Spanish Bean Breakfast

Feasting & Friends 

A warm wintery breakfast, fresh hot coffee, a sunny nook and delightful company all make for a splendid start to the day.

What you see is what you get. 

Beans and bread? 

Yes please. 

Recipe:

1 white onion 

1 stalk of celery 

1/4 red capsicum 

1 tsp smoked sweet paprika 

1/2 tsp hot paprika 

1 tsp cumin seeds crushed 

1 tsp fennel seeds crushed 

2x tins of cannellini beans

1 tin of  tomatoes 

1 egg per person

splash of caramelised balsamic vinegar  

bunch of coriander

handful of feta 

s&p

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. 

Sweat all of the vegetables, dry spices and coriander stems until soft. 

Drain and rinse the beans and add to the vegetable mix along with fresh herbs and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and leave simmering for at least 15 minutes. Season to taste with balsamic. 

Crack eggs on top of the beans, scatter with crumbed feta, coriander leaves and plenty of black pepper. Throw straight into the oven for another ten minutes or so. 

Serve straight from the pan with a crusty loaf of bread. 

x

Abbey   

      

A celebration of Pork pt.1

I recently purchased a copy of Jamie Oliver's "America" cook book and its fantastic. Its the inspiration behind this pork feast, a rustic mop it all up with a tortilla fare which was a perfect meal to celebrate my dads freak fortune in the face of cancer. 

It isn't fancy. Its not particularly pretty. 

 It is is filled with layers of subtle earthy flavours and just enough heat to keep you on your toes.

Also this will feed a hoard of humans: 6 adults at dinner 

 + 2 days of left overs in rehashed meals for 2. 

Thrifty.   

Recipe:

Smoked Bacon Bone Beans. 

1 free range smoked bacon hock 

1.5 cup of dried pinto beans

4 celery stalks 

2 white onions 

whole head of garlic halved 

4 fresh bay leaves 

8 sprigs of thyme 

tbsp of dried oregano

tbsp sweet paprika 

1/2 tsp of cayenne 

1  dried Guajillo chilli

2 tins of organic tomatoes

black pepper 

Soak Pinto beans for at least 12 hours before use.

Preheat oven to 165 degrees. 

Gently sweat the onions, celery with the fresh herbs until starting to turn translucent in a heavy based baking dish with oil. Drain beans from their soaking water and rinse a few times. Add beans with all remaining ingredients + 4 cups of water cover with lid and place in the oven for at least 4 hours. 

Remove the garlic and bacon hock from the dish. Discard the rubbery skin from the hock and strip all the meat off the bone. Push the soft flesh from the garlic cases and mash. Add meat and garlic mash back to the pot, recover and continue to cook for another hour or so. The meat should melt in your mouth and the beans should be plump and soft all the way through (Not mushy). 

Pt.2 to follow.

At some stage. 

x 

Abbey  

Sweet Spiced Kumara Pie

The New Zealand version of the American Pumpkin Pie. 

 I ran out of baking paper so the pastry couldn't be blind baked. So it spent way to long in the oven to avoid a soggy bottom, hence the black edges so annoying. 
Despite being cooked to shit the texture of the filling was stunning. So much so I'm not even sure the pastry is necessary. The vanilla cream is however, not optional. 

Recipe: 

Pie.

3 large orange kumara 

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup white spelt flour

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp orange peel powder

2 eggs 

sweet pastry 

Cream.

1/2 cup cream

seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod

tbsp of icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 

Bake kumara in their skins until collapsing, when cool enough to handle scoop out the flesh and mix with remaining filling ingredients.  

Blind bake pastry in a pie dish, until golden. 

Remove from the oven and fill with the kumara mix and place back into the oven until it is firm and golden on top. 
Put aside while you make your cream.

Add cream to a clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form, then add remaining ingredients and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. 

Put it all together on the plate. 

Drizzle with maple syrup if you wanna. 

You wanna. 

x

Abbey

  

Sumac & Almond Chicken w. Flat Bread

A Midweek Miracle. 

This was the result of a uninspired kitchen moment, a staring at the contents of the fridge for almost an hour blankly type of deal. 

Grabbing everything at once, throwing them in a pan/bowl/skillet serving some bread on the side and calling it a meal that miraculously turns out fucking awesomely. 

Oh praise thee kitchen gods. 

Recipe:

Almond and Sumac Chicken.

1 tsp of each

corriander seeds

fennel seeds

ras el hanout 

black sesame seeds

1/2 tsp harissa 

1 tbsp all spice 

2 tbsp flaked almonds 

juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 orange 

1 chicken breast in strips 

s&p

In a hot heavy base frying pan dry fry the spices and almonds for a minute or two (until fragrant)  then add a glug of olive and the chicken. Cook for about 12 minutes or until cooked though then squeeze in the citrus juice, season and remove from heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Sprouty Everything Salad.

1 handful of roughly chopped

cres 

brocoli 

cabbage

spinach

sugar snap peas

mixture of sprouts 

2 chopped spring onions

tbsp corriander 

Dressing. 

1/2 fresh spanish chorizo 

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lime 

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 

2 tbsp balsamic 

1 large garlic clove

s&p

Combine all of the greens and toss. 

For the dressing gently heat oil, chorizo and garlic so all of the flavours infuse into the oil for about 10 minutes. Crank up the heat toast the pumpkin seeds until popping, remove from heat.

Add remaining ingredients and pour over the greens.

Stuff everything into a hot toasted pita bread, top creamy yohgurt and crunchy hallumi 

Pulled Pork and Pineapple Tostadas

Dont be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, you just have to throw everything into the slow cooker. 

You wont regret it. 

This tastes so good you may find your self mumbling and humming incoherently in-between mouthfuls. 

They aint pretty but anything that tastes this good doesn't have to be. The pork is smokey rich and literally melts in your mouth, which is all set of by the sweet and tangy pineapple salsa. 

This is making me salivate. 

More please. 

Recipe:

Pulled Pork 

1 small tin of chipotle in adobo sauce

2 dried guajillo chillies

1 white onion 

1/2 tsp of dried ginger 

2 tsp dried garlic

1/2 tsp allspice 

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf 

2 tbsp of dark brown sugar 

juice of 3 oranges 

juice of 1 lime 

3/4 cup of water 

500g grams of pork shoulder in 2cm pieces 

Pineapple Salsa

1/2 very ripe pineapple 

1 avocado 

1 red jalapeño

1/4 red onion 

1 clove of garlic 

1/2 cup of coriander 

juice of one lime 

To Serve

 fried corn tortillas 

Danish Feta

Shredded purple cabbage 

For the pork dry fry the onions in a heavey based frying pan with the dried chillies and spices until beginning to brown. Add onions and all of the other ingredients into a slow cooker on high for at 5 hours. 

THATS IT. 

For the salsa chop everything up finely and toss. 

THATS IT.  

Pile up your tortilla. 

Eat it. 

Mumble away. 

THATS IT. 

x 

Abbey

Puy Lentil and Fennel Salad

Not only is this disgustingly healthy, I also think its is an exceptionally pretty and delicate salad considering the hearty and wholesome ingredients. Its robust enough to stand on its own or would go well paired with fish or chicken.

Fennel is one of my favourite ingredients to cook with, it seems to be abundant this time of the year which is very exciting. Unfortunately its always reduced to clear, beginning to sweat and rot in its cling film prison, as apparently no one knows how to use em. 

Crisp and  clean on the palate when fresh, with an appley aniseed flavour. Sweet, sticky and decadent when baked. 
YES. 

Rescue some from a supermarket near you.   

Recipe:

4 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of puy lentils

1 stick of celery 

1 brown onion 

1 carrot 

1 bay leaf  

2 beetroots 

2 bulbs of fennel 

1 tsp of fennel seeds

1/2 red onion 

2 garlic cloves 

1 cup of chopped cavolo nero

1 cup of broccoli 

1/2 cup of toasted walnuts 

1 lemon zest and juice 

1 block of haloumi 

a glug of balsamic vinegar

s&p 

Heat oven to 180 degrees. 

Soak puy lentis for an hour, rinse in cold water. Place in a sauce pan of boiling water with the carrot, celery, onion with the skin on and bay. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Discard the vegetables,strain lentils then refresh by rinsing in cold water.   

Peel and chop beetroot into medium sized pieces. Cut fennel in half and removed the tough inner core, remove the fronds to use later and chop into pieces about the same size as the beetroot. Place in a baking dish and toss with a tbsp of olive oil and bake until cooked through about 15 minutes. Set aside. 

Sweat onions, garlic in a heavy based frying pan until translucent then throw in crushed fennel seeds and all the chopped greens. Add a splash of water and cover with a lid to steam for ten minutes or so. 

Remove from the heat and set aside.

Fry haloumi in thin strips until golden on each side and then chop into small pieces   

Combine all of the ingredients, salt and pepper it and enjoy!

x

Abbey  

Doggy Heaven.

It took Frank all of 2.1 seconds to make

 himself at home in front of the fire at the new abode. 

The cute little bastard.

x

Abbey & Frank

Speck Shoup

Its been a while, I know.

 Im aware millions of people around the world are collectively throwing up their arms in outrage at this gross negligence. HA.

To the one person who may have noticed, who may or may not be my Mum I have been busy moving into our first home.

 Diligently recipe writing and taking photos of everything that goes into my mouth, has been pushed back in the priorities list. Every waking hour has been dedicated to rearranging vases, pot plants, animal hides and heads. Painstakingly inch by inch, upon a thousand mantles. etc etc

Also I lost the Camera. 

Then the charger. 

Then the internet modem. 

A sea of excuses. 

This is very simple, full of vegetables and delicious.

Smokey speck and sweet peas is a classic flavour combination that never gets old. 

  

Recipe:

2 tsp of oil

200g smoked speck

1 onion 

2 cloves of garlic 

1 bulb of fennel 

1 cup of peas

1/2 cup of barley 

2 large  boiling potatoes  

1 bunch of silver beet

400ml chicken stock

1 tin of tomatoes

s&p

Heat oil in heavy based fry pan and gently sweat chopped onions and fennel. Once translucent and sweet add garlic and continue to cook for a minute more. Add the speck, barley and stock and tomatoes cook on a low temperature for 40 minutes adding the potatoes after 20 minutes. Add peas and chopped silver beet and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. 

Season well. 

Serve with crusty bread. 

mmm

x

Abbey