A Meal Planner – Just Before Christmas!

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Cheese Twists

Yep – Christmas cheer and the general hectic nature of things at this time of year has got to me too … I’ve got to the point ALREADY that I’d really like a quiet week at home with absolutely nothing on.

I’m sure as soon as that happens I’ll be wondering what to do with myself!

This late (or, indeed, very late) meal planner (print friendly version) I’ve put together with the idea that most of the dishes have at least a component that would fit as a canapé or something you could serve at a party. The Moroccan fish is based around chermoula which would definitely work as a dip. The smoked salmon tart could be made in advance and served room temperature at a party, as could the Moroccan meatballs. And the san choy bow you could downsize to be finger food.

Rather than a sweet treat, this week I’ve gone for the super easy cheese twists that you can make in advance and have in the freezer, ready to cook if you’re faced with unexpected guests.

Adelaide’s rolling towards a 40°C summer day on Friday so if you want to turn your oven on, best off that you do it now!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

IMG_3877 the Octonauts cake toppers were sourced from an ebay shop based in Canada!

I’m still working my way through the toddler party recipes but I’m trying to intersperse them with things savoury so you don’t get a sugar overload.

This recipe comes from the BBC’s Good Food site. It is actually labelled as a frosted carrot squares, but what is the difference between a ‘square’, a ‘traybake’ and a ‘cake’? I also take issue with the use of the word ‘frosted’ because surely that is an Americanism both UK and Australian readers can do without … (and on this point, it would seem Google agrees with me!).

There are small tweaks and changes in my version – most noticeably the addition of ginger which I would definitely do again. I loved the subtle spice kick. This cake freezes (un-iced) beautifully and has a lovely moist, almost sticky, crumb.

Unlike many carrot cake recipes, this one contains no nuts so is ideal if you need to avoid them, for whatever reason.

Andy, the resident carrot cake expert, did complain that it wasn’t quite coarse enough in texture. I suspect that’s the lack of nuts, but, really, who cares when there’s a tasty cake on offer?!

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

    Cake
  • 200g carrots, peeled and grated - I used my food processor's grating disc
  • 175g soft brown sugar
  • 200g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarb
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • zest of one orange
  • 2 eggs
  • 150mL neutral flavoured vegetable oil (I used canola)
    • Icing
  • 50g softened unsalted butter
  • 75g icing sugar, sieved
  • 200g cream cheese, at room temperature

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C fan (180°C conventional).
  2. Grease and line with baking paper an 18cm square baking tin/dish.
  3. Having grated the carrots (either by hand, or with the help of a food processor!), tip them into the bowl of a stand mixer.
  4. For this recipe, you don't want to cut up the carrots too finely - it will make the cake too wet and with too smooth a texture. If you don't have a stand mixer, either work by hand or use a cake beater. Don't work in a food processor for this one!
  5. Add the sugar, flour, bicarb, spices and orange zest and mix slowly.
  6. Add the eggs one at a time.
  7. Finally, add the oil and mix well. Ensure everything is combined but don't over beat.
  8. Spoon the cake mix into the prepared tin and bake for around 30 minutes or until cooked. In my case (cooking in my oven at 160°C fan) I checked at 30 minutes and ended up cooking for 40 minutes in total.
  9. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for about 10 minutes and then turn onto rack.
  10. If freezing, freeze, well wrapped, when completely cool.
  11. To make the icing, mix the butter and icing sugar together, and then add the cream cheese. You are best off if you can do this with some kind of mechanical beater (stand mixer, in my case) because cream cheese, even at room temperature, is stiff and difficult to work with. Using a beater/mixer will result in a much smoother and more manageable icing.
  12. I cut the cake then iced, but you could ice first and then cut. Coloured sprinkles are a fun addition too.
https://eatingadelaide.com/carrot-cake-cream-cheese-icing/

Chermoula Recipe – or, Moroccan Fish

- Alex Prichard 1 Comment

Untitled
I might have to make this again, just to take a better photo!

Last week I asked Andy want he wanted for dinner ,I suggested to go to the nearest sushi restaurant to taste different fish recipes . I had a bit of a look on the internet and a bit of a look through my cookbooks which also suggested the same as it was close enough.

Made in Morocco is a cookbook that, while it gets sporadic work outs, probably is somewhat underutilised. My mum bought it for me almost 10 years ago (and doesn’t that make me feel ancient) just before I headed off on a holiday to the said country. My break was less haute cuisine and more eating harira (a chickpea and noodle soup) around a campfire. But, you know, if you ever fancy a trip where your night time toilet breaks are outside and accompanied by sleet and braying donkeys, I guess I recommend a ‘winter sun’ trekking holiday*.

I originally thought I was going to make a simple fish tagine from the book, but when push came to shove, even that started to look like too much work, so I decided that actually, I’d just make the chermoula and that would do as a simple sauce/dressing for the fish.

Traditionally, chermoula is quite a wet spice mix which is used as a marinade. But really, it has tons of uses. By altering how much oil you use, you can make it firmer and more dip like, you can use it as a sauce or a marinade, and, in my case, I used left overs on pasta as a kind of pesto. You can use this with pretty much any protein and of course its robust flavour means it would be great with barbecued meat.

Very flexible and very tasty. And, of course, quick, easy and perfect for making ahead!

* This makes me sound a lot more hard core and adventurous in my holidays than I actually am. And I would actually genuinely recommend a trekking holiday in Morocco because the scenery is stunning.

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Chermoula Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of coriander
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 red chilli (seeds removed, if you wish)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup of (good quality) olive oil

Instructions

  1. Process everything together, adding the oil slowly until you reach your desired consistency.
  2. If you are making the chermoula as a marinade, make it runnier and use a light olive oil. If you intend to use it as a dip, use a very good quality extra virgin olive oil and make it firmer (dipping consistency!).
https://eatingadelaide.com/chermoula-recipe-moroccan-fish/