Prawn and couscous parcels

I have been meaning to make these ever since I read armchairchef (a.k.a Bryan's) version a month or so back. Bryan has such a great idea, I thought I would just play around a little and see what I could come up with. If truth be known, I read his blog and thought it a great idea,however, when I re read it tonight I must of mixed my own ideas with his and forgot he used basil pesto; for some reason I thought it was cilantro (coriander)!
I didn't have any pesto in the house, it was a massive day at work, I'd finally arrived home since leaving at 5.15 this morning so I was NOT entertaining the idea of 'popping to the shops!'.
 I was always going to use filo pastry instead of the healthier version of parchment paper but I needed to come up with a flavour filling. In the end I followed Bryans' lead, cooked my couscous, diced my veg and then decided the kids could try theirs with fresh basil leaves and I filled ours with fresh chili, cilantro leaves and lemon juice (this is what I thought I saw).

I love how impressive these look and I also love that I can make these in the morning and serve them for dinner without to much of a thought. Even after a really long day at work and sore feet I was in and out of the kitchen before I knew it.
Hey Bryan, your right, the aroma knocks you over when you pierce your knife inside and open it up. Nic, the kids and I all filled our nostrils with the delights ahead of us and we were not disappointed in the flavour. Max LOVED his with fresh basil but wants to try it again when we have pesto in the house. Nic and I thoroughly enjoyed the Mexican twist, but also look forward to a pesto infusion in the future.

Thank you Bryan for this great family meal, we all loved it (actually Alex hates prawns, which I forgot but he loved the filo, couscous and corn so happy days!), and I'll be making it again- no doubt putting a different spin on the fillings each time.

Mystery Dinner

Do you ever have that feeling of 'what can we have for dinner?'- when you go to look in the fridge all you can see are boring ingredients and nothing remotely interesting? Well that happened to me last night. Max had a friend around for an after school play, which means the kids left me alone until pick up. I had plenty of time to make something delicious and tasty, yet when I went to see what was on offer nothing looked appealing. I went to the cupboard and pulled a can of chickpeas and tomatoes out- they sat on the bench until the 11th hour.

I was running out of time, Megan had arrived to pick up her son and I was still wondering what to cook. In the end I thought I'd better cut up what ever veggies I could find to begin the process, otherwise it will be 8 o'clock and we'd still be unfed. The dinner was a total mystery to me until I turned on the heat of the stove and began adding to the pot. I needed to throw in heaps of veggies because Alex thinks he can survive on bread alone ( he hasn't eaten a good meal in days- the typical 3 year old!) and I needed it to be tasty because I was in the mood for some flavour before this cold I have takes over my taste buds!

 I diced all the veggies the same size as the chick peas so they will cook evenly, then  sauteed the lot in olive oil along with a couple cloves of garlic and some fennel seeds. After the aroma hit my nose it was time to begin making this mystery into something worth eating. I added a tin of tomatoes, plus some fresh cherry tomatoes that needed to be used up, salt and pepper then turned the heat down low, covered the pot and let it meld together for about half an hour, stirring every now and again. 

 I knew if I served it with couscous and a squeeze of lemon juice over the top, Max and Alex would eat it up, however I wanted a little something extra. I have had half a red cabbage sitting in the fridge for about 6 days now and thought it needed to be eaten. Knowing full well the boys would gag and complain if I put cabbage into the mix, I decided to make a coleslaw and add some chili flakes and orange juice to the regular mayo. It would improve the flavor and give Nic and I an extra 'punch' to the meal. 

I first thought to serve it on the side but after tasting the chickpea sauce I thought the creamy mayo and chili would compliment if eaten together. I was right, the yummy thick vegetable stew was rich and flavoursome but when finished with the acid of lemon  and creaminess of the mayo it really took it up a notch and we were very happy with the end result. The boys were not interested in the coleslaw but devoured the couscous and veggie stew- something Alex hasn't done in a while. Next time I am stuck for an idea I think I'll stick to throwing everything into a pot and hoping for the best seeing how it worked so well this time around.

Guinea Pigs

I have been writing down recipes, ideas and memories of recipes for my (hopefully ) up and coming book on family meals. Last year the boys were very patient with me asking them to 'taste this with that', 'make sure you eat it all together' or 'just taste it and tell me...pleeassseeee!' 

When we were heading back up to Chicago at the beginning of summer and I was wrapping up some recipe testing yet again- the boys gave a sigh and said, 'Does this mean we can just eat?' I got the message and have laid off.....until now. Deadlines looming and my urge for retesting and retesting again has lead me to tonight's dinner. Lamb chops with skordalia and something??? I really wanted to see what the boys thought of my version of skordalia and if I wasn't to off track. My version is a combination of flavors starting with a poached egg, lots of garlic, almonds, bread crumbs, parsley and a splash of oil and lemon juice then blended together in a food processor. Wondering if the garlic was just to much I thought I'd serve it with a salad of apples, raisins, celery and blanched broccoli - A few of their favorites just in case it fell flat and left them with just lamb and couscous.

Of course they were saying 'what is the green stuff, what's in the salad?' Alex's first words were 'I don't like it' and then proceeds to eat. I put the skordalia on the side of the boys plate (and served ours on top of the lamb) so they saw the lamb and recognized it as 'friendly food'. I of course hold my breath and Max butts in with 'Hmm this is really yummy' Alex then adds 'Oh yeah, I like it'. Just when I think all is well Alex pipes up in his loudest three year old voice and says 'OH this isn't apple......this is CELERY- I DON"T LIKE IT' Here I was worrying about the garlic being to intense and I should of been more worried about the celery!

From an adults point of view the skordalia was delicious, a very soft texture with a huge bite that compliments lamb beautifully. Having said that I kept on thinking how nice it would be with eggplant- next time.

Eggplant and kids

It has been a busy week for me. I am back at work part time, kids have play dates I am trying to keep up with and we are constantly running around doing one job after another, weather it be getting signed up for school, dentist appointments or dragging the kids grocery shopping. By the end of the day I am knackered!

  We are not a huge meat eating family, not through choice- I have decided I only will buy organic-preservative, steroid, mad cow free meat. For us this means cutting down on the amount we eat due to the growing prices. It is not a bad thing really because when you finally get to having the juicy New York strip steak at the end of the month- it tastes like heaven on earth! Eggplant (that's aubergine for those of you in Europe) however does not have the same association when telling my boys what's for dinner. 

  I had an eggplant sitting in the fridge for a week- they do last a very long time. I was heading out the door to go to book club in 30 minutes and I needed to eat. The boys had already eaten due to the crazy schedule of this week and they will again eat by themselves the next night so I wanted them to at least eat a delicious meal while I was at work. Max saw me cutting up the eggplant, rolled his eyes and of course said "YUCK!"- typical comment, however I told him he will be eating it tomorrow night. This bought much wining and moaning, I told him I'd serve it with toasted almonds and he said he'd 'just pick out the almonds and be done with it'.

 Well, I made the eggplant and cooked it up with tomatoes, peas and a touch of chili flakes. Served it with couscous and toasted almonds- Beautiful!  The crunchy almonds complimented the eggplants soft silky  texture really well and the hint of chili rounded off the flavor. I was really happy with the out come and I did it in 30 minutes- you have got to love couscous when you are doing a meal on the fly.

 The next day I told Nic to serve Alex's with a little plain yogurt to reduce the chili bite and wait and see for Max. This morning I dare ask how dinner went....."Great! the boys ate it all up without complaint" I couldn't believe it after the conversation I had with Max the day before. Nic did say they asked "what is this black stuff" with Nic replying "there is nothing black in there- now who wants a story?" with that they continued eating and most importantly- enjoying. 

I understand eggplant isn't the first choice for a family meal but it is totally doable- you just need to add a bit of nutty crunch, a touch of chili for some people and the smooth yogurt for others, oh and don't mention the 'black stuff'.