Kitchen tips, easy dishes to make Easter meal special!
Sausage and chickpea hot pot
Ingredients (Serves 8)
8-10 spicy sausages
1 tbsp 2 large onions, sliced
1 sprig Rosemary
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 chicken stock cube
2 bunches spinach, chopped
1 tbsp Royco
5 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil
Salt
1 sprig coriander, finely chopped
400g chickpeas, fresh peas or beans, cooked
Method
1. Chop the sausages into chunks, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry until well browned. Set aside. In the same pan add the onions and fry until golden. Add the garlic and Rosemary and fry for 2-3 mins.
2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and stock cube. Cook stirring for a few minutes. Mix the Royco with a little water and add to the pan. Bring to the boil stirring, adding a little more water to make a thick sauce. Reduce the heat and add the sausagaes, spinach, chickpeas, fresh peas or beans. Cover pan and simmer for a few minutes. Sprinkle with the coriander before serving.
Roasted garlic butter potatoes
Simple, quick and tasty – the beauty of this dish lies in the contrasting colours of orange coloured sweet potatoes and ordinary potatoes.
A TWIST TO A DISH
Ingredients (Serves eight)
3 medium orange sweet potatoes
4 tbsp butter
8 medium potatoes
3 cloves garlic, grated
1¼ cup (310ml) cheese, grated ¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp oil 1½ tsp Aromat
1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped or 1½ tsp dried thyme potatoes.
1. Mix the Aromat with the oil until dissolved. Put aside.
2. Peel and slice the sweet potatoes and potatoes into ½ cm thick slices and toss in the oil mixture and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and the black pepper.
3. Divide between two 8cm by 5.5cm by 2.5cm deep greased baking pans and roast at 210C/ 425F/ gas mark 5, turning occasionally until tender.
4. Heat the butter in a small pan with the garlic and thyme and cook stirring for a minute. Put both potatoes in a large bowl and toss in butter and half the grated cheese. Arrange attractively on a platter and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Nutty pumpkin and rice salad
Bursting with colour and flavour, this delightful side dish is very easy to make!
A SIDE DISH
Ingredients
2 cups (500ml) basmati rice
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, cut into cubes
1 cup roasted, skinned nuts
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
500g pumpkin, peeled & cut into 2cm cubes Salt
Method
1. In a bowl combine the brown sugar, vinegar, oil and salt. Add the pumpkin and carrots and toss to coat. Put into greased baking pan and bake in oven preheated at 210C/425F/gas mark 5, until tender. Cool completely.
2. Meanwhile tip the rice and a little salt into 1 litre of boiling water and simmer until cooked. Cool completely.
3. In large bowl, combine the pumpkin, carrots and rice with the nuts, spring onions and coriander and serve.
Kitchen workload busters
• Get the whole family to help in the kitchen especially with washing up plates, pots and pans, as well as chopping up fruits and vegetables.
• Clean as you go along. This way there will be less cleaning to do at the end of the day.
• Double quantities of the dishes you cook over this long holiday and freeze. All you have to do the next day is to heat them up.
• If there is any work that can be done the day before do it. This includes chopping onions, grating garlic and ginger etc. Be sure to keep strong flavours such as onions and garlic, stored in covered containers in the fridge.
• If you have an oven, make good use of it. It is easier, (and healthier) for example, to brush chicken with a little oil or marinade, pop it in the oven and turn it occasionally, than to spend hours frying it. There are many other delicious dishes you can pop into the oven and literary ‘forget’ for an hour or so while the oven does all the work!
Enjoy this much loved salad with slices of boiled egg.
Potato and egg salad
Ingredients (Serves 8)
8 medium potatoes
5 hardboiled eggs, sliced
½ cup plain yoghurt
2 tsp mustard
1½ cups (375ml) mayonnaise
2 carrots, grated
2 tbsp spring onions, sliced
2 green pepper, chopped
10 medium potatoes, quartered and boiled
Salt and paprika
A DESSERT
Enjoy this much loved salad with slices of boiled egg.
Method
Ingredients (Serves 8)
8 medium potatoes
5 hardboiled eggs, sliced
½ cup plain yoghurt
2 tsp mustard
1½ cups (375ml) mayonnaise
2 carrots, grated
2 tbsp spring onions, sliced
2 green pepper, chopped
10 medium potatoes, quartered and boiled
Salt and paprika
Pineapple crumble
Ingredients (makes two dishes)
2 medium pineapple
170g butter/margarine
450g wheat flour
160g sugar
1 rounded tsp mixed spice
A tiny pinch salt
Method
1. In a bowl combine the brown sugar, vinegar, oil and salt. Add the pumpkin and carrots and toss to coat. Put into greased baking pan and bake in oven preheated at 210C/425F/gas mark 5, until tender. Cool completely.
2. Meanwhile tip the rice and a little salt into 1 litre of boiling water and simmer until cooked. Cool completely.
3. In large bowl, combine the pumpkin, carrots and rice with the nuts, spring onions and coriander and serve.
Tips
How to get your meal ready and going early this Easter
You do not have to always have to serve your special meals late just because the festive meal is bigger than most and hence needs more work into it.
Here are some tips on how to ease the work load and beat time for lunch on those days when you need to cook more food without necessarily skipping church.
1. Sit with your family and decide the menu.
Buy the items such as pans and dishes ahead of D-day. Deciding the menu will streamline time management for both the preparation itself and enable you join out-of-the kitchen activities. Do not wait to try out new dishes on special days because they will take longer to cook. If you must, try the recipes out before the big day.
2. Do a trial run with your oven. Clear out your fridge and freezer to make space for all your special day goodies. The time spent on the pre-work will save you hours-and a lot of stress on the actual day.
3. Prepare
Clean the pans and prepare everything else you shall need the night before, such as peeling and wrapping up the matooke so that the next day you just place it on fire. Trim those vegetable sprouts and have them packed washed.
Chop the meat ready to cook, smoke the chicken the night before just before you sleep, peel whatever will need to peel, sort the rice and dice your vegetables…etc.
4. Avoid a crowd in the kitchen Whereas two heads are better than one, a crowded kitchen will divert your attention and ruin your cooking. Do not stop them from helping out but delegate them to other things away from cooking.
For example, you can ask them to set the lunch table, or start getting ready for church. Have as less people in the kitchen as you can. To get everyone involved, you can just take turns in the kitchen for every special day, instead of being in the kitchen together at the same time.
