Menu ideas from Solomon~

Everything's coming up "broccoli" in my garden.....it's thriving in this winter's cold!
Here are a few planned menus for this week......

Baby Chickens on a bed of smashed potatoes......

4 small chickens.

51/2 oz butter

2 tsps fresh thyme

1 tsp fresh parsley

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper

streaky bacon to wrap around the chickens

Mix the herbs and 4 1/2 oz butter, spring onions, honey and salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200deg C

Lift the skin gently with your finger tips.

Gently push the butter between the skin and flesh

Tuck the wings inward

Lay the chickens on a grid of the roasting pan.

Layer the bacon over the chickens and brush with remaining butter and juices.

Bake for 30 mins and serve on a bed of mashed potatoes and seasonal veg.

Broccoli and Chicken Bake

I don't have and exact recipe for this.....a real family dish....

One head of broccoli cooked until tender

White meat of a whole chicken

500g of cheese sauce

250ml chicken stock from poaching the chicken

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp nutmeg

2 chopped leeks

1 stalk of chopped celery

Break broccoli into individula florets.

Poach chicken in a pot of water with bayleaf, salt, pepper, carrots and onion.

Discard the veg once the chicken is cooked.

Break the white meat into fair size chunks

Fry the leeks and celery  until translucent

Make a quantity of cheese sauce.

Add the chicken and broccoli, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Add around 250ml chicken stock.

Adjust the flavouring.

Pour into a casserole dish.

Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and bake at 200deg C for +-45 mins until golden.

Serve with a salad of greens.

Butternut, Feta and Baby Tomato quiche

you will need~

a quantity of shortcrust pastry (I use a cheese pastry) to fill your pastry case

1 small butternut, peeled and cut in wedges

200g feta cheese

300g rosa tomatoes

salt and pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp crushed chilli ( I don't add this)

1 tbsp butter

1 red onion

1/2 cup cream

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 eggs

Rocket to serve

Preheat oven to 200deg C

Arrange butternut wedges on a greased baking tray and season with salt, pepper, brown sugar.

Roast for 30mins until slightly charred

Remove from oven.

Heat butter and fry onions until lightly caramelised.

Allow to cool.

Reduce oven temp to 180deg C.

Spread cooled onion over the pastry shell. Top with butternut wedges, tomatoes and feta.

In a large jug, beat 2 eggs with cream and crem fraiche. Pour egg mixture over the veg in the tart shell.

Bake for 30 mins until the skewer comes out clean.

Serve topped with the rocket.

And how about a good South African Favourite as a pudding ......click here for the recipe.

Good old Bobotie.....

 

You can click here for this recipe of  traditional South African fare ....

Lamb Knuckle Stew and Herb Dumplings.....

Recipe. (for 4 - 6 people)
800g lamb knuckles
1 large onion sliced
fresh herbs (thyme and parsley)
salt and pepper to your taste
1 tin chopped Italian tomato and onion
1 Tbsp tomato pasata
2 carrots roughly chopped
2 leeks chopped
5 potatoes
1 lt of chicken/vegetable stock.
Fry your meat dusted with flour and seasoning together with onions and leeks until browned.
Remove from pan. Add to cooking crock together with carrots, tomato and onion and pasata, herbs and stock. After about an hour and half when meat is tender add the potatoes. Cook until tender.

Mix together a cup of flour, 2 tsps baking powder, herbs, salt and pepper. Add a beaten egg and milk.water to form a wet dough. Drop spoon fuls on top of the stew. Steam with lid on until nicely risen then turn over just before serving!

Serve with steamed broccoli and rice.

Bluecheese and Broccoli Salad.

Serves 4 to 6 ~
200 g tender stems of broccoli
100g fresh green asparagus
1 handful of leaves (red lettuce)
100g blue cheese cut into blocks
100g green olives
2 avocados, cut into small blocks
2 spring onions
Salad dressing
100ml olive oil
40ml lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
5ml grainy mustard
1/2 tsp dried italian herbs
salt and pepper to taste

Drain in cold water.
Place salad leaves in serving bowl.
Mix all the ingredients together and carefully arrange on top of leaves.
Mix the ingredients for the salad dressing and pour over the salad.

Enjoy!

Linking to Stonegable's on the Menu Mondays