Week 14 - Burgers and Sliders

Well I had a craving for burgers that cheap take away was just not going to cut it.  After realising I had no mince in the freezer I decided to give a go at grinding my own in my Jamie Oliver food processor. I actually cannot believe how easy it was and how delicious it was using better quality meat in my burgers.

These turned out great and are an easy midweek meal to try.

Freshly ground meat

Caramelising the onion

Only the best mayo!

Extras

Book: http://www.jamieoliver.com

Recipe: Burgers and Sliders

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

For the burger mix

olive oil
2 medium red onions, peeled and finely chopped
6 Jacob's crackers, or 4 slices of bread, crusts removed
500 g quality lean minced beef
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 heaped teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large free-range egg
1 handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

For the spicy mayo

2 teaspoons low-fat mayonnaise, made with free-range eggs
2 teaspoons fat-free natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
1 good pinch smoked paprika or cayenne pepper
juice of ½ lemon

To serve

6 rashers higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
6 large burger buns, or 18 small burger buns
1 soft round lettuce, leaves washed and spun dry
4 tomatoes, sliced
6 gherkins, sliced
a few pickled chillies

Method: 

You can make these burgers or sliders in an oven at full whack, on the barbecue or in a hot pan. If you're using the oven or barbecue, preheat it now.

Put a splash of olive oil into a large frying pan on a low heat and add your chopped onions. Fry for 10 minutes or until the onions have softened, then put to one side to cool completely. Blitz your crackers or bread in a food processor until you get a fine consistency. Oil a clean baking tray and put aside. Put the cooled onions into a large bowl with the rest of the burger ingredients. Use clean hands to scrunch the mixture together really well, then divide into 6 equal balls for burgers and 18 equal balls for sliders.

Wet your hands and roll the balls into burger-shaped patties about 2cm thick. Place your burgers or sliders on the oiled baking tray and pat with a little olive oil. Cover them with cling film and put the tray into the fridge for at least an hour, or until the patties firm up. This is a good time to make your spicy mayo, so put all the ingredients into a bowl, mix well and put to one side.

If using a frying pan or griddle pan, put it on a high heat now and let it get really hot. However you decide to cook your burgers, they'll want around 3 or 4 minutes per side – you may have to cook them in batches if your pan isn't big enough. When your burgers or sliders are nearly cooked on one side, add the rashers of bacon – whichever way you're cooking them – then flip the burgers and cook the bacon until golden and crisp. When the burgers are cooked to your liking and it's all looking really good, halve your burger buns and warm them through. Put the bacon on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.

When everything comes together pop your burgers or sliders on to their buns, add all your lovely toppings and your spicy mayo (you know how to put a burger together!), then tuck in with a lovely fresh salad, baked potato or potato wedges.

Changes Made: I decided to caramelise my onions - I used brown onions and popped them on the stove top for around 40minutes to reduce. I also ran out of mince so just made my own in the food processor. 

Results: Yum! They were just what I felt like, and mincing my own steak made these extra special. I also loved the kick that they cayenne pepper gave to the mayo.

Next Time: If mincing steak make sure that it is a bit fattier as this one was pretty lean and dried out a little. 

Week 12 - Fish Baps with Mushy Peas

This was a fantastic weeknight meal, pretty much no prep, quick and full of flavour. Remember to get all of your ingredients if you want a truly 15 (or 20) minute meal. I nailed this one in 20 but oh my gosh you should have seen the state of the kitchen! Poor OH with the clean up.

Watch out for cayenne pepper.. much hotter than chilli powder!!! I used quite a lot so the fish had a definite kick! I loved the yoghurt tartare though, very different and helped balance the heat.

Coating the fish

Browning it off

Yum!

Book: 15 Minute Meals

Recipe: The Best Fish Baps with Mushy Peas and Tartare Sauce

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

Baps

4 nice wholewheat gaps (any roll will do really!)
4 large (halved) or 8 small flat-fish fillets (around 480g) - I used Perch - skin off and pin boned
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
½ a mug of plain flour
olive oil
25g parmesan cheese
1 punnet of cress - I used pea sprouts
1 lemon

Peas

1 medium potato
500g frozen peas
½ a bunch of fresh mint

Sauce

6 cornichons
1 tablespoon capers
1 little gem lettuce
250g natural yoghurt
¼ of a bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 lemon

Method: 

Ingredients out, Kettle boiled, Oven at 130°c, small lidded pan high heat, large fry pan high heat, food processor (bowl blades)

Put the baps into the oven, slice the potato 0.5cm think, put it into the small pan, cover with boiling water and the lit and bring to the boil. On a sheet of greaseproof paper, season the fish with salt, pepper and cayenne, then sprinkle over flour to coat.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the frying pan and add the fish. Cook until golden, finely grating the Parmesan over the top when you flip it over. Top the frozen peas into the pan with the potato then rip in the leafy top half of the mint and replace the lid.

Put the cornichons, capers, lettuce and yoghurt into the processor. Tear in the top leafy half of the parsley, squeeze in the lemon juice, then whiz up, season to taste and pour into a bowl. Drain the peas and potatoes, puree in the processor and season to taste. When the fish is perfect, get the baps out of the oven and serve with the peas, tartare sauce, punches of cress and lemon wedges.


Changes Made: Regular multi-grain rolls

Results: Great! Nice and light meal, pretty healthy and so tasty! The peas were fantastic and will be something to incorporate a lot more in dinners, very quick. Fish was delish although I underestimated the potency of cayenne pepper.. lucky I can handle the heat!

Next Time: Nothing :)

Week 11 - Mighty Meaty Stifado

The weather in Adelaide turned chilly for a few days so I was in search for something that would warm me up from the inside. I love cooking things in the slow cooker but have not tried many on the stove top.

This recipe was full of things I would never have thought to put into a stew like cloves and all spice. It smelt amazing when marinating the meat and the finished product was so rich and refined. It definitely warmed me from the inside out and left me with the warm and fuzzy's.

I love the fact that any meat will do, as it cooks for so long you can go budget!

Add the onions

Reducing it down 

Finished product!

Book: Jamie Does...

Recipe: Mighty Meaty Stifado

Ingredients: 

Serves 6

Marinade

1½ teaspoons allspice berries or whole pimento
6 cloves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon dried oregano
125ml dry Greek red wine
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Stifado

600g stewing beef, trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
600g trimmed pork shoulder, cut into 4cm pieces
olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon raisins, roughly chopped
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
juice of ½ a lemon
a bunch of flat-leaf parsley

Method: 

Marinade

Bash the allspice berries, cloves and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the peeled garlic and keep bashing until your have a paste. Tip it into a bowl, tear in the by leaves and add the rest of the marinade ingredients. Toss in the meat until well coated, then cover with glad wrap and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Stifado

When ready to start cooking, heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the peeled onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until softened and golden. Add the meat and its marinade, then the raisins, tomatoes and puree, and pour in just enough water to cover everything. Season well and bring everything to the boil, then reduce to a low heat, put the lid on and leave to summer for 1½ hours. Take the lid off and cook for a further 45minutes or until the meat is really tender and beginning to fall apart and the sauce is thick and delicious. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry. Have a taste and add the lemon juice and more seasoning if necessary. Finely chop the parsley leaves and sprinkle them all over, then finish with a drizzle of good extra virgin oil. 

This can be served with pilaf rice or mashed potato with hot crusty bread.

Changes Made: Nothing!

Results: This was one fantastic and very different stew.. cook it now!

Next Time: Nothing :)

Week 10 - Vindaloo Beef Curry

After coming home from Thailand I was keen to try my new skills from a Thai cooking class. One thing that I learnt was just how easy curry paste is to make and how different it tastes when done fresh. Gone are the days of store bought paste! This was a great, easy recipe that really anyone could do. It came out amazing and was a big hit in the house.

The rice is a recipe/method I use every time to make rice, it's really simple and always turns out perfect. Try adding things like chicken stock and cloves for an enhanced flavour!

You can make this curry with a jar of paste if time short, but I really recommend that you give the paste a go, you wont be sorry.

Grinding those spices

Curry paste!

Coating the beef with paste

Finished produce

Book: Minstry of Food

Recipe: Vindaloo Paste, Curry and Fail Safe Rice

Ingredients: 

Serves 4-6

Paste

1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 cloves
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (or curry powder)
2 cloves garlic
a thumb size of fresh ginger
4 dried chillies
1 tablespoon tumeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons groundnut (peanut) oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 fresh red chillies
a small bunch fresh coriander

Curry

2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic
1-2 fresh chillies, to your taste
a thumb size of fresh ginger
a small bunch fresh coriander
4 ripe tomatoes
groundnut oil
a knob of butter
800g diced pork shoulder (or any meat)
½ a 283g jar of vindaloo curry paste or curry paste above
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon runny honey
200g natural yoghurt
1 lemon

Method: 

Paste

Peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the peppercorns, garlic, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds to a dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious then remove pan from the heat. Add toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine (you could use a food processor also). Add the rest of the ingredients and grind until you have a smooth paste.

Curry

Peel, halve and finely slice your onions. Peel and finely slice the chilli. Peel and finely slice the ginger. Pick the coriander leaves and finely chop the stalks. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

Get a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high hear and add a couple of lugs of groundnut oil and the butter. Add onions, garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the pork and curry paste, stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, balsamic, honey and about 400g of water, enough to cover everything and stir again. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not sticking to the pan and add extra water if necessary. Only when the meat is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper - season carefully.

Rice

Put a large pan of salted water on a high heat and bring to a boil. Rinse rice in a colander under running water for 1 minute or until the water runs clear. Add rice to boiling water  and wait for the grains to start dancing around. From that point, boil for 5 minutes. Drain rice and pour 2.5cm of water back into the pan. Cover the rice in the colander with foil or a lid and place on top of the simmering water and let the rice steam over it for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover until ready to serve. It should stay warm for 20 minutes.

Serve the curry with rice, natural yoghurt, coriander leaves and lemon wedges.

Changes Made: I did not have any fenugreek or curry powder so omitted this ingredient. I also used beef rather than pork.

Results: Oh my goodness! This was flavour central, I had thought that the paste was a little wet, but turned out so good. I loved the yoghurt and lemon and for someone who does not really like coriander it really balanced out the whole dish.

Next Time: Nothing! Success!

Week 9 - Roast Chicken

This is the recipe my staple roast chicken is based on and it really hasn't changed much from the first time I tried a roast for my friends up in the snowfields. It may seem like a lot but this meal was so simple to make and is a favourite of the Sunday roasts in our house.

I thought I would try a new way with beets, usually it's just beets with seasoning in foil so this balsamic sounded interesting. They turned out so sweet and were a nice change instead of heavy roast vegetables. Also something I learnt recently is you can eat beetroot leaves, they are so yummy just try using them like spinach.. with garlic and butter!

This gravy really is the best, the flavour you get from the roast vegetables, plus I added the chicken wings, is amazing. It can get a little runny so make sure you leave it on the hob for a good 10-15 minutes if you like your gravy with a little more colour and substance.

Chook ready to be cooked!

Coming out of the oven

Dinner!

Book: Ministry of Food for the Chicken & Gravy and Return of the Naked Chef for the Beets

Recipe: Perfect Roast Chicken with Balsamic Beetroots and Gravy

Ingredients: 

Serves 4-6

Chicken

1.6 kg higher-welfare chicken

2 medium onions

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

1 bulb garlic

olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture

Gravy

1 heaped dessertspoon of plain flour

1 wine glass of red or white wine, or a good splash of port or sherry

1 litre of stock

Beetroots

455g fresh raw beetroots, scrubbed


10 cloves of garlic, unpeeled and squashed


1 handful fresh marjoram or sweet oregano, leaves picked


salt, freshly ground black pepper


10 tbsp balsamic vinegar


6 tbsp olive oil

Method: 

Chicken

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.

Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour). Put the lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them, get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking.

Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy.

Beetroots

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Tear off a strip of kitchen foil big enough to hold the beets in a parcel. If the beets are large, cut in half to speed up their cooking time; if small, use them whole.

Place them in the middle of the foil with the garlic and marjoram, season generously with salt and pepper and then fold the sides of the foil into the middle. Before you seal the parcel, add the vinegar and olive oil. Scrunch or fold the foil together to seal at the top. Place in the preheated oven and cook for around 1 hour, until tender. Serve in the bag at the table.

Gravy

While your chicken is resting using a spoon, carefully remove 90 per cent of the hot fat from the tray by angling it away from yourself and scooping off the fatty layer that settles on top.

Put the tray back on the hob over a high heat. Add the flour, stir it around and, holding the tray steady with a tea towel in one hand, use a potato masher to mash all the veg to a pulp – don't worry if it's lumpy. You can rip the wings off the chicken and break them up into the tray to add more flavour at this point.

When everything is mixed and mashed up, add the alcohol to give a little fragrance before you add your stock (the alcohol will cook away). Keep it over the heat and let it boil for a few minutes. Pour the stock into the tray, or add 1 litre of hot water. Bring everything in the pan to the boil, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until you've achieved the gravy consistency you're looking for.

Changes Made: Unfortunately had no celery, but would usually pop it in the gravy. Also no foil so tried to cook the beets in baking paper, which turned out fine. I am also a big fan of butter under the skin of the chicken so I added this step after seasoning and massaged into the breasts. 

Results: Amazing.. as usual! I actually really loved the beets instead of an array of roasted vegetables, we also had some potato bake on the side which was good too. The chicken was so tender and the lemon squeezed over at the end gave little bursts of contrasting acidity.

The carrots for some reason did not soften much when roasting in preparation for the gravy so did not get a chance to mash up much.

Next Time: Slice the carrots a little smaller. 

Week 6 - Mixed Fish Grill

My sister came to visit and in traditional Adelaide weather it was a weekend of high thirties days and hot nights.. not very nice! This week was a sister pick and we thought we would enjoy the day with some seafood. This recipe had it all, easy to make, healthy, tasty and so quick!

There was more to this recipe, but due to the weather we felt we did not need he fennel and couscous sides.

Sorry for the lack of photos, I was too excited about eating I forgot to take a "finished" shot.

The base of champions!

Just about to pop in the oven

Book: 15 minute meals

Recipe: Mixed Fish Grill

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

1 bunch of fresh parsley
1 fresh red chilli
12 ripe mixed colour cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1/2 a lemon
400g mixed fish fillets, scaled and pin boned (we used snapper and tuna)
4 large raw shell on prawns
500g clams and mussels, scrubbed, cleaned and debearded

Method: 

Roughly chop the parsley leaves and chilli and out into a large high sided roasting tray with the tomatoes. Squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher and mix with 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lemon. Half the fish fillets, then add to the tray with the shellfish (throw away any mussels or clams that wont close when tapped), and toss together. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until the clams and mussels have opened (throw away any that remain closed).

Serve with lemon wedges.

Changes Made: More prawns, as we love them! Not much else changed as its such a simple and easy one. 

Results: Delish! Loved the addition of the cherry tomatoes as they just pop in your mouth with sweet goodness. This was so easy, although it all ended up a little salty from the mussels opening (I assume that was why) and tasted a little sea watery. 

Next Time: Maybe cook the mussels separate, and turn the oven up more!!

Week 4 - Baked Lamb Shanks

I was very excited to give this recipe a try, purely for the fact it was so simple! Just cut up some veg, pop the meat on the top and let time do the rest. Shanks always inspire that home cooked, wintery, warming, under a doona kind of feeling. Since summer had decided to desert us for a week I was craving this sort of meal. Even preparing the dish was making me feel all warm and fuzzy. Fresh herbs, onion.. it was all coming together.

Apart from the cooking time, I really think I only spent around 5 minutes prepping.. for something so delicious you can't do any better!

I had planned to serve these with some creamy mash but found we had no potato, or sweet potato, or pumpkin or anything to mash! All we had that could be used was tomatoes, so I stuffed them with breadcrumbs, basil, onion and garlic and roasted for 20min. It all turned out well and complemented each other nicely.

Stuffing the shanks with herby butter

Big pile of yum

Three little piggies (not really but that what they reminded me of!)

The finished product

Book: Cook with Jamie

Recipe: Incredible Baked Lamb Shanks

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
150g cold butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
15 fresh sage leaves
sea salt ad freshly ground pepper
4 lamb shanks
12 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 large carrots, peeled and finely sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 leek, washed, halved and finely sliced
olive oil
white wine

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180°C. Pick the leaves off two sprigs of rosemary, whiz them with the butter, most of the sage and the thyme in a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Using a small knife take one of the shanks and cut between the meat and the bone from the base upwards. You want to create a pocket. Once done to all the shanks divide the butter between them and push into the pockets. This will give a wonderful flavour to the heart of the shanks.

Tear off four arm length pieces of foil and fold in half to give you four A3 sizes. Divide the garlic and veg between them, making a pile in the middle of the foil. Season the shanks with oil, salt and pepper and place each on top of a pile and top with a sprig of rosemary and a few fresh sage leaves. Carefully pull up the sides of the foil around the shank and pour a swig of wine on top. Gather the foil around the bone, pinching it together tightly. Repeat for all shanks, then place the parcels on a baking tray with the bones facing up. Put in the preheated oven for 2½ hours or until the meat is as tender as can be. Serve the parcels in the middle of the table so that your guests can open them up themselves.

Changes Made: I did not bother french trimming my shanks, yes they look pretty, but more flavour was what I was going for. 

Results: Once again a winner, Jamie can you ever do wrong? So easy and tasted amazing. They were different from my usual slow cooker as there was less juice. The shanks dried out a little, but it was kind of good, as it was more.. meatier. 

Next Time: More wine in each parcel, I skimped a little on this one, thinking there might be too much liquid in there but really could have used the half a glass he suggested. 

Week 2 - Cajun Steak

This week's recipe was picked by my lovely OH (Other Half) who naturally, like many men out there love's his meat! I just knew flicking through my Jamie books that this was one he would go for pretty quickly and low and behold it's week 2!

Baked beans are one of those things that sit in your cupboard for months or even years and while we don't mind eating they are just a little... boring. I love the idea of taking this family staple and turning it into something special and cannot wait to see how it turns out. 

This will also be my first 15 minute meal since buying the book so I am really interested in how long it takes to cook and will be timing myself.

Note: due to oncoming headache this weeks photo's are not so good.. my bad!

mmm.. Beans

Fresh from the oven all cheesy and gooey

Seasoned sirloin

Frying off the steak

The finished dish

Book: Jamie's 15 Minute Meals

Recipe: Cajun Steak with Smoky Baked Beans & Collard Greens


Ingredients: 

Serves 4

Greens
2 rashers pancetta
olive oil
1 big bunch of mixed fresh herbs, such as bay, thyme and rosemary
1 carrot
4 spring onion
½ bunch of radishes
1 chicken stock cube

Beans
2 x 400g tins of mixed beans
350g passata
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco
2 tablespoon Tomato sauce
2 tablespoon HP sauce
1 teaspoon runny honey
1 heaped teaspoon english mustard
40g cheddar cheese

Steak
2 x 250g sirloin steaks, fat removed
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tsp dried thyme

Chilli Vinegar
1 fresh chilli
1 bottle white wine vinegar


Method:

Before you start it is recommended (in order to complete in 15 minutes) that the ingredients are out, kettle boiled, oven at full whack 240°C, large lidded pan at medium-hgh heat, medium ovenproof fry pan medium heat, large fry pan high heat.

Start the pancetta, out it into the lidded pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, then pick in the herb leaves. Trim, finely slice and add the carrot, spring onions and radishes, stirring regularly. Drain and rinse the bans and put into the medium frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil to fry and crisp up. 

Slice the kale (if needed) and add to the lidded pan, crumble in the stock cube and pour over 300ml of boiling water, then put the lid on. Stir the remaining bean ingredients (except the cheese) into the beans pan and bring to the boil. Grate over cheddar then place into the oven until golden and sizzling. 

Rub the steaks with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. Put them into the really hot large fry pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, turning every minute until cooked to your liking. Slice the chilli and add to the bottle of vinegar with a couple of bay leaves then add a drizzle to the greens before serving. Carve the steaks on a board at the table and serve with the beans, greens and a splurge of mustard. 

Changes Made: Could not find kale, not even sure if we can get it here is Australia and after some research found pak choy to be an adequate substitute, not really in the cajun theme but oh well! Also BBQ sauce in place of HP.

Results: Delish! This dish worked really well and just goes to show how good baked beans can be! The collard greens ended up a bit soupy but the flavour was really good. 

Unfortunately a head ache made me forget to time myself but I think it would have been close to 25min. Jamie recommended to have all ingredients out and ready to go, which I did not, and wanted you to have 3 separate pans on the go to begin with which I don't even own. Overall I think this is a totally doable weeknight dinner and one the men will love. 

Next Time: Use mustard, not hot english mustard as my baked beans had quite a kick! Also less water for the greens. Not much to change on a simply good meal.