Category Archives: Main Courses

Speedy Lamb Ragu Recipe

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Lamb Ragu

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~ Calvin Trillin

Roast dinners are popular on the farm, especially when I have a crowd to feed. And if I’m lucky, we’ll end up with leftovers.

This is a speedy dinner that makes the most of leftover roast lamb. You could also substitute other roast meats, but the flavour combination with the lamb is well worth trying. The capers and olives give a subtle salty complexity, and the stock helps make the sauce satiny smooth.

It takes fifteen minutes from kitchen to table, twenty if you get fancy and make a salad to go alongside. I usually serve this with pasta, but it tastes great over rice. If you’re following a paleo, grain-free or low-carb diet, shred and lightly cook some cabbage or other greens as a base.

Ingredients (Serves 2 hungry adults)

1 tablespoon of olive oil or ghee, 1 x onion, 4 x garlic cloves, 2 x tablespoons capers – drained, 1/2 cup of olives – drained, 1 x tin of diced tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon x dried Italian herbs, 1 cup of good chicken or vegetable stock, 1 cup of cubed left-over roast lamb, or an equivalent amount of lamb steak, pan-fried and sliced into strips.

*Fresh parsley and parmesan cheese to serve.

This is an easy recipe to pad out – just add in a little extra meat, another can of tomatoes, and a spoonful or two more of the capers and olives.

**Note – Vegetarians and Vegans can happily substitute tempeh or some big fat mushroom slices in place of the lamb.

Method:

Get your water on for the pasta or start your rice cooking…

Dice your onion and finely chop the garlic and place with the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Leave to soften over a medium heat for a minute or two while you chop your left-over roast lamb into small cubes.

When your onion and garlic is fragrant and translucent add your capers into the pan and fry briefly. Then add the olives and stir for another minute.

Fry off onion, garlic and capers

Dump in the tin of tomatoes, stock, herbs and lamb.  Stir well and then leave to simmer over a medium to low heat for ten minutes.

Add in all other ragu ingredients

Serve over pasta, rice or vegetables.  Good with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and some fresh shallots or finely diced parsley on top. (I used shallots because a naughty cow broke into my garden and gobbled up my parsley!) This meal goes well with crusty bread or a simple salad too. Enjoy!

Lamb Ragu with Pasta

Pumpkin Soup Recipe and the Writing Disease

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If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. ~ Anais Nin

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~ Ray Bradbury

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway

I’m deep in a story right now.  Whenever writing grabs me by the throat like this I forget to eat, it becomes too much bother to cook, and when I do suddenly remember that I’m hungry I want something I can eat fast. It’s like an illness, this kind of writing. I breathe story, dream story, bleed story.  It’s all I can think about. Food? Yeah, when my stomach aches and grumbles I want to eat something that fills me up and nurtures me, but that also lets me get back to work again with a minimum of fuss.

The answer to my problem is soup!

I like to make an industrial-sized vat of the stuff, so that there is plenty to feed me, and anyone else who happens to be around, for at least one meal. In truth, if there is enough soup, and enough bread, I can exist in this writerly state for days…

My soup of choice today happens to be pumpkin.  Why? I have a triffid-like  jap pumpkin vine taking over my vegetable garden.  Jap pumpkin is sweet and buttery, easy to cut, and a great all-rounder in the kitchen. Once this writing frenzy subdues a little I might whip up a batch of pumpkin scones and share that recipe with you too.

Of course I also got to leave my desk and wander up the hill to pick a pumpkin, and some shallots (green onions) for my soup. I already had garlic hanging in the laundry from summer’s harvest.  Gardening is a very healthy and grounding pastime for writers!

Pumpkin Soup Ingredients:

Vary the quantity to suit the size of your crowd, but for four hearty serves you’ll need half a jap pumpkin (about 4 to 6 cups of flesh – you can also use any other kind of pumpkin with good flavour), a large onion, two bay leaves, stock (at least two cups, or a quality stock powder and some water – if I have none of my own stock in the freezer I use Massel brand chicken style stock – great flavour and it’s 100% vegan!) 3 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to season, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of honey.

To serve you’ll also need some good bread for toast, some plain yoghurt or sour cream (if you’re vegan or dairy-free try coconut yoghurt!), and some fresh herbs such as green onion, chives, coriander (cilantro) or parsley.

Method:

Take a large saucepan.  Peel and chop your onion and garlic roughly. Then skin and de-seed your pumpkin and chop into chunks. Dump into the saucepan with the onion and garlic.  Barely cover with stock, or a good stock powder and water.  Season with some salt and pepper, and add in the cumin and bay leaves.  Bring to boil and then reduce heat, cover with a lid and simmer for twenty minutes. Take off the heat, and allow to cool a little.

If you have a stick blender you can puree the soup directly in the pot.  Otherwise transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Return to a saucepan to reheat.  Test seasoning, and adjust if required, adding honey if necessary.

To serve, ladle into a bowl.  Add a dollop of sour cream or natural yoghurt and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.  serve with hot buttered toast. Enjoy!  ❤

Feel motivated to grow your own pumpkins or herbs? It’s easier than you think. Maybe this will inspire you:

Slow-Cooked Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe

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Spaghetti bolognese – a firm favourite in our house.  Sorry about the steam obscuring this pic – did I mention it’s cold here?

It’s been a cold, wet week at my farm. One of my favourite easy dinners in this sort of weather is home-cooked spaghetti bolognese. When we come in from the paddocks at the end of the day, all muddy and cold, there’s nothing better than a hot shower to warm back up, and then a bowl of spag bol in front of the fire, with a glass of red wine. It’s a great meal for feeding a crowd, or a cohort of hungry workers!

My grandmother taught me this recipe, and taught me that the secret is the slow cooking. I usually make the sauce during the day and simmer it for at least a couple of hours – the longer the better as it gives the bolognese sauce a divine, silky richness.

Ingredients:

500g lean beef mince, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, one stick of celery, 1/2 capsicum (bell pepper), 2 bay leaves, olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary and basil) *note – if you can’t get this blend use oregano, 1 cup of mushrooms, 2  x 400g tins of diced tomatoes, 1 empty tomato tin of water, 1 heaped teaspoon stock powder, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, 1 cup of red wine.

500g of dried spaghetti, and some parmesan cheese to serve. This will give four hearty serves, or six moderate serves.

♥ The meat I’m using is our own organic beef, and the onion, garlic, celery, capsicum and parsley have all come from the vegetable garden.  I’m also using some home-grown zucchini and field mushrooms from a neighbour instead of pasta for my own dinner!  There is something very satisfying about eating food that has been sourced locally, or grown by us.

Method:

Finely chop the onion, garlic, capsicum (bell pepper), celery, mushrooms and parsley. Put a large heavy-bottomed saucepan on to low heat.  Add a slug of olive oil and cook the garlic, onions, celery and capsicum until fragrant but not coloured.  Add in the meat, turn the heat to medium and brown off the mince, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon.  Season well with the herbs, salt and pepper.

Add in the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock powder, sugar, mushrooms, bay leaves, vinegar, water and wine. Stir well to combine.  Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer, and slow cook the sauce, stirring occasionally for two to three hours or until the sauce has reduced and thickened.  Keep an eye on it, and if it looks like it is drying out, add a little more water or another slurp of wine!

To serve, cook your pasta until al dente.  Drain and place a generous portion of meat on top of each plate or bowl of pasta.  Grate or shave a little fresh parmesan cheese over the sauce.  This meal goes well with a crisp green salad and some crusty bread.  You may also like to drink the remainder of the red wine.

Fresh crusty sourdough baguette – perfect with dinner! (And the cook maybe ate one or two pieces with butter and vegemite as a pre-dinner snack…)

My lazy salad is a bag of greens from the Byron Bay Farmers Markets with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Low carb/gluten free option: Grill a large field mushroom per person.  A few slices of zucchini (courgette) are also good.

Grilled vegetables are a great low carb, gluten-free alternative to pasta

Top with the Bolognese sauce, and some cheese, if desired.

I often cook a double batch of the bolognese sauce, as it freezes really well.  The mince is  delicious on toast for breakfast (or lunch), and is also good for stuffed baked potatoes.  I sometimes substitute the mince for the beans in this easy recipe, so that it becomes Easy Italian Bake.  Enjoy!

Virtual Vegan Potluck – Creamy Satay Hotpot Recipe

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Welcome to the Virtual Vegan Potluck: bringing vegan food bloggers together to share a virtual potluck, linked by a blog circle – and our love of cooking, eating and sharing. Participating bloggers will be posting recipes – from appetizers to desserts.  Many Blessings to Annie from the wonderful blog an unrefined vegan for bringing us all together.

Links for the entire Potluck at the bottom of this post. You don’t have to be a vegan to join in – the Potluck is all about fantastic healthy recipes celebrating plant-based foods.  Something for everyone!

I have served this vegan recipe at my spiritual and psychic workshops for many years, where it is lovingly referred to as ‘Slop in a Pot’. No matter how big a quantity I make it is always gobbled up.

This dish is great grounding food (not sure what grounding is, or how to do it – click here), and it really nurtures your base, sacral and solar plexus chakras. It is also light enough energetically to allow you to make strong psychic connection while staying in that grounded space.  Needless to say, I eat this kind of food often when I am working!

It’s one of those fantastic recipes, where, once you get the hang of it, can be easily modified to suit whatever ingredients you have to hand. I have often served it to great compliment from people who had no idea (and still probably don’t!) that it was meat-free.

Note to those people with peanut allergies: I have also made this recipe with roasted macadamia nut paste in place of peanut butter. It still tasted heavenly, and the macadamias bring out a real sweetness in the dish. If you choose to use macadamias don’t use strong flavoured beans, tempeh or chick peas as the macadamia flavour will be overpowered.

Ingredients to serve four:

Sauce: One can of coconut cream, 1/2 can of water (you may need a little more), 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 heaped tablespoons peanut butter, 1 tablespoon palm sugar or equivalent sweetener, 2 tablespoons of your favourite curry powder, 2 large garlic cloves chopped finely, 1/2 inch of fresh root ginger grated (or use powdered ginger to taste), juice of half a lemon or lime, one sliced chilli or chilli powder to your taste (optional for those who prefer a milder flavour), one tablespoon of oil – coconut is great, but use whatever you have to hand.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add curry powder and stir well, then pour in coconut cream.  Mix well.  Add all other sauce ingredients, stirring well after each addition.  Adjust seasoning if required. Then add water to thin down sauce. (Hint – this sauce is also delicious on its own, drizzled over steamed, baked or barbequed vegetables, or cooled and spooned over a crunchy salad – just don’t add the extra water, so that it stays thick and rich.)

Vegetables: Two washed potatoes – skin on, one large carrot, one onion, one cup each  (or your best guess) of sweet potato and pumpkin, 2 cups of quick cooking fresh seasonal vegetables such as capsicum (peppers) corn, beans, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower etc

Additional protein: You can add a cup of cubed tofu or tempeh to this dish if you are looking to add more protein. Chickpeas also work delightfully well.

Chop all vegetables. Add root vegetables to the pot and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes on a slow simmer. Add more water if needed. Stir pot occasionally to prevent mixture sticking on the bottom. Check that the root vegetables are almost cooked before adding remainder of vegetables and any proteins that need to heat through. Cook for another five minutes or so until everything is done to your linking.  Remove from heat.

Garnish: While root vegetables are cooking dry roast a cupful of raw cashew nuts and set aside. Cut the other half of the lemon or lime into wedges. Chop some fresh coriander (cilantro) and a chilli (if you like things hot!)

Place a generous serve of rice in the bottom of a bowl, and then spoon the satay vegetables over the top.  Garnish with the toasted cashews, some coriander (cilantro) and chilli slices, and a wedge of lemon or lime. Enjoy! Namaste ♥ xx

To start at the beginning of the Virtual Vegan Potluck so that you can enjoy all the recipes and fun click here!

To visit the blog that precedes mine in the potluck click the image below:

To read the blog that follows mine in the potluck click the image below:

Psychic Dogs and Chicken Recipes

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Yes, I know that is rather a strange title, but I promise there’s a link! I have been in Brisbane for over a week, and I’m feeling long overdue to return to my farm. There are a few things I need to tidy up this morning before I go, then I shall pack the ute and begin the 2 hour drive home for a relaxing rural weekend.

My husband came up to Brisbane a few days ago with the dogs.  The dogs are not so fussed on city life. They usually sleep for the first day, and then go slowly mad from boredom.  After life on a farm, who can blame them? Bert, the younger dog has taken to dropping tennis balls on my face to wake me up in the morning, just in case I feel like playing…

This morning there were no tennis balls. When I opened the bedroom door both dogs rushed down the stairs, spent a minimum of time in the backyard (the dog ablution equivalent of a 60-second shower) and then raced back inside and sat glued to the front door.  They know we’re going home.  They always know when we’re going home.  They won’t move from the door now until we call them to come jump into the ute.

Dogs just know stuff.  No-one tells them.  They just know.  Yesterday a friend sat on my couch in great emotional distress.  Both dogs came over to her and sat beside her like bookends, offering her comfort and love.  They knew, before she’d even said anything, that there was something wrong.

Dogs are psychic. Cats too. Years ago, Charlie, my faithful old blue heeler, would know when my husband was arriving into Brisbane.  My husband worked as a pilot then.  Often his plane might be delayed, or arrive early. I never relied on his work roster. I would wait for a phone call after he had landed so I could go pick him up.

Charlie knew when Ben was coming, every time, even if to me it seemed wildly off the mark.  About a half hour before my husband’s plane landed he would begin to get excited and a little agitated.  He’d run to the front door and then back to me. Finally, as my husband’s plane was taxiing in after touchdown, he would put his head on my knee or nudge me until I followed him to the door.  After a while I stopped waiting for the phone call and just went by what Charlie told me.  He never got it wrong!

So now my dogs are sitting patiently at the front door, waiting to go home.  There’s no point in telling them otherwise, although we won’t be departing for a few hours yet.  There is no way they’ll give up their position looking out over the street.  They might miss something.  Or we might sneak away…

While we’re waiting I’m going to cook a chicken dish that is always better slow-cooked and even more fantabulous on its second heating.  That way when I get home tonight I can grab some salad from my vegetable garden, roast a few vegies, heat up my chook (that’s Australian slang for chicken btw!) and I’m set for a delicious dinner with a minimum of fuss.

Pigga’s Amazing Chicken with Olives and Capers (named in honour of a friend, who shared the initial recipe with me! Thanks Geoff xx)  

Ingredients: One kilogram of organic free-range chicken pieces, one can of organic diced tomatoes, a cup of chicken stock, 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, one tablespoon of tomato paste, 100 grams of capers – well drained, 1 cup of olives – kalamata work well but go with what you have, a big handful of fresh parsley – chopped, salt and pepper. (I also often chuck in a handful of home-grown tomatoes that are a bit past slicing/salad stage and need to be used up.)

Method: Heat a slug of olive oil in a wide frypan, add the capers and fry until a little crisp.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set to one side.  Add a little more oil if necessary and brown your chicken in batches, making sure it has a nice golden tone to the skin.  Place chicken pieces into a slow cooker or a suitable size casserole dish. (I’m using an old enamel roasting pan for ease of transportation!)

Now add the garlic to the pan where you fried the chicken, stir until it is fragrant, and then dump in the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and half the parsley.  Bring to the boil and season with salt and pepper. Let it bubble away for a few minutes, but check it doesn’t catch on the bottom.  Add olives and capers.  Reduce heat and simmer a few minutes and then pour over chicken to cover.  Cover.  Slow cook this for two hours, or in a slow (160 degrees celcius) oven for 1 and a 1/2 to 2 hours. Sprinkle remaining parsley over to serve.

Serve with a leafy green salad and some crusty bread, or for a gluten-free meal, some rice, mash, or my favourite – roast vegetables.

Baked pumpkin and potato.  To cook simply wash your potatoes and dry, and cut the potatoes and pumpkin into chunks. ( I use a butternut pumpkin and leave the seeds in and skin on!)  Brush with some olive oil, and spinkle with sea salt and cumin. I also quite like some smoked paprika or chilli flakes/peri peri on my pumpkin.  Bake in a slow oven 1 and a 1/2 hours, or one hour in a moderate oven (180 degrees celcius).  Here’s one I prepared earlier! (And ate, if truth be told…)

The chicken can be easily reheated in a moderate oven and takes about 35 minutes to heat up.  Just check it after 30, in case it needs more time to be warmed right through. If we’ve been out on the farm doing cattle work, I’ll leave it in a very slow oven, safe in the knowledge that if we come home an hour later than planned it will still be delicious and moist.

Enjoy your weekend!  Much love to you ♥ xx

Spicy Calamari Stir Fry Recipe

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I find cooking to be one of the most grounding and nurturing activities in my sometimes crazy life. This is a fantastically easy and tasty recipe that works equally well for squid/calamari, firm white fish fillets, tofu, chicken or pork. Pair it with a white wine, beer or a smoky tea. And please think about where your food comes from. Organic,free-range, local and seasonal produce is always best.

This recipe will provide three generous serves, or four if you are not ravenous. It’s not a hard and fast kind of a recipe – so feel free to vary quantities and ingredients to suit yourself.

Ingredients for marinade: One big teaspoon of honey, the juice of a freshly squeezed lime or lemon, an inch of ginger knob grated or finely chopped, two cloves of garlic crushed, 1/3 of a cup of soy sauce, a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice powder (buy it ready-made or make your own with this easy recipe)  If you like chilli, feel free to add some in to your taste requirements.

Method: Mix all ingredients together in a large shallow bowl, big enough to hold the scored squid or other meat/tofu.

To prepare Calamari for marinade: Take your cleaned calamari (squid tubes) and use a knife to open them out flat, cutting into two halves along the natural seams. Score the inner surface in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut all the way through.  Lay each piece in the marinade, coating well.  Leave for one hour or more, returning to refrigerator.

***Timing Hint:  This is great served with steamed rice, so get that going before you assemble the rest of the dish.  The actual cooking time for the vegetables is ten minutes tops, and the calamari takes about two minutes on either side on the barbeque or on a heated griddle pan. So just before you add in your soft vegetables/leaves to the stir fry, make sure you’ve cooked your calamari so it’s ready to go when you need it.

To cook the Calamari:  Heat your barbeque or a heavy bottomed skillet or griddle. Oil if necessary.  Put the pieces onto the hot grill.  Don’t worry if they curl up.  After two minutes turn.  After another two minutes remove from heat.  Don’t cook too long or it will be chewy rather than tender.  If you’re unsure test a bit. Slice into rings ready to add to the vegetables.

Note – If you have a husband like mine, who is “in charge of the barbeque”, he may end up taking credit for this dish, even if his only job was heating the grill and turning the prepared product!

Stir Fried Vegetable Ingredients: If you are on a low carb diet use around six to eight cups of chopped/sliced mixed vegetables. Four will be fine if you intend to eat this with rice.  Sticking with my personal philosophy of fresh and seasonal, I am using a little over 2 cups of fresh button mushrooms, (knowing that I will eat some while they are cooking!), 2 large bok choi and some fresh spinach straight from my garden, and two sticks of celery. You also need a knob of butter, a teaspoon of sesame oil if you have it, a teaspoon of cornflour, two cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped, an inch or so of peeled ginger root sliced finely, some water, pepper, a handful of cashew nuts, and a slurp of soy sauce.

Method:  In a large fry pan, heat the butter with a quarter cup or so of water, then dump in the mushrooms, garlic and ginger.  Use a high heat and stir often. Don’t be afraid to add more water if the pan dries out. Use the picture below as a guide to the liquid levels you need. You want to saute the mushrooms until they take on the flavours of the garlic and ginger. Feel free to eat a few as you go! Grind a little pepper over the top to taste.  (Sadly, after this pic was taken I had to add another large cup of mushrooms because I had already eaten so many!)  I must also add that this particular dinner tasted extra good because my friend Carly-Jay Metcalfe, our visiting poet, did most of the stirring in this stir fry!

Now add any firm vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower that will take a little longer to cook.  Lastly add the vegetables that will cook in a flash, like Asian greens, snow peas, asparagus etc. as well as your sesame oil. Stir well over a high heat. Check the liquid in the pan.  Add the cornflour to a 1/2 cup of water, mix well and then stir through to thicken the pan juices. Add a slurp of soy sauce for some saltiness, and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime.

Dump in your calamari and the cashews and stir to combine.  Remove from heat. Serve with rice or on its own.

Garnish:   A wedge of lemon or lime is a nice touch.  I would have added some chopped coriander (cilantro) on top as a garnish, but our resident wild mumma wallaby and her baby ate it all! (see picture to left)  As fast as it shoots back they mow it to the ground.

Herb Thieves: The wallabies are too cute for me ever to be mad at them, no matter how much of my garden they nibble.  Enjoy!