Day 127 - Indira Naidoo I do love you - again!

This is Indira Naidoo's Thai Chicken Salad with chilli, spring onions and coriander from the Edible Balcony.

It was magnificent and I would have it again in an instant!

Here is her recipe
Place 2 chicken breasts in a large heavy based saucepan. Pour in enough coconut milk to cover the chicken and add 1 teaspoon of tumeric. Bring to the boil, we departed from the recipe here, she says simmer for 15 minutes, but Morry is an ace at making chicken breast tender, so once it boiled, he put the lid on and turned off the heat and let it sit until the chicken was just cooked through. Remove the chicken and shred it using a couple of forks. The salt the chicken to taste.

In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tblspn lime juice, 1 1/2 teaspn chilli powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon palm sugar together to make a dressing.
In another bowl mix 1 stalk of lemongrass finely chopped, 4 shallots finely sliced, 2 spring onions finely chopped, a small handful of mint and a cup of coriander leaves. Add the chicken, pour over the dressing.

To serve we drizzled a bit of the poaching liquid over the top and add some HOT red chillis.

Day 126 - bad pizza

Theres a saying that there is no such thing as bad pizza. Its not true. This pizza was crap.

It was a recipe from Indira Naidoo's book the Edible Balcony. The main problem was the dough. We like our pizza with a really thin crust and this dough was just too 'doughy'.

In Rome I ate margherita pizza every day for lunch and I loved it, but for my taste buds at home, it simply has to be pepperoni.

Day 125 - whiting

Whiting salad! Sliced red onion marinated in lemon juice for a while then a salad of rocket, avocado and tomato,add panfried whiting and voila!

Day 125 - Happy Birthday Charlie!

I made a 4 layer chocolate cake for Charlie becuase he is crazy about chocolate. But he didnt like it. Never mind Charlie, everyone else did!

We had a family lunch, so it was fairly low key. I bought some little chicken legs from Gulf seafood and a coucous salad from Banana Boys, the only thing I made was a salad. Rocket, goats cheese, necterine and proscuitto. I made a lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I really enjoyed it! The necterine was perfect.

Day 124 - not much

Tim Finn at Bird in Hand.

Enough said

Day 123 - cajun swordfish

Charlie is at Nursery School just around the corner from gulf seafood - oh joy!

These swordfish steaks were cut fresh, cost a fortune and were totally magnificent.

Morry made a cajun spice mix and then BBQd them. Served with a simple salad and lime wedges. Oh and of course some white wine! It was a hot night, this was perfect.

Day 122 - slooowww shanks

A no shopping day - yay!

We had shanks in the fridge, so I slow cooked them all day in some stock and herbs and then morry later reduced this to a beautiful rich gravy. We always have carrots in the fridge becuase both boys are mad about them, but we rarely get any, but tonight we had them with masses of peas.

So hearty!

Day 121 - Sechuan chicken

This Donna Hay recipe comes from the Instant Entertainer. It is a great dish. We have had this before. Morry uses chicken breast and cooks it beautifully. I dont know how he does it, but it is just cooked through so it is succulent and magnificent.

Day 120 - easy peasy lamb salad

Super tasty, Id have this dish again in a jiffy!

From the Donna Hay, 10 minute meals book, which is a bit old, but one of her best in my opinion, this dish was packed full of flavour.

Basically, rub some lamb backstrap with a bit of oil and cummin and BBQ. Make a dressing of yoghurt, lemon juice and shredded mint. Make a salad of diced cucumber, some tomato, finely sliced red onion and lots of mint leaves. Serve!

Day 119 - Chicken and noodles

Jamie Oliver trumps it. This was a good hot night dish as the noodles are served cold, with a coriander and cashew nut dressing, chicken, and a green salad with coriander. It was tasty but I wouldnt make it again.

Day 118 - Tims 40th

Disappointingly no photo tonight.

Tim White had his 40th at the Exeter. Before hand, we went to the Austral and had a bowl of chips and tomato sauce and a peroni for me and schooner of Vale Ale for Morry.

Perfect!

Day 117 - Dinner at the Butchers

No photo - too many drinks to focus the camera unfortunately!

The kids has sausages and bread.

Catherine made a beef roast layered in hot salami and pork roast with pear and a couple of salads - one was cucumber, one was tomato and blue cheese, there may have been another salad. Im a bit hazy on the detail, for which I blame Mark.

Catherine also made a peach crumble for dessert which was equally divine.

Day 116 - Lamb Kofta

These kofta balls took no time to make - lamb mince, cummin, cinnamon, finely sliced onions and some lemon zest all mixed up then pan fried. easy. Tomato, roasted red capsicum and cucumber salad, some greek yoghurt and home made pita bread. I was shopping for pita and was shocked at the shelf life, so googled pita bread recipes while in the supermarket. Its a simple bread dough, that is rolled out in small balls and the cooked for a couple of minutes a side on the bottom shelf of a really hot oven. done! Yum

Its another Donna Hay fast 50!

Day 115 - Donna Hay Chicken

From the summer Fast 50 magazine, this dish was awesome. The chicken was panfried and served with a roast capsicum and tomato salad - nice, couscous that had almonds in it - yum, but the best part was Morrys hommus. God its good.

Day 114 - Broccoli Pasta

Another Jamie Oliver family dinner - I thought that the broccoli pasta was really tasty. The sauce is made with capers and anchovies and with the broccoli I was sure it was going to be a hit with the kids. It was served with a rockmelon and proscuitto salad and a zucchini and baby mozarella salad. I thought it was going to be a run away success with the boys - well, maybe not the zucchini salad - that was a bit blah even for me. But the boys didnt like any of it. Morry and I ate up, but I fear the boys went to bed to hungry.

I still love Jamie Oliver, and I still think that the broccoli pasta should have been a hit with the kids.

Day 113 - Chilli Beef Stirfry

Chilli beef stirfry - with a LOT of chilli! Donna Hay again. My mouth is on fire!

Day 112 - Beef Larb

Morry Larb was magnificent.

Served with sticky jasmin rice, this dish was the best ever! Morry marinated the beef mince in fish sauce and lime juice then wok fried, add all the green stuff - spring onions & mint. Crumble over cashews and serve on lettuce greens. In our case left over rocket.

Day 111 - BBQ

Lunch at Claude and Debs, we took this salad. It comes from one of Jamie Olivers early books, The Naked Chef. Per person, slice a peach, a small ball of buffalo Mozarella, some rocket, mint and dress with lemon juice viniagarette. Hmmm. 

Dinner was pantry surprise. Morry made me a sandwich using beautiful fennel seed bread with some whole egg mayo, proscuitto slices and rocket, and of course an ice cold peroni!

Day 110 - Mesa Lunga

Dinner with Nic, Sarah, Lou and Michelle at Mesa Lunga

We ate Tapas and Pizza - dont remember too much about the tapas, except that it was small. We had a margarita pizza and a procuitto one, both of which we ordered, plus we had a mushroom one that we didnt...

Day 109 - Chicken bake

Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals again! Family dinner again!

Morrys and my chicken was seasoned with dried oregano and sweet paprika then covered in bacon. the recipe said to grill it, but i didnt think for second that our griller was up to the challenge,so I baked it. It was served with smashed potatoes which were easy and everyone liked - boiled first and then fried under a squashy weight. Lastly the spinach, which neither boy tried, but had they, they would have inhaled it I am sure. Saute spring onions, nutmeg, zest for a few minutes then wilt the spinach, add some cream and parmesan. Voila! dinner for everyone!

I really like the Jamie Oliver recipes for family dinner as they are presented as a complete meal, salad, veggies, dessert - the lot. Too easy.

As the boys are just old enough to have dinner with us, I may in fact have to repeat a few dishes so that they have the opportunity to taste and enjoy a few things... I am sure that if I serve it a few times, that spinach dish is going to be a hit. 

Day 108 - Baked Salmon

I borrowed my mums Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals cookbook today. Hugo had chosen salmon as the fish for our family dinner tonight. Its a bit tricky to serve family dinner sometimes as Hugo in particular can be fussy about colours mixed together etc. So with that in mind, I flicked through the Jamie Oliver book and found his 'Fish Tray Bake' which I had to alter slightly. partly to cater to kids palate and partly because I didnt actually have all of the ingredients!

The recipe calls for Salmon, prawns, anchovies and asparagus to be baked, but I didnt think the kids would go for the anchovies and I didnt have the prawns. It looks a bit boring in the picture but on a plate with a bit of everything it worked.

I baked the tomatoes seperately as Hugo doesnt like them. But the salsa verde (I called it caper sauce...) was a big hit with Charlie, the baby spinach salad was good and the potatoes were gobbled up in no time.

I think I will buy the book tomorrow. I have heard a lot of criticism of the book, specifically that there is no way that you can make the meals in 30 minutes. It might have taken more like 40 minutes, but I dont care about that!

Day 107 - Stir Fry

Beef Terryaki stirfry with snow peas, asparagus, capsicum, muchroom and yummy mint.

Day 106 - Tandoori chicken and pillau

Morry made tandoori chicken and a magnificent rice with currants, broccoli, peas and lemon zest. yum.

Day 105 - Argentinian rump steak and salad

Another Donnay Hay dish from the current magazine.

Rump steak with an egg and butter lettuce salad. It was very rich. I think it was the mayo dressing. It was a bit much for me but the flavours were interesting.

Day 105 - salad for lunch

Morry really triumphed with this one.

Lunch salad of beans, tune red onion, carrot, baby spinach, broccoli and the surprise ingredient - a handful of mixed nuts. Oh yum!

Day 104 - Play date and pizza

Pantry surprise for the grown ups - Nic, Meg, me and Hugo and charlie picked at it! Hot smoked salmon, some capers, some horseradish and the last of Pauls bread from the freezer. Copius amounts of wine.

Peaches, plums, strawberries and chocolate cup cakes for Charlotte, Noah, Hugo and Charlie

Pizza to soak up all the wine - Cacciatore from Imma & Marios with swiss brown mushrooms, chuncks of tomato, a bit of basil and loads of chilli.

Day 103 - Thai & lamb cutlets

I had salt and pepper chicken and garlic bok choy at a Thai cafe in norwood with Mel, so I cant tell you if this dish was any good. I chose it for Morry but thats it. Lamb cutlets with a cucumber and fennel salad with a lemony dressing. Served with a bit of yoghurt - recipe was actually for salmon and tzatziki, but I didnt make it to the fish shop and think Morry couldnt be bothered making tzatziki! Looks good Morry!

Day 102 - Summer Fritatta

This is not our normal type of dinner. It tasted nice, but to be honest, its a bit of singles dinner I think. I might make something along these lines next time Morry goes away.

Again, it is from the Donna Hay fast 50 and has red onion, roasted red capsicum, red chilli pan fried, add egg and cheese and bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes.