Tom Kha Gai - Thai coconut lemongrass soup

Adapted from Spirit House
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 cups chicken stock
2 stalks lemon grass, outer leaves removed and cut into 2 cm pieces
6 pieces kaffir lime leaves
2 cm ginger, grated or finely sliced
400ml coconut milk
2 small chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons palm sugar (or brown sugar)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
Juice and zest of 1.5 limes
300g chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 bunch brocollini, sliced into 5cm pieces
1 red capsicum, cut into strips
Udon noodles
Coriander to garnish.

Put stock, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and ginger into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes to infuse the flavours.

Add coconut milk, chilli, palm sugar, fish sauce, zest and lime juice. Stir and simmer for 1 minute. Add chicken and vegetables, simmer until chicken is cooked (approximately 5-10 minutes).

Meanwhile, cook Udon noodles according to packet directions. Once cooked, divide noodles amongst serving bowls. Ladle finished soup onto the noodles. Serve garnished with coriander.

Healthy delicious banana pancakes - Just 2 Ingredients!

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 medium bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly whisked

Optional:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chia seeds or 1 tbsp LSA

Mix together banana and eggs. Add any optional ingredients and mix until combined.

Heat some coconut or olive oil in a frypan, add pancake batter and cook until browned. Flip and cook until ready to eat! (Don't make them bigger than 10cm as they will be difficult to flip).

Serve with toasted coconut, berries, maple syrup and greek yoghurt (or whatever you like!).

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 15

Ingredients
22 Oreo's (about 1.5 packets) - 15 whole, 7 chopped
500g Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 Eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
15 Mini Oreo's

Preheat oven to 135°C and put cupcake cases into a muffin tin. Place one Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake case.   

Using an electric beater, beat cream cheese until smooth while gradually adding the sugar. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Gradually add eggs to mixture and beat until combined, ensuring you scrape the sides of the bowl as you mix. Add sour cream and mix until combined. Mix in chopped Oreo's using a wooden spoon.


Fill cupcake cases until almost full. Bake for 24 minutes or until set. Let cool in tins. Refrigerate for atleast 5 hours, or overnight. 

To serve whip cream with icing sugar until stiff, and pipe onto cakes. Top with a mini Oreo for cute deliciousness. 

Giant meatballs with a mozarella surprise

Adapted from Taste.com.au, Serves 4. Meatball Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
500g beef mince
500g pork mince
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs (just blend a piece of day-old bread)
2 tablespoons fresh ricotta
1 egg, lightly whisked
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 small bocconcini mozzarella
Finely grated Parmesan to serve

Tomato Sauce ingredients (can be substituted with bought sauce)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
700ml bottle tomato passata
1 dried bay leaf

Pasta, rice or crusty bread to serve

For the tomato sauce, heat oil in a large oven-proof saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the tomatoes, passata and bay leaf. Season. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and thyme, and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine beef and pork mince, breadcrumbs, ricotta, egg, parmesan, parsley, garlic and onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture into 8 even portions, and roll each into a large ball (tennis ball sized). Create a hole in each meatball with your fingers, insert a bocconcini ball and cover the ball with the mince mixture. Place the meatballs on a lined oven tray. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and add to the tomato sauce. Return to the oven, and cook for a further 30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Serve with pasta, rice or crusty bread. 

 

Homemade Hummus

Makes 1 cup
Ingredients
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch salt
3 tbsp cup water

Process chickpeas in a food processor until smooth. Add garlic, tahini, lemon juice and salt. Process until smooth. Add the water 1 tbsp at a time until Hummus has reached the desired consistency.

The Hummus will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

The Hummus will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Home-made Garlic Naan Bread

Adapted from taste.com.au
These are so delicious that we usually end up eating them all within 5 minutes. They are a little bit closer to bread than a traditional naan, making them delicious with soup (as well as a curry). 

Ingredients
3 cups bread flour
8g sachet dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
2 tbs vegetable oil
olive oil spray
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed

In a medium bowl combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add water, yoghurt, oil and mix well with a wooden spoon. Knead dough for 5 minutes or until smooth. If it is too moist add a bit more flour, or add a bit more water if it isn't coming together.

Place dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough will have doubled in size by this time.

Preheat oven to 250°C. Make sure your baking trays (or ideally a pizza stone) are in the oven while it is heating up. 

Mix olive oil and crushed garlic in a small bowl.  


Once doubled in size, punch down the dough and divide it into 6 portions. Lightly flour a surface and roll out each portion of dough into a 12 x 20cm oval shape. 

Spray or brush one side of the dough with olive oil, place the dough oiled side down on the hot tray/pizza stone. Brush the other side with the garlic oil. Bake on for 5 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Wrap in foil to keep warm and repeat with the remaining dough.

Goes great served with Thai style sweet potato soup.

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

This is a great winter warmer, and is a bit more interesting than boring old pumpkin soup. It goes great served with home-made Naan bread.

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

2 red onions, diced

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 tbs grated ginger (if you freeze your ginger it is easier to grate) 

2 red birdseye chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1kg sweet potato (kumara), peeled and cut into 3cm pieces

5 cups vegetable stock

150ml coconut milk

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, ginger, turmeric, chillies and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the onion softens. Add the sweet potato and stir.

Add the stock to the pan and increase the heat to high. Once the stock has boiled, reduce heat to medium and cook until the sweet potato is tender (approximately 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add coconut milk.

Transfer the soup to a blender, or use a stick blender to blend it in the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Serve accompanied by some delicious homemade naan bread (see here for the recipe).