Menu Plan Monday

Monday -Fresh home made roast pumpkin tortellini or ravioli depending on how bored I get with the folding etc and blue cheese sauce, salad
Tuesday - Chicken Tagine with olives and lemons (recipe below), naan bread, silverbeet
Wednesday - Smoked fish and rice cakes (recipe below), salad
Thursday - Nasi Goreng (with peanut sauce, yum oh yum oh yum)
Friday - Steak and home made oven roasted "chips", some sort of salad
Sat- Something with mince, maybe kofta with some vege curry and rice
Sun - lite mac 'n' cheese (with bacon) with salad of some sort.

Chicken Tagine with Olives and Lemons

Rock salt

1 whole large chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or chicken pieces)

1 T white wine vinegar

5 T olive oil

1 large bunch fresh coriander

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp real saffron

pinch salt

2 chopped onions

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric

¼ cup mixed olives pitted

3 small preserved lemons

Rub rock salt into chicken pieces then wash chicken with vinegar. Leave for 10 mins. Rinse and dry, place on clean plate. (I usually just sprinkle both ingredients all over and leave it while I get the rest ready).

In a large bowl, mix olive oil, coriander, cinnamon, saffron, fine salt, half the onions, garlic, cumin, ginger, paprika, turmeric. Mix into a paste. Roll the chicken into the marinade and leave 10-15 mins. ( I usually whiz everything – except the olives and lemons - in the food processor and then put it all in the casserole with the chicken without marinading).

Using a tagine or deep, heavy casserole dish, drop in chicken and pour over excess marinade. Add remaining onions, olives and preserved lemons*. Cook at 180°C for 45 mins or until chicken is cooked. Serve with fresh pita, or Turkish pide.

To use preserved lemons:

Remove the flesh from the lemon peel and discard. Rinse peel under cold water and chop finely before adding to the dish. Some people use the flesh as well but I prefer not to. Preserved lemons are very salty, so be careful when seasoning the dish as extra salt may not be necessary.

Kawakawa & smoked fish cakes with lemon mayonnaise (from Viva)

serves 4
1 1/2 cups cooked med grain rice
1 side of smoked fish
1 tsp kawakawa (I don't have any but these still taste excellent without it. Available from Zarbo, and here and also here)
1 egg
zest of 1 lemon
2 T spring onions, finely sliced
120g taleggio cheese, diced ( I just use whatever cheese I have)
1 T flour
salt and freshly gr. pepper
olive oil for cooking

Mayonnaise
3 egg yolks
1 t lemon zest
1/2 t caster sugar
300 ml olive oil
sea salt
lemon juice

Remove the skin and bone from the fish and shred the flesh. Add all other ingredients, season and set aside.
To make the mayonnaise; use a food processor whiz the yolks and zest with the sugar for a min and them slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream. When the eggs and oil have amalgamated, turn off the motor and add salt and juice to taste.

Heat oil in a pan and using wet hands, form small rice cakes and cook in batches for a few mins on each side or until golden and crispy. I use a non-stick and and less oil. Serve with mayo and lemon wedges.

Admittedly I doubt I'll bother with the mayo business. I do make my own now and again, but there are some very good bought mayo options out there. Most of the time I don't even serve these fish cakes with mayo at all. They are fine with just a squeeze of lemon juice.