Roasted Pumpkin and Spinach Frittata + Rocket Parmesan Salad

Today is Halloween and by all means it is my little pumpkin fiesta. I have been planning to carve a pumpkin this year, so I bought two at the Farmer's market - one for the carving and the other for making frittata.

Trick or treat? It is time for pumpkin frittata!

It is a man's job to hollow out the pumpkin. However, I will make a pumpkin soup with those scrapings.

I love frittata - it is one of the easiest lunch/ light dinner solutions. As long as you have got a couple of eggs and some sort of veges in the fridge, you will have a quick dinner with minimum effort. 

Roasted pumpkin and spinach frittata with feta and Parmesan

A great upper body workout when it comes to cutting a pumpkin.

I started off by dissecting this gigantic pumpkin into small even cubes.

Get your fingers dirty and mix with chopped garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt and pepper

Roast all your pumpkin cubes in a preheated 180°C oven for 15mins or until soft to touch. I often roast the whole pumpkin off, so I would ended up having loads for dinner or salads the next day.

But for now, you can make a frittata with it.

3 eggs per person
a dash of milk
a full handful of roasted pumpkin per person
red onion, finely chopped
garlic finely chopped
canola/ olive oil
a bunch of spinach salt and cracked pepper
Danish feta (really soft ones)
grated Parmesan cheese
 
Whisk the eggs with a dash of milk. Season it with salt and white pepper.
For this recipe use a non-stick pan, or my favourite, a cast iron pan. Saute your chopped garlic and red onion with a dash of oil and cook it till soft. Add your spinach in and cook it until it is just wilted. Turn down the  heat and add your roasted pumpkin. Pour in your egg mixture and cover with  a lid before  cooking for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add your Parmesan on top. Set your oven on grill and brown the top until set. It is ok if your pan's handle is not oven proof (like mine), leave your oven door open and make sure your pan's handle is not under direct heat. Once it is done, crumble some danish soft feta cheese on it. Yum!

I served it with a rocket salad with parmesan shavings, 12 year old balsamic vinegar and olive oil. But for dinner, you can make a potato or a pasta salad to go with it. Bon appetite.

A slice for me and a side of rocket salad with Parmesan shaving and 12 years aged balsamic vinegar

You don't always have to use pumpkin. Any random veges that you might have found in the fridge would work well too. These are ones that I have used:

Sliced mushrooms
Finely chopped broccoli
Leftover roasted veges
Grated carrots
Salami/ chorizo
Capsicum

top with any type of cheese and maybe a pitch of nutmeg

I would also like to share some of my favourite roasted pumpkin recipes:

Pizza topping: Roasted pumpkin + spinach + Kasundi/ tomato paste + feta
Pasta(toss into any types): Roasted pumpkin + deep-fried sage + brown butter
Soup: Roasted pumpkin + curry powder + Coconut cream + coriander
Salad: Baby spinach leaves + feta + walnut + honey mustard dressing

Poaching chicken + making stock at the same time

I like buying a whole chicken at the supermarket rather than those pre-packed cuts in polystyrene containers. Not only is this the only way of buying a free-range chicken from the supermarket that I go to, I also get more for the price I pay. Often I will bone my chicken at home, but it does take a bit of time and patience and a semi-unpleasant sanitizing process afterwards

So whenever I can’t be bothered doing all the boning, I poach the chicken instead. The meat ends up being really juicy and moist but more importantly I get to make a chicken stock at the same time!

In high quality kitchens, chefs often keep all of their vegetable trimmings and make stocks out of it. Nothing will ever be wasted. Often  I  start off by collecting my trimmings days before  needing to make a stock.

A basic chicken stock’s ingredients: Aromatic vegetables (onion, carrots, celery) + bouquet garni (parsley stalk, thyme, bay leaves and black peppercorn) + chicken

To make the stock, chop your vegetables into relatively small chunks, so that the vege flavours can extract to the max. I always keep my onion skin in my stock, something that I have learned from my head chef. It always gives a nice colour and flavour to the stock, you will be surprised. 

Today I put the green parts of both the spring onion and lemon grass into it.

Skimming the fat and froth reduces impurities getting back into the stock.

Something I have learned from chef school is to never put your lid on top of the stock pot! You don’t want impurities getting into it.  Poach the chicken at a very low heat (where bubbles are just breaking the surface) for 20mins (for a size 14) then  turn off the heat and the chicken will continue to cook.

Let it cool down and remove the whole chicken from the stock.

Wash your hands thoroughly or wear gloves before putting  the skin aside and tearing the chicken meat into pieces.

Once you remove the meat from the bone, return the bones back into the stock and boil them for another hour.

Once this is done drain the rest of the liquid and  store it in the fridge/ freezer for future use.

What to do with chicken stock? Soups, risotto, casserole……

My favourite: chicken soup with rice, chicken pieces and spring onions

 

I make chicken stock at home as much as I can. It is so good for you! It is fully packed with the goodness from the vegetable and chicken bones. Chicken noodle soup is in fact my number one comfort food!

Note: there are things you can’t put into the stock:

metallic tasting  vegetables such as silver beet or spinach stalk

starchy vegetables

Making Ricotta cheese in 10mins

Ricotta cheese is by far the simplest cheese you can make at home. 

All you need is milk and white vinegar.

Heat your milk to 80°C and add a small dash of vinegar to it.

 

Stir gently and you will see the cheese start separating. If the liquid is still milky, add a bit more vinegar to it.

Use a slotted spoon and...

carefully spoon the ricotta into a sieve.

 Drain the ricotta, and reserve all the whey. 

Don’t waste your whey!

Whey is very nutritious and helps to make lighter baking products. Often I freeze them and use them to replace either water or milk in some recipes.

Bread/ pizza base – replace water

Cake/ Scones – replace milk

Making stock – replace water

Rice – replace water (in fact Indians make drinks out of whey)

Au gratin potatoes – replace chicken stock

Feed it to your pets – rather than water

Sunday Brunch: Poached eggs with Asparagus

I was up by 7am this morning, and it is a Sunday! It is a good feeling to not wake up with a hangover, even when it’s a bit overcast outside. 

Straight after having a cup of earl grey with my partner, we head straight to the Sunday farmer’s market. We like being there early in order to get the best pick and more importantly it’s a lot less crowded.

Eggs Benedict and Sunday's paper, perfect!

It is time to make my Sunday brunch that I have long been waiting for. I am making classic Eggs Benedict with blanched asparagus --- only without the ham!

New season asparagus $2.50 and a dozen free-range Wiarapa eggs $6.

Because it takes me the longest and can be quite tricky sometimes, I always make the Hollandaise sauce first.

When you are melting your butter, you don’t want it to be too hot. Because eggs coagulate at 63°C, hot butter can cook the eggs and you will end up having a lumpy sauce or worse scrambled eggs. It is the most common mistake, so take great care when you are doing it. Start all over again, if you do make a mistake. No big deal!

Double boiler: Melt your butter over some hot water

Whisk egg yolk until it is pale yellow in colour

It is not that hard to make if you know the chemistry behind it. 

Basically, Hollandaise sauce is butter coating egg – the same concept as making mayonnaise. You are using egg as an emulsion agent. Therefore it is important that you whisk in your butter drop by drop.

Emulsion: Whisk butter into egg yolk, drop by drop

The right consistency: thick enough to coat the back of a spoon

Rule number one when you make a poached egg is using a fresh one. It is the single most important factor. When you crack an old egg, you will find the egg white is all over the place. On the other hand, fresh egg white always holds together nicely.

Soft poached eggs, firm on the outside yet soft to touch

Poaching means that the food is simmered over a gentle heat, no more than 85°C to be exact. The gentle heat is going to cook the delicate food while maintaining its shape. Typically an egg is poached just to the point where the white is no longer runny and the yolk is beginning to harden around the edges.
 

I am happy to eat that. All of it!

For roughly ten dollars, I made a breakfast for two within 30mins. Personally, it makes more sense to me than paying someone $30 to cook food for me. Yes I might have to get my partner to do the dishes afterwards, but at least it saves the stress from finding a car park or standing in the restaurant/ cafe waiting for a table. 

Ingredients and cooking method

Hollandaise Sauce (2-3 serving)

1 egg yolk

1tsp of white vinegar/ fresh lemon juice

75g melted butter

1tsp of whole grain mustard

Salt and ground white pepper to season

Poaching eggs

2 eggs per person

1-2 tbsp of white vinegar

Salt

Toasted English Muffins

Bunch of asparagus, blanched

Boil a pot of water and then turn the heat off. Place an egg yolk into a bowl and whisk it over the hot water until it is pale yellow. Put the butter into another bowl, and melt over the boiling water. Place a folded tea towel onto the table before you start whisking the butter in so that it will stop the bowl slipping. Whisk the butter drop by drop into the egg yolk. You can always use an electric beater if you want to reserve some energy.

The melted butter often consists of two parts: the clarified butter and the milk solid in the bottom. You can use both of it in this case. Once the Hollandaise sauce is ready, you can check for its consistency. It should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Add in a few drop of hot water if it is too thick. Check your seasoning by adding salt, white pepper and whole grain mustard. Set aside in a warm place.

Toast your muffin in the toaster or grill. Pour white vinegar and some salt into the hot water you used earlier and bring it to a slow boil again. Break each egg and drop it delicately into the water.  Repeat this method with the rest of the eggs, but make sure that they are not touching each other. This should take 3-4 mins cooking time. 

While you are waiting for your eggs to cook, you can blanch off your asparagus with some lightly salted boiling water. Drizzling some olive oil into the pot would help the end product to look shinier.

Check your poached eggs by removing them  with a slotted spoon. Touch  the egg gently with your finger; it should be still soft to touch. The firmness that you’re after for a perfectly poached egg should be  similar to the  muscle right below your thumb on your palm. Once you are happy with the eggs, place them onto a plate and let them rest.

Now it is time to put everything together. You might not get it perfect first, but practice makes perfect over time. Bon appétit!

Note: Don’t panic if your Hollandaise sauce separates, you can save it by adding a bit of boiling water (one tablespoon would often work).

Bring your own lunch to work

I am sick of paying nine bucks for a sandwich down the road and feeling totally ripped off when there is not a lot of filling in it. So today, I am going to make my own lunch! While I have got some Cheffeur Moroccan Lamb and Turtle beans sauce in the freezer, I need some starch….

Cheffeur Moroccan Lamb: $4.50 for 250g, $8.00 for 500g

Couscous is brilliant! It is a cheap starch($3 for 500g), super healthy and literally takes five minutes to "cook".

Pour in one cup of chicken stock or salted water into a pot, bring to boil. Remove from the heat and pour one cup of couscous into the liquid. Put a plate/ lid over it and wait for 5mins. While you are waiting, you can chop some tomatoes/ herbs or leftover roast veges from last night dinner if you have any. Now couscous should be ready. Grab a fork, loosen up the grains and they should fall apart perfectly. Stir in your chopped vegs or herbs, and place enough couscous into your zip bag. Easy peasy!

Remember, liquid and couscous ratio is 1:1

Can't wait for lunch!

When you get to work, place everything on a plate and microwave it for five minutes. If everything goes right, the whole staff kitchen should smell great!

Delicious, affordable, quick and healthy. Perfect!