer: Sour cream (1 pot, 300g)

3rd layer: Salsa dip (1 jar, 300g) – Hot version works well

4th layer: Guacamole (1 pack, 200g) – or make yourself

5th layer: Deseeded and finely chopped tomatoes (4)

6th layer: Sliced Kalamata Olives (1 jar, 200g)

7th layer: Shredded tasty cheese (about 100-200g, couple of handfuls)

8th layer: Thinly sliced spring onions (5 stems)

9th layer: Couple of handfuls of finely chopped coriander

Serve with your favourite corn chips. Round shaped seems to work the best for dipping. The container I used was 27 x 27 x 3 cm which worked perfectly for above quantities.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Tasty, Quick and easy to make, Can be prepared a few hours in advance and stored in the fridge, Cheap to make, People can serve themselves, Vegetarian friendly

CONS: You'll run out if you don't make enough because it'll be very popular. I've met some people that don't like coriander

MUST TRY: Adding chopped up jalapeño for an extra heat kick

VERDICT: It's very quick and easy to make when made with mostly pre-prepared ingredients. The combination of flavours works really well together and the olives are especially good.

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Home Cooking: Fish Fingers San Choy Bow (25 Feb 2012)

Spontaneously creating a meal

I used to love watching the show Surprise Chef where Chef Aristos Papandroulakis went into peoples kitchens and challenged himself to cook a meal only using ingredients from their pantry, fridge or groceries they'd just bought. Quite often I find myself trying to do the same thing at home when I haven't had a chance to go shopping and need to feed myself with something besides toast, a banana or a can of tuna if I'm lucky enough to have one in the pantry. With dinner approaching fast with a growling stomach it was time to put my Aristos thinking cap on. I had left over Fish Fingers from the week so that was a great start. I found some iceberg lettuce, eggs and left over frozen peas. With a bit of mayo and some Maldon Smoked Sea Salt and Pimentón seasoning it was looking like Fish Fingers San Choy Bow was a possibility. In the end it tasted pretty decent. Perhaps a little bit too eggy so I should have maybe thrown a bit of chopped chives from the balcony garden in to smooth it over a little. I wonder if anyone else has created this dish before or is it a world first?

Recipe:

5 fish fingers

3 iceberg lettuce leaves

2 eggs hard boiled

1 cup of frozen peas

2 tablespoon of mayonnaise

Salt and paprika to taste

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Simple, cheap, tastes OK

CONS: Possibly not the most nutritious meal on the planet but it does contain greens and protein

MUST TRY: Thinking of another simple dish using the rest of the peas and lettuce

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Birds Eye fish fingers — I loved these as a kid

Hard boil the eggs

Wash a few lettuce leaves and break into smaller pieces

McCain frozen baby peas — be sure not to over cook them

Praise mayonnaise

Dulce Pimenton and Maldon Smoked Sea Salt

Mix the peas, egg and mayonnaise together. I should have crushed up the egg first and then combined so the peas don't get squashed too much.

Spoon egg and peas on lettuce and place a few cut up pieces of fish fingers on top.

Cinnamon Donut & Strawberry Croquembouche (28 June 2011)

Cheap, easy and fun

A work colleagues birthday inspires me to create a birthday cake. I knew he loved Krispy Kreme donuts but discovered their Wynyard shop had closed and the Central Station shop was unfortunately too far to get to during my lunch time. A trip to the CBD Town Hall Woolworths scores me cinnamon donuts on special ($2.48, 12 pack) and strawberries ($3.98, 250g punnet). For my 39th birthday I did something similar using mini iced donut which tends to work better. Of course it's not as good as a real French croquembouche which you'd find at Patisse.

Cinnamon donut & strawberry croquembouche ($8.94) — feeds 24 people for afternoon tea. Plate and birthday card not included.

Donuts for the sugar hit and strawberries as the gluten-free option

Time to eat

Home Cooking: Crumbed Eggplant (27 Sept 2010)

Slices of crumbed goodness

I love how eggplant goes nice and soft when cooked while still having that yummy crispy coating. The coating of the eggplant slices starts with flour then organic free-range egg and then a mixture of bread crumbs with salt, cajun spices and dried parsley. Shallow fry in your favourite oil for a minute each side until golden brown to seal and then drain on some paper towel. Pop them on an oven tray and heat in the oven for say 10 minutes on 200 degrees to help cook a little longer. Serve with your favourite salad. I nearly set the kitchen on fire when the paper towel caught alight on the stove top but quick acting saved the day — phew, that was close!

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Tastes good, Vegetarian friendly, Healthy except for the frying

CONS: Can be a bit messy to make but it's worth it

MUST TRY: Not burning my fingers in the fry pan oil

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Crumbed eggplant with side salad of tomato, mixed lettuce and grated cheese, Chef Leong :-)

Crumbed eggplant slices ready for oven

Home Cooking: 8 Steps to the Perfect Steak (21 Aug 2010)

8 Steps to Happiness

Cooking a perfect steak has always been a challenge for me but perhaps it's somewhat due to the quality of meat I've bought and not having a BBQ — as well as never been taught. I was given a quality piece of Delmonico steak with instructions on how to cook the perfect steak from Chophouse so I thought to honor the dish I'd serve with organic vegetables from Eveleigh Farmers' Market. The steps were very simple to follow and for a novice cook like myself a blessing. I've got a very simple stove and oven but in the end the steak was very nice, well seasoned and tender to cut with minimal grizzle factor. The meat stayed quite red in colour but it was actually cooked — although perhaps I could have cooked it a little longer. I'll certainly be trying these steps on my next meat and three veg night.

Chophouse: 8 Steps to the Perfect Steak

1. Take the steak out 20 min before to temper.

2. Set the oven to 200c.

3. Heat a thick bottom frying pan to hot (no oil).

4. Undo the steak, season with olive oil, salt flakes (a nice coat of oil).

5. Place the steak in the hot pan (don not add anymore oil) and cook for 1 1/2 min on one side, turn and repeat.

6. Place in oven for 4 min and take out, rest for 8 min on a rack in a warm place.

7. Place in the oven for 1 min to reheat.

8. Slice, serve and enjoy!

1. Take the steak out 20 min before to temper.

2. Set the oven to 200c.

3. Heat a thick bottom frying pan to hot (no oil).

4. Undo the steak, season with olive oil, salt flakes (a nice coat of oil).

5. Place the steak in the hot pan (don not add anymore oil) and cook for 1 1/2 min on one side, turn and repeat.

6. Place in oven for 4 min and take out, rest for 8 min on a rack in a warm place.

7. Place in the oven for 1 min to reheat.

8. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Steamed eggplant, organic carrots and broccoli

Meat and 3 veg, Chef Leong :-)