Spiced Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

Mid winter and looking for a soup thats hearty with a nice chilli kick? This Bill Granger recipe is the business.

1.5 kg butternut pumpkin peeled and cut into 3 cm cubes
750g of ripe tomatoes quartered
6 garlic cloves peeled
1 small carrot cut into chunks
drizzle olive oil
1/2-1 tablespoon dried chilli flakes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons paprika
1.25 litres chicken/vegetable stock
180g (3/4 cup red lentils

to serve
dollop of yoghurt
sumac
crusty bread


Preheat oven to 180C
Put all veggies and spices into casserole dish with lid and drizzle with oil
Bake covered for 1.5 hrs or until veggies are soft
Roughly mash with masher and stir in stock
Bring to boil
Add lentils and simmer 15-20 mins until lentils are soft
Serve with dollop yoghurt and sprinkle of sumac
Enjoy with thick crusty bread

From Bills Basics 2010

a week of new recipes

We had reached the point where even I was sick of what we were having for dinner every night. So armed with my trusty Evernote notebook of recipes and some help from Taste I came up with 5 meals plus the kids had to choose a meal that they had to make with me.

And the 7 recipes are (drumroll please):

Bacon, zucchini and lemon spaghetti
Although my 2 are not keen on zucchini, one of them ate this dish with gusto. The other one was in trouble and was sent to bed without dinner. The boy child suggested adding capsicum instead of zucchini next time, I'm not convinced, zucchini and lemon go really well together.

Next time I will add more zucchini and bacon, especially bacon. Mmmm bacon.

Really delicious, fresh and easy to make. 5/5

Balsamic steak with tomato pasta salad
Not one last bit was left on any plate! Very tasty, although next time I will buy a better cut of steak. The balsamic vinegar did a good job of tenderising the cheap steaks I bought. I added rocket (from the garden *ahem*) to the adult plates. 4/5

Beef quesadillas with avocado smash
We love tortillas and Mexican food. This dish was a complete hit and Alice chose it to make as her dish for the week. I'm not complaining, it's delicious.

I use pork mince for dishes like chilli and bolognaise, really so much more flavour. The recipe requires kidney beans which I know my children won't eat. So I pureed them with the raw onion and garlic then fried off the purple gloop (looked awful but smelled fantastic) before adding the mince and salsa, taco seasoning.

Use a sandwich press to make the quesadillas (that was a suggestion in the recipe comments), much easier and then use a pizza cutter to slice up.

This will be a regular in our house from now on. Absolutely delicious. 5/5

Cajun-style chicken with Mexican Rice
I made a couple of mistakes with this one. I used chook thighs instead of breast. And didn't make enough marinade for the amount of chicken I had. However the rice dish was delicious and would make a great cold summer rice salad with bbq. I'll have another go at this when the weather is warmer and the bbq is back in action. I would probably also have a go at making my own cajun seasoning. 3/5

And the dish chosen by Mark was Corn Fritters with bacon and salad. The recipe is from a fantastic book from New Zealand and it's my secret! Suffice to say that creamed corn is definitely the way to go for these.

So that's it. A long post but 6 dinners that were all eaten and enjoyed. Phew.

ANZAC BISCUITS

For fail safe biccies gives these a go. Made from pantry staples you can add extra stuff for texture. These ones iv'e added cranberries and pepitos but iv'e also made them with nuts and sultanas and poppy seeds.

This recipe if from Bill Grangers cookbook:"Bills Sydney Food"but there are millions of similar recipes online.

Ingredients:

cranberry jewelled ANZACS

1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
one cup desiccated coconut
2/3 cup brown sugar: (tightly packed)
125gm melted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
2 tablespoons boiling water

extra stuff for texture:

pepitoes-handful

cranberries-handful

What to do:

In large bowl add all dry ingredients and mix, leaving a little well in middle.
melt butter in small saucepan with golden syrup
boil water and mix with bicab soda in small bowl and add to butter and golden syrup when this mixture is melted. It will foam up. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients and combine. Make balls of mixture (about tablespoon full) and squish down before baking in preheated oven 160 degrees C/ 315degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Makes about 18 biscuits depending on how big you roll em.  Let them sit for 5 mins on tray after removing from oven before cooling on wire racks. Enjoy with cuppa...ahhh..and the kids can have em too i spose.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

I love this meal as it is really tasty, and only uses a few ingredients that I usually have in the fridge.

Ingredients:
Pancetta or bacon chopped up
4 tablespoons extra virgin oil or less ( I usually just use a few glugs olive oil)
4 red chillies split up middle, and seeds removed. If you are feeding kids, then omit this step and sprinkle individual dishes with dried chilli at table
2 large cloves garlic finely chopped
2 x 60gm eggs (very fresh)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
500gm spaghetti
freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
pop bacon, chillies and garlic in oil in small pan and cook on very low until fat renders from bacon, trying not to burn garlic
Whip up eggs in bowl and add cheese and pepper and stir to combine
Cook spaghetti, drain when cooked
remove chillies from pan and combine spaghetti with pan with bacon in it. Add eggy cheese mixture and stir thru in saucepan.
Serve and grate extra black pepper and sprinkle dried chillies if omitted in first step onto individual  plates.

Mint sauce

1 garlic clove crushed
large handful parsley and mint, finely chopped
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons xv olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
a pinch chilli flakes ( i usually add on top of my plate so that Cal can eat too)

Stir ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with lamb

Roast Lamb Shoulder

1X1.1 kg lamb shoulder with bone (or without is ok)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 whole garlic bulb, halved
3 Rosemary sprigs

Preheat oven to 160C
Trim lamb any excess fat
Rub in olive oil, season with salt and pepper
Place lamb in roasting pan
Place garlic and rosemary sprigs on top lamb/in tin
Pour in 1 cup water
Cover tray with foil and bake for 2 hrs.


Uncover lamb, increase temp to 220C and roast for another 20 mins to brown. You may want to remove garlic and set aside so it doesn't burn. The meat will fall off the bone. I serve with roast suds and home made mint sauce.

Crispy Bacon-wrapped Pork Loaf by the Destitute Gourmet

Well MK, I'll take your Nigella meatloaf and raise you a Destitute Gourmet pork roll/meatloaf recipe!

Sophie Gray writes as the Destitute Gourmet and is a New Zealand institution.  I have 3 of her cookbooks  (they are my most frequently used cookbooks) and follow her on Facebook as well.  Her recipes make the most of small amounts of more "expensive" ingredients like meat, and she has many tips for stretching the budget and pantry to feed a family.

This recipe for pork loaf is delicious and like Nigella's meatloaf is fantastic cold on sandwiches the next day (if it lasts that long).  I even made this one Christmas as part of our Christmas Day lunch.  Delicious.

Serves 4-6

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp oil
4 slices bread
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp mustard powder or wholegrain mustard
1-2 tsp dried sage
500g pork mince
4-6 rashers of bacon with rind removed

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Saute the onions and garlic in the oil until soft and set aside.
3. In a large bowl tear the bread slices into pieces and add the egg, salt, pepper, milk, mustard, sage,  onions and garlic.  Mix with a fork until soft and mushy.
4. Stir in the pork mince.
5. Lay a sheet of foil on the bench and arrange the bacon slices side by side on top of the foil.
6. Scoop the pork mixture along the middle of the bacon row and spread it into a log.
7. Lift the sides of the foil and wrap them around the pork so the bacon encloses the sides of the 'loaf'.
8. Shape into a loaf by smoothing the sides (with the foil still wrapped around).
9. Gently loosen the foil and invert the loaf into a shallow baking dish.
10. Remote the foil (the foil is only to help wrap the bacon around the loaf and shape it).
11. Wash the foil carefully and reuse it for something else.
12. Bake the loaf at 200C for 40 minutes or until juices run clear when pierced with fork.

Enjoy!