Aloo Mutter - Potato and Pea Curry

I have been craving a big Indian feast and managed to find the time this weekend. I used to do big Indian meals a lot more often, but its been a while. I came across this dish while I was hunting for a new vegetable dish and gave it a go. It is pretty mild.

The only change I would make would be to cook for longer. The 15 minutes didn't allow enough time to cook the potato through.

I used a bit more fresh ginger than the recipe called for and used tinned tomatoes rather than peeling and de-seeding them.
I served it with roti, rice, poppadoms and a chicken curry. A very filling and satisfying meal.

Aloo mutter - potato & pea curry

SERVES: 4

If you want more protein, it’s also good with cubes of paneer cheese. I like to serve it with roti or chapatti bread.

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3cm piece ginger, peeled, grated
600g floury potatoes (I used Red Rascal), peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (or more if you prefer it hotter)
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup frozen peas

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat then add the onions. Cook until soft then add the garlic ginger and potatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric and chilli flakes then cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook gently for a few minutes before adding the stock or water and salt. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 15–20 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender. Stir in the peas and cook for a few more minutes until cooked through. Serve with Indian bread.

Breakfast - A very pleasant surprise

We buy our coffee freshly ground from the Atomic coffee rosters just up the hill from our home.
We have another cafe we usually go to for breakfast but as a change we will sometimes go to Atomic. Since they did did major renovations earlier this year they have increased their range of counter food and now have a daily menu as well with several more unusual options - not your standard cafe menu.
Yesterday I ordered Salmon Garvalax with Potato Salad, Fennel and toasted sour dough...perhaps not so 'breakfasty' but wow was I impressed!
Every part of it was amazing. I especially love the pickled fennel - something I'm going to have to try when the fennel in my garden grows big enough.
Yes, it was too big for me to finish!

Kiwifruit and Lime Jam

Kiwifruit jam isn't my favourite but the addition of lime is quite nice. This is a really simple jam recipe but is quite runny. Maybe I didn't boil it long enough?

I'm liking the suggestion of having it with hard cheese and crackers!

Kiwi fruit and Lime Jam

This recipe uses the flavorful kiwi fruit with a hint of lime juice and zest.

When making the jam, use just-ripe kiwi fruit to allow for the fruit's natural pectin to be at its highest levels. This will reduce the cooking time of the jam and also help it to set naturally.

The tangy jam is delicious with a little butter on toast and a cup of tea. If you're feeling adventurous, you could also use the jam as an accompaniment to a hard cheese with some cracker.

Ingredients:

• 5 ripe kiwi fruit, peeled & chopped
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 lime, juiced
• 1/8 tsp lime zest

Preparation:

1. Peel the kiwi fruit, cut into quarters and then chop roughly.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the kiwi fruit and sugar over a low heat.
3. Simmer gently until the sugar dissolves stirring occasionally. Add the lime juice and zest.
4. Once the sugar has dissolved turn the heat up and bring the mixture to a rapid boil for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently and be sure not to let the mixture burn.
5. Spoon jam into a sterilized, air-tight jar and refrigerate. The jam can be kept up to a month.
6. Spread jam on hot buttered toast and serve with a cup of tea.

Kiwifruit and Lime Sorbet

I have had kiwifruit arriving in my Ooooby Box each week and can't seem to manage to eat them all. I hate throwing them in the compost so decided this weekend to use lots of them up.
I used frozen kiwi fruit (that I had prepared earlier) and made the sorbet in the afternoon. I had pretty much set by evening without using an ice cream maker.
It didn't make a lot but enough for four small servings. It was a really refreshing flavour, quite sharp but really nice. A good use for extra kiwifruit.

Ingredients

• 8 ripe kiwi fruits (I peeled and froze them in advance)
• 2 fresh limes
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. Peel and quarter the kiwi fruit.
2. Juice the lime.
3. Dissolve  sugar in water.
4. Combine the sugar water, lime juice and chopped kiwi in ablender.
5. Puree until the mixture is very smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker. (Or just into a dish in the freezer if using frozen kiwi fruit)
7. Freeze according to the specific machine's instructions. Freezing should take about 30 minutes in a small gel canister ice cream maker.
8. Let the sorbet harden for an additional 30 minutes in the freezer.
9. Serve immediately.

Chicken Baked with Green Olives

I have been wanting Ray McVinnie's 'Every Sunday' since it was released  about a year ago.
Ray McVinnie is one of my favourite New Zealand chefs and food writers. His recipes are always reasonably simple and rely on good quality ingredients.
I was to be given it by my sister and brother in law a couple of weeks ago. Up until today I had only managed to browse through it and find recipes I wanted to try. Today has been a lazy Sunday and I have had time to finally make one of the many recipes I want to try.

This one looks like a long list of ingredients and like it would take a while to make. In reality it was really quick and easy. I'll make it again soon! I only managed to marinate it for nearly an hour. Next time I'll prepare it the day before and then cook it the next night. An easy week night meal.

My picture doesn't look as good as the picture in the book but it tasted great.

This can be prepared in advance, with the exception of the stock and left to marinate overnight if desired.

(Serves 4 - 6)

Ingredients

• 1.5kg organic chicken, split in half either side of the backbone which is discarded  (or frozen for making stock later), the 2 halves of the chicken are then chopped into 2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs.
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 ½  cups green olives
• 1 teaspoon toasted coriander seeds
• ½  cup sultanas (I used currants and they were great)
• ¼  cup pinenuts
• 1 cup white wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 ¾  cups orzo or other rice shaped pasta (if orzo isn’t available use steamed long grain white rice)

Method

Put the chicken into a wide roasting dish, skin side up.  Sprinkle everything, except the stock, evenly over the top.

Pull the chicken pieces to the top so that the skin is exposed again.  Set aside to marinate 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Pour the stock over the chicken and place in the oven. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the chicken is well cooked and browned.

While the chicken is in the oven, cook the orzo in plenty of boiling, well-salted water until al dente or tender to the bite. Drain well and toss in a little extra virgin olive oil to prevent it sticking.

Serve the chicken on the orzo to mop up the juice.

Yoghurt and Lemon Cake

I have to admit I didn't make this one but I certainly helped eat it. I have been incredibly slow in adding more posts to this blog. Perhaps this is an indication of being just a wee bit busy and not so well for ages?

We stayed the night with John's Aunty on Friday and she had made this cake. It was so light, moist, lemony and yummy!
The recipe looks incredibly easy too.





Yoghurt cake

1pottle or 225 ml of fruit yoghurt
1/2 cup cooking oil (not olive)
2 large eggs
Grated rind of one lemon


2cups of self raising flour
11/2 cups of sugar
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 160 deg fan bake. Grease and paper line the base of 21 cm cake tin
Mix the first four ingredients together in a small bowl
Place flour, sugar and salt in a larger bowl
Add wet ingredients to dry. Do not over mix ingredients
Bake for 35 mins. Let the cake cool and ice while warm, not hot

Use juice of two lemons and two dessert spoons of sugar mixed then poured over top of cake instead of icing

Note this recipe was found in an old British newspaper. It was called a dump cake, because you used the same container for all measurements ie a yoghurt pottle.