Cajun Chicken Kebabs with Mango Salsa

This was really, really yummy. The sweet mango went beautifully with the spice of the kebabs. The multigrain breadcrumbs give the kebabs a lovely nutty flavour and help to lower the GI of the meal.

Cajun Chicken Kebabs with Mango Salsa

650g chicken mince
1 brown onion, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
2Tbsp mango chutney
1/3C flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 1/2C fresh multigrain breadcrumbs
3tsp cajun spice seasoning

Mango Salsa:
2 large mangoes
2 lebanese cucumbers, halved, deseeded, diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1/2 long red chilli, deseeded (optional), thinly sliced

1. Combine mince, onion, egg, chutney, parsley, breadcrumbs and cajun seasoning in a bowl and mix until well combined. Shape into twelve 8cm long sausage shapes, using 1/4C of mixture for each. Flatten slightly and thread onto presoaked skewers. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour for flavours to develop and for kebabs to hold their shape.
2. To make mango salsa: Remove cheeks from mangoes and cut flesh into 1cm cubes. Combine in a bowl with cucumber, red onion and chilli, toss gently to combine.
3. Preheat barbecue grill or large heavy based saucepan and cook kebabs (sprayed lightly in oil) over medium heat for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with Mango salsa and leftover mango chutney.

Serves 4
Source: Super Food Ideas February 2007, FPC Magazines, Gladesville NSW

Notes:
- You could freeze the kebabs after shaping for use at a later date. Wrap tightly in gladwrap and place in an airtight container.
- These would be great inside pita bread or wraps.

Healthier Spaghetti & Meatballs

This is the best spaghetti and meatballs recipe I have ever come across. It tastes devine and has a lovely citrusy flavour, you really can’t tell that you are eating a dish that has less than half the fat of the usual version. It is also lower in carbohydrates and has much less sodium than normal. This version is also extra nutritious as there are vegetables hidden in the meatballs, which should help you to reach the recommended 5 serves a day.

Healthier Spaghetti & Meatballs

500g spaghetti

Meatballs:
300g lean beef mince
300g lean pork mince
2Tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
2tsp worcestershire sauce
2tsp dijon mustard
150g mushrooms, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs, made from day old bread
freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil spray

Tomato Sauce:
800g tin diced tomatoes
250ml water
1 reduced salt beef stock cube
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lemon, zested
2Tbsp chopped parsley

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl combine beef and pork mince, cheese, worcestershire sauce, mustard, vegetables, egg, pepper and breadcrumbs.
3. Shape tablespoons of mixture into balls using damp hands. Place on prepared trays, leaving 2cm gaps, spray well with vegetable oil and bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown and cooked.
4. Place tomatoes, water, stock cube, garlic, lemon zest and parsley in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Cook spaghetti according to packet directions and drain. Meanwhile, stir the meatballs into the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Serve meatballs and tomato sauce over spaghetti.

Serves 6
Adapted from: Australian Healthy Food Guide November 2006, Healthy life media, Sydney

Nutritional Information:
Per serve: 2201kj, 11.1g total fat (3.4g saturated), 433mg sodium, 67.8g carbs (5.5g sugars), 5.7g fibre, 34.6g protein. Carb exchanges 4.5

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, since I am studying nutrition, I thought I should probably post a healthy version of an all time favourite. These cookies are very tasty, but have a lot less fat and more fibre than normal cookies. They are good for diabetics like me as they have a lower GI because of the oats and less sugar, but they are good for everyone of course!

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

45g rolled oats
60g margarine
75g brown sugar
1/2tsp vanilla essence
1 x 50g egg
140g plain skim-milk yoghurt
190g plain flour
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
180g dark choc chips

1. preheat oven to 190. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
2. Spread rolled oats on the trays. Cook for 10 minutes (stirring once) until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
3. Place cooled oats in a food processor or blender and process until ground and resembling fine bread crumbs.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat margarine, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the egg and beat until smooth and well combined. Add the yoghurt and beat until combined.
5. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and bicarb. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat on the lowest speed until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats and the remaining flour. Stir in the choc chips.
6. drop heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto the lined trays, about 5cm apart. Bake in oven, swapping trays halfway through, for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are cooked through and golden underneath. Cool cookies on trays.

Makes 30
Source: Diabetic Living Issue 1 2005, Pacific Magazines, Australia

Nutritional Information:
Per cookie: 355kj, 4g total fat (2g saturated), 6mg chol, 46mg sodium, 12g carbs, 1g fibre, 2g protein. Carb exchanges 1, Low-intermediate GI

Cinnamon & Jam Doughnut Muffins

This was one of my favourite recipes to make as a teenager because they were just sooo delicious. They are a bit fiddly to make but the taste (and praise!) makes it more than worth the effort.

Cinnamon & Jam Doughnut Muffins

2C self raising flour
1/2C brown sugar
60g butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1C buttermilk
1/4C strawberry jam
2Tbsp caster sugar
2Tbsp butter, melted (extra)
1/4C caster sugar (extra)
3tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease 2 x 6 hole muffin pans (or 2 x 12 hole mini muffin pans).
2. Mix together sifted flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add combined butter, eggs and buttermilk. Mix until just combined, don’t overmix.
3. Put strawberry jam and caster sugar in a small bowl and microwave for 45 seconds or until melted.
4. Half fill muffin holes with doughnut mixture and add a little jam before filling up with more doughnut mixture.
5. Cook in preheated oven for 8 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
6. While still warm, brush with extra butter and roll in combined caster sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm.

Makes 12 (or 24 mini muffins)
Source: Adapted from: Unknown (An Australian cooking magazine of some description, circa ~ 1999-2001)

Notes:
- These really do taste better hot, so if you have any left over make sure you microwave them before eating.
- I make these into mini muffins for finger food when I am catering for large groups of people. Mini muffins are easier to handle while standing up and people like to try a bit of everything at events, so if the pieces are smaller this allows them to do so without overeating.

Mini Red Curry Beef Pies

This is another of my catering staples. Very tasty, quick to make and cost effective.

Mini Red Curry Beef Pies

4tsp oil
180g beef mince
3Tbsp red curry paste
2Tbsp chopped red capsicum
4 spring onions, chopped
4 sheets puff pastry
2 egg yolks, lightly whisked
sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grease muffin tins.
2. Heat oil over medium heat and cook beef until lightly browned. Stir in curry paste, capsicum and spring onions and remove from heat.
3. Use a round 6cm cutter to cut 24 circles of pastry, gently push each circle into a muffin hole. Use a round 4cm cutter to cut out 24 smaller circles and set aside.
4. Spoon mixture into pastry cases. Brush small pastry circles with egg yolk and place over pastry cases, gently pressing edges to seal.
5. Brush tops with egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden. 

Makes 24
Adapted from: Unknown (An Australian cooking magazine of some description, circa ~ 1999-2001)

Notes:
- This amount of curry paste produces mild pies, if you like a little more heat add extra curry paste.
- For something different you could use chicken mince and a green curry paste.

Mini Cheesecakes with Strawberries & Cream

Ok, so far I am sticking to my plan to add one recipe a day – we will see how much longer that lasts!

This recipe is another one of my staples for catering at parties and entertaining large groups of people. Again, they are always very popular (of course, or they wouldn’t have become on of my staples) and are relatively easy to make. I usually double the recipe for parties as 12 is never enough. They look (& taste) decadent with all the strawberries and cream on top of them.

Mini Cheesecakes with Strawberries & Cream

125g plain sweet biscuits (such as Marie), broken
90g butter, melted
500g ricotta cheese
500g cream cheese
3 eggs
1/2C caster sugar
1/2tsp vanilla extract (or 1tsp vanilla essence)

For strawberries & cream:
1/2 punnet fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2tsp caster sugar
250ml thickened cream
2tbsp icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease 2 x 6 hole muffin pans.
2. Place biscuits in a food processor and process until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in butter.
3. Firmly press 2tbsp of the mixture into each muffin hole (use the back of a spoon if necessary). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Place cheeses, eggs, sugar and vanilla essence in a food processor and process until smooth. Fill muffin holes with mixture to about 3/4 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes and allow to cool completely in the muffin tins.
6. For strawberries & cream: Put strawberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with caster sugar, mix gently and refrigerate until needed to allow strawberries to sweeten and soften. Whip together cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form.
7. To serve, run a knife around the edges of each cheesecake to unmould. Top with a dollop of cream and a sprinkling of strawberries.

Makes 12
Adapted from: Unknown (An Australian cooking magazine of some description, circa ~ 1999-2001)

Notes:
- Be very careful with the bases when unmoulding, as they have a tendency to be a little crumbly.
- This mix can also be used to make 1 larger cheesecake, just use a springform pan. Make sure you press the biscuit base down firmly with the bottom of a glass. The cake may need a little longer in the oven in order to set, just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!
- You can also make it into tiny, baby cheesecakes using mini muffin pans. These are good for finger food as they aren’t as messy when they are bite sized.
- You obviously don’t need to use strawberries, you could use other berries or fruits that are in season (eg – blueberries, raspberries, etc.) or even drizzle them with dark chocolate or sprinkle them with chopped up chocolate bars and/or nuts. Or, they are pretty damn good by themselves!
- Using reduced fat or light ricotta and cream cheese will reduce the fat content without affecting the flavour.

M & M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today is a very special day, it is my boyfriend, Chris, and my 3 year anniversary! I thought it was only fitting that I post one of Chris’ favourite recipes. It is very hard to tempt him with something sweet – he isn’t much of a sweet tooth at all, but for some reason (probably because they are so irresistable!) he will eat these like there is no tomorrow. I usually make a batch of them for his birthday, Valentine’s day or our anniversary.

These cookies are just bursting with chocolatey goodness. I’ve had so-called M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies in cafes before (you know the ones, with the M&M’s pushed into the top of the cookie so they look all colourful, but the inside is all bland and grose) and they just don’t stand up to these ones.

M & M Chocolate Chip Cookies

125g butter
1/2C caster sugar
1/2C brown sugar
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4C self-raising flour
1/2tsp salt
250g pkt dark chocolate chips
250g pkt M&M’s

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and spray a couple of baking trays with oil (or line with baking paper).
2. Cream together butter, sugars and vanilla extract before adding egg and beating well to combine.
3. Sift in flour and salt and mix well.
4. Add chocolate chips and M&M’s and mix well to distribute evenly.
5. Shape mixture into small balls and place on prepared trays, allowing room for biscuits to spread.
6. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Allow to cool on wire rack.

Makes approx. 30
Source: This is largely my own recipe that I have adapted over the years from a basic butter cookie recipe.

Notes:
- These are best eaten while they are still warm. You can always put them in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm them up and melt the chocolate a little if you do let them cool down.
- I always buy extra chocolate chips and M&M’s because I just keep pouring them into the mixture until they no longer stick into it. This results in cookies that are full of chocolate and extra melty… mmmm…

Vegetable Spring Rolls

This is one of my stock recipes for catering & entertaining large groups of people. It is really easy to make, but also makes a lot of them. Great finger food & a real crowd pleaser – something for the vegetarians to eat, but everyone will enjoy them.

Vegetable Spring Rolls

60g rice noodles
40 sheets spring roll pastry (approx.)
3 carrots, grated
2 zucchini, grated
5 spring onions, chopped
1/4C sesame oil + extra to seal
3tsp crushed garlic
2tsp chopped ginger
1/4C sweet chilli sauce

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Lightly spray a couple of baking trays with oil.
2. Cook noodles according to packet directions (you usually just pour boiling water over them and leave for a couple of minutes to soften), drain, cool in cold water and roughly chop.
3. Take spring roll pastry out of freezer to thaw slightly, keep covered with a clean, damp tea towel to prevent the pastry drying out and breaking up.
4. Combine noodles, carrots, zucchini, spring onions, sesame oil, sweet chilli sauce, garlic and ginger and mix well.
5. Using one spring roll pastry sheet at a time, put a small amount of the mixture (1 heaped Tbsp) in a sausage shape just below the centre of the sheet (running left to right). Pull the bottom of the sheet up to cover the mixture and tuck in the sides. Use the extra oil to grease the far end of the sheet so that it seals properly, then roll up into a spring roll. Repeat with remaining sheets and mixture.
6. Place on prepared tray/s and bake for 20-25 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

Makes approx. 40
Adapted from: Unknown (An Australian cooking magazine of some description, circa ~ 1999-2001)

Notes:
- You can use filo pastry instead of spring roll sheets if you prefer, I just find them a bit too messy – both to work with and to eat.
- Your food processor is your friend! – Use it to grate up the vegetables and save you time.
- These freeze really well and are so easy to make that you could make a batch (or two) and freeze them (at the end of step 5), then just take them out and bake them for a quick meal with noodles or rice and a bit of soy sauce, oyster sauce or kecap manis.
- If you find yourself short of time the filling mixture will keep for a couple of days in the fridge, just drain off the liquid before using the mixture or the spring rolls will end up soggy.

Caramelised Onion Potato Salad

Since I have so many recipes that I want to put up on this blog, I will be adding them randomly when people ask me for them or when I make them again for myself.

My mum was going to a BBQ on Labour Day last weekend (long weekend it was, but apparently my uni doesn’t follow public holidays!) and asked me for the recipe for ‘that really yummy potato salad with the onions’ so she could make it to take with her. Luckily for her my boyfriend’s mum, Wendy, had asked me for this recipe just at Christmas, so I knew exactly where to find it in my massive recipe collection.

I made this potato salad for Christmas lunch a few years ago (which mum & Wendy were both at) and it was a real hit, The sweetness of the onions is great and anything with bacon in it is bound to taste good! Definitely one of the best potato salad recipes I have come across. (I also have a really quick one and a mustardy one that are both great too, but I will post them another time)

Caramelised Onion Potato Salad

2Tbsp olive oil
6 red onions, thinly sliced
1kg new potatoes (or Kipfler)
6 rashers bacon, rind removed
2/3C chives, chopped

For Dressing:
1C mayonnaise
1Tbsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
2Tbsp sour cream

1. Heat oil in a large heavy-based frying pan and cook onions on med-low heat for 40 minutes, until soft and caramelised.
2. Cut potatoes into large chunks (leave whole if small) and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes (only until tender!), drain and partially cool.
3. Cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels and slightly cool before chopping coarsely.
4. To make dressing: Whisk all ingredients to combine.
5. Combine potato, onion and chives (keep some chives to garnish with) and pour dressing over, tossing gently to combine. Sprinkle with bacon and garnish with chives.

Serves 10
Adapted from: Cool food 2001, Murdoch Books, Sydney

Notes:
- Halve recipe if not taking to a BBQ, Picnic or some other big gathering – or you will having it coming out of your ears for a week!
- You can prepare the salad in advance if you prefer it cold, but it is even better slightly warm (ie – eaten close to when it is made).
- It will keep for at least 4 days in the refrigerator (if you don’t eat it before then).

Under construction!

This is my new blog, I plan to use it as a place to share all my favourite recipes with family, friends and strangers all over the world! It will also be a place to keep them so that I can refer to them in the future.

Please come back soon when I will hopefully have some recipes posted, although since I just went back to University this might take to the sidelines for a while.

Tara