Bacon wrapped water chestnuts

 
 

These Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts had a nice texture.  Next time I'd just brush the water chestnuts with honey, wrap them and brush with chilli butter (like these bacon wrapped prawns).  But they still make an interesting little bite.

 

Ingredients:

 

Small tin of water chestnuts (drained)

Bacon

Marinade – soy sauce, honey, Dijon mustard

 

Method:

 

Marinade your water chestnuts for half an hour or so, stirring now and again. Soak your toothpicks in water (they still burned a bit)

 

Wrap each water chestnut in bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Brush a bit of marinade on each.

 

Bake in a hottish oven for 15 minutes, then baste again and finish with another 10-15 minutes.

 

Serve with a little herby garnish (dill).  Wait 5-10 minutes before eating or you will burn your mouth – I know from experience.

 

I didn't have enough bacon so I wrapped some of the water chestnuts in a wonton wrapper.  That worked ok too.

 

PS I had a can of water chestnuts which has sat in my cupboard for years and years.  I'm not sure why they aren't used more.  They stay crunchy despite being cooked.  They are not nuts at all but the centre of an aquatic vegetable.  It grows in Asia, Africa and Australasia.

 

Buttermilk Broccoli Fritters

  

These savoury fritters turned out much better than expected.  Which can't be said for the pic.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Pepper + cayenne pepper

2 eggs

1 ½ cups of buttermilk

2 tblsp melted butter

Small amount of diced onion and broccoli

Small handful of shredded parmesan

 

Method:

 

Steam your diced veg and then leave in the fridge to cool

 

Mix together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, sugar and peppers

 

Add 2 lightly whisked eggs, the buttermilk and melted butter.  Mix lightly.  Don't worry about lumps.  Add your parmesan and stir gently.

 

Let the batter sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.  Mix in the veg.

 

Fry in smallish dollops in a little oil and butter.  Turn over when bubbles appear on top.  I had the oven on low so I could fry them in batches and keep them warm.

 

Pasta Salad

 
 

I had a hankering for a salad – not as a side dish but as the main element for lunch. So here it is.

 

Ingredients:

 

Elbow pasta

Smoked salmon

Eggs

Crispy shallots

Red onion

Baby zucchini

½ red capsicum (bell pepper)

 

Dressing – capers, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, pepper and fish sauce.

 

Method:

 

I had cooked extra eggs at breakfast time so they just had to be shelled (always a chore) and quartered.

 

I cooked the pasta for about 8 minutes – I wanted it to be just done and not soggy.  As with all pasta I cooked it in salty water (like the Mediterranean don't they say?)

 

So while the pasta was cooking a flaked the salmon, sliced a bit of red onion and the zucchini (a darling little baby one) and the bell pepper.

 

Mix all that up together and pour over the dressing and there you have it.  I use little jars to shake dressings together.

 

It was simple in flavour but very welcome.

Spicy Eggy Bread with Bacon

 
 

Having a surplus of bread, bacon and eggs, I came up with this as a way to use them.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 eggs

1 tblsp hot sauce

1 tblsp chopped herbs/scallions

Ground black pepper

Salt

Slightly stale tiger stick bread

Butter

Bacon - streaky

 

Method:

 

I cooked the bacon first and kept it warm in the oven.

 

I mixed the egg, pepper, herbs and hot sauce.

 

I sliced up the bread.

 

When the pan was hot again I dipped each slice of bread into the eggy mixture and put it straight into the bacon grease (and some added butter)

 

Brown on both sides.  Do the eggy bread in batches rather than soaking all the slices at once.

Sauteed Bok Choy

 
 

This is one simple way you can make Bok Choy taste delicious.  Just cut each bok choy in half lengthwise and season with salt and pepper.

 

Heat your pan and add garlic infused olive oil, sesame oil and some grated ginger.

 

Saute your bok choy for 5 minutes maximum on a highish heat.  The leaves will wilt but the stalks should still be crunchy. 

 

This is a Low FODMAP dish.

Avocado & Pineapple Salad

 

 

The combination of avocado and pineapple worked so much better than I expected.  You could use canned pineapple.

 

Ingredients:

 

Ripe pineapple

Avocado

Lemon Juice

Mayo

Cream

Ground Ginger

Cayenne Pepper

Paprika

 

Method:

 

Cut off the top of the pineapple.  Hollow it out with a sharp knife and try to cut into chunks.  My pineapple was a bit small to be able to do this easily.

 

Drain your pieces of pineapple – don't waste the juice – drink it!

 

Cube your avocado and squeeze lemon juice on it so it doesn't discolour.  I have now taken to digging the pip out with a spoon rather than stabbing it with a knife – I read that people doing that injured themselves all the time.

 

Add your avocado to the pineapple and stir in enough mayonnaise loosened with a little cream to have a nice consistency.  Stir through the spices.  I used only 2 teaspoons of ginger, a pinch of cayenne and ½ teaspoon of paprika.  It's not meant to end up spicy just smoothly melded together.

 

I then put the mixture back into the pineapple – which looked fine for pictures but was really unnecessary – and I couldn't fit it all in anyway.

Buddha's Hand

 
 

There I was in the local food store, and I spotted a very unusual looking yellow thing.  It was called Buddha's Hand which is intriguing enough.  I bought a small one and then started looking up what to do with it.

 

Buddha's hand is a citrus – like a lemon – but it doesn't have juice or pulp like a lemon.  It has peel with a citrusy tang that can be zested and used where you would otherwise use lemon – although it has a slightly smoother and less acidic flavour.

 

In China the Buddha's Hand fruit is a symbol of happiness, longevity and good fortune – all pretty important things!

 

So I concocted a dish based on other ingredients I had on hand:

 

Ingredients

 

Buddha's Hand

Four Cheese Tortellini (store bought)

Alfredo Sauce (also store bought)

Baby Spinach leaves

Finely grated parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

 

Method

 

I put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  While that was happening I zested one of the fingers of the Buddha's hand.

 

Once the tortellini were cooked (only takes a minute or two) I drained them and then added them back to the pot with the Alfredo Sauce, Buddha's Hand, Spinach and Parmesan and warmed it until hot.

 

That's it! Quick, easy and with a subtle lemony flavour.

Lamb spare ribs Chinese style

 
 

I have done Lamb Spare Ribs before but found them to be a bit fatty.  So I went for a different method this time.  It worked.

 

Ingredients:

 

Lamb Spare Ribs

Braising liquid – 6 cups water, 1 cup Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing), 2 tablesp soy sauce, 1 star anise, 2 tablesp sugar, 1 cinnamon quill

1 chilli

½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns

To coat before final frying – Char Sui Sauce, cumin, soy sauce, fish sauce & lemon juice.

 

Method:

 

Braise the spare ribs for 1-2 hours in the braising liquid

 

Take the ribs out and let them cool.

 

Coat the ribs with the char sui sauce etc (or your favourite glaze).

 

Fry – in a hot pan – as hot as you dare.

Watermelon & Chèvre Salad

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Cherry Tomatoes

Watermelon

Chèvre (good French goat's cheese)

Basil/Parsley

Lemon Juice

Extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp black vinegar (could use balsamic)

Black pepper

 

Method:

 

This was simple.  My watermelon had lots of seeds so removing those was the fiddliest bit.  Cut up your watermelon into bite sized chunks, removing as many seeds as you can.

 

Add some halved cherry tomatoes – mine were orange

 

Crumble your cheese on top.

 

Sprinkle with chopped fresh green herbs.

 

Liberal grindings of black pepper.

 

Make up a little dressing with your oil, vinegar and lemon juice and squirt it over your salad – and that's it!

 

Easy and so, so refreshing.