dinnerlastnight

Chicken with kumera pumpkin mash

Again for this dinnerlastnight I wanted something healthy and I this chicken is one in a covered oven dish. It is low fat as you don't need to add any oil and there is no skin on the chicken breast.

Ingredients: Chicken breast, pesto, zucchini, carrot, spring onion, chicken stock cube, lemon, kumera, pumpkin, milk and a little butter.

Preparation:

Use a potato pealer to peal think strips of zucchini and carrot. Layer the carrot and zucchini on the bottom of a oven proof dish and top with sliced spring onion. Trim any fat from the chicken breast, place topside down and put a large dollop of pesto in the centre. Fold the chicken breast over and place in the oven dish on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle over a crushed chicken stock cube and add slices of lemon over the chicken. Put in a hot over at about 180 degrees for about 30mins or until chicken is cooked though.

While the chicken is in the over peel the kumera and pumpkin then chop into chunks. Add to a saucepan of boiling water. Once cooked through, strain, return to the hot saucepan, add some milk and a nob of butter. Mash until smooth.

Serve chicken on the mash with vegetables on the side.

dinnerlastnight rating: 6/10

Pumpkin Soup with Ginger and Chilli

It was raining and cold again yesterday and Richard and I has spent half the day drinking beer as it was the long weekend holiday. Instead of cooking big dinner I settled on pumpkin soup - it would help take the chill out of the day and would be good with some crispy bread too.

What I like about this dish is the chilli and ginger which gives it a more spicy taste - quite different from other pumpkin soups that I have tasted.

Ingredients that went into this one is pumpkin (jap), onion, garlic, potato, ginger, birds eye chilli and chicken stock. Really easy. When served I usually like to stir into each bowl a teaspoon of sour cream and add some salt and fresh cracked pepper. This time I forgot to buy some sour cream so I used coconut milk, coriander leaves and asian fried shallots. This takes a bit over an hour on the stove and 5mins to prep.

Preparation:

Chop 2 segments of garlic, a thumb sized piece of ginger and a chilli. Skin and cut up half a jap pumpkin, 1 large onion and 2 medium potatoes into large chunks. Heat some oil in a large pot and quickly fry the garlic, ginger and chilli until fragrant. Throw in the pumpkin, potato and onion and stir to coat. Add 1 litre of hot chicken stock and top up with boiling water until  the pumpkin is covered. You can alter the stock:water ratio however you like - a higher stock ratio will make it richer. Bring to the boil and cover with lid. Simmer until the pumpkin and potato are soft - usually it will take longer for the potato to soften.

In a blender, puree in batches and pour into a second large pot. Keep pot on low heat until soup reduces to a think consistency. Serve in warm bowls with topping of coconut milk, shallots and coriander.

dinnerlastnight rating: 7/10

Lamb and vegetable curry

Last night I was craving Lamb. I usually cook it on the bbq after marinating it in a wet Moroccan style spice but it was chucking it down with rain and our bbq is not undercover. One of the other ways that I cook lamb is in a nice rich spicy red curry.

This one is really easy - all you need is a big pot to throw everything in and you can make heaps to feed a whole crew. I like to go a little overboard with the amount of meat but you can make it with less and up the vegetable content too. Root vegetables are best - carrot and potato are a must.

I usually don't have the time to make my own curry paste (try Spice for inspiration - food processor is advised) and I am always open to trying new brands. Make sure you buy from an Asian shop though. You will save money and Coles/Woolies don't really stock the best brands. The brand I use in this meal is the Thai brand Mae Ploy Red Curry Paste; they also make a green curry paste that is great too.

Ingredients that went into this curry were lamb (deboned leg stripped of fat), chicken stock, washed small potatoes, carrot, onion, red curry paste, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, spinach (tip: frozen is really convenient and saves space in your crisper) and tomato. Asian fried onions and coriander for serving. This takes about 10mins prep and an hour left on the stove.

Preparation:

Heat a couple of lugs of oil in a deep pot over high heat. Throw in two medium chopped onions and fry till a little glassy. Add 1/2 a kilo of cubed lamb, brown then make a space so that you can put 2 tablespoons of red curry paste on the base of the pot. Stir the paste while heating - you should be able to smell the aroma before you combine it with the lamb. Add in about 1/2 litre of chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, a chopped tomato and additional boiling water to cover the lamb well. Bring to the boil, reduce to simmer and put a lid on the pot.

Check it every 15mins or so to check that it hasn't gone dry - add more water if becoming too thick. It should take about 45 minutes to an hour for the lamb to become tender. Add in about eight potatoes cut into 3cm chunks and a large sliced carrot. Cook till they soften, fish out three of the potatoes, mash and throw back into the pot. This will give the curry a nice thick texture. Add two defrosted spinach cubes - once they are cooked through stir in 1/4 cup of coconut milk or to taste.

Serve in large deep bowls with steamed rice. Top with Asian fried onions for a bit of crunchiness and roughly chopped fresh coriander.

dinnerlastnight rating: 7/10

Roast kumara, capsicum and chicken risotto with chilli oil and coriander

Risotto is one of my favourite things. So much so that I won’t order it in anything but the best restaurants. This stems from an incident at a café involving a bowl of cream with some rice floating in it.

Dinner last night was dished up to my partner Richard and my friends Kristie and Al who were over for a DVD night. It was a cold night and I thought risotto would be nice and warming while we sat in front of the fire watching Memoirs of a Geisha.

The main ingredients that went into this risotto were Arborio rice, good chicken stock, white wine, sweet potato (kumara), chicken breast, capsicum (red peppers), onion, garlic, butter and parmesan. To serve on top, I tried fresh coriander leaves and a drizzle of chilli oil for a bit of spice. I picked up some great chilli oil especially for this from a café called Bitton in Alexandria near where I live. David the owner makes a great range of products under his Bitton Gourmet label. I can also recommend the spicy tomato sauce and the strawberry vanilla jam.

Cooking time was about 40mins with about 20mins of preparation using the oven to roast the kumara and stove for the risotto. Once you master the technique, this is a good one to make in front of guests with a nice glass of wine. This makes more then enough for four people.

Preparation:

Cut a couple of kumera into 2cm chunks, toss them in some olive oil, salt and paprika then place in the oven. Bake until the kumera is soft enough to mash a little. Half of the kumera will be mashed the rest will top the risotto.

Cut a double breast of chicken into small cubes, dice a large onion and slice a segment of garlic. The capsicum needs to be roasted as well – slice one into large slices so it can be layed flat under the grill. The grill will char the skin leaving the flesh nice and tender. Once the skin is charred, take from under the grill and place a clean tea towel over for 5 mins. The skin should peel off easily. Slice into strips and set aside.

Place two pots on the stove - one large and one medium. Heat a good amount of chicken stock and a cup of white wine in the medium pot. Keep at a very slow simmer. In the larger pot add some olive oil and place on medium heat. Throw in the garlic and onion for one minute then add two and a bit cups of Arborio rice. Stir constantly until the rice goes a bit glassy and is quite hot. Use a deep ladle to add about ½ cup of stock to the rise and keep stirring. Another ladle should be added once the liquid evaporates but it should not dry out.

After the fourth ladle evaporates, throw in the chicken and another ladle. Keep stirring, adding stock and evaporating until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is done. The rice should still have some ‘bite’ and hold its shape. You don’t want it soggy. You could add a couple of finely sliced mushrooms and parsley at this point for a more earthy flavour. Stir through a knob of butter, a half a cup of parmesan, half the kumara mashed, salt and pepper. Test for taste.

In some large deep warm bowls spoon out portions of risotto. Top with roasted capsicum, remaining kumara, coriander leaves and drizzle with chilli oil.

Kristie and Richard went back for seconds. Kristie even went thirds.

dinnerlastnight rating: 8/10