Week 24: Nacho Potatoes

The Recipe
3 cups potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces (that corresponds to ~3 large potatoes. Next time I'll use more though!)
Olive oil spray
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1lb minced beef
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
6tbsp (~1dl) vegetable stock
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Juice of 1/2 a lime
12 olives, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes
Sour cream
Salsa
Guacamole (I just mashed an avocado with the rest of the lime juice)
Queso

Preheat the oven to 230C. Line a baking sheet and spread out the potato chunks and lightly spray with olive oil (or drizzle about 1 teaspoon of oil over them). Add spices and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to fully coat each piece. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping once.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce. Brown the beef in a large pan. Add vegetable broth, bell pepper, corn and the spices. Turn heat to low and cook until the liquid has mostly cooked away. Add spring onions and olives and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice and add salt and pepper to taste - don't forget this step, I did!

If necessary, (re-)heat the queso.

Transfer the potatoes to a large plate or oven proof dish and mix with about 1 cup of the queso... or according to taste. Pour the sauce over and mix thoroughly. Serve with garnishes.

The Verdict
Now you see why I tried making my own queso ;) Apart from the failure of a decent queso, this dish turned out fabulously! I'll definitely be making this again. Although next time I'll use more potatoes - the ratio wasn't quite right, so it's probably better with 4 cups instead of just 2-3.

Delicious dish though :)

Week 23: Queso Dip

The Recipe
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp corn starch
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a small pot, mix in the corn starch and stir until fully incorporated. Add sour cream and stir until it starts bubbling.
Add the cheese and stir until it has fully melted.

The Verdict
Not the best queso I've ever had - but I'm not entirely sure whether that's due to too much sour cream, not a high enough quality cheese or simply a bad recipe. Guess I'll just have to keep trying.

Week 22: Braised Carrots

The Recipe
1/2kg carrots
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
50-75g bacon
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 tbsp chicken stock
salt, pepper
a handful or two of rucola / rocket salad

Preheat the oven to 200C
Peel the carrots and cut them into long sticks. If you use new carrots, just leave them as is.
In a pan, heat up the olive oil, and cook the onion, garlic and bacon until the onion is translucent.
Add the carrots and chicken stock and stir briefly to get all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Transfer to an oven-proof dish, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

The Verdict
Loved it :) A very tasty side dish to e.g. pork chops or turkey. I may make it without the bacon next time to make it healthier... on the other hand - everything is better with bacon ;)

Week 21: Moroccan Chicken

Yet another freezer meal. They really make sense when it comes to crock-pot meals :)

The Recipe
3 chicken breasts
1 can beans of your choice
6oz plum (Roma) tomatoes, cut into cubes
1 large red bell pepper, cut into squares
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp peanut butter

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or until chicken is cooked through and tender.
About 15 minutes before serving, add peanut butter; blend well.

The Verdict
Really easy to make and very tasty :) I liked the special taste the peanut butter added. Originally the recipe was also supposed to have raisins, but neither DH nor I are particularly fond of raisins, so I left those out.

Will definitely make again :)

Week 20: Nell's Nutella Cookies

Credit goes to Ai-vy.

The Recipe
1.25 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (more if you use unsalted butter)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
113g softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (farin)
2 tsp vanilla extract/vanilla essence
1/2 cup Nutella, room temperature
1/3 cup milk
Extra Nutella for topping

Make the batter 1-3 days before you want the cookies.

In a freezer bag, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Toss in bag to mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds. Add in Nutella and beat until smooth and well incorporated.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add in the milk, mixing until well incorporated. Add in the rest of the flour mixture and mix completely.

Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight (or as long as 2-3 days).

When ready to bake cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll tablespoon sized amounts of dough into balls and place them on a lined cookie sheet, allowing about 2 inches between the dough balls.

Lightly press the dough balls with the flat of your palm. Make an indention with your thumb in the middle of the dough balls. Add a scant amount (around or less than 1/8 teaspoon) of Nutella to the dip of the dough balls.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

The Verdict
They were every bit as yummy as they looked and smelled while baking :) If anything, they may be a tiny bit too rich, so I'm thinking about adding some nuts next time... either by adding chopped nuts to the batter, or by putting nuts on top instead of the extra Nutella. I tried to add peanut butter to some which also turned out really well and was what gave me the idea.

Do NOT skip the step on refrigerating the batter! It makes it so much easier to work with. In fact, if I ever make a double portion of these, I think I'll only take half of the batter out of the fridge at a time, as it became increasingly more messy as time went on. For the same reason I'm glad I put all the cookies on baking sheets at the same time, instead of using my usual method and only preparing one sheet at a time.

But absolutely without a doubt worth a repeat :)

Week 19: Southwestern Bean Salad

The Recipe
1 can (450g) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (285g drained) corn
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
1 medium avocado, diced
1 diced jalapeno (optional)

In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, spring onion, salt and pepper. Squeeze fresh lime juice to taste and stir in olive oil. Marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes. Add avocado and jalapeno just before serving.

Alterations: I couldn't find spring onion, so added a bit more red onion instead. The ratios looked off, so I added another tomato and another avocado. Left out the jalapenos for DH's sake, but added some chili flakes to my portion.

The Verdict
LOVED it!! I served it with paprika/oregano marinated pork chops and it just fit the bill perfectly. Extremely delicious and will definitely be made again. DH wasn't too keen on the beans, so I'll have to try something else next time... chickpeas might work quite nicely as well.

Week 18: Baked Zucchini Sticks

The Recipe
1 thin zucchini
1tsp salt
3/4dl bread crumbs
1/3dl parmesan cheese
oregano
paprika
1 egg
olive oil

Cut the zucchini into sticks - about 1x1x3cm. Put them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Leave for at least 1 hour. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
In one bowl, mix up the egg; in another, mix the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, oregano and paprika.
Preheat the oven to 225C. Prepare a baking sheet by drizzling it with olive oil
Dredge the zucchini sticks through first the eggs, then the bread crumbs. Place them on the baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes, turn over the sticks and bake for another 8 minutes.

Serve with sweet chili sauce :)

The Verdict
I really loved it :) I don't think I rinsed mine thoroughly enough, as it was a tad on the (too) salty side, but it still tasted great! I only ate half of them, but the recipe says that they can be reheated at 175C for 15 minutes, so I'll have to try that.

It's a lot of work, so I don't know how often I'll be making them, but they're very delicious :)