Tag Archives: dinner

Asian-style salmon

Posted on May 28, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I’ve discovered that while Nicholas isn’t a big lover of fish, he usually happily eats salmon. Well it does have a meatier flavour and texture to white fish. Maybe because of the sweetness from the honey in the marinade, this recipe is one of his favourite salmon dishes.

Nicholas happily eats a 50g chunk of salmon, but if this seems too much for your munchkin a serving half this size will still give fabulous health benefits.

I’m usually not organised enough to think ahead and marinate the salmon overnight. I tend to marinate it just for around 30 minutes while I’m doing something else in the kitchen and it still works out great. I have it marinating on the bench and when I remember I spoon the marinade over.

This is definitely a meal you can do for the whole family without making any changes. All you need to remember to make more marinade is that there are equal portions of the three ingredients. Easy!

ASIAN-STYLE SALMON

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes 1 serving

Small chunk of salmon fillet, skin removed (25-50g depending on your toddler’s appetite!)
1 tbsp vegetable or ground nut oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp honey

Mix oil, soy sauce and honey in a small container. Put salmon in and spoon over the marinade. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge or leave to marinate for 30 mins spooning over the marinade a few times.

Heat a small non-stick fry pan over a medium-low heat.

As your piece of salmon is very small it will cook quite quickly. A minute or two on each side is plenty. The honey will caramelise and burn if the heat is up too high and if you cook it for too long, so keep an eye on it. Take the salmon out of the pan and let it rest for a couple of minutes (it will keep cooking in this time).

Flake the salmon and check for bones. Serve with rice or noodles.

Variations:

bake the salmon in the oven rather than frying it
use dark soy sauce for a less saltier flavour

Other uses:

use the marinade with chicken or white fish

2 Comments

Posted in dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged asian-style, dairy-free, dinner, family, fish, honey, light soy sauce, lunch, oil, recipe, rice, salmon, soy sauce, toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Kofte

Posted on May 25, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

There’s no doubt my offspring loves meat. How could he not when he’s half Australian?! The other night I made him a fish pie. He’s had something similar before and eaten it but not with any great enthusiasm. This time I put a nice topping of mashed potato and carrot on the top with some fresh bread crumbs and grated cheese. Lots of grated cheese. I was hoping the cheese (one of his favourite foods) would encourage him to eat the fish. To skip to the end of the story, he had slow cooked lamb for dinner, part of the leftovers we were eating, and was very happy about it!

This recipe has a little bit of spice in it (ground cumin). If you’re not sure about your little one having spices, you can leave it out without any problem.

KOFTE

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Makes about 16
Freezable

400g lamb mince
1/4 onion, diced as finely as possible or coarsely grated
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
A little oil for greasing the grill pan
Yogurt to serve

Heat a grill pan over high heat.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until combined. Shape into short sausages about 5cm in length.

Turn the grill pan down to medium heat and brush the bars lightly with oil.

Cook the kofte for about 10 minutes until just cooked through (they’ll be quite chewy if you cook them too long), turning every few minutes onto each of their four ‘sides’ so they cook evenly.

Serve with yogurt as a dipping sauce.

Variations:

use 1 shallot instead of the onion for a lighter sweeter flavour
used dried herbs rather than fresh
add some herbs to the yogurt dip
hide some vegetables in the mixture

Other uses:

dip them into houmous
serve in a pita bread or wrapped in a flatbread with salad

Leek and potato pasta sauce

Posted on May 23, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I love French food. I really love French food. I love eating French food and I love cooking French food.

I have a well-worn French cookbook I bought in Australia and one of my favourite recipes from it (hubby’s too) is leek and potato soup. I adapted the recipe to make a soup for Nicholas (my adaptation was mainly omitting the large quantity of cream!) but he wasn’t very keen on it. I spooned it over pasta and he loved it. Leek and potato soup became leek and potato sauce.

You could cook the onion, celery and leek in the microwave to be quicker and/or to avoid the butter. 2-3 minutes on medium with a couple tablespoons of water should be fine. Try to dice the potato into the smallest cubes you can as it will cook quicker. If your finished soup is a bit too thick, add a dash of milk or cream.

LEEK AND POTATO PASTA SAUCE

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15-20 mins
Makes about 400ml
Freezable

1 leek, sliced and rinsed
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/2 stick celery, cut lengthwise then sliced finely
1 tsp butter
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 cup water

Put the butter, onion, celery and leek in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook them gently over a med-low heat until the onion is opaque, and the celery and leek are softened (about 5 mins).

Add potato and the water and turn the heat up slightly to bring it to a light boil. Keep lightly boiling until the potatoes are cooked (about 10 mins depending on the size of your potatos).

Take off the heat and, if you have time, cool for a few minutes. Puree, and season if you wish.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Variations:

use stock (chicken or vegetable) instead of the water
cook some finely chopped garlic with the onion, celery and leek
garnish with fresh chives
add a dash of cream at the end for a richer sauce

Other uses:

add milk or cream to make a soup
add milk or formula and serve without the pasta for younger babies
serve over fish

Tip: leeks can have dirt stuck between their many layers which can sometimes be difficult to wash away. It’s more effective (and easier) to rinse them after you slice them. Put the slices in a colander or sieve and rinse under running water. Leave the leek to drain while you prepare the other vegetables.

Have you successfully adapted any of your favourite recipes for your baby?

2 Comments

Posted in baby, dinner, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged baby, celery, dinner, freezable, freeze, French, French cuisine, leek, lunch, onion, pasta, pasta sauce, potato, recipe, sauce, soup, toddler, vegetarian. Bookmark the permalink.

Creamy mushroom pasta sauce

Posted on May 21, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Pasta. What child doesn’t love pasta? My Italian husband’s very happy that Nicholas absolutely adores pasta. And the amount of pasta Nicholas can eat in one sitting constantly amazes me. Lunch after his swimming class at the weekend was a chunk of lasagne at Carluccio’s, from their lovely children’s menu. A chunk of lasagne that looked like an adult’s portion. He didn’t eat all of it, but almost all of it!

While this isn’t a pasta sauce you’d make several servings of and freeze, you can whip it up very quickly in the microwave while the pasta is cooking.

CREAMY MUSHROOM PASTA SAUCE

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Makes 1 serving

6 closed cup mushrooms
2 tbsp water
1 large basil leaf, finely chopped
1 tbsp plain yogurt

Chop the mushrooms into cubes about 0.5cm. Put them in a small microwave-safe bowl with the water and cook on medium for 5 mins.

Stir in the basil and yogurt until combined.

Serve over pasta.

Variations:

add a small squeeze of lemon juice
use fresh parsley instead of basil

Other uses:

eat with rice
use as a crepe filling for toddlers and adults

Mini beef burgers

Posted on May 18, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

I also think of these as mini burgers with hidden veg. You could add lots of different vegetables. Parsnip and sweet potato immediately come to mind, and of course onion. Cooking the vegetables first means you can cook the burgers fairly quickly. Of course, add which ever herbs you like, fresh or dried. If you don’t want to fry them you could bake them in the oven.

They’re a great finger food either on their own or dipped into homemade tomato sauce. Or keep them round rather than flattening them, and add them to pasta and homemade tomato sauce for a version of spaghetti and meatballs.

Another great meal to have in your freezer.

MINI BEEF BURGERS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Makes about 25
Freezable

250g beef mince
1 medium carrot, finely grated
1/2 courgette/zucchini, finely grated
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 egg yolk
some breadcrumbs (optional)

Put the grated carrot and zucchini in a microwave-safe bowl together with 1 tbsp water. Cook for 2-3mins on medium until tender. Drain off as much liquid as possible.

Mix all the ingredients together except for the breadcrumbs. Season if you wish. If the mixture is too wet to hold its shape when formed into small balls, add some breadcrumbs a spoonful at a time. Shape into small balls about 3cm in diameter.

Heat a small frying pan over a low heat (otherwise the outside of the burgers will burn before the inside cooks). Place the balls in the pan, flattening them out into burgers. Fry them in batches about 5 minutes on each side until cooked through.