Haddock and veg bake

Haddock and Veg bake
This is what I had at hand ingredient wise,
4 baby gem squash
8 baby pear shaped marrows, approx 50mm long
Some left over cherry tomatoes and 2 bigger ones
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
punnet of button mushrooms
1 large onion
1 pack frozen haddock fillets approx 500g
Veggie Seasoning
and my new oil spray filled with Olive Oil.

Method:
First peel the sweet potatoes and cube, rinse and put into a microwave/glass dish and Nuke for 4 minutes at full blast.
Put your Oven on HIGH in the meantime.
Then trim the ends of the squash and marrows, rinse and do the same as the sweet potatoes but only for 2 minutes.
Now it is time to get out the baking dish big enough for all the ingredients, spray with oil, dump the nuked veggies in and spray with oil and sprinkle with Veggie Seasoning.
Slide the dish into the oven while you do the next step.
Trim the tail bit off your fillets of fish and cut in half, wash the mushrooms and tomatoes, dice/slice the larger ones and do the same to the onion.
Now you can whip your dish out of the oven and add the fish, arrange at will and spray a tad more oil, pop back into the oven for another 10 minutes.
Finaly add the tomatoes onion and mushrooms, sprinkle with Veggie Seasoning and spray lightly with oil.
Pop the lot back in the oven for 15 minutes, use a large spoon to mix the lot a bit and return to the oven for another 10 minutes with the Grill on, keep an eye on things from now on, as soon as things get brown do the mix thing and toast the rest... as soon as things go brown again shut the heat off and prepare to feast.
This recipe can be adapted regarding protein and vegetables, use whatever you have, the secret is in the light film of oil and the Veggie Seasoning. I reckon I could have served at least 4 people.

Le poulet fumé

Today's recipe is another plonk and roast dish, I think one should call it Le poulet fumé avec les légumes rôtis or in plain english Smoked Chicken with Roasted Vegetables. (French thanks to Free Translations.Com.) Very easy to make and quite quick if one harnesses the Microwave to pre-cook the veggies.
Ingredients:
1 Smoked chicken, one could substitute this with one of those roasted chickens from your Spar/P&P/Woolies deli department.
Assorted packs of prepared veggies of your choice, I picked baby spuds/medeteranian veggie mix with sundried tomatoes/sweet potatoes/butternut/snap peas. You can mix and match as your tastebuds/hunger dictate.
1 Pack button mushrooms
1 Handfull asparagus
1 Large onion
1 Large red sweet pepper
2 Large tomatoes
2 cans tomato & onion mix, one per baking dish.
250 ml fresh cream
Herbs and spices to suit your taste, my choice was 2 tsp paprika, 2 tsp Italian herb, 1 tsp majoram, 1 tsp celery salt, 1 tbl spn Veggie sprinkle, dried garlic (one clove fresh) and 2 tsp Coriander seeds. These were all ground together in a mortar and pestle (my new kitchen toy)
Preperation:
Cut the chicken into portions and place in a baking pan/dish and grill for a few minutes, this helps cook out any excess fat...
Put all the veggie packs into the microwave and nuke for 8 minutes or untill semi cooked...
My ingredients were enough for 2 baking dishes, it may vary according to your requirements or amount of ingredients you have.
Remove chicken from grill and set oven on max, drain any fat from the chicken and divide between the baking dishes if needed.
Arrange veggies amongst chicken, slice onion and tomatoes and plonk among the rest of the veggies, cut up the asparagus and mushrooms to spread about likewise.
Spread your spice/herb mix over ingredients followed by the tomato/onion mix and then divide the cream between the dishes.
Return to oven for about 10 minutes, stir and turn bigger vegetables and bake another 10 minutes.
Set oven on Grill and grill the dish for another 10 minutes or until veggies start showing brown... Do not Incinerate!
By this time you should have finished a tossed salad to complement your Le poulet fumé avec les légumes rôtis.
This is a thumbsuck recipe as it can be chopped and changed depending on ingredients available. Will serve four comfortably.

Pork Wellies in Drag roasted with Potatoes, Batatas und other veggies.

Pork Wellies in Drag roasted with Potatoes, Batatas und other veggies. Posted on above link originally...

Ingredients
8 Pork wellingtons aka Pork bangers done up with a rasher of bacon, a dried prune stuck in the centre and garnished with 1/2 glazed cherries on the ends. These can be made up from ordinary Porkies.
1 to 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks
1 med to large onion, coarsly sliced
1 large green pepper, diced roughly
1 to 3 tomatoes, diced roughly
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped reasonably fine
olive oil for baking dish and to drizzle over veggies
veggie seasoning
paprika powder
Procedure
Preheat oven
Precook spuds
Grease baking dish with olive oil and arrange wellies in dish, pop into oven while spuds are being pre cooked in water or being nuked in the Microwave. If using the latter let the wellies kook for around 20 min. before adding the rest of the goodies.
When spuds are ready arrange around semi cooked wellies in baking dish together with other veggies, sprinkle seasoning and coriander in between to sprad the flavour, drizzle with olive oil and return back to hades set on grill, observe and do not incinerate! This should take about 10 to 15 minutes or until veggies get a browned look.
Serve with a salad of your choice, this is enough for 4 or 3 days worth of leftovers.

Track Potjie

Here is the recipe for Track Potjie: Originally posted on the link above...
Ingredients
This was for a No 3 pot.
2 Kg lamb or sheep stewing meat, knuckles, neck and any bit not braaiworthy. Not too much fat.
1 Large onion
1 pack Potjie vegetables
1 can tomato & onion mix
1 can 200g tomato paste
2 cans mushrooms in brine, the stalk and offcut type is ok
Some olive oil
Pack fresh herbs for lamb
Pack Maggi Hearty Stew flavouring

Method
Put the pot over a few coals on your braai, have a seperate bank of coals to add from if needed.
Put about 2 tablespoons olive oil in the pot and as soon as it is hot enough start adding the meat and brown.
Add onions after meat has browned.
Add the herbs, throw out the woody bits though.
Add the veggies, add the flavouring and pour the can of paste and tomato mix as well, do not stir!
After 30 min add the mushrooms, brine and all.
Let the pot talk to the coals for at least an hour, add water if needed, the mushroom's should have added enough though. The pot should be ready about 2 hours from when you started. Serve with rice and a salad. Enjoy!

La raison de cette folie - Soft Shin and Sweet Potato

This serves as a repository and link to some of the best food I have made from the net as well as recipes I have concocted... The best will be mirrored on my recipe website as well.

Here was the last of my own recipes from my blog Ramblings from a Blue Dot, a delicious casserole/one pot dish using an unsung cut of meat...
Soft Shin with Sweet Potato

Soft Shin with Sweet Potato:
750g soft shin
750g sweet potato
500g carrots
Large onion
Packet of oxtail soup
Dried fruit 250g (optional)

Marinade:
A pinch of dried garlic, pinch of aniseed (this can be pungent so rather use very little), 2 tablespoons of whole coriander, some cooking oil or olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) and a tablespoon of vinegar. Grind the spices and garlic in a mortar and pestle... sprinkle over meat on both sides after placing in a dish, sprinkle oil and vinegar over meat... let it all rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, turning from time to time.

Preperation:
Dice the marinated soft shin and prepare the vegetables also (unless you bought ready prepared like I did). Nuke the veggies in the microwave for around 6 minutes to par cook.
Heat a pan or saucepan with some olive oil and proceed to brown the meat, add the onion to glazed state before adding 2 cups of water (cover the meat) and simmmer while preparing the soup.
Add 250ml of water to a bowl and add the soup powder... stir and let it stand for a few minutes while you add the carrots and sweet potatoes on top of the meat, adding some veggie sprinkle at the same time. One can also add some dried fruit at the same time, I used some apricots. Stir the soup one last time and pour over the veggies and replace the lid... let it all simmer on very low heat for at least one hour... this gives you time to make some rice to go with the dish and knock together a salad. One can also do this dish in a casserole in the oven, 45 minutes should do the trick at a med. temp (150 odd).

Enjoy!