Category: Weekend Food

Awesome Meatloaf and Pasta
Alliyah Dawud
March 15, 2019

Sometimes you don’t want a mince based pasta sauce and you certainly don’t have the patience to make meatballs. That’s when this winning meal comes in.

Meatloaf are a popular staple of many families Stateside. To explain what a Meatloaf is it’s literally what is says on the tin. It’s that simple.

I love meatloaf; its a simple humble meal you can tweak to your own desires. I serve mine with spaghetti and a simple sauce.

Why not get the children to mix the Meatloaf mixture?

Enjoy.

To serve 4/6) people….

Ingredients:
500 grams mince (I use lamb/mutton etc)
2 onions fried until soft
2 TBSP italian seasoning (herb mix) OR
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed black pepper
Salt-to your taste
Optional: 1 tsp chili flakes (if you like it hot)
I egg
4 TBSP breadcrumbs
1 ball of mozerella cheese

For the sauce:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 carton passata
2 TBSP rapeseed oil
1 large onion diced (or two smaller onions; diced)
6 cloves of garlic; crushed
2 TBSP Italian seasoning (herb mix) or
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed black pepper
Salt-to your taste
Juice of one lemon (I feel it brings out the flavours of all the ingredients so if you don’t fancy it leave it out).

1) To make the Meatloaf:
Mix together all of the Meatloaf ingredients (apart from the cheese). Shape into a loaf and place in an ovenproof dish.

2) To make the sauce:
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions. Fry until the onions are soft. Add the garlic, black pepper and herbs. Try for 2 minutes on a low heat (FYI: burnt garlic tastes horrendous).
3) Turn the heat back up to a medium flame. Add the tomatoes, passata and salt. Stir. Bring up to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 25 minutes. Turn the heat off. Add the lemon juice.
4) To complete the Meatloaf: Cover the Meatloaf with 1/4 of the pasta sauce and add the cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven at 150 for 50 minutes.
5) To serve: Stir the sauce (the 75% you have left) through the pasta and serve with the Meatloaf. Squirt over the lemon. Enjoy!

Notes:

Meatloaf freezes well. Cut into slices, wrap up well and freeze.

To change things up: add chopped up olives, chopped up sun dried tomatoes and zest of a lemon.

You could also add a layer of cheese in the ‘middle’ of the meatloaf. Oh the possibilities!

My Slow Cooker (Crockpot) Low carb Soup.
Alliyah Dawud
March 8, 2019

When I switched my diet to low carb I started to notice exactly how many dishes contain carbs…soups with pasta being one of them. So one day I got thinking and came up with this soup that I have to admit I really really like. Packed with lots of protein it’s pretty amazing really. It also uses my browned mince hack that helps cut prep time on the day no end.

Now this is a recipe INSPIRED by Bolognese (the American-Italian pasta sauce). Note that I have added cannelloni beans. You can however use any beans that you feel fit your taste buds.

Even my daughters love it. So to add carbs to their meals I add cooked pasta. The oldest takes this to School with her Thermos (apparently the other kids wanted to know what the awesome smell was-result).

As you can see from the ingredients list I have my ‘mince hack’ on there which is mince browned with onions.

This soup tastes awesome to the last drop. It’s that good.

If you want to serve this to the family and want to add pasta then that’s cool too. I didn’t miss the lack of carbs so doubt anyone else would…enjoy.

PS: you can switch the mince for Quorn mince and make it vegetarian.

To serve 4/6

Ingredients:
500 grams browned mince (with onion and garlic)
1/2 can of chopped tomatoes
1 carton of passata
125 ml of water
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix (or x1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme)
Salt-to taste
Handful of kale
80 grams sliced mushrooms
1 can white cannellini beans rinsed and drained (or use any pulse you wish)

1) Place all the ingredients APART from the kidney beans in a Slow Cooker and cook on a high heat for 2 hours. Stir half way.
2 Add the kidney beans 15 minutes before the end cooking time.
3) Turn off the Slow Cooker and serve.

My Kitchen Mince Hack (to save you time)
Stylemesisteradmin
February 15, 2019

I admit that I actually include store bought Pizza on my meal plans and if I’m totally honest those nights are pretty hassle free when it comes to time in the kitchen.

Over the last few years I have picked up some hacks I use daily and some that I don’t event get how they made it to pinterest (but that’s a different story).

One hack that I recommend to everyone is bulk cooking; but in various formats.

If like me you use your Slow Cooker (aka Crockpot) at least once or twice a week this hack is going to be your bestie…just trust me on this.

When I talk to friends about using a Slow Cooker for making curries or sauces I often get met with the looks and comments that ‘it won’t taste right because the meat wasn’t browned!” which is quickly followed by “my family will never eat it as it tastes bland/different”.

One of the reasons I started using my slow cooker was to reduce the amount of time I spent in the kitchen. I felt I was tied to the cooker and wasn’t enjoying my food and developing poor editing habits. I started to dislike cooking and that was a problem for me. I never want my children to think cooking is a chore; I’m a believer that everyone should have the skill to cook healthy food. I don’t know where my girls may end up at University level so I honestly want them to have cookery skills and also enjoy the time they spend cooking (after all if you’ve got to do it why not enjoy it?).

We enjoy curries, mince based pasta dishes, casseroles….various meals as a family. A lot of these dishes call for braising of the the meat before adding liquids and the other ingredients. Now on some slow cookers you have this function which is bloody awesome! But not all models have this. Which is a shame.

Considering how simple I like to keep things when I cook things in the slow cooker I decided to do the following:

Brown off mince in bulk (so 2-3 KG at once) with garlic and onions.

I then drain and cool the mince before portioning the mince up and freezing it.

The result?

I have mince ready to go in:
Pasta sauces
Curries
Chili con carne
Shepards Pie
Cottage pie

Etc etc etc….

Because I don’t add salt or spices I’ve got more options. I never cook mince without garlic and onions however if you wished to you could omit them.

To create 6 family meals (servings produced: 6/7 giving me leftovers for School lunches and for myself the next day) you will need:

3 KG mince (I use mutton but you can use whatever you wish to)
6 medium onions diced
A full bulb of garlic crushed/minced (yes I love garlic)
3/4 Tablespoons rapeseed oil

Extras:
kitchen paper to drain off excess fat
Storage bags/boxes to store mince in freezer (don’t forget to label the mince)

1) Heat a large pan on a medium heat (if you don’t have a large pan you may need to do the browning in smaller batches. Add the oil.
2) Add the onions and fry for a few minutes until the onions are soft. You are not going to brown them.
3) Add the garlic and fry for a minute (you don’t want to burn the garlic. And believe me that’s a really easy thing to do).
4) Add the mince and break down the mince and fry.
5) Fry for 5-10 minutes. The mince won’t look very appetizing. That’s fine! What you want is to ‘seal’ the mince by frying it. The process won’t cook the mince completely and that’s fine too.
6) Turn the heat off and drain the excess fat off. I do this by tilting my pan when its slightly cool and scoop out the mince mixture and place it on kitchen paper. I let the paper absorb the fat.
7) Bag/box up the mince and label them.

How to use the mince:
I take the mince out the night before and place it in the fridge to defrost. I then add it to the slow cooker with the other ingredients and forget about it. Job done.

You can do the same with meat and treat it the same.

I’ll be over for Dinner later guys; so get cooking!

Slow Cooker Taco Soup
Alliyah Dawud
February 8, 2019

I love my Slow Cooker (crockpot). I use it on the regular…even in the hotter months as it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.

I love tacos….and also easy family meals where you don’t need to weigh out ingredients. So here I present to you my Taco Soup…which tastes soooooo good. And no two bowls are the same when you pimp it up with various toppings.

Makes enough for 6 large bowls. I’ve successfully frozen leftovers too.

Ingredients:

SOUP:
500 grams browned mince (or raw mince)
2 small onions diced finely
1 400 gram tin chopped tomatoes
200 ml water
1 tbsp salt (or less depending on your dietary requirements)
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp dried mexican oregano (or standard oregano)
2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped finely
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika (or standard paprika)

Add the following 30 minutes before serving:
1 400 gram red kidney beans drained
1 400 gram white kidney beans drained

To thicken the soup:
1 tbsp cornstarch

Optional items:
1 whole chipolote chili
Liquid smoke

Garnishes/toppings (mix and match as you please):

Soured cream or low fat yogurt
Grated cheddar cheese
Crushed up taco shells
Crushed up torilla chips
Lemon or lime wedges
Tomatoes chopped finely (I like using cherry tomatoes as they are sweeter but that’s optional normal tomatoes will also work)
Red onion-finely chopped
Jalepeno pepper slices
Fresh coriander leaves-chopped finely
For extra heat fresh chili finely chopped

1) Place all the ingredients listed under soup in your Slow Cooker. Turn the Slow Cooker on to a high. Cook for 3 hours.
2) Now add the drained kidney beans. Stir through. Add two tablespoons of water to the cornstarch and mix. Add the mixture to the soup and stir. This will thicken the soup up for you. If you don’t like thicker soups just skip this step!
3) Place the lid back on and leave for another 25-30 minutes. Turn off and remove lid if you don’t want the beans to ‘cook’ further.
4) Ladle into bowls and serve garnished as you wish. I make a ‘toppings bar’ and allow everyone to personalise their own soup.
5) Leftovers will keep for 48 hours easily in the fridge. Can also be successfully frozen (use within a month).

My take on Chicken Daube
Stylemesisteradmin
November 30, 2018

Mauritian inspired Chicken and Potato stew
(inspired by Daube de Poulet/Chicken Daube).

The humble chicken. For me personally it doesn’t get enough credit. Literally. In my opinion it’s one of the most versatile proteins (and healthier than red meat too). However I don’t think it gets enough credit for what it is.

We bung it in the oven and tell it to come out as a perfect roasted chicken for the family to enjoy at the weekend. But give it a bit of love and the plain old chicken can be transformed into a pot of warm, comforting fair suitable for the colder months ahead.

I personally would prefer for my family to eat more chicken over red meat….but alas we haven’t got to that stage quite yet.

So here is my take on a Mauritian classic Daube de Poulet/Chicken Daube. I’ve adapted this classic to make it suitable for the slow cooker however you can easily cook it on the stove top.

I have a system where I try to prepare a weeks worth of meals in a couple of hours. In this session I will also brown off any meats I will using during the week and I will either store them in the fridge or freezer depending on when I will be needing the product.

Now for some people this will seem insane; for me it opens up many opportunities of using the slow cooker even on a really busy morning as there’s no need to ‘brown off’ meat on the stove before putting it into the slow cooker. But this is something I do and it works for me.

You can of course skip the browning step if you wish to. The flavour in my opinion isn’t as strong (rather mellow).

So to make a classically inspired dish that easily serves 6 (I get 8 portions out of this recipe) you will need:

1 kilogram of chicken drumsticks (skin off)
1 tablespoon oil (I used rapeseed oil)
3 medium potatoes cut into medium pieces (smaller pieces will cook faster and essentially turn into mush)
1 large onion chopped or 4 TSBP of pre-fried onions (available in most Asian supermarkets-they’ll be cheaper in bulk too!)
1 can (approx 410 grams in weight-check the tin) tomatoes-chopped.
200 ml water or chicken stock
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika (or plain paprika if that’s all you have).
1 heaped teaspoon garlic or garlic paste
1 small piece of ginger (around an inch)-whole
1 cinnamon stick
Salt-amount will depend on your own preference.
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh (dry herbs are more concentrated in flavour).
Variation (remember this recipe is inspired by NOT an authentic copy of the original) you can use other herbs. For a French twist try Herb de Provence. Again use 1 teaspoon.

OPTIONAL: 1 dried chili (for a bit of a chili flavour)

Note: the French variation can contain wine however a lot of Mauritian folk follow an alcohol free diet.

1) Heat the oil in a pan over a medium flame. Add the chicken, cinnamon stick and ginger and fry until opaque and a bit brown (bits will be brown but not the full chicken). Take off the heat.

2) Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and stir to mix well. You’ll note that there doesn’t seem to be lots of liquid. That’s fine as cooking in a slow cooker uses less liquid (evaporates less).

3) Now you have two options.
Cook on high for 3 hours
Cook on low for 5.5 hours

4) Once cooked serve! The flavours literally develop more overnight. As you have the potatoes in the dish I haven’t suggested serving with potatoes or rice. Why add to the carbs?!

Enjoy.