The Mad Scientist's Smashing Samosas

The Mad Scientist recently made an Indian-style curry with a topside beef roast cooked in the pressure cooker until it began to fall apart, and then in another pan mixed together with a curry sauce and potatoes, peas, tomatoes and onions.

This was a roaring success, but what to do with the left-overs? The Mad Scientist had the idea to buy some puff pasty from the supermarket and make some triangle-shaped curry samosas using a new gadget (yes, being a scientist we love gadgets!), and this worked really well.

The samosas were frozen and then cooked in the air fryer (no fat involved!) until golden and crispy on the outside. Lovely!

 

The Mad Scientist's dried zucchini, capsicum and tomatoes

All of these worked well. They can be eaten 'as is' or used in cooking.

The Mad Scientist's (non-psychedelic) 'magic mushrooms'!

A terrific result with sliced mushrooms!

The Mad Scientist experiments with drying oranges ...

This was the first experiment with oranges. It worked, with a nice zesty focused flavour, but eating the slices was a bit problematic in that you either had to eat the rind (bitter) or tear the rind open to get at the fruit. The second attempt (not pictured here) involved removing the skin first and then slicing the oranges horizontally in the same fashion. This worked much better.

It also works to split the oranges (or mandarins) into segments and dry them laid out individually on the rack.

The Mad Scientist discovers 'The Food Dehydrator'!

Ah, what a wonderful day it was when the Mad Scientist decided to purchase a food dehydrator from Aldi on the recommendation of several colleagues in the search and rescue arena.

Since then, if it resembles edible fruit or vegetable matter the Mad Scientist will have a go at dehydrating it for later use. Triumphs to date include tomatoes, stone fruits, apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, beetroot and (yes, really!) oranges and mandarins.

Even though it takes a bit of time and effort, the Mad Scientist can only say good things about this process, and the most wonderful part is that the food doesn't go off and you have it there when you need it with the yummy concentrated flavours (which sometimes become a bit caramelised).

There is also a 'feel good' aspect when you buy fruit in bulk 'reduced to clear' that would otherwise be thrown out because it is a little bit blemished or starting to show its age.

Here are the photos of the first batch of apples. Future posts will show other types of food being dried successfully.

The Mad Scientist's Green Eggs and Ham - A Mexican version of Bacon and Eggs!

It was a dark and stormy night in the middle of winter, late was the hour and the tummies were rumbling. Alas the pantry was bare, and The Mad Scientist was puzzling about what to feed the assembled hordes, expectantly holding out their plates with big sad doe-like eyes ...

Ah ha, thought The Mad Scientist, we can have bacon and eggs as a treat, but not just any bacon and eggs ... The Mad Scientist's famous scrambled eggs with bacon augmented by some left-over guacamole from a sensational nachos prepared earlier and accompanied by corn bread (well actually some gluten-free bread made from corn flour).

Take four large eggs and whisk until they are light and foamy. Gradually add about a cup of milk and continue whisking. Stir in 1/2 to 1 cup of guacamole and whisk again. When as foamy as you can get it, pour directly into a hot pan and allow to start setting. Once this occurs, stir frequently to allow the scrambled eggs to form.

Serve with freshly cooked rashers of bacon and your favourite variety of bread/muffins. Especially nice with Mexican tomato sauce (ketchup).

Butter Chicken and Vegetable Curry with the Pressure Pro

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken rhigh fillets (chopped into bite-sized pieces)

1 cup of chopped onion

2-3 cups of frozen vegetables (carrots, beans, peas and mixed chopped vegetables used here)

1/2 cup of red lentils (washed and drained)

1 jar of Butter Chicken cook-in sauce

Method:

Place all ingredients in the Pressure Pro and mix thoroughly with a stirring spoon. Wash out sauce jar with around two cups of water to provide some extra liquid (as the mixture thickens quickly on cooking). Put on lid and secure. Cook on chicken and meat setting (25 minutes).

This makes a lovely fragrant curry which is filling and nutritious.

Lazy Lasagna with the Pressure Pro

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion

1 kg lean beef mince

1 litre pasta sauce (the Mad Scientist used the home-made variety)

1 heaped traspoon chopped garlic

Good sprinkling of moxed Italian herbs

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

500g tub of ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

250g shredded mozzarella or pizza vlend cheese

Packet of instant lasagna sheets

Meat sauce:

Turn on Pressure Pro hearing element using Rice/Risotto setting. Add olive oil. Pnce sizzling soften onion with garlic, black pepper and Italian herbs and then add mince and cook until all browned through. Set aside and add pasta sauce and mox thoroughly.

Cheese sauce:

Mix ricotta, eggs and parmesan cheese in a separate bowl.

Just cover the bottom of the Pressure Pro with water (the juices from cooking the meat may suffice). Layer up the lasagna - start with approximately 1/4 of the meat sauce followed by a layer of lasagna noodles and then approximately 1/4 of the cheese sauce (spread put evenly). Repeat until all ingredients exhaused (four layers in this case).

Seal the lid and set for seven minutes (using the minute button to adjust). Then vent steam and open the lid carefully and add the grated mozzarella/pizza cheese on top. Put the lid back on and engage the warming setting and allow to rest for ten minutes.

Serve with warm crusty garlic bread and your preferred selection of vegetables (if desired).

Delicious and easy! There was plenty left over for future meals and it would be a very suitable recipe for a large gathering of people.

'Curry in a hurry' with the Pressure Pro - Chicken and red kidney bean Madras curry

The Med Scientist just loves the new Harvest Cookware Pressure Pro (pressure cooker). Having previously made some pasta sauce from some over-ripe tomatoes, it was time to try something more challenging and see if the TV ads live up to their claims.

After defrosting four chicken thigh fillets in the pressure cooker, these were chopped itno bite-sized pieces and placed into the pressure cooker with a cup of chopped onion, a (drained and washed) 340g can of red kidney beans and a jar of Patak's Madras curry sauce.

This was popped onto the chicken and meat setting, which took 25 minutes, and the result was a beautifully temder amd aromatic curry woth all the goodness sealed in.

In the meanwhile some fluffy white rice had been cooking on the stove via the absorption method (1 cup of rice plus 2 cups of water brpught to the boil and then turned off to continue cooking). This was served with the curry together with some warmed multigrain wraps - a perfect combination! 

Delicious and easy - the Pressure Pro is off to a good start!

The Mad Scientist's Amazing Chilli Con Carne Pan Lasagne

The Mad Scientist recently had the opportunity to try cooking with the simply incredible FlavorStone non-stick pans. This recipe is a variation on one of the dishes featured in the cookbook and the TV ad demonstration.

Ingredients:
500g lean beef mince
825g can of peeled tomatoes
One sachet of tomato paste
440g can of red kidney beans (washed and drained)
Teaspoon of wet chopped garlic
Teaspoon of wet chopped chilli
Dry spices to taste e.g., basil, oregano.
Five squares of dark chocolate
Four sheets of "instant" lasagne, broken into approximately 4cm squares.
One large onion, chopped into small pieces.
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Method:
Cook the mince, onion, garlic and chilli together over a high heat until the onion is softened and the meat browned. Add the peeled tomatoes and mash until they lose their consistency. Add the tomato paste and dry herbs as per your own preferences. Add the noodles and red kidney beans stir through mixture. Turn down heat and leave to simmer until the noodles are softened. Just before serving add the chocolate and cheese and stir through until melted.

Serve in a bowl accompanied by crusty bread (the Mad Scientist's homemade bread is ideal!).