Roast Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary

This is a great family friendly meal.  We had miniature pumpkins at our local supermarket, so I have used them in this recipe and they were amazing!  Brussel sprouts cooked in a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and bacon would have been great with this dish as well!  The quantities below fed 4 of us with leftovers, which we used for lunch the next day.

I used:

• 1 x 1.6kg whole free range chicken
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
• 2 stalks of rosemary, approx 10 cm long
• 1 miniature pumpkin, washed and cut into wedges
• 1 sweet potato (kumara), washed and cut into chunks
• vegetables for serving
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 240 degrees celcius.  Wash the chicken, pat dry with paper towel and brush with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place the rosemary and lemon wedges inside the chicken, squeezing the lemon wedges to release some of the juice into the cavity before dropping them in.  Place the chicken into a shallow dish or roasting dish and reduce the oven to 200 degrees celcius.  Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes, covering with tinfoil and resting for 15 minutes prior to serving.

Toss the pumpkin wedges and kumara chunks in a little olive oil and place on an oven tray covered in tinfoil, adding to the oven when the chicken has been cooking for 45 minutes.

Serve with steamed vege.

Enjoy!

Scotch Fillet and Cashew Satay

I decided to try my hand at a cashew satay sauce for something different with our steak tonight and it turned out well, although not as traditional as the usual satay due to the lack of chilli and fish sauce, but still not bad!  If making this at home and you have fresh chilli and a sugar free fish sauce, I would recommend using it as it would definitely improve this recipe.

Cashew Satay Sauce:

• 2-3 tbs cashew butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 small brown onion, finely diced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 & 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 cup of coconut milk or coconut cream
• salt and pepper
• olive oil for cooking

Heat a small saucepan to a medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and onion and cook 1-2 minutes or until onion becomes translucent.  Add the cumin, turmeric, coriander, salt and pepper and mix in, if you have sugar free fish sauce and fresh chilli, add 1 tsp fish sauce and 2 finely chopped fresh red chillis here.  Finally add the coconut milk and cashew butter, being sure to mix together well.  Add some chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) if you have some.  Keep warm until the steak is ready.

Scotch Fillet Steak, Pureed Sweet Potato and Cauliflower

• Scotch fillet steak
• 1 sweet potato (kumara), peeled and chopped
• 5 florets cauliflower
• steamed vegetables for serving (I used carrots and brussel sprouts)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Heat a frying pan to a medium-high heat.  When very hot, add a little olive oil searing for 1-2 minutes before turning the heat down a little to cook a further 5 minutes, do the same on the other side and rest for 5-7 minutes before serving.  Add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time each side if you prefer it well done.

Meanwhile, place the sweet potato and cauliflower in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil.  To cook the other vegetables, I usually place them on top of the sweet potato etc to steam approx 3 minutes before the sweet potato is cooked.  When cooked, remove the steamed vege and put on serving plates.  Drain the sweet potato and cauliflower, add a small drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Using a masher or barmix, mash or puree.  Spread the mash onto the plate, place the cooked steak on top and then top with the cashew satay sauce or serve on the side.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato and Parmesan Fritters with Bacon, Pesto and Mushrooms

This was breakfast, the morning after my first paleo dinner party!  We forgot to take photos, so thought I would share this recipe until I re-make the party food.

SWEET POTATO AND PARMESAN FRITTERS

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 medium kumara (sweet potato), peeled and finely grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• salt and pepper
• olive or coconut oil

Finely grate the kumara and parmesan, place in a bowl and mix together.  Add salt and pepper, garlic and finally the eggs.  Mix well.

Heat a heavy based frying pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil.  Spoon small amounts of the mixture into the frying pan, they will be quite runny but will set like savoury pikelets.  Flip when bubbles start to form or the underside starts to brown.

Fantastic with bacon and mushrooms, or just on their own!  Fabulous for lunches and quick snacks to have in the fridge.

Enjoy!