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 - squeezed over just before serving, gives it a real lift and zing.

If !! there are any  left overs, 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 magic flavours of this dish come from the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and fresh limes combined with the red curry paste - so you can make it mild or spicy if you prefer.

My apologies -   The pumpkin in the photo does not look very chunky and appealing - although it still tasted wonderful !  - 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 it in a bit later than you would the raw pieces as pre-cooked would need less cooking time.

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)

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 also 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 then super finely shredded. 

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

Half a 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

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.

                                    Enjoy!   Colleen

Mandarin Cake

Now that mandarins are in season why not try this, moist gluten free treat for your friends and family, ideal desert recipe for those on restricted diet to manage IBS, low Fodmap.   I packaged up a slice for a good friend to take home and she later told me it never made it, she ate it in the car. Thanks to Donna Hay for this desert cake and the absolute bounty of my homegrown organic mandarins.

Ingredients

2 small mandarins unpeeled
1/2 cup instant polenta
3/4 cup almond meal (make your own by whizzing up whole almonds in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs best if at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar

Mandarin syrup

2/3cup caster sugar
2 tablespoon water
1/3 cup mandarin juice

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Line base and sides of a greased 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
Cook mandarins in a small saucepan, cover with water placing a saucer on top to keep mandarins submerged, for 30 minutes or until soft.
Cool slightly and then process in a food processor to make a purée.
Combine polenta, almond meal and baking powder, mix to combine.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for 10-12 minutes until thick and tripled in volume.
Fold in the dry ingredients into the eggs, in two batches.
Pour into prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes and cooked through testing with a skewer.
Cool completely in the tin.
For the mandarin syrup, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan stirring until combined.  Bring to the boil, cook without stirring swirling the sugar mixture until it caramelises approx 7-8 minutes.
Slowly add the mandarin juice, stirring until combined.  Cool to room temperature.
Remove cake from tin and spoon over the syrup.

Yum yum.
Mama Marmalade

Pomegranate and Luscious Lime Ice Cream – Super Easy

Once again Nigella is the inspiration for this “ooooh yummmm” decadent treat. Similar to the Pina Colada ice cream recipe already posted, this dessert does not require an ice cream machine – just whip the cream, mix the fruits in and hide the results in the freezer.  

I use multiple labelled  small airtight freezer containers (a few are in the photo below) and hide them liberally throughout the freezer to satisfy Wilbur’s hunter-gather instincts.

Yes, this does contain almost a million happy Nigella calories -  but -  I serve it in very small portions  (smaller than shown in the photo) and with gorgeous fresh fruits - so this amount easily makes 12 dainty indulgences.

Preparation  10 – 15 minutes

Cooking     NIL       

Freezing   6 hours or overnight.         Best used within a fortnight.

Serves   12  - small but indulgent

Ingredients

2 pomegranates  - juice and seeds

2 limes – choose deep green fresh fruit –  using the zest of 2  -  and the juice of 1 maybe 2

175 gm icing sugar

500 ml thickened cream

Optional but desirable  -  1 teaspoon Monin Rose Syrup

To de-seed pomegranates using a wooden spoon    SEE BELOW -   Tips and Hints

Method

Juice and de-seed the pomegranates (see below).  Reserve a few seeds for decoration.

Zest the limes very very finely. You do not want lime floss between your teeth.

Juice the limes   NB. Put the juice of each lime in a separate cup because depending on the juiciness of the limes you may only need 1 but more likely to need 1 and a bit.  Taste and adjust if necessary during the mixing.

Whisk the cream and icing sugar together using either an electric mixer or hand whisk.

Before cream mixture is fully whisked, add the pomegranate seeds and juice , all zest and juice of 1 lime. 

Whisk a bit more and taste.  If you think it needs a little more lime add some of the reserved juice.

Whisk until the cream mix forms soft peaks that hold their shape.  Done.

Spoon into multiple small airtight freezer containers and secure lids tightly.

Label.

Freeze (hidden) at least 6 hours or overnight.

To serve

Spoon a delicious dollop over berries and decorate with the reserved pomegranate seeds.

TIPS and HINTS

To de-seed pomegranates using a wooden spoon  (!)

    

Be ready to save the dribbly juice when you slice your pomegranates in half (you will halve them as if you are slicing at their ‘waist’ – not halving down from where the stem was)

Turn the pomegranate half  -seed side down -  into your palm over a wide bowl.  Allow your fingers to spread slightly so the seeds will shower down into the bowl.  Gently but firmly smack the fruit skin so the seeds and also the juice will be released.  Some seeds remaining may need to be gently popped out.

Remove and discard any of the rough thick white pith that may have dropped into the bowl.

TIPS AND HINTS

Different varieties of Pomegranates = different colour seeds

Not all pomegranates varieties have the deep deep  ruby-jewel coloured seeds - some are paler but are just as delicious. Sometimes the paler seeded variety has a sweeter flavour than the ruby seed variety.

I learnt that from SBS Food Lovers Guide which is a fabulous timeless TV show

 http://www.sbs.com.au/food/show/food-lovers-guide

                                                            Enjoy!  Colleen

Moroccan Shepherd’s Pie - my way

Inspired by an Annabel Langbein recipe.

This is great way to serve mince / diced lamb (or other meats)  and add lentils, pulses and lots of veggies  to the family dinner - delish !  And the left-overs taste even better the next day. 

I make a double quantity of the meat/lentil mixture, cook and portion into freezer bags which I flatten slightly to speed up defrosting later (double-bag so you can add a paper label in between the two bags then you know what it is later - no freezer mysteries!)

Then as needed, I just defrost, only needing to cook and mash the sweet potato topping - then reheat the lot for a nourishing dinner.

PS: if the family wonders what chickpeas are - is it a crime to tell them chickpeas are similar to chicken nuggets only smaller and yummier??  Wilbur believes this, and would I lie to him?

Serves:            6 plus leftovers - flavours are even better the next day.

Preparation:   20 minutes and sweet potato can be cooking during this time too

Cooking:        40 minutes on the stove (incl 20 min simmering - so you are not really cooking 40 min!) 

                     then  20 -30 mins baking in oven 

Ingredients:

500 g lean mince or diced meat (fat removed)   -   preferably lamb, beef good too. I don't recommend using pork or chicken as the spices need a stronger meat for balance which is why lamb is my preference.

Chickpeas (cooked -or a tin, rinsed and drained) -  add half a cup (more is better) to balance the meat portion

2 onions chopped

1 - 2  garlic cloves crushed   (your preference)

Australian Olive oil.                  

Handful of red lentils (helps thicken) -  I add -    but depends on how thick you like the final dish

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoon each of ground cumin and turmeric

½ teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and cloves (could also add a quill during simmer then remove)

Dash chilli to your taste       - I use a pinch of dried chilli flakes

Splash Worcestershire sauce     

 a pinch of freshly grated lemon rind 

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 large carrot grated (or very finely diced)

400 g can tomatoes (crushed or diced okay)

3 cups beef stock or vege stock if preferred –  VIP - salt reduced.  Have 1 litre ready - freeze unused.

TIP:

Amount of stock depends on  thickness preferred, and how many red lentils you added to soak up the stock.    

Can add more stock or even water, during the simmering process if necessary.

Finely chopped rosemary – this herb can overpower - so add about 1 ½ teaspoon -  and also a bit more to add to the mash later

½ cup chopped parsley

Plus Salt and pepper – depending on your taste. Should not need much salt.

Mash     

1 large sweet potato (needs to generously cover the filling) - cubed, cooked and mashed. 

                      TIP: I often roast pieces of sweet potato and save in the fridge or freezer for later.  Makes the

                      sweet potato taste richer and easy to add to lots of different recipes.

Mash in your preference of splash of olive oil etc, S&P , and tiny pinch fine diced rosemary

Topping - Sprinkle of black sesame seeds and a dash chopped parsley/mint etc

Method

Use a pan suitable for stove top cooking -  approx. 3” or more deep, large enough to simmer above ingredients ( NO lid necessary).  Also need an ovenproof baking dish – large rectangular  to bake pie

Preheat oven to 200 C. 

On the stove, in the pan - Brown the meat (if preferred – in oil  and then add salt & pepper – I add later)  

Add onion, garlic, the spices and stir in.  Approx 6 -7 mins til onion softens

Add tomato paste and stir in well.  Allow to cook over heat for  minute or two. (Mellows the paste)

Add carrot, canned tomatoes, Worc sauce, chickpeas and lentils, the Stock, rosemary 

Stir well then simmer 20-30min.

Check and adjust the Stock(add more if too thick)   until a thick but still juicy.(will dry slightly in oven)  

Mix in parsley and lemon rind and now taste it - maybe add S&P if you think so.

Transfer to large ovenproof baking dish.  

 

Top generously with mash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and some chopped parsley

Bake and brown in oven – approx. 20 mins – depends on oven

Serve with your choice of chutneys, bowl of Greek Yoghurt and chopped mint -  etc or sprigs of basil     and lots of green veggies and /or salads

Enjoy! Colleen

Salmon with fennel salad and pea mash

Quick, nutritious and packed with flavour.  Despite being autumn, the days here are still very warm - so a light, fresh dinner is a perfect choice. Thanks to Delicious Magazine for the inspiration.

Serves 4

Time:  Prep 10 minutes  Cooking  8 minutes

Ingredients

4 salmon fillets – size depends on appetites – check for bones.  Skin-on portions if possible

500 gram frozen peas.  (note – later -1 cup will be reserved to serve whole in the salad)

Kettle full of boiling water

1 fennel bulb – fresh and young.  Thinly sliced.    Reserve the fronds and chop finely

4 – 6   young fresh radishes – thinly shaved / sliced – depends on how much you love radishes

1 cup celery leaves – only the ones from the heart – from the inner stalks – rough chopped.

1 small red onion – finely shaved / sliced

1 tablespoon lemon juice and some fine lemon zest if possible

¼ cup Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil    – may not need all of this.

Handful fresh basil leaves

1 Lebanese cucumber – use a speed peeler and shave into long thin strips, leave out the seed middle

Salt and Pepper

Dollop of Greek yoghurt

Method

Add the boiling water and all the peas to a heatproof bowl.  Stand for 1 minute covered. 

Drain well.       Remove and save 1 cup of the now cooked peas.  Reserve for later.

Add a little of the chopped fennel fronds and dash salt and pepper to the larger amount of peas then Puree in a blender, or with a stick blender or a hand masher.  Does not need to be too precise, roughly is fine.

Keep the pea mash in a warm place til ready to serve.

Heat a tiny amount of oil in frypan and cook salmon pieces, skin side down side for 2 – 3 minutes per side until cooked to your preference.  Remove and keep warm – cover with foil if necessary.

Combine the lemon juice and Olive Oil in a mixing bowl. Don’t use all the oil – you can add a little more at the end if you think it needs a dash more.

Gently toss the shaved fennel, radish, onion, cucumber, celery leaves, chopped fronds, basil, the whole cooked reserved peas into the oil mixture.

Season with salt and pepper.  Because it is seafood – I feel this dish does need a good grinding of salt and pepper.

To serve

Serve salmon fillet with the pea mash and fennel radish salad and teaspoon of Greek yoghurt on top.

Options

You could use mint leaves for a change.

or bulk up the salad by adding some cooked, drained cannellini beans or orzo pasta. 

                                                            Enjoy!     Colleen

Flourless Chocolate and Lime Cake

To celebrate our 50th post - we have baked a cake!

Hard to determine if this is a cake or a dessert? But you won't spend too much time wondering over that issue because it won't last that long. This has been given the tick of approval by my firstborn son's girlfriend, who is a connoisseur of all things chocolate.

 
Ingredients

150g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) roughly chopped
150g unsalted softened butter
6 eggs
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
3/4 cup (90g) almond meal
1 Tablespoon good quality cocoa powder sifted
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
Icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Line the base of a 23cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides.
Fill a small saucepan 1/3 full with water and bring to a gentle simmer.  Place chocolate and butter in a small bowl, place over pan and stir until chocolate is melted, (Don't let the base of the bowl touch the simmering water).
Beat eggs and sugar until tripled in volume and is pale and moussey.
In a separate bowl mix almond meal with the cocoa and then fold gently into the egg and sugar mixture, followed by the slightly cooled chocolate and butter.
Fold in lime zest and juice.
Pour and scrape this mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes (start checking at 35 minutes).  When done the cake will be just firm on the top, but still have a wobble underneath.
Remove from the oven and sit the cake in it's pan on a wire rack to cool.  Once the first heat has left it, drape a clean tea towel over the top, to stop it getting too crusty.
Dust with icing sugar.

Yum
Mamma Marmalade

Shortbread

If you only have one shortbread recipe this is the one.  Given to me by my sister it hands down beats trying different interpretations because this is always a winner.

Ingredients

250g softened butter
110g caster sugar
250g plain flour sifted
125g rice flour

Preheat oven to 130 degrees C


Method

Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl until white in colour, add flours one desert spoon at a time (do not rush this process).

Roll teaspoonful's of the mixture and place on a greased oven tray, press down gently with a fork,

Bake for 10 minutes at 130 degrees C and then 15 minutes at 120 degrees C.  Depending on your oven you may need longer, lift the biscuit to see if the bottom is browned.  The top should remain pale.

Cool and enjoy with a cup of tea.

Mamma Marmalde

Zingy Marmalade

Now the weather has a chill and the citrus trees are relinquishing their bounty, it is the time to make some delicious marmalade jam.  Inspired by the Country Women's Association  Preserve cookbook , a recent birthday gift from a dear friend I have quickly made 5 jars of soul uplifting sunshine.

How easy can it be two ingredients, citrus and caster sugar.

Take whatever type and quantities of citrus you have:




I used Cumquats, Lemonades, Lemons and Limes, cut the fruit into thin slices and discard the seeds, also discard the ends of the fruits if they have too much white pith showing,  Place in a bowl and just cover with water and cover with cling film.  Soak overnight,

Measure the fruit in cups and place in a deep sided pan. Boil for 30-40 minutes until the fruit is very soft.  Add 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup of fruit, I like mine a little more tart so for nine cups of fruit and water I added 7 cups of sugar, you may wish to add another cup of water if consistency is too dense,

Bubble away until setting point is reached, (place a saucer in the freezer, remove drop a teaspoon of jam and then run your finger through if it wrinkles and separates it's ready, or stir jam with a wooden spoon, lift horizontally and see if a firm drop forms at the edge of the spoon,)

Let stand for 10 minutes and bottle in hot sterilised jars (this can be achieved by placing jars on a tray in a cold oven, bring temperature up to 120 degrees C and leave for 30 minutes).

Give only to your dearest friends and family.

Mamma Marmalade

Paella – almost, kind of, sort of.

Sometimes I have a midweek craving for the fragrant flavours and comforting textures of a Paella.  But, Mary Poppins did not load the fridge with king prawns, squid or mussels.  What to do? 

This recipe is a satisfying compromise that delivers a delicious dinner with the aroma of smoky paprika and saffron wafting through the kitchen - guaranteed to tempt the appetites of even the worst sufferers of Wednesday-night-itis. 

The main focus is the flavour, so adapt it to what is in your fridge or what your family likes – it is a great way to use up a couple of leftovers – maybe there is 1 pork sausage left from the BBQ? Slice it up and toss it in.  This is not meant to be authentic – just a ‘dinner in progress’ type of cooking.  Get the onions on to soften (the smell will make the family happy to know dinner is on the way) and then you can chop the ingredients in sequence, add and toss as you go.  

As you can see from the photo, this time I only had small prawns, no fish, a tiny bit of leftover lamb roast (that actually turned out to be a great addition!) and I had a few chicken wings that needed to be used up – so I only added 2 thigh fillets this time!

Whenever I cook this paella the essential flavour is the same but the ingredient mix varies and subtly changes the dish.  I’m sure you get the idea!

TIP:  The experts recommend steeping Saffron strands for 24 hours in a little water to bring out the complexity of flavours. So, the night before - pop a pinch of saffron strands into a little water (20ml – 1 tablespoon) in a small glass jar with a lid - and the next day check out the amazing colour that develops. 

If you forget, don’t worry – even half an hour steeping will help.

You then use the water and the saffron threads (be sure to rinse jar with another 20 ml of water to catch any hidden threads – and add this water too) – then add all this saffron / water to the Paella.

Serves – 4    plus   leftovers for 2 lunches

Preparation / Cooking time:  30 minutes (including 10 minutes when you just keep an eye on it now and then)

You could even do most of the preparation the night before – the chopping, measuring rice etc.

Ingredients     - this is a guide and quite flexible – adjust to preference / what is in fridge.

The key is the order of cooking – add what takes longer first and be aware that the size of the chunks affects cooking time – so not too big or won’t cook in time, but not so small that ingredients turn to gloop.

NB Fill the kettle and have boiling water  ready to add midway through cooking process

NB Cup of frozen peas – get out of freezer at start of recipe to defrost – add at end of recipe

Chicken wings, Prawns etc  - see NOTE below

Splash of Australian Olive Oil .  The chorizo will release fat so don’t overdo the oil.

2 large red onions – peeled and cut into slivers

1 red capsicum – de-seeded and sliced  AND / OR green capsicum if you like

2 garlic cloves – crushed OR  chopped.     Add more if you like.

1 long red chilli – sliced   OR    just add a few shakes of dried chilli flakes if you prefer

Few sprigs of fresh thyme   OR   generous shake of dried thyme

2 -4 chicken thigh fillets – skinless, boneless, AND trimmed of fat – cut into bite size pieces

Depends on how much of the other proteins you are adding. You can mix this up a bit: chop up the tiny bit of leftover lamb roast, a pork chop, a couple of chicken wings, etc etc. 

You could also add some chunks of boned firm fish fillets – add before the rice if using

1 – 1 ½ chorizo sausages (approx. 150g) –sliced  (add other leftover sausages, roast meat if using)

2 heaped teaspoons smoked paprika

Few strips of charred capsicum – cut into small pieces. Use your own OR the bottled ones are fine.

500 gram rice – Paella rice  OR   long grain rice  OR   ‘CleverRice’

Dry sherry – a splash

Pinch of saffron strands – soaked in dash of water    (refer TIP above)

Pepper – to taste

Boiling Water

Handful of cooked prawns

2 – 3 tomatoes cut into small-bite chunks  (Roma tomatoes preferred but not essential)

Option – can use beans instead of peas – prepare as for peas – see above.

Parsley – good handful – well chopped (reserve some for final garnish)

Salt to taste

Lemon wedges

Method

Have the Kettle full of boiling water ready to add midway through cooking process.

Heat a large wide stove-top pan over medium heat – not too deep – about 8 cm.

NOTE - If you are using King Prawns or raw chicken wings etc – cook these in the pan first – remove and keep warm ready to add at the end.

Heat a splash of Olive Oil in the pan and add the sliced onions, stir and soften gently.

Stir in the capsicum, garlic, chilli and thyme.

Add the chicken pieces, chorizo slices, paprika – stir through and brown chicken pieces. Allow the chorizo pieces to colour and stir through. Add the charred capsicum. (And Fish if using)

Tip in the rice, stir through and ensure all the grains are coated in the golden oil to separate.

Add a splash of sherry and the saffron strands and water mixture.  Mix through. Grind pepper over.

Gently push all the ingredients into the rice and smooth the top – gently.

Using the back of a wooden spoon – slowly pour the boiling water over the back of the spoon (helps distribute the flow) until the rice mixture is fully immersed and covered by about 1 cm water.

Simmer for about 10 – 12 minutes.

Keep an eye on it – you don’t want it to dry out.

Taste a few grains of rice – may need a couple more minutes OR maybe add a dash more water

Don’t stir the base in the final 10 minutes – the ideal paella develops a golden crusty base

Now add the peas, tomato pieces, parsley (reserve some for final garnish) and cooked prawns.

 Taste and maybe add dash salt or pepper to your preference – stir without disturbing the crust.

TIP: The addition of the Lemon juice at the end of the cooking really brings out the flavour – so don’t overdo the salt.

Gently cook a further 2 minutes to heat through.  Remove the thyme stalks – or tell them to do it later.

Turn off heat. Cover pan with a clean tea-towel for a couple of minutes- helps absorb excess moisture

 Please check gas is OFF first!!

Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and a small squeeze of lemon

Place the reserved and warmed King Prawns or chicken wings etc on top of the Paella

If you want -  you could drizzle a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the top

Take to table and let everyone dig in.

Serve with lemon wedges

                                                                        Enjoy!   Colleen

Lime Salt

Limes are in season now! So why not make some of this zingy chilli lime salt.  You can use it straight away and fresh or slowly dry it in the oven to store for later.  It goes beautifully on grilled chicken or sizzling steaks.  Or let your imagination go wild on avocado or baked jacket potatoes. Thanks to Annabel Langbein for the inspiration.


Ingredients

1 large fresh red chilli
Half a cup of salt flakes
Finely grated zest of 2 limes (I use a micro plane)

De-seed chilli and dice into small pieces.  Combine chilli, salt and lime zest in a mortar and pestle (or food processor) and pound until it appears like wet sand.   If wanting to store, place on a tray and dry in a slow oven at 150 degrees C for 30 minutes.  Once cool store in an airtight jar.

Mamma Marmalade.