Orange, Almond Cardamon Puddy Cake

This is the type of recipe I love to share.  My gorgeous Cousin Emily kindly sent me her 'always perfect Orange Almond Cake' recipe in response to my SOS for a dessert cake which was DairyFree and GlutenFree.  Emily was right! As usual!  

This dessert cake was perfect - we shared it during our recent grape-picking weekend at the sublime Pyramids Road Winery where they specialise in hand-made wines. 
This puddyCake (my description of a cake to serve for dessert) was moist, flavoursome, easy to transport - did not need heating or refrigeration - and addressed some guest's dietary requirements. I did make a small alteration to Emily's recipe - Hayden's Adventures  suggested adding poppy seeds and a pinch of cardamom to the cake and a splash of lime juice to the syrup. Amazing results!  So, whichever way you choose to serve your PuddyCake, the results will be devoured by everyone! 
Thanks Cousin Emily and Hayden! 

Orange Almond Poppy PuddyCake by Feed Your Inner Cook

Orange Almond Poppy PuddyCake by Feed Your Inner Cook

Orange Almond PuddyCake by Feed Your Inner Cook

Orange Almond PuddyCake by Feed Your Inner Cook

Serves 12 – 16

Preparation       1 hour – 2 hours for boiling oranges, then 1 -2 hours to cool slightly

Preparation      20 - 30 minutes

Cooking           45 min – 1 hour

Syrup               30 min – 45 minutes

Ingredients

3 Navel Oranges –  whole.  Good sized, heavy. 
   Well washed, organic if possible. Navel oranges do not have seeds

1 teaspoon Baking Powder.  (should contain corn-starch, not wheat. If gluten free is important – read label)

6 eggs

1 ¼ cups Castor Sugar

4 cups Almond Meal  (500 gram)   

¼ cup Poppy Seeds

¼ teaspoon Ground Cardamom

SYRUP

1 ½ cups Orange Juice – strain to remove pulp.  Use good quality, fresh juice

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Water

½ of one lime – juice only

Method

Place the whole oranges in a very large deep saucepan and cover with water.

Bring to boil and continue to boil for 1 – 2 hours until very soft.  Depends on skin thickness. 
Remove from water and allow to cool approx. 1 hour minimum to 2 hours.
TIPS and HINTS: Boiling reduces the bitterness and makes entire orange soft – soft playdough consistency.  I tried using a microwave method but the flavour was not nearly as good – I will stick to boiling.

Preheat oven to 180 °C regular oven. Fan forced 160 °C. 

(I found just under 170 °C  was okay with my oven on fan assist).

Use a 24 cm Springform cake tin.  Line the base with baking paper, allowing some extra at sides outside the tin, to help with removing cake after baking. 
Grease base and sides with Butter (NB NOT butter if requiring DairyFree cake) thus I use Macadamia Oil to ensure cake is Dairy Free or you could spray with one of those Cooking Oil sprays if you want.

Cut the cooled oranges up roughly (check there are NO seeds) and add oranges, including any escaping juice, into a Food Processor.

Puree the oranges, add the baking powder and blitz again to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the almond meal, poppy seeds and cardamom.

Using an Electric Mixer, add the eggs and sugar into large bowl.  Whisk until thick and pale.

Change whisk to the mixing paddle.  Gently fold in 1/3^rd at a time alternating orange puree, then the almond mix.  Check all is gently combined.

Spoon or gently pour mixture into the prepared pan.

Dust with a little castor sugar and decorate with some blanched almonds if you like.

Bake 50 min to 1 hour.  Check at 45 minutes.  Turn pan around if browning unevenly.

Cake is cooked when firm to touch in the centre and golden. Should be moist but firm.

Cover with alfoil to keep moisture in.   If transporting, leave alfoil cover on.

Cool in the pan 15 minutes before removing from tin (or leave in for easy transporting)

Serving options (depending on your dairy free requirements)

Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar (optional), the syrup, cardamom flecked thick cream or sour cream or yoghurt.

Cake is equally delicious served at room temperature with warm syrup and creams etc as above.

Orange Lime Syrup   -  This is seriously delicious

Ingredients

1 ½ cups Orange Juice – strain to remove pulp.  Use good quality, fresh juice

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Water

½ of one lime – juice only

Method

Using a medium saucepan, combine the orange juice, sugar and water.

Bring to boil and then simmer for 20 – 40 minutes until thickens and becomes syrupy.

(I pop a wooden spoon across the pan during the simmer and never had a boil over)

Just as it thickens,  add the ½ lime juice and continue to simmer until syrupy.

If you accidentally take it too far – just add a splash of hot water and simmer and stir until desired consistency.

Orange Almond Poppy PuddyCake by Feed Your Inner Cook

For more information check out

Hayden's Adventures     for 4WD adventures and food ideas  

and

be sure to visit Pyramids Road Winery  for hand-made artisan wines in the Granite Belt, Queensland Australia                         

                                             Enjoy! Colleen

Spice and Rosemary Roasted Nuts

When friends drop in for a visit it's great to serve an alternative to the ubiquitous dips and crackers. The flavour is not overpowering - and you can vary the mix to your preference.

I adapted Nigella's recipe with a few added spices and replaced butter with Macadamia Oil to make it dairy free. These nuts transport easily if you want to take something to share at a gathering and really hit the spot during our grape-picking weekend at Pyramids Road Winery.   Hope you enjoy making and sharing these delicious nuts at your next event!

Spice and Rosemary Roasted Nuts by Feed your Inner Cook

Preparation  15 - 20 minutes

Cooking        7 - 15 minutes

Combining    5 minutes

Ingredients

600 gram total of  assorted unsalted nuts - Brazil nuts, Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, Macadamias, Cashews    -  a mixture of whatever varieties you prefer

Spice and Oil Mixture

2 - 3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/2  teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2  teaspoon dried Chilli Flakes (optional)

1/2  teaspoon Garlic Powder  

shake of dried Rosemary leaves

2  teaspoons Maldon Sea Salt - crushed  PLUS   extra for sprinkling later

2    teaspoons Dark Muscovado Sugar   OR Dark Brown Sugar

2    teaspoons OverProof Bundaberg Rum  OR regular Bundaberg Rum (optional)

1 - 1 1/4 Tablespoons Macadamia Oil  (a little goes a long way!)

Method

Mix the spice and oil mix (without nuts) in a large bowl, ready for AFTER nuts baked

Preheat oven to 180° C  (oven must be at temperature before adding the nuts)

Prepare 2 oven trays with alfoil and baking paper and spread the nuts over the trays without crowding the nuts too tightly    NB nuts only

Toast the nuts in the oven approx 10 minutes (watch so they don't burn!) til lightly golden.

Remove from oven. Turn oven off and leave oven door closed.

Pour hot nuts into the prepared spice mix and mix through.

Spread the spiced nuts over the oven trays again and return to the OFF oven for 5 minutes or so to intensify the spiced mix.  Check they are not burning.

Remove from oven.

Allow to cool slightly and check for flavour  - add a little extra salt or chilli etc to your taste preference.

Serve warm   OR   at room temperature.

If storing in airtight glass containers - allow to cool completely beforehand.

Delicious!

for more information about handcrafted wines see  Pyramids Road Winery
on the Granite Belt near Stanthorpe Queensland.  Hand made and wonderful!

Spice and Rosemary Roasted Nuts by Feed your Inner Cook

                                           Enjoy!   Colleen

Smoky Barbeque Sticky Chicken Wingettes

It is always handy to have a recipe for nibbles to share - satisfying flavours, crowd pleaser and travels well to the venue.  I made these very moreish Sticky smoky chicken wingettes as nibbles to share on a recent grape picking weekend at the superb Pyramids Road Winery near Stanthorpe in Queensland.  Warren and Sue Smith make stunning hand-crafted award winning wines - be sure to drop in whilst visiting the Granite Belt or check out their boutique wines at Pyramids Road Winery.  

Smoky Barbeque Sticky Chicken Wingettes by Feed Your Inner Cook

Preparation  10 minutes and overnight marinating (4 hours minimum)

Cooking        25 - 30 minutes     

 Ingredients

1 – 1 ¼ kg Chicken wingettes – found at most butchers or supermarkets – chopped in half, wing tip removed -  for ‘chew off the bone’ ‘eat with your fingers’ nibbles

Sticky sauce Ingredients

½ cup Barbeque sauce 

2 tablespoons Caramelised Onion Jam  (store bought is fine – Beerenberg South Australia make a nice one available in many shops   http://www.beerenberg.com.au/

3 garlic cloves crushed

2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika

1 teaspoon dried Chilli flakes   (optional)

½ teaspoon  ground White Pepper

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

10 – 12 stems of fresh chives – very finely sliced  PLUS extra for garnish at end

Splash of sesame Oil (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste (optional)

Cooking oil spray for during baking

Serving Options

Sweet Chilli sauce

Greek yoghurt

Lemon wedges

Method

Place a large plastic freezer bag in a bowl.

Using a measuring Jug – combine the sauce ingredients – Taste and adjust/add  extra chilli etc to your preference.  Pour into the plastic bag.

Add the chicken pieces and gently massage well to coat with marinade.

Store in fridge and turn the plastic bag regularly to toss with marinade. 

Leave overnight or 4 hrs minimum.

Cooking

Preheat oven 220° C.   Don’t put chicken in until oven is ready and hot.

Prepare 2 oven trays – cover with alfoil and baking paper.

Remove chicken pieces from plastic bag, shaking off excess sauce. Place on tray without crowding pieces.

Pour the extra marinade into a very small saucepan and if needed brush a little onto any pieces that might have missed a marinade coating.   Too much sloppy sauce will just steam instead of caramelising.

Cook for 10 minutes.  Turn the pieces, brush with tray juices.  Then very quickly lightly spray with oil  (this helps render the fat)

Cook for 10 minutes and repeat above process.

Cook for further 5 -10 minutes repeating above process  ie Chicken cooks 25–30 min total.

Whilst chicken is cooking – boil the remaining marinade for 10 minutes in very small saucepan until thick and sticky.  Important to boil well as sauce has been in contact with raw chicken.  May need to add a splash of water if starts to dry out too quickly

Remove cooked chicken from oven.  Drizzle with the sticky boiled marinade sauce.

Serve warm with the suggested sides.

PS  I precooked these chicken pieces and the sauce, took them to our grapepicking weekend at the beautiful Pyramids Road Winery http://www.pyramidsroad.com.au/ where I reheated them for 10 mins and then drizzled with warmed sauce – still delish and were great to share!

               

 

                Enjoy!  Colleen

Gnocchi Gratin

What a clever idea!  Nigella puts a twist on making traditional potato bake by swapping Gnocchi for sliced potatoes. This one tasted delicious but could have had a tad more oven time to turn it golden.

Ingredients

250 g mascarpone

60 ml milk

4 Tablespoons grated parmesan

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or 1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 x 400 g packets of fresh gnocchi

2 Tablespoons breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Combine mascarpone and milk in a large flat bottomed oven proof frying pan, (large enough to add the cooked gnocchi later in one layer)

Warm until the mixture starts to bubble, turn heat off and add 3 tablespoons of the grated parmesan cheese, stir to combine and melts.

Add ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg and salt to taste.

Take the pan off the heat.

Boil salted water and cook gnocchi according to the packet instructions.

Drain the gnocchi, add it to the sauce turning well but gently so they are all covered in a single layer.

Top with remaining grated parmesan and bread crumbs.

Bake for 15 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Serve immediately.

Mamma Marmalade



Vegetarian Nachos

This is the second recipe in our family favourites series.  Recipes that you make, time and time again and you are never quite sure - who in the family it was, that gave you the recipe. It's also very handy to whip this dish up, because the ingredients are mainly what you have in the pantry. With all our family favourites feel free to tweak to your family's taste, we like it hot so you may want to tone down the chilli and cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

1 Medium/large brown onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Oil
1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes or half a bottle of tomato sugo sauce
2 x long red chillies, finely diced (seeds in if you can take the heat)
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (reduce to what you like)
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Packet of corn chips
Cheddar cheese, grated, as much as you like (My son Andrew tells me "you can never have too much cheese"!)

Extra Ingredients (if you have them)
Roasted red peppers, chopped
Corn sliced off the cob

Method

Heat Oil in a deep sided, heavy based frypan.
Sauté chopped onions until softened, add garlic, fry for just a minute, burnt garlic is bitter.
Toss in kidney beans, and all of the spices, stir to combine and let toast for a 5 minutes or more.
Add chopped tomatoes and stir.
Using a potato masher, gently squash bean mixture till it resembles a bubbling mixture but not so smooth as not to have some lumps and bumps.
Add any extras you want at this stage.
Heat oven grill
Place half the packet of corn chips on an ovenproof dish.
Spoon out the bean mixture over the corn chips, ensuring some ends are left not covered.
Then sprinkle grated cheese over the top.
Grill for 5-10 minutes until golden and gooey.

Serve with remaining corn chips, sour cream, guacamole and coriander.

Delicious
Mamma Marmalade

Rice Pudding Creamy and Delicious

Rice Pudding reminds me of English dinners, my Grandmothers and holiday comfort cooking.

Rice Pudding :   recipe from    Feed Your Inner Cook

Holidays often mean a fridge full of leftovers.  Excess milk can be tricky to use up easily.  

This recipe is excellent when the milk is still fine but nearing it's 'use-by' date.  
I particularly like adding a touch of ground Cardamom when the rice is almost cooked instead of the traditional nutmeg or cinnamon.  Cardamom is often called the Queen of Spices with a subtle camphor, bayleaf, minty peppery aroma.  Deliciously different.  A little pinch transforms this pudding from comfort food to exotic. Plus, it will keep for a few days once refrigerated.

Preparation                  5 minutes
Cooking               20 - 30 minutes - needs regular stirring whilst on stovetop.  

Ingredients      I have included measures for small and large sizes.

                                   Small                                   Double
Rice                              5 tablespoons (1/2 cup)       1 cup
Boiling water             1/2 cup                                    1 cup
Milk                              3 cups                                  6 cups
Sugar                          3  tablespoons                      6 tablespoons
Vanilla extract           1/2 teaspoon                           1 teaspoon
Cinnamon or nutmeg      pinch                              1/2 teaspoon
or 
Cardamom ground         pinch                              1/4 teaspoon   Increase to your taste
Method
Place rice in a large saucepan.
Cover with the boiling water and simmer rapidly until water almost evaporates.  
Stir constantly and watch it carefully. Do not boil dry. 
Slowly add the milk and stir well.
Bring to a slow boil.  Stir constantly and keep an eye on it as likely to boil over.
Reduce to a simmer.  Stir regularly.  Remove any 'skin' that forms.
Add the sugar, vanilla and cinnamon or nutmeg  OR cardamom
Stir and slowly simmer until thick and rice is cooked.  Taste to check rice is soft.
simmer until desired consistency, spoonable, but not too runny.
Allow to cool slightly and serve.

OPTIONS
variations:   lovely served with stewed apples or prunes 

Rice Pudding:  Recipe from     Feed Your Inner Cook

Plus:  Check out our earlier post for golden crust baked rice pudding
 http://feedyourinnercook.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/creamed-rice-with-golden-crust-simply.html

Enjoy!  Colleen

Chicken with Tarragon Salsa Verde

A dear friend bought me a copy of  Nigella Lawson's "Instant Italian Inspiration" and I am very grateful, it's one of those "coffee table" recipe books with beautiful photography and Nigella's chatty description of the recipes.  It never fails me, if I am seeking inspiration for something that appears simple but looks impressive and tastes sublime.

Chicken ready to enjoy, presented on a camphor laurel board from Esther & Cameron



Ingredients

4 Chicken breast fillets, skin n
2 sprigs of fresh Tarragon
Pepper freshly ground
Olive oil


Small bunch of parsley, leaves only approx. 20g
Approx. 5g fresh tarragon leaves
1 spring onion in including green section, roughly chopped
Zest and juice 1 unwaxed lemon
1 teaspoon salt flakes
6 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil


Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Place 1 tablespoon olive oil into a shallow ovenproof dish in which the breast fillets will set snuggly, place chicken in dish toss gently to coat in oil and have skin side up. Top with freshly ground pepper.  Tuck sprigs of Tarragon between chicken.

Cook in oven for about 30-45 minutes depending how large the chicken breasts are, until skin is golden and chicken is cooked, but still moist.

Rest chicken whilst you make the salsa Verde
For the sauce:

Combine parley and tarragon leaves with the spring onion, lemon zest, salt flakes and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a container you can use a stick blender to whiz into a paste, adding the lemon juice and remaining 3 tablespoons of oil slowly as you blend.  Add any juices that have come from the cooked chicken and whiz again.

Cut the chicken into slices/pieces and drizzle the tarragon salsa Verde over the top and arrange on a serving platter.

Serve with baked ratatouille or favourite salad.

Wonderful!

Mamma Marmalade








Pearl Barley with Mushrooms, Macadamias and Labna

Byron Bay is a sublime part of Australia and home of “The Farm” restaurant by the Three Blue Ducks chefs who create delicious fresh food sourced from their farm or local producers. Inspired by their cookbook, here is my take on their Mushrooms and Pearl Barley recipe.  It is so satisfying and hearty – packed with flavour but not heavy.  I swapped the bread sauce for Labna, instructions in an earlier post.  Hope you enjoy!

Be sure to go to “The Farm” restaurant if you are visiting Byron Bay and also enjoy a drive into the Mount Warning region and the delightful town of Uki  including a visit to

Esther and Cameron at the Buttery for Handmade Uki treasures.  

Check out information links at end of this post

Preparation   10 minutes

Cooking         30 - 45 minutes

Serves           4 - 5 

Ingredients

Make the Labna the night before    OR  use a 4- 5 tablespoons of thick Greek Yoghurt

http://feedyourinnercook.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/labna-make-your-own-low-fat-quick-no.html

plus

250 gram Pearl Barley

600 -750 gram Mushrooms sliced preferably mix Swiss Brown or Portabello, Enoki and Oyster

Macadamia Oil – Australian    50-60 ml to stir through cooked barley ,plus splash for sauté

1 -2 shallots, finely sliced

1 lemon – zest and a splash of  juice

Baby spinach leaves – a good handful

Some flat leaf parsley – finely chopped

Mixture of flat leaf parsley, mint, tarragon or lemon thyme leaves for garnish - chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

10 -12 Macadamia nuts – chopped and lightly toasted

Method

Add barley to large saucepan of boiling water. Reduce to a simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes

Drain.  Return cooked barley to the saucepan and stir through 50-60 ml Macadamia Oil, parsley and a little salt and pepper to your taste.

While Barley is simmering: 

heat a frypan and gently toast the chopped Macadamias til just golden. Remove from pan.

Next:  add a little Macadamia Oil to the pan and sauté the mushrooms, the thick ones first.

Add the Shallots and baby spinach leaves and stir through.   

Finish with a very small splash of Lemon juice

Taste and  add salt and pepper if needed

Spoon the warm Barley into bowls.  Top with the mushroom mixture.

Dollop with a little Labna or Greek Yoghurt.

Garnish with lemon zest and the chopped mixed herbs. 

More information on

Three Blue Ducks Byron Bay  http://www.threeblueducks.com/byron/home-byron

Esther and Cameron Handmade Uki shop at The Buttery Uki

http://estherandcameron.com/pages/handmade-uki

FaceBook Esther and Cameron Uki

Tweed Heads, Mount Warning and Uki region 

http://destinationtweed.com.au/experiences/nature-eco/page/2/

http://www.ukivillage.com.au/

Happy cooking, Happy Travels and ... Happy Eating!

                                                                                   Enjoy!  Colleen

Lemon Freekah Chicken with Fetta and Kale

So good it deserves an encore!

Lemony freshness seems to pop out of this photo. All the family loved my version of a delicious Donna Hay recipe. Freekah is roasted green wheat grains which give a rich nutty flavour that works so well with the chicken and kale.  The plumped up lemony currants give it zing whilst the nuts add crunch and the fetta rounds it out with creamy saltiness.

Perfect served warm for a family dinner but equally satisfying as leftovers the next day with a green salad.

Serves 5 -6

Preparation 10 minutes

Cook             50 minutes (of which 40 minutes is simmering time)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Australian olive oil

2 brown onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 red chilli finely sliced (optional – to your taste)

1 cup freekah – rinsed well then drained

2 cups (500 ml) Chicken Stock  (Salt reduced)

2 chicken breast fillets – skinless. (250 gm).  Cut into bite size slices

¼ cup pistachios – roughly chopped

¼ cup dried currants – soaked in a dash of lemon juice to plump up

½ bunch of kale. Removed from tough stem and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

200 gram fetta – crumbled

Pepper and salt – if needed.  To your taste.

½ cup mint leaves

¼ cup dill sprigs

Method

Heat a dash of oil in a large frypan. (use one that has a lid for later).

Add the sliced chicken and quickly brown until almost cooked.  Remove from pan and place in a bowl. Cover with alfoil and keep warm.  Chicken will be returned to pan towards ending of cooking.

Add onion to the pan.  Stir until softened slightly then add the garlic.

Add freekah, stock and chilli.  Stir and bring to boil.

Cover pan with lid and reduce heat and then simmer for 40 minutes.  Check and stir if needed.

If it is drying out too quickly, reduce heat slightly and add a little water.

Taste a little of the freekah to check it is cooked and not hard. Adjust cooking time if needed.

Return the chicken to the pan and then stir through the kale. 

Continue simmering the covered pan for another 5 minutes.

Stir through the nuts, currants, zest and fetta.

Taste and add pepper and salt as needed.

Top with mint and dill.

Serve.

                                              Enjoy!  Colleen

Corn and Feta Pikelets



Looking for that classy starter for a picnic, dinner party or even something nutritious for kindy or school lunches?  This versatile base can be topped with all manner of deliciousness.
This recently made it into our picnic basket for an evening at the "Simply Red" concert, it sure did impress fellow attendees.

Great to make ahead and freeze also.

Ingredients

Half a tin of creamed corn (220gm)
1/4 cup of milk
150gms feta
1 egg
2 green spring onions
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon dried mint
1 cup Self Raising flour
Black pepper


Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined.

Heat a small amount of oil in a frypan and spoon in a large teaspoon of batter. Turn once browned on one side and cook till pikelets are still moist but cooked through so there is no raw mixture.

Cool then top with favourite topping.

Topping ideas

Smoked Salmon and sour cream
Guacamole
Caramelised onion
Prawn & Dill
Salsa of fried chorizo, herbs, tomato and chilli (pictured recipe)

Mamma Marmalade

Panna Cotta

 

This is a failsafe basic Panna Cotta recipe for you to "pimp" with any flavour combination you are after.  Here we have included lime zest in the Panna Cotta and then topped with some diced mango.

Ingredients

480ml milk
4 sheets gelatine (available at good delis)
240ml cream
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthways
100g caster sugar

Method

Place 60ml of the milk in a small bowl and pour the gelatine on top. Stir to combine and set aside.
Place the remaining milk in a saucepan, add cream, lime zest and vanilla pod.
Heat gently until it starts to simmer.
Add the sugar, stir to dissolve.
Add the gelatine mixture and stir constantly to dissolve the gelatine completely.

Pour into your favourite mould and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until well set.
Either top with fruit in container or unmould by gently running a small knife around the edge of the custard and upending onto individual serving plates.

Serve with berries or tropical fruit.

My favourite

Mamma Marmalade

Rouladen

Looking for a tasty dinner to serve to your friends following a Paleo or no carbohydrates diet?

This is your salvation, the flavours make every mouthful a taste sensation, thank you Samantha for sharing your zucchini pasta idea.

Ingredients

Rouladen

6 slices thinly cut veal or topside steak
German mustard
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
300mls Water or beef stock
Olive Oil

Stuffing
400g pork or veal mince
1 small onion grated
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Mix all together

Zucchini Pasta
4 zucchini
Trim both ends off zucchini
Using a peeler, peel slices of zucchini from each side, avoiding the seeds in the middle.
Sauté with olive oil and crushed garlic until al dente.

Stuffed Tomato
4 tablespoons Parsley, chopped
2 slices of Capsicum, charred, and chopped
2 small chillies, finely chopped (available from the deli)
1 roasted artichoke heart, chopped (available from the deli)
4 olives, chopped
6 sprigs of thyme, chopped

Combine all ingredients, scoop out flesh of tomato, add half of the flesh to the stuffing ingredients.
Spoon stuffing into Tomato.
Bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour.

Roulades Method
Preheat Oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Flatten meat between two pieces of cling wrap with a rolling pin or meat cleaver.
Spread mustard over the meat, then spoon a dessertspoon of stuffing at one end.
Roll up and tie with kitchen string or secure with a small skewer or toothpick.
Heat oil in a large heavy base casserole pan fry the roulades until brown on all sides.
Remove roulades and add onion, carrot and celery to the pan.
Sauté for 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
Add stock or water, scraping all meat crust from the bottom of the pan.
Return roulades to the pan, cover and pop in a moderate oven for 2 hours.

Very healthy

Mamma Marmalade

Chicken Bacon and Almond filled Croissants

Sometimes I wonder where the years go.  I can remember making this recipe in the 1980's!! Eeeeck! So, it is very retro - and still tastes great!  A classic and a family favourite.

During the weekend, family members were popping in and out.  I needed an easy, pre-prepared, simple to serve one plate nibble / quick bite option ready to serve with the minimum of fuss. I used some purchased roast chicken - the takeaway chook - but if you have some leftovers of your own cooked chook this is a great way to revive leftovers.

My Chicken, Bacon and Almond filling is so versatile - an easy sandwich filling, a dip or spread with crackers and celery, or, like I did here, slice open some croissants - regular or mini size, stuff with the filling and pop in the oven for a few minutes. Delish served like an open grill too - is that retro enough for you?  So good whichever way you choose to serve them.

Chicken Bacon and Almond Filled Croissants by Feed your Inner Cook

Preparation  10 - 15 minutes.  This is mainly chopping and assembly
Cooking       Chicken is already cooked so allow 5 minutes to cook almonds and bacon.

Measurements are very flexible - if you want a looser consistency for a cracker dip spread - add a bit more sour cream or mayo.  It is up to you - and adjust the ingredients to your preference.
  
Double this if you want - will keep refrigerated for a couple of days

Ingredients

¼  large  OR  ½ small cooked chook depending on size ( or grilled chicken fillets) cooled

4 rashers bacon. Fat and rind removed. Cooked, cooled and chopped

4 tablespoons slivered almonds (lightly toasted)

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 tub (250 - 300ml approx) thickened Light Sour Cream

dash of mayo   (a tablespoon more/less)    - to your taste

ground cracked black pepper.    (Extra salt if you prefer - bacon is salty)

options: few mushrooms, chopped shallots, etc

Method 

Mix together in a large mixing bowl until the desired consistency.  

or

In food processor   ( Hint - do not overprocess)     

zap chook, bacon, herbs as thickly/finely as desired

Then add cream, mayo.  Zap till just mixed through.

 Add the almonds and do a very light zap to just mix in.

Serving options:

Filled croissants – baked preheated moderate oven 5-10 mins  (best if using a chunky consistency)

Sandwich fillings (better finely processed – your preference)

Grilled open sandwich  - spread on toast and lightly grill

           

Spread for crackers, mini toasts, bagel crisps, or serve with celery sticks etc etc.  Best if finer and looser consistency.

                           Enjoy!  Colleen.   PS some great stuff was made in the eighty's