Tuna Pasta Bake

If you liked my Cheat's Lasagne Recipe from a last month then you'll love this variation. I used to spend hours coming up with elaborate meals to prepare, but these days with a young baby I don't have enough to time to prepare, let alone think of such creative meals as I used to. Well not regularly anyway. 

This pasta bake is great in that I can throw this in the slow cooker in the morning (while the little one naps) and then it's ready to serve in the evening. Perfect for if we have a busy afternoon ahead. It's so easy and pretty darn tasty too. The leftovers keep us going for a couple of days and best of all, even the baby likes it!

Ingredients:

• 2 x 185 gram tins of tuna in spring water
• 1 x 400 gram can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 300 grams dried pasta 
• 1 & 1/2 cups of grated cheese
• 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 eggs

Oil the bowl of the slow cooker, and turn on to high setting to preheat. 

In a food processor mix the tuna (including liquid), creamed corn, stock, celery, carrots, onion, and salt and pepper till well combined. 

Spread 1/4 of the mix in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cover with half of the dried pasta, then another 1/4 of the mix over that. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, before layering the remaining pasta, then the rest of the tuna mix on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 

In the same food processor (don't bother cleaning it in between) combine the eggs and milk, then pour this over the top of the cheese. Put the lid on the slow cooker and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 5-6 hours, before slicing and serving. 

Cheat's Lasagne

Okay, so I'll admit this from the start, if you're a purist - this isn't exactly lasagne, but if you're lazy like me and want the meat, pasta, cheese combo baked into something that you can serve (and freeze if you want) easily, then this is your jam! When I say easy, I mean EASY. Traditional lasagne takes time to prep and lots of pots and pans - you have to cook the meat sauce, cook the pasta and make a white sauce before assembling and baking again. This cheat lasagne however, simply mix, layer, and leave for 5 or 6 hours then devour! Yes, there is absolutely NO pre-cooking required. And to make it even easier, mix everything in the food processor! You can thank me later. 

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 400 g tin of tomatoes 
• 500 g beef mince 
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp cracked pepper
• 1 tsp salt 
• 250 g dried lasagne or pasta shapes (spiral would also work well) 
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 1 1/2 cup milk 
• 2 eggs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese 

Preheat the slow cooker by turning it on high, and oiling the dish. (Alternatively you could bake it in the oven on 120 degrees Celsius for 5 hours.  

In the food processor, chop onion, garlic, carrot and zucchini till well minced. Add the stock, tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, mince, oregano, salt and pepper and mix till well combined. 

Layer the mince with the dried pasta into the slow cooker dish. Use 1/4 of your mince mixture first, spreading evenly, then 1/2 of the dried pasta. Top with another quarter of the mince mixture, then the other half of the dried pasta. Finally put the remaining half of the mince mixture over the top. 

Scatter the grated cheese over top. Next mix your cornflour with a little of the milk till smooth, then mix in the remaining milk and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and beat well. Pour this over the top of the grated cheese. Turn your slow cooker onto low, cover and leave for 4-6 hours till cooked through and beginning to brown on top. Every slow cooker is different - in mine, it is done perfectly after 5 hours, so keep an eye on yours the first time to get the perfect cooking time. 

Slice and serve with garlic bread and either salad or steamed vegetables. 

Finger Licking Good: Chinese Style Ribs

Did someone say ribs? YES please! I mean seriously, who doesn't like tucking into a plate full of them - It's so cathartic. And to be honest, I've eaten tonnes of them, with all sorts of different seasonings, but these are up there with the best. 

The slow cooking is the key: Wrapping them in foil, and cooking for two hours locks in the moisture and flavour, and has the meat falling off the bone. While the glaze, sticky sweet and salty, leaves you begging for more! 

The recipe here is for 1.5kg worth and though you could easily half or double the recipe, this is a good amount of ribs for one sitting (perhaps only four servings if you really want to tuck in!). 

Though they take a long time in the oven, the actual work involved in making these is nothing, the biggest challenge being patience! Trust me - it's worth the wait. 

Ingredients (serves 6): 

• 1.5 kg rack of pork ribs
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp Chinese five spice
• 4 tbsp crushed garlic 
• 4 tbsp crushed ginger

Glaze

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 4 tbsp crushed garlic 
• 4 tbsp crushed ginger 
• 2 tsp Chinese five spice 
• 6 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp Chinese rice wine vinegar 
• 6 tbsp honey 
• 2 tsp Sriracha chilli sauce (optional - but highly recommended) 

To Serve

• Coriander leaves
• Cooked Rice, or bread rolls
• Slaw, or steamed greens 

Preheat the oven to 180•C. Line a large roasting dish with two layers of tin foil.*You might need two trays, if so, swap them around in the oven halfway through cooking. 

Rub the ribs with vegetable oil and Chinese five spice so it's well coated. Place flesh side up on the foil, and spread the crushed garlic and ginger over the top. Gently fold the foil around the ribs to seal them. Place in the hot oven for 2 hours. 

Meanwhile, heat the additional 2 tbsp oil in a small saucepan. Over a low heat, cook the garlic and ginger, stirring for a couple of minutes, till aromatic. Add the Chinese five spice, and cook, stirring for another minute. 

Stir in the soy sauce, rice, wine vinegar and honey. Simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a blender or food processor. Puree till smooth. 

Return to the pan and bring back to the heat, taste, and add Sriracha sauce to taste. You could also add more soy or honey to taste if you want sweeter or saltier, but I think the ratio is pretty spot on once coating the ribs. 

After 2 hours, remove the ribs from the oven and open the package. Increase the heat to 200•C. Use a basting brush, or spoon, to liberally cover the rack of ribs with the glaze. Return to the oven for 8-10 minutes. 

Brush again with more glaze and return to the oven for another 2 minutes. You can repeat this part of the process as much as you like if you want a thicker richer glaze, but be sure to check it every minute or two. I usually only do this twice, and like to save a little sauce for the side. You can serve the additional glaze in a dipping bowl on the side, or pour it over your rice and steamed greens. 

Serve the ribs as a whole rack, or slice them into individual pieces. Remember to set up a pile of paper towels and maybe a finger bowl of iced water and lemon. 

Pea and Ham Soup

I'm pretty sure that every family has a pea and ham soup recipe that's been handed down through the generations. Except mine... It's something I never ate as a child and for years couldn't work out what all the fuss was about. In the last few years however I've become quite a fan of the humble bacon hock and the powerful flavour hit is delivers when gently simmered away in this hearty warming soup. Despite never having it as a child, I know my children and their children will definitely be familiar with this recipe. Finally, I think I've perfected it! Let me know what you think. 

Ingredients (Serves 6):

• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 400 grams of dried green split peas
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 bacon hock, or leftover ham bone - make sure it still has some meat on it though! I use freedom farms bacon hock, they're about $8 each and it has a decent amount of meat still on the bone. 
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• salt and pepper to taste
• buttered bread or toast to serve. 

In a large soup pot heat oil on a medium heat. Add onions, garlic and sage, saute gently for 3-5 minutes. Add the leek and carrots and continue cooking on a medium heat for another couple of minutes. 

Add the dried green split peas, peppercorns, bacon hock and cover with 2 Litres of water. Bring to a gentle boil before reducing heat to low and covering. 

Simmer for 2 - 2.5 hours stirring occasionally. You may need to top up the water if it starts to reduce too much. After 2 - 2.5 hours you'll notice the peas have begun to disintegrate. Perfect! 

Use tongs to remove the bacon bone from the soup and set aside to cool a little. Ladle about a third of the soup into a blender to whizz till smooth, return to the rest of the chunky soup before adding the cup of frozen peas. 

Simmer for another 3 - 5 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the meat from the pork bone and shred with a fork. 

Finally taste the soup, and if necessary add a little salt and pepper. Remember the bacon bone is already very salty, so it shouldn't need more than a teaspoon extra. 

Ladle soup into bowls and top with shredded meat. Serve with buttered bread or toast. Or if you're like me, add a smear of marmite to your toast as well, for an extra salty kick! 

Lamb Tagine w Cranberry Almond Couscous

Tagines are an aromatic Moroccan curry, with a sweet spice, rather than heat. 
To get best flavour I like to toast my cumin and coriander seeds on a dry heat and then grind them in a mortar and pestle. Apart from a little bit of preparation, this is ridiculously low maintanance to cook. Just put it in the pot and check on it every now and then. The couscous just hot water, stir and add some chopped vegetables, fruit and nuts. Too easy. 
You can make the couscous in advance and allow to chill in the fridge while you prepare the tagine. If available serve with fresh pomegranate seeds and plain yogurt. 

Cranberry Almond Couscous (serves 4):

• 400 grams couscous 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 70 grams slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries - or raisins 
• 3 tbsp fresh mint, finely sliced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• 1 cup fresh kale or spinach leaves, finely sliced
• juice of 1 lemon 

Cook couscous according to packet directions, stir though remaining ingredients, set aside. 


Lamb Tagine (serves 4): 

• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp salt 
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger 
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp oil 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 500 grams diced lamb meat
• 1 lemon, rind and juice
• 500 ml vege or beef stock 
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 large kumara, diced into 2-3cm pieces
• 1 onion, thickly sliced
• 2 tbsp flour (to thicken if necessary) 

In a large bowl mix all of the spices, the olive oil, garlic and diced meat. Cover and set aside in the fridge for 3 hours if time allows. 

In a large saucepan, or soup pot, place meat mixture, lemon juice and rind, vegetables and stock. Bring to a low boil, stir, and place the lid on the pot on a tilt, so that some steam can still escape. 


Simmer for 40 minutes, stir, then either remove lid to allow liquid to reduce more or return lid and thicken later with flour. Cook for another 20 - 40 minutes till meat is tender and liquid thickened. If thickening with flour, mix the flour with a few spoonfuls of cold water in a small bowl, pour this paste into the tagging and stir to combine, from here it will thicken quickly so do this shortly before eating. 

Serve couscous with tagine, pomegranate seeds and plain yogurt. 

Rabbit Pie - Oh My!

Another hunt, another delivery of meat for me to prepare. Two rabbits this time, slender, lean little morsels. I prepared this dish over a few days, as it required slow cooking reduction, then baking into a pie, but trust me, it was worth the wait. One rabbit would be sufficient for one pie, but now I have another batch of the meat in the freezer for a stress free meal another day. 

Two years ago we were in Holland having Christmas with my dutch relatives, to learn that a traditional meat to have on Christmas Day is Braised Rabbit, my Aunt however, had not prepared this for us fearing that we wouldn't be accustomed to it. Little did she know that the Mister and I thrive on trying new things and experiencing other cultures to the fullest. 

So anyway here I am two years later, making my take on a christmas classic with a braised rabbit pie. I intend to heat the leftover braised rabbit with an additional tin of tomatoes and toss through parpadelle, with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. 

Ingredients (this makes enough for two large pies) 

• Olive Oil 
• Two small rabbits, jointed
• 3 rashers bacon, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 green capsicum , diced
• sprig of fresh rosemary
• salt & pepper 
• 2 tbsp flour
• tin of tomatoes
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 700g puff pastry (or 350g for one pie) 
• A little melted butter 

Method

The reduced cooking liquid

In a hot pan heat a glug of olive oil and in batches add the rabbit pieces to brown all over. Remove and place in slow cooker. 

In same pan heat a little more oil and add bacon, carrot, onions, garlic and capsicum, stirring, and cook for about 5 mins till softened. Add salt and pepper and rosemary. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat. 

Pour in wine and vinegar, stirring to remove anything that might have stuck to the bottom, pour all of this into the slow cooker also. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook on high for 6 - 7 hours till the meat is falling off the bone. Allow to cool slightly before transferring into a container to store in the fridge to cool. 

Once cooled (for 5 to 24 hours), pour any liquid into a heavy based fry pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, to reduce. Leave to cool in the pan.

Now this is the bit where it gets a little messy, you need to sort through the meat and vege to remove the bones. I recommend taking your time to do this, as rabbit bones can be very small. 
Be gentle.

Cooled, shredded de-boned meat

Once you have gone through and removed all the bones, leaving only vegetables and meat, stir the reduced liquid through again. Return to the fridge.

Grease a pie tin and roll puff pastry to 5mm thick (or thaw frozen pastry sheets). Line the base of the pan with pastry, then fill with the cold rabbit mixture. Top the pie with remaining pastry. Brush with melted butter. and prick the top all over. 

Bake in 190 degree oven for 45mins to an hour, you want the pastry to be puffed and golden all over. Remove from oven and resist cutting in for five to ten minutes. Serve with crusty white bread and a green salad. 

Spark'n Barbeque'n Pulled Pork

Thanks to friends who have a love of hunting, my freezer is full of legs of wild pork. Initially I cooked this as per my friends instruction in an oven bag with a tin of pineapple. It was pretty good, but as always I was keen to try something new this time. It seems the craze in some of the new restaurants around town is BBQ Pulled Pork... so I figured I would give it a go for myself. 

It turns out that the sauce is made and stirred through separately, so the meat itself if much like any other slow cooked meat. I was planning to use a slow cooker, but the leg wouldn't fit, so I did it in an oven bag in a really low oven all day instead.

I wanted to make sure it had the added sweetness that the pineapple gave as pork, particularly wild pork, can be quite rich, so I cooked it with Old Mout Cider, I choose their Scrumpy because it's got a slightly higher alcohol content and  has a strong apple flavour. 

The BBQ sauce recipes I found however mostly consisted of the base ingredient ketchup... why would I use a sauce to make another sauce? Doesn't seem to make sense to me, so I made my own one up, using more of the delicious Scrumpy, See Here for yourself.

Apple Cider Pulled Pork served with Buns, Coriander and Lime Rice, Coleslaw and BBQ sauce. (See below for Rice and Coleslaw recipes)

Ingredients

• 1 leg free range or wild pork 
• Large oven bag or slow cooker - my leg of pork wouldn't fit in the slow cooker
• 1 1/2 c Apple Cider - I used Old Mout's Scrumpy 
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika 
• 2 tbsp ground cumin - I toast the seeds in a dry pan, then grind in a mortar pestle for the freshest flavour
• 2 tbsp oregano 
• 2 tbsp salt 
• 1 cup of BBQ Sauce

Method

Trim the meat of any large chunks of fat. Mix onion, spices and cider, put in bottom of oven bag. Add pork, spooning some of the mix on top so it's at least been coated. 

Seal oven bag and place in 120 degree oven for 6-7 hours. Meat should fall off the bone. Don't worry you can't really overcook it, so if in doubt, leave it longer. 

If using a slow cooker, just put all ingredients in on low for 7 hours. 

Once cooked, allow to cool slightly then put meat, bones, and cooking liquid into a large tupperware and chill overnight. 

The next day skim any fat from the surface (the liquid should be jelly-like now that it has cooled, this is what you want, just skim the solid orange/white fat from the surface if there is any) remove the meat and bones from the liquid. Put  jelly/liquid into a heavy pot and simmer on a low heat for 30-40 mins until nearly completely reduced, stir occasionally so it doesn't stick. 

Meanwhile, shred the pork meat using two forks. Discard any bones. 

Once the cooing liquid has reduced, allow it to cool, then stir it through the shredded meat. Stir through 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Then set aside. 

To serve, gently reheat meat on the stovetop, on a low heat. 

Serve with more BBQ sauce, Coleslaw, Buns, and the Coriander Lime Rice. 

Coriander and Lime Rice

This rice makes a great side dish full of aromatic mexican flavours. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4c Brown Rice
• 1/4c of Black Rice 
• Zest and Juice of 1 lime 
• 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves

Method

Rinse rice and soak in a pot with 3 cups of water, lime zest and coriander seeds. Leave covered 2-3 hours.

Remove lid, place on high heat till simmering, stir gently, cover, reduce heat and leave for 20-25 mins, till water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and leave 10 mins. 

Remove lid, fluff with a fork, add lime juice, olive oil, salt and fresh coriander. 

Serve warm or cold. 

Coleslaw

I make coleslaw with a light vinaigrette, you can use mayonnaise if you prefer, or just serve with mayo on the table like I do. For ease, I also make coleslaw in the food processor, a good old knife will do fine if you don't have a processor. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 red cabbage
• 1/4 white cabbage
• 3 carrots peeled 
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 3 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil of your choice) 
• Juice of 1 lemon or lime
• 1 tsp salt

Method

Peel Carrots. Chop vegetables so they will fit into the hole in the top of the food processor. 

Using the large slicing blade process the cabbages. 

Next use the grater attachment and grate the carrots. 

Place all ingredients into a large serving bowl, toss together with chives, oil, salt and lemon juice. 

Wild Duck Ragu with Pappardelle

After a weekend home to Gisborne for a 21st I came back with a chilly bin full of food again as always. Not only do I love the hospitality of this, but it inspires me to try new things in the kitchen. This times hoard was a box of chilli peppers, two flounder, and as per the title of this blogpost, two wild ducks. 

These ducks had been lovingly cooked and prepared during the 21st celebrations as part of the hangi with thyme rosemary and salt. The duck cooked in the hangi was glorious. In fact with all the offerings on the table, this was the only meat that I ate as it was so good. Therefore I was honoured to be sent home with two ducks. 

The ducks had been corned, similar to corned beef, but with duck. Meaning that it had been brined in a mixture of salt, sugar and spice for 5 days. In saying that I think that you could use regular wild or farmed duck in this recipe, but would need to salt to taste. You'll note that I didn't add any extra salt to the recipe, neither was the flavour of the salt and spice overwhelming. In fact, it worked very well with what could otherwise be a very rich gamey meat. 

So, after being gifted such beautiful meat I needed to do some research on how I might go about cooking it. As we are coming into the winter season I decided to make a hearty ragu dish. Thankfully I was not disappointed. Majority of my inspiration came from this recipe off Taste.com.au as I liked that it added chinese five spice, which I thought would work well with the duck, and it did. However, as always, I took my own spin on it and came up with this crowd pleasing number.


Ingredients 

1tbsp olive, vegetable or coconut oil. 
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks 
handful of fresh rosemary
1 green capsicum
2 cloves of garlic 
1 large red chilli 
1 whole wild duck 
1 cup of chicken stock 
2 cans of diced tomato
1 tsp chinese five spice
Black pepper to taste
1/2c red wine
800g pappardelle 
1/2 cup parmesan, to serve
bunch of basil leaves, to serve
olive oil, to serve

Method  

• Dice onion, celery, carrot and capsicum, crush garlic and finely chop rosemary and chilli. 
• In a heavy saucepan heat oil, add onion, celery and carrot. Saute over a medium heat, stirring till becoming translucent. After a couple of minutes, add the rosemary, capsicum and garlic, continue cooking for 3-5 minutes till softened. 
• Remove from pan and place in slow cooker (alternatively you could use a casserole dish with a lid). 
• Quarter duck and place in hot pan, skin side down, cook for 5-10 minutes till browned. Add to slow-cooker. Use chicken stock to deglaze the pan and loosen all the cooking juices. Add this to the slow cooker also, then put in the tomato, chinese five spice and pepper. 
• Cover, turn on low and leave for 8-10 hours. (Alternatively cook in a low oven 120º for 4 hours) 
• After 8-10 hours, open the slow cooker and carefully remove pieces of duck (it will want to fall apart, but try and get it out whole as it has a lot of little bones). 
• Place veges and remaining juices in a heavy saucepan and simmer on a med-high heat till liquid has completely reduced. 
• Meanwhile, carefully go through duck and remove all bones and the skin, this is quite tedious, but the result is 2-3 cups of finely shredded beautifully tender duck meat. 
• Once reduced, add 1/2 c red wine and continue to reduce. 
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to packet directions. Once cooked, drain, drizzle a little olive oil, toss and serve onto plates. 
• Top with a large ladle or two of duck ragu sauce, a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese and a few basil leaves. 

Of course, be sure to serve with crusty bread (to mop up any remaining juices) and more of the delicious red wine that you doused into the sauce.