Asian Slaw

Coleslaw is a good old favourite, particularly in the warmer months with BBQ's. As I love coleslaw and Asian, it interests me to mix the two - a little fusion? Here's my take....

Salad

• 1/4 Cabbage - thinly sliced
• 2 Carrots, grated
• 2 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
• 1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 1/4 Red Capsicum, thinly sliced

Dressing

• 100ml Water
• 100 ml Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Fish Sauce +/- to taste
• Pinch semi dried or fresh Ginger - grated
• Pinch semi dried or fresh chilli - finely chopped
• 1/2 clove finely diced Garlic

How to.....

For the salad, toss everything together in a bowl. I'm a lazy cook - I use my food processor to slice and grate everything, it means I get a more consistent mix.

For the dressing, place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat, gently, until all the sugar is dissolved, let it cool before pouring onto your salad.

Tips

• The dressing makes a great dipping sauce if you reduce it until its thick
• Adding snow pea sprouts and some roasted peanuts to your salad makes a lovely crispy change in flavour
• The dressing is not diabetic, or diet, friendly

Pictured above - with my Panko Crumbed Turkey Balls

Veggie Slice - or Confetti Slice for little ones!

A great lunch box filler. It's quick, easy, tasty and healthy.......

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1/4 red capsicum
• 2 small carrots
• 2 small zucchini
• 6 eggs
• 1 dollop cream
• 100 g Danish feta
• 100 g smokey bacon, I use Dorsongna
• Salt and pepper

How to?

I chop the garlic, onion and capsicum with the blades in my food processor, the put the grating disc in. The only thing hand chopped is the bacon. It's all put in a lightly oiled slice tin, beat the eggs and cream together, add salt and pepper, and pour over veggies and pat the lot down a bit - sloppy work! Break the feta up over the top and bake at 160 Celsius for 20 - 30 mins - only until the egg is just set. It's not as nice if the eggs are over cooked.

This recipe is highly adaptable, choosing different veggies, adding different spices or sauces (such as sweet chilli or BBQ) make it a whole new experience

Crispy Vegetarian Won Tons

This was a first round, so I only made a small mix that served two for a light lunch.

I truly love the delicate flavours of Asian cooking, and often put in my own twist. For me, cooking is something I do by using my senses - visual, smell, touch and instinct, therefore my measurements are approximate, and I encourage others to do the same.

 

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 T young ginger, grated
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1 baby corn, finely diced
• 1 T red capsicum, finely diced
• 1 T snow pea shoots, finely chopped
• 1/2 carrot, finely grated
• 1 t finely chopped coriander
• 1 1/2 t finely chopped mint
• Little dash of Mirin
• Little dash light soy sauce
• Pinch palm sugar
• 10 Won Ton Wrappers
• 1 egg, lightly beated for sealing Won Tons

How to?

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl, top each wrapper with about 1 teaspoon of mix, and brush two edges of wrapper to glue together when folded into a triangle, when you fold them, be careful to squeeze all the air out!

Deep fry in hot oil, until golden and blistered - enjoy with a simple honey and soy dipping sauce.

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Stuffed Rock Oysters

These delightful nibbles are a great starter for a special summer dinner! I don't really measure when cooking these, and quantities will change with different sized oysters and your personal preference, but below is a rough guide!
These are really only a mornay oyster with added flavour from prawn, prosciutto, capsicum and shallot, however if you serve them to guests they will be pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients / person
4 Rock Oysters
mix of diced capsicum, prosciutto, shallot and cooked king prawn
small quantity of white sauce
grated tasty cheese

How to?
Line a baking tray with foil and arrange oysters so they are not touching and are evenly spaced. Place a small amount of prawn and prosciutto mix on each prawn, top with white sauce and cheese - place under grill until cheese starts to toast. Serve sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and a wedge of lemon.

Fruit Balls

Sometimes it is once to have a little treat at morning tea, but it is very hard to find treats that don't contain an amazing amount of rubbish.
So.... Something to have with a cup of tea, a drink of water or even a juice.
An aside before we begin...... Most of us buy cinnamon from the supermarket, has a nice sweet smell, is dark rusty brown in colour... Most of the time it isn't even cinnamon,but casia. I went and bought whole cinnamon quills, they are a light beige brown in colour and have a very delicate scent, but when you grind them, wooooo hooooooo, lovely strong cinnamon scent. True cinnamon curls in one direction, not both edges into the centre as casia does,
Anyway, I digress, fruit balls is why you are reading this. All measurements are approximate and should be adjusted to your personal preferences.
Ingredients
1 cup Dates - roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried Apricots - roughly chopped
1/4 cup Pistachios - roughly chopped
1/4 cup Coconut, I use moist flakes
1/4 teaspoon Coconut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
Few drops rose water
How to
Place all ingredients into a food processor and mix until the mixture comes together in a ball. Roll mixture in your hands in 1/2 teaspoon amounts, to form small balls, then refrigerate. If you want to stop them from sticking together they can be rolled in desiccated coconut, sesame seeds or chopped nuts.

Makes about 24

Limoncello, Smoked Salmon and Dill with Pasta

I wanted something a little lighter for dinner on a Sunday night after a weekend of rather rich food, and decided on smoked salmon with pasta and a lemon sauce,that was super quick and tasty, here's what I did......
  Ingredients: 
For the Sauce:
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 - 2 Lemons
1 Tablespoon Lemon Myrtle Infused Macadamia Oil
1 Tablespoon Limoncello
 1 Tablespoon finely chopped Dill
1/4 Cup Cream
For the Pasta:
 2 Serves pasta (of your choice)
1 Carrot - Julienned
1 Handful Green Beans -
Sliced 1 Shallot -
Sliced 150g Smoked Salmon - chopped
How to: Cook pasta in well salted water, adding carrot for last minute and beans for last 30 seconds (I like them really crunchy), drain loosely - a little water left in the pot is good.Add all sauce ingredients and heat through - adding the salmon and shallot at the very end to prevent over cooking. Serve with a lovely grind of fresh black pepper.

I will post a pic next time I cook this! Yes - there will be a next time.

Chicken Noodle Soup

A version that has a little style and a lot of flavour, for a little effort!
I roasted a chicken and had leftovers and wanted to make a soup with a bit of punch, as we both like Asian style flavours, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do my own version of this classic
Stock
Left over Roast Chicken - all of it
Few stalks of Celery - roughly chopped
1 Onion - roughly chopped
1 Carrot- roughly chopped
1 Star Anise
1 Clove
1 Clove Garlic
Several slices Fresh Ginger
How To
Throw it all in a pot, reserving the star anise and clove for later, with several litres water, cover and simmer for a few hours, add star anise and clove, simmer for another hour. Let cool. Strain enough through s clean cloth into a saucepan for the soup - about 2 1/2 cups for 2 people, reserve the rest for another use.
For the Soup
Stock - from above
1 handful of good quality Japanese Noodles *
1/2 cup Thinly sliced Smoked or Roasted Chicken Breast ^
Dash Soy Sauce
1 Carrot - thinly sliced, on the angle
Few Match Sticks Fresh Ginger
Finely Sliced Spring Onion - the green long ones
Finely Sliced Red Chilli - to your own taste
How to
Heat the stock and add ginger, soy sauce. Cook the noodles per packet instructions, in the stock - add carrot for the last few minutes of cooking time for the noodles, when carrot and noodles are cooked, add the rest of the ingredients to your liking and serve

* these are silky and smooth - I can get them in the Asian section of the Supermarket
^ I buy it ready cooked, and cryovaced from my supermarket

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