Chicken Thyme Bake (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1kg chicken thigh fillets

1 large turkish bread (Helga’s brand size)

1 medium lemon

Fresh thyme, leaves stripped

Olive oil

Salt

Method

Preheat the oven to about 150℃ fan-forced (depending on your oven).

Line the base of a large baking tray with 2” chunks of Turkish bread. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle thyme leaves and salt over the bread.

Cover bread with chicken fillets to stop it from burning. Juice a lemon and drizzle over the chicken. Drizzle over more olive oil and add more thyme leaves.

Place in the oven for about 20min. Check and turn over the chicken fillets, cook for another 10min until chicken is done and the bread smells delicious.

Take the chicken out of the tray and rest, return the bread to the oven until it is caramelised and crispy but not burnt - around 15min. 

Serve with plenty of salad and a good mayo. Pray for your arteries.

***Can also lay bacon rashers over the chicken to stop them from drying out - but use less olive oil.

Christmas Potato Salad with Dill, Capers & Pickles

Christmas Potato Salad with Dill, Capers & Pickles

One quantity is enough for family of 5 as a large side. Double the dressing and 1.5 x the potatoes makes about 15 portions as a small side for a buffet.

Ingredients:

2 small orange sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1.5cm cubes

Olive oil to toss

6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 2cm cubes

6 rashers bacon, chopped

Dressing:

125g mayonnaise

100g light sour cream

¾ cup (120g) gherkins, finely chopped (or dill cucumbers)

1.5 tablespoons dill, finely chopped

3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons baby capers (or large capers, chopped)

Black pepper

1. Toss the sweet potato in olive oil and bake at 150 degrees fan forced until golden and starting to brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to the boil, cook until tender, drain and allow to cool.
3. Cook the bacon in a pan with a little olive oil, until as crisp as you like, drain on paper towel and cool.
4. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl, then gently mix with the cooled potatoes and place in serving bowl. Sprinkle bacon over the top and serve.

Can prepare the day before but the textures are nicest when it hasn’t been chilled for too long and is mixed just before serving. Either way it is pretty delish! D's favourite holiday food.

Almond & Rum Fruit Cake (gluten free)

~Almond & Rum fruit cake~

adapted from Taste.com

In a bowl, combine :

2 cups almond meal (can substitute part hazelnut meal)

3/4 teaspoon bicarb soda

2 cups total dried fruit

> we used 1/2 cup dried apricots diced, 1/2 cup prunes diced, 1 cup mixed dried fruit

In a second bowl whisk together with a fork :

3 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

zested rind of 1 orange

1 cap Bundaberg rum

1 tablespoon rice malt syrup

Stir the egg mix through the dry ingredients to combine. Spoon into a baking paper lined loaf tin (8 x 19cm, or thereabouts).

Cover with alfoil and bake at 150 Celcius fan forced for 35 minutes. Take the alfoil off, turn the tin around and bake another 15 minutes. Test with a skewer and if it comes out clean it's cooked.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin 5 minutes or longer.

Cherry Ripe Icecream

We almost ran out of fuel near Peachester, returning from a late summer weekend at the beach, so stopped at a fruit shop for some fresh lychees as a pick-me-up. They also made gelati in yummy flavours and we needed that - the boys chose Cherry Ripe. There was a lot of discussion on the ingredients, so over the following weekends D experimented with making our own and this is the latest, closest version of deliciousness.

~Cherry Ripe Icecream~

1. Make the cherry swirl :
1 kg frozen pitted cherries, cut in half
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tab brandy or choice of liqueur
1 teaspoon gelatine
Heat the cherries, sugar, water and brandy until cherries are cooked. strain off the cherries and reduce the liquid by half. Stir through the gelatine to dissolve and set aside to cool in fridge.

2. When the cherry mix is cold, make the icecream.
Beat the following in a mixmaster until smooth and thickened :
600ml cream
1 tin condensed milk
250g cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3. Fold through the icecream mix :
1 cup dessicated coconut
180g packet Cherry Ripe chocolates, cut into small pieces
168g packet Flake chocolate, crumbled (maybe try grated dark chocolate instead)

4. Swirl the cold cherry mix through the icecream mix.

5. Pour into a container and freeze. Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the top and serve.

Thai Beef Salad

Salad:
500g eye fillet / rump steak, trimmed of all visible fat
1 tbsp peanut oil
200g of rocket or mixed lettuce leaves, washed and drained
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp mint leaves, finely sliced

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red chili, seeds removed and chopped finely
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
1 tbsp peanut oil
Mint and coriander leaves, to taste

Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in peanut oil in a nonstick pan over high heat. Rest the meat for 4-5 minutes.

Slice the meat thinly across the grain and place in a large serving bowl. Add rocket or mixed lettuce leaves, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and mint.

To make the dressing, place all ingredients in a food processor until well blended. Toss the beef and salad with the dressing and serve.

Other salad ingredients to suit taste can be added eg, red onion, shallots etc.

tribute to Mango Weis bars

something like a Mango Weis bar :

Ingredients :

3 large very ripe bananas

2 large mangos

½ can condensed milk

300ml cream

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Peel and cube the bananas and mangos into roughly ½ inch cubes; place in a single layer on a baking paper lined tray and freeze.

Place the frozen fruit in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy; you may need 2 batches, and to scrape the sides down a few times.

Line a deep tray or cake tin with baking paper and spread the frozen fruit mix to a depth of about 2 cm; freeze.

Whip the cream, condensed milk and vanilla until firm peaks form; spread in a thin layer over the frozen fruit mix and re-freeze.

Slice into small slices. Lie in a hammock. Eat. Yum.

Autumn Skirlie

This is an adaptation of an old Scottish dish. We've eaten it a lot lately in the cooler evenings, rushing into the house after 6pm five nights a week and juggling homework, vision therapy, showers and sibling rivalry... somewhere there I try to feed us more than vegemite toast and this fits the bill pretty well.

The boys love it, and reheated with scrambled eggs in front of the fire the next morning, it's pretty close to wonderful.

~Autumn Skirlie~
(serves 3 as a main with a bit leftover)

4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (or spring onions, leeks etc)
2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
1.5 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
about 1/3 cup boiling water?
1 cup tinned red salmon, drained and flaked
1 large lemon, zested and juiced (2 if they're small)
2 large handfuls spinach, washed and roughly shredded
(or any other greens - kale, par-cooked broccoli, red lettuce are all good)
freshly ground black pepper


Heat the oil on low in a non-stick frying pan. Add the onion and cook until transparent.

Add the thyme leaves and oats and stir well. Cook on a lowish heat, tossing every few minutes, until the oats are beginning to colour -  about 5-10 minutes.

Add the lemon zest to the boiling water and pour over, stirring well and cook a couple more minutes - the oats will soften slightly but keep their shape. Add more boiling water if needed.

Stir in the salmon, lemon juice and black pepper, then pile the spinach on top and put the lid on to steam the spinach. When the spinach has cooked down, stir it through and serve - preferrably in front of a fire!