Author: Sharon

Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Madras

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This is a lovely creamy curry, great served with Naan and rice. If you want a fresh, fruity salsa to accompany the dish try equal quantities of feijoa or kiwifruit, and cucumber with a twist of salt and a squirt of lemon juice. I am not a chili fan, but some Jalapeño in the salsa would also work.

What I put in a recipe usually depends on what the garden has to offer; the recipe is equally good with 1/2 cauliflower and 1/2 pumpkin, just roast cauliflower along with the pumpkin.

I also don’t use bought curry pastes, or seasoning mixes. It is so easy to make your own and know what is in them. For example, herbs and spices in their natural forms are gluten free, however, some producers add carriers and anti-caking agents, which can contain gluten. Check the curry powder on this New Zealand site. I am in no way disparaging the owner of the site, in fact I think Countdown are making a huge effort to show the ingredients etc in their products; however, the manufacturer is another story. Just be aware that some sites will tell you added gluten in seasonings is a myth, when in fact one of New Zealand’s largest supplier of spice mix does exactly that.

This dish uses a homemade madras style spice mix – just click the link. This is enough spice for 4-6 servings, so either make a double batch of curry and freeze half, or keep spice mix for next time in an airtight jar.

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Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Madras

A mild, creamy vegetarian curry. Quick and easy to prepare and it freezes well. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian, Vegetarian
Servings: 2
Calories: 480 kcal
Author: Sharon
Ingredients
  • 300 gm peeled pumpkin- cut into 2 cm dice
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 440 gm canned chickpeas rinsed and drained
  • 1 brown onion - finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic - crushed
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ginger - grated
  • 2 tablespoons madras curry mix see post
  • 1 440 gm canned chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
Instructions

  1. Toss pumpkin on prepared tray with olive oil, garam masala and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes, then toss, add chickpeas and roast for a further 5 minutes.

  2. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan on medium heat and cook onion for 3–4 minutes. Add parsley, garlic, and ginger, cook for a further 5 minutes. Add madras mix (see blog) and cook for 1 minute. Add all remaining curry ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Recipe Notes

You can use a purchased madras mix, if it is a paste omit ginger.

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Madras Spice Mix

 

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Madras Spice Mix
Prep Time
5 mins
Total Time
5 mins
 

Homemade Indian spice mix.

Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 4 Tbsp
Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon chilli powder optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 tablespoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients

    Store in airtight jar.

Sharon1 Comment

Vege Bake

It is always a joy when I can prepare a dish that is not only delicious, but, where most of the ingredients come straight from the garden. Vege  Bake satisfied both of those criteria and our hunger.

 

 

 

We ate the Bake with a roasted beetroot salad and a baked potato.

 

 

 

 

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Vege Bake

A cross between a Bake and a Frittata. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Servings: 2
Ingredients
  • 250 gm pumpkin peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 Red Capsicum
  • 1/2 Green Capsicum
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 ½ cups pureed carrot
  • 1 cup tomato pasta sauce
  • 125 gm cottage cheese
  • 3 tomatoes - wedged
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
  • 4 eggs
  • 200 ml cream
  • salt & pepper
  • Grated Cheese
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190C. Line a deep oven proof dish with tinfoil and then baking paper.

  2. Cook carrot and mash. Spread on base of deep oven proof dish.

  3. Place pumpkin, capsicum, onion, garlic, and rosemary in a roasting dish with a coating of olive oil. Cover with baking paper and and roast until tender - about 40 minutes.

  4. Cover carrot with tomato pasta sauce and season to taste.Spread cottage cheese over tomato layer.

  5. Layer pumpkin mix and tomato wedges next and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and salt & pepper to taste.

  6. Whisk eggs, cream and salt to combine. Pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pumpkin seeds. Cook for 1 hour.

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Sicilian Caponata

I love Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, for me they never fail, perhaps because he never omits an ingredient. So many recipes leave out the seasoning, or are unclear about small details; this can be so frustrating for the home chef.

I have become used to asking the ‘gardener half’ what vegetables I need to use before planning menus, and last night he surprised me by saying “Eggplants” this was a surprise because we have been eating courgettes for months. I thought about Ratatouille, but – you guessed it – I wanted to stay away from courgette, although we still have tons of them. I browsed the web, I thought for a long time about Eggplant Parmigiana but it seemed it should be the star, not the side. I passed the bookshelf and pulled out Ramsay’s Best Menus, and there it was: Sicilian Caponata. (Another good thing about this book – the recipe was under ‘aubergine’; so many cook books index by name rather than main ingredient).

 

Eggplant or Aubergine? Apparently those of us ‘down under’ use the term eggplant, as do the Americans, while the Brits use aubergine. I think of aubergine as a colour and eggplant as a vegetable – go figure.

 

I served this as a side with beef casserole and garlic mash.  Gordon served it as a starter with rustic bread. I prepped all the other ingredients while the eggplant was soaking, had a glass of wine and then cooked the caponata, so all up 45 minutes to table (for the caponata).

This was the STAR dish, it is absolutely amazing, I can see how it would be fabulous as a starter with bread.

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Sicilian Caponata
Ingredients
  • 1 eggplant aubergine
  • 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 Celery stalks trimmed & chopped
  • 1 Red Pepper deseeded & chopped
  • 1 Onion peeled & chopped
  • 2 Garlic cloves peeled & chopped.
  • 5 large Tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
  • Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
  • Freshly ground Black Pepper
  • 100 gm Olives chopped
  • 50 gm Capers rinsed
  • Handful Basil leaves torn
  • 50 gm toasted Pine Nuts
Instructions
  1. Cut the eggplant into chunks, place in colander and sprinkle with sea salt, leave for 30 minutes; then rinse and pat dry.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy based pan and add eggplant, onion, celery, and red pepper with a little seasoning. Saute over a high heat for 5 minutes.
  3. Add chopped tomatoes, (Gordon skins and deseeds the tomatoes), garlic, sugar, vinegar, olives, and capers.
  4. Continue cooking over high heat for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender. Check seasoning.
  5. Scatter basil and pine nuts over top and serve.

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Cauliflower Mac Cheese

 

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Cauliflower Mac Cheese
Servings: 2
Ingredients
  • 90 gm dried pasta
  • 1/3 small cauliflower chopped
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 cups cheese grated
Instructions

  1. Cook pasta and cauliflower until al dente, drain and rinse immediately under cold water to stop cooking.

    Preheat oven to 375C.

    Over medium heat melt butter, add flour, salt, mustard, and pepper. Stir constantly for a minute to cook flour.

    Remove from heat and stir milk in slowly. Return to heat and stir constantly until sauce thickens.

    Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 of cheese and cooked pasta and cauliflower.

    Place half of the pasta mix in a casserole. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the remaining cheese, top with the rest of the pasta mix and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

    Bake for 25 minutes.

Sharon1 Comment

Moroccan Carrot Salad

 

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Moroccan Carrot Salad
Servings: 2
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup carrot diced
  • 1/4 cup cauliflower diced
  • 1/4 cup courgette diced
  • 2 tbsp capsicum diced
  • 2 tbsp red onion diced
  • 1/4 cup canned chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup green leaves (mustard, spinach, rocket) shredded
Dressing
  • 1/4 cup greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp mint chopped
  • 1 tsp liquid honey
  • 1 tsp moroccan spice mix
Instructions

  1. Combine all salad ingredients and season lightly.

    Mix all dressing ingredients and stir into salad.

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Black Bean Burgers

 

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Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 medium brown onion finely chopped
  • 1/4 red capsicum finely diced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 red chilli optional
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed, drained, mashed
  • salt & pepper
  • 1/4 cup ground cornmeal
Avocado Cream
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 avocado
Salsa
  • 1 large tomato diced
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
Burgers

  1. Heat oil in a large frypan. 

    Add onions, turn heat to very low and saute for 10 minutes until soft.

    Add spices, and chili if using, turn heat up and stir until fragrant, cool.

    Transfer onion mix to bowl with breadcrumbs, beans, and egg. Season and mix well.

    Divide mixture into patties, about 1 inch thick, refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until ready to use.

    Dredge burger patties in cornmeal.

    Cook burgers on bbq until toasted and cooked through - approx. 4 minutes.

    Serve in buns with avocado cream and salsa.

Avocado Cream

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender with seasoning and puree to a cream.

    Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Salsa

  1. Combine all ingredients and rest for at least 20 minutes.

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Brussels sprouts

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Brussels sprouts & apple
Ingredients
  • 150 gm baby brussels sprouts
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • sprigs thyme
  • 1 apple tart
  • 35 gm cheese grated
  • salt & peper
Instructions

  1. Slice Brussels sprouts into 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.

    Quarter and core apple, slice each quarter into slices. 

    Heat oil in pan, add Brussels sprouts, apple slices, and lemon juice, season to taste and saute until tender.

    Serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese.


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Aioli

 

Just a quick recipe to get started. I use this Aioli in place of mayonnaise and it makes a great dip or spread for sandwiches.

 

 

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Aioli
Prep Time
10 mins
Total Time
10 mins
 

Creamy, garlicky, easy. What more could you ask for?

Course: Side Dish
Servings: 6
Author: Sharon Mosley
Ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup neutral oil
Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients, except oil, in food processor and process for 1 minute to mix well. 

  2. With the motor running drizzle oil very slowly through feed tube until thick.

Recipe Notes

My mini processor does not have a feed tube, so I added oil 1 teaspoon at a time until mixture started to thicken, then about a tablespoon at a time till I reached a thick pouring consistency. I used nearly all the oil, but just keep an eye on it.

 

 

 

 

 

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