AGT April 2013 - Sweet potato pancakes with bacon & maple syrup

Okay, okay, I know this is going back a couple of months now. I was going to cook from Australian Good Taste like I do delicious magazine but I haven't really been doing that. I planned to rectify this however, I received notice in the mail that Australian Good Taste is going to cease being published. The August issue will be their last. It is sad as it is a good magazine. There has been a couple of foodie magazines shut down recently. I hope that my other favourites keep going. I would be completely lost without delicious.

When I first received this issue in the post I couldn't stop staring (drooling) over the cover recipe. It just looks amazing. The combination of the chocolate cake with ganache and malted buttercream topped with the maltesers is just a stunning combination. I really wanted to make it but there really isn't anyone to cook for. It wouldn't be a cheap cake to make. I might make it the next time I get together with my friends for a bbq. 

I also have the Smoky root vegie hash with eggs and beans marked to make. It would make either an excellent lunch or easy dinner. The only root veg in it are sweet potato and potato and I think that I would probably change that. Most likely swapping out the potato for something like celeriac, although beets would work too. The smoky flavour comes from smoked paprika, I would probably use my hot smoked paprika to add a bit of a kick. 

I ended up making the Sweet potato pancakes with bacon & maple syrup for breakfast one morning. Well, brunch really. The recipe called for the sweet potato to be boiled and then mashed. There are a lot of recipes that have pumpkin, sweet potato and the like boiled or steamed before mashing for use in other recipes. I would prefer to roast and then mash since boiling and steaming adds extra water into the vegetables that usually causes problems in the final recipe. I baked in their jackets until soft then left to cool, peeled and mashed. I really liked these pancakes, they were so light and fluffy with such a great flavour. The sweetness of the roasted sweet potato really came through. Adding bacon and maple syrup just rounded it out beautifully. 

Sweet potato pancakes with bacon & maple syrup

400g sweet potato, roasted whole, then cooled, peeled and mashed
265g (1 3/4 cup) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb

1 tbsp caster sugar
500ml (2 cups) milk
2 eggs
40g butter, melted, cooled
Bacon, fried (or baked) until crisp

Maple syrup, to serve

Combine flour, baking powder, bicarb and sugar. Whisk together milk, eggs and butter. Add milk mixture and sweet potato to the flour and stir until smooth.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat (I use an electric griddle). Melt a small amount of butter in the pan.  Drop 1/3 cup batter into pan. Spread slightly. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn and cook for 1 minute or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter to make 12 pancakes.
Divide pancakes among plates. Top with bacon. Drizzle over maple syrup.

Pesto Stuffed Chicken

I have been very slack when it comes to blogging but to be honest I have been pretty slack when it has come to cooking. I haven't been well for a while and have just not been cooking much. I have had a few of the better ready meals from the supermarket. I did make a tuna & pasta bake, that isn't really that interesting. Although I suppose even comfort food it worth writing about, it just isn't that attractive to photograph, delicious though. 

I am even still to decide on what to make from this month's delicious magazine. I have one recipe marked to make but it doesn't really interest me at the moment. I am sure there is other stuff in there but my disinterest in cooking and food means that deciding on what to make is a difficult decision. I will get it done though as I am not going to miss a month of delicious recipes. 

I am quite impressed with the recipes in this month's Feast magazine. There are quite a few of them that I would like to try out. Some pretty extensive ingredients lists. Although several of them I have every thing or just need one other thing to make it. It is just a matter of motivation. 

I did, however, get myself motivated enough a couple of nights ago to throw together a good meal. I had some chicken thigh cutlets to use up. I made more of the cashew & lemon pesto that I done previously. It was so easy to put together and the taste was terrific. The flavour of the pesto penetrated the chicken very well. I think that it would also work well with breasts, the oil from the pesto would help to maintain the moisture I believe. I served with mashed sweet potato & steamed beans. 

Pesto stuffed chicken

2 chicken thigh cutlets 

2 tbsp cashew & lemon pesto (or other pesto) 

oil

Pre-heat oven to 170 C (fan-forced). 

Cut a pocket into the side of the cutlets and push as much of the pesto in as possible. Rub any extras  over the chicken. 

Heat oil in an ovenproof fry pan. Brown chicken both sides and then place in over for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. 

Serve with mashed sweet potato, steamed beans and extra pesto. 

Sweet potato, chorizo & leek penne

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. Things have been a bit crazy this month. Actually things have been a bit crazy for most of the year. I hope that everything settles soon. Although still lots of work in front of me. 

I was wondering what to make for dinner tonight this afternoon. After quite a while without I really wanted to have some pasta. I knew that I had quite a few sweet potatoes at home that I really needed to start using up. I bought them a week ago as they were on special and hadn't gotten around to using any of them yet. I also had some chorizo in the fridge that needed to be used up as well. Oh and one very sick looking leek. So I combined them all together to make a delicious pasta sauce. 

Sweet potato, chorizo & leek penne

3 small sweet potato, halved 

1 head garlic, halved horizontally

1 leek, finely sliced

1 chorizo, diced 

dash chilli flakes, to taste

1/4 - 1/2 c milk

handful parmesan

2 tbsp sour cream 

Penne, I cooked about 1/2 box of Barilla penne

Pre-heat oven to 180 C.

Place sweet potato and garlic on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper and roast for 40 minutes or until sweet potato is very soft. 

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over a low heat add a drizzle of olive oil and add leek. Sauté until soft.  Add chorizo cook for 5 - 10 minutes. 

Cook penne in lots of boiling salted water. 

Add scrape sweet potato from skins, this will be easy when cooked, and add to chorizo & leeks. Squeeze garlic out the roasted garlic and add with the sweet potato. Mix well. Add enough milk to make it a sauce consistency. Taste and season to taste. 

Add parmesan, reserving a small amount for sprinkling. 

Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and then add to pasta and mix well. 

Serve and sprinkle with reserved parmesan. 

Quinoa & haloumi stuffed mushrooms with pesto cream

I really, really need to use some of the food that I have stored in my fridge, freezer and pantry. I honestly think with a bit of imagination I could eat for a week on what I have already only spending money on milk and cat food. Oh and perhaps fruit...I know that I don't have any canned or frozen. Not sure I can actually do a month but I am going to try for a couple of weeks and see how I go. I have actually tried this before. Last time I did it I went to buy milk and cat food and ended up spending a bunch on more stuff. I actually managed to go to the supermarket today and get only 4 things, all of which were on my list and these included milk and cat food.

I had purchased some large flat mushrooms last week to make mushroom burgers but never got around to making them so I decided to do something with them tonight. I have a large amount of quinoa in the cupboard so decide to use some of that as the base for a stuffing for the mushrooms. I really just tossed things in and hoped it would be good. It was very, very good and I will definitely be making these again. I used this mixture to fill two flat mushrooms, but there is plenty left over. I think I could fill at least another two if not four mushrooms.

Quinoa & haloumi stuffed mushrooms with pesto cream

1 c. cooked quinoa

1 small sweet potato, finely chopped and roasted 

1 small red onion, finely diced 

1 clove garlic, crushed

6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

3 piquillo whole roasted peppers, chopped

100 g grated haloumi, I had a herb & pepper one

handful of basil, oregano & parsley, chopped 

Flat mushrooms 

1 tbsp light sour cream 

1 tbsp basil pesto,

Preheat oven to 180 C. 

Saute onion & garlic until cooked. Combine with quinoa, sweet potato, tomatoes, peppers, haloumi and herbs mixing well. 

Place mushrooms on a tray and pile quinoa mixture on top. Roast in the oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. 

Combine sour cream and pesto and serve with the mushrooms.