Sunday, 30 December 2012

No cook Worcestershire Sauce





After researching what seems like a hundred recipes I found a no cook recipe and modified it to suit what I already had floating around in my pantry. I love the idea of a no cook easy recipe that can be thrown together really quickly!


Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons of Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tablespoon of Treacle
Juice of 1 Lime
1 Teaspoon of Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon of Onion Flakes
1 Clove of fresh Garlic
1/4 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder

What to do:

In a pestle and mortar grind the cloves, onion flakes and Chilli. Juice the lime, and add all of the ingredients into the bowl of a small food processor. Blend until smooth and pour into a bottle and keep in the fridge. It only makes a small amount so you could easily double the recipe but mix in a bigger processor or in a jug with a stick mixer. It would last about a month in the fridge, but I can't see it lasting that long! It's delicious. I'm leaving mine a few days before I use it to let the flavours infuse.

Here is a link to the original recipe ...

http://www.foodrenegade.com/homemade-worcesterschire-sauce/

Saturday, 29 December 2012

Lj's Healthy version of Chicken Burrito's

I am always looking for healthier homemade options, here is a lower fat version of Chicken Burrito's everyone will love. There are lots of Burrito Seasoning Recipes on the internet. I have tried and tested a few of the powdered versions but prefer to use fresh, chilli/onion and garlic. 


Ingredients:

500 Grams Chicken breast diced
1 White Onion finely diced
1/2 Small hot Chilli deseeded and finely diced or more if you like it hotter
1 Clove of fresh garlic finely diced or crushed
1 Tablespoon of Cumin and Paprika
3 Tablespoons of No Fat Jalna Natural Yoghurt and a little extra for serving
Homemade Salsa to serve (Recipe Below)
Lettuce
Low fat Grated Cheese
Lite Mission Wraps (about 1/5 of the fat in the plain ones)

For the Salsa:
Finely dice a White Onion, 1/2 Red Capsicum, 1 clove finely diced
or crushed fresh Garlic, 4 Fresh ripe Roma Tomatoes, 1/2 Teas of Himalayan Salt
Throw in a saucepan and simmer  until soft and then cool down before serving. 

What to do:

Heat a frying pan and add a tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the Onion, Garlic, Chilli and saute for a few minutes. Add the Cumin and Paprika and stir to combine. Cook off for a few more minutes to infuse the flavours. Add the chicken, giving it a good mix to coat with the flavouring. Add about 1/4 cup of water and turn down the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Add the Yoghurt and give it a good stir to combine. The Yoghurt tames down the Chilli and just gives it a delicious flavour. Simmer on low  until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes on low.

Heat the Mission wraps for 30 Seconds in the microwave and serve. I have layered the lettuce, chicken, grated cheese, a little bit of salsa and a bit of the yoghurt, rolled it up and hooked straight in..
YUM!








Sunday, 23 December 2012

Nam's Spring Rolls

My Neighbour Nam makes the most awesome spring rolls! I'm pretty sure you would have seen me post pictures of the cooked Spring Rolls on my Facebook Page... today he was kind enough to give me a few lessons and work out the exact measurements they use, as like me sometimes measurements just go out the window. He explained that the amount of sauces added etc was by smell, something his mother taught him. She is an amazing cook if the smells from over the fence are any indication!!
 Here are the Spring Rolls we made today with the recipe below.
 Can't wait to eat some... SO GOOD!
This made 120 



Ingredients

1.2kg Chicken Mince
2 Grated Carrots
3 Small Onions finely diced
2 cloves garlic finely diced or crushed
15g Back Fungus (from any Asian Supermarket)
60g Bean thread Vermicelli 
1 Tbs Fish Sauce 
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Oyster Sauce 
Chicken Stock Powder 
2 Eggs Separated
60 Spring Roll Wrappers cut in half sideways into a triangle shape



What to do:

Soak the Black Fungus in boiling water until hydrated and drain. Soak the Vermicelli in boiling water until soft and drain. Add the Chicken, Carrot, Onions, garlic,  the sauces and stock powder into a bowl. Add the Black Fungus and Vermicelli. Add the Egg yolks and mix to combine as shown in the photo above. 

Fill and roll your spring rolls and pop into the freezer in snap lock bags until ready to deep fry. 

There is no easy way to explain how to wrap a spring roll so I'll post a link below to show you how to do it.

http://salu-salo.com/how-to-wrap-spring-rolls/

We actually did it differently and  cut the wrapper into 2 triangles and rolled using the same concept putting the large part of the triangle at the bottom. Roll over once then the side and up to the top. Seal with the egg white using a pastry brush or your fingers.




Lj's Herb & Parmesan Hash browns

Had some friends for Breakfast this morning and I just felt like
 Hash browns and not that crap you get at McDonalds... 
Here is how I like to make Hash browns..


Ingredients:

4 Medium Potatoes grated
1 Medium White onion finely diced
2 Free Range Eggs
Freshly Chopped Parsley and Chives
1/4 Cup SR Flour
1/2 Cup Freshly grated Parmesan
Himilayan Salt
Cracked Black Pepper

What to do:

Throw everything into a bowl, mix well to combine and shallow fry in Olive Oil..

That easy and so delicious!



Thursday, 20 December 2012

Lj's Spin on Curried Egg Salad


Having a break up BBQ at work tomorrow.
Decided to make a few different salads, this is one of them.
This recipe will serve 8 - 10
Healthy, Fresh & Delicious!!


Ingredients:

1 Cup 97% Fat Free Mayo
1 Cup No Fat Jalna Yoghurt
2 Tbs Lime Juice
3 Teas Curry Powder
1/2 Teas Salt
8 Boiled Free Range Eggs diced
1 Granny Smith Apple cored and diced
1/3 Cup finely diced Red Onion
2 Sticks of Celery finely sliced
1/4 Cup of Freshly Chopped Parsley

What to do:

 Combine all of the ingredients except the Eggs, Apple and Celery and mix well to combine.
Add the Eggs, Apple and Celery and toss to combine.

A nice change for something different :-)



Wednesday, 19 December 2012

Creamy Smoked Chicken & Sundried Tomato Rigatoni

I found some lovely Smoked Chicken while shopping yesterday and came up with this delicious lower fat pasta dish. My girlfriend Allison was coming over for dinner and I wanted to impress her of course with a nice pasta dish as she hadn't had pasta in ages.  She loved it, much to my delight but I do have the heads up on her fave foods. I served it with a Garlic Bread made with a Parmesan and Onion Batard that I purchased from Coles.




Ingredients:

250 grams of dried Rigatoni Pasta
(you can use whatever pasta you have on hand)
200g Smoked Chicken Breast Sliced
5 Slices of Shortcut Bacon diced
6 Button Mushrooms finely sliced
1 Tuscan Red Onion diced
Large Handful of Sundried tomatoes
(I used the ones I dried myself and reconstituted them in hot water, totally fat free)
Large Handful of Pitted Kalamatta Olives sliced
Tin of Carnation Light and Creamy
2 Tbs Cornflour
100g Reduced Fat Hillswood Tasmanian Feta Cheese
(I love this Feta as it crumbles beautifully)
Fresh Basil Leaves
Sprinkling of Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

What to do:

Heat a Ceramic pot/Frypan and a splash of Olive Oil. Add your Bacon, onion and mushrooms. Saute until soft and then add your Sundried Tomatoes and Olives and give it a good stir to combine. Add the Smoked Chicken and then  half of the Carnation Milk and stir. Mix the cornflour with the remaining milk in the tin until combined and add to the dish. Simmer on low until the sauce thickens. Boil and salt the water for your pasta and cook until al dente. At this point crumble your feta into your dish. Drain the pasta and add to your pot. Stir to combine your pasta and sauce. Serve into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan and Basil.






Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Lj's Kangaroo Bolognaise.. best in the world I tell you

I was sitting here this afternoon after working thinking I really feel like bolognaise..(even though I took out a T-Bone for dinner and even though slaving over a hot stove in this isn't that appealing!)

This is the leanest bolognaise ever.. rich and delicious. So low in fat it isn't funny, and for those who "don't" eat Kangaroo I can guarantee you that you will never make a Beef Bolognaise if you tasted mine..
I'm going to serve it with Slim Pasta tonight. There is enough to feed an army so I'll be freezing the rest into one serve containers and popping in the freezer for a quick meal after a long day or for when Mini-Me just wants some of Mum's Bologanise.


Ingredients:

1 Kg Kangaroo Mince
1 Large Red Tuscan  Onion finely diced
1 Large Carrot finely diced
1 Large Zucchini finely diced 
2 Large Portabello Mushrooms sliced
2 x 500g Jars of Passata
A glass of shiraz ( get into the rest of the bottle while cooking!)
( I swear by making all my own sauces but honestly when you are in  a hurry these jar sauces can be great, and to be even more honest they are cheaper to buy than they are to make at places like Aldi)
1 Tin of diced Roma Tomatoes
Fresh Basil, Parsley and Oregano from my garden

What to do:

Heat a large ceramic pot/frypan. Add a splash of olive oil, once the pot is hot add the onions, garlic, carrot, zucchini and mushrooms. Saute until soft and then add the Kangaroo mince. Stir to break up the meat and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, wine and sauce and give it a good mix to combine. Turn the heat to low and put the lids on. Let it cook slowly for a few hours stirring from time to time. 
Simmering will reduce the liquid and make a delicious rich and thick sauce with lots of flavour. Add you fresh herbs and let the flavours infuse by slow cooking for another half hour or so.

Serve with your favourite pasta/spaghetti or fettucine. I'm serving with Slim Pasta and a sprinkle of parmesan as I'm on a bit of a heath kick at the moment. Enjoy :-)




Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Lj's Healthy..ish Surf n Turf t-bone style

Healthy..ish Surf n Turf t-bone style.. Yum :-)






Delicious cooked T-Bone steak. I let my steak rest while I cook the prawns and sauce. I add a little olive oil to the same pan I cooked the steak in, add the prawns/freshly chopped garlic and cook on each side. The sauce consists of juices from the steak left on the bottom of the pan, cracked pepper, hiilayan salt and some light and creamy carnation milk mixed with a little bit of cornflour instead of cream to kinda make it diet LOL... oh and a splash of the Sauv Blanc I was drinking to bring all the juices off the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce thicken while stiring to Not the traditional way to cook garlic prawns but totally flavoursome :-)

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Rissy's Slow Cooked Rabbit wrapped in Bacon..

Would love to be at my Sisters when she cooks this gorgeous Rabbit! She has promised to make it for me next visit and I can hardly wait.. The recipe is from a Camp Oven Cookbook that Mum gave her.


Season the whole rabbit with salt and pepper.

Fill the cavity with sliced onion, tomato and garlic.


Wrap in bacon to enclose. 


Put a bit of ginseng spice (from Tassie), flour in an oven bag and put in the rabbit.
Tie off, pierce bag and cook on low for 6-8 hours.


Serve with the juices and whatever veges you like.

YUM YUM YUM!!!

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Pistachio, Basil and Sundried Tomato Pesto (Raw Recipe)

I'm very new to Raw Food Recipes....After days of researching all kinds of recipes I decided it was time to create my own and see what I came up with. I started with a base recipe and went from there.. I have no idea what I am going to do with this Pesto when it's done.. any idea's?????
Above is the link for the recipe I started out with.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves and a few leaves of Flat Leaf Parsley
1/2 Cup Raw Pistachios
4 Tbs Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Lge Cloves of Fresh Garlic
1/2 Tea Himilayan Sea Salt
Approx 10 Pieces of Sundried Tomato
(Best to chop up a little bit before throwing it in, makes it easier to process,
I've used the Roma Tomatoes I dried last week)

What to do:

Simply add everything into the bowl of a small  food processor. Blend until finely chopped.

I've never made Pesto without Parmesan and much to my surprise this recipe tastes FANTASTIC! Very proud of my first efforts... Now what I am going to do with it?

Saturday, 1 December 2012

Roasted Pumpkin & Yellow Button Squash Soup




Diced kent pumpkin, yellow button squash, lots and lots of whole garlic cloves (to keep the bugs away!) Himilayan Salt, cracked pepper, splash of olive oil, a good sprinkle of Vegeta Gourmet Stock powder and about 1/4 cup water in the bottom. Pop into the oven until the pumpkin is beautifully golden and soft. Puree in a food process or with a stick mixer. This makes a really thick healthy soup. Just add more water if you like it thinner. You could add sour cream or cream if you wish, I'm opting for a healthier version which is just as delicious. I'm going to serve with some homemade soy and linseed croutons with the bread I've got baking at the moment.


Herbed Soy and Linseed Croutons... Chop the bread and pop into a lined baking tray. Spray with Cooking Spray and toss with a few mixed herbs. Bake in the oven until almost done and then top with a little bit grated parmesan. Cook for a few further minutes until the parmesan is crispy.


Serve the hot soup into a bowl, add a dollop of Fat Free Greek
Yoghurt and the croutons.


Balsamic Sundried Tomato & Green Bean Salad


Can't wait to dig into this for lunch! Mum makes this and it's just to die for..

I've blanched some green beans in boiling water, left for a few minutes and then cooled in cold water so they stop cooking and remain crunchy. Then I rehydrated some homemade sundried tomatoes and Zucchini's I dried last week in some balsamic vinegar. Add some chopped reduced fat feta and sliced kalamata olives. I've left it in the fridge to infuse all those flavours together.

Yum Yum Yum.... Getting hungry! 

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