Greek Moussaka

I learnt the word "moussaka" while watching Masterchef Australia last year. It was served to 2 contestants as in a "taste test". They were asked to taste the dish and tell what ingredients were used in this dish. Moussaka is liken a lasagne without the pasta sheets. Eggplant is the most important ingredient in mousska (it replaces the pasta sheets in lagsane) and the best thing is that it is in season right now.

I had M and L over for dinner to catch up with them last night. They have requested for something not Asian. In fact, L requested for Spanish cuisine but I cannot find any good Spanish main course (I made a Spanish dessert - cherry flan). I saw this moussaka recipe on Better Homes and Gardens. It looked easy enough and hence I thought I give it a try :)

1.5 to 2 med-big eggplant, sliced to 1cm thick
1 finely chopped onion
6 cloves garlic
600g beef mince (replace with crushed chickpeas for vegetarian option)
400g can diced tomatoes
couple of tsp brown sugar
a pinch of all spice
bunch of chopped oregano
150g grated tasty cheese

Bechamel sauce:
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp plain flour
400ml hot milk (microwaved to warm it)
300ml cream
4 egg yolks
120g grated parmesan cheese
pinch of salt
pinch of ground nutmeg

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over eggplant slices in a dish. Set aside for 30 mins and rinse with water. Pat dry and pan fry them with olive oil until they are soft and golden brown.

In a larger saucepan, put in some olive oil. Add onions, garlic and lamb mince. When the meat is nice and brown, chuck in diced tomatoes, sugar, allspice and chopped oregano. Cook for about 5 mins. Remove from heat.

Whisk butter and flour in saucepan until it resembles wet sand and then whisk in hot milk until it silky smooth. Once it is thick and goopy, stir in cream (to cool it down) and season with salt and nutmeg. Fold in egg yolks and grated parmesan cheese.

To assemble, spread 1/2 cup breadcrumbs on bottom of baking dish. Line dish with 1/3 of eggplant. Top it with 1/2 amount of meat sauce, then top with 1/2 amount of grated tasty cheese. Repeat the process and finish off with eggplant on top. Pour bechemel sauce on top and bake in the oven for 45mins at 190C until golden brown on top.


I used lamb mince instead of beef, mixed spice instead of allspice, dried oregano instead of fresh oregano and low fat versions of some diary ingredients.

Overall, I am very pleased to be able to make a Greek dish :p This turned out very tasty and delicious. For those who may not like eggplant (our guests were not big fans of them), fear not because you could hardly taste the eggplant because they were so soft and they blend in with the rest of the dish.

This dish looks healthy (meat with 2 serves of veggies - tomatoes and eggplant). However I am not sure how the bechamel sauce rates since there is quite an amount of cheese, cream, butter and milk (all diary!) added. I used light cream, low fat milk and low fat grated tasty cheese but normal parmesan cheese, butter and the 4 egg yolks! You know what? I reckon it is partly the sauce that makes the dish tasty and gives it the wow factor :p

Just Photos...

Made this salad yesterday, the 3rd time in less than a month. Took some nicer photos with my birthday pressie this time.

But silly me, only this morning then I realised I forgot to add pine nuts to the salad last night. Anyhow, it was still a salad well loved by my guests :)

Basic Chicken Soup/Stock

(from Donna Hay Jun/Jul 2009)

Spent 3 hours in the kitchen on Monday, prepping for 2 dinners and prepping and cooking this chicken soup. It was a tiring time but rewarding to see people enjoy the food and me enjoying this comforting chicken soup :)

Recipe for basic chicken soup. You can use this basic recipe to come up with other soups.

Stock

1.5kg whole chicken

1 brown onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

2.5L water or enough to cover

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 cup small pasta

salt and papper

chopped flat-leaf parsley to serve

Place chicken, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns and water in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through*. Occasionally skim foam from the surface**. Remove chicken from stock and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin and discard. Shred chicken meat from the bones and set aside. Stain the stock, discarding veggies.

Return stock to the pan with celery, carrot, pasta, shredded chicken and salt and pepper. Cook over high heat for 10-15 mins or until veggies are tender. Top with parsley to serve. Serves 6.

*To check if chicken is cooked through, remove chicken from pot and insert a small knife in between the leg and breast. If juices run clear, then chicken is ready.
**Skimming the foam from the surface removes impurities so it will have a cleaner, sweeter flavour and look clear instead of cloudy.

Tips

1. Freezer the strained chicken stock for up to 6 months and use in soups. Make sure you cool the stock completely before you place in the freezer.

2. Measure out the stock to exact quantities for freezing so all you need to do is defrost and use. Freeze any leftover amount in ice-cube trays and use to thicken sauces and flavour stir-fries.

3. Freeze the stock with shredded chicken meat up to 2 months. Just defrost, heat up and add veggies for an insteant comforting dinner.

4. For an Asian flavour, add white peppercorns instead of black, a knob of peeled ginger and washed coriander root, parsely stlks and omit the bay leaves when making the stock.

This may seem a bit tedious with quite a few ingredients but the result is worth it! Real stock cooked from scratch is so different to those store-bought ones.

Roast Pumpkin Salad

Saw this recipe and decided to give it a try since I have some extra unused butternut pumpkin from last week. It is very easy to prepare and not much ingredients required. The only thing I needed to buy was the fetta cheese. The mint was a day's old from my SIL's garden. I have pine nuts readily in my freezer (I freeze all my nuts to keep them from being rancid).

This is another easy and great-tasting recipe. I really love this salad but might have to add a little less balsamic vinegar because hubby do not really like it. Great salad to bring to gatherings (make it ahead of time if you like) for all to enjoy!

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup

I have made pumpkin soup before but this is the first time I used sweet potatoes as well. This is a combination of 2 recipes that I found. My guests and I really love this soup. I think this is the best pumpkin (and sweet potato) soup I have ever made.

Ingredients

500g sweet potatoes (or kumera)

500g pumpkin (Jap or butternut. I used butternut)

1L vegetable stock (I used Massel ready stock)

1/4 cup of chopped continental/Italian/flat-leafed parsley

1 med brown onion, finely diced

50g butter

250ml cream (I used light thickened cream)

Remove the skin and cut up kumera and pumpkin roughly into smaller pieces. Place them, onions, butter, parsley and stock in a big saucepan. Bring it to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 mins until the pumpkin and kumera are soft.

Cool the soup for 10 mins. Puree the soup. Now if you like you soup thick but would like to omit the cream, you could at this stage. Otherwise, add cream for a creamier texture and return the soup to the stove. Bring it to a slight gentle boil. You are ready to serve!

I find that I need not add any salt nor pepper to this soup, even though I used the salt-reduced version of the vegetable stock. It was really tasty and comforting to drink it (even though it is not winter now). I reckon the fresh parsley (straight from my garden) made the difference too ;)

Chicken Whiskey

Following the lemon whiskey cake, I reckon I wanted to try a meat dish with whiskey. Found this British chicken whiskey recipe (which I happen to have most of the ingredients) and tweaked it a bit.

Basically I just estimated the proportion of ingredients and added garlic instead of leeks or green onions. I also dropped in a little more whiskey than required :p It turned out the taste is not something that we are used to, but it was tasty! Now other than baking with whiskey, I can cook with whiskey too! :)

Free Cookbook

Got this cookbook free when I purchased "Supper Food Ideas" yesterday. All you have to do is to buy a copy of Notebook, Vogue, Good Taste, Food Ideas, delicious or Donna Hay magazine and be able to get that free. Remember to ask at the check-out counter when you purchase it. The guys will not give you unless you ask for it.

This Taste cookbook has really good ideas for Christmas cooking and ideals for gifts. I am really inspired! :)

Provides busy individuals and families with easy recipes and meal solutions, using readily available ingredients and simple techniques

I bought the cheapest magazine - A$2.95. This is one of those cheap, unplanned purchase but later you realise that you have gotten a really good buy! In it, are easy to follow recipes and ideas for everyday easy and quick cooking. This magazine is not only good for me, but also for hubby (who rarely cooks). This shall kick start hubby's attempt to cook Thursday dinners, so that I can be freed up to do some exercise after work :p For starters, there are about 7-8 pasta recipes that he could cook for the next 7-8 weeks and perhaps repeat them after that? ;)

Carrot Dip with Oven Baked Pita Chips

Suggested that we bring this to A's birthday gathering yesterday. I did not go to the gathering in the end. But hubby went along and brought this. Hubby made the dip the night before and chill it in the fridge. I baked up the pita bread to make it crispy to go with the dip...

The verdict? People liked it! I think that it was good that hubby did not bring any back because they were all consumed! (There was other food at the gathering) Well, I'd say I like this too but I still much prefer the beet root dip :p

The carrot dip recipe came from this recipe book, compliments of Kraft Philadephia when I purchased 3 Philadephia items from Coles some 3 weeks ago. It was such a bargain! For less than $10 for 3 items, I got this recipe book (RRP $35) for free. In it, there are many wow recipes that uses cream cheese. Most of them are finger food and desserts. Notice that I have tagged the book? Those are the recipes that I want to try :)

Carrot Dip

3 carrots (400g), peeled and chopped

125g spreadable light cream cheese (I did not use the Philly brand)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp milk

1 clove crushed garlic

1.5 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

2 large pita breads, cut to wedges (I used more than 2 pieces)

Olive oil spray

Chopped fresh chives

Boil, microwave or steam carrots until tender (I microwaved it). Process carrots in a food processor until smooth. Add both cheeses, milk, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and process until well combined. Chill in fridge.

Place pita pieces on baking tray. Spray it with oil and bake it at 200C for 5-10 mins or until golden and crisp.

Serve pita chips with dip. Garnish dip with chopped chives.

Enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Mini Quiche

Photo compliments from my SIL's DSLR

S made this and I thought I will try since it is an easy receipe off the Coles Spring magazine. An occasion arises that I made this for our family gathering last weekend and everyone (including my 2.5 yo niece) likes it!

You may download the Coles Spring 2009 Magazine if you like.

Ingredients
100g smoked salmon, chopped
3 frozen puff pastry sheets
5 eggs
250ml cream (I used extra light thickened cream)
2tbsp spreadable cream cheese
A handful of chopped chives
A handful of chopped dill (I left this out as I didn't have it)
Black pepper

Using a 7cm diameter round cutters, cut out puff pastry and line the lightly greased mini muffin trays. Press the rounds down gently and firmly.

Distribute salmon, chives, dill and cream cheese among the pastry shells. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and cream together. Season with black pepper. Pour the mixture into the pastry shells. Bake them at 180C for 15-20 mins until puffed and golden brown (they will sink on cooling). Lift quiches from tray and cool on a wire rack.

I have forgotten to add the cream cheese but it turned out good nevertheless. I made 58 mini quiches with this receipe. You may tweak the proportions to make the number you want to.

You may make the quiches up to 1 month in advance in an airtight container. Reheat from frozen on oven tray for about 15 mins. There are also options to add other meats and herbs in the quiche, e.g. bacon and chives, etc.

Strawberry Jam

It took me quite a while to locate where I could purchase the jam setting sugar... Couldn't find it at Coles and Woolies. But I actually found it easily at Pick n Pay Hypermart (which is part of the Coles group). I was so delighted when I found it!

Was happy to buy fresh strawberries for A$1.42 a 250g punnet on Monday. I bought 2 punnets and went on to make my jam. It was so easy using this recipe (also found on the back of the setting sugar packaging). I made half the quantity of what was in the recipe. I came up with 3 (~200g) jars of jam! :)

Mashing up the strawberries using a potato masher

I have not tasted the jam yet but it looked really good in the jars! :) I am giving these jars away... and shall attempt to make some cherry jam (from frozen cherries) this Friday :)

You can make your own labels here!

Postscript: How to hull strawberries

Homemade Lemonade

Looked back on the many recipes that I have collected and found this summer collection which I got it free from Coles a year ago. I remembered that I have a few lemons (from my in-law's garden) and some frozen lemon juice... I thought I will try this simple lemonade recipe. I love lemonade!

Ingredients

juice of 4 lemons

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

1L sparkling mineral water (I wonder if soda water is just as good?)

In a saucepan, dissolve sugar in water over high heat. Simmer for 8-10 mins until the mixture has reduced and is sticky*. Allow to cool.

Add the sugar mixture into the jug which has been filled with sparkling mineral water and lemon juice. Chill and serve!

*I did not manage to reach that consistency but it has definitely reduced.

We and our guests loved this homemade version which is not as sweet as commercial ones but definitely fresher :)

Jars of Jam

After having made my own cranberry sauce last Christmas, I thought of making my own jams for my own consumption and as gifts. I am not big on jams but I like the idea of being able to make it using fresh seasonal fruits and give them away in nicely labelled jars :)

I saw an advert on a food magazine and went to the CSR website. There is very good information on how to make jams, the preparation and tips to making it and recipes to make yummy jams. Step-by-step instructions with photos are given. You can also print labels for your jam jars using their template! I thought that was really cool :) Now, have I tempted you to try making your own too? ;)

Cheese Souffle

Following our family celebration of the hubby's birthday, I thought we would also celebrate it with our community group whom we meet twice every week - Sundays in church and Tuesdays at our place to study the Bible and pray together.

Instead of baking a cake, I thought I will attempt to bake souffles. Hubby's not a big fan of sweets and desserts so I figured I will make a savoury souffle and after a bit of searching on the internet, I found a basic cheese souffle recipe and decided to try it.

This is only my 2nd attempt at making a souffle but my 1st making a savoury one. The methods are a bit similar but the difference is that for a savoury souffle, you have to make a roux. The souffle turned out not too bad, but the texture could be improved. The taste was really good and everyone agreed. Would I try it again? Maybe... only because I prefer sweet souffles :p

Happy birthday hubs!

Here is a video on masterchef how they make a twice baked souffle. Watch it as Gary gives some tips of making a souffle and the basic techniques of making the roux and sauce mixture for a souffle.

Another souffle recipe that you can try: chubby hubby's zucchini souffle.

Shepherd's Pie & Sticky Date Pudding

We had 2 overseas guests who stayed over at our place for the past 2 nights. In order to welcome them, I thought I will whip up some dinner for us that we enjoy some food and fellowship. (Incidentally, we also acknowledged/celebrated my anniversary of moving to AU exactly 2 years ago!)

Since my guests usually eat asian/chinese food (they live in SG), I figure that I will cook an 'ang moh' western dinner. Decided on a lamb and potato pie, which is very much like shepherd's pie but the recipe uses lamb mince instead of beef mince that I often see in shepherd's pie. I got the recipe off masterchef's website.

However I could not really find lamb mince so I used beef mince instead. And I have also added chopped zucchini and mushrooms with the mince to increase the veggies proportion. It worked out well and there was sufficient to feed all 4 of us (with seconds) and hubby's lunch today.

For dessert, I attempted another masterchef recipe - sticky date pudding with almond praline and butterscotch sauce. This was what 3 of the contestants had to cook during one of their pressure test. It looks easy enough and really it wasn't difficult, except that it was my first time making praline and I had burnt my caramel a bit and hence there was a bitter taste to it. The butterscotch sauce was really easy to make too and you should make it just prior to serving.

Sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and (pathetic-looking) almond praline

The pudding was the more tricky bit (but really not too difficult). First, you have to cook the chopped dried dates in some water and then add some bicarb. Somehow that breaks down the dates into a mashed state. Allow that to cool and then add it into the typical cake mixture, after the usual butter and sugar mix, adding eggs and thereafter, adding flour, etc. Place the batter into moulds (I used my muffin trays instead) and bake it in the oven. What I did wrong, was I just placed my muffin trays into the oven as if I was baking muffin cakes. But really, I was supposed to put the tray onto another baking tray filled with some water. I think this might make a difference in the texture.

I kind of overcooked the date cake/pudding, even though it was a shorter time as said (My oven is always acts up, which allows me to bake something in a shorter than required time). Anyhow, the date cake/pudding turned out really good with the butterscotch sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream to complete it! It was not too sweet... and for that little effort, the result was greatly satisfying! My usually-do-not-like-desserts-nor-sweets hubby had a 2nd go at it! So for those of you who like sticky date pudding, this is an easy and really rewarding recipe!

Watch the masterchef video of the contestants undergoing the pressure test cooking this dish!

Yummy Chicken Wings

There are many ways to marinate chicken wings. My cousin G made some grilled chicken wings some years ago and I asked her for the recipe.

I have made this a number of times... and recently made this again last weekend at my BIL's surprise birthday party and people really liked it. This was also popular with children even though there is chilli powder. It is not spicy at all! Here is the recipe:

About 1 kg chicken wings

1 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 cup ketchup/tomato sauce

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp garlic powder or 2 finely chopped garlic cloves

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp chilli powder

Marinate the chicken wings with all other ingredients for a few hours (for best results, leave it to marinate overnight). Grill them at 180-200C until they are cooked! (I think it takes about 20 mins? I have never timed them :p)

Convenient Chicken in a Bag

(This was originally posted in April but I only have a photo of it now (finally!)) A few friends have raved about it since I have shared this recipe with them - easy, great tasting and tender chicken!


Chicken in a bag? I really mean, oven bag. Saw this on BHAG and thought that it looked really easy. I have done this 2-3 times but never got around to taking a single photo of it! Will try to do so the next time....

(video is available)

1.5kg whole chicken
1 tsp chilli flakes (I used chilli powder instead)
1 tbsp Chinese 5-spice powder
salt and pepper
1x6cm piece ginger, finely sliced
4 shallots, white part finely sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Large Glad oven bag

1) Preheat oven to 200C. Dust chicken with chilli, 5-spice powder, salt and pepper. Put ginger and shallot in the cavity of the chicken.

2) Put chicken in oven bag. Add soy sauce and chicken stock. Tie bag and put in roasting tray. Pierce a single hole with a knife and bake for about 1 hour (or 15 mins more).

This chicken goes through a roasting and steaming process in the oven (I used a turbo broiler). The liquid in the bag allows some steaming and the hole through the bag will allow for steam to get out. You may want to remove the visible chicken fat before you begin. Otherwise the fat will be cooked and will go into making a really oily gravy in the bag. Hubby and I highly recommend this recipe for its ease to cook, minimal preparation and great tasting and tender juicy roasted chicken! Yum!!

Italian Chicken Casserole

Reality TV show Masterchef Australia has been hubby's and my common favourite TV show that we watched almost everyday (for the past 6 weeks or so). Although it is a competition, We as viewers get to learn a lot from their cooking successes and failures, especially during their masterclass on Fridays....

I frequent their website to look out for recipes that I can download. Last Friday, I decided to try one of their stock recipes - italian chicken casserole. It is not difficult to cook, except that I did not have a casserole pot that I could use on the stove top and then into the oven for further cooking. To improvise, I heated up a big enough Pyrex baking dish in the oven and when it was time to put the food in the oven, I emptied my pot into the baking dish and continued cooking. All I needed was rice to go with it! We were quite happy with the result... and with leftovers enough for our dinner the next day :)

The recipe can be found here: italian chicken casserole.

Beet Root Dip

Learnt how to make this really delicious beet root dip from J. I never liked beet root until I tried this. I think it is because I like the cream cheese in it :p


125g cream cheese
200-250g can of beet root
~4 stalks worth of fresh chives (I had some in my garden)
juice of ~1/2 lemon

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until it looks like the texture of a dip. Best served with Doritos taco chips (original flavour).

I am sure this dish will make conversations at parties. It has never failed to whenever I make this for gatherings/parties.

Perfect Crackling Pork

Not that good a photo. Forgot to take a picture before we carve the pork. The pork before carving looks much more appetising!

Tried this BHAG Fast Ed recipe in February and thought I will share this because the result was very satisfying. SIL G and friend S are interested to try this easy (only a few ingredients) and yummy recipe. So here goes...

(Video is available, if you prefer)

2kg boneless pork loin, leg or belly (I used pork leg)
5L boiling water
3 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
spices and herbs to taste

1) Preheat oven to 160C. Score rind with sharp knife in a crosshatch pattern about 5mm apart. Ensure you cut right through the fat underneath.

2) Place pork on a wire rack in sink and slowly pour boiling water over top. The rind will shrink and expose the fat underneath. Drain off water and pat dry with paper towel.

3) Rub pork with salt and spices and herbs if you like (I think I used some dried rosemary or thyme). Stand the pork for 5 minutes.

4) Drizzle pork with olive oil and put on a wire rack in a shallow baking dish (I used my turbo broiler) Cook 25 mins per 1 kg. Do not use a deep roasting pan as it creates steam which interferes with crackling.

5) Increase oven temperature to 230C. Bake pork for a further 10 mins per 1 kg. Meat is cook when juices run clear. Rest for 3-5 mins then carve (video on carving).

Hubby and I love the crackling of the pork, however only the middle part was crispy. The ones on the sides were not as crispy. Enjoy!

Sausage Rolls

I copied a sausage roll recipe from my SIL's Donna Hay magazine. Donna Hay's famous tagline is "special made simple". This recipe is indeed simple and this photo on the magazine made me wish that I could eat it right away. I am always able to find reason(s) to try a new recipe... My reasons this time are:

1. Have something for my CG to enjoy while we meet for bible study tonight.
2. Have a savoury morning tea treat for the mother's group this Friday which I help look after the kids while the mummies study the Bible.
3. Freeze away the excess for future treats (since now we have extra freezer space)

Ingredients:
1kg sausage mince
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (I was lazy so I used bought dried breadcrumbs)
2 eggs
salt and pepper
4 sheets of puff pastry (I used 4.5 sheets eventually)
2 egg yolks
sesame seeds
Method:
1] Put mince, sauce, paste, crumbs, eggs, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl. Mix them well. (I found it easier to use my hands instead of fork and spoon)
2] Preheat oven to 200C. Cut each sheet of pastry into 2. Place the mince mix along the long side of the pastry. Roll it and cut it to your desired length.
3] Brush each roll with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake them for 20-25 minutes.

Note:
- I added ground coriander into the mixture too. I think you can also add grated carrots and other herbs according to your liking.
- My fan forced oven only took about 15 minutes with 160C for it to turn golden brown. Adjust cooking time and temperature accordingly.
- You may freeze or put in the fridge but best to heat them up in the oven before serving with sweet chilli sauce.
- If you can afford it, use a better sausage mince. It will taste better too.

Hubby and I managed to make exactly 100 mini rolls out of the lot! Other than some portions put aside for CG, mother's group and our breakfast this morning, we still had 4 lots of them (14-16 in each lot) freezed away for future :) Conclusion: great recipe for making in bulk, freeze them for future treats!