Zest and Fennel Seeds

Have I told you about my Tagine!  I love my tagine, I love how simple it is to cook with, how great the food cooks when it comes out and it has a very exotic looking shape

No suprises that it comes out to play often.  Last Friday I cooked a Lamb Kefta.  A beautiful Moroccan Style all in the pot dish, which just makes you want to lick the plate.

This is a combination of about 3 or four different recipe inspirations, so I’ll just ramble on and tell you what I did.

Ingredients

1 Red Onion
1 Carrot
2 Celery Sticks
2 cloves Garlic
1kg Lamb Mince
Half a teaspoon of each – cinnamon, coriander seeds, smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
About5-6 good size tomatoes
1/2 large Eggplant 

Fresh Coriander 

I was determined to enjoy the afternoon outside, so I carried all my bits and pieces to the backyard and uncovered the barbie.
I love using the sideburner, so it was the perfect opportunity.

Firstly, chop the onions, garlic, celery and carrots, make it a little rustic of course.
Roll the lamb into balls about 2cm in diameter (I enlisted child labour at this point which they loved, so a few of ours looked a little wonky).
Place all the spices in a mortar and pestle and really work them.

Put the Tagine (or simply a decent sized pot roast pan or a wok) on the heat.
Once heated add some olive oil and throw in the veges and garlic. Stir occassionally but let soften.
Add the spice mix to the pan and coat all the vege in the mix.

If you are cooking inside, use a frying pan to brown the lamb meatballs, however I was out on the BBQ, so I used the grill to brown them at the same time as the vegies.

While this is happening, chop the tomatoes roughly and chop the eggplant into cm sized chunks.
Then add the browned lamb meatballs and the tomatoes and eggplant to the tagine or pot.
I had no fresh coriander on me here, although I keep a tube of that fresh stuff in the fridge for such occasions, and used that.
Pop the lid on, and let cook for 45min-1 hour.

Prepare some couscous to serve also, I used the Pearl Couscous as I like the flavour and texture.
At the end of the cooking time, open the lid and crack an egg in the top of the pot for each person and put the lid back on.
Serve on a bed of the Couscous ensuring each plate has a lovely soft egg on top.
The egg makes it nice and creamy.

So this afternoon amongst the chaos that unfolds on our house on Wednesdays (we have girls choir to get to amongst other appointments), I decide that creativity has hit and it won’t give in.

I purchased a head of cauliflower at my last market visit and I’ve been waiting to try it, so of course the camera comes along for the ride.

I’ve never made a Cauliflower Soup before, so this was completely new for me, and considering I had everything in my head first, I was kinda proud of what I came up with.  My two older kids demolished it, and asked for seconds so I can definitely recommend you try your kids on this one.

I have to say, if I were cooking for no kids, the chilli would have been a little heavy, but I wanted them to love it so I omitted it this time, and just added it to my own dish at the end.  It was delicious and it will definitely become a regular in our house.

Ingredients

1 Garlic Clove
5cm piece Ginger
1 red onion
1 Carrot
1 Celery Stalk
Half a Cauliflower head
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1tsp Corinander Seeds
1 tsp Ground Tumeric
600ml Chicken Stock
Yogurt, Mint and a little chilli to serve 

Chop all the vegies, fairly fine, not so much for looks, more for cooking time, so don’t be too fussy.  Use a Mortar and Pestle and grind any whole spices, till the kitchen is filled with aroma (my favourite bit).

Heat the oil in a stock pot style pan.  I used my Tagine as it was the perfect size, and if you have one use it, as it really adds to the cooking style of the dish.  Add the Garlic, Ginger, Red Onion, Carrot, Celery to the pan.  Saute the vegetables lightly and add the spices.

Once the spices have well coated the vegies, add the cauliflower as well and mix. Once the Cauliflower is well coated also and has started to saute slightly add the chicken stock and allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.   Once you can see the vegetables are nice and soft, remove from the head and get out your stick blender and wizz it.  Ours still had a little texture to it, that is our personal taste , but you can make it quite smooth if you prefer.

Breakfast of Champions!!

This is so yummy, and very fitting for my first official post of the new blog as its a regular meal in this house and the 6 year old loves to cook it himself.  Although today was my turn.  This is for one person, so just double it if there are two of you.

2 pieces of Pane di Casa or similar and butter
small clove of garlic
1/4 large chilli
Approx. 5 large swiss brown mushrooms
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice or Balsamic Vinegar
Your favourite herbs (I chose Rosemary and Lemon Thyme as they are rampant in my garden)

 Thinly slice the garlic and chilli.  Slice the Mushrooms.

Add a good splash of Olive Oil to a very hot pan, then throw in the mushies, garlic and chilli.

Swirl it around so the oil coats everything, add a splash of water and give it another swirl.   After a minute or two add the juice of about 1/4 of the lemon or a small splash of Balsamic Vinegar to make it sing.   Then add the herbs, chopped finely if you choose.

Toast the bread and add some butter to the top.  Then pour the mushrooms over the top.

Enjoy!