by Dom on December 16, 2009
Spiced fruit salad with mint and cashew cream
Serves 4-6
1 cup grapes, halved
2 cups pineapple diced
2 cups watermelon, sliced
1 punnet strawberries, halved
1 punnet blue berries, whole
Zest of 1 lime
300ml of water
300g logical, brown or palm sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced
1 stalk of lemon grass bruised
1 cardamom pod
Hand full of mint leaves
Good handful of roasted cashews, chopped
Natural yoghurt to serve (optional)
- Place all the fruit and lime zest into a large bowl and set aside in the fridge.
- Into a small saucepan place the sugar with the water, spices, ginger and lemon grass and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy. Pour the syrup over the salad and allow to cool.
- Serve garnished with fresh mint chopped roasted cashews and natural yoghurt.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Italian Grilled tuna with beans, potatoes and spinach
Serves 4
600 g fresh tuna, swordfish or firm fleshed fish, boned and skin removed
3 dsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
400g kipfler potatoes or chat potatoes, steamed or boiled, chilled and cut in half
200g green beans, steamed or blanched
50g baby spinach
For the dressing
10 large mint leaves
15 large fresh basil leaves
¼ cup parsley
3 sage leaves, fresh
1 dsp rosemary leaves
2 tbsp capers in vinegar, drained
1 dsp fresh oregano leaves, or 1 tsp dried oregano
1 small red onion, peeled
1 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Place all the herbs, red onion, capers into a food processor and finely grind everything together.
- Transfer the mix to a bowl and add the vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and set aside in the fridge until ready to dress the salad.
- Slice the fish into pieces about 5 cm wide and toss with the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Heat a heavy based pan or hot plate and cook the fish until just done or to your liking.
- Combine the green beans, potatoes and spinach in a bowl and pour over some of the dressing, Toss to coat the vegetables and serve the vegetables topped with a piece of fish and squeeze of lemon.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Cajun chicken salad with black beans, apples and yoghurt dressing
Serve 6-8
Cajun Spice Blend
Makes about 42g of Cajun Spice. The Cajun Spice Blend may be stored in a tightly sealed jar in a cool, dark place for several months.
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp onion flakes
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp mustard seed
½ tsp whole white pepper-corns
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
½ tbsp dried thyme
½ tsp celery salt
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground sage
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Dry roast the coriander, white pepper and mustard seeds. Place the roasted spices into a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until fine but not powder. Add in all the other spices and grind again until fine.
For the salad
2 chicken breasts, skin removed and sliced in half length ways to make 4 portions
2-3 tbsp Cajun spice
½ cup finely diced apple and ½ cup grapes halved
3 stalks celery finely diced, to make 1 ½ cups
1 cup tinned black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup slivered almonds toasted
3 stalks shallots, thinly sliced
2 handfuls rocket
Dressing
¼ cup real mayonnaise
½ cup natural yoghurt
1 dsp Cajun spice, extra
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp tahina
1 dsp lemon juice
- Place some of the Cajun spice mix into a shallow bowl and roll the chicken pieces in it to cover, Steam, bake or grill until done and set aside to cool a little. Tear the chicken into shreds and place into a large bowl.
- Place the mayonnaise, yoghurt, tahina, lemon juice, spice and sugar in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add in the apples grapes, celery, shallots and almonds. Toss through the chicken and rocket, and serve.
by Dom on December 16, 2009
Anyone who is into fitness or ever wanted to challenge themselves was up in Noosa from the 29th October to the 1st of November to sweat and burn in the events of the Noosa Triathlon. I on the other hand went up to Noosa to cook up a storm with some of Australia’s top Gold medal winning athletes… and yes I did the 5km run for breast cancer on the Friday. Although I could have had a few more tips from the experts to get through that last kilometer when the end seemed so long away.
It was a fantastic day cooking alongside sporting idols such as Emma Snowsill triathlete , 3 x World Champion, Olympic Champion, 5 x Noosa Champion and several years been No. 1 female triathlete in the world . Emma is recognised as one of best ever, her cooking companion was Emma Moffatt another extraordinary triathlete winning several major races on International circuit in 2009. “ Hey girls, nice running but your cooking could do with a helping hand”. And that’s just what they got when they teamed up with me to create three healthy dishes inspired to increase endurance and assist the body with repair and regeneration. The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed the segment with both the Emma’s leaving full of inspiration.
Recipes will be posted very shortly.
My second demonstration was with renowned Australian swimmer Susie O’Neill now dedicating herself to her family Sporting events and various ambassadorships and the handsome Troy Selwood from the Brisbane Lions who assures me that he is take away keen, he did although whip up a beautiful mussel dish with bouillabaisse sauce whilst recovering from a shoulder problem and using only one arm…. Great job Troy.. So thank you to all who assisted me with the demonstrations and to Matt Golinski from Rolling Dolmades in Noosa for being my shopping assistant. Next year it’s the big race for me, so watch out guys!
