December 2006 - Soft Breakfast Tacos

Happy Christmas eve to everyone out there reading. I hope that you are having a great one. I am so glad that I had the day off work today as I actually managed to get a whole bunch of stuff done. I got all my washing and cleaning done, something I haven't done in just one day for ages. Plus I made my Christmas meal for myself. Half of my family live overseas and when with them we always had  a big dinner on Christmas eve. I decided to go with that this year as I will be spending Christmas day out and I still wanted to get my usual Christmas treats, like my once a year Jellied Carrot Salad. Not your usual salad fare but it is something that both my gramma and mum used to make and pretty much takes me straight back to childhood. The reason it only gets make once a year is because it is made with jelly, crushed pineapple with juice, sugar, grated carrot and a whole bunch of whipped cream. Definitely not an every day thing but wonderful for a once-a-year Christmas treat and I enjoyed it a lot tonight.

I have actually made two dishes from this issue. The first was Valli Little's Tamarind-roasted Vegetables. I am sure that I must have done something wrong when I made this as it was just awful. In fact, I couldn't even eat it. The favour was hideous and it was so overcooked and some parts were burnt. Okay, so the overcooked and burnt were probably my fault, I should have taken it out earlier. I have a feeling that the taste problem was the tamarind. I have always bought tamarind concentrate from Herbie's Spices but I was out and I found some in the supermarket and decided to give it a try. It seemed different than the stuff from Herbie's. It was definitely a lighter colour. I will be getting more from Herbie's and will try it again because I have made a tamarind potato dish before and it was fantastic so I am determined that this one will be too.

The other recipe from this issue was one that I have always wanted to make, Kate Tait's Soft Breakfast Tacos. After the disaster with the vegetables I just wanted to make something else from the issue as there is a lot of nice things in there. This was just perfect. I made this for breakfast this morning. I didn't have any cream so just used milk which makes it a bit healthier, especially since I got a large dose of cream tonight. I also substituted the coriander for parsley, which I have an abundance of in the garden. In the salsa I just used the tabasco sauce rather than chilli and tabasco sauce and it was spicy enough for me. I really enjoyed it. It was very easy and quick to make and was sufficiently filling for breakfast. I will definitely be making these again. 

March 2007 - Barbecued Peri-Peri Pork with Quick Guacamole

I really wanted to make the cover recipe from issue #58. Valli Little's Warm Duck Salad with Beetroot and Pomegranate looked so good. I just love beetroot and pomegranates and was keen to try the combination in what looked to be quite a refreshing salad. I, of course, couldn't make it due to a lack of access to any duck meat. Although I did have a duck dish at a local Chinese restaurant last night. It was okay but I certainly wouldn't order it again. I should have asked where they get their duck from, although they probably get whole ducks rather than just breast fillets. I will find a source for them one day and go back and make all the wonderful sounding recipes that I have come across.

Tobie Puttock's Fried Mozzarella with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil looked really good too. The tomato and basil mix looked so lovely. The mozzarella pieces were crumbed and then deep fried. I find deep fried food to be a bit rich for me. I usually enjoy eating deep fried food at the time but it is unsettling for me. I was also concerned that the fact it is not just deep fried food but deep fried cheese it might just make me sick so with disappointment I decided not to make it.

The guest chef in this issue was Jared Ingersol of Sydney's Danks Street Depot which I had never heard of to be honest but then again I do not live in Sydney. The menus on their website look nice and the recipes that were on offer in this issue look very nice. I really wanted to make the Roasted Quails with Agresto Sauce, which is a combination of nuts, herbs, oil and verjuice. I could not get quails but considered making it with a small chicken but when I went to get a small chicken the butcher only had very big chickens left. I probably still could have made the recipe but I find that if I cook a large chicken just for myself I end up with too much left over and I never get it all eaten especially when it has a sauce like this one on it as it makes it harder to use the meat in something else, like chicken pies. This is definitely a recipe to come back to, along with the Hasselback potatoes with l'edel de cleron and a hazelnut dressing. L'edel de cleron is apparently a type of cheese but Jared suggests that if it is unavailable that brie or camembert would be suitable substitutions. I think that they will be interesting to try. It has been a long time since I have made hasselback potatoes but they are very tasty.

In the end, after a long day at work, I went with the quick and easy option and made Kate Tait's Barbecued Peri-Peri Pork with Quick Guacamole. I didn't use the barbecue as I don't really see the point of heating it up for one pork chop but I also don't have a gas bottle for it at present. I ended up grilling it. The pork chop was very nice. I quite like the peri-peri flavouring. I have done chicken in the peri-peri marinade before and it was great. The quick guacamole wasn't all that great on its own as it was a bit bland but since the pork had so much flavour the guacamole wasn't required to have a lot of flavour. The citrus to come through nicely though. Perhaps using coriander would have made a difference, and I didn't have much mint so perhaps if I had more of it it would have had more flavour. I served it with a salad and it was very nice.

Barbecued Peri-Peri Pork with Quick Guacamole

Ingredients

• 4 pork cutlets, rind trimmed, bones scraped (I just used a pork chop and left the rind on)
• 1/2 c. peri-peri marinade
  

Quick Guacamole

• 1 avocado
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 c roughly chopped coriander leaves (I used a mint and parsley mix)

Method:

• Place pork chops in a bag with the marinade and mix around to coat. The recipe suggest marinading for 5 minutes. I left mine for 30 minutes.
  
• Combine all the ingredients for the guacamole and set aside.
  
• Pre-heat grill to 180 C.
  
• Remove pork from marinade and place on a rack under the grill and cook for 5 - 8 minutes and then turn over and cook until done.
  
• Serve with guacamole on the side.
  

March 2006 - Pan-fried Chicken on Lentils with Pesto

Delicious magazine seems to like a purple/mauve/lilac cover. The colour is peppered throughout the back issues. It is unusual for two issues in a row to have the same coloured background and slightly confusing to be honest. I was forever picking up the wrong one. Although the lovely pots of Lime and Ginger Creme Brulee did differentiate this one.

It was one of the recipes that I considered making but as I said before, there is a dessert recipe that just had to be made later on in the month. Plus I do not have a blow torch for caramelising the sugar on top. I know that it can be done under a grill but I do not think that it is a good done that way as it is with a torch.

On my menu list for this month I had Bill Granger's Chicken & Kumara Curry. It sounds really good, full of chilli, lemongrass and (light) coconut milk. There is also a recipe for coconut rice to go with it. I was going to make it when I had visitors coming but decided to do something else with the chicken thighs for them. I was then going to make this for myself on the weekend but I only had one package of chicken thigh fillets in the freezer so it will have to wait until after pay day now.

So I ended up having to look for something else to make. I had a chicken breast in the freezer so I decided to make Pan-fried Chicken on Lentils with Pesto by Kate Tait. I am not really sure about this dish. The breast fillet that I had was skinless rather than with skin as the recipe called for so I wrapped the breast in some prosciutto slices that I had in the fridge. The lentils were nice but a bit bland for my liking. I think the addition of some chilli or garlic would have helped. I had some sundried tomato pesto so used that instead of the basil pesto, perhaps that would have added to it. I did enjoy it but I do not think that it is something I would make again.

Pan-fried Chicken on Lentils with Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 cup Puy-style whole green lentils
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 free-range chicken breast fillets with skin
• 4 large eschalots, thinly sliced(I used a red onion)
  
• 2 roasted red capsicums* (about 170g each), finely chopped
• 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup good-quality basil pesto

Method:

• Cook lentils in a pan of boiling water then rinse and drain.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frypan over medium heat and cook chicken, skin-side down for a few minutes and then turn and cook on the other side until cooked through. The set aside to rest.
  
• Heat the remaining oil in a frypan, add eschalots and cook until softened but not coloured. Add lentils and capsicum and warm through. Remove pan from heat and stir in parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Divide the lentil mixture among serving plates. Top with chicken and pesto.