Butter chicken

If you don't shop at Aldi, then this post will be of no use to you LOL

This recipe is taken from the Butter Chicken spice pack I bought from Aldi last week - however I didn't actually write down the recipe on the back before I threw the packet out......

So this post is a bit pointless, but it was very yummy so I just had to share!

So here is the spice pack I bought.... so it's already got all the spices you would normally have to buy separately, like the garam masala, paprika, etc etc.

Brown the chicken:

And a picture tutorial of what else I did.... I know there was some yoghurt, some cream, tomato paste, the spices, onion, stock, and a few other things! BUY THE SPICES AND YOU WILL FIND THE RECIPE ON THE BACK haha

And it was delicious....

Seafood salad

I offered to bring a salad to Mother's Day lunch at my in-laws - and thought I'd make my delicious seafood salad!

It is such a creamy and tasty salad - with a secret ingredient: Celery Salt!!!!

You have probably noticed that I am a memory-cook. I often just guesstimate amounts, so approach my "measurements" as estimates, and please adjust them according to taste!

Ingredients:
1kg seafood extender
500g king prawns, peeled
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 avocado
A jar of Thomy's whole egg mayonnaise
Around 1 tablespoon of Masterfoods celery salt
Lemon juice

Method:
Break apart the seafood extender, and place into a bowl.
Add the sliced celery.
Add a fair amount of celery salt (according to your taste), and as much whole egg mayonnaise as you desire.
Mix well.
Slice the avocado and place along the top.
Place the king prawns along the top.
Drizzle lemon juice over the top.

Voila!

Home-made dumplings

My husband and I are big dumplings fans.... so today I took a trip down to the local Asian Supermarket to stock up on supplies for dinner tonight....

I used this recipe:


http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/410/steamed+dumplings

But I would suggest adding some salt to the mixture.  I also replaced half the soy sauce in the dipping sauce with some Kecap Manis (nicer flavour).

The mixture:

Making the dumplings with wonton - add a small amount to the middle, wet the sides, fold in half to make a triangle, and then fold the corners together and wet them:

The recipe says it makes 30, but I made 40:

Steam them for 40 mins:

Meanwhile - make the sauce:

Then serve with steamed pakchoy and carrot (or other asian veggies).

I may try it in a soup next time.... they were delicious!

Catering for lunch

I had some friends over for lunch the other day so threw a few things together.

I made some mini quiches - very easy to do.
Just put together into a bowl the following ingredients: 1 grated carrot, 1 grated zucchini, a cup of sliced mushrooms, a small tin of corn, some shaved sliced ham, parsley, chives, salt and pepper, and then about 4 eggs.  Add some tasty cheese, some parmesan cheese, and some thickened cream or sour cream.

You can add anything you like really... like asparagus, chorizo, etc.

Whisk it all up.

Line a greased muffin tray with some puff pastry (I divide each sheet into 9 squares) and add some of the mixture into each cup.

Bake for about half an hour on 180 degrees C.

I also served a Bocconcini salad - very easy. Just some baby spinach, sliced bocconcini, sliced roma tomatoes, arranged nicely on a platter and drizzled with rock salt, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Some Smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers on mini toast.

And a tray of sandwiches (ham, colby cheese, avocado and chicken, lettuce, mayonaise and colby cheese) on wholemeal bread.

And my apple and walnut cake for dessert with yummy tea (my fave is Dilmah tea with Rose and French Lavender)....
My dear friends also brought some delicious hand made rocky road... and some Lindt balls for dessert... nommmmy!

Apple, Walnut and Raisin cake

I've recently discovered a great blog whilst looking for Lebanese recipes - and decided to make an Apple, Walnut and Raisin cake for my dear friends coming to visit from Queensland.

The recipe is found here: http://mayasingredients.com/2012/01/16/apple-walnut-cake/

All the ingredients:

The mixture:

And the cake was DELICIOUS!

Moussaka!

I haven't made a Moussaka in years! Tonight I was feeling like a bit of ethnic food (plus I had a few eggplants in the fridge that needed to be used), so I thought "Why not?"

So I did what I do sometimes, and looked up a few recipes on the internet, and took what I liked from a few, and made my own recipe! haha

INGREDIENTS:
3 large eggplants

Extra virgin olive oil spray

MINCE MIXTURE:
1 medium brown onion
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
800g lamb or beef mince
400g tin of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp mixed spices
1/2 tbsp cinammon
salt and pepper


BECHAMEL SAUCE:
75 g butter
1/3 cup of plain flour
2 cups of light milk

Half a cup of Pizza cheese.


METHOD:

Thinly slice the eggplants, and cook eggplant over medium heat with olive oil spray in a fry pan (around 2 mins each side). Transfer to plate.

Heat oil in a pan and fry onions and garlic until onions are golden brown.  Add mince, separating with a wooden spoon.  Add diced tomatoes, spices, cinammon, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, and then turn heat down and simmer for 20-30 mins.

Melt butter in a small saucepan and add flour, stirring to make a roux.  Slowly add the milk while mixing. Bring to the boil and stir on low heat for around 5 mins or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees.
Grease an oven-proof dish with olive oil spray. Place a third of the eggplant along the bottom of the dish.  Pour half the mince mixture over the eggplant, and spread.  Place another third of the eggplant across the mince, add another layer of mince, then a third layer of eggplant.  Pour the bechamel sauce across the top of the eggplant, then sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 40 mins or until cheese is golden brown.

Serve with salad.

Snayneeyeh - traditional lebanese sweet!

Even though I am a born and bred Aussie, my family background is Lebanese Christian and there are some Lebanese traditions I just love.... the dancing, the weddings, and most importantly - THE FOOD!

I love the traditional food, the food made on certain occasions - like Good Friday "peasant food". Mum makes a Vegetarian loaf full of pumpkin, sweet potato, chick peas, spinach, and crushed wheat... and a wheat-ball soup with lemon and spinach.  It's a traditional Good Friday food because of it's simplicity and the basic vegetarian ingredients... and there is history and tradition behind it.  Most Christians eat seafood on Good Friday because you aren't meant to eat meat, but we go that one step further and I just love it!

Another traditional food is the "Snayneeyeh" (which actually translates to "teeth" in English)  It's a dessert that is made by a mother when her baby gets his/her first tooth! My son got his first tooth last week, and I finally got around to making the Snayneeyeh last night.  This dish took almost as long as it took for my son's actual tooth to appear..... FOUR HOURS of boiling the wheat.... but it was worth the effort!

So I went to the Lebanese Grocer and stocked up on some ingredients....

I boiled two cups of wheat in 2 litres of water for four hours, topping up with water every 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, I soaked 3/4 cup of walnuts, 3/4 cup of sliced and peeled almonds, and 3/4 cups of pistachios in water.

Once that was done, I stirred in about 3/4 cup of Orange Blossom Water, 1 tablespoon of Pomegranate Grenadine Molasses, and about 3/4 cup of icing sugar. 

I served about two tablespoons of the mixture into individual martini glasses (and some into plastic bowls to give away to family and friends), topped with the nuts, shredded coconut, and some baby marshmallows!!!!!!!!

Voila!!!

And traditionally we are meant to deliver these desserts to our close family and friends!!

Congratulations darling boy on your first tooth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xx