Chicken and Corn Gnocchi with Rum and Green Mango Sauce

Our mango tree that was so incredibly prolific last year, hasn’t been as fruitful this year. There are probably less than a quarter of them than last year, and we lost quite a few of those before they got anywhere near size. So when 4 green but still fairly mature mangoes fell, I decided to use them. I want my mango fix! I haven’t had a great deal of green mango dishes. Here and there there’s been green mango salads accompanying spicy Asian dishes but that’s about it. These salads are usually wonderfully tart and salty. The green mango very sour in comparison to the crazy sweetness of a ripe mango. And the salt tames the sour and brings out more of the fruit flavour.

With that idea in mind, I created this pasta. I was in the mood for gnocchi, not sure why, but I was. And I had half a roast chicken leftover from the night before’s dinner. Summer corn is plentiful and cheap at the moment, so that was going to be added. I thought I’d then round it out with a combination of ginger and coriander as a tip of the hat to the Asian green mango dishes and dark rum as a tip of the hat to the tropical feel of mango. And it worked so well! Salty chicken, sour green mango, sweet corn all working together with the rum to coat the soft pillows of gnocchi.

I only used two of our green mangoes, but I think I’ll use the other two to just repeat this dish!

Chicken and Corn Gnocchi with Rum and Green Mango Sauce

(serves 3-4)
2 tbsp coconut oil

1 brown onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, mince
Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 green mangoes, flesh cubed
50mL dark rum
100mL water
1 tsp salt
Kernels from 3 corn cobs
½ cooked chicken, meat shredded
½ red capsicum, sliced
1 packet pre-cooked gnocchi
Handful coriander leaves, chopped
Green chilli, sliced into rings

Heat the coconut oil to medium heat in a frypan. Add the onion slices and half the salt. Leave to cook, stirring here and there so they don’t stick for around 10 minutes, or until lightly browned and caramelly. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until the garlic is translucent, around 2 minutes. Add the rum and simmer until reduced by about half and slightly sticky. Add the mango and corn and stir well to coat everything. Simmer until the corn is tender and the rum has reduced to the point where the corn is sticking to the pan in parts.

Add the water and remaining salt and stir to pick up any brown bits stuck to the pan and create a more cohesive sauce. Add in the chicken, capsicum and gnocchi, stirring well to coat in the sticky sauce and veges. Cook 5 minutes until the chicken and gnocchi are warmed through. Just before serving, stir through the coriander leaves and garnish with chilli slices.

Summer Sensations - Chipotle Crab Pasta

So, I did mention that our new car was amongst other activities, chosen for crabbing trips. However our first crabbing trip this year coincided with the day we picked up the Zoolander. Now, I’m not precious about a clean car – but I did want the car to be clean for at least one full day. So we took my sister-in-law’s car. It wasn’t our most successful trip, but we managed to catch enough for a feed for the 4 of us that went. I’m hoping we can go back later in the season so that all of the undersize ones have had a chance to grow into monsters!

After crabbing, cleaning off the gear and boiling up the crabs in plenty of water with a splash of vinegar and hot English mustard, we showered and finally got to bed around 5am. Then as has been tradition, Lance and I set up a shelling station in front of a tv. Then with a movie playing, we sit and peel all of the crabs. This year it took us 1 and a half movies. This equated to about 400g of crab flesh. I divided it into 2, then froze half for a later dish.

That night I cooked this very simple chili crab pasta. This pasta took it’s form from two of the things growing prolifically in our garden this summer – grape tomatoes and oregano. The grape tomato that Lance planted and lovingly waters every day has rewarded us with buckets of fruit. Some days we pick over 2 dozen! Then the flavours of the rest of the dish are Mexican, in a wonderfully fusion-food kind of way. It became like my riff on a Sopa Seca – or “dry soup”. A Mexican noodle dish flavoured with chipotles in adobo and served with sour cream and a smokey salsa. It was the perfect thing on a tired Sunday night with a lovely anejo tequila on the side.

 

Chipotle Crab Pasta

(serves 4)
200g crab flesh, picked through for cartilage
One brown onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce
20 grape tomatoes, roughly diced
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
Big knob of unsalted butter (around 100g)
50mL reposado tequila
Zest and juice of one lime
Sea Salt
500g angel hair pasta
To serve
Greek yoghurt
Jalapeno slices

Bring a pot of water with a decent pinch of salt to the boil.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large sauté pan or wok. Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes or so until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook a further 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook until soft and breaking down.

At this point, the pasta water is probably boiling. Add the pasta.

Add the tequila and lime juice and zest and stir through, scraping up bits that might have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the liquid by half, then add the butter and whisk through to melt and emulsify into a thick, glossy sauce. Stir through the chipotles, adobo sauce, oregano and crab. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the crab is heated through.

Drain the pasta, then stir through well to evenly coat with the sauce.

Serve with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt and sliced jalapenos. And maybe a lovely glass of tequila on the side!

 

Sweets for your Sweet - Buttermilk Pudding with Sangria Jelly and Nut Wafers

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? We don’t. Not really. I’ve never been a flowers and chocolates and teddy bears with hearts kinda girl. But I do love love, and Lance and I are romantic just in general, so I’m all for people taking the opportunity to tell that special someone that you love them. Lance and I are actually going to a comedy show for the Fringe Festival on Valentine’s Day. But we’ll have a nice dinner beforehand. Not sure what yet. All I know is that this is our Valentine’s Day dessert. It’s a little different, a little quirky and is most importantly, a little bit lighter and not too sweet in this summer heat! As an added bonus the components are made early(ish) with chilling time, or can be made a day or so in advance and assembled before serving, making it great for dinner parties. Or romantic dinners, where less cooking time means more couple time!

I am a huge fan of sangria. And buttermilk. And nuts. So this dessert is a combination of all of those things. Luckily, Lance is too – so it can feel like I’ve made it for him. Each element here has a small level of sweetness, which combine for a lovely dessert with a fun play on textures – without overwhelming you with sweetness. The buttermilk pudding is smooth and creamy, the sangria jelly has a little chew – not quite jube, but a bit denser than a normal jelly. Add the crunch of the nut wafers and you’ve got a party going. They, by the way, are the easiest crackers to make. And so delicious!

The jelly and wafers make more than you need for the buttermilk pudding portion, but the crackers in particular are so moreish that you won’t find a problem eating the rest of those by themselves! But they both make the best addition to a cheese platter. And I might’ve had some of the jelly with my breakfast granola. And it might’ve been absolutely delicious!

 

Sangria Jelly

500mL dry red wine (such as Cab Sauv, or Shiraz)

50 gm caster sugar

8 gelatin leaves

Juice and peel of one orange (peeled in large strips)

Juice and peel of one lemon (peeled in large strips)

2 bay leaves

2 cardamom pods

4 cloves

1 stick cinnamon

Lightly oil a shallow rectangular dish that can will hold 500mL and set aside until required. In a medium pot, bring red wine, sugar, citrus juice and peel, and spices to a simmer and stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside for the flavours to infuse for an hour. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pot and bring back to a simmer. Place the gelatin into a bowl of cold water and leave to soften. When the wine mixture comes to a simmer, squeeze excess water from the gelatin and gently drop into the wine. Stir to dissolve the gelatin then set aside for 15 minutes to cool slightly.

Gently pour the jelly into the prepared container and refrigerate until set – around half an hour. When ready to serve, turn out of container, and cut into small cubes.

Buttermilk Pudding

(makes 4 serves)

1tsp vanilla bean paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 tablespoons corn flour

Combine the vanilla bean, cinnamon and buttermilk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture is almost at a simmer. You want it to come to temperature very slowly, so the buttermilk doesn’t separate. It’s much more temperamental when heating than normal milk.

Whisk egg yolks, caster sugar and corn flour in a bowl. Slowly pour the milk into the egg mix whilst whisking. Once it’s all combined, pour into a clean saucepan and put back over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a spout, then pour into your desired serving vessels. Tap onto the counter to get rid of air bubbles. Wrap with cling film and pop in the fridge to chill and set, at least an hour.

Hazelnut and Almond Wafers

¾ cup almonds

¾ cup hazelnuts

3 heaped tablespoons brown sugar

Zest of one orange

¼ tsp ground cardamom

2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 180C

Put the almonds and hazelnuts into the bowl of your food processor and pulse until broken up into tiny pieces. You want mainly ‘meal’ texture, but a few bits a little larger is fine. Add the brown sugar, cardamom and orange zest, and pulse to mix. Add the egg whites and pulse until it comes together in a ball. It’ll be fairly sticky.

Lay out a piece of baking paper the size of your baking tray, put the ball of dough on it, then place another piece of baking paper over the top. Roll the dough out evenly, and thinly (around 2mm) to spread across the size of your whole baking tray. Carefully peel off the top layer and put in the oven.

After about 10 minutes, it will have dried fairly considerably and will have turned paler in colour. Remove from the oven and cut into squares/rectangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife (pizza cutter is a much easier and neater way of doing it). Place back in the oven for another 10-12 minutes or so until golden. The pieces will have shrunk away from each other and formed individual wafers. Watch them carefully this second time as they can burn easily.

Set aside to cool on the tray and finish drying out for half an hour before putting on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Assemble the three components however you artistically like!

Summer Eating - Prawn Burgers with Tomato Mango Salsa

Remember my badly photographed DIY Slider Bar party that my friend and I hosted last year? We had 4 different types of burgers, with a table full of salads and condiments so you could build your own set of sliders. And it was brilliant. One of the slider options we had that day were prawn burgers. And that same prawn patty is still my favourite non-beef burger. And it’s probably my most made burger at home. I’m not going to lie, this recipe is really, really similar to the KrabbyPatties recipe that I posted last year. But these prawn burgers are where it all started. These are my favourite burger patty. The sweetness of the prawn, the smokiness of the paprika. I love mango added into that flavour profile, but instead of a mango guacamole, I made a simple mango tomato salsa to go with it. Lance has been growing me some grape tomatoes and they are no good for slicing up into burgers, but make for a delicious condiment in them!

It was crazy hot the day I cooked these, so they were done outside on the BBQ. You do need to add a little oil to your cooking surface. I don’t always bother when BBQing, but prawns are practically devoid of fat, so it helps to make a nice crisp outer layer and stop it sticking. Something that’s not as big a deal when cooking beef or lamb patties.

Mango Tomato Salsa

1 small mango, diced
Half punnet grape tomatoes, diced
2 chipotle pepper, finely chopped
Pinch salt and pepper
Juice of one lime

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside for the flavours to meld while you cook your burgers.

 

 

Prawn Burgers

(makes 6 patties)
500g prawns

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup coconut flour (or fine shredded coconut - unsweetened)

1 egg

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp basil

1tsp smoked paprika

to serve

6 buns (toasted, if desired)

mayo

salad ingredients

mango tomato salsa

Dice the prawns into small pieces and throw in a bowl. Mix the mustard, garlic, salt, black pepper and basil until all the prawn pieces are well coated. Mix through the egg to get everything wet, and finally add in the breadcrumbs and coconut.

Divide into 6 equal portions and, using clean hands, form into round patties and squish to flatten. Set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat a pan or BBQ plate to medium high and lightly coat with oil. Cook each patty for around 5 minutes, or until golden. Flip over and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until cooked through.

Serve with Mango Tomato Salsa and your favourite burger ingredients.

Australia Day - Dessert Nachos with Chipotle Marshmallows and Vegemite Salted Caramel

Happy Australia Day! For you today, on this most celebratory of summer days, I have something special. Something very different. Something I want you to trust me on. It is a bit weird, but it’s also very, very good.  Dessert nachos.

Over the Christmas period I attended a few gatherings where the subject of my blog and recipes was brought up by other people. It was actually quite interesting to hear friends and family discuss what they thought of my blog and in a way, ‘sell’ it to others. I am quite passionate about the food I create and eat, and it was quite lovely to hear other people discuss some my recipes animatedly! Made me feel a little like a rock star! The number one recurring word used to describe my food was ‘quirky’. I’m quite happy to wear that badge. I love mixing combinations of food together to create something unique and amazing. Something that might take you by surprise, but you fall in love with. For me, cooking is imagination. For others, that means my cooking is quirky. I like that!

So this is my quirky take on dessert nachos. I’ve already brought you dessert tacos, it’s time for nachos. The basic combination for these nachos is simple to replicate without any cooking, just using bought components. Corn chips + caramel + marshmallow + chocolate. That by itself is a seriously indulgent and wonderful movie night snack. However, if you want a slightly quirkier take, with a little extra work, you make your own marshmallow. And you flavour it with smokey chipotle powder. And you make your own caramel. Salted caramel. Using Vegemite as the salt.

I already use vegemite as a substitute for salt in many savoury dishes. It works great as a ‘stock’ in casseroles, stews and soups. It is absolutely delicious on toast and eggs. Even better with avocado. It adds a deeper savoury flavour than ‘just’ salt. Why could the same not be applied to sweet dishes? Salty and sweet as a combination is now well in the general conscience, with salted caramel being the most popular incarnation of this. So, let’s make it with a little vegemite. Trust me on this. Make this caramel. Make these nachos. Thank me later.

Happy Australia Day!

 

Dessert Nachos

(makes 4 serves)

1 packet lightly salted Tortilla chips (I like Mission brand)

10 tsp Vegemite Caramel (recipe to follow)

1/2 batch chipotle marshmallows (recipe to follow)

4 squares dark chocolate

Heat the oven to 190C

In ovensafe bowls or plates, scatter tortilla chips over 4 plates, drizzle a few teaspoons of caramel over each plate, and tuck in some marshmallow bits. Coarely chop the dark chocolate squares and scatter over the top.

Bake 10 minutes, or until marshmallows are gooey inside and the chocolate is melted.

Vegemite Salted Caramel

1 cup sugar

4 tbsp water

55 g butter

100mL cream

1 tsp vegemite (warmed slightly if hard)

Add sugar and water in a medium pan over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and every so often, swirl the pot to keep the mixture moving. Do not stir. The mixture will start turning a nice caramel colour, when this happens, remove from the heat immediately and add the butter, vegemite and cream. Watch out, it will spit. Whisk to combine, then set aside to cool and thicken slightly before pouring into jars to store

Chipotle Marshmallows

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

23g gelatin powder

1 1/2 cups white sugar

150mL glucose syrup

1/2 cup water

dusting mix

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup corn flour

Add the first half cup water to the bowl of your stand mixer, whiskn in the chilli powder and cayenne and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Leave until the gelatin is absorbed and becomes gel-ly.

Line a lamington tray or baking paper with cling film, allow for overhang on all sides. Dust a few tablespoons of the dusting mix along the bottom.

In a large saucepan, combine the glucose syrup, water and sugar. Cook over a medium heat, stirring gently to help the sugar dissolve. Raise the heat and boil until it reaches 130C on a candy thermometer. Swirl the mixture, but do not stir. When it reaches 130C, immediately remove from heat.

Whisk the gelatin mixture on low for 1 minute, then turn the mixer up to around 3/4 top speed and slowly drizzle the hot sugar mix whilst it's still going. Don't let the stream touch the whisk. Increase the speed to high and leave it whisking until the mixture is pale and fluffy and looks like glossy meringue. It'll take at least 5 minutes. It's ready when strands pull from the sides like bubblegum.

Pour the mix into the lined pan and use a greased spatula to smooth the top. Dust with more dusting mix and pop aside in a cool spot to set. It'll take a few hours, depending on the heat & humidity.

Cut the marshmallows into squares and dust the newly exposed sides with more dusting mixture. Store in airtight containers.