“Uncomposed” Carrot Salad with a hint of chilli

This is my favourite salad to serve with Indian curries. Somehow the sweetness of the carrots (and sugar) with the tanginess of the vinegar based dressing, and the hint of fresh chilli complements Indian food perfectly.

Composed salads, or what the French call salade composée, are salads where an “assortment of ingredients are arranged aesthetically on a plate and drizzled with vinaigrette, rather than tossed with it”. (http://www.cookthink.com/reference/836/What_is_a_composed_salad)

That’s why I call this my “uncomposed” salad. When I was young, my mum made the same salad but arranged it (or composed it) beautifully in tiers of finely sliced/chopped/grated ingredients. The result was almost a work of art! Of course, you can do this if you have time and want to wow your audience, but I just toss it all together! Tastes the same😁

Also, the rocket can be replaced with finely chopped iceberg lettuce for additional crunch!

Prep time: 8 minutes  Cooking time: 0

Ingredients:
1 large carrot grated
1/2 Spanish onion finely sliced
1 small tomato diced
1 small Lebanese cucumber sliced into rings
1 cup of rocket leaves or finely chopped iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

Vinagrette Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 finely chopped red chilli

Method:
Put all the ingredients in your salad bowl
Pour over vinaigrette
Toss
Serve as accompaniment to Indian meal

Christmas Turkey Stuffing

It’s been a very busy lead up to Christmas so there hasn’t been much time to post recipes but there has been a lot of cooking going on! We have already celebrated Christmas with family  in Melbourne and Sydney. And the now the requests are coming in for the ham glaze and turkey stuffing recipes are coming in so I thought I’d share with everyone.

This stuffing recipe has been in my family forever and I don’t know where it originated from. It doesn’t have fruit or nuts in it but the carrots and onions add sweetness and the finely chopped chicken liver adds texture and an almost gamey flavour. White pepper is essential and adds a tangy spiciness quite different to black pepper.

I use the stuffing in full turkey roast, turkey breast roll and also whole chicken roast. Highly advisable to make a seperate dish of it in the oven at the same time as it goes pretty quickly.

Prep time: 15 minutes  Cooking time: depends on what you are stuffing but at least 1 hour in the oven.

Ingredients:
4 carrots grated
2 brown onions finely diced
4 cloves of garlic crushed to a paste
200g chicken livers with skin and sinew removed and very finely chopped, almost minced
1.5-2 cups white breadcrumbs freshly torn in little chunks from 1/2 a baguette, can include crusts
100g butter
1/2 bunch of thyme leaves stripped from stalk
2 sprigs of sage finely chopped
salt to taste
1.5-2 teaspoons white pepper

image
Finely chopped liver

 

Method:

Melt butter in non-stick frying pan over medium heat
Add onions and cook slowly until transparent
Add garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes
Add chicken livers and cook slowly until browned and colour changes

image
Sauté chicken livers over medium heat until colour changes

Add carrots, thyme and sage and pepper and cook until carrots are softened
Remove from heat and put into a bowl, then add breadcrumbs and salt to taste, mix well so the bread absorbs the juices and butterCool thoroughly before stuffing bird
Put extra stuffing in a ovenproof dish and bake alongside the roast

image