Chicken in a Bag

This is such and easy way to make a delicious dinner. It is wonderful because you cook your chicken and veggies together and there is zero cleaning up!

1 whole chicken

2 tbspn olive oil

2 tbspn paprika

2 heaped tspn cumin

salt and pepper

4 tbspn chopped rosemary

2 carrots, cut in pieces

1 sweet potato, cut in chunks

6 french shallots, peeled

4 cloves of garlic, whole and unpeeled

1 Glad oven bag

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Wash and dry the chicken chicken. Rub half the olive oil, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper and fresh chopped rosemary all over the chicken. Put it in an oven bag.

Rub the other half of the same ingredients over vegetables  and then put them in the bag with the chicken. 

Put the bag on a baking tray and roast for about 1.5 hours. Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes before you open the bag and put dinner on a plate.

Middle Eastern Fruit Salad

This is a beautiful way too make fruit salad, especially over winter. You can serve it warm or cold and it makes a wonderful accompaniment to porridge, muesli or yoghurt. It also makes a wonderful dessert, served warm with ice cream, custard or yoghurt. You can use any dried fruit that you like.

100-150g of each of dried apricots, dried peaches, dried nectarines, dried apples, and prunes .

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves or 1/2 tspn ground cloves 

a pinch of saffron

1 tspn of honey

1.5 tspns of real vanilla (if you have a vanilla pod, split that and use that)

Put all the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan. Add enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to the boil slowly and then turn heat down and let it simmer uncovered for about 15/20 minutes or until the water is mostly gone and everything is soft and stewy.

You can serve it like this, warm or cold or cool it completely and add some chopped pistachios and a sprinkling of rose water. You could also add a piece of orange or lemon rind when boiling it if you desired. 

Meringue Mushrooms

These mushrooms are the cutest treat and adored by kids and adults alike. 

2 large egg whites (at room temp)

1/4 tspn cream of tartar

1/2 cup of castor sugar

1 tspn of vanilla

1 tspn cocoa 

50g Lindt 85% dark chocolate

50g Lindt extra creamy milk chocolate

Pre heat oven to 100 deg c. 

You will need a large piping bag (mine is 45cm long) with a  1 1/2" nozzle.  Line 3 trays with baking paper. 

Whip egg whites on medium until foamy and add cream of tartar. Turn up to high and beat until stiff peaks form, then slowly add sugar and vanilla and beat til whites are very stiff and glossy. Make sure the sugar has dissolved (you can tell by rubbing some meringue between your fingers, you shouldn't be able to feel the grit of the sugar) 

Place the meringue in the piping bag. Try and get as much air out as possible. 

To Pipe Caps: Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into even rounds building up the meringue to form a 2 inch (5 cm) round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Sharply twist the bag and stop the pressure as you slowly move the tip off the meringue. Try to make the top as smooth as possible but use a wet fingertip to smooth out any bumps.  Dust the tops of the mushrooms with the cocoa. 

To Pipe Stems: Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into a cone-shape, making the base of the stem a little larger than the top. The stem should be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) high. Try to keep the stems as straight as possible. Some of the stems may fall over on their sides during baking, so it is a good idea to make extra.

Bake the meringues for approximately an hour and 20-30 minutes or until the mushrooms are firm enough that they can be lifted from the baking sheet without sticking.  I usually let them cool in the oven to make sure they are really dry.

Once cool remove from oven and with a small sharp knife, make a small hole in the middle of the underside of each mushroom cap. 

Melt the chocolates together. Spread a little on the flat side of the mushroom tops and gently push a stem into the hole. 

Place the mushrooms, caps down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and let the chocolate set.

You can store these for about a week in an airtight container in a cool place. make sure not to put anything else in the container with them or the meringue will get soft and sticky.

Fig, Date and Fennel Grissini

These are my absolute favourite things to eat, and I have been known to polish off and entire batch in the space of 48 hours. They make an appearance at every function I ever have (thanks mostly to my lovely sister who bakes them for me and my daughters who also love them). They are versatile enough to eat any time of day and can be served with sweets as part of dessert or savoury with cheese or as part of a breakfast or lunch spread. There is a bit of work involved, but there is also a great satisfaction in making dough, and in making something that tastes this good.

500g "00" bread flour

Pinch sugar

1½ tbsp instant dried yeast

2 tsp salt

¾ cup poppy seeds

6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to brush grissini

300ml warm water

100g fig paste, warmed (I use the Maggie Beer, Fig & Fennel Paste)

8 Medjool dates, finely chopped (just snip them with scissors)

1 pack of pitted dates (about 200g) also cut finely

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1-2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place flour, sugar, yeast, salt and poppy seeds in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed. Add olive oil and water and knead for five to seven minutes to form a smooth dough. If working by hand, the process will take longer. Place on an oiled tray and roll out to a rough rectangle shape, approximately five centimetres thick. Brush with oil and cover with cling film. Allow to rise for about one hour.

Once risen, roll the dough out slightly so it covers the board and you get a nice big rectangle. Spread fig paste roughly all over dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and then scatter the fennel seeds over. Then scatter the dates over – try and cover all of the dough with the dates, and press them slightly into the dough.   Fold dough over to enclose. Cut dough into three equal pieces.  I find it easier to put two of the sections of dough on the plate that I used for the dates and just work with one section at a time. 

Cut each into section of dough into 10 (you will have 30 pieces of dough). Roll out each piece into 20-centimetre finger lengths. You will need to have plain flour handy to dust the board and knife when you need it. The dough, fig and fresh dates can make it all quite sticky and make your life unnecessarily difficult.  Place on lined baking tray. Once you have all 10 on the tray, roll with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. Once you have done this you may need to reposition a few of them to make them fit on the tray and make them a bit straighter. Spray them well with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes, until golden. I usually put these in the oven and then just get to work on the next section of dough.

Tomato Salad with Chilli and Basil

Someone asked me how to make tomatoes taste amazing. Here’s how.

You can use any type of tomatoes you like. From an aesthetic viewpoint I think it looks nice to have a few varieties and I tend to cut them differently (ie slices, wedges, halves) to highlight the distinction.

I make the dressing on the plate I am going to serve the salad on then pile the tomatoes on top of the dressing and add the basil and mix just before serving.

2 punnets of heirloom, cherry, roma or grape tomatoes, cut in halves

6 black Russian tomatoes, sliced

8 doncaster tomatoes, cut in wedges

handful of basil leaves, shredded

dressing

2 long red chillis, grated on a microplane or zester

¼ cup olive oil

½ tspn salt flakes

1 tbspn white balsamic, white wine or red wine vinegar

Slice or cut all the tomatoes and place in a colander. Sprinkle over some salt and leave to stand for 20-30 mins. Meanwhile, combine dressing ingredients on a serving plate. Use a fork to mix them together and taste and adjust according to your preference. Shake the colander to remove excess juice. Pile tomatoes on top of the dressing. Add basil and just before serving toss to coat in the dressing.

Quinoa Salad with Carrot, Orange and Cranberries

This is another brilliant quinoa salad that is great for a crowd. It's festive, it's colourful and most importantly, it is absolutely delicious. The quinoa can be cooked in advance so all that is left to do is add everything else, toss and serve. I used tamari roasted almonds because I had them, but plain roasted almonds or toasted slivered almonds or raw almonds all work equally well.

2 cups of quinoa, cooked and cooled

1 large carrot, grated

seeds of one pomegranate

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup tamari roast almonds, chopped

zest of one orange

½ bunch coriander, shredded

½ bunch parsley, shredded

½ bunch mint, shredded

dressing

juice of one orange

¼ cup olive oil

½ tspn cumin

½ tspn cinnamon

pinch salt

1 tspn maple syrup

1 tbspn white wine vinegar

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Combine other ingredients in a large bowl, pour over dressing and mix to combine.

Sesame Crusted Salmon with Crunch Salad

This is one of my favourite ways to cook fish. It works especially well with tuna (as you can see in sesame crusted tuna with soba noodles), ocean trout and salmon. I think it looks nicer if you use a combination of white and black sesame seeds, but all I had tonight was black. I have been making this salmon for years, but I got the idea for this salad from my friend Shelley, who is mummyknows.com.au who adapted it from a James Duigan recipe. I have adapted it again to suit my tastes and ingredients on hand.  The salad is tangy and crunchy and cuts through the oiliness of the salmon magnificently. This is clean, lean and light food, but if you cook the salmon indoors it can become a bit smoky so if it is not too cold for you, use the griddle section of the bbq – just have your silver foil ready, and don’t overcook it.

 

2 fillets of salmon or ocean trout

1 tspn chilli flakes

¼  tspn salt flakes

3 tbspn sesame seeds (black, white or mixed)

drizzle of olive oil

salad

200g green beans, trimmed and steamed

200g butter beans, trimmed and steamed

1 baby fennel, thinly sliced

4 radishes, thinly sliced

2 carrots, julienned

1 sheet of nori cut into strips (optional)

dressing

2 tbspn olive oil

2 tbspn brown rice vinegar

2 tbspn soy sauce

2 tbspn orange juice

juice of ½ a lime

½ tspn brown sugar

Scatter chilli, salt and sesame on a plate. Spray salmon with olive oil. Press salmon into sesame mixture until the flesh side is covered. Heat a non stick fry pan or the bbq to high. Sear salmon skin side down for 3 mins. Turn to sesame side and sear for another 3 minutes. Remove from pan and wrap tightly in silver foil to rest for 10 minutes.

Combine salad ingredients on a plate. Combine ingredients for dressing and whisk. Pour dressing over salad reserving 1 tbspn. Place salmon on salad and drizzle over remaining dressing.

Chicken Salad with Pumpkin, Lentils and Radicchio

This is such a beautiful salad for winter. The colours are so vibrant and the dressing so light, yet the lentils and chicken combine to make this really satiating.  I think this is the best way to cook chicken breast (schnitzel excepted). In twenty minutes you get the glorious taste of roast chicken. You can use this concept of cooking the chicken and change the flavour by using different marinades. Some on my rotation are zaatar, harissa or fresh herbs with lemon zest and Dijon mustard. I like to use puy lentils in this salad, but if you want to save time or use one saucepan less, canned lentils are fine too (just rinse well). Also, you can omit the chicken, or substitute chickpeas, for a gorgeous vegetarian version. You could also add 1/4 cup of toasted slivered almonds for textural crunch.

2 chicken breasts

olive oil

generous pinch of salt

salad

2 large handfuls baby spinach

I small head radicchio sliced

1 cup cooked lentils

½ butternut pumpkin or ¼ jap pumpkin, cubed

¼ cup currants

½ bunch parsley, roughly chopped

dressing

¼ cup olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

1 tbspn white balsamic vinegar

pinch of salt

½ tspn sugar

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Spray the pumpkin with olive oil and roast for 25 minutes or until golden.

Massage the chicken breasts with 1 tbspn olive oil. Season generously with salt. Heat a non stick oven proof pan to high on the stove. When the pan is hot, sear chicken for 2 minutes. Turn over, sear other side for 1 minute then place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Combine dressing ingredients. Combine salad ingredients, pour over dressing, reserving 1 tbspn. Mix well. Arrange chicken slices on top and drizzle over remaining dressing, and toss to combine.

Beans with Chilli and Lemon

The simple addition of chilli, lemon zest and olive oil take these beans from simple to super.  I used butter beans because they were available but you can use snow peas, sugar snaps or green beans alone.

400g green beans, topped

200g yellow beans, topped

zest of one lemon

2 tbspn olive oil

generous pinch of salt

½-1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

Steam beans and refresh under cold water. Drizzle with oil, add salt, zest and chilli and toss to combine.

Salt Chicken

I have given this recipe to so many people over the years and everyone thinks I am joking when I tell them how easy it is. But it really is so simple. The result is a crispy perfect chicken that is delicious as a roast or to use for salads or sandwiches. And in case you are wondering, it doesn't taste salty at all. I have put in the before and after picture so you can see exactly what to do. It looks a bit more glamorous if you truss the legs, but that takes as long as the whole recipe. The salt doesn't touch the chicken.

1 chicken

salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish. Pour a pile of salt in each corner of the baking dish (not touching the chicken). Roast for 1¼ hours. 

Spinach, Pomegranate and Candied Walnut Salad

This is my go-to salad whenever I am asked to bring something for a dinner party. It takes five minutes to prepare but looks like a lot of work has gone into it. If pomegranates are not in season, it works equally well with slices of blood oranges or pink grapefruits, just add a tablespoon of the juice into the dressing.

1 bag of spinach leaves

½ radicchio, leaves finely sliced

½ pomegranate seeded

150g walnuts

2 tspn castor sugar

dressing

4 tbspn olive oil

2 tbspn balsamic vinegar

Heat a non stick frypan to medium and dry fry the walnuts until they are toasted (2-3 mins, shaking the pan occasionally). Put them in a bowl and return the pan to the heat. Add the castor sugar (uniformly) and as soon as it melts return the walnuts to the pan and toss them through the caramelised sugar. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Put the spinach leaves in a bowl. Toss with the oil and vinegar. Add the pomegranate and caramelised nut and toss to combine.

Pomegranate can be substituted for nectarine.

Thai Style Fish Curry

This is one of my all time favourite things to cook and eat. It is delicate yet robust and utterly satisfying. It takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish and the end result is heavenly. I could eat this week in, week out and never tire of it.

500g white fish fillets, skinned and cut into scallop sized pieces (I like to use blue eye or barramundi

2 tbspn olive oil

1 knob of ginger peeled and grated on a microplane

10 cm lemongrass stem, bruised

2 chillis, finely sliced

1 heaped tbspn red curry paste

½ cup cooking sake or white wine

1 cup vegetable stock

2 tbspn soy sauce

I can coconut milk

juice of half a lime

handful of snow peas

1 red capsicum sliced into batons

2 bulbs of baby bok choy, separated into leaves

In a hot wok or frying pan, combine olive oil, ginger, lemon grass, and chilli. Stir until fragrant then add red curry paste and stir for 2 minutes. Add sake and stir til alcohol evaporates. Add soy and stock and mix. Add coconut milk and stir then add lime juice. Taste at this point and add more lime, chilli or soy to your taste. When ready, add fish and cook for about 5 minutes, turning pieces once. Add snow peas, red capsicum and bok choy. Stir gently and cover with a lid for 2 minutes. Serve on a bed of rice or cous cous. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Honey Toasted Muesli

I have made a lot of muesli in my time and I have found that pretty much any combination of nuts, grains, fruits and seeds can be delicious, and so much better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.  The only thing that you need to do is shake or stir the mix every 10 minutes during baking so the nuts and coconut don’t burn. You can substitute the honey for maple or golden syrup or apple juice and change the combination of ingredients to suit your taste. If you are adding dried fruit, slice it up and add it after the muesli is cooked and cooled.

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ cup raw cashews

¼ cup chia seeds

1 tspn cinnamon

1 cup raisins

½ cup honey

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except raisins and honey. Microwave honey for 30 seconds and then pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Lay out muesli mix on two baking trays and bake for 10 mins. Remove trays form oven, stir muesli and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove trays, add raisins, stir again and bake for a final 10 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.