I made this meal over a week ago and have since been umming and ahhing about the quality (or lack there of) of my photograph, I was determined to make another dish using chilli this week but time got the better of me and this was really very yummy - so I apologies the photo it is definitely not of food porn quality but it is mouth-wateringly yummy!

​I adapted this recipe in a book from the library called 'Chillies, Great recipe Ideas with a classic ingredient' published in 2007 by Marshall Cavendish Cuisine.  I highly recommend borrowing cookbooks from the library - there is some fabulous stuff in there, the Librarian Emma keeps a great selection on the shelves and new stuff is always arriving.

Take note of the tips about preparing this to suit chillies 'not too hot' fans!

Ingredients:

• 12 Lemongrass stalks or bamboo skewers;
• Cooking oil; and
• Readymade Asian salad mix (or make your own).

Chilli Pork Mixture:

• 500 grams of minced pork;
• 55 grams of dry breadcrumbs;
• 2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped*;
• 1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped;
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced;
• 1 tsp ground cumin; and
• 1 tsp ground coriander.

 
Method:

1. Prepare chilli pork mixture. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Divide mixture into 12 portions. Wet your fingers with water and shape each portion into a rough oblong. Insert lemongrass skewers halfway through each portion. Repeat steps for remaining mixture. Brush pork sticks lightly with oil.
3. Place sticks on a lightly greased baking tray and bake in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
4. Serve with pre-made Asian salad.

 
Notes: I was cooking this meal for the family so I left the seeds of the chilli out of the pork mixture, so that our 2-year-old could eat them too (take note parents – he loved them, I did not think he would…), anyway, I would recommend if you (like me) love the chilli, include the seeds in the pork mixture – otherwise, compromise and do what I did and make a dipping sauce using the chilli seeds and a selection of Asian sauces you have in the pantry. I used a sweet soy sauce, a small amount of brown vinegar and fish sauce with the chilli seeds mixed through which I thought was delicious!

I made this meal for myself while I was bachelorette'n last night as the Hubs was out supporting the Blues in State of Origin. I know it's not a typical can't be stuffed meal that you're meant to make on such occasions but surprisingly this didn't take long at all.

I even adapted it for the young'n - he ate quinoa, avo and chicken and had a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice to wash it down - yes I am aware that makes me one of those types - but I don't care, he's happy and I don't have to make two meals - moohaha!!
​
Plus the look on his face when he squeezes the grapefruit using my super old school juicer is priceless - he claps himself after and everything....

​Enjoy!

Right, this is going to be a loose recipe - I'll try and write up a recipe card later, but I'm running out of time this week. So come back later if you need exacts!

Ingredients:

• 2 x red grapefruit, sliced, all white pith removed
• 4 ​Chicken Tenders (frozen section)*
• Three colour quinoa
• 1 avocado
• 1 cob of fresh corn
• half block of Danish feta
• Whatever dressing you like..... I used 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice - 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil - 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.

​Method:

1. Place chicken tenders in the oven and cook according to packet instructions (approx. 25 minutes, then cook quinoa according to packet instructions (I microwaved mine - approx. 10 minutes).
2. Dice, crumble and slice 1 red grapefruit, avocado, fetta and corn and mix together in a big bowl. Juice the other red grapefruit if you plan on using it in your dressing and make the dressing.
3. Allow the quinoa to cool a little before mixing it through the salad, and once the chicken is ready chop into bite sized pieces and mix through the salad - you can save some big chunks for the top if you like.
4. Voila - takes about 30 or 40 minutes.

Notes:

• I had every intention to use fresh chicken wrapped in pancetta, but I forgot to defrost the chicken so I made do with some frozen crumbed chicken I had.

Here is the last beef lasagne recipe you'll ever need, plenty of flavour, muchos protein using delicious vegetables as the 'pasta' layers. ​So depending on how heavy your cheese hand is this is one healthy and delicious dinner.

This serving size is pretty big, it cuts out at about 8 portions, so you can freeze it or reduce the quantities as you see fit. You can swap any of the vegetables for pasta if that tickles your fancy - or only use one type if you prefer - for example there are so many eggplants in town at the moment you could use only eggplants - up to you :)

​I've included at the bottom of this post a series of images showing the layering, check it out.
​
​Peace Out! T-Bomb

​Ingredients:
Meat Sauce

• 1kg (4 star) beef mince
• 2 onions, sliced thinly
• 1 jar garden vegetable pasta sauce
• ½ jar arrabbiata pasta sauce

‘Pasta’ Layers

• ½ bush squash, sliced thinly
• ¼ kent pumpkin, sliced thinly*
• 2 eggplants, sliced thinly
• 3 red capsicum, sliced thinly

Cheese Sauce

• About 2 cups milk
• A knob of butter
• 3 large handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
• Some flour

Method:

1. To cook meat sauce, place onions in a pan with a little oil, fry over high heat until soft. Add beef mince and cook until browned. Pour in both pasta sauces and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to your liking. Remove from heat and set aside until you’re ready to assemble the lasagne.
2. While meat sauce is simmering slice all the vegetables, and grill on the BBQ until bendy and charred (see picture), allow to cool, then peel skin off the capsicum and cut the rind off the pumpkin.
3. For the cheese sauce, I find making more than you think you need is a good idea (hence the quantities being super vague- sorry!). I start by pouring the equivalent amount of milk (with respect to the amount of sauce I want) into a pot, adding the knob of butter and turning the stove on to a low heat. Then, add enough cheese so that buying that big bag wasn’t a waste, thank me later... Once it’s hot (don’t let it boil) and the cheese has melted into the milk and butter, sprinkle some flour into the pot and using a whisk beat the cheese sauce until all the lumps are smooth.
4. Now, time to layer the lasagne I built mine as follows: bush squash, meat sauce, cheese sauce, pumpkin, meat sauce, cheese sauce, eggplant, meat sauce, cheese sauce, capsicum, cheese sauce (3 layers of meat, 4 layers of cheese – with the top layer being the largest).
5. Then cover with foil and place in the stove at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
6. Remove foil and cook for another 30 minutes, serve – with a green salad or on its own.

Notes:

• Pumpkin: leave the rind on – it keeps the pumpkin in one piece and you can cut off the rind once cooled.

Earlier this week I grilled up this chicken dish using lemongrass in the marinade. The tangy chicken is perfectly accompanied by a sweet honey dipping sauce for a mid-week winning combo!

You can prepare the chicken ahead and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight - but lets be frank.... half the time I don't know what we're having for dinner until the afternoon, when I get to the shops after I've canvased the fridge for left-overs that has to be used #waronwaste.

Happy Friday everyone!

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally
• Rice and/or salad to complete the meal

Marinade

• 3 stalks lemongrass
  
  • Two - cut into 2-3cm pieces, pounded and bruised
    
  • One - chopped finely
• 1 cup chopped coriander
• 120ml olive oil

Honey Dipping Sauce

• 75ml water
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons chia honey
• Chopped red chilli, to taste
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup mint leaves for garnishing, optional
• 1 lime, sliced for garnishing

​Method:

1. Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a shallow dish. Transfer the chicken into the dish and coat well with the marinade. Cover the dish and marinate 2 hours or overnight.
2. Prepare the honey dipping sauce by combining the water, sugar and honey in a small saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolved. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the chilli. Let it cool to room temperature before adding the white vinegar and fish sauce. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Refrigerate until use.
3. Remove chicken from marinade (setting marinade aside) and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Grill the chicken on the BBQ, until the skin is lightly burned and crisp, brush with marinade to keep moisture on the surface, ensure chicken is turned and cooked through.
4. Let it rest for 3-5 minutes before slicing the chicken.
5. Serve with warm steamed rice and or salad.

 
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia who adapted from Food & Wine.
Find this version online: Here at the BBQbaker.com

If you haven't been able to tell - I love serving up share platters of food with lots of fresh ingredients that are heavy on the protein! This dish came together for lunch this week using lots of local produce left over from my produce box (thanks again Rock Solid Produce), i.e. capsicums, chilli's and corn. That's my favourite thing about buying local, it stays fresh for so long!

I have been purposely vague about the quantities of meat, cheese, corn chips and extra’s required so that you can use your best judgements when deciding on how hungry everyone is. This serving pictured below fed 3 people with some to spare - the perfect meal for Friday Night Footy - whatever your code!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 250 grams beef mince
• 250 grams BBQ chicken, shredded
• 2 x jars ‘Old el Paso’ Nachos Topping
• Grated cheese
• Corn chips
• Extras: grated carrot, chopped chilli or jalapenos, green/red capsicum, fresh corn, Spanish onion, chives, smashed avocado and sour cream

Method
Pre-prep for meat toppings:

1. In a pan, fry the diced onion in a little oil until soft, add the beef mince and cook through, finally stir in a half jar of nachos sauce.
2. For the chicken topping, shred the BBQ chook using your fingers and stir through the other half of the nachos toppings jar.

Extra’s:

1. Before assembling the nachos, cut up all the extra’s you’d like and assemble on a share plate.

Final Steps:

1. Spread corn chips over a metal tray (I used a lamington pan for people), scatter the meats on either side, then place dollops of nachos sauce over both meats, finally sprinkle with grated cheese.
2. Cook under the grill for 3-5 minutes.
3. Serves approx. 4 people

Notes:

• I would usually only use one type of meat in my nachos, but I was on a mission to reduce food waste in the fridge – hence the mixture of meats. If using one choice of protein about 500 grams should cover 4 people.

This week Out of the Ord is spending some time with Rockmelon - otherwise known as Cantaloupe or....

• cantelope, cantaloup, muskmelon (India and the United States); and
• mushmelon, rockmelon, sweet melon, Persian melon, or spanspek (South Africa).

​Here is the first recipe I'll share which we ate last night along with some lamb wrapped in prosciutto, I have an ice-cream bar in the works too and will share that once it has set.

​Matt cooked the lamb which has some bush banana on top - we went hunting for this yesterday and there are some good images of him up a tree which i'm sure he will share on the ABC Kimberley page sooner or later.

Recipe as per TASTE website, also in their 'Entertaining' cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 150g goat's cheese,
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange rind (I recommend doubling this and using 1 teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
• 6 slices sourdough bread, chargrilled (mmm. BBQ usage - I approve!)
• 6 slices Prosciutto
• 500g rockmelon, peeled, thinly sliced lengthways
• Honey, to serve
• Fresh mint leaves, to serve

 
Method

1. Combine the goat's cheese, orange rind and lemon rind in a bowl. Season.
2. Spread goat's cheese mixture over bread. Top with prosciutto and rockmelon. Drizzle over the honey. Season with pepper and sprinkle with mint.

When I found out it was Barramundi week I was pretty excited - the Brann's where going fishing over Easter weekend at El Questro and I thought for sure I could post a picture of me an my giant Pentecost River Barra that I caught pre and post recipe blog....... I caught nothing..... Neither did my man-friend..... neither did our guests from Katherine and Darwin..... and Tommy (our 1.5 year old) well, he was too busy eating chocolate eggs and swimming in the lovely river at El Q township to be of any help.

So with my store bought Australian Barra i'd like to share this simple Taco recipe as it is one of our favourite meals at home (we cook it every couple of weeks at the moment - it is very high on recipe rotation!

But I thought I'd mix it up for the Out of the Ord community in case they wanted something fancier, so I've also included a Donna Hay recipe from one of her cookbooks 'The New Easy'.

Both have their merits - Both are delicious.

Simply, ours is family friendly..... and Donna's has tequila in it - great dinner party stuff, I may have enjoyed a margarita alongside my taco last night!

Thanks for being my internet friend!

My Simple Barramundi Soft Taco's
​Ingredients:

• ​Barra Fillets
• Taco Seasoning
• Coles Kaleslaw (pre packaged salad mix)
• Tortilla's
• Dare to be fancy with extra’s like avocado, coriander, fresh chilli and lime.

Method:

1. ​Cut Barra into chunks and sprinkle with desired amount of taco seasoning.
   1. We use about a half sachet - or if we forget to buy taco seasoning or your trying not to waste food #nowaste - leftover  burrito or fajita seasoning works also.
   2. Our little boy Tommy can't hack the Mexican seasoning so we cook some plain Barra for him before cooking ours.
2. Heat pan with a little olive oil then fry the Barra until cooked, about 5 minutes, place in a bowl and set on the table.
3. Prepare Kaleslaw in a salad bowl and set on the table.
4. Heat tortilla's in microwave for 10 seconds.
5. Eat and share at the table.

​Donna Hay's Tequila and Lime Fish Taco's
Slightly altered from her ‘The New Easy’ cookbook – great book!
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup tequila
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• Pinch of salt
• A couple of barra fillets (pending size)
• Tortilla’s
• 1 – 2 Avocado’s, diced
• Coriander leaves

Pickled Cabbage Salad
·       1 white onion, thinly sliced
·       2 cups of shredded drumhead cabbage
Method:

1. Combine tequila, lime, sugar, chilli flakes and salt
2. Place fish in a shallow tray and pour half the mixture on top, allow to stand for 20 minutes to marinate.
3. Make the pickled cabbage salad by placing the sliced onion and cabbage in a container with a tight lid and pour over the remaining tequila/lime mix. Shake to combine, place in fridge till ready to serve.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook the barra as fillets, skin side down first until cooked through, set aside.
5. To make taco’s top the tortilla’s with the cabbage salad, avocado, fish and coriander.

As a lover of lettuce as the ultimate salad vessel - this week was pretty easy for me. With Chorizo sausages on special (thank-you supermarket!) and leftover pumpkin, feta and chickpeas in the fridge, the Brann's embarked on a classic #NOWASTE meal - Matt and I try our best to use everything we buy.

​So we ate this whole platter of food between two of us last night (I also had a glass of wine.... weeeee!) and because it's the ultimate protein and carbs combo I felt really good about myself after!

​Plus now I have some open wine to make a seafood marina tonight - the supermarket deli is having some gangbusters specials right now!

​Enjoy - thanks for reading!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 chorizo sausages
• Enough leafy greens for 2, I used rocket, symphony, cos and baby spinach
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 pumpkin roasted and cooled
• ¼ block of feta, crumbled
• A handful pepita seeds
• A handful of chickpeas (mine where pre-cooked from a previous meal or out of a can)
• A lime, squeezed over the chorizo once cooked.
  • Plus add anything else you have in the fridge #NOWASTE

 
Method:

1. When you get home, cut the pumpkin into wedges and place in the oven on 180 degrees Celsius for an hour.
   1. I did this around lunch time, if you don’t have time to wait an hour, I recommend cutting up the pumpkin into smaller bite size pieces and roasting it – or you can boil it or fry it – whatever works for you.
2. Prepare service platter with the leafy greens.
3. Sprinkle other ingredients over the platter.
   1. I wish I had a Spanish onion in the fridge and think it would go well with this meal…. Oh well…
4. When you’re ready to eat – slice up the chorizo and pan fry in hot oil for about 5 minutes until it’s nice and crispy, pat with paper towel to remove excess oil, then squeeze the lime over the chorizo and transfer to platter.

Banana leaf is a great way to cook your freshly caught Kimberley Barra on the BBQ and it's so easy. Simply, throw all your favourite ingredients for fish into a food processor (or don't and just mix) then spoon on top of the fish for easy wrapped parcels of flavour.

I used garlic, ginger, lime, lemongrass and chilli which was delicious - but you can use anything, like say.....

• ​red curry paste, coconut milk and lime;
• lemon and dill; or
• pistachios, coconut flakes, lime juice/rind.

​To make the parcels:

1. Cut each leaf into rectangles about 12cm x 15 cm.
2. Scald the banana leaves with boiling water in the sink (this makes them more bendy), pat dry with a fresh tea-towel and place on your prep area. 
3. Brush both side of the banana leaves with oil (use fancy oils like coconut for more flavour).
4. Place the fish and your chosen ingredients on the leaf.
5. Roll the banana leaf around the filling, using toothpicks to secure the open ends (see picture).
6. Place the parcels on the BBQ Grill and cook flipping every 2-3 minutes for about 10-12 minutes in total (or until cooked)
7. Serve with coconut rice, salad and lime wedges.

But wait - still not feeling confident about trying this at home? If you're after a legit recipe for a Thai based fish parcel with proper ingredients and instructions then have a look at this blog post I wrote in 2014 when living in Darwin. 

It's been a big week, visiting Broome and stations along 80 mile beach, but I'm back in the saddle and getting my Ord Valley Cooking on!
​
​This week I made a Spiced Chicken and Chickpea Salad, adapted from the trusty Coles Magazine #shoutoutCurtisStone which my man-friend and I thought was delicious, especially paired with a Hunter Valley Chardy!

​If you're not a fan of the taste of smoked paprika, I would suggest halving the portions below, the flavour is quite strong.

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 1 cup mint leaves
• ⅓ cup (80ml) Greek-style yogurt
• 2 tsp. tahini
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 275g chickpeas (soaked overnight) *

Instructions:
The night before:

1. The night before, cover chickpeas in water (make the water sit at least 3cm over the top of the chickpeas) and place in the fridge.
   

On the day

1. Cook chickpeas per packet instructions.
2. Preheat oven to 200C.
3. Combine the full breasts of chicken with the oil, paprika, cumin and turmeric in a large bowl.
4. Line baking tray/s with baking paper. Place the carrots, chicken and chickpeas on the tray/s. Drizzle with remaining oil from the chicken seasoning. Roast for 25 mins or until cooked through and tender. Thinly slice the chicken breast.
5. Meanwhile, reserve half the mint. Finely chop the remaining mint. Place in a bowl with the yoghurt, tahini and lemon juice and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Combine the chicken, carrots, chickpeas, any other ingredients** and reserved mint in a large bowl. Divide among serving plates. Drizzle with the yoghurt mixture.

Notes:
* The weight of the chickpeas was measured after I had soaked them overnight. I soaked more than I needed as I also made falafels and hummus.
** I used extra ingredients I had in the fridge and encourage you to do the same #nowaste hence I added avocado and feta cheese.
​
Adapted from Taste and the Coles magazine.

This bean salad is perfect as a side dish, can be made ahead of time for entertaining and changed to a cold salad as per notes.

​If you're interested in some other Borlotti Beans Recipes, check out my Pinterest boards.

​Borlotti Beans are grown in the Ord Valley by Daryl and Sue Smith of Ivanhoe Farms.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 large onion, finely chopped 
• 1 carrot, finely diced 
• 1 zucchini, finely diced 
• 400g dried Borlotti beans (must be soaked the day before)
• 100g fetta cheese, crumbled (I prefer Danish fetta)
• 1/2 cup (55g) walnuts, roughly chopped 
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped 
• juice of 1 lemon

​Instructions
The night before

1. Soak the Borlotti beans as per packet instructions.

On the day

1. Cook the Borlotti beans as per packet instructions, beans should be soft when bitten in to.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and carrot. Cook stirring occasionally, until softened.
3. Add zucchini. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add pre-prepared Borlotti beans and cook for 10 minutes, stirring.
5. Remove from heat and fold through fetta, walnuts and parsley.
6. Drizzle with remaining oil and lemon juice.
7. Mix well and serve.

 
Recipe adapted from Taste.

Notes
​​If making as a cold salad, swap the brown onion for a purple onion, the zucchini for a cucumber, the parsley for basil and then add some cherry tomato's and balsamic vinegar.​​

A pretty simple recipe if I do say so myself....

Ingredients are:

- chicken breast

- pumpkin

- baby spinach

- quinoa (with Moroccan seasoning)

- fetta

- pistachio dukka

- lemon

- oil

- avacodo

Method:

- roast pumpkin (1 hour, at 180 degrees celcuis in the BBQ), while you wait, call a family member and say g'day, after which you should be ready to scrape out the pumpkin and place in a mixing bowl

- cook quinoa according to packet (takes 20 minutes, when ready, add to the pumpkin mix and stir through. Set aside.

- while the dukka is on the go, mix 2 tbs of dukka with 1 tbs oil and 1 tbs lemon juice.

- cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally so you have skinny breasts and coat in the dukka mix

- grill chicken on BBQ for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

- layer all the elements on the plate as thus .... Baby spinich, avacodo, quinoa mix, chicken, crumbled fetta.

A super simple BBQ fish dish!

All you need is foil, saffron strands and a lime....

Plus some fresh fish! This tasty beast was caught by friends at channel point.

Place sliced lime and fish into the foil and seal by crinkling the sides together.

Cook at 160 degrees celcuis for 20 minutes in a tray with approx 1 cm of water in the bottom (to prevent from burning).

Then open the foil pack, sprinkle the saffron on top and bake until ready.

Approx 30 Minutes in total depending on the BBQ.

Serve with a salad of 4 things only!!!

More on my 4 things theory soon.

Xox the BBQ baker!