Turkey Patties

Hello my lovelies!

It's been a long time, I know. And yes, I know I was meant to be working on another cookbook, but it just hasn't happened. It's time to accept the fact that I've taken on too much this year, and I just can't fit that in too. Perhaps next year.

Anywho, the lovely folks at Crozier's Turkeys asked me to try out their new Turkey Pattie recipe and see what I thought, so I'm going to share that with you today. Super easy to make, ingredients you can find easily, and a flavour that's just delish! 

Rosemary and Thyme Turkey Patties

Serves 4 - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

500g Croziers Truly Free Range Turkey Mince
1Tbsp Dried Rosemary
1Tbsp Dried Thyme
1Tbsp Garlic Granules
1Tbsp Onion Flakes
6Tbsp Sunflower Seed Meal (see below)
1 Medium Egg
1/2 C Grated Carrot
1/2 C Chopped Spinach
Salt and Pepper

*To make sunflower seed meal, blitz sunflower seeds in your food processor/nutri bullet/coffee grinder

**You can also use frozen spinach.

Mix all ingredients together and form into patties - I got 11 out of the mix, though you could make them bigger and do 8.

Place on a greased oven proof tray and cook at 180C for about 25 minutes, turning once.
Alternatively, add a little splash of oil to a pan and cook on the stovetop.

Serve with cranberry sauce or aioli for dipping.

These had such a lovely earthy flavour from the herbs, and everyone loved them! If you haven't already, check out Crozier's Turkeys here. They are the only truly free range turkey farm in New Zealand. 

Have a great weekend everyone, and happy cooking!

Home made creamed corn

Hello my lovelies!

I have some news! So, as per usual, over the holiday season I overindulged in delicious food, and now my waistline is feeling it! The hubster came home from work one day, saying that they were going to have a 'biggest loser' competition at work, so, me being the supportive wife that I am, I decided to embark on a journey of weight loss with him. It's been two weeks so far, and I've lost 3.2kg which I'm pretty proud of :)

While we were out on our walk this morning, a thought popped into my head. Why not write a new recipe book, based on low cal, high flavour foods? I've tried recipes over the years that have been rather bland, and I can tell you, as a foodie, I need the flavour. So, over the next few weeks/months, I'm going to work on some new recipes with lower calories, but still a great flavour, to put into a cookbook :)

Now, for my recipe (and one that will be in the cookbook),

Homemade Creamed Corn

serves 4

5 fresh corn cobs
1 small onion, diced
1/2 a red capsicum, diced
1 clove crushed garlic
I Tbsp butter

*this recipe does involve a little bit of splatter, so an apron is recommended*

Firstly, peel the outer layers off the corn cobs, and make sure you snap off the knobbly bit at the end so you have a flat surface to work with. Stand the cob on a cutting board, and using a large, sharp knife, slice down each side to remove the corn kernels.

Now for the messy part. Turn your knife around, so that the blunt side is against the corn husk, and slide it down the cob to get the 'corn milk' from inside.

This is what it should look like when you're done

Do this for each corn cob and add to a large bowl.

Finely dice your onion and add to a large frying pan with the butter. Fry for a minute before adding the garlic.

Dice your capsicum and add to the bowl with the corn.

Once onion has softened, pour the bowl of corn into the pan, making sure to scrape out all the milky bits - this is what makes it creamy.

Season with salt and pepper, and add about 1/3C water. Cover and simmer for approx 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If it starts to stick, add a little more water and give it a stir.

Serve this on toast or as a side dish.

There you have it, my first low cal recipe! I will keep y'all updated on the progress of the book as I go. But for now, enjoy your weekend, and happy cooking!

Turkey!

Hello, my lovelies!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year! I had a busy few days cooking my first crispy roast duck, an 11kg ex breeder turkey (you can get these from Crozier's Turkeys), a risotto, soup and pie made out of the leftover turkey! So today, I'm going to share a few of those recipes with you :)

First off, this was my first attempt at cooking an ex breeder turkey so I wasn't entirely sure of cooking times. I did mine for 10 hours, though I think 8-9 would've been enough.

Here's what I did:

Pull turkey out of fridge ahead of time to bring it back up to room temperature. Preheat oven to full blast while you make the stuffing.

Pork and fruit stuffing

500g pork mince
diced onion
garlic, crushed
breadcrumbs - fresh or dried
cranberries
dried apricots, sliced
egg
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a pan and slowly fry onion and garlic until soft. Dice cranberries and apricots and add to the pan. If using fresh breadcrumbs, add them too to soak up some of that flavour. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix pork with onion and fruit mix, egg and season with salt and pepper.

Separate around a third of the mix for the turkey, and place the rest in a greased ovenproof dish. Add a few slices of orange/mandarin on top and set aside until the turkey is cooked.

Stuff the third in the turkey neck, then wrap the skin back over it.

Turkey

Firstly, remove giblets and give the bird a rinse.

You want to keep the turkey off the bottom of the tray so it's not sitting directly in the juices. To do this, place an onion (chopped in chunks), some carrots and garlic cloves in the tray along with the turkey neck. Sit the turkey on top.

Now, to keep the moisture in, you can either rub butter over the skin, or using the back of a spoon, push a gap between the skin and the meat and push the butter in there. Season the bird with salt and pepper.
Place a chopped mandarin in the cavity along with a sprig of rosemary.
Cover the entire bird in tinfoil and pop in the oven, turning down to 180C for a store bought bird or 160C for an older bird. You want to allow around 45 minutes per kilo, and allow resting time too.

An hour before your bird is ready, remove the foil and if you like, add some bacon strips across the bird before placing back in the oven.

When it is done, set the bird on a dish/tray and cover with tinfoil and a couple of tea towels. This will keep the heat in. I rested mine for 2 hours and it was still piping hot.

While that is resting you can get onto your gravy and cooking those roast veggies!

Turkey risotto (based on Jamie Oliver's risotto recipe)

leek
onion
carrot
leftover turkey meat
half a pack of arborio rice
splash of rose wine
chicken/turkey stock
cream cheese
butter
parmesan
leftover gravy

Heat a pan with oil, or if you saved any of the turkey flavoured butter (from roasting) you can use that for an extra flavour kick. Add diced onion, carrot and leek to the pan and cook until softened.

Meanwhile, heat a pot of chicken stock or use turkey stock if you've managed to cook up your bones already ;) You'll need approx 4-5 cups of stock.

Add rice to the onion and stir through to coat. Splash a bit of rose or white wine in the pan and cook for a minute or two.
Slowly ladle stock into the pan, one ladle at a time. You want to make sure the first lot is soaked up before you add the next one. It takes a bit of time, but it's worth it, trust me. You don't need to constantly stir, but you do need to keep an eye on it, stirring before each ladle is added.

When the rice is fluffy and tender, add one final splash of stock and remove from heat. Stir through around 25g butter, a large dollop of cream cheese and around 1/3C grated parmesan.

To top this off, make a small well in the centre of each dish and pour in some leftover gravy - this really adds a boost and makes the dish!

There you go, a few recipes to try next Christmas, or perhaps at your next mid-winter get together :) I hope you have a great week!  Happy cooking!

Stuffed Capsicum and Salad

Hey, my lovelies!

How's everything going?  I hope you're all organised for Christmas!  I've got a duck chilling in the fridge for tomorrow night, and a huge turkey defrosting in the fridge at my parent's place for our second Christmas in a few days time :)  (And yes, I plan on sharing those meals too)

Anywho, tonight I made some yummy stuffed capsicums and a simple salad for dinner, and I finally remembered to take pics!  So, here's what I did:

Stuffed Capsicum

Small capsicums - however many you require. I used red, though I'm sure the other colours would work just as well.
Mince
Onion
Garlic
Courgette
Carrot
Coconut oil

Preheat oven to 180C
Heat the oil in a frying pan while you dice the onion. Toss that in the pan with two cloves of crushed garlic and cook until softened.
Add mince and break up. Cook until browned.
Add diced carrot and courgette - or any other vegetables you have on hand - and mix through.  I had a little bit of a Beefy Mince flavour sachet leftover from another day, so I mixed some of that through, however, you could use tinned tomatoes or your favourite spice mixes - Chinese five spice would be nice.
Leave to cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, chop tops off the capsicums, remove seeds, and place into a baking dish - you may need to pack them in tightly so they don't fall over.
Scoop spoonfuls of mince mix into each capsicum and place lid back on.  Pop in the oven and cook for around 20 minutes - more if they are larger capsicums.
Remove from oven and sprinkle grated parmesan and cheddar on top then place back in oven for a further 5 - 10 minutes to melt.

Serve with a salad.

Salad

Iceberg lettuce
Grated cheese
Blueberries
Tomatoes, chopped
Balsamic vinegar.

Wash and chop lettuce, spreading across a platter.
Chop tomatoes and dot around the platter, along with blueberries.
Grate cheese over top.
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

*You could also use strawberries and/or grapes, and feta in place of grated cheese for something different.

There you go! I yummy summery meal for you to share with your loved ones :) I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas! Happy cooking!

Satay Turkey Meatloaf

Hello my lovelies!

As you know, I was challenged to make some meals with Crozier's Turkey mince, and this time, I made a turkey meatloaf and served it with a brown rice and quinoa salad.  It was delicious!

Here's what I did:

Satay Turkey Meatloaf

500g free range turkey mince
1 small onion, diced
1/2C fresh breadcrumbs
2Tbsp peanut butter, I used a smooth one
1Tbsp soy sauce

Combine all ingredients in a bowl
Form into a loaf shape and place in a baking dish
Bake at 180C for approximately one hour.

*If you like, you can brush a small dollop of BBQ sauce over top about half an hour before taking out of the oven.

Brown Rice and Quinoa Salad

1C brown rice and quinoa mix
corn kernels
capsicum
sun-dried tomato feta

1Tbsp lemon juice
1Tbsp soy sauce
2Tbsp olive oil

Cook brown rice and quinoa according to packet.
Chop capsicum and add to bowl with corn
Drain rice and quinoa and add to the bowl
combine sauce ingredients and mix through the salad
Add crumbled feta before serving.

And there you have it!  Two fabulous dishes to enjoy with your family.
Don't forget to check out Crozier's Turkeys website.  They're the only Free-range turkey farm in New Zealand :)

Enjoy the rest of your week and happy cooking!

Turkey Meatballs!

Today, I was given a challenge to come up with a recipe using turkey mince from Crozier's Turkeys - the only truly free range turkey farm in New Zealand!  Of course, I jumped at the chance.  As most of you know, I always cook a turkey in the festive season, and the turkey's from Crozier's are amazing!  I even got the chance to take a walk around the farm and see them roaming in the paddocks.  Very cool.

Anyways, here's what I made:

Turkey Meatballs

500g turkey mince
1 small apple, grated
1/2 red onion, grated
1tsp nutmeg
small handful of parsley, chopped
season with salt

In a bowl, combine the above ingredients and mix until combined.  I like to get in there with my hands to make sure there are no clumps of anything.

Using damp hands, form small balls - I got 21 out of this batch.  Set on a plate and place in the fridge to firm while you prepare the salad.

Salad

Iceberg lettuce, washed and sliced
Capsicum, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Avocado, diced
Carrot, grated
sunflower seeds

I dressed this with a raspberry vinegar.

In a frying pan, heat a small amount of coconut oil (1tsp or less) on a medium/high heat.  Add meatballs to the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until browned.  Serve with salad and roast potatoes.

If you think this recipe sounds like something you'd like to try, make sure you head over to Crozier's Turkeys page and give them a like, grab yourself a pricelist and purchase from these fantastic free range farmers!

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this recipe :) Happy cooking!

Birthday Cake

Hello again!  Yes, I know, two posts in one day!  Crazy!

So, today was my daughter's birthday party, and you know what that means - cakes!  Now, if you have followed me for a while, you will probably recall that I seem to have a tendency to have birthday cake disasters.  This time is no different!  Though, I did manage to make them look alright in the end.

Now, my daughter chose cupcakes that looked like ice cream sundaes.  I realised that the candle we had bought was too large for a cupcake, so had to make both cupcakes and a large cake.  No big deal, right?  

So, this is what happened:

First of all, I made the cupcakes.  Just normal chocolate cupcakes, from a recipe that I've used several times.  When I spooned the mix into the cases, I realised that they wouldn't rise high enough for what I needed, so in my infinite wisdom, I decided to add a marshmallow into the centre of each one.

The problem with this, as I quickly remembered after I'd put them in the oven, is that when you heat marshmallows, they expand and then deflate, creating a crater.

Ok, so that was a bit of a fail, but I soon remedied it by placing another marshmallow on top before icing.

To make these look like ice cream sundaes, I melted white chocolate buttons, and slowly poured a dollop over the top, smoothing it around to make it look like ice cream.

Once that had set, I then melted some dark chocolate buttons, and placed a blob in the centre of each cupcake, allowing it to run a little.  I added sprinkles and an M&M to the top.
I think they turned out pretty cute, don't you?

Cuteness aside though, there may have been a tad too much chocolate, because they were a touch hard to bite through!  Oh well, I know for next time!

As for the cake.  I had high hopes for this.  I had picked a silicone cake mould in the shape of a rose, because it had the right shape to make the top of the sundae.  It also, however, had a lot of ridges in the pan, which apparently did not want to let go of said cake.  This is what it looked like:

I know what you're thinking - delicious!  Right?  Lol

As you can probably tell, it's a red velvet cake, so instead of white chocolate, I made a cream cheese icing - just because it would be wrong not to.

For anyone who hasn't made this before, you use around 1/4C cream cheese, 1/4C softened butter and around 1C icing sugar - I also like to add some lemon essence or lemon zest.

I had forgotten to buy another piping bag, so I did the old trick of cutting a corner out of a bag and using that.  I got about 3/4 of the way through before the nozzle came squeezing out and I had to rejig my bag to a different corner.  By this stage I had quite a lot of icing on my hands.

Once I managed to get that finished, I again melted some dark chocolate and poured on top - take my advice, don't do it as thick as I did - not the easiest to cut!

Before the chocolate sets, add sprinkles and M&M's or whatever you are using to decorate.  I also took this moment to stick the candle in - also probably not my best idea as it became stuck in the chocolate.  I know, I'm such a pro!

Anyways, I think it turned out alright in the end:

Anywho, I hope you've enjoyed my little ramblings, and perhaps I've inspired you to try and make your own ice cream sundae cakes :)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and Happy Cooking!