Seafood Chowder

Shamelessly stolen from Nadia Lim, but we make slight changes every time we make it.

Ingredients 

• butter 50 grams
• leek 1, finely chopped (white part only)
• garlic 3 cloves, finely chopped
• plain flour 2 level tablespoons
• milk 2½ cups
• fish or chicken stock 2½ cups
• cream ½ cup
• handful shellfish in shells (eg mussels or clams) scrubbed and cleaned – optional
• raw fish eg monkfish, snapper, tarakihi, hapuku 250 grams, cut into 3-4cm chunks
• raw prawns (and/or scallops) 250 grams
• smoked fish or salmon 200 grams, flaked
• lemon ½, juice
• finely chopped parsley ¼ cup
• chives, to serve ¼ cup, chopped

Method

1. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook leek and garlic with a good pinch of salt for a few minutes or until soft.
   

2. Stir in the flour and cook, while stirring continuously, for about 1 minute.
   

3. Stir in about ½ cup of the milk, stirring continuously to avoid lumps forming. Gradually stir in the rest of the milk, then the stock and cream. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until slightly thickened.
   

4. Add seafood (if using shellfish, add first and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding other seafood) and continue to simmer for a few minutes or until seafood is just cooked through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir in parsley.
   

5. Ladle into bowls, distributing seafood equally, and garnish with chives.Serve with warm flatbread smeared with garlic and herb butter.

Pasta and Bean Soup

A lovely chunky soup that freezes well.  Perfect for a filling lunch or a light dinner.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
50-100g cubed ham or chopped bacon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves (optional)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
400g can whole tomatoes in juice
425g can red kidney beans
440g can four bean mix (or any bean mix you can get)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup short pasta (macaroni, etc)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pot.
Add the garlic and onion (plus ham or bacon if using) and cook, without browning, until the onion is soft and clear.
Stir in the chili powder, bay leaves and thyme.
Cook for one minute longer.

Add the canned tomatoes, beans and the stock. Heat until boiling, then add the pasta. Allow to boil gently until the pasta is cooked (usually 10-12 minutes), then add salt and pepper to taste.

Chocolate cardamom pudding with chai ice-cream

This is another recipe from taste.com.au - they say that it was the winner of their 5th birthday celebration. It sounds like a yummy mix, given that I've recently got into chai flavouring. However, I'm not big on making icecream, so am thinking of just mixing some chai flavouring into vanilla icecream, and making the pudding separate.

Ingredients:

Ice cream:
1 cup whole milk
150g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cardamom pods
6 cloves
4 dried black peppercorns
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger
2 cups cream
6 egg yolks
2 tablespoons loose leaf black tea

Pudding:
100g dark chocolate, chopped
50g butter
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 cup plain flour

Method:
1. For the ice-cream, put the milk and 150g sugar in a saucepan. Add cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.
2. In a jug, mix the cream and 6 egg yolks together. Add this to the milk mixture and stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
3. Add the tea, turn off the heat, cover saucepan and allow to infuse for about 20 minutes. Strain, chill the mixture in the fridge, and once cool, pour into an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the ice-cream maker's instructions.
4. For the puddings, grease two 200ml metal pudding moulds. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
5. Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and 1 egg yolk with 50g sugar with an electric beater until thick.
6. Add the chocolate mixture to the beaten eggs and fold in the flour and the ground cardamom. Pour mixture into moulds and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the top feels firm but the middle is still soft. Allow to cool in moulds for 2 minutes before turning out. Serve with the ice-cream

Chicken Tikka Masala Kebabs

Taken from the taste.com.au website, these would be yummy with a green salad in summer, I reckon.

Ingredients:
2 tbs tikka masala paste
1 1/2 cups (420g) thick Greek-style yoghurt
1kg skinless chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
1 bunch coriander
2 tsp caster sugar
4cm piece ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
1 telegraph cucumber, thinly sliced
2 tbs sunflower oil

Method:
1. Soak 8 wooden skewers in cold water for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine tikka masala paste with 1 cup (280g) yoghurt and season well. Coat the chicken in the marinade, then cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Place coriander stalks and leaves, sugar, ginger, garlic, olive oil and half the lime juice in a food processor and whiz until a coarse puree. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup (140g) yoghurt. Season. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, toss the cucumber with remaining lime juice. Season. Set aside.
5. Heat sunflower oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers, then cook, turning, for 8-10 minutes until cooked through.
6. Serve the skewers with coriander dressing and cucumber salad.

Parmesan Scrolls

These sound like a variation on cheese sticks (which I make with edam cheese and cayenne pepper) - I'm loving the idea of parmesan, though!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
Coarse salt and ground pepper
All-purpose flour, for rolling
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten

Method:
1. In a bowl, mix cheese and paprika; season with salt and pepper.
2. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to 10 by 14 inches.
3. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with cheese mixture; using a rolling pin, roll mixture into pastry.
4. Roll up pastry, starting from short end. Refrigerate until firm, about 25 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
6. Cut roll into 3/8-inch-thick slices.
7. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheet; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe, I believe - sounds yummo!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line the bottom of a standard-sized loaf pan with parchment paper – grease and flour the pan.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes – until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear – set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool the cake.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Knobbly Stirfry

I've named this Knobbly Stirfry, because it's sort of a veriation on Knobbly Mince variation - I made it up as I went along at dinnertime tonight, and it turned out pretty well!

Ingredients:
Zucchini - I used one large (almost-marrow) size, but 2 regular-sized would work just as well
Carrots - I used two small-ish ones
Crushed garlic - 1 tsp
Crushed ginger - 1 tsp
Stirfry beef - I used two pieces of schnitzel, cut into stirfry strips

Method:
1. Grate carrots and zucchini
2. Cook meat with garlic and ginger
3. Add vegetables and cook until the mixture is dry (zucchinis have a lot of water in them!)
4. Enjoy!