The Kiwi Mental Kitchen

We call this one Pseudo Satay because it's full of cheat ingredients and yet still manages to taste like a decent Satay. This is a once in a while meal for us and It was a nice change to have in on rice noodles. I'm still working out ways to add in vegetables without ruining the basic feel of the meal. Pseudo Satay Serves 4 3 Chicken breasts or thighs  3-5 Tbsp Sweet chilli sauce 2 heaped Tbsp Peanut butter 1 Can of coconut cream or coconut milk Dice the chicken In a large fry pan fry the chicken until cooked Add Chilli sauce and Peanut butter and mix well Add coconut cream and stir until it takes on the colour of the peanut butter simmer for 10 min Serve over rice or egg noodles Nice, easy and surprisingly good. If you like you satay hot use the hot version of the chilli sauce or add a little chilli powder. If you really like it nutty you can add some chopped peanuts as well, and they make a great garnish.

I was meant to put together a casserole last night but I didn't really think about dinner until far too late for mutton with needs to be in a slow cooker for a while to be tender. So I went searching for a recipe in my collection of books that I could put together in a reasonable amount of time with the ingredients I had on hand. I found a recipe for bean burger patties and realised I could make a quick soda bread as buns to make our own burgers with an extra trip to the shops. The original recipe used dried beans and would have taken too long so I worked with canned beans. Black Bean Burgers makes 6 reasonable patties 2 cans of black beans drained and rinsed 1 large or 2 small onions oil to fry 2 tsp oregano 2 tsp marjoram 1 tsp chilli 1 tsp beef stock 2 eggs 2-4 Tbsp breadcrumbs Mash the beans in a large bowl or pot (I find it easier to mash against a large flat bottom) Add onion, herbs and spices and mix well Beat in the eggs Mix through b...

So tonight chocolate chilli was back by popular demand though I cooked it as more of a mix between the happy kitchen recipe and my normal recipe. Though I did find out that it's better not to add extra chocolate. This also gave me another chance at cornbread. Armed with more research I tried a cornmeal only cornbread (no other flours). This was a disaster and I'm going to have to have another try another day. I'll ask around my friends and see if anyone has a good recipe. Chocolate Chilli Serves 4 Oil for frying 1 onion 2 cloves of garlic chopped or 2 tsp of crushed garlic 1 Tbsp tomato paste 500g lean mince 2 tsp paprika 1 tsp ground chilli 1 tsp cinnamon 125ml red wine 1 diced red capsicum 2 cans of chilli beans 1 can of chopped tomatoes Up to 8 squares dark chocolate preferably over 80% In a large pan fry the onion and garlic for approximately 2 minutes Add the tomato paste, mince, paprika, chilli and cinnamon  Once the mince is cooked add t...

A few nights ago my husband and I both had a craving for pizza. So rather than head to the takeout, I whipped up a homemade base. I've done many pizza bases and breads before but this was my first time doing a pizza dough with something other than white flour. This base was such a success that it will definitely have repeat performances. while nowhere near as instant as ordering in they are worth the wait. Pizza dough makes 3 medium or 2 large bases 2 cups of tepid water 1 tsp of sugar 2 tsp of dried yeast salt 1Tbsp of oil 2 cups of rye flour 2 cups of white spelt flour In a large bowl combine water, sugar and yeast and stir until yeast is mostly dissolved. If the water is too hot you will kill the yeast if it's too cold it will take longer to activate. Leave to sit for 10 min. You should now see a froth formed on the top of the water, if not check the temperature of your water and leave it for another 5 min. If it still hasn't frothed you are better t...

This cacao chili comes from the comfort food section of the book the happy kitchen . It is a very rich chili with both red wine and chocolate as enriching agents. I know that the idea of putting chocolate in chili seems rather unusual but don't knock it until you try it. This chili had my husband saying his chili, which is famous among our friends, has finally been defeated. With there being 3 adults in our household I had to increase the recipe by a half though I must have over done it as there were leftovers. With this, I made a cornbread that, while still very tasty, I was rather of unhappy how it came out. I will post a recipe after I get the kinks out. All in all a 10 out of 10 meal with room for technical improvement thought the flavors are brilliant.

One of the things that seemed most challenging to me about moving toward more fish and less meat was the costs involved. This recipe was my first attempt using canned salmon I needed to know what it looked like inside the can before I could use it in a recipe that called for whole fillets and I think it will do well even as fillets. The main trick is going to be getting the fish warm without overcooking it. These fishcakes came out creamy and fluffy and filling. I served them with salad from our garden and a balsamic dressing. Salmon and Kumara Fish cakes Serves 3 500g of cooked kumara (either boil or bake until soft) 1 cup of cooked frozen peas (you can even boil them with the kumara) 1 large can(approx. 420g) of pink salmon 1 diced chili  1 chopped stalk of mint 1  chopped handful of parsley  2 eggs 1 cup of flour(preferably wholemeal or spelt) salt and pepper to taste Oil for frying Mash kumara and peas in a large bowl Flake in pink salm...

My husband's favorite dish is Toad in the hole, which is sausages cooked in Yorkshire pudding. He requests it most weeks so tonight I made my first attempt at change a recipe I currently use to better fit with the 10 Rules . In New Zealand I am lucky that it is easy to get sausages without preservatives or other nasties, they still have quite a high amount of fat so I am trying to reduce how often we eat them, but I do not see a need to cut them out entirely. While it was a great success I will probably continue to make more changes as I try more variations in the future. For example, I would like to try moving to non-dairy milk and whole wheat spelt flour. I want to make only one change at a time so that I know what works and what does not. Tonight my one change was replacing standard white flour with white spelt flour. Toad in the hole Serves 4 8 Sausages Oil 3 cups of white spelt flour 3 cups of milk 3 eggs Salt to taste Grease a Large casserole dish with the oil...