Baked fish with chili coconut, lemongrass, lime and kale.

Melt some butter and olive oil (about 3 tbsp altogether) in a small pot

In a large pan put half the butter mix and cook a bunch of chopped kale, add 1/2-1 stem finely chopped lemongrass (white part only as the outside leaves are tough) and 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic. Cook for 3 minutes or until wilted. Then add a 270ml can of coconut cream (I use ayam brand) heat through and season well with salt.

In a baking dish put your kale mix on the bottom and top with 4-6 fillets of fish (I have used some wild caught NZ blue grenadier). Then on top of your fish place some slices of lime and chilli. I leave the chilli off the kid's fish. Season well- I have used Jamie Oliver’s thyme, lemon and bay salt but you can just use salt and pepper. Bake at 200c for 15-20 minutes. It’s done when you can flake it easy, yours may take a little less or more depending on the thickness of your fish! Pour any extra sauce on the bottom of the dish over your veg and fish.

I served up with some steamed carrots and broccoli.

Asian honey, soy, garlic pulled pork

Ingredients

1-1.5 kg pork shoulder

2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 heaped tbsp honey

As many garlic cloves as you want!

2 tsp chinese 5 spice

½ chinese wine or water/stock

Method

Take the skin off the pork, you can throw it or use it for crackling. Score the skin so it is easier to break/cut apart later. Rub with 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil. Put in a very hot oven (about 220-230C) for about 30-40 mins until hard and crackled.

Put the wine/water in the slow cooker, put the pork in and rub the pork with the soy, honey and 5 spice powder.  Cook on high for 6-7 hours until the pork falls apart.

I served this with steamed kale, butter beans and slow cooked carrots. (just throw halved carrots in with the pork)

Leek, mushroom, carrot & kale in a creamy thyme sauce

Ingredients

 300g button mushrooms, sliced

1 leek, white part only, washed, 1 cm slices

4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 bunch kale, washed and chopped up, you can take the stalk out if you want to

2 cups vege/chicken stock

¼ cup cream, you can omit if you want

1 tablespoon chopped thyme, you could dried thyme or a different herb (1-2 tsp)

3 teaspoons (approx.) corn/rice flour

Salt and pepper

Method

In a wok or really big pan, melt a little butter and add the leek, mushroom and carrot, stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Add stock and thyme and simmer for 10 mins or until the veg is to your liking. Add cream, stir in then sprinkle over flour evenly over the veg and stir in, it will thicken, if you want it thicker sprinkle over a little more flour. Add kale and wilt down for 3 mins or so. Season with salt and pepper.

You can add sliced chicken/beef etc with the leeks or throw some prawns/fish in at the last 5 minutes of cooking.

 I like this dish- the leek has our sulphur group, the carrot has our beta-carotene, the kale is our green leafy group, full of folate, vitamin K, beta-carotene and the mushrooms have selenium, riboflavin and copper.

   Thyme contains many active principles that are found to have disease preventing and health promoting properties.

 Thyme herb contains thymol, one of the important essential oils, which scientifically has been found to have antiseptic, anti-fungal characteristics. The other volatile oils in thyme include carvacolo, borneoland geraniol.

  Thyme contains many flavonoid phenolic antioxidants like zea-xanthin, lutein, pigenin, naringenin, luteolin,and thymonin. Fresh thyme herb has one of the highest antioxidant levels among herbs, a total ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value of 27426-µmol TE/100 g.

  Thyme is packed with minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Its leaves are one of the richest sources of potassium, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is required for red blood cell formation.

Beef kebabs with a creamy green peppercorn and lemon sauce, squash & wilted kale

serves 4

500g beef scotch fillet or rump steak or similar, 2cm dice

1 bunch kale, washed, main stalk taken off and chopped

3-4 yellow squash (approx. 300g) these are the yellow UFO looking vegetable. Cut in half (from north to south not through the equator, if that makes sense) then slice thinly. You could use zucchini.

1 medium head broccoli 450g, then minus the stalk to yield about 300g

150ml pure cream

1 tbsp fresh green peppercorns- you can leave them whole if you want, I like to chop them a little. You can find them in the salt and pepper section at the supermarket. It comes in a small green tin or you can get fresh peppercorns at deli’s. If you can’t find them you can either leave it out or use your normal cracked black pepper corns.

Juice from 1 lemon, you can take the zest off and use for something else before you squeeze it.

4 kebab sticks

Salt and pepper





Method

Thread the beef onto your kebab sticks, check they fit in you pan, you can just chop the ends off if you need to.

Put your broccoli in the bottom rack of the steamer and kale on the top.

Season your beef well with salt and pepper. I like to use Szechuan pepper and salt (use 3 tsp pepper to 1 tsp of salt)

In a large pan heat a little of some oil of your choice. Cook the kebabs on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then put your steamer on your stove top (with water in the bottom) and put on high. Then add your sliced squash. Turn over and cook another 2-3 minutes or until the beef is cooked to your liking. When the beef and squash are done take them out and put them aside. Check your broccoli and kale. In the same pan you used from the beef (do not wash it!) Add your lemon and deglaze (scrap all the yumminess from the bottom) then add your cream and peppercorns. Simmer until you have the thickness of sauce you like.(will not take long) Check the seasoning of your sauce and add salt to taste. Place kale on the plates, top with the squash and then top with your beef kebab, place broccoli around the plate. Drizzle the creamy sauce over everything J