poached chicken brown rice salad with black tahini dressing

This salad is tasty and good for you and a great one for spring or autumn where you don't need a heavy hearty meal and a light summery salad just won't fill everyone up enough for dinner.

I discovered black tahini recently. It has a runnier consistency which makes it great for salad dressings though it does look a bit like an oil slick! I do love black sesame seeds, which I buy in bulk and spread on salads, crumbed chicken and soy, ginger, garlic fish too.

6 chicken thighs
1 head of broccoli, separated into florets and stem sliced in 2cm chunks.
Half bunch parsley, finely chopped

Half bunch coriander, finely chopped

Half bunch mint, finely chopped

1 carrot, grated

Olive oil (EVOO)

1 zucchini grated, (optional)

4 tablespoons black tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or less, to taste)
juice from one lemon

Sunflower seeds and sesame seeds (black or white) (optional)

Cook 400g of brown rice using your preferred method. If you are using a Thermomix cook the brown rice - 35 min/ sp2/Varoma and place the broccoli in the Varoma for the last ten minutes. Rinse the broccoli under cool water and place both in the fridge.

If you aren't using a Thermomix steam the broccoli and rinse under cool water.

Take 6 chicken thighs and poach in boiling water for 10 minutes. Ensure they are cooked by slicing open the thickest thigh. Return them to the boiling water for 2 minute intervals if they need more time. Drain water and place in fridge to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a jar place your tahini, garlic and lemon juice and shake for about 10 seconds until well combined.

Slice the chicken when cooled.

Scatter the cooled rice, broccoli and chicken across a large platter.Add the finely chopped herbs and carrot and drizzle with EVOO. You can add the zucchini at this stage too.

Top with sunflower or sesame seeds.

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lamingtons

It was 8:30pm. A friend emailed to confirm she was coming to visit the following day. Between us we have 6 kids (including one baby). I'm not sure why I thought of making lamingtons but they suddenly came to mind and I just couldn't shake the idea that I needed to make them. I remember someone once telling me they were a hassle to make but by 9:30pm I had a plateful of lamingtons!

I have a faint memory of eating a lamington with my grandmother when I was young. I suspect I probably just licked the icing off! Let's see if these beauties are good enough for the kids to eat the whole thing! 

I used a Thermomix recipe but I've found a Margaret Fulton recipe for lamingtons from my favourite baking cookbook.

Margaret notes that you can bake the butter cake the day before you ice the lamingtons and this will prevent the cake from crumbling. You can also freeze the cake but you'll need to thaw it for 24 hours before using. 

Lamington will keep fresh for a few days.

According to Margaret Fulton lamingtons are "thought to have first been made for a tea party for Lord Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901."

thermomix lamington recipe (can be found here)

ingredients
lamingtons

• 120 g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
• 50 g unsalted butter, , melted
• 120 g Self Raising Flour

lamington icing

• 25 g unsalted butter
• 160 g milk
• 500 g icing sugar
• 50 g Dutch processed cocoa
• Shredded coconut to coat

method
lamingtons

1.Preheat oven to 190C. Butter and line a 20cm square cake tin and set aside.

2. Place sugar into mixing bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

3. Add eggs and insert Butterfly. Whip eggs for 7 min/50C/speed 3.

4. Add butter and vanilla paste and stir through 5 sec/speed 4.

5. Remove Butterfly. Add flour and with dial set to 'Closed Lid Position' mix for 10 sec/ Interval speed. Finish mixing with spatula by hand if necessary.

6. Pour into prepared tin, spin to level and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden and springy to touch. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.
Freeze for 30 minutes before cutting.

icing

7. Place butter and milk into mixing bowl and cook 2 min/80 C/speed 2.

8. Add sugar and cocoa and blend for 20 - 25 sec/speed 4.

9.Trim sides of sponge and cut cake into 16 equal sized cubes.
Scatter coconut over a tray.

10. Pour icing into deep bowl. Using tongs, put each piece of cake into icing and coat liberally. Place onto coconut, push coconut up onto sides and on top to finish. Transfer to flat tray lined with baking paper. Repeat until all are covered, refreshing cocnut if necessary.

11. Allow icing to set before serving.

Margaret Fulton's lamington recipe

Basic butter cake

ingredients

* 160g butter, softened
* 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
* 3 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 2/3 cups (250g) self-raising flour
* a pinch of salt
* 1/2 cup milk

method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Grease a 30cm x 20 cm lamington tin and line the base with baking paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and gradually beat in the sugar with the vanilla, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the beaten eggs. If using an electric mixer, add the eggs one and a time and beat well after each.

3. Sift the flour and salt (some cooks do this three times), and then fold into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk beginning and ending with flour (it is important not to overwork the mixture). Add a little more milk if necessary so that the mixture drops easily from the spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared the tins and lightly smooth the top.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Turn out onto wire racks to cool, then cut in to small oblong shapes or cubes.

lamington icing

ingredients
* 3 cups (480g) icing sugar
* 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
* 4-6 tablespoons boiling water
* 1/2 teaspoon butter
* a few drops of vanilla essence
* dessicated coconut

method

1. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add the boiling water, butter and vanilla then stir until smooth and shiny.

2. Spread some of the dessicated coconut on a large plate. Dip the cake shapes in the chocolate icing then immediately roll in the coconut. Leave on a wire rack to set.
 

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burgers for tea

I first came to visit Sydney on weekends in mid 2003. J was living in Darlinghurst.

Sydney was a world away from the country town I grew up in and so unlike Canberra where I'd been living and studying. "Having a coffee" wasn't simply 'drinking a coffee and moving on'  but the experience of sitting on the pavement and taking in the sights and sounds of the street.

In the year or so I visited Darlinghurst before I graduated and moved to Sydney we rarely ate a meal at home. The food around the Cross was fast, cheap and easy... and good. I often dream of the mountainous burgers from Burgerman which was a cafe at the end of our street.

Burgerman burgers were unlike anything I'd seen and everything I've seen since. Reading their menu doesn't do the food or food philosophy justice but I am salivating just reading it. J used to always order a vegetarian burger (roasted capsicum rocket fried eggplant beetroot parsnip kumera, goats feta garlic & basil mayo) with a beef pattie and bacon. And it didn't come with canned beetroot!

So, with that on my mind this morning I made my own version of a Burgerman burger with a few ingredients I had and a few more I bought.

Firstly I sliced half of one eggplant and one zucchini and fried these for a few minutes (until golden) in EVOO.

While the eggplant and zucchini was cooking I mixed together 800g organic beef mince with half a handful of herbs (parsley, mint), a teaspoon of dijon mustard, one egg and breadcrumbs made from one slice of wholegrain bread.

Using a tablespoon of mixture I rolled the hamburgers in my hands and cooked in EVOO over a medium heat. I gently flattened them as I placed them in the pan and flipped them after a few minutes, or until could see them cooked partway through.

You can add anything you want to a burger and I, for one, am a sucker for a chutney or a spicy sauce. My mum gave us a delicious peach kasundi she'd made and this was the perfect addition to my burger. I also had half a bunch of kale that needed to be eaten so, using the same pan, I wilted this with some garlic.

I stacked everything up in a soft and fluffy wholemeal bun. Yummo! 

What's your favourite burger filling? If you are inspired by this post please come back and let me know what you included in your burger...

 

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soup: spicy roast veg with kale, lentils & rice

Sydney's windy wet weather is screaming for a hearty warming soup. This is a great one for a meat-free too. I like to bake my veggies first so those caramelised flavours come through in the final product. The lentils and rice bulk it out.

ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower, separated into florets
1//2 medium butternut pumpkin, cut in to 'chunks'
2 parnsips, sliced in to rounds
1 red onion, quartered
1/2 bunch (about 5 leave of kale) with stems, all finely sliced

4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

2 cups cooked brown rice, optional
2 cups red lentils, optional

method
Preheat oven to 200ºc. Scattered cut veggies in a large baking tray, or two. Sprinkle with spices, salt and pepper and drizzle with a good lug of olive oil.

Bake for 35min or until veggies are soft and beginning to caramelise.Place in a large pot and cover with water. Add lentils (optional) and bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 mins to reduce. Stir regularly to avoid sticking to bottom of pot. Add brown rice and kale and simmer for a further 5 mins.

You can use a food processor to blend the soup or leave it chunky if you prefer. Serve hot.

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chicken soup: a favourite

Some time ago I wrote about my quest to find the secret recipe for Flat White's chicken soup: http://missmayblossom.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/in-search-of-soup-flat-white.html

Well, it's now time I let you know that I have that recipe in my hot little hand, or should I say, hot bowl! Years ago, when we used to live nearby and eat regularly at Flat White, there used to be a revolt if this was not on the menu!

This recipe's appeal is its beautiful fusion of flavours from the hearty stock base to the lemony chicken and the goodness of lentils and freshness of the herbs. I didn't have basil when I made this but I did have loads of coriander, mint and parsley. Go nuts with the herbs!

You can use this za'atar recipe: http://missmayblossom.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/zaatar.html

I bought a supply of sumac from the most extensive organic store I've come across - Terre Madre in Northcote (Melbourne) but I'm sure you can source the spice in Sydney or wherever you are in the world online!

So here it is...

Flat White Chicken and Lentil Soup  (serves 6)

100ml Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

½ an onion

1 small stick celery

1 carrots

½ a leek

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 bird eye chilli

1 tbl curry powder

1 tbl ground cumin

1 tspn paprika

200 gram split red lentils

2 litres chicken stock

1 lemon and rind

6 tomatoes, roughly chopped

½ bunch mint

2 large handfuls spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped

½ bunch basil

300g Chicken Breast fillet

thick greek style yogurt (to serve)

Za’tar (to serve)

FOR POACHING: Place the chicken breast in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring gently to a simmer and cook until breast is cooked through (about 20 minutes). Remove from liquid and allow to cool. Finely dice or shred chicken meat and set aside.

FOR SOUP: Process Onion, celery, carrots, leek and garlic in food processor until a rough pulp. Heat a large heavy based saucepan (something large enough to hold about 3 litres). Add olive oil and fry vegetable mixture until fragrant. Roughly chop chili and add to pot along with spices and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Fry until spices become fragrant. Add lentils and sweat for about 5 mins to allow them to soften. Add stock and bring to a simmer.  Peel the lemon rind and add to soup. Simmer for about 20 mins or until lentils are just tender. Add in chopped tomato and season to taste.

TO SERVE: Add chopped chicken to soup along with herbs and spinach leaves.  Season with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Serve with a generous dollop of yoghurt and a good pinch of za’tar.

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