Bombay Potatoes

BOMBAY POTATOES 

Indian night in our house is naturally a curry of sorts – but recently my stomach isn’t tolerating a lot of animal products or fats at the moment so I have been craving vegan goodness – but without missing that winter comforts. 

Tonight we served Bombay Potatoes – as with all my recipes this is Gluten and Lactose Free and made in the Thermomix – Would be easy enough to adapt without the thermomix so I will add both methods below – just keep in mind I haven’t tried it without. 

INGREDIENTS

500g Cocktail Potatoes

500g Water

400g Chopped Tomatoes (tinned OK) 

Tumeric 

Coriander 

Chilli Powder 

Coriander Powder

Ground Cumin 

Olive Oil 

2 Cloves Garlic 

METHOD (TMX)

1. Add water into the TMX bowl, insert steaming basket and potatoes – cook Varoma temp, speed soft for 12 minutes 
2. Remove potatoes and discard the water
3. Coat the base with oil and add chilli powder to taste – cook Varoma temp speed 1 for 5 minutes 
4. Add Garlic and fresh Coriander to taste and blend on Turbo for 2-3 seconds 
5. Add 200g Tomatoes and remaining spices – cook 5 minutes, Varoma speed soft 
6. Add potatoes and cook reverse speed soft, 5 minutes Varoma temp 
7. Add remaining tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes, Varoma temp, reverse speed soft. 

METHOD

• Cook Potatoes until still firm 
• In a deep frying pan add the oil and chilli powder cook until fragrant – add minced garlic and chopped coriander – sauté for 1-2 minutes
• Add half the tin of tomatoes and remaining spices and reduce slightly 
• Add potatoes and coat generously 
• Add remaining tomatoes and stir through, place on lid and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes until potatoes are soft and sauce reduced 

 

With a little fussy one in mind, I recommend using the mild chilli powder and only using a small amount – you can always add more to each individual plate it just won’t have as much of a smokey flavour to it. 

This dish was gone in 60 seconds – we are loving potatoes at the moment in the fussy house and this was a great way to sneak in some extra veg. 

It makes a great lazy night tea or side dish – keeps well in the fridge and makes for a delicious work day lunch. 

Enjoy xox 

ORANGE JUICE

Orange Juice 

I really don’t like buying store bought orange juice, it is full of all things nasty, but I also don’t like juicers, you never get enough out of them and the waste is incredible. Introducing my thermomix. Sugar free orange juice and almost fussy approved, this was a little lumpy so I think next time I will strain it and see if that helps, the flavours were great though. This recipe made 3 glasses. 

340g Oranges, sliced and peeled 

12 ice cubes 

2 MC water 

METHOD 

1. Place all in thermomix bowl 
2. Combine on speed 9 for 15 seconds, then again for 20 seconds 
3. serve 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHOUT IT OUT LOUD

~ Jamie Oliver ~

Ok so it’s New Years Eve and I am going to share with you my secret, fussy eater weapon. Jamie Oliver. I am addicted to his recipes from his 15 and 30 minute meals – they are fail safe, easy, look great and taste even better. MOO barely passes up the chance to eat a Jamie Oliver meal, they are engaging and he loves to watch him on the TV too.

Some of my favourites that I always keep on hand are;

• Brocoli Pasa {30 minute meals)
• Pregnant Jools’s Pasta {30 minute meals} This is perfect in winter for a quick after work dish, Moo loves pasta and quite often won’t question what is in it – this is one of those don’t ask don’t tell recipes
• Oozy Mushroom Risotto {30 minute meals} I will try and find a picture of this and post it to instagram it is so delicious, it is a frequent winter fav in this house! And again amazing left overs!
• Spinach and Feta Filo Pie {30 minute meals} I serve this with some sweet chilli sauce and it always goes down well, I don’t feel so bad when I give Moo this, he often picks at the filling but at least it’s healthy right!
• Tray Baked Chicken {30 minute meals} again so easy, so simple – Moo won’t argue when this is served.
• Chicken Dim Sum {15 Minute Meals} – this dish is great when you are recovering from a cold its soothing with simple tastes and MOO loves making his own dinner up
• Thai Chicken Laksa {15 minute meals} I didn’t expect Moo to eat this in all fairness but he couldn’t get enough he LOVED it, it’s not too spicy and feeds so many, tastes great as left overs too!
• Golden Chicken {15 Minute Meals} This features on my Instagram account and was a hit, he didn’t eat the greens but did eat the potatoes (a win for Moo!)
• Crispy Parma Pork {15 minute meals} I actually made these in 15 minutes so tasty and a great option for people like us who don’t get anywhere enough pork in our diets
• Prawn Cocktail {15 minute meals} this even made it to the table on Christmas day! It’s delicious and I often take the left overs for lunch the next day, I am lucky with Moo he loves his seafood so he eats this up!

We have pretty much cooked our way through both books and there are no recipes I would suggest you stay away from – the above are the ones I have cooked often enough now to know what I need to keep on hand to whip them up without having to think.

If you don’t already have them, or you haven’t already read them I seriously suggest going out and buying these 2 books, they have saved our mid week meals, and I am so thankful to have come across these recipes they have helped with our fight with Moo and his eating so much so, they have inspired us not to give up during the week because more often then not it is just easier to make a 15 minute meal than to get take away! Taste better and the service is better 😉

Well there you have it my secret weapon, I hope they can help you like they have helped us!!!

CHRISTMAS 2013

 

~ Christmas 2013 ~

I am so excited to be posting about my favourite time of the year. I LOVE Christmas. The presents, the music, the atmosphere . . . the FOOD! This year was a challenge because of my dietary requirements. Gluten and Dairy Free don’t often make for the most lavish of meals and I have to admit I stuck strictly to my diet in the lead up to Christmas so I could cheat on the day, and cheat I have done. 

Boy did Santa leave a mess behind this year! He was left a cup of cold milk, 3 cookies (not gluten free but lactose free) and some dutch carrots for the reindeer. 

The cookies are a Christmas favourite – we make them every year, they are easy cheap and this year Moo did all the work. I helped him measure the ingredients to put them in and out of the oven for the rest of it I kicked back and relaxed, he really is growing up! We call them Candy Cane cookies but this year we couldn’t find our candy cane cutter so improvised and made them into stockings. 

Candy Cane Cookies

1/2C Icing Sugar

1tsp Vanilla 

2C Plain Flour

200g Buter (I used lactose Free this year and it worked just as well) 

 ~ Icing Mixture  ~

1 1/2C Pure Icing Sugar 

1 egg white 

Red food colouring 

1. Place icing sugar and flour in a bowl and combine. 
2. Add butter gradually until mixture resembles breadcrumbs
3. Add vanilla and 2tbs of cold water
4. Divide in 1/2 and roll each piece to about 7mm tick, set in fridge for 30 minutes 
5. Cut out shapes and bake in a 180 oven for 10 minutes 
6. To make icing sugar sift icing mixture and add egg white stir until smooth. Add a drop or two of food colouring and pipe over the cookies. 
7. We then usually decorate with crushed candy canes – the simplest way to do this is put a candy cane or 2 in a zip lock bag on between a folded tea towel then use the rolling pin to beat the bag. 

The icing sets fairly fast so make sure this is the last task you do 🙂 

I love the magic that is Christmas morning. This is MOO opening the book Santa brought him this year – I believe breakfast is the hardest part of the day knowing when to get into the kitchen, I always feel that I will miss something if I am in there too long. I don’t have a photo on here of Christmas morning breakfast but I will make sure I upload one to Instagram when I can. I keep it simple. Every year we have an assortment of pastries (that I admit I buy prior – I don’t want to be making pastry on christmas morning!!) usually a danish or two, some croissants, some with Jam and Cream others with Ham and Cheese (this is the boys FAV!) and I always have a luscious dish of fresh fruit, some grapes, cherries, mangoes , banana – you name it! Brew some fresh coffee (thanks Nespresso!) and pour a jug of fresh orange juice and voila! breakfast is on the table in minutes! And usually enjoyed by all! 

And this is how my boys like to spend the better part of Christmas day, building all the new lego sets!! This lull between family visiting and breakfast being eaten is when I normally get myself into gear, get dressed, clean up the wrapping paper carnage, clean the breakfast dishes and make a plan for what needs to be done next, make sure I have enough plates and dishes on the go and make sure there is always some food made up in the fridge. Luckily we did that this year – shortly after my clean up more family arrived and it was simple enough to pull out a fruit platter, throw their pastries on a plate and have second breakfast! 

But it is dinner when I love to shine. When everyone pitches in and helps out, when there is food strewn from one end of the kitchen to another. I am really lucky, my husband to be loves to cook and he really took over this year. I told him what I wanted and he made it happen. Our menu this year consisted of; 

• Bourbon Glazed Leg of Ham
• Tempura Battered Soft Shell Crab 
• Prawns, grilled and tempura battered
• Sticky Scallops 
• Lobster tails, grilled 
• Roast Turkey with forcemeat stuffing and cranberry butter 
• Trio of Patte with crackers and cheese selection 
• Prawn Cocktail 
• Selection of Breads 
• Pimms Cup 
• Pomegranate Champaign 

~ Bourbon Glazed Ham ~ 

7kg Leg of Ham 

Whole Cloves to decorate

1C Firmly packed brown sugar 

1/4 C Bourbon

1C Water 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees 
2. Cut through the rind of the ham about 10cm from the end of the leg – remove the rind (I find the best way to do this is to run your thumb around the edge of the rind just under the skin and start pulling it away) 
3. Score the fat in a diagonal pattern cutting lightly through the fat only, don’t cut into the meat 
4. combine the sugar and bourbon in a small bowl 
5. pour the water into a large baking dish and place the ham on an piled wire rack in the dish. Brush the ham all over 1/3 of the bourbon glaze 
6. Roast uncovered for 1 1/4 hours or until brown all over, basting frequently throughout. 
7. Cover the ham loosely with foil and stand for at least 15 minutes before slicing. 

We made ours on Christmas eve, thinking a hot turkey would be enough on Christmas day, this fed 6 of us and we still have so much left over, it’s worth the effort it melts in your mouth and has the most divine taste. It almost didn’t make it to the table Christmas day!! 

The Turkey didn’t end up having a photo taken, but was incredible, we used Jamie Oliver’s recipe which can be found here . . . 

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/the-best-turkey-in-the-world-recipe

~ Pimms Cup ~ 

1x Bottle of Pimms #1 

2x Bottles of Lemonade 

Fresh Fruit (we used oranges, cucumber and strawberries)

Mint

1. Combine all ingredients above and serve. 

So simple but this had the perfect summer Christmas hit. It was light, fruity and festive. 

I will post a photo of the pomegranate champaign to my Instagram and Facebook page but that too was simple and effective, 1 bottle of champaign, half a pomegranate and some mint leaves, combine and serve! Everyone was impressed by these simple drinks and asking for the recipes, easy as 1 2 3! 

The seafood tower, Hardly any left overs from this! The crab was to die for. Melt in your mouth perfect. Hubby just made a standard tempura batter (using Panko crumbs) and deep fried them, simple and effective. The prawns had been tossed on the BBQ and there were some simple dipping sauces for those who wanted some flavour. The scallops were also cooked on the BBQ with some Pancetta so so so yum! 

The garlic bread was for MOO – all he asked for with his Christmas meal – bless him. 

 

 

 

To us Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. A time for laughter, forgiveness and family – a time to be merry and eat tip your hearts content! From my family to yours I hope you had a very merry christmas and wishing you all a fabulous new year. 

 

 

Homemade Pizza Night

Home-made Pizza Night 

 

Tonight we snuggled up on the sofa, watched some Disney and had a good family time making pizza. I much prefer home made dough and here is the recipe we use – hasn’t failed us yet; 

Fail Safe Pizza Dough 

• 1 1/2C warm water 
• 2tsp (or 1 sachet) dried yeast 
• Pinch of caster sugar 
• 4C Plain Flour 
• 1tsp Salt 
• 1/4C Olive Oil 

Method 

1. Combine yeast, warm water and caster sugar in a small bowl, put aside for 5-1- minutes until froths 
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre
3. Add oil and yeast mixture 
4. Using a butter knife combine the mixture (in a cutting pattern) 
5. knead well for about 10 minutes 
6. Lightly grease a clean, dry bowl (I find a metal one works best) and place dough inside, cover the top with cling film and sit for 30 minutes, until dough has doubled in size. 
7. knead lightly again and break into three 

This makes 3 decent size pizzas – but if you like a thin and crispy base could easily make up to 4 or 5. SIMPLE 

 

While we were waiting for the dough MOO showed some interest in the various fillings I had diced on the bench 

So I took the opportunity to play a little game. We both sat on the bench and took turns closing our eyes and guessing what foods we fed each other. 

In this time he tried, and swallowed; 

– Red Onion

– Chicken 

– Tomato 

– Capsicum 

– Mustard 

– Rocket 

It was great fun and he almost forgot that he doesn’t like trying new vegetables!! 

It also made him more comfortable with them when it came time to topping our pizzas! 

 

There is a time, which is hard to believe was only a week ago that he would have insisted on having nothing but tomato sauce and cheese on his pizza – yet tonight he chose – red onion, capsicum, feta, tomato and chicken. Granted when it came time to eating it he tried to pick the toppings off. It only took a stern look and a “Don’t forget to eat those delicious toppings” for him to pick them up and gobble them down though. 

Looking forward to trying some different salads and seeing how he goes with the textures and concepts there! 

As for tonight though – it was a success and a great family bonding experience! 🙂 Was lots of fun stealing each others ingredients sizing up who has the better looking base and who could top the cheese the fastest 🙂 xox