Use What You've Got

I was in the mood for potatoes tonight, so I took a leaf out of Bethenny Frankel's book and used what I already had. Using what you have isn't a new premise, and I've been doing it for many years. However Bethenny is getting the message out there to millions and I love her for it. Plus she's hella funny.

Chicken breast with pistachio and marmalade stuffing

2 large chicken breasts (I used 3 medium ones)
2 rashers of bacon - diced finely
1 medium red onion - diced
1 tblspn pistachio's - chopped
1 tblspn thyme
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup bread crumbs
olive oil
toothpicks (for securing chicken closed)

Passionfruit and Mandarin Cordial

2 cups water
1 cup sugar (or an equivalent amount of an organic sugar alternative, such as agave)
1 cup passionfruit pulp
1 medium madarin
Juice of 1 lime (or lemon)

Combine water, sugar and lime juice in saucepan and bring to the boil. Add passionfruit pulp and chopped up mandarin pieces and bring to the boil again.

Reduce heat and let sit for as long as possible.  The longer it sit the better the flavour will be.

You can remove the seeds and chunks of fruit whichever way you please. I just scooped out the bigger pieces with a slotted spoon, then when transferring to a bottle, poured it through a sieve.

Potato and carrot soup with roast garlic

4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 large carrots, cut into chuncks
3 heads of garlic, separated
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tspn cracked black pepper
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable stock

Pre-heat oven to 120c. Place garlic, oil and pepper in a small baking dish and cover. Bake for about 2 hours, or until garlic is soft.

Place a small amount of oil in a large pot, heat, add onions and fry until soft. Add potato and carrots and coat in onion mixture. Add water and stock. Cover, bring to the boil, simmer until vegetables are soft. Stir through garlic flesh.

Blend in blender until smooth. Cream can be added just before serving if you like.

Banana bread

2 large (or 3 small) banana's

2 eggs (you may need 3 depending on the kind of flour you use)

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bi-carb soda

Mash banana's and add whisked eggs. Combine with sugar, flour, salt and bi-carb soda. Mix well, transfer to baking tin (I use a loaf tin) and bake on 180 for about 50 minutes (my oven is broken, so it's hard to determine exact cooking times).

Bread

3 & ½ cups flour
7g (one satchel yeast
1 tspn salt
1 & ¼ cup lukewarm water
Butter (for melting to coat)

Combine dry ingredients. Make a well and pour in lukewarm water. Mix well until it forms a sticky dough. Knead for 10 minutes on floured surface, adding extra flour as needed. Dough will still be slightly sticky, mould into a ball.

Coat the inside of a large bow with melted butter, place dough ball inside and turn to coat with butter. Cover and place in a room temp area with no breeze. The dough will double in size - the time this takes will vary, so just keep an eye on it.

Once doubled, uncover and punch down into the dough. This will release the gases that have pent up from the yeast. Remove from bowl and knead for another few minutes. The dough should have a stretchy, rubbery consistency.

Place into loaf tin and push out to shape. Cover again and let rise for a further 30 mins, or until it has risen slightly over the top of the baking tin.

Bake on medium for around 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when there is a hollow sound when you tap it.

This is a really basic recipe. You can use whatever flour you like, and add whatever you like.

Devilled eggs

I've never made these before, but by golly they're simple and delicious!

6 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard pickle (or use whatever mustard you like)
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Boil the eggs. Peel and cut in half length ways. Remove the yolks and mash in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, mustard pickle and vinegar to yolk mash and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture back into egg whites, dispersing evenly. Sprinkle with paprika.

Eggplant and tomato chutney

1 eggplant
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced and diced
2 teaspoons crushed garlic/garlic paste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
salt

Slice up eggplant, place in a colander in a sink (or something similar) and sprinke with salt. Leave for about half an hour then wash salt off thoroughly.

Roughly dice up eggplant and tomatoes and place in a saucepan with the water. Bring to boil then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until eggplant is soft. Mash together with a fork.

In a frypan heat the oil, then add the onion, garlic, cumin, and cinnamon. Cook on low heat until onion is soft. Add the eggplant mash and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

Can be served warm or cold with whatever your little heart desires.

Tamarillo time!

The tamarillo is an egg shaped tree fruit hailing from New Zealand that tastes like a cross between a passionfruit and a kiwifruit, except not as sweet. Inside the fruit there is pale flesh, with purple pulp and seeds that are easily digested.

Tamarillo Jam

Tamarillo's
Sugar
Lemon juice

Cover tamarillo's in a bowl with boiling water. Leave for a minute or two, then drain, then cover with cold water and leave for a nother minute. Remove from water and cut ends off, you will then be able to remove the skin easily. Dice up the fruit (no need to remove the seeds, as they are edible) and place in a saucepan. For every cup of fruit add 3/4 cup of sugar, I used brown sugar, but I suppose you could use any type. Add a squit of fresh lemon juice. Cook on low heat, stirring occassionally until it sets (about 50 mins).

The end result:

Next time I'm thinking about adding in some apple and cinnamon. Yum!