soup of leftovers

Tonight we had soup made from left over leftovers - the remains of the chicken and tomato casserole we had on Tuesday night, which included, as I'm sure you remember the remains of the tomato, bean and potato dish we had on Saturday night.

ingredients

oil
1 stick of celery, sliced
1 clove of garlic, smashed and sliced
corn from 1 cob of corn
5 spring onions, sliced
leftover chicken and tomato casserole: take the meat off the chicken maryland and chop, chop the potatoes into smaller pieces

method

Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add some oil. Add the sliced celery and stir about. Add the garlic and stir again. Add the chopped potatoes and the corn. Add the tomato sauce and some boiling water. Add the spring onions. Bring it all to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, simmer about 3 minutes. Add some more boiling water if it's looking to thick.

Pour into heated bowls and serve with crusty bread.

mushroom risotto

mushroom risotto
pressed salad - cabbage, celery, carrot and spring onion

ingredients

butter
oil
1 x onion, chopped
8 mushrooms, sliced (approx 8 medium sized cultivated mushrooms)
3/4 cup of risotto rice - that'd be arborio rice
pepper
2 cups of hot stock - I used half of a Massel's 'beef style' stock cube in boiling water
sliced spring onion, white and green
extra butter
Parmesan cheese

method

Put a heavy frypan onto heat. I use a cast iron pan and a medium-hot heat. Put in a little oil, and a knob of butter. When the butter has melted and is foaming add the onion. Stir and cook, maybe turn the heat down a little. I usually cook the onion until it's just going transparent and soft, but today I let it stick a little and go brown. It was good. When the onion is partially cooked add the rice and stir around to coat it with the butter and oil. Add the sliced mushrooms, again stir and let cook for about 2 minutes. Grind on some pepper. Add some of the hot stock, stir. Let the rice and stock cook together stirring occasionally. As the rice soaks up the liquid add more. Eventually the rice will have pretty much taken up all the liquid. Taste the rice to see if it's cooked. If it's not add a little more stock, or hot water. Stir and keep cooking. Right at the end turn off the heat, add the spring onions, a little more butter cut into very small bits, and stir through. Add the grated Parmesan and stir through again.

Serve on hot plates or shallow bowls. This is enough for two people.

making it up

I was going to show Tim how to make Poulet Bonne Femme for dinner tonight, but on my way home I realised that we've only got one potato left in the cupboard. And PBF needs at least two potatoes, if not three.

So, I had a think about what we've got in the fridge and remembered that we've got a large container of leftover tomato, green bean, and potato stew left over from Saturday night ... I'll run a chicken and tomato casserole by Tim when he gets home and see what he thinks.

I'll write up a recipe as he might find that helpful.

ingredients

olive oil
sprigs of thyme and oregano
1 x bay leaf
chicken pieces - we've got 3 x chicken marylands
salt & pepper
1 x onion cut in half and sliced
left over tomato paste, about a tablespoonful
red wine, about a small wine glassful
left over tomato, bean and potato stew
olives, halved and pitted

method

heat the olive oil in a heavy pot
put in the herbs and let sizzle for a minute
put in the chicken, grind over some pepper, and sprinkle on a little salt and brown
remove the chicken to a side plate
put in the onion and cook until softening and beginning to turn golden
stir in the tomato paste
add the chicken back into the pot
pour on the wine and stir around
add in the tomato component of the stew bring to a simmer and let cook for approx 20 minutes
towards the end of the cooking add in the bean and potato component of the stew
right at the end add the olives

serve with braised silver beet (again!)

lamb & spinach curry

lamb & spinach curry
silver beet
carrot salad
rice with onions
lime pickle
mango pickle

What sounds like an elaborate dinner was actually very easy to prepare as I had a container of curry in the freezer. "Here's one I made earlier!"

black bean chili with sweet potato

black bean chili with sweet potato
skillet corn bread
garlicky greens

I made all of this out of The Real Food Daily Cookbook (with just a few adjustments).

leatherjackets savoro-style

Tim cooked from Andy Harris' Modern Greek.

leatherjackets with rosemary and red wine vinegar
stewed green beans, potatoes and tomatoes

delicious!

pan fried chicken breast

pan fried chicken breast
brussel sprouts
carrots
potatoes