Articles by Jennifer Robertson

Mexican Black Beans

Mexican Cuisine
Posted on

Serves 4 – 30 mins

These Black Beans are great to have with Mexican food. They use much of what will be in your store cupboard and are quick to make. They are also delicious in tortillas and nachos or on their own.

INGREDIENTS

1 tin of black beans
3 spring onions finely chopped
tsp of cumin
Dash of hot sauce (or adobo sauce from can)
1 clove of garlic grated(or tsp minced from jar)
1 tsp of dried mexican oregano or dried European oregano
150 ml of stock(chicken or vegetable)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Optional -chopped coriander leave, feta cheese and tomato for garnish

METHOD

Step One

Heat up Olive Oil in heavy bottom pan and add onion, garlic and cumin. Stir and cook over a medium heat until onions are soft and translucent.

Step Two

Rinse the Black Beans and add to pot, add stock, hot sauce and oregano and stir. Cover pot and leave on a low heat for about 15 minutes.

Step Three

Remove from heat and serve sprinkle over chopped coriander, feta and chopped tomatoes if you want to make the plate look a bit more exciting.

Courgette & Green Pepper Szabi

Asian Cusine, Vegetarian Cuisine
Posted on

This is a great very quick vegetable curry option that I often serve with meat curries, again my trusty Madhur Jaffrey Curry Bible pointed me in the direction for this.

Ingredients

Vegetable Oil
2 Courgettes/Zucchini sliced into batons
1 large green pepper/capsicum thinly sliced(I have used red and yellow when I have no green ones)
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seed
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
A large pinch of asefetida (if you don’t have it don’t worry)
2 tbs of natural unsweetened yogurt
1 tbs ground coriander
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper and quick squirt of lemon juice

Method

Step One

Heat up heavy bottom pot, add vegetable oil, as soon as oil is hot add asafetida if using followed by cumin seed and mustard seed. Stir until seeds begin to pop(very quickly)

Step Two

Add courgette and green pepper and stir fry for about 5 minutes

Step three

Add the yogurt and stir until absorbed

Step four

Reduce the heat to low, add coriander, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and salt to taste and serve.

This curry takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and is good to serve with chicken dishes as well as on it’s own.

Kristy’s Zucchini Slice

European Cuisine
Posted on

This is a great slice that my friend and colleague makes for morning teas at our work and her children’s lunch boxes. I love it!!

Ingredients

375gm (1 large) Zucchini
150gm (1 cup) self raising flour, sifted
1 large white onion
200gm rindless bacon
150gm (1cup) of cheddar cheese
60ml (1/4 cup vegetable oil)
salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Step One

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Centigrade. (340 degrees Fahrenheit)

Step Two

Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined, add the flour and beat until smooth.

Step Three

Add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil, stir to combine.

Step Four

Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

You can add any vegetable of your choice. You can substitute bacon with ham or Corn for a Vegetarian option.

Meatballs & Burger mixture

European Cuisine
Posted on

Serves 4 – 45 mins

This recipe can be used to make meatballs and/or burgers – I have doubled the amounts as find that I can make half into meatballs and the other half into burger patties which can then be frozen whilst raw and defrosted as and when required.

Make it easy and take them out on a defrost on a day where you know we are running around and will not have the time to make a meal when you get back home.

Ingredients

500gms beef mince
500gms pork/veal mince
1 large onion or 2 small very finely chopped or blended in food processor/blender(I blend the onions and parsley at the same time to save myself time)
handful of breadcrumbs(panko crumbs from supermarket are fine)
handful of grated Parmesan cheese
half a handful of chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 egg
salt and pepper
Olive Oil

Method

Step One

Place mince in large bowl.Add onion, egg, parsley and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine. If mixture is too wet add more breadcrumbs, if too dry add a bit more of egg beaten.

Step Two

Roll mixture into balls around the size of a walnut using damp hands if making meatballs or shape into burger patties if making burgers . Place on a plate.

Step Three

Put Plate into fridge and allow to sit for as long as you can, even 30 minutes will help them to hold when frying, or if you want and are very organised overnight if covered in clingfilm.

Step Four

Once you are ready to fry your meatballs or burgers put Olive Oil into a large shallow frying pan and heat. Once oil is hot add meat mixture and shallow fry until brown on each side – do not crowd the pan or they will not brown and ensure to turn meatballs frequently to stop burning.

Step Five

If making burgers you are done. Add to roll and serve with your accompaniments. If you are making meatballs I would advise that you use the Tomato Sauce recipe(see website) and once browned pop the meatballs in the sauce for about 30 minutes and serve with pasta of your choice(mine is egg tagliatelle) topped with Basil and Parmesan Cheese.

Versatile Tomato Sauce

European Cuisine
Posted on

90 mins

This sauce is made once a fortnight in our house, I make a big batch and use when needed. My kids will eat it just with Pasta and Parmesan(or cheddar if I have none, they don’t care) which is a great mid week meal for when you are in a rush but still want to feed your family an easy,decent meal.

NOTE – this recipe makes a around 3 meals worth, to be split up and used when required.

Ingredients

Step One

Heat up heavy bottom pot add olive oil and fry onion, garlic and chilli until soft and translucent.

Step Two

Add tinned tomatoes and thyme and bring to simmer stirring to ensure tomatoes do not stick to bottom of pan

Step Three

Leave to barely simmer on low heat stirring occasionally for 30 mins to 2 hours dependent on time and intensity of flavour

Step Four

Check for seasoning, if the tomatoes are bitter they may need a small amount of sugar to sweeten the sauce.

Optional – Blend if you do not like chunky bits of tomato(like my daughter)

Tips

This sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days and frozen once cooled to be used for many other dishes – I use this with meatballs.(my recipe on the European page)

The recipe can be used as Pizza sauce and is also really good with some fried Chirozo sausage,bacon or salami and peas with your choice of pasta.