Sweet Chilli Sauce

This is a fantastic recipe that I have modified slightly from the original recipe. The recipe has been taken from the Sally Wise' book A Year in a Bottle.

I use sterilised empty olive oil bottles with screw caps to store this brilliant sauce. When chopping the chillies remember to use gloves and don't touch your face - it will burn like hell. I tend to cheat and use my Breville chopper to chop the chillies - it makes it so much quicker.

This is a mega yummy version of sweet chilli sauce - my Dad uses it on everything! What makes it even better is there are no yucky perservatives.

Ingredients:
250g fresh chillies chopped
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups white vinegar
10 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon green ginger grated
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan
Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes until thick
Pour into sterilised jars or bottles and seal

Keeps for up to 2 years (if you don't eat it all 1st)

Roast Chicken

Simple yet delicious. A roast chicken should be plump and juicy.

Ingredients:

1 free range whole chicken
1 fresh lemon or preserved lemon slices
Butter

Method:

1. Rinse the inside of the chicken
2. Place the lemon inside the chicken cavity
   
3. Push slices of butter between the skin and the breast meat of the chicken - don't be too shy. Then rub a bit more butter over the skin of the chicken.
4. Cook in an oven or weber according to size and/or directions for your appliance.
5. To check if chicken is cooked: juices will run clear at the leg joint

Recipe by Katherine Quirke

Veal in Cream Sauce

Rich, creamy and lovely for special occasions. I developed this recipe some 20 years ago after eating something similar in a cafe' in Liverpool (Sydney). Don't substitute the veal for beef it will not be anywhere near as good.

Ingredients:

4 veal schnitzel steaks
Plain seasoned flour
1 tbsp olive oil
Splash of white wine
1/4 cup cream
1/4 tsp Worcester Sauce
2 shallots sliced
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cut each of the veal schnitzels into 2 or three pieces.
2. Coat each piece of veal in the seasoned flour
3. Heat oil in pan and cook veal until brown but not quite cooked through. Set aside
   
4. Take the pan off the heat and add a splash of white wine and cook for 1 minute scraping the brown pieces from the pan
5. On a low heat add the cream and Worcester Sauce. Simmer for 1 minute
6. Add the shallots
7. Season with salt and pepper
   
8. Simmer for 2-4 minutes then add back veal and heat through. Ensure all the veal is coated.

Serve this over pasta or rice with a side of fresh green vegetables in season.

Recipe created by Katherine Quirke

Broccoli Soup

Too much broccoli? Don't despair.

This current crop I have made 3 pots of this soup so far. At the time of writing this we have harvested over 5 kilos of broccoli over a 2-3 month period.

It quite possibly sounds awful - broccoli soup - we even turned our nose up at the thought. But when you have working on a budget and you have an abundance of broccoli you overcome any doubt and give it a crack. We have been pleasantly surprised.

Even though we are in Spring this soup is a great super quick nutrious meal with a warm bread roll (home made). The 3rd pot will make it to the freezer this time.

At the time of this posting I used the last of shop purchased garlic (can't waste it) and shop purchased onions (ours are not ready yet). Because of time constraints I did not have any home made chicken stock so I used the Massel brand of stock cube because it is the most natural one on the market. If you don't use home made chicken stock keep the salt you add to a minimum.

This recipe is my adaption from a recipe by Sophia Young published on www.taste.com.au

Ingredients (serves 3)

• 1 1/ tbsp olive oil
• 1 onions, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 (200g) potato, cut into 3cm pieces
• 500g broccoli, stem and all - particularly if it fresh from your garden
• 1/4 cup (125ml) pouring cream
• Parsley chopped
• Season with Salt and Pepper to taste
  

Method

1. Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan over low-medium heat and cook onions, garlic for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and 5 cups chicken stock and bring to the boil. Add broccoli and simmer for 10 minutes or until just tender. Cool slightly then blend in the pot using a stick blender or in batches in a conventional blender.
   
2. Reheat. Stir in cream and season to taste with pepper.

Note: If you are freezing this soup do not add the cream until ready to reheat.

Source

Notebook: - July 2006, Page 113

Recipe by Sophia Young

Free Form Chicken Pies

Having picked a huge bounty of carrots and celery from our garden something had to be done to enjoy it.

This is a really basic mixture for quite literally free form pies. Quick and easy with the produce at hand.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
5 Chicken thigh fillets diced
2 medium carrots diced (ours are the heirloom tri-colour so they add great colour to the filling)
1 large stick of celery diced
2 medium leeks finely sliced
Splash of white wine (optional)
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs (or a handful of mixed fresh herbs from garden)
500ml good quality hot chicken stock (or a Massel Chicken Stock cube in 500ml hot water)
1 tbsp potato flour
Pre-packaged quality puff pastry sheets

Method:

Add olive oil to pot and heat. Add chicken pieces and brown. Remove from pot.

If little or no olive oil left in pot add a splash more, heat and add carrots, celery and leeks. Stir until leeks have started to soften. Add mixed herbs.

Add the splash of white wine if using and scrape any remaining pieces of the chicken from the bottom of the pot. Simmer for a 1 minute.

Add chicken back to the pot and stir in well. Add 2/4 of the chicken stock. Cover pot and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile add potato flour to a little of the chicken stock and mix well.

After 30 minutes add the pototo flour mixture to the chicken and stir in well. As it thickens add a little more chicken stock. Simmer for another 5 minutes. You want the mixture to be very very thick but you should be still able to stir it.

Take off the heat and leave to cool for 15 minutes at least.

Meanwhile take 5 sheets of puff pastry and leave to defrost ensuring they are covered to stop drying out.

When pastry is defrosted cut each sheet in half or quarters depending on the size of pie you would like.

Place filling on one half and place the other half on top sealing the edges. Don't overfill. Stab a few holes in the top. Brush lightly with milk.

Place on a baking sheet and pop into an oven at 200 c until the pastry is brown and flaky - about 20 minutes.

Any leftovers can be frozen uncooked for later. They can be then cooked from frozen allowing extra time to finish.

Recipe by Katherine Quirke