Monday, April 18, 2011

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus with Seville Vin Cotto


Yummy entree or side. Note the asparagus is steamed in this recipe. This makes them far more tender and juicy than grilled or BBQed


Calories per serve (1 wrapped asparagus spear): 53


Ingredients:

Fresh Asparagus Spears

Prosciutto sheets x #Spears

1/4 teaspoon Maggie Beer’s Seville Vin Cotto x # Spears



Method:

1. Steam asparagus spears until tender.

2. Wrap each spear in a piece of prosciutto

3. Drizzle Vin Cotto over them.

4. Serve warm or chilled.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Chicken and Lentil Sprout Yaki Udon

My own take on a Japanese dish using my home-grown lentil sprouts.

Serves 4
Calories per serve: 271

Ingredients
1 carrot pealed and sliced
1 can of baby corn spears
1 cup lentil sprouts
2 cloves garlic
1 x 2cm square cube of garlic with tough outer layer removed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
ground black pepper
1 tbs sesame seeds
2 x single serve packets of udon noodles
1 tbs avocardo oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 cup of chopped fresh broccoli
1 onion sliced
1 chicken breast cubed

Method
1. In a mortar and pestle pound ginger, garlic cloves and sesame seeds into a paste
2. Heat oil in wok. Add ginger mixture. Add onion and cook on hight heat until it softens.
3. Add chicken. Stir until lightly cooked.
4. Add vegetables and all sauces. Stir for a few minutes.
5. Add noodles and mix through. Once all vegetables are lightly cooked (but still crunchy) serve.

Growing Sprouts


Sprouts are incredibly nutritious, delicious and very cheap to grow. They are also perfect for growing in small places, like my little desert caravan.

There are many different kinds of sprouts you can grow and special sprouting kits, bottles, trays and seeds that can be purchased. I don't have access to that kind of thing though, so wanted do grow sprouts with things you can get from a regular supermarket.

Supermarket things you can sprout:

- Dried Lentils I discovered only the green and french black ones work. Red ones are split so won't germinate.
- Quinoa
- Broccoli Seeds. From the gardening section of the supermarket. Not that cheap though.
- Mustard Seeds. From the spice section
- Dried Beans
- Pearl Barley. From the soup mix section. Where you also find dried beans and lentils.
- Cress. Also from the gardening section

I tried several kinds of lentils, quinoa, broccoli, mustard and cress with 3 different methods of sprouting.

Method 1: Jar Method
This is the best method for quinoa and lentils. I tried this method with mustard but found it too gluggy to drain, and method 3 was far better for them.

1. Put seeds/grains in a jar of water for 12 hours out direct sun. Attach a cheesecloth cover or a piece of dishcloth to the top of the jar lid with a rubberband.
2. Drain water from the jars using the cover to catch the spouts inside. From now on sprouts won't be sitting in water you merely rince them 2-3 times a day.
3. Once the seeds have a sprout about 1.5 the len
gth of the original seed put on a window sill so that some green can develop (this is optional).
4. Eat sprouts once they are about twice the length of the seed. Quinoa and lentil sprouts can be eaten fresh in salads or even stir-fryed.


Method 2: Wet Paper Towel on a Plate
This method works for seeds that grow vertically such as cress. It would probably also work for mustard or alfalfa.

1. On a large dinner plate or tray lay 2 layers of paper towel. Wet surface with either a splay bottle or by flicking drops of water with your finger.
2. Put a layer of seeds on the paper towel.
3. Moisten towel 2-3 times a day. Keep in a location with a little diffuse light. This will ensure the sprouts become green.
4. Harvest sprouts when they are a few cm tall.



Method 3: Soil in a Chinese Food Container
While this method takes slightly longer to set up in the beginning, it requires the least amount of maintenance as your sprouts will only need to be watered once a day. This works great for broccoli, mustard or cress.

1. Poke a few holes in the bottom of rectangular chinese food contains. This is important for allowing water drainage. Fill with potting mix. Sprinkle a thick layer of seeds and cover with a thin layer of potting mix (seeds should only be a few mm deep in soil). Water.
2. Water daily.
3. Sprouts can be harvested at anytime. Whist nutritionally sprouts such as broccoli are greater when they are smaller, i found broccoli 'seedlings' up to about 5cm were delicious. A great alternative or additive to lettuce in a salad!



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Sweet Potato Leaf Salad

I recently got my own hanging veggie garden. One of the plants that I got was a sweet potato. It is probably in too small of a pot to actually get the sweet potatoes to grow large enough to eat, but I do get lovely green leaves that work as a wonderful salad leaf similar to spinach.
While many edible vegetables have edible leaves such as pumpkin, sweet potato leaves have the benefit of not having the small hairs that would make eating them raw quite painful. So it is possible to have them in a salad fresh. They are quite good cooked though as well.

Ingredients
A handful of fresh herbs (I used parsley, coriander and basil as these are what I grow)
~ 2 cups of sweet potato leaves (Young ones are best)
1/2 cup chickpeas from a can
2 tomatos diced
red onion to taste
low fat fetta cheese crumbled
salad dressing (whatever your favourite is. I like a splash of Maggie Beer's Seville vin cotto as it is quite sweet)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Comine all ingredients, dress with your salad dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste
Serve

Friday, April 8, 2011

Bush Dukkah Kangaroo Burger Patties (includes Dukkah Recipe)



Burgers:


Serves 5

Prep Time: 20 mins

cooking time: 10 mins

Calories per serve: 164 cal.



Ingredients:


500g kangaroo mince

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

3 tbs bush dukkah(see below for a recipe)

2 tbs chilli jam (see recipe in this blog)

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 tbs chopped fresh coriander


Method:


1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Divide mixture into 5 portions and shape these into patties. Wrap each patty in cling wrap and put patties to chill in fridge for at least 10 mins.

3. Cook patties on BBQ or in a skillet or griddle pan about 5 mins each side or until cooked through and brown.

4. Serve as is with a dollop of chilli jam or on a bread roll with avocado, roasted capsicum lettuce and tomato.



Notes: Make your own breadcrumbs, they are much nicer than brought ones. Just use stale bread (leave out some bread overnight) and turn into crumbs in a food processor. Any kind of bread can be used so you can make these patties even healthier by using multigrain or wholemeal bread. Leftover crumbs can also be frozen for another day.



Homemade Bush Dukkah

This is a very useful spice mix to have in your cupboard. Not only is it delicious eaten with olive oil dipped bread, but it adds so much flavour to any kind of dish that requires a breadcrumb coating (eg crumbed fish, chicken, veal, eggplant etc). To use as a crumbing just add a few tbs to the breadcrumbs you are using.



Ingredients:


2/3 cup whole pistachio nuts

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup ground wattleseed (available at many delis or order online)

2 tbs ground coriander seeds

2 tbs whole cumin seeds

Black pepper to taste

Rock salt to taste


If you prefer a sweeter dukkah then you can add some sugar to taste also.


Method:


1. Lay pistachio nuts and sesame seeds on a tray and toast lightly in an oven.

2. Crush (pistachios in particular although you can do it all together) in a mortar and pestle.

3. Put nuts and seeds into a small mixing bowl.

5. All all other ingredients. Mix until combined

6. Store in a sealed container. Lasts for months.