Tuna Meatballs! Oh My!

Hello Peeps!

So I made this for dinner last night, and it far, far, FAR exceeded my expectations! When I first read 'Tuna Meatballs', I thought, you've got to be kidding Jamie Oliver!

But, as I should have expected, the recipe was simple, easy to follow, and oh so yummy! You could serve this with pasta, or rice, couscous or quinoa. I was craving veg, so I served it on a bed of smashed baby peas, and blanched cavalo nero (italian spinach).

I made the full recipe, which yielded around 20 'balls'. I cooked what I wanted to eat, and then put the remainder, in batches of 4, uncooked, into zip lock bags & into the freezer, ready to just pop in the pan another time.

Enjoy!


le migliori polpette di tonno

For the meatballs
• 400g/14oz sustainably sourced tuna
• olive oil
• 55g/2oz pinenuts *I didn't have pine nuts, so used pistachios, which worked very well*
• 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 100g/3½oz stale breadcrumbs *I didn't have breadcrumbs, so used quinoa flakes. They worked so well!*
• 55g/2oz freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs
• zest and juice of 1 lemon

for the tomato sauce
olive oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• red wine vinegar
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped


To make the meatballs:

Chop the tuna up into 2.5cm/1 inch dice. Obviously I wasn't fussed to measure the size! Just small chunks is fine.

Pour a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and place on the heat. Add the tuna to the pan with the pinenuts (or pistachios) and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fry for a minute or so to cook the tuna on all sides and toast the pinenuts. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes, in the pan.

Put the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, lemon zest and juice into a large bowl. Add the cooled tuna mix.

Now its time to get your hands dirty! Using your hands, really scrunch and mix all the flavours together.

Wet your hands, then grab a small amount, & roll it into a golfball kind of size & shape. If the mixture’s very sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs / quinoa flakes. Keep the meatballs around the same size and place them on an lightly oiled tray, cover, and pop into the fridge for an hour or so to let them rest.

To make the sauce:

Place a large pan onto a medium heat, and add a good glug of olive oil.

Add the onion and garlic and fry slowly for 10 or so minutes until soft.

Add the oregano, tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then liquidize until smooth.

Taste it! I added a good glug of some red wine that I had left over, and it really lifted it.

Finally, remove your rested balls (hee!) from the fridge. In the same pan that you cooked the tuna mix in, add a bit of olive oil, then some of the tuna balls. Don't put them all in at once - you need to cook them in batches.

Once browned & cooked on all sides, top with the warm sauce, and top with some fresh parsley.

I've finally fixed my internet -- and found an awesome recipe for Breakfast!

So, it's been (yet again) a little while but my internet problems have now been fixed! Huzzuh!

In the meantime, I have been endeavouring to find a breakfast meal that involves as little processed carbs as possible (toast, porridge etc), but still leaves me full.

The idea of having just eggs does not appeal: eggs belong on top of something, not just floating about the plate by themselves.

After a bit of google-ing, I came across a few variations of this recipe. I am not normally a fan of pumpkin, or sweet potato, but it has been growing on me the last year or so. At least to the point where my first reaction to it isn't 'Hell No!'

The great thing with this recipe is, once you've cooked the patties, you can wrap them in clingfilm, and keep them in the fridge to take to work (if you're like me & eat your breakfast in the office). That said, the chopped up mix will last a while in the fridge, and actually frying up the pattie is pretty quick. 

Don't worry if you can't get quinoa. I only through it in to help bind everything together, but the mix can hold up without it.

Anth's Breakfast Patties

1 half of a butternut pumpkin,

1 sweet potato,
2 cloves garlic
6 baby tomatoes,

olive oil

3 tablepsoons cooked quinoa

Preheat oven to 180'C.

Cut the pumpkin into large chunks, removing the skin. Peel the sweet potato & also cut into chunks. Halve the baby tomatoes, and crush the garlic cloves the the flat side of your knife.

Drizzle the veg w/ olive oil, season w/ salt & pepper to taste, and pop into the oven. Roast until veg is soft enough to insert a knife in easily, without being mushy. Around 35 mins or so.

Remove from oven & cool.

When cool enough to handle, dice the veg, and mix together w/ 3 tablespoons of the cooked quinoa (if using).

Mix everything together with your hands. You can now put the mix in the fridge, to be used as & when you need it, or you can cook up some patties now, for eating, or for later use (at work etc).

Take 2 table spoons of the mix, and form into a pattie. It will be pretty sticky!

Heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat, and pop in the pattie. Don't be alarmed if the pattie falls apart a bit, I just used a spatula to push it all back together again.

Cook over medium heat for 5 mins, then flip over & cook the other side.

To serve I topped w/ half an avocado, and a couple of poached eggs. Yummy!

Fattet Djaj (Chicken and Chickpeas with Yoghurt)

So this is truly one of the yummiest chicken dishes I have ever made! This is from a recipe by Claudia Roden, who is a wonderful British chef whose specialty is Middle Eastern cuisine. She has written many great books, this recipe came from 'Arabesque'. I have made it twice now, and it has been really wonderful both times.

And it really is quite easy, really. And yes, I know I always say that! But, you boil a chicken, then layer it over some flatberad & chickpeas, then pop the whole thing in the oven. That is about it.

So I mentioned I've made this twice. The first time was exactly per the recipe below. Then I saved all the broth that I cooked the chicken in & froze it, as you would normally for stock. Stop laughing.

One night I made a roast chicken, and had half of it left over. So I defrosted the 'stock' and gently cooked the roast chicken meat in it for about 10 minutes. The end result was still fabulous.

This serves 6.

1kg natural (full-fat) yoghurt; look to see there is NO sugar
200g Greek style yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5 tablespoons crushed dried mint, or a bunch of fresh (the recipe says dried, but I prefer fresh)
salt
1 large chicken (do, do, DO try to get a free range one)
1 large onion, cut in half
1 large carrot, cut into pieces
2 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
6-8 whole cardamom pods
white pepper
3 very thin Lebanese or pitta breads (I found a fab Afghan bread: just use any flatbread you fancy)
3-4 tbs white wine vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
100g pine nuts (but almonds also work!)
2 tbs olive oil

1) Mix the yoghurts in a bowl, beat in the garlic & the mint w/ a little salt. Let it come to room temperature.

2) Put the chicken in a large saucepan & cover with water. Bring to the boil & remove any scum (scum is that white stuff you can see in the picture. Don't stress too much about getting every last bit). Add the onion, the carrot, the bay leaves, cinnamon stick & cardamom pods, and salt & pepper. Simmer, covered, for 1-1.5 hours, until chicken is very tender & almost falls off the bone. Set chicken aside & reserve the stock.

3) Open out the flatbreads (if you're using the pitta kind that has a pocket) & toast them in the oven until they crisp & slightly browned. Then break them up into pieces in our hands and spread them at the bottom of a wide baking dish. Mix the white wine vinegar on about 300ml of the strained chicken stock, and pour over the flatbread, adding more if necessary so that the bread is thoroughly soaked & soggy. Sprinkle the chickpeas over it.


4) Pull the meat off the chicken & cut the meat into pieces, removing the skin & bones. Spread the chicken over the soaked bread & chickpeas & cover the dish with foil. Heat through in the oven (pre-heated to 170'c) for 20 minutes before you are ready to serve: it should be very hot.

5) Just before serving, pour the yoghurt evenly all over the dish, spreading the yogurt mix all over the top of the dish. Briefly fry the pine nuts in the olive oil until golden & sprinkle over the top.

Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Pancakes)

Banh Xeo



Hello!


These are a Vietnamese pancake, and a very quick to make, if you don’t include the resting time for the batter.
You could make the batter the night before & keep it in the fridge, covered, or even at lunchtime if you’re making these on the weekend . . . . or if you’re lucky enough not to be stuck in an office all day!
This recipe is derived from one on the fabulous Gourmet Traveller website.
www.gourmettraveller.com.au
160ml Vegetable Oil
1 onino, thinly sliced
450gm pork, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
Pinch of caster sugar
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
60gm bean sprouts
To serve: lettuce, basil, mint & corainader
NB: you can also add prawns (18 cooked Tiger prawns) as well as the pork. I didn’t, just b/c I had all the other ingredients at home already.


Batter:
170gm rice flour
2 tsp ground tumeric
280ml coconut milk


Nuoc Cham:
80ml fish sauce (or to taste)
80ml lime juice (or to taste)
1 red birdseye chilli, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsbp caster sugar

1) For the batter, combine the rice flour & tumeric in a bowl, then whisk in the coconut milk.

2) Meanwhile, take the dog for a walk (well, that is what I did at any rate), and then, wash your hands, and combine all the ingredients for the Nuoc Cham w/ 40ml of water, whisking to combine. It should taste sweet, salty, sour & hot.

3) Heat 40ml oil in a wok over high heat, add onion & stir-fry until tender, then add pork & garlic & stir fry until golden. Add the hoisin, fish sauce & sugar, season to taste, toss to combine, and set aside.

4) Heat 20ml of oil in a 22cm diameter fry pan over high heat, and add a ladleful of batter, swirl to cover the pan thinly, and cook until golden (3-4 mins).






5) Scatter the pork mixture (add prawns if using), spring onions & bean sprouts over half of the pancake, fold over the other half to cover the filling, then slide onto serving plate & keep warm. Repeat with remaning oil, batter & filling, wiping pan w/ paper towel in between each batch.  Serve with lettuce, herbs & Nuoc Cham.

 

                    

So after the vego phase: a super posh Sausage Roll!

So, it seems I scared a few of you, particularly with yesterday's Tofu & Brussell sprout post. Don't worry - I am still a big carnivore! And besides, the Tofu/Brussell sprout combo was awesome - make it, try it, and then mock (if you must).

So this is one of my all time favourite sausage roll recipes. They are relatively quick to make, and always go down an absolute treat. I've served them warm at home, or taken them cold on picnics. Either way they are fantastic!

This recipe is from the Australian Gourmet Traveller's website, which is unquestionably one of the free best foodie / recipe websites going, especially if you're looking for something a little bit special. Don't forget that the Ultimate Tomato Sauce is makes a fantastic accompaniment to these sossie rolls!

Here's a tip: Unbaked sausage rolls can be frozen for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen at 200C for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Lamb & Harissa Sausage Rolls
1 kg minced lamb (I've used all sorts of mince combos: 50/50 pork lamb works very well too)

1 onion, finely grated (I'm lazy, so I just chop it very small)

80 gm (½ cup) pine nuts

75 gm (¼ cup) harissa

50 gm currants

2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 kg puff pastry

1 egg, lightly whisked

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Salt & Pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 200'c. In a large bowl, combine the mince, onion, pine nuts, harissa, currants, parsley & cumin & season to taste.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out puff pastry to a 3mm-thick rectangle. You can either pipe the lamb mix using a icing bag (with no nozzle), or you can use your hands, like I do! Avoid the temptation to put too much - it has to roll shut!

Carefully roll over. 

Brush eggwash (the one egg, lightly whisked) along both edges of the pastry & press to seal. Brush entire sausage rolls with eggwash & scatter with sesame seeds. Trim along length of pastry and repeat with remaining mixture and pastry.

Place on a baking paper lined tray, and put into the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. You can either bake them in one long piece (as I did), or chop them up into smaller portions. The baking time will be the same. Serve with the Ultimate Tomato Sauce.

The Ultimate Tomato Sauce

Hola!

This Tomato Sauce is incredibly simple to make, and absolutely fantastic. The flavours in it are amazing!

The recipe is from what is hands down the best cooking/foodie magazine there is: 'Cuisine', which is actually a kiwi publication. It is absolutely fantastic. This was in their Christmas edition, and it was served on top of slow cooked Salmon (posting soon - soooo yummy). When I read through the ingredients however, it occurred to me that it would also work very well with the Lamb & Harissa Sausage Rolls. It Does! Lamb, Salmon: this works with anything!

Spiced Tomato Sauce

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1 small red chilli, seeded & finely diced

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
Salt & Pepper to taste

1) In a medium pan heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, then add  the garlic & the chilli, gently frying until fragrant. Add the cumin & the coriander & cook for a further minute.

2) Add the canned tomatoes & tomato paste, mix together well, then cook for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick. Season to taste. This sauce is great warm or cold, and could be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for around 5 days.

2) Add the tin of tomatoes, and stir for minute or so, then add the tomato paste. Make sure you incorporate it well.

3) Keep stirring occasionally until the sauce has begun to thicken a little.

4) Remove from the heat. This is good warm or cold, and can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to one week.

Meatless Monday!

Brussel Sprouts & Tofu

So, I appreciate that this combo might be many people's idea of hell. Though I've always been a sprout fan (well, post-primary school anyways)  I've long had a hatred of tofu. My flatmate cooks it all the time, and I've been sampling some along the way, and its actually not all bad. Provided whatever it is marinated in is good!

I have posted before about the fabulous Ottolenghi cookbook my gorgeous friend sent me from London. I was lucky enough to visit the actual Ottolenghi cafe in Notting Hill when I was there a few weeks ago, it is beyond fabulous. The head chef there has a column in the Guardian, one of my favourite newspapers. His stuff is wonderful, simple, but packed full of flavour. 

This dish far, far outdid my expectations -- it really was fantastic, so delicious, easy, healthy - just everything you could hope for in a meal. Bon Apetit!

PS - apologies for lack of pics, a girlfriend had stopped by & I was so busy chatting I didn't remember to take any photos until it was on the table. 

150g firm tofu
2 tbsp chilli sauce 

*I didn't have any (I don't think you're meant to use the sweet chilli stuff), so used 1 tsp of chilli in its place.
1½ tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
500g brussels sprouts
180ml sunflower oil

*I used peanut oil, as I had very little sunflower oil
Salt
100g spring onion, sliced
½ small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
120g shiitake mushrooms, halved
15g picked coriander leaves
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk together the chilli sauce (or powder - you could probably use a few dashed of tabasco too if you fancied), soy sauce, two tablespoons of the sesame oil, vinegar and syrup. Cut the tofu block into 0.5cm thick slices and then each slice into two squarish pieces. Gently lay in the marinade and set aside.

Trim the bases off the sprouts and cut each lengthways into three thick slices. Take a large, nonstick pan, and heat up four tablespoons of whichever oil you're using. Add half the sprouts and a little salt, and cook on high heat for two minutes. Don't stir much - you want them almost to burn in a few places and cook through but remain crunchy. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the rest of the sprouts.

Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan, heat up and sauté the onion, chilli and mushrooms for a minute or two. Transfer to the sprout bowl.

Leave the pan on high heat and, using a pair of tongs, lift half the tofu from the marinade and gently lay in the pan (be very careful: the oil may spit, and far), space apart, in one layer. Lower the heat to medium and cook for two minutes on each side until nicely caramelised. Transfer to the sprout bowl and repeat with the rest of the tofu.

Once all the tofu is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and return all the cooked ingredients to it. Add the tofu marinade and half the coriander. Toss together and allow to cool slightly in the pan. Taste and add salt if needed. Stir in the remaining sesame oil (extra, if you like) and serve warm, not hot, garnished with sesame seeds and the rest of the coriander.

I served this on top of some streamed brown rice. Delicious!