Category Archives: Food Blog

Skewered Chicken Ras el Hanout on home made Flatbread with Sun dried Tomato Hummus and Garlic Dill Yoghurt dip.

Serves 4.

Well that’s a mouth full. I just had to make sure you realized how good this dish is, straight away with just reading the title.

This meal has a few steps. Either make or buy in addition to the Chicken skewers;

-Ras el Hanout

-Flatbread

-Tomato Hummus

-Garlic Dill Yoghurt dip

-Salad greens.

You start of by making Ras el Hanout so you can marinate the chicken first. You can use store bought off course, but home made is so much more fun. And it gives you such a great kick making your own spice blends. Store blends tend to be too salty and you can also adjust the taste to your liking when you make your own.

Then there is the Flatbread, I was going to make it from scratch when I realized I still had Focaccia dough in the freezer. And I thought I’d give it that a try, why not.

Well it worked perfectly, I just roll it out thin, fried it in a dry pan for 3 to 4 minutes on each side and Voilà….Flatbread. How great is that!

I served it with some delicious Sun dried Tomato Hummus to spread all over the Flatbread before filling.

Ingredients;

4 Chicken breasts cut into medium chunks

2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated

Salt and pepper

1/4 C. olive oil or sunflower oil

juice of half a large lemon

1 tbsp. Ras el Hanout (about half the spice recipe)

4 Flat breads, store bought or home made. See Potato Focaccia

Sun dried Tomato Hummus

Garlic and Dill Yoghurt Dip

Fresh soft cheese like Feta or Goat cheese

Lettuce, Tomatoes, red Cabbage, white Cabbage, Cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, Avocado, red bell Pepper etc…. for serving

For the Ras el Hanout (enough for 2 times)

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

a dash of Cayenne pepper

Sun dried Tomato Hummus

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup sundried tomatoes*, chopped roughly

1 clove garlic, peeled and grated

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon Himalayan salt

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

* Use the ones in oil, they are juicier.

Method

Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add a little water if it is too thick .

Pour into a serving bowl and drizzle with additional olive oil and top with more sun dried tomatoes.

Keeps in an airtight container for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Garlic Dill Yoghurt Dip

1.5 C. thick Greek Yoghurt

2 tbsp. fresh chopped Dill

a squeeze of lemon juice

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and grated

a good pinch Himalayan salt

Method

Put all the ingredients in a little bowl and mix.

Chicken Skewers

For the Skewers, first get a bowl and put the chicken chunks in there, add the 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 C. olive oil, the juice of half a large lemon, 1 tbsp. of Ras el Hanout and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Leave to marinate for an hour at least, but preferably for 4 to 5 hours.

When ready to grill, remove Chicken from the fridge about 30 minutes before grilling. Skewer the chicken. Oil a griddle pan lightly and grill the chicken on medium high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side.

To serve spread hummus over the flatbread, top with vegetables of choice put one or two skewers on top and serve with Garlic Dill dip. Sprinkle over some pieces of fresh soft cheese.

Enjoy

Looking for more great recipes to try? Be sure to check out this Chicken Mango Avocado Enchiladas

Nasi Goreng, my way

4 Replies

Nasi Goreng is a very popular Indonesian dish. Nasi means rice and Goreng means fried.

It can be served as a complete meal or as part of a “Rijsttafel” (Rice table).

A Rijsttafel is made up out of many different small dishes with different textures and flavors and is mostly served at special occasions.

In The Netherlands we love Indonesian food and the great thing is that you can make this dish in about half an hour. You can also serve it with Chicken Saté (Saté Ajam)

To me this is comfort food at its best. My daughter likes to eat the rice with the prawn crackers instead of a spoon, kids…haha.

Nasi is originally a dish made with leftovers. The rice has to be cooked and cooled so it won’t stick and any leftover vegetables, meat, shrimp and ham can be added.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp. Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or Arachis oil

5 oz. chicken breast

1 tsp. Soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tsp. Sambal Oelek paste, or 1 red chili finely chopped (de-seed if you want).

½ onion, peeled and diced small

1 small Leek, washed thoroughly and sliced thin

1 small red bell pepper, diced small

1 C. shredded cabbage (optional)

1 small carrot, peeled and roughly grated or tiny dice

4 oz. diced cooked ham

2 – 3 tsp. Boemboe Sate (see recipe Chicken Sate )

3 tbsp. Ketjap Manis

4 C. cooked long grain rice, cooled

To serve

- 4 fried eggs

- 1 sliced scallion

- Fried shallots, store bought

- Cucumber slices or sticks

- Krupuk (prawn crackers)

- Seroendeng (fried dried coconut and peanuts, spiced)
- Sate sauce and chicken sate (optional)

Method:

First thing to do is to cut the chicken in small dice and marinate in 1 tbsp. of Ketjap Manis and 1 tsp. of Soy sauce while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Now heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat and cook garlic and chili until fragrant, remove to a plate.

Add a little more oil to the wok and add the chicken. Cook until brown and cooked through. Remove from skillet and transfer to the plate with the garlic and chili.

Add the onion to the wok. Cook until translucent. Turn the heat to high.

Add the rest of the vegetables, the ham and the boemboe Sate. Return the chicken, garlic and chili to the wok as well.

Add rice and fry, breaking up the rice then add the sambal and more Ketjap Manis

Transfer rice to a serving platter. Sprinkle with scallions.

Fry the eggs, sunny side up, or to your liking.

Serve the rice with a fried egg on top and add garnishes.

Roasted Tomato sauce

2 Replies

Eating seasonal is one of the best ways to cook and enjoy food at its peak moment of flavor. It only makes sense to draw from what’s fresh and put in on your table. Now at the market we have all sorts of Tomatoes, and I love to combine them in this sauce. You can make this throughout the entire season and store it in the freezer. It can be used for so many dishes and is like a good foundation for many recipes. Keep it on hand and you will always be able to make a quick dinner.

Roasting tomatoes is the secret to a sweet and fresh tasting sauce, even after it’s been jarred or frozen. And it’s beyond easy to do.

Ingredients;

4 lbs. Tomatoes, washed and stems removed. Use different types!
4 garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled, squash them a little bit with the side of a knife
2 large Onions, peeled and quartered
1 tsp. Finely chopped fresh Rosemary
1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
1 small tin (2.5 oz.) Tomato puree
2 tbsp. Honey
½ cup fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 tsp Himalayan Salt
5 or 6 twist of the Pepper mill

Instructions;

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a large oven tray with baking parchment. Sprinkle the Basil leafs over the tray.

Cut large tomatoes in quarters, smaller ones in half. Mix in a bowl with all the remaining ingredients.

Place the tomato mix on the baking sheet covering all the Basil leafs so they don’t burn.

Bake for 1 hour.

Allow to cool. Remove the skins from the garlic before blending the sauce in batches. Pulse 2-3 times then blend. Pour into quart jars or pour into freezer bags to freeze flat.

Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week or 4 months in the freezer.

Enjoy.

Myra XO

Home smoked Salmon

6 Replies

Serves 4

Smoking Salmon at home has got be one of most satisfying cooking experiences I can think of. It’s very rewarding, quite effortless and very impressive.

Because of the high fat content of the fish, it holds up really well against the smoking, it doesn’t dry out at all. The skin becomes it bit leather like and the inside pink and very juicy.

The fun part is, that is actually really easy.

Ingredients;

4 portions of Salmon, or one large piece for four portions
1 C. Coconut blossom sugar or regular sugar, use half white and half brown
1/3 cups kosher salt
3 torn up Bay leafs
2 tablespoons crushed black pepper

Method;

Mix the Sugar, Salt, Bay leafs and Pepper

Get out a ceramic or glass baking dish and put in half the seasoning, lay your Salmon on top and cover with the remaining seasoning. Cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate from 4-8 hours. 8 is best.

After this time, remove fish from the dish and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Pat dry with kitchen paper and let dry in the fridge uncovered for about three hours. This will form a skin. Essential for a good result.

Meanwhile prepare your smoker according to the manufacturers instructions.

Put about three tablespoons of wood shavings on the bottom tray of your smoker. I like to add some flavoured chips like Hickory or Maple. Put the second rack on top. Now place each piece of Salmon on a lightly oiled piece of aluminium foil, and put them on the top rack of your smoker. Salmon will stick to the rack, so the foil is a must. Put the lid on. Set the flames to medium for the first five minutes to get it going then turn to low and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes by gently pulling a bit of Salmon away with a fork.

When its’ done remove from smoker and serve. Left overs are incredible but unlikely.

Enjoy

Myra Xo