Salmon Fish cakes with Lemongrass and Lime

Although I prefer to use fresh salmon for this Donna Hay recipe, sometimes,  I do utilize the pantry tin of good quality red salmon so it can be turned into an almost instant meal.  The tinned salmon will however result in a still flavoursome, but less chunky texture than that achieved using the diced fresh salmon fillets.

(Another option is to cook small balls using this recipe and serve as nibbles if you prefer).

I am lucky enough (thank you Wilbur) to have herbs including lemongrass, coriander, chilli and a kaffir lime tree plus a lime tree in the backyard – so handy because the addition of a couple of kaffir lime leaves takes these fish cakes to a delicious level.  Whatever herbs you can grow, even in a pot, will boost your cooking flavours and make you feel like the garden goddess Mama Marmalade!

Preparation and cooking:  15 - 20 minutes

Serves  - 3 - 4    this will depend on what side dishes are being served as well

Ingredients

2 x 180 gram salmon fillets – 1cm  diced     OR    1 x 400 gram tin Red Salmon drained

1 tablespoon Rice Flour

1 egg-white  (refrigerate the yolk for another recipe)

Zest of 1 lime – finely grated  (then, lime can be quartered for serving later)

1 stalk lemongrass – very finely chopped.  Remove the outer coarse leaves first

3 Kaffir Lime leaves – remove the tough central vein then very very finely shred leaves

1 long red chilli – finely sliced     OR    shake of dried chilli flakes

Sea salt and pepper – to taste

Rice Bran oil – enough to coat pan

Dressing:

¼ cup greek yoghurt - make sure it is not watery. Drain off,  if necessary.

2 tablespoons good mayonnaise

1 teaspoon wasabi  - if not available, leave out   or   add an extra ½ teaspoon of lime juice

1 teaspoon lime juice  (from the lime used for zesting)

A shake of white pepper if not using wasabi

Finely chopped herb leaves of your choice  -  mint, coriander or a little parsley

OPTIONS for serving:   snow peas, coriander leaves or mint leaves

Method

In a small bowl:  mix the yoghurt, mayonnaise, lime juice and wasabi. Set aside.

Using a large bowl, mix together the salmon, rice flour, eggwhite, lime zest, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chilli, salt and pepper.

Shape into 8 patties using just-damp hands.

Warm pan to a moderate heat and add the oil.

Add the patties  and Cook for approx. 3 minutes per side until golden brown..

Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

Serve with the lime mayonnaise

plus 

your choice of green salad, tomato pieces etc. Shredded snow pea slivers give a nice crunch if sprinkled over. Scatter over some coriander or mint leaves.

 PS  Hopefully your chillis grow a little larger than mine! Still tasty though!

                                 Enjoy!  Colleen

Breakfast Eggs and Pancetta Bread

Cooked this for some sleepy-over pals one morning. So impressed as it looked almost as good as pictured in the Donna Hay magazine – and it was declared delicious and a definite winner for the brekky menu. I have added a few extra herbs etc to the original recipe so feel free to suit your own tastes.

You can prep your toppings and pre-measure your flour the night before.

Then in the morning, just activate the yeast, knead the dough, 

rest it -   and yourself -    for 20 minutes   -  top, bake, eat.  Enjoy!

Needs about 1 hour from start to ‘eat’.

10 minutes preparation including yeast activating.

10 minute dough making and kneading

20 minute rest

5 minutes for rolling and topping the bread

12 – 15 minutes cooking

Serves 4 – 6 as breakfast    or    8 as part of a breakfast buffet

Donna Hay uses a 25 cm square baking dish. 

I prefer a 22cm x 30cm rectangular tray with a decent depth to hold the bread and toppings.

Ingredients

1 ¼ teaspoons (7 gram sachet) dry yeast

1 teaspoon caster sugar

2/3 cup warm water -   not boiling hot or it kills the yeast

1 ½ cups OO flour sifted (superfine flour) plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon Olive Oil plus extra for drizzling

6 eggs

8 slices pancetta – roughly sliced    or   thin sliced bacon – chopped   if you prefer

Handful of cherry tomatoes – halved

80 – 100 gram grated gruyere cheese

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

½ teaspoon thyme leaves

1/3 cup basil leaves

Small amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling over the top

OPTION   Grinding of pepper and scattering of sea salt flakes

Method

Preheat oven to 220o C

In a small bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and water.  Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and olive oil.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mix and combine to form a dough.

Use a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until elastic and smooth.

Put in a large bowl, cover with clean towel and set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes:

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to fit your baking dish and place in the non-stick baking paper lined dish – pushing the dough into the corners.

Make small impressions in dough top and crack the eggs into these dents.

Scatter with the pancetta pieces and upturned tomato halves.

Sprinkle over the chilli flakes, herbs, basil and gruyere cheese.

Lightly dust with grated parmesan, freshly ground black pepper and touch of rubbed sea salt flakes.

Finish with a very fine drizzle of Australian Olive Oil.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden. 

Serve immediately!

TIPS and HINTS

the night before:

Prepare and measure most of your ingredients.

Line your baking dish with non-stick paper using my ‘Lazy Peg’ method blogged previously

                                                  Enjoy!   Colleen

Breakfast Pancetta and Eggs Bread

Cooked this for some sleepy-over pals one morning. So impressed as it looked almost as good as pictured in the Donna Hay magazine – and it was declared delicious and a definite winner for the brekky menu. I have added a few extra herbs etc to the original recipe so feel free to suit your own tastes.

You can prep your toppings and pre-measure your flour the night before.

Then in the morning, just activate the yeast, knead the dough, 

rest it -   and yourself -    for 20 minutes   -  top, bake, eat.  Enjoy!

Needs about 1 hour from start to ‘eat’.

10 minutes preparation including yeast activating.

10 minute dough making and kneading

20 minute rest

5 minutes for rolling and topping the bread

12 – 15 minutes cooking

Serves 4 – 6 as breakfast    or    8 as part of a breakfast buffet

Donna Hay uses a 25 cm square baking dish. 

I prefer a 22cm x 30cm rectangular tray with a decent depth to hold the bread and toppings.

Ingredients

1 ¼ teaspoons (7 gram sachet) dry yeast

1 teaspoon caster sugar

2/3 cup warm water -   not boiling hot or it kills the yeast

1 ½ cups OO flour sifted (superfine flour) plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon Olive Oil plus extra for drizzling

6 eggs

8 slices pancetta – roughly sliced    or   thin sliced bacon – chopped   if you prefer

Handful of cherry tomatoes – halved

80 – 100 gram grated gruyere cheese

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

½ teaspoon thyme leaves

1/3 cup basil leaves

Small amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling over the top

OPTION   Grinding of pepper and scattering of sea salt flakes

Method

Preheat oven to 220o C

In a small bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and water.  Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and olive oil.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mix and combine to form a dough.

Use a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until elastic and smooth.

Put in a large bowl, cover with clean towel and set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes:

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to fit your baking dish and place in the non-stick baking paper lined dish – pushing the dough into the corners.

Make small impressions in dough top and crack the eggs into these dents.

Scatter with the pancetta pieces and upturned tomato halves.

Sprinkle over the chilli flakes, herbs, basil and gruyere cheese.

Lightly dust with grated parmesan, freshly ground black pepper and touch of rubbed sea salt flakes.

Finish with a very fine drizzle of Australian Olive Oil.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden. 

Serve immediately!

TIPS and HINTS

the night before:

Prepare and measure most of your ingredients.

Line your baking dish with non-stick paper using my ‘Lazy Peg’ method blogged previously

                                                  Enjoy!   Colleen

Thai Pumpkin and Kaffir Lime Curry

This is one of my favourite ‘bubble away on the stove and add bits to it’ recipes. Nigella’s recipe was the inspiration and foundation of this very flexible recipe that I continue to alter depending on what is hiding in the fridge. The lime which is squeezed over just before serving, gives it a real lift and zing.

If there is any pumpkin curry left over, it tastes even better the next day!

Please don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients. 

Just put in the essential flavours, with the pumpkin, plus your choice of any extra vegetables, then let it bubble away and stir occasionally.  See the options list for Nigella’s Seafood additions to this dish.

The pumpkin in the photo is not very chunky - sorry – I got a bit distracted reading / looking at Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbooks   http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/stories/yotam-ottolenghi    and the pumpkin wasn’t the only thing that turned to mush…

Preparation  15 minutes

Cooking        20 – 25 minutes (which is just stirring and adding now and then)

Serves  4 – 6  depending on how many extra veggies / chickpeas you add.

Ingredients

1 kg pumpkin – peeled, and cut into bite-size pieces.  You can also use pre-roasted pieces – just add in a bit later than you would the raw pieces as pre-cooked would need less cooking time.   -  see Tips and Hints

2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste. 

(depends on your preference – start with 2 teaspoons if you prefer it quite mild, allow to cook and maybe add another teaspoon a bit later - jot down how much you like to use)

400 ml tin of coconut milk

1 litre Chicken Stock (salt reduced) or you could use Vegetable stock (salt reduced) if preferred

2 tablespoons Fish Sauce

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar  or  Caster sugar

3 lemongrass stalks, cut into thirds, and squash and bruise the sections with knife handle. You can finely finely slice a little of the white base to add if you like

6 kaffir lime leaves:   3   have the middle vein removed and super finely shredded. 

The remaining 3  – crush a bit in your hand and then add in whole leaves

½ Red capsicum - diced

1 cup peas (frozen is fine)

Handful fresh beans – trimmed

Couple of handfuls of red lentils – these will almost disappear and thicken the curry

1 ½ teaspoons turmeric

Red chilli – finely sliced  or shake of chilli flakes (leave out if you prefer it milder)

Juice and zest of 1 lime

Coriander leaves or parsley leaves. And / or  Finely sliced shallots

PLUS   Cooked Rice to serve  -  see Tips and Hints

You can also add to the base curry mixture  -   any of your preferred choices (all or some – whatever you like) such as these suggestions:

½ cauliflower  –trimmed and cut into bite size bits

Broccoli – bite size pieces

Chickpeas – either 1 tin well rinsed and drained or similar amount of pre-cooked

3 little shakes of Dashi powder (optional) – comes in sachets – sorry the amount is not more specific

Baby spinach leaves

Pakchoi or bok choy  - sliced or shredded

SEAFOOD OPTIONS:  (as Nigella does in her recipe – but I don’t)

You could include peeled prawns and/or boned salmon fillet cut into bite size pieces. Cook these first in the pan, remove, cook the curry and then add the seafood back in at the end to warm through.

Method

Use a large wide stove-top pan.

Skim the thick part of the coconut milk from the tin and heat in the pan with the curry paste. 

When it starts to sizzle,(don’t let it burn) mix well and add the remaining coconut milk.

Stir in the Sugar, Fish Sauce, Lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, Turmeric, Chilli, (Dashi if using)

Add the stock and stir well.  Bring to gentle boil.

Add the raw pumpkin pieces and any other raw vegetables that need longer cooking time.

Stir the red lentils through the curry.

Add the red capsicum if using.

Reduce heat to a steady simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.

If the curry seems to be getting too thick add some more coconut milk or water or stock.

If using pre-cooked pumpkin, add in after curry and vegetables have cooked for about 10 mins

When almost finished cooking – remove the lemongrass stalks and whole kaffir lime leaves.

If using - add the chickpeas, green peas and green beans

Stir and then add the spinach, bok choy etc. and allow to wilt.

If using seafood - Gently stir through the pre-cooked seafood to warm through.

Once warmed, take off the heat and Stir in the lime zest and the squeezed lime juice.

Taste and if necessary add a little pepper or salt as needed.

Sprinkle the chopped coriander / parsley / shallots over.

Serve over rice with extra lime wedges if desired.

TIPS and HINTS

When cooking rice, cook more than needed.  Freeze in small portions that will defrost in no time. 

Remove from freezer and reheat to serve under this curry - easy!

and

Save and freeze (in small easy to defrost portions) some roasted pumpkin to use in this recipe - makes for a quick base for your curry.

                                    Enjoy! Colleen