Japanese Salmon with Orzo

This is the yummiest way I've ever cooked salmon fillet! Will post a pic next time I make it! (note T = tablespoon)

Serves 4
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C Mirin
2 T grated ginger
4 T brown sugar
4 salmon fillets
(Marinate in oven proof dish for 10 mins while preparing the rest of the ingredients, salmon skin side up)

1 500gm bag of risone or orzo cooked in salted boiling water

handful of toasted pine nuts (optional)
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 packet frozen spinach (or use fresh if you prefer)

Sautee the onion and garlic in some butter. Stir through the spinach until cooked.
Bake the salmon at 250 degrees for 15 mins or until cooked to your liking (I like mine cooked through so cook for less if you like it rare in the middle).

When salmon is cooked, stir orzo through the spinach and onion mixture and reheat. Plate with the fillet served on a pile of orzo, scatter with pine nuts and tip some of the hot marinade mixture over the top. Enjoy!

Roast pears with a passionfruit caramel sauce

This is a super simple dessert with fantastic flavours. Easy to make quickly for an after work dinner party or a weekend treat. Enjoy! Tash x

Ingredients:

• Ripe pears (one per person)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• A few slithers of ginger
• Couple of star anise
• One small tin passionfruit pulp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Place the pears with sugar, water, star anise and ginger in small dish. Cover and bake for an hour.
• When pears are soft, add passionfruit to the sauce.
• Serve the pear with lashings of passionfruit sauce and a small amount of yoghurt or cream.

Chris's Lemon Yoghurt Chicken

This is an easy tasty dinner good for both summer and winter that can be served on it's own or with a nice wild rocket salad.

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken thigh fillets
• 300g natural yoghurt
• 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground tumeric
• 1 pack of slivered almonds
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped

Method:

Mix chopped garlic and spices with the yoghurt. Zest the skin of the lemons and squeeze the juice into the yoghurt mix. Stir it all together and spoon over the chicken fillets which are arranged in a baking dish. Sprinkle slivered almonds over the mix and season with pepper and salt. Squeeze remaining lemon juice over the top and bake at 150 for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked and almonds are crunchy.

Beef Curry

Rach sent this recipe through me and I have rudely made it my own. I have made it a couple of times now and have, so far, had rave reviews...

Ingredients:

• 2-3 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• oil (for the pan)
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 3 tablespoon curry powder (Keen's works well)
• 800g beef (I use rump)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 pot of tomato paste (the more the better)
• mango chutney
• cucumber slices

Method:

• Slice onions and chop garlic and saute for a few minutes until soft.
• Add ginger and curry powder to the pan and cook for a minute or so longer and then transfer to the slow cooker.
• Cut the fat from the beef and chop up. Pop in a bag filled with the flour and black pepper. Shake to mix.
• Add to the slow cooker.
• Add the soy sauce, beef stock and tomato paste and stir in.
• Put the lid on and cook for 5 hours on high or for 8-10 hours on low, stirring every now and then.
• Serve with rice and top the beef curry with mango chutney and cucumber slices. I also like to see some veges on my plate so maybe add some green beans to the side.

Chris's Winter Lamb Shanks

This is an easy winter slow cooker that always gets a great response. The trick is the length of time in the over and the fact that the dates melt into the sauce making a sweet rich base for the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb shanks (per person)
• 1 cup of chopped dates
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• baby fennel - chop bulb
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 bottle red wine
• 300g cup mushrooms quartered
• 2 or 3 sweet potato chunks

Method:

• Toss shanks in flour and sear in heavy pan, 1 or 2 at a time so you don't lose heat in the pan
• Sweat onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent
• Add tomato, red wine and dates, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and add fennel
• If you are using a slow cooker, place all the cooked ingredients together and cook for about 3 hours.
• If you are cooking in the oven, add all the cooked ingredients into an oven dish with lid and cook for 3 hours on 150 degrees
• At the end of first cooking add chopped sweet potato and cook for a further hour
• Add mushrooms to the lamb mixture and cook for a final 30 minutes while the potatoes are cooking for the mash
• Then prepare potato mash by boiling potatoes and mashing with parsley, chopped shallots and sour cream

Serve a generous helping of mashed potato with 1 or 2 shanks per person and dollops of sauce and if needing colour add some wilted asian greens in the middle