Carrot Fries & Potato Fritters

Today we're back with another easy, delicious, healthy brunch: carrot fries with garlic potato fritters! As you can tell from my recent posts, I have really been launching myself into cooking lately. As a young adult, I feel I am long overdue for brushing up on my skills in the kitchen. Granted, I'm not exactly ready to tackle a paella or a croquembouche, but nevertheless I am proud of how far I've come in the past few weeks. If practice indeed makes perfect, then surely I'm well on my way.

For this recipe, I used:

•  a couple of carrots (peeled)
• a potato (peeled)
• 2-3 garlic cloves (shredded)
• cheddar cheese (preferably aged)
• extra virgin olive oil
• flour
• an egg
• salt and pepper
• flatbread
• cream cheese (to serve)

And for the dipping sauce:

• curry powder
• chilli powder
• parsley flakes
• greek yoghurt
• honey
• Indian five spice blend: cumin, brown mustard, fenugreek, nigella & fennel

As always, keep in mind that this recipe is very loose and open to adaptation. If you're missing a few ingredients, do improvise! Go off-script. I promise that I will not be offended.

Skinny-sliced carrots and crumbled cheddar

Alrighty, shall we begin? 

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Slice the carrots into skinny shoestrings.
2. Shave approximately 50 grams of cheddar. Use your hands to break up the pieces into small crumbs (as seen above). Set aside. 
3. In a small bowl, crack an egg. Add 2 tablespoons of water, a pinch of salt, and plenty of pepper as desired. Mix thoroughly with a spoon.
4. Line an oven tray with baking paper. In small bundles, dip the carrot sticks into the egg mixture, making sure they are entirely covered. Then, roll them in the crumbled cheddar and place onto baking paper. 
5. Place in oven and set the timer to 15 mins. Meanwhile, to the remaining egg mixture, add any remaining crumbled cheddar, as well as a generous dash of olive oil and the shredded garlic cloves. 
6. Add 2 tablespoons of flour, and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
7. Using a peeler or sharp knife, shave the potato into thin strips. Combine these with the mixture and make sure all of the potato is coated. Form into a small patty and set on a greased baking tray. Place into oven.
8. Once the timer goes off, turn the carrot fries and bake for a final 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on the potato fritters - take them out after 15 minutes or once they are golden-brown. 
9. For the dipping sauce, simply combine 3 tablespoons of greek yoghurt with 1/2 tablespoon of curry powder. Add a pinch of chilli powder, a few shakes of pepper, 1 teaspoon of parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon of Indian five spice blend. Add 1 teaspoon of honey and mix thoroughly.
10. Tada! All done. Serve piping hot with toasted flatbread, and cream cheese to dip. Enjoy!

Carrot shoestring fries with curry yoghurt dip and cream cheese

Garlic potato fritters

Serve with flatbread and dipping sauces

One of the joys of cooking is the pride you feel when you successfully create something that you genuinely enjoy eating. The most valuable lessons I've learned in the kitchen over the past few weeks have nothing to do with technique; more importantly, I've learned to be daring and inventive, to follow my instincts, and to never be afraid to improvise. 

A Quickie on Rye

• Garlic toast:
• Rye bread, sliced
• Garlic, crushed and shredded
• Copious amounts of ground pepper
• Crumbled vintage cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Roasted zucchini
• Baked egg:
• Free range egg
• Blue cheese
• Pepper
• Salt
• Salad:
• Rocket leaves
• Chopped walnuts
• Homemade dressing:
• Greek yoghurt
• Curry powder
• Honey
• Pepper
• Fennel seeds

Enjoy! XOXO ;)

Healthy Capsicum Snacks

Howdy lovelies! We're back today with another super easy recipe that is perfect for this gloomy winter weather we're having in Sydney right now: stuffed baked capsicums! These are so easy, so tasty, and they warm you right up. What I love most about this recipe is that it's totally adaptable to whatever you have lying around in the back of your fridge. Go on, open up your fridge right now. What do you see? A lonely eggplant? A stray couple of mushrooms? Maybe some leftover curry rice? All of that will be perfect for what we're about to do. Yes, by the time we're done here, your fridge will be as tidy as new.

Ingredients ***
Large capsicums
Cheese
Eggs
Garlic
Onion
Olive oil
Sweet potato
Potato
Cashews / seeds / nuts
Pepper / any herbs or spices you have at hand
Any leftover curry / sauce / vegetables / just get creative

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Cut the tops off your capsicums and wash out the seeds. Place the capsicums cups and lids on a baking tray.
3. Dice all vegetables into small cubes. Add to capsicum cups.
4. On a small platter, shred garlic cloves and add some olive oil and ground pepper and/or other spices. Mix well, then drizzle the mixture over the capsicum cups.
5. Add cashews and/or seeds as desired.
6. Drizzle sauce as desired.
7. To each capsicum cup, add cheese and pepper liberally.
8. Place the capsicums into oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
9. Take out the capsicums, checking that they are well roasted. There may be some light charring. Add a cracked egg onto each capsicum cup, and place back into oven for another 5-10 minutes.
10. Take the capsicums out, let them cool, and enjoy!

*** Apart from the capsicums, none of the ingredients listed are absolutely necessary. You can stuff the capsicums with anything you like, including rice, couscous, or minced meats. Tomatoes, zucchinis, beans, and mushrooms would probably do very well. Raid your pantries for sauces and spices, and be daring.

I have a feeling this recipe will be a staple in our house over the winter. There's nothing like hot roasted veggies to lift your spirits in rainy weather. Once roasted, the capsicums become very sweet, tender, and juicy, and make for a great healthy snack. Give it a go!

Cathedral of Lights