on the monkey trail

kitchen and garden diaries

Monthly Archives: February 2012


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Braised beef curry with peas and almonds

Curry seems to be becoming a bit of a Wednesday night favourite because I can leave it slow cooking while I take the kids to afternoon swim class. Today I made a base out of celery, garlic, onion,  fresh red chili (star anaise, cinamon stick, cardamon pods, tumeric, cumin, garam masala, chili, ginger (would have been good fresh but I didn’t have any) squeeze of lemon, some sultanas, carrot – got all that starting to soften up in some coconut oil over a low heat in the le creuset and then added some diced beef – browed it and then added a sweet potato and covered in water. Put the lid on and then put it in a low oven for a few hours (added some more water part way through.

Just before serving it added some peas (basically motivated by ensuring the kids had a daily dose of green but actually the peas worked really well). Had some cucumber / mint / yogurt on the side and some slivered almonds over the top.


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Chocolate, prune and almond cake (gluten free)

So this cake was a bit of an experiment that turned out seriously well.

Started with about 1/2 cup prunes (used preservative free organic ones) and stewed them for a while then pitted them and blended the pulp and the juices together to make a thick paste.

Meanwhile mixed about 50g melted butter with 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar, added a couple of big scoops of live yogurt then mixed in the prunes. Added 3 eggs, 1 cup ground almonds, 1/2 cup good cocoa and 1/2 cup tapioca starch (reckon this could be substituted for pretty much any other flour but we just happened to have a big bag of this so thought I’d try it out. 1 tsp of gf baking powder and beat the lot together.

Felt pretty optimistic when I saw the batter – just had a good vibe about it. Baked it for about 20 – 30 mins (didn’t time it just checked it when I smelled it cooking and got it out when knife came out clean.

Made some chocolate icing although would have still been nice without. Melted a few sqs of milk chocolate over hot water then sieved in some icing sugar and finished with a spoon of yogurt – this is now my perfect sticky icing mix .


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chicken, bacon and corn chowder

Have messed around with this Nigel Slater recipe before – this version using bacon (Nigel uses smoked sausage) turned out really well which was a bit of a miracle given the hurry I threw it together in.

Started with garlic, red chili, celery, carrot, bacon (about 12 rashers of streaky) a couple of large white potatoes, couple of fresh corn, leftover chicken from last night. Covered it all in last night’s stock and let it simmer while I went to the park for some much needed fresh air and late afternoon sunshine.

Finished off with a spoon of sour cream, fresh parsley and parmesan.


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little chocolate, apricot, almond and chia miracle cakes (gluten free)

Decided today was definitely a day for some miracle cakes as I have come to think of them due to their restorative powers. Feeling run down so made a decision to up the chocolate quantity because everyone knows chocolate is magic stuff.

20 sqs (about 70g) of dark chocolate melted over water with 50g butter, 1/2 cup chia seeds and the pulp of an apricot. Meanwhile whisked 4 eggs with 1/2 cup of soft brown sugar then add 2 cups of ground almonds. Added the chocolate mixture and baked in muffin cases for about 10 – 15 mins.

Just had one with some greek yogurt and think I need a second to round off the evening.

 


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ginger poached chicken noodle salad (with honey roast beetroot, broccoli and mango and toasted sesame, mint and honey dressing)

Poached a whole chicken with some lemon and slices of fresh ginger (which I seem to remember seeing Donna Hay do). Bonus – got a couple of batches of chicken stock!

Roasted up a tray of beetroot coated in olive oil and honey with a few gloves of garlic. Steamed some broccoli, chopped up a nice ripe mango, cooked some thick rice noodles and rinsed them in cold water. Shredded the chicken, mixed everything up (except the garlic which I crushed into a dressing with olive oil, sesame oil, honey and mint)


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haloumi and salad

Perfect post-beach Sunday lunch.  Got some really good Cypriot haloumi that actually did what it’s supposed to when fried (i.e gooey in the middle and crispy on the outside). Had over a bed of shaved zucchini, avocado and some slim pickings from the garden of rocket and spinach leaves (just enough to get a rocket-y taste which made a big difference). Dressed with balsamic and avocado oil and served with lemon.


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Breakfast pancakes

We go through pancake phases in this house – I’ve messed about with the recipe a fair bit in the past sneaking in healthy stuff like ground flaxseeds and the like and making gluten free versions for G but this morning went for the old classic – 1 mug milk, 1 egg and just less than a mug of flour , pinch of salt and all whisked up and fried 3 at a time. Piled with berries, greek yogurt and maple syrup. 


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Double chocolate, raspberry and almond muffins (gluten free)

Had T as my helper with these – he now wants to get more and more involved with everything from tipping to mixing to spooning the batter into the cases.

Started with 70g melted butter mixed with half a cup of soft brown sugar then a good pour of yogurt. 3 eggs, 1 tsp gf baking powder, 1 cup ground almonds, 1/2 cup of cornmeal (bit of an experiment as no rice flour which I would have used here) 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, handful of chocolate chunks.Took about 15 mins to bake.

 


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pan fried gurnard with olive oil oven baked chips, fresh corn, green beans and peas

Cut potatoes into chips and slosh around in a little olive oil and salt – bake in oven for about 40 – 5o mins till brown – need a couple of shakes part way through cooking.

Coat the gurnard fillets in egg and crumbs (GF crumbs for us) and fry in plenty of butter.

Served with lightly boiled corn, beans and peas and lashings of lemon.


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chicken, chickpea, kumara curry

Made this in such a crazy hurry at lunchtime today but it turned out really well – the star ingredient being was cardamon. Cooked onion, garlic, in coconut oil with fresh grated ginger, tumeric, cumin, little bit of chili powder, star anaise – added 12 chicken thighs, can of chickpeas, kumara, carrots, cardamon pods – covered with water and slow cooked in the oven for 4 hours – stirred in a little yogurt before we ate it.

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