Vegetarian Recipes Improved by Cured Meats - Deconstructed Chorizo Imam Biyaldi

I wrote before that as a teenager, I had the dream of writing a cookbook called Vegetarian Recipes Improved by Bacon. But that seems a little restrictive these days. Chorizo also definitely has it’s place in that ‘improving vegetarian recipes’ scenario. So it’s much less catchy, and would probably sell a whole bunch less copies but maybe we should go with “Vegetarian Recipes Improved by Cured Meats”. This dish is a riff on the classic dish Turkish dish Imam Biyaldi. That in itself is often already made non-vegetarian through the use of minced meat. But it is a garlic, tomato braised eggplant dish that is perfect in this cold weather. The smokiness of some fried chorizo kick up the rich creaminess of the eggplant into the next realm of deliciousness. I took some of this with me for a wintery Down South escape with friends and it was a huge hit.

The original dish is usually stuffed eggplants, so this is a lazy man’s version as well as a meated version where I’ve turned it more into a casserole. I’ve also added black rice to make it an all-in-one meal. The Nanna Shop had bags of the cutest little baby eggplants, I used 10 or so. If you only have normal sized eggplants, you’ll only need one or two for a dish for 4 people.

Serve with lemon wedges and some fresh parsley sprinkled over the top for a fresh kick. Oh, and red wine. A nice, full bodied Cab Sauv would be perfect.

Deconstructed Chorizo Imam Biyaldi

(serves 4)
10 baby eggplants, tops cut off and sliced lengthwise

1 chorizo sausages, sliced into rounds
Olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
1 tsp sea salt
2 big cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 chipotle pepper, soaked in warm water to rehydrate 15 minutes, minced
350g jar tomato passata
2 cups water
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp oregano
One cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tablespoons capers
1 ½ cups cooked black rice
¼ cup toasted cashews
1 tbsp cacao nibs
fresh parsley, chopped for serving
lemon, cut into wedges for serving

Heat the base of a tagine or large, lidded frypan to medium-high heat. Fry slices of chorizo until crispy on each side, and a lot of the fat has rendered out, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate. Turn the heat down to medium.

Add the eggplant halves to the chorizo oil, cut side down first. Cook until softened slightly on the edges, around 5 minutes, flip and cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove to a bowl.

If the eggplant has soaked up all of the oil from the pan, add a little olive oil. A tablespoon should do. Allow it to heat in the pan and then add the onion and salt. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, balsamic vinegar and chipotle pepper. Cook until the garlic is translucent and very fragrant.

Add the passata, water, honey, organo, cinnamon stick and bay leaf and stir it all together well. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the eggplant halves back into the pan. Put the lid on, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the eggplant is completely soft.

You can use this simmering time to cook your rice if you don't already have some cooked.

When the simmering is done, stir through the rice, capers and chorizo. Leaving for 5 minutes for the flavours to mingle and the chorizo to reheat. Stir through the cacao nibs and cashews.

Serve, with fresh parsley and a lemon wedge if desired.

Slow Cooker Love - Lamb Ragu

I love slow-cooking in this weather. Especially meat. The flavours of slow-cooked meat are incredible, as is the ease and versatility of cooking a big hunk of meat. My go-to meat for slow cooking is pork. But when I saw a recipe for Italian pulled pork sandwiches I thought that a leg of lamb would suit the flavours so much better. And wondered why I hadn’t done it before. Slow cooked Italian lamb. Perfect, right? Having a weekend of baking for my brother’s Cake Club and having my parents over for dinner the same day was the perfect opportunity to give it a go. I’ve used the herbs that I add to my usual bolognaise sauce, and used tomato in the braising liquid to give it a real Italian richness.

In the morning I rubbed the meat with the herb mix, browned the meat, then left it to do it’s thing while the oven was full of biscuits. The cooling/skimming the fat step is fairly crucial, seeing as a lamb leg is quite a fatty cut.

The end result is a rich, meaty dish. A dish that warms you the whole way through. A dish that leaves you satisfied but still wanting more. Wanting a chunk of bread to clean the bowl with. A dish that serves five big eaters, with leftover lamb for Lance and I for the next two days – realistically it could have done 3 nights if it wasn’t so delicious! Sometimes that can be the best part of slow-cooked food. The leftovers make brilliant sandwich or taco filling, or poured over more pasta or couscous or your other favourite grain.

Lamb Ragu

3 tbsp. ground fennel seeds
3 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp salt
3 tsp. red chilli flakes
1 lamb leg – approx 2kg
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tins crushed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 (generous) cup red wine
1 brown onion, diced
2 tsp sugar
pasta to serve

Combine fennel seeds, parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Cut a long line down the lamb leg to open it up. Rub the inside with the herb mixture, then half of the minced garlic. Pull back together. Rub the entire outside with a generous amount of the herb mix, you might not need all of it.

Heat the base of your slow cooker (or a pan if your insert can’t be heated) to medium high heat and generously coat the bottom with olive oil. Brown the lamb on all sides. 5-10 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Add the onion, remaining garlic and 1 tin of the crushed tomatoes to the slow cooker base and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are reduced by about half and caramelized.

Add the stock, water and wine. Mix well then add the lamb back to the base.

Put into your slow cooker and cover. Cook on high for 5 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.

Transfer the lamb to a tray and shred with two forks, removing the skin, bones and as much fat as you can. Set the meat aside. Allow the cooking liquid to cool and then skim the fat off the top of it.

When ready to serve, prepare your pasta as per cooking instructions. Put the cooking liquid back on the stove top over medium heat. Add the second tin of crushed tomatoes, half fill the tin with water to rinse it out and add that to the sauce. Add sugar and mix well. Bring to the boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce is reduced by a quarter. Add the shredded meat back in and stir well.

Serve with freshly cooked pasta and a side salad

Using Leftovers - Ricotta and Chicken Stuffed Silverbeet

As often as we can, my husband and I try to drive “down south” to Molloy Island. It’s a little residential island in the Blackwood River in the Augusta/Margaret River area. It’s about a 4 hour drive from where I live, so to make it worth it, we’ll only go if it’s for a whole weekend. To make it even more worthwhile, we do what my husband calls the ‘gun down’. As soon as we get home from work on a Friday, we pack the car and ‘gun it down’ that night. We’ll stop for dinner on the way, then usually get to the island just before midnight, leaving us to wake up and have one whole day away. It’s a process that has served us very well. Sometimes it’ll be just the two of us, sometimes we take friends.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition and a joke that Lance will order dinner and then hum and har the entire time we eat it about whether or not to buy a whole BBQ chicken to take away, in case he gets hungry when he gets there. And anything he doesn’t eat can be used the next day. If we don’t have much planned the next day except lazing around the island, I usually let him buy one. If we’re going out for lunch/dinner then I try to talk him out of it – and invariably we’ll get to our house and he’ll be STARVING. But he’s taken this concept in to our everyday world. If we’re in the rare situation of needing to buy takeaway because it’s the only food available to us - he will inevitably steer us towards getting a whole BBQ chicken, so we can also have leftovers. Which is awesome for me. I shred the remainder of the bird and then use it for salads, or sandwiches or soups or tacos or whatever. It’s great having on hand for really quick meals.

We had such a circumstance recently, and after Lance had eaten the wings and a drumstick, the rest of the chicken I shredded, rolled into silverbeet I bought at a market on Sunday and baked with a basic tomato sauce. 10 minutes prep time, 20 minutes in the oven while I showered after the gym and a delicious meal waiting for me.

 
Ricotta and Chicken Stuffed Silverbeet

8 silverbeet (chard) stalks

2 cups shredded cooked chicken
4 small jalapenos (or to taste)
250g tub ricotta
500mL bottle passata
12 olives, pits removed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp smoked paprika
Olive oil

Dice the jalapenos really finely. Put the ricotta, shredded chicken and chillis into a bowl and mix really well to combine. Taste for seasoning. Mine didn’t need any as the chicken was already fairly seasoned.

Cut the stalks out of the silverbeet, then place about ¼ cup of the chicken mix at the top of the leaf. Fold the sides over, then roll up to create a parcel. Sort of like you would for a spring roll/rice paper roll. Place seam side down into a long rectangular casserole/lasagne dish. Continue with all of the mixture/leaves until all used up.

In a new bowl, mix the passata, garlic, olives and herbs. Pour over the top of the silverbeet parcels. Sprinkle the top with panko, then sprinkle the smoked paprika over the top of that. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

 

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden.

 

Quick Midweek Meals - Chilli Prawn & Grape Tomato Tacos

On the days I have to head to the grocery store on the way home, it takes me forever to decide what to cook that night. Knowing that my options are limited only by what the store has sends my tastebuds into a frenzy. What do they want for dinner? Friday I spent pretty much the whole day changing my mind about what to eat. I wanted steak and chips. I wanted curry. I wanted pasta. I wanted burgers and chips. By the end of the day I was incredibly hungry. And tired. And I couldn’t be bothered going to the shops on the way home anymore. I just wanted to be home and eating. Brainwave. Prawn tacos. I have a few packets of prawns in my freezer for just this occasion. About half an hour in water while you prep everything else and they are thawed and good to go. I have a slight taco addiction too, so there is generally a few packets of tortillas in the cupboard ready to go.

My taco love also includes hot sauce love. In New Orleans, my favourite store was The Pepper Palace – a hot sauce mecca. Given the weight limit on suitcases, my husband and I tasted all of the sauces there and narrowed it down to 10 bottles. All unique and wonderful. The sauce I chose to go with these prawns was a sweeter style as it’s made with peaches. I realise that isn’t available here, so any other hot sauce or salsa you have is good if you want an extra kick – but the flavour of the prawns is enough that it doesn’t really need it.

Chilli Prawn Tacos

300g prawns, shelled

½ tsp chipotle chilli powder
½ tsp ancho chilli powder
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp raw sugar
juice from 2 lemons
250g Punnet grape tomatoes
1 red capsicum, julienned
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
2 sprigs coriander, chopped

Put a pan over medium heat, add the tomatoes, capsicum, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and chilli powders. Stir fry for a few minutes. When the tomatoes soften, pop them with the end of your spoon/spatula. Add the sugar and mix well.

Add the prawns, cook until pink – around 5 minutes, then stir through the parsley and coriander.

Serve with warm tortillas, greens, pickles, hot sauce of your choice (I went for a sweet style) and a crumbly, salty cheese like fetta

Comfort Food - Traffic Light Soup

Last weekend was spent raiding family members' gardens for herbs. Well, technically, we were visiting family, but as a happy offshoot of these visits, I came home with a nice swag of chillis, parsley, spring onions, basil, thyme and oregano. The basil, thyme and oregano was stored in the one bag and when I opened it up it smelt like pasta. Or pizza. It was crying out for tomatoes and garlic. I thought it only fair that I complied.

Sitting at work, looking out the window, the sky got steadily greyer, and heavier, and wetter. Summer is officially over, with this storm and the temperatures dropping. Ok, so it's still not super cold, but it's cooler. And it's been a while since we've had such snuggle-worthy, soup and bread weather. So I decided to just go with it. A steaming bowl of hot soup and some crunchy pizza bread to dip into it. Some of the positive aspects of winter! My husband isn't the hugest fan of "just" tomato soup, so as I drove home in the rain, I contemplated what I should add. Sitting at the lights and going through the vegetables I had at home, I decided to go with those colours. Red, orange and green. I know, I know, kinda lame. But it turned out delicious! Red tomatoes and chilli, orange pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots and lots and lots of green herbs.

I then followed through again with the garnish. Red bacon bits, orange soup and green parsley. I already had some cooked bacon bits in the fridge, but if you don't, dice up some bacon very finely, then fry for a few minutes until crispy.

Technically, a roast vegetable soup - but I'm calling it Traffic Light Soup.

 

Traffic Light Soup
1 medium butternut pumpkin
2 medium sweet potatoes
4 small carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
a few sprigs of thyme
4 ripe tomatoes
2 cans diced tomato
big handful basil
big handful oregano
salt & pepper
1 brown onion
1 red chilli
4 cloves garlic
5 cans of water/stock
parsley
cream (or sour cream)
bacon bits

Preheat oven to 180C

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Lightly oil and place cut side down on baking tray, with a thyme sprig in the cavity. Slice the sweet potatoes and carrots in half length-wise, lightly oil and sprinkle in thyme leaves. Roast for 40 minutes or so until soft.

Mix the chopped herbs, salt, pepper into the tinned tomatoes, put in an oven proof dish and add the fresh tomatoes on top. Roast for 30 minutes or so, until the whole tomatoes fall apart when you touch them.

About 10 minutes before the vegetables are done roasting, saute the onion, chilli and garlic in a tbsp or so of olive oil until translucent. Fill the tomato cans with water to rinse out and add the liquid to the pot. All up I used 5 cans of liquid (3 water, 2 stock). Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Take the vegetables out of the oven. Add the tomatoes (carefully!!) into the pot. Allow the pumpkin and sweet potato to cool slightly, then skin and tip into the pot as well, along with the carrots. Stir it all around, then whizz it up until smooth with a stick blender. This can also be done in batches in a normal blender. Check for seasoning.

Swirl some cream over the top, sprinkle on some bacon bits and parsley.

Serve with your favourite bread. This pizza bread is just Lebanese loaves, garlic olive oil, parsley and parmesan, chucked in the oven for a few minutes.