Capsicum stuffed with rice June 14, 2009

I thought I’d give this a go, to see how it worked.  Not bad I thought (except the kebabs were overcooked)

Flavoured Rice
I cooked the rice in a rice cooker, as normal, but added some finely chopped  garlic, onion, mushrooms, a teaspoon of vegetable stock, and a teaspoon of lemon pepper …. it was delicious!

Then when that was cooked I spooned it into hollowed out capsicums and put those in the oven for about 15-20 mins to cook the capsicum.  I served them with chicken and vegetable kebabs, corn and broccoli    The rice works just as nicely not served in a capsicum too… you can serve it straight from the rice cooker.

Chicken, Leek & Spinach Risotto June 14, 2009

Ingredients:
2 chicken thigh fillets (skinless)
1 cup (uncooked) arborio rice
½ a leek, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove
1 tin cream of mushroom soup
3 tsp skim milk powder
3 cubes or ½ cup chopped spinach
Handful of grated cheese (optional)

Method:
In a large frypan, cook the chicken until starting to brown, add the leek, garlic and rice. Allow that to heat for about 30 seconds to a minute (don’t let the rice or garlic burn), and then add about 1 cup boiling water. Stirring well. Mix the milk powder with about 1/2 cup of boiling water, and add that to the pan. Stir until that liquid has been soaked up, then add the tin of mushroom soup, spinach and cheese if you wish.  Keep stirring and adding more water as needed, as the rice mixture starts to soak up the liquids. When it is almost ready – when the rice is just a little firm, remove from heat and put a lid on the saucepan and leave stand for 5 minutes before serving and the risotto should have finished cooking in the residual heat.

Bacon & Spinach Risotto January 18, 2009

Ingredients:
5 rashers short cut bacon
1 cup (uncooked) arborio rice
1 spring onion
1 large garlic clove
1 tin cream of mushroom soup
3 tsp skim milk powder
3 cubes or 1/2 cup chopped spinach
Handful of grated cheese (optional)

Method:
In a dry frypan, fry the bacon until any fat as turned translucent, add the onion, garlic and rice. Allow that to heat for about 30seconds to a minute (don’t let the rice burn), and then add about 1 cup boiling water. Stirring well. Mix the milk powder with about 1/2 cup of boiling water, and add that to the pan. Stir until that liquid has been soaked up, then add the tin of mushroom soup. Keep stirring and adding more water as needed, as the rice mixture starts to soak up the liquids. When it is almost ready – when the rice is just a little firm, remove from heat and put a lid on the saucepan and leave stand for 5 minutes before serving and the risotto should have finished cooking in the residual heat.

Basic Slow Cooker Risotto December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 1/4 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Parmesan cheese

 
Method:
Saute the onion in the olive oil until soft, stir in the rice until covered. Place this and the remaining ingredients (except cheese) into the slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours. Before serving stir in the cheese.

 
Recipe from: http://crockpot.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/478/Risotto56950.shtml

Slow Cooker Chicken & Rice December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
1 x tin of cream of mushroom or chicken soup
1 x tin from above of water
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Chicken pieces
1 x cup uncooked rice
Pinch paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

 
Method:
Mix all the ingredients together and place in slow cooker. If cooking on low – cook all day, if cooking on high, cook for 4 hours.

 
http://www.canadianparents.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-and-rice

Chicken & Rice Parcels December 13, 2008

This is basically a “freeform pie” – rather than using a pie dish, you just slop the ingredients onto the sheet of pastry and wrap it up.

Ingredients:
3 chicken thighs (skinless)
5 small-medium sized mushrooms
1-1.5 cup cooked basmati rice
1 clove garlic
Pinch of assorted spices (mixed herbs, cardamon etc.)
1c grated cheese
spinach (I used 2 cubes of [defrosted] frozen stuff)
handful of peas and corn
1 sachet of cream of mushroom cup-a-soup
splash of milk to make it liquidy enough
Sheets of puff pastry

Fry the meat, garlic and mushrooms. Mix the mushroom cup-a-soup with about 1/2 a cup of water and pour over the meat. Add rest of ingredients together.

Make sure your mixture is not too runny.

Scoop the mixture onto a sheet of pastry and fold the corners over to make a sort of envelope.  Make sure the pastry overlaps well so that it will seal and the filling will not leak out.

Then flip it over so the seams are down on a greased tray, and poke an airhole in the top. You can brush the pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds and herbs.

Cook in a hot oven (200ºC ) until the pastry is cooked…. about 15-20 mins.

Lamb Rogan Josh December 13, 2008

This originally called for lamb shanks and using a slow cooker, but this variation is using diced lamb in a casserole dish in the oven.

 
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sour cream
1 tb plain flour
1/2 ts chilli powder
1 ts ground coriander
1/2 ts ground ginger
2 chicken stock cubes
1 ts ground cardamom pods
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup water
ground nutmeg to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tb cornflour
1/4 cup water
1 large onion, diced
Diced lamb
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup pumpkin, peeled and diced
handful button mushrooms, sliced (optional)

 
Method:
1. Mix the sour cream and flour together until smooth.
2. In a coffee mug, mix the cornflour and water, until it forms a paste.
3. Mix the spices, stock, tomatoes and water in a saucepan and being to the boil, then slowly add the cornflour mixture and simmer for 2 mins
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream mixture.
5. Add all ingredients to a casserole dish, and bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours at 180C

 
(From http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rogan-Josh-Lamb-Shanks/Detail.aspx)

“What I have in the cupboard” con carne December 13, 2008

Not a proper chilli con carne, as not much chilli in it (cooking for a family including a youngster)…. it was going to be a savoury mince, until I realised I had no potatoes… so I was looking in the pantry going “what goes with mince and rice? and a tin of kidney beans? and a jar of pasta sauce? hmm….” I’ve never actually had chilli con carne (I hate capsicum), So I started making it, then looked for a recipe online to see what spices to use.

Ingredients:
some mince (no idea how much – 200g I think)
chopped spring onion
1 large garlic clove chopped
1 tin kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 jar of pasta sauce (I used Raguletto Bolognaise)
1 teaspoon cardamon
1/2 teaspoon corriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 ts curry powder
1 bacon stock cube
squirt of sweet chilli sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
1 carrot, finely grated

Rice to serve

Method:
Fry the mince, and drain to remove excess oil, add spring onion and garlic. Fry until garlic is soft. Add the other ingredients and simmer until the carrot is soft.

I put the rice in with the bean mix, but you can serve the bean mix on the rice.

Vegetarian curry December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
1 packet of marinated tofu or vegie sausages.
onion
red capsicum
sweet potato
green beans
broccoli
cauliflower
carrot
curry
sweet chilli sauce
soy sauce
peanut oil
Light coconut milk
Basmati/brown rice

 
Method:
1). Cook rice as normal (or steam/use a rice cooker)
2). Chop/slice vegetables and tofu/sausage into bit sized pieces.
3). In a hot wok, fry the vegetables and sausages in a tablespoon of peanut oil for 2 mins.
4). Add 2-3 tb curry powder and continue to fry until the ingredients are coated.
5). Add the coconut milk, 1 tb soy sauce, 2tb chilli sauce and reduce the heat to simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Serve with the rice.

Fried Rice #2 December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 a Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 Rashers Bacon
1-2 sticks Celery (depending on size)
1 Carrot
Handful of peas and corn (frozen or tinned – or use some baby corn [those mini corn cobbs])
Dash of Soy Sauce
Dash of Oyster Sauce (optional)
Dash of Teriaki sauce (optional)
Rice (about 2 cups – depending on how many you are feeding, and how hungry they are)
Spices (Optional – I like Ginger, Galangal, Mace, Cardamon, Coriander and Black Pepper)

Method:
1). Put the rice on to boil. Alternately you could use a Rice cooker.
2). Chop the Bacon and Celery into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Grate or very finely chop the carrot.
3). Fry the Bacon and Celery (and carrot if you chopped it) until bacon is about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Bacon and Onion are browned. Add the Garlic, Corn, peas and Carrot (if grated), and fry these until starting to brown.
4). Remove from heat until Rice is cooked. When rice is done, return pan to the heat and add rice to the frypan, with the sauces and any spices you want to add. (I use between 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon each). Mix together well, and then serve.

Fried Rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1 tin Cocktail Prawns (those little tiny ones) or handful of fresh
Handful of Bean Shoots
1/2 a Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 Rashers Bacon
2 Eggs
Fresh Chives (about a handful)
1 Chicken Breast or 2 Chicken thighs
Rice (about 2 cups – depending on how many you are feeding, and how hungry they are)
Soy sauce

Method:
1). Put the rice on to boil. Alternately you could use a Rice cooker.
2). Chop the Bacon and Chicken into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3). Fry the Bacon and Chicken until about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Chicken and Onion are browned. Add the Garlic, Prawns, Bean Shoots and Chives. Fry these until starting to brown.
4). Remove from heat until Rice is cooked. Scramble eggs, or crack them into a frypan to make a thin omelette, then chop this omfrelette.
5). When rice is done, return pan to the heat and add Rice, Egg and Bacon Stock cube to the frypan. Mix together well, and then serve. You could use oyster sauce too if you like.

Creamy Chicken & Pumpkin Risotto December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
2-4 Chicken Thigh fillets (skin off)
1/4 cup (approx) spring onions (chopped)
2 large Mushrooms
1 cup raw Arborio Rice
2 cups of hot water
2 Bacon stock cubes
2 cups (approx) milk
2 low fat cheese slices
1 cup (approx) steamed pumpkin and broccoli (mostly pumpkin)

Method:
1). Chop and fry the chicken until browned.
2). Add the Spring onions and mushrooms (thinly sliced) and fry until the chicken is browning/mushrooms are soft.
3). Add the raw rice and stir until the rice is warmed. Add the bacon stock cubes to the water, and pour half of this into the frying pan. Bring to the boil.
4). Add the remaining water-stock as needed and simmer while stirring. As the mixture starts to get drier (the rice absorbs the liquid) keep adding up the milk.
5). When the rice is softening, add the vegetables and cheese.
6). Keep stirring and adding more milk until the rice is cooked (soft). Then serve.

(I usually get itto the point when it’s just slightly undercooked, then cover it with a lid, turn the heat off and get the plates out and stuff and its ready by the time I serve about 2-3 mins later)

Sushi December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
Roasted Seaweed Sheets (called “Nori” and found in Asian grocery stores)
1 cup Rice (plain white is fine, but you could use Sticky rice, jasmine rice or basmati)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/8 cup white vinegar
water

 
Bamboo rolling mat – looks like a bunch of bamboo skewers tied together – you NEED this. Found in Asian grocery stores and some supermarkets.

 
Fillings:
Your choice, some options include:
Tinned tuna
Teriaki Chicken
Crab meat
Celery
Carrot
Cucumber
Sesame seeds
Mayonaise
Avacado
Prawns
Smoked salmon
Wasabi
Pickled ginger

 
Method:
1). Rinse the rice to remove the excess starch. Put the rice into a saucepan, and fill the pan with water up to about 2 cm above the level of the rice. (They say to put your index finger on top of the rice and fill to the first joint). Bring this to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 15 mins without stirring it much. Take off the heat and leave for a further 15 minutes with the lid on. In another saucepan mix the sugar, vinegar and salt together and bring to the boil. Pour this over the rice and mix through to coat it all. (this gives the interesting taste to the rice). Allow the rice to cool before using. They say you should fan it to cool it, which apparently makes the rice shiny…I can never be bothered… Or you can cook the rice in a rice cooker.

 
2). When rice is ready, and cooled, you can assemble the Sushi. Take the bamboo mat and lay it on a board/bench. You can cover this with cling wrap to stop rice falling into the grooves if you wish (I don’t bother).

 
3). Take your sheet of Seaweed and lay it on the mat, shiny side down. Since it’s not usually square, make the long end face you.

 
4). Lay a bed of rice along the entire sheet of Seaweed, leaving about 2 cm uncovered at the edge closest to you. You want the rice to be about 1 cm thick. It’s hard to do when the rice is really sticky so I use my hands, and I always end up with gooey fingers.

 
5). About 1/4 of the way up the sheet, lay a strip of your chosen fillings (see below). Remember that you only need a small strip of filling, because the roll isn’t large.

 
6). Starting at the top, roll the bamboo mat towards you, so that the seaweed sheet (plus toppings) rolls over and touches the rice. I usually find I have to poke my fingers into the filling when I roll the first bit. You will then need to lift the mat slightly to be able to continue rolling (without rolling the mat up into the roll). Press quite firmly on the mat to make it stick together nicely. That is probably clear as mud, but once you have it all infront of you, it should make sense.

 
7). You will probably find that the pushing has moved the rice to cover that strip I said not to cover, that’s fine (that’s why I don’t cover it), when you reach the end, press the roll firmly (you can mould it into a rectangle shape or leave it round). Use a bit of water on the overlapping nori to make the roll stick together.

 
Fillings:
You could put anything in them really… some ideas are as follows…

 
Toasted sesame seeds:
Makes a yummy sprinkle to put in the filling…. take a frying pan (no oil) and dry-fry the sesame seeds until they go golden brown. Gives a nutty flavour

 
Cooked tuna:
Tinned tuna (this is already cooked), mixed with a little mayonaise (I actually find Kraft’s Salad Cream gives a nice taste), Avocado, a sprinkle of Sesame seeds.
You could add lettuce, carrot, celery or cucumber too if you wish.

 
Teriaki Chicken:
Marinated cooked chicken pieces. (Just cut some very small pieces of chicen (a bit bigger than you want as they shrink when cooked, and either soak them in a teriaki marinade for a few hours, or fry them in a little of the marinade/sauce)
You could add sesame seeds and vegetables if you wish

 
“California rolls”:
Crab meat (“Seafood cocktail”), mayonaise, Avocado.
You could add carrot and cucumber if you wish.

 
Vegetable:
Avocado, a sprinkle of Sesame seeds, Celery, Cucumber, Carrot.
You could add some Tofu if you like.

 
Tips:
It’s nice to remove the skin from the cucumber, and slice the celery or carrot very finely so that it is not hard to eat.

 
You can add a thin bead of wasabi for a nice hot burst (or as my friend puts it a “wasabigasm”)

 
Avocado gives a lovely cheesy/creamy taste and is a great alternative to mayonaise.

Chicken & Mushroom Risotto December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
2-4 Chicken Thigh fillets (skin off)
1/4 cup (approx) spring onions (chopped)
4-6 Mushrooms
1 cup raw Arborio Rice
2 cups of boiling water
2 Bacon stock cubes
2 cups (approx) milk (I use milk powder in boiling water)
2 low fat cheese slices
Some spinach – about 1/4-1/2 cup (I use the frozen spinach cubes)
1 sachet of cream of mushroom cup-a-soup (optional)

Method:
1). Chop and fry the chicken until browned.
2). Add the Spring onions and mushrooms (thinly sliced) and fry until the chicken is browning/mushrooms are soft.
3). Add the raw rice and stir until the rice is really well warmed. Add the bacon stock cubes to boiling water, and pour half of this into the frying pan. Let the mixture boil/bubble while stirring.
4). When the water has mostly evaporated off, add the remaining water-stock and simmer while stirring. As the mixture starts to get drier (the rice absorbs the liquid) keep adding the 2 cups milk a little at a time.
5). I add a mushroom cup-a-soup, but you can leave that out
6). Keep stirring and adding more milk or water until the rice is cooked (soft). Then serve.

“Chow Mein” December 12, 2008

This is mum’s recipe… Don’t know where she got it from. It’s probably loosely based on an Asian dish, but totally not authentic (“Mein” means noodles, so this being rice based is wrong just there, let alone the curry powder, but anyway…) Hubby was taught the same dish from his mum.. but they call it something else we both can’t figure out how to spell (sounds like “hi-tie-min”)… again the “mein” without any noodles…. So without any other term for it, this is what we call it. Whatever it’s name, it’s easy and tasty.

 
Ingredients:
1 cup Rice
half a cabbage
Peas and corn
500g Beef mince
1 packet of chicken noodle soup
1 teaspoon curry powder

 
Method:
1). Finely slice/chop up the cabbage – I like to throw away the big chunky bits…
2). Brown the mince in a large frying pan. Add the curry powder and fry for a moment more. If you fry the curry powder like this it releases more flavour, so you don’t need as much.
3). Add the rest of the ingredients, and about 2 cups of water. Put a loose fitting lid over this (or put the lid half on) and simmer until the rice is soft. You may need to add more water if it gets dry. If you have too much water, remove the lid to let some evaporate. Its cooked when the rice is soft.

Tuna Rice Salad December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1cup rice (cooked)
2 carrots (grated)
1/2 cup sweet corn
4 heaped tablespoons whole egg mayonaise

 
Method:
Mix ingredients together, chill and serve.

Chorizo Stirfry December 12, 2008

Chorizos are a spicy sausage. I’ve also used the chilli beef skinless real meat sausages too…. salami could also work.

Ingredients:
1 Tin mixed stirfry vegies
1 small Tin sliced water chestnuts
1 small Tin bamboo shoots
(or use fresh or frozen versions)
2-3 chorizos sausages, or beef/pork/chicken strips
Rice
Soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Chinese 5 spice powder

Method:
1). Boil the rice.
2). If using the Chorizos, you can either fry the sausages whole then chop up, or chop them up into bite sized pieces when raw and fry these (I do it the latter). Don’t add oil as these are very oily. When fried tip off the extra oil and drain well on kitchen paper. If using other meat, fry this just before the rice is ready.
3). When the rice is ready, drain and rinse in hot water, heat up your wok and toss in the cooked sausage and the (drained) tins of stirfry vegies. No oil. Cook these for about 1 minute then add the rice, a splash of soy & oyster sauce, about 1/2 teaspoon 5 spice, mix together and serve.

Baked chicken and rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1cup rice
2-3 large mushrooms
1/2 a leek
1-2 chicken breasts
4 pieces “eye” bacon
2 bacon stock cubes, crumbled (optional)

Method:
1. Chop chicken and bacon into bite sized pieces. Finely slice leek and mushrooms.
2. Put rice and all ingredients into a ceramic baking/casserole dish (with a lid)
3. Pour about 1.5-2 cups water over the ingredients and bake in the oven (about 180C) for about an hour or until rice is cooked. Stir and test at half an hour, then at an hour, then every 15 mins after that.

Wild rice blend stirfry December 12, 2008

Silly name for a recipe, but I don’t know how else to describe it. I bought some organic mixed rice, with “white husked” rice (looks almost like brown rice), red rice and black wild rice. I wanted to do something with it where we’d appreciate the flavour of it without overpowering it too much, so I made this.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Capsicum (can use whatever colour you like)
Sliced Eggplant (the long thin kind which slices nicely for stirfry)
Zucchini, chopped into thin sticks
Mushrooms
Garlic
Sliced Leek
Sweet corn
(carrot and celery go well in here too)
A dash of sweet chilli sauce and a dash of soy sauce

Method:
Fry the chicken until browning, then add the capsicum, leek, mushrooms and vegetables, then the garlic just before the end, then pop in the cooked rice and add sauces.

Basic Fried Rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 a Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 Rashers Bacon
2 Eggs (optional)
Rice (about 2 cups cooked – depending on how many you are feeding, and how hungry they are)
Peas, corn & grated carrot (optional)
Soy sauce

Method:
1). Put the rice on to boil. Alternately you could use a Rice cooker.
2). Chop the Bacon into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3). In a wok or large frypan, fry the Bacon until about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Onion is soft. Add the Garlic and vegetables and fry until the carrot softens.
4). In a separate frypan, crack the eggs to make a thin omelette, then chop this and add it, with the rice to the wok.
5).  Mix together well, add soy sauce and then serve. You could use oyster sauce too if you like.