Miso Maple Bacon Chowder

A cross between pea and ham soup with corn chowder plus an Asian twist!

Serves 4

2 tbsp. olive oil
400g unsmoked bacon lardons, diced
2 medium red onions, finely diced
2 tsp My Secret Kitchen Maple Caramel Sauce
1 tbsp. plain flour
325g baby new potatoes, washed & cut into 1/8 (skins on)
1 litre vegetable or ham stock
100g baby corn, sliced
75g frozen peas
4 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Miso Dressing with Ginger
150ml double cream
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the bacon until starting to brown and crisp at the edges. Add the onion and continue to sauté until the onions are brown and caramelised. Add the Maple Caramel Sauce & stir in the flour to pick up all the juices and cook for 4 minutes. Then add the potatoes along with the stock. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. Add the corn, peas and Miso Dressing with Ginger before slowly adding the cream and cook for a further 4 - 5 minutes. Serve with smoky aubergine 'toasts' and freshly ground black pepper.

Miso Chicken Noodle Soup

So easy and so quick plus a perfect pick me up when feeling a little down

Serves 4

1.5 litres good chicken stock
3 - 4 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Miso Dressing with Ginger
100g soba noodles (dry weight)
3 spring onions, washed, trimmed and chopped
50g collard greens, washed & shredded
100g oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
200g cooked chicken, chopped

Bring the chicken stock and the Miso Dressing to boil in a large saucepan. Add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients and cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve immediately

10/20/13 Sloppy ChefElla's

SLOPPY CHEFELLA'S

At school this week they served Sloppy Joe's for lunch.  After watching my friends eat their lunch I can understand why they call them sloppy.  The meat came out of their sandwich and went all over their hands, their plates, and the table.  I think that sloppy joe's are a dish best served with a lot of napkins.  Besides being messy the Sloppy Joe's looked so good.  My friends let me try some and I while they were good, they were also very sweet.  I asked my parents what was in Sloppy Joe's that make them so sweet.  The answer was sugar.  I agree that sugar tastes good, but I wanted a sloppy joe that tasted good, was good for me, and was not full of sugar.  After a few tests I came up with my own Sloppy Joe, and while I was able to make the Sloppy Joe's less sugary, I could not make them less messy.  So give them a try and enjoy your Sloppy ChefElla's

For this recipe you will need to use a knife, the stove, and a blender or food processor.  If you are not allowed to use a knife, stove or blender by yourself you can have a grown up help.

1. Wash your hands.

2. For this recipe you will need measuring spoons, a large mixing bowl, a knife, a cutting board, a large non-stick sauté pan, a rubber spatula, and a strainer.

Sloppy ChefElla's (This recipe will make 4-6 sandwiches)

Ingredients:
1 Lb.       Turkey Meat, Ground

3 ea         Tomatoes, Rough Chopped
                -Medium sized tomatoes.  You can use vine ripe or hot house tomatoes.
8oz.         White Mushrooms, Sliced

2 tsp        Salt
1/4 tsp    Onion Powder
1/4 tsp    Garlic Powder
1 tsp        Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp    Worchestershire Sauce
2 Tbl        Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3. Heat sauté pan over high heat.
4. Add ground turkey to pan and mash and break up the meat as it cooks.  When the meat is no longer
    pink it is done.

5. Put strainer over your large bowl and drain the meat in the strainer.  Do not throw away the
    drippings (the liquid from the cooked turkey).

6. Rough chop your tomatoes.  Return the sauté  pan to the stove and heat on medium.

7. Add olive oil to the pan, add mushrooms, and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes and liquid from
    sautéed turkey and simmer for 5 more minutes.

8. Put mixture into blender and add salt, onion and garlic powder, brown sugar and Worchestershire
    sauce.  Puree mixture until it is smooth.

9. Return meat and sauce to the sauté pan.  Heat on medium and bring to a simmer.  Turn off heat
    because your Sloppy ChefElla's are done.

Your Sloppy ChefElla's will not be red but more of a pink color.  This is because most Sloppy Joe's are made with ketchup and one of the biggest ingredients in ketchup is sugar.  Serve your Sloppy ChefElla's on a bun with pickles, mustard, cheese or whatever other toppings you like.  

Enjoy

- ChefElla

Beef, Fig & Date Tagine

Cooking the ingredients in a pan in batches before placing in the slow cooker is definitely worth the effort and 6 hours in the slow cooker is worth the wait!

Serves 6


2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil
350g shallots, peeled and cut in half
1.5 kgs lean braising steak
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 large carrot peeled & finely chopped
70g tomato puree
1/2 jar My Secret Kitchen Saffron Tagine Paste
180g medjool dates, pitted & roughly chopped
2 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Fig Pudding Pickle
600ml beef stock
flaked almonds and fresh coriander to garnish


Heat 1 tbsp of each of the two oils in a large saucepan and sauté the shallots until brown and starting to caramelise, this could take 10 - 15 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and place in the slow cooker. Add the meat to the saucepan in batches and brown all over before placing in the slow cooker. Put the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil into the pan and sauté the celery and carrot together before adding the tomato puree, Fig Pudding Pickle and dates. Stir and scrape up any meat and juices from the bottom of the pan before adding the stock. Add the tagine paste to the stock, mix thoroughly before pouring over the beef and shallots in the slow cooker. Cook for 6 hours on medium heat and garnish with flaked almonds, fresh coriander and serve with toasted pitta bread and natural yogurt drizzled with rose harissa.

Chicken & Saffron Tagine with Fennel and Lemon

The preserved lemons add a zesty fresh flavour to this tagine balanced with the flavours of the Saffron Tagine Paste, the sauce makes a lighter broth that partners with the buttery Wild Garlic couscous

Serves 6

6 chicken leg portions
1 tbsp. olive oil
10g butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 bulbs fennel, washed, trimmed and roughly chopped
4 preserved lemons, 3 (100g) finely chopped and 1 cut into 8 wedges
75g green olives, pitted
1/2 jar My Secret Kitchen Saffron Tagine Paste
500ml chicken stock
fresh coriander to garnish


Buttery Wild Garlic Couscous
300g couscous
375ml boiling water
2 tsp My Secret Kitchen Secret Wild Garlic Spices
40g butter, melted
pistachios to garnish
Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and brown the chicken portions on both sides to render some of the fat from the meat. Remove with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Melt the butter in the pan and brown the onions before adding the fennel and sauté gently for 5 minutes. Add the lemons and olives and then the chicken portions back to the pan. Whisk together the Saffron Tagine Paste into the chicken stock and pour over the chicken. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat and cook for 3 - 4 hours.

For the couscous, mix the couscous with the Secret Wild Garlic Spices and pour over the boiling water, cover and leave to hydrate for 10 - 15 minutes. When ready to serve, fluff the couscous with a fork and stir in the melted butter until each grain is coated and separated.

Golden Tagine with Squash & Sour Cherries

So named for its golden sunshine colours and fabulous bursts of flavours and textures.

Serves 6

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
850g butternut or coquina squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced
1 yellow pepper, de-seeded & chopped
75g yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
60g golden sultanas
75g dried sour cherries
25g pine nuts
240g can chickpeas, drained
500ml vegetable stock
1/2 jar My Secret Kitchen Saffron Tagine Paste
My Secret Kitchen Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt, to taste

Heat the oil and brown the onions gently.  Reduce the heat & continue to cook and caramelise for 15 - 20 minutes. Add the squash & cook for a further 5 mins or until starting to soften. Add the yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, golden sultanas, sour cherries,
pine nuts and chickpeas. Stir together the stock with the Saffron Tagine Paste before pouring over the vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer on a low heat for 25 - 30 minutes until the squash is tender. Use a fork to gently mash some of the squash to thicken the tagine to the required consistency. Season with Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt.

secret recipe club: chocolate snack cake

i totally agree with holly at phemomenon - sometimes all i want is a simple piece of chocolate cake and all the microwave cake recipes out there aren't cutting it. so for this month's secret recipe club, her simple chocolate snack cake is just what i was looking for. in less than 30 minutes, i was digging into an iced piece of cake. i had some cream cheese frosting in the freezer that i defrosted, whipped, and added cocoa to make it chocolate cream cheese frosting. it was delicious and i'm sure this cake would be just as good with your favorite chocolate frosting. or even some powdered sugar in a pinch.

for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the secret recipe club website!
 
check out my previous secret recipe club posts: bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes, cherry sorbet, slow cooker beans & mushrooms, mojito chicken tacos, maple glazed whole wheat spiced apple pizza, pig out cookies, pasta with blistered tomatoes & arugula and iced grapefruit cookies, mushroom barley soup, scalloped ham and potato bake & andes mint cake, chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, asian pork chops, lemon lime meltaways, blueberry peach crisp, minted lemon ice, white chocolate macadamia nut blondies, raspberry cream filled eclairs, jam swirled cheesecake, whole wheat grapefruit cake, chewy no bake granola bars & carrot cinnamon waffles, cannoli, gingerbread muffins, double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies, butterscotch peach cake, whole wheat honey pancakes, minted pineapple lime agua fresca, breakfast tacos, simple almond sandwich cookies, & roasted banana rum cake.

chocolate snack cake
adapted from phemomenon
makes 1 8x8" or 9x9" cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 Tablespoons hot water
your favorite chocolate icing. i suggest halving this chocolate ganache buttercream from alton brown.

1. preheat your oven to 350F and line an 8x8" or 9x9" baking pan with parchment paper. set aside.
2. cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. add the vanilla and egg and mix until combined.
3. add the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
4. add the vinegar and hot water and mix until combined and smooth.
5. spread into an even layer in your prepared baking pan. bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. cool on a wire rack for at least ten minutes. lift the cake out of the pan with the parchment paper to speed up cooling. cool completely before icing.