Mushroom & Butter Bean Goulash

This is great dish to enjoy over rice and comes together in a short time, perfect for a week night meal.  Thanks to Karin for this great recipe.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 inch piece ginger grated
500g brown mushrooms chopped
2 X 410g tin chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp vegetable stock powder
1 Tbsp honey
410g tin butter beans rinsed
Coriander to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger.
2. Add the mushrooms and fry until tender.
3. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the butter beans and honey and serve with chopped coriander.

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Brown & Wild Rice Pilaf

I got great new vegetarian recipes from my sister-in-law Karin while she and my brother were here visiting.  Fabulous flavourful healthy and very moreish meals.  It’s wonderful to see Greg and Karin’s kids enjoy these wonderful meals too.

Ingredients

1 cup of brown wild rice cooked according the package instructions
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large red pepper chopped
500g  brown mushrooms chopped
2 stalks celery sliced
¼ cup soy sauce
410g tin lentils rinsed
½ cup chopped parsley
1 small punnet sprouts
Toasted flaked almonds

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the onions and peppers.
2. Add the mushrooms and celery and cook until the mushrooms and celery are tender.
3. Stir in the sprouts, soy, lentils and parsley.
4. Add the rice and flaked almonds.

Grilled Sweetcorn with Sweet Chilli, Coriander & Lime (The Cake the Buddha Ate)

This is the first recipe I tried from my by birthday book, The Cake the Buddha Ate and it is divine!  An absolute must make!  Pete and I  did the corn on the braai  but you could easily grill them in the oven too.

Ready to go on the braai for 5 minutes

Grilled Sweetcorn with Sweet Chilli, Coriander & Lime

Ingredients

1kg sweetcorn ± 6
50g butter
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp cumin seeds, bruised, crushed
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp garlic, crushed
1 tbsp lime juice – you could substitute with lemon
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Precook the sweetcorn in the microwave for 5 to 7 minutes until tender alternatively boil in water for ±15 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the oil.
3. Add the spices and sweet chilli sauce and bring to the boil.
4. Add the garlic and cook while stirring for 5 minutes until thick.
5. Add the lime juice and chopped coriander and add seasoning if required.
6. Pour the sauce over the sweetcorn and braai for 5 minutes turning while basting with the sauce.
7. Alternatively place in a preheated oven at 220°C and place on the highest rack in the oven.  Turn the mielies when they turn brown and grill to finish off.

Baked Sweet Potato with Philadelphia, Dates & Coriander

Quite frankly this is a meal all on it’s own and I have been known to enjoy it more than once for lunch and is another fabulous recipe I inherited from my sister-in-law Karin.  I am also hooked on serving these for guests and they accompany everything from a braai to a roast dinner, well I think so.  If I bake the sweet potato in the oven, I brush them with olive oil before baking but when I do them in the microwave I don’t bother.  There are no real quantities as you can stuff in as much or as little of the cheese, dates and coriander as you like.

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Philadelphia cream cheese cut into chunks
Dates cut into pieces
Coriander chopped

Method

1. Baked the sweet potatoes in the oven set at 180°C until soft alternatively cook them in the microwave.
2. Slice the sweet potato lengthwise and place all the other ingredients in the opening.

Curried Butter Beans

This is a lovely quick and easy recipe which compliments so many meals.  I have been known to eat it as a meal on it’s own too.  I got this scrumity recipe from a friend who always makes these delicious beans when we get together for a braai.  The flavour combination of garlic, ginger and curry is always a winner and these beans remind me of the fillings we used to enjoy in roti’s and dhalpouri’s when we lived in Mauritius.

Ingredients

Half an onion chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
¼ inch piece ginger finely chopped
1tsp mild curry powder
420g tin butter beans in tomato sauce
1 tsp chutney

Method

1. Fry the onion in a little oil in a small pot until tender.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and fry for two minutes.
3. Add the butter beans and chutney and heat until the butter beans are heated through.

Fried Rice

This is for my lovely friend Diane over at Photographs and Recipes. 😀

This is my base recipe for fried rice which I throw all different types of rice at, even pasta rice – love versatile recipes that take so well to varying ingredients.  Very rarely I will add an egg to the mixture but don’t find it adds that much to the dish and occasionally will add fresh chilli, corn, chives, parsley and anything else I have taking up space in the fridge.

Ingredients

Olive oil
Half an onion chopped
Half a red (capsicum) pepper diced
8 white button mushrooms sliced
3 cups cook rice of choice – I used basmati
Handful frozen baby peas
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Fry the onion and pepper in a good glug of olive oil.  Once the onions and peppers have started to soften add the mushrooms and fry until tender.
2. Add the rice and stir fry until warmed through.
3. Add the peas and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffed Brown Mushrooms

I couldn’t resist a pack of 4 giant brown mushrooms the other day, I had no idea what I was going to do with them – they usually get put on the braai but sadly Pete was away so it was me, the mushrooms and the oven.

The first couple of mushrooms I stuffed with a mixture of crumbled feta cheese, chopped chives, fresh sliced peppadews and crushed garlic with the chopped stems from the mushrooms, which I then drizzled with olive oil and baked at 200°C for approximately 18 minutes.

I also did a few with sliced garlic, sea salt, black pepper and a good drizzling of olive oil.

Both variations were fabulous, couldn’t be easier to prep and cook and would be perfect as a starter for a dinner party.

Un-Recipe – Roasted Sweet Potato

I nearly forgot about our un-recipes – can’t remember when I last shared one with you.  Yesterday was one of those “suckers-on-my-butt” kind of days and didn’t leave the computer until it was nearly supper time.  I know, I know – I should have planned ahead.  I needed food but wasn’t much in the mood for cooking so a quick non complicated meal was required.  These tasty sweet potatoes were the perfect accompaniment to some left over roast pork.

Un-Recipe – Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Grapeseed oil
Salt
Ground cinnamon
Ground ginger

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel and slice, dice or wedge sweet potatoes.
3. Place sweet potatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with a little oil salt and the spices.
4. Bake until sweet potatoes are cooked.

Garlic, Wine & Thyme Mushroom Pasta

This is one of those meals you can have ready in 20 minutes, you know, for those evenings when you have sat behind the computer for too long AGAIN…

Ingredients

Pasta of choice
250g button mushrooms sliced
Vegetable spice
2.5ml dry thyme
250ml cream
60ml dry white wine
15ml maizena (cornstarch)
2 garlic cloves crushed
Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
2. Fry the mushrooms in a little butter sprinkled with the vegetable spice and thyme until tender.
3. Pour the cream and wine into the pan and bring to a boil.
4. Mix the maizena with a little water and stir through the cream mixture to thicken.
5. Add the garlic and season with salt and black pepper.
6. Serve over the pasta.

 

Stir fried Mushroom and Red Pepper Pasta

It was one of those evenings AGAIN where my butt was glued to my chair (Pete was away on business) and I needed a satisfying meal fairly quickly with as little fuss as possible.  On opening the fridge, the mushrooms and red pepper jumped at me so no need to look any further – vegetarian pasta is was going to be.  This meal came together in the amount of time it took the pasta t cook and was very scrumity!  Must say the left overs were equally as delicious for lunch. 🙂  This isn’t a recipe per se more of a guideline of ingredients.

Ingredients

Pasta of choice – I used linguine
Olive oil
Mushrooms sliced
Red pepper (capsicum) sliced
Vegetable spice
Garlic crushed
Lemon Juice

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
2. Stir fry the mushrooms and red pepper in olive oil and season with the vegetable spice.
3. Stir through the raw garlic and lemon juice when serving with a drizzle of olive oil over the top.

Poaching an Egg

I have read SO many different and conflicting ways on how to poach an egg that I got terribly confused by the whole idea.  I thought the whirlpool option would be best so set to poaching my first egg – d i s a s t e r – there were egg white ribbons everywhere with a lonesome little yolk all by itself.  I should possibly have made a “calmer” whirlpool but was put off by this method.  I shall not bore you with the insurmountable ways there are to poach and egg, rather I shall show you how I was successful after a few attempts at the various methods.

I am of the opinion that the fresher your egg the better as the older the egg gets, the runnier the white will become.

Poaching and Egg

In a saucepan, bring water to a gentle rolling boil and add a teaspoon or two of vinegar if you like – “they” say the acidity in the vinegar helps the protein in the egg white coagulate so it hugs nicely around the yolk.  I have tried with and without with pretty much the same result.

For ease of getting the egg into the boiling water I cracked it into a Tupperware measuring cup which has a smooth rounded lip.  I gently and slowly submerged the tip of the measuring cup into the water and tipped the egg out into the water.

I let the egg poach for two and a half minutes and removed it with a slotted spoon.

Gently place the egg on a piece of kitchen towel or stale bread to absorb the excess liquid followed by some freshly ground black pepper and sprinkling of salt and voila you have the perfect poached egg.

Watch this space for my version of Eggs Benedict…

Broccoli Cheese Quiche with a Rice Crust

I read about this lovely idea over at Ashley’s, The Driven Cook’s blog and set to making this healthy lunch idea with a slightly less healthy white rice and amended the recipe ever so slightly.  This is a super idea to use up left over rice which I always seem to have, on the few occasions that I do cook rice.  I bet that brown rice would add a nice nutty flavour.

Ingredients

Crust
2 cups rice cooked – the original recipe called for brown rice
¼ cup cheddar cheese grated
1 egg

Filling
4 eggs
½ cup milk – the original recipe called for 1 cup
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 tsp veggie spice – this was not part of the original recipe
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
2. Mix the crust ingredients together and press into a prepared quiche dish.
3. Bake for 7 minutes and allow to cool slightly.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C.
5. Combine the filling ingredients and pour into the crust and baked for 25-30 minutes.  The original recipe calls for 35-40 minutes.

Bean and Tomato Casserole

I could honestly eat this every day.  Pete’s assistant first made this for me shortly after our arrival here in Mauritius and I get so excited every time she phones to say that she is sending home a portion with Pete.  It is so sweet that every time she makes this for her family, she keeps a portion aside for me.  Thank you Nan’s.  When we move back home, I will think of you every time I make this.

Broad (Butter) Bean and Tomato Casserole

Ingredients

500g packet broad/butter beans
5ml salt
5ml sugar
10ml oil
1 litre water
10 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 green chilli
6 garlic cloves
1inch piece ginger
2ml thyme
5ml parsley
5ml coriander

Method

1. Soak the beans over night then rinse and place in a saucepan with the salt, sugar, oil and water and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30 to 40 minutes until the beans are soft and half of the liquid has evaporated.
2. While the beans are cooking, place the tomatoes, ¾ of the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger in a blender and liquidise.
3. Place the remaining onion and thyme in a saucepan with a little oil and cook for 2 minutes and then add the tomato mixture and reduce down to a paste.
4. Add the beans including the cooking liquid to the tomato paste and simmer for 5 minutes over a low heat.
5. Add the parsley and coriander and stir through.

Submitted by:  Nanda Seebaluck, Mauritius

Cabbage, Onion and Mushroom Tarts

Tandy’s challenge for this week is to cook something savoury using cabbage.  I really wish Woolies was down the road so I could pick up some baby cabbages but alas, I will have to wait a little longer.  In the meanwhile, I bought half a cabbage at Super U and my idea for petit chou tarts turned out beautifully soft, full of flavour and the individual portions made for a lovely lunch.

Cabbage, Onion and Mushroom Tarts

Ingredients

1 large onion peeled and sliced
125g button mushrooms sliced
3 cups finely sliced cabbage

Egg Custard
2 eggs
250ml cream
125ml milk
½ 60g packet white onion soup powder
2.5ml salt
2.5ml pepper

250ml cheddar cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Fry the onion and mushrooms in a little butter until tender.
3. Add the cabbage and stir fry until tender and set aside.
4. Combine all of the egg custard ingredients in a shaker.
5. Divide the cabbage mixture into 12 prepared muffin tins.
6. Pour the egg custard over the mixture and top with the cheese.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.

Baked Spring Rolls

On occasion I feel the need to try something a little healthier with certain foods and Spring Rolls was next on my list.  They turned out equally as enjoyable as the fried version and went down a treat with some Sweet Chilli Sauce.  Quantities of the ingredients will depend on the amount being made and not sure that the recipe was going to be a success, I only made 6.

 

Ingredients

2 cups red and green cabbage finely sliced
1 small carrot grated
1 small onion finely sliced
2.5ml salt
Bean sprouts
6 spring roll wrappers

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Stir fry the cabbage, carrot and onion and salt until tender but still crunchy.
3. Place one wrapper onto a work surface in a diamond shape.
4. Place a 6th of the cabbage mixture onto the bottom quarter of the wrapper  and put bean sprouts on top of the mixture.
5. Fold up the bottom corner of the wrapper over the mixture and then fold the left and right sides into the centre and roll up leaving the top quarter of the wrapper still on the work surface.
6. Wet the two sides of the wrapper with a little water before rolling over the rest of the spring roll.
7. Repeat until all the spring rolls are made.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.

Roast Vegetables

This is a repost for Tandy’s Regional and Seasonal Challenge this week using Bell Pepper (Capsicum).

What can I say about roast vegetables other than they are scrumptious!  They definitely fall into the comfort food category for me and the leftovers reheat perfectly for a delicious lunch, either on their own or with crusty bread.  You can also add or substitute any of the vegetables with sweet potato, aubergine, baby marrows or patty pans – the list is endless.

Ingredients

1 small butternut, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1 punnet brown mushrooms halved
1 red pepper (capsicum)seeded and cut into small chunks
1 large onion peeled and cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves peeled and halved
Vegetable seasoning to taste
Oil for drizzling

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Place all the vegetables on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the vegetable spice and drizzle with oil.
3. Bake for approximately 45 minutes stirring halfway through to re-coat the vegetables.

Braai (barbecue) Sarmies

When Pete and I braai, toasted sandwiches quite often make their way into the mix.  Family and friends always seem to look forward to when Braai Sarmies are featured and not wanting to disappoint, we willingly comply and make them.  We have on occasion even just braaied sarmies.  We also joke that a salad is not required as the salad ingredients are on the sandwich.

Braai Sarmies

Ingredients

10ml mayonnaise per sandwich
10ml chutney per sandwich
Bread sliced
Onion sliced
Tomato sliced (optional)
Salt & Pepper
Cheddar cheese grated
Butter
 

Method

1. Mix the mayonnaise and chutney for the amount of sandwiches you are making.
2. Lay your bread out on a work surface and spread the mixture onto half of the slices
3. Layer on the onion, tomato if you are using it, salt and pepper and cheese.
4. Close the sandwiches and butter the outside of both slices of each sandwich.
5. Close in a box or sandwich grid and braai over coals turning often until golden brown.

Cindy’s Spinach and Asparagus Tart

Last nights dinner was a vegetarian affair.  I got the idea from Cindy who posted the recipe on her blog last week.  It is a fabulous meal for a busy week night and I served it with a lettuce, red pepper, onion, pineapple, cucumber and coriander salad drizzled with a vinaigrette dressing.

 

Ingredients

1 roll brown puff pastry (I used white)
1 packet baby spinach cooked and excess water squeezed out
1 tin white asparagus
(I used a bottle of green asparagus)
1 packet pitted green olives (I omitted these)
1 cup of grated extra mature cheddar
(I used 1 ½ cups)
4 eggs whisked
½ cup of cream
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Ground nutmeg (I omitted this)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Line a dish with the puff pastry.
3. Layer the spinach on the pastry shell.
4. Layer the asparagus over the spinach.
5. If using the olives, layer over the asparagus.
6. Cover with the cheese.
7. Mix the cream into the eggs, seasoning with the salt, pepper and nutmeg and pour into the dish making sure to cover all the cheese.
8. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

 

Submitted by:  Mandy Frielinghaus, Mauritius

Low GI Tangy Tossed Salad

This salad makes a nice change to the traditional Greek salad (minus the tomatoes, green pepper and olives) and compliments a braaied (barbecued) lazy aged steak perfectly. 
Peppadew is the brand name of sweet piquant peppers (a breed of capsicum baccaum) originally grown in the Limpopo province of South Africa – if you are unable to find these, you can replace them with any other sweet piquant peppers.

 

Ingredients

½ small onion thinly sliced
1 packet mixed lettuce shredded
2 small red apples sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
¼ English cucumber sliced and halved
4 peppadews thinly sliced
125ml low fat chunky cottage cheese
1 low fat feta round cubed
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Blanche the onion in a little boiling water.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a large salad bowl.

 

Submitted by:  Desiree Visagie, Johannesburg

Aubergine Casserole

I love the fresh flavours of this aubergine (brinjal / eggplant) casserole.  It is packed with flavours to tickle your taste-buds and is a good accompaniment to any meal; it is exceptionally yummy with lamb and chicken.

 

Ingredients

30ml olive oil
2 large aubergines cut into large chunks
5ml dried oregano
Salt and ground black pepper
1 small red onion peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves peeled and finely sliced
50ml fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped
30ml capers
30ml herb vinegar
5 large tomatoes roughly chopped
10ml parsley chopped
30ml flaked almonds lightly toasted

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the aubergine chunks and oregano, season with a little salt and pepper and toss around so the aubergine is evenly coated with the oil and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes, giving the pan a shake every now and then. (Depending on the size of your pan you may need to cook the aubergine in batches.)
2. Add the onion, garlic and parsley and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add a little more oil to the pan if you feel it’s getting too dry.
3. Add the capers and drizzle over the herb vinegar.
4. When all the vinegar has evaporated, add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Season if you need to with more salt and pepper and a little more vinegar. Drizzle with some good olive oil and serve sprinkled with the parsley and almonds.

 

 Submitted by:  Mandy Frielinghaus, Mauritius