Tag: carrot

• 

  Ham Hock And Cabbage Soup Pressure Cooker

  I recently posted a slow cooker version of this ham and cabbage soup. It takes about 6 hours but it is well worth the wait. 

  If you don’t have that long or like me you have gone a bit ‘pressure cooker mad’, you might want to try this version. Once the cooker is up to pressure it takes just 20 minutes.

  

  Steps

  1. Preparing the vegetables
  2. Pressure cooking (20 mins)
  3. Pulling the ham
  4. Serving

  Equipment

  • 1 chefs knife
  • 1 vegetable peeler
  • 1 pressure cooker

  Ingredients

  • 1 ham hock
  • 1 brown onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • A handful of celery leaves, torn
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 medium cabbage, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock (or less if your pressure cooker is smaller)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

  Preparing the vegetables

  This is always the fun bit for me. 🙂

  Prepare the following ingredients and add them to the pressure cooker: 

  • 1 brown onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 3 celery stalks
  • A handful of celery leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 medium cabbage
  • 2 garlic cloves

  Just look at the colours:

  

  

  Add the 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock and pop the ham hock on top.

  Note: check your pressure cooker can handle that much liquid. 

  

  Pressure cooking (~20 mins)

  Put on the lid and set your pressure cooker to 20 minutes. Let the pressure dissipate passively if you have the time.

  

  Pulling the ham

  By now the meat should be falling off the bone. Pull the whole hock out in one go, if you can, to avoid losing any small bits of bone in the soup.

  Pull and chop the ham and add it back to the soup. Mix everything gently then add pepper and salt to taste.

  

  Serving

  Serve piping hot with garnish of choice and perhaps some crusty bread.

  

  This soup freezes well and I take it to work for the perfect snack or lunch.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are a few soup posts and I thought you might like to see a few pork posts too. 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  September 14, 2019

• 

  Insalata Di Polpo: Octopus Salad Antipasto

  The colours, textures and flavours in this dish are so amazing that I almost couldn’t  bring myself to eat it. Almost 🙂 

  

  I love the simplicity of the ingredients. All you need is some pickled baby octopus, julienned carrot and snow peas (both for crunch), some pasley/coriander and a splash of lemon.  

   

  Enjoy,

  PK

  

   

   

   

   

   

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  April 26, 2019

• 

  PK’s Moroccan Chickpea Stew With Lamb And Flatbread

  The inspiration for this North African style stew came from browsing Wikipedia for North African dishes. I pretty much started with their entry for Chakhchoukha (the picture of the dish captivated me) and worked backwards.

  Chakhchoukha is a stew of chickpeas, lamb and seasonal vegetables. It is beefed up with pieces of torn semolina flatbread. The flat bread pieces are added to the bowl and the stew ladled on top. They soak up the sauces in the most amazing way as you eat them during the meal. Then extra flat bread can be used to clean the bowl of every last bit of the amazing sauce.

  I have to mention the spices in the Moroccan spice blend. They alone have me wanting to eat my way across North Africa. The blend I used was a mixture of paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt, nutmeg, cloves and chili. It smells similar to garam masala.

  Dietary Note: Substitute the lamb with potatoes and or mushrooms to make a vegetarian version.

  

  Steps

  1. Cooking the ingredients
  2. Simmering the stew and making flatbread
  3. Serving

  Ingredients

  • 700g lamb shoulder cubed
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp chili powder (I used Kashmiri)
  • 1 tsp Moroccan spice mix
  • 1 large brown onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 zucchini, sliced
  • 400g tomatoes (canned)
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 800g chickpeas (canned)
  • Water, enough to cover the rest of the ingredients
  • Table salt to taste
  • Black peppercorns to taste, cracked
  • 1 -2 Semolina flatbread to line each individual’s bowl, roughly torn

  Equipment

  • 1 chef’s knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 pan or oven proof dish
  • 1 wooden spoon

  Cooking the ingredients

  1. Soften the diced onion somewhat and then brown the 700g cubed lamb.
  2. Gently but thoroughly mix in the:
     • 1 tsp cumin seeds
     • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
     • 1 tsp chili powder (I used Kashmiri)
     • 1 tsp Moroccan spice mix
  3. Mix in the carrot, zucchini, 400g canned tomatoes and 1 Tbsp tomato paste.
  4. Add enough water to cover everything, mix gently and bring everything to a good boil for a minute or two.

  

  

  

  

  

  Simmering the stew and making flatbread

  1. Reduce the heat and simmer (uncovered) for about 30 minutes, stirring every now and again.
  2. Add the 800g canned chickpeas and gently mix everything.
  3. Start making your flatbread now – recipe here.
  4. Simmer for another hour (uncovered) or until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced somewhat.

  

  Serving

  1. Tear  1 – 2 Semolina flatbread pieces and line each of your guest’s serving bowls.
  2. Ladle the meat and vegetables into each bowl.
  3. Top up with the gravy and serve hot.
  4. Have some extra flatbread on hand.

  

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  MORE MOROCCAN DISHES

  MORE NORTH AFRICAN CUISINE

   SEMOLINA FLATBREAD

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  August 8, 2018

• 

  PK’s Carrot Chips

  These carrot and honey chips are a great alternative to potato fries. Even little fussy eaters will munch down on them. 🙂

  

  #dinner #carrot #vegetarian #kidfriendlymeals

  Simply

  1. Cut the sides of your carrots to give you nice rectangular blocks.
  2. Cut these down further to get the chip width you like.
  3. Cover an oven tray in baking paper and coat with some olive oil spray.
  4. Lay the chips out so they are not touching each other.
  5. Drizzle with more oil, some honey and some lemon juice.
  6. Cook on 180C (fan-forced oven) for 30 minutes.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  MORE NORECIPE GOODNESS

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  June 26, 2018

• 

  PK’s Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon

  Beef Bourguignon is a very yummy and very ‘French’ slow cooked beef dish that sounds hard to make. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially if you grew up calling it Beef Burgundy. The hardest part of this recipe is waiting the 4 hours to get to eat it. 🙂 🙂

  The French sure know how to take basic peasant farm yard ingredients, the chewier cuts of meat and turn them into a meal fit for royalty.

  

   You will be:

  1. Preparing everything
  2. Boiling the wine
  3. Rendering the bacon
  4. Browning the meat
  5. Softening the vegetables
  6. Cooking low and slow
  7. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1kg (2.2lb) beef chuck steak (a bit more or less is fine too), cubed
    • 6 slices short cut bacon, cut into strips
    • 2 cups red wine (plus a splash for glazing the casserole dish)
    • 1 cup stock (any will do but I used beef)
    • A Bouquet Garni
    • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
    • A handful of dried mushrooms (or 2 of fresh)
    • 2 brown onions, peeled and sliced
    • 3 celery stalks, chopped
    • 6 baby carrots, scrubbed clean but left whole
    • 3 Tbsp duck fat
    • Salt and pepper to taste
  •  Equipment:
    • 2 chef’s knives (or 1 if you wash it after the meat)
    • 2 chopping boards
    • 1 large casserole dish or equivalent
    • 1 slow cooker
    • 1 slotted spoon

  Preparing everything

  I like to bring everything together before I start cooking. Not only does it look and smell amazing but it leads to stress free cooking.

  

  I used a handful of rough chopped dried mixed forest mushrooms (Bolets, Pleurotes and Champignons noirs). I am sorry mushroom haters (I used to be one so I understand) but the mushrooms are integral to the dish.

  

  I had already premade my Bouquet Garni bag with my go to mix of bay leaves, thyme, savoury and parsley.

  

  Boiling the wine

  1. Pop the casserole dish on the hob and slowly bring the 2 cups of red wine to the boil, keep it there for a few minutes.
  2. Turn your slow cooker on to low and transfer the wine to it when safe to do so.
  3. Also add the 1 cup of stock and the bouquet garni bag to the slow cooker.
  4. Wipe the casserole dish clean.

  

  Rendering the bacon

  1. On medium heat, add the 3 Tbsp duck fat to the casserole dish along with the 2 garlic cloves.
  2. Add bacon strips to the fat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
  3. We are trying to get the bacon fat to render down and release its flavour into the duck fat, not trying to crisp it up, so adjust the heat accordingly,

  

  Browning the beef

  1. Season the 1kg of cubed beef with salt and pepper.
  2. In batches, brown the meat in the fat and transfer to the slow cooker (using the slotted spoon) as you go.

  

  Softening the vegetables

  1. Now add the 2 brown onions, 3 celery stalks and 6 baby carrots to the casserole dish.
  2. Cook them on low heat, occasionally and very gently moving them around, until they have softened somewhat.
  3. Add them and the handful of dried mushrooms to the slow cooker.
  4. Deglaze the casserole dish with a splash of red wine and then add that to the slow cooker too.

  

  

  Cooking low and slow

  Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours, turning everything over occasionally.

  Serving

  The options are endless but I served it with some boiled peeled potatoes and garnished with parsley. Perhaps the most interesting serving idea I have seen on the internet was on a bed of flat pasta.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  BEEF DISHES

  MORE FRENCH CUISINE

  MORE SLOW COOKER POSTS

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 23, 2018

• 

  PK’s Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad

  This simple Vietnamese inspired salad could not be easier.

  Think of it as a start though and experiment every time you make it. I have said it before, Southeast Asian flavours are hard to get “perfect” but so easy to get “tasty”. The trick is in tailoring the sauce ratios to your preferences. 🙂

  Note: I marinade the beef first and then use very little in the way of sauces on the salad and noodles afterwards. Some soy sauce and I am good to go. Your options are endless though.

  

  You will be:

  1. Preparing everything
  2. Cooking the beef strips
  3. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • PK’s Vietnamese Beef Marinade #1
    • several beef scotch fillet or eye fillet (tenderloin) steaks
    • a couple of slugs of peanut oil
    • a green salad of your choice (see KT’s NoRecipe Green Salad but add things like mint leaves and coriander sprigs)
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a fry pan
    • a sauce pan or pot for the noodles
    • a bowl to marinade the beef in

  Preparing everything

  1. Earlier in the day or the night before, slice the beef steaks into strips and marinade them using something like PK’s Vietnamese Beef Marinade #1.
  2. Pop the bowl into the fridge.
  3. Closer to serving time, make a yummy green salad and drizzle with a bit of vinegar.
  4. Pull the bowl of beef strips out of the fridge to get them to room temperature just as they are going onto the barbecue or hot plate.

  

  Cooking the beef strips

  1. Chuck the noodles into a bowl of hot water and let them soften as per the instructions on the pack.
  2. Heat a fry pan, throw a couple of slugs of peanut oil in and start cooking the beef strips.

  

  Serving

  Take the meat off the fry pan and allow to cool some. Bring everything together and drizzle with some soy sauce.

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see all recipes using beef here
  • see all noodle dishes here
  • see more Southeast Asian posts here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  January 16, 2018

• 

  PK’s Easy Squid Salad

  This squid and green salad is a treat for the eyes and the taste buds. It makes a bit of squid go a long way. 🙂

  The trick is only boiling the squid rings long enough to to make them go opaque and slightly bumpy. Don’t over cook them or you will make rubber salad!

  Simply:

  Make a green salad and drizzle with a bit of balsamic.

  

  Cut your squid rings.

  

  Boil a pot of water with some citrus and herbs.

  

  Cook the squid rings for about a minute, drain and serve warm or chilled.

  Scrummy!

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more NoRecipe goodness here
  • see more cooking with squid posts here

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  January 15, 2018

• 

  PK’s Chicken And Pasta Soup

  Simply take a chicken frame or two (hopefully from the whole chicken you just deboned) and place in your slow cooker. Now add water until the frames are covered. Sometimes I also throw in a chicken leg or two (on the bone).

  Chop up a brown onion, several celery sticks and several carrots (I leave them pretty chunky) and add them to the slow cooker. Add salt and pepper to taste and a bay leaf.

  Let it cook overnight on low, if you have time, to really get a tasty broth going. By this stage the meat is falling off the bone. I pull the bones out at this point to make Bone Meal (a great source of slow release nitrogen) for my garden.

  Serving

  Just before serving I add 2 cups of pre-cooked pasta and a bit more water if needed.

  This soup freezes well so I keep several portions aside for the ultimate in thrifty work lunches 🙂

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more soup post here
  • see more slow cooker posts here
  • see more chicken posts here

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  October 15, 2017

• 

  KT’s NoRecipe Green Salad

  I used to find making salads overly time-consuming until KT taught me this simple method. It scales really well so you can make it for large gatherings just as easily.

  You start with a layer of washed and dried greens. I use a salad spinner to do this as it gets them drier than paper towel.

  Then add layers of your favourite salad ingredient.

  

  

  

  I garnished with some mizuna flowers for that something different 🙂

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more NoRecipe goodness here
  • see more salad posts here
  • see more of KT’s posts here

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  October 15, 2017

• 

  PK’s Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

  This mouth-watering dish is designed to be super thrifty and dead easy to boot. I managed to use some old tired veggies and to get a free-range chook on special. I am also happy to say it took longer to eat the dish than it did to prepare it.

  I simply took a whole chicken, patted it dry and stuffed it with a whole lemon. I then rubbed a very generous amount of garlic salt, celery salt, ground black pepper and parsley flakes into the skin. The bird then went into a slow cooker that already had a bed of roughly chopped onions, carrots, a whole garlic bulb and a cup of white wine.

  

  8 hours on low and the meat was moist and falling off the bone 🙂 . I was very pleased because chicken is a lean meat and can dry out in a slow cooker if you are not careful.

  

  

  Serving

  I served it with some extra steamed vegetables on a bed of white basmati rice.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  P.S. I have a oven variant of this recipe here.

  And here are some more chicken dishes and slow cooker recipes: 

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  September 15, 2017