Menu Plan Monday

Didn't do too badly last week though I did forget to put on the homemade ciabatta so we lucked out there.

Monday - Baby Mustard Meatloaves (recipe below), salad, strawberries for dessert
Tuesday - Chicken and Chickpea one pot dish (recipe below), salad or something like it
Wednesday - Lamb chops, coleslaw, kumara
Thursday - Pasta Puttanesca aka Tart's Spaghetti, salad
Friday - Christmas party at DS's kindy so it'll be the ubiquitous, pre-cooked, excuse-for-a-banger on bread with tomato sauce. I'll probably do some soup in the crockpot for DH and I for when we come home.
Saturday - doing an early Christmas lunch at Mum's house for my g-ma who is coming on an outing from the home where she lives, and then a BBQ in the evening to exchange gifts with my family. That's if we feel like eating.
Sunday - Leftovers? Or something quick. Probably eggish.

Baby Mustard Meatloaves (from Jo Seagar)
Serves 4-6
800g minced lean beef
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 T oil
1 1/2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs (I'll be substituting with brown bread)
2 eggs, beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T grainy mustard
1 T tomato sauce
2 t sweet chilli sauce
1 T finely chopped parsley
1 T finely sliced chives
8 rashers bacon
Heat oil in small pan and stir fry onion until softened - add garlic and breadcrumbs and cook 2 mins. Mix mince with onion mixture, then add egs, mustard, tomato and chilli sauces, parsley and chives. Season with salt and pepper. With wet hands form into mini loaves and wrap with bacon rashers. Place in oiled roasting dish. bake in a preheated 190 deg. C oven for 30-35 mins until bacon is crisp and meatloaves cooked.
NB: I'll be doing these in my mini-loaf pans. Probably will cut down the bacon too.

Moroccan Baked Chicken with Chickpeas and Rice (from Delia Smith's Winter collection)
Serves 4
1.5-2 kg chicken jointed (I use chicken legs or chicken pieces)
110g dried chickpeas (I will use canned this time)
175g brown basmati rice
2 fresh green chilles halved, deseeded and finely chopped
1 rounded t cumin seeds
1 level T coriander seeds
1/2 t saffron stamens
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped (keep some for sprinkling over the top of the finished dish)
2 small thin-skinned lemons (I'll use some of my preserved lemons)
juice of one lemon
2 large yellow capsicums
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped
275ml good chicken stock
150ml dry white wine
50g pitted black olives
50g pitted green olives
2 T olive oil

If you are using dried chickpeas, deal with them in the usual way. Which is, soak overnight in cold water and then boil them until tender the next day.

Dry roast cumin and coriander seeds. Crush them coarsely in a mortar and pestle. Crush the saffron stamens to a powder and then add the juice of one lemon to the saffron.

Season the the chicken with salt and pepper. Cut capsicums in half and remove seeds, then cut each half into 4 large pieces. Slice onions roughly the same size as the capsicums.
Heat 1 T of the olive oil and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Add the second T of oil to the pan and heat to its highest setting. Add capsicums, onions and cook them in the hot oil, moving them around until their edges are slightly blackened. Turn the heat down and add the fresh coriander, garlic, chillies, spices, chickpeas, and rice giving everything a good stir. I now transfer it to a clay casserole pot I have that goes in my oven. If you are fortunate to have a pan that goes from stove top to oven, then use that. Season well with salt and pepper, then add saffron and lemon mixture with the stock and wine. Scatter over the olives. Add the preserved lemon. Place in pre-heated 180 deg. C oven for 1 hour until rice and chickpeas are done. Garnish with a little fresh coriander.