Food Recipes & Other Cooking Ideas

Here is your starter (get it - oh never mind) 

Forget your mangled clydesdale beef or kosher pork pies  …….. 

It’s hard to make a donkey look like a chicken breast, but a simple chicken breast can be a little bland.  No worries,  I've perfected a veggie topper or side mix that makes the blandest chicken taste yummy.  It works as well cooked on the hob top or on the BBQ in a pot or foil drip tray as it does when cooked in the oven. 

Serves 2

1 Red Bell Pepper – chopped into smallish chunks

1 medium Onion – quarter the onion & chop into slices

4 Shallots (optional) – finely chopped

6 medium sized Mushrooms - sliced   (more if small mushrooms)

2 cloves Garlic – chopped

1 tablespoon Olive or Veg Oil

1 teaspoon butter

Salt & Pepper added to taste – add pepper only at last stir aprx 15mins before end of cooking time.

Heat oven to 190’c

Place all ingredients in shallow dish, stir to mix & coat with oil & loosely cover with alloy foil.

Cook for 45 up to 60 minutes depending on your taste,  45 minutes gives more fresh taste, 60 minutes is more mellow & rich.

– it works fine without shallots but they do make the finished dish sweeter 

- adding the mushrooms after the pepper & onion have cooked for 15 minutes gives more mushroom flavour to the finished dish

Stir every 15 minutes

Remove foil at the 30 minutes stir time

I cook the chicken breast in the same oven

1 breast per person

Trim the meat & place on an alloy foil sheet large enough to loosely warp with the foil joined at the top

Add any spice or herb of your choice – tarragon, basil, garlic, dry mixed herb,  all work well

A small amount of butter or oil is optional,  I prefer without oil unless I’m using garlic & have the garlic infused with the butter/oil

Place in a shallow dish & cook for 20 minutes in the same oven as the pepper & onion

Place whole chicken on plate & cut across into 20mm slices

Spoon pepper onion & mushroom mix over.

Roast or baked potatoes can be cooked in same oven

Any fresh seasonal green veg is good. 

Mike,

It's a shame this thread didn't take off. I was thinking of posting a similar thread as I'm a keen cook. Unfortunately typing out even short recipes can be long and time consuming. I know there are many foodies out there. Here's a short one that my family enjoy. It's a Spanish way for cooking roast pork shoulder. It's very simple but delicious.

For 4 people.

One blade of pork shoulder

Garlic - 6 cloves

1-2 tablespoons of fennel seeds

Salt.

Using a craft knife set to about 5mm score the skin making sure not to go through to the flesh. 

In a pestle and mortar bruise the fennel and set aside. Then crush the garlic into the pestle, add coarse sea salt and grind to a smooth paste. Then add the bruised fennel seeds and mix together. 

Rub this mixture on the flesh taking care not to get any on the skin. Leave in the fridge for a few hours. Before cooking rub oil and coarse sea salt on the skin. Heat the oven to 250 degrees C and put the shoulder, on a rack in a roasting pan, in until the skin begins to crackle. Turn the oven down to about 140 degrees C, place foil loosely over the skin and leave for 4-5 hours. When nearly ready to serve take the foil off and grill the skin until crisp.

The meat is really tasty and falls off the bone. The crackling will be the best you've ever had. Serve with your choice of vegetables

Steve

Ditto Steve, I was hoping we could get a few interesting "different" ideas & tastes but if folks don't cook …….  ???  I have a bunch of different recipes that you don't find in the average Delia or Jamie books & thought it was worth a try.

Following is one from my other homeland

Bobotie – ba’boor’ti - is a Cape Malay specialty from the Cape area (SA).

Traditionally its cooked in an open fire bed – Braai (BBQ) - in a cast iron lidded pot with 3 legs called a potjie.   This is a simplified version I made up that works as well in a kitchen as a braai.

Measures for 2 people – multiply up as required - more wurkz best

Ingredients

1 large onion, thinly sliced         

1 tsp ground cloves – or - 1 heaped tsp whole cloves (best)

2 large cloves garlic – more is better

1 tsp rock salt

2 tsp medium – or - hot curry powder (personal taste)

1 tsp ground cumin - or – lightly roasted ground seeds (best)

1 tsp turmeric

250g (9 oz) minced (ground) beef

1 beef stock cube

1 egg

1 slice stale or toasted brown bread (best) processed into breadcrumbs.

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 level tbsp brown sugar

1 or 2 tsp ground black pepper (personal taste)

Water to set consistency if required – beer or wine is better. 

Optional – raisins – currents – cooking apple chopped in 10/15mm chunks

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4 fresh bay leaves

1 egg

150 ml milk

1 tsp Garam Masala

Kitchen Method:         

Large frying pan - heat oil to hot - fry onion stirring continuously until golden.

Mortar & pestle - Grind cloves, add garlic & salt & grind - add curry, cumin & turmeric & grind. 

Add to onion mix & fry for a further 5 minutes.

Mixing Bowl - Mix beef, stock cube, breadcrumbs, egg, lemon juice & sugar

Combine with fried onion mix & fry for a further 5 minutes – add water (beer) as required to adjust consistency to only just slightly loose at the end of frying.

Mix in optional – raisins – currents – cooking apple

Lasagna or other shallow dish sized to achieve at least 15mm mixture depth & at least 15mm space at the top of dish – deeper mixture depth  is better – pre-grease – add mixture.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 160’c for 40 minutes.

Raise oven to 180’c for the last 3 to 5 minutes: the surface should be just turning dark brown. 

In separate bowl or jug - beat egg and milk & Garam Masala.

Pour over the Bobotie. Add bay leaves.

Bake for a further 8 minutes at 180’c until custard is set.

It eats well hot straight from oven or kept in fridge & reheated

Goeie Eetlus