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Pocket power

June 25, 2012 in Woolies Pantry

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Pita breads are, in my opinion, underappreciated. These gorgeous rounds of soft bread only get a fraction of the recognition they deserve. When heated, they yield a soft inside with a slight crunchy crust and create a perfect pocket for delicious fillings.

Making pita breads is quite easy and some say that it’s great for first-time bread makers, but if you get it wrong, the heat won’t penetrate the bread and give them that signature lift. Woolworths sells delicious pita breads; all you need to do is pop them into the oven for a minute or two until warmed through. You can also cut them in half and warm them in the toaster. I love pita breads stuffed with falafel balls – mix a can of drained chickpeas with cumin, add a little parsley and lemon juice, shape into balls and fry until golden and crunchy. Use to fill warm pitas and top with runny tahini and finely shredded cabbage pickled in red wine vinegar and peppercorns.

If I ever have a pita bread hanging around for a day longer than it should, I tear it into a pan with good-quality olive oil and toast it and it has absorbed the flavours of the olive oil. I serve it with ready-made hummus or tossed into a roasted red pepper salad with caperberries and white anchovies.

I’m also really enjoying this recipe for North African beef pitas at the moment. Add a tablespoon of Woolworths’ new Soup It Up Moroccan paste to give it extra spice:

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North African beef pitas
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Add a tablespoon of Woolworths’ new Soup It Up Moroccan paste to give it extra spice.
Ingredients
  • Red onion 1, finely chopped
  • Tomatoes 2, finely chopped
  • Olive oil 2 T
  • Free-range beef mince 500 g
  • Coriander ¼ cup chopped, plus extra for serving
  • Garlic 2 cloves, finely chopped
  • Woolworths Soup It Up Moroccan paste 2 T
  • Warm pita breads, for serving
  • Pomegranate rubies, for serving
  • Limes, for serving

Instructions
  1. Fry the red onion and tomatoes in the olive oil over a low heat until soft. Increase the heat, add the mince and brown for 5 minutes. Add the coriander, garlic and Moroccan paste and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Generously spoon the mince into the warm pitas and top with fresh coriander, pomegranate rubies and a squeeze of lime juice.

 

What are your favourite pita bread fillings?

Love

Hannah

Consultant Food Editor, Woolworths TASTE

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by Woolies Pantry

Smoked chicken and litchi rice noodles

June 22, 2012 in Woolies Pantry

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I was never a big fan of smoked chicken breasts in the past, but that’s probably because I usually ate them on a sandwich without anything to make them more exciting. There are plenty of things that are delicious nestled between two thick slices of fresh bread: egg mayonnaise with super-thin slices of cucumber, thick lashings of crunchy peanut butter with strawberry jam, or good old ham with butter and English mustard. Most ingredients need the right combination to turn them into magic.

I’ve learnt to appreciate smoked chicken by thinking out of the box and pairing it with something a little different, such as spicy chorizo. The sweet, smoky flavour of the chicken goes beautifully with the robust spicy flavours of the chorizo. I also love eating it on home-made pizza bases topped with torn mozzarella, lots of freshly chopped chilli, finished off with scoops of creamy avocado and a pile of peppery rocket. Now that’s the magic I was talking about – with the support of other simple flavours, this makes for a mean combination.

Sweet fruit such as litchis, watermelon or strawberries work wonders with smoked chicken breasts. Perhaps it’s the different types of sweetness that complement each other.

I love the sweet and salty flavours of this Asian-inspired noodle dish. I enjoy all kinds of noodles: these rice noodles are thick, perfect for gathering up all of the flavours and juices of this dish.

Here is what you will need for my Smoked chicken and litchi rice noodles:

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Smoked chicken and litchi rice noodles
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 2
 

Skinless and boneless, low in fat and ready to eat, Woolworths’ beech-smoked chicken breasts are the starting point for this easy meal.
Ingredients
  • 2 carrots, cut into thin battons
  • 200g rice noodles, cooked
  • 2 t fish sauce
  • t sesame oil
  • 2 smoked chicken breasts, sliced into bite sized pieces
  • 4 purple salad onions, thinly sliced
  • Litchi’s, to serve
  • Fresh mint, to serve

Instructions
  1. Simply toss all the ingredients together. You can also try experimenting with strawberries and watermelon when they come into season, they’re fantastic in this dish, too.

 

Remember to visit Woolworths The Pantry for more ideas and recipes.

Enjoy!

Hannah

Consultant Food Editor, Woolworths TASTE

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by Woolies Pantry

Shortcuts with frozen foods in winter

June 8, 2012 in Cooking with Woolies, Woolies Pantry

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Frozen food shelves today are heavy with innovative and delicious fruits, vegetables and prepared foods. They aren’t at all like the frozen foods selection that I had when growing up. To be honest, we hardly ever even went down that aisle on our shopping trips.

Now that there are so many great products on offer, it’s hard not to give them a try. These are things that you will always find in my freezer.

• Peas – said to be more nutritionally valuable to our bodies if eaten from frozen (as opposed to fresh) and they are so easy to prepare.
• Fish can be cooked straight from the freezer in a hot oven with a drizzle of olive oil, lots of fresh cherry tomatoes, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, crumbled feta and torn fresh basil. It turns out just as firm and succulent as fresh fish.See more ideas from my previous blog post on cooking with hake.
• A fun and easy way to entertain friends or the family is to buy frozen pizza bases and let everyone add their own toppings.
• We all love chips and instead of the traditional fries, you can buy frozen ones that go straight into the oven for a quick bake and are just as delicious but also much healthier.

As well as the utmost convenience of being able to cook straight from the freezer, freezing also means that fruits like mango and berries are now available all year round, which is fabulous. At the moment, I try to make sure I have a packet of frozen summer berries or blueberries from Woolies in my freezer.

For a list of all the delicious, convenient foods available from Woolies, visit their Frozen Food section.

I love them roasted on top of homemade sweet focaccia, stewed with spices and honey for chocolate puddings or to make berry coulis for baked cheese cake. I am a huge berry fan so this is the perfect easy way to indulge during the cooler winter months.

This is my go to easy entertaining dessert in minutes for winter nights when I have a few of my friends over.

Croissant bread and butter pudding with berries

Croissant bread-and-butter pudding with summer berries

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Croissant bread and butter pudding
Author: 
Recipe type: dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • Ingredients:
  • 4 croissants in half
  • Butter
  • Raspberry or strawberry jam
  • 4 extra-large free-range eggs
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 2½ cup milk
  • 1 t grated lemon zest
  • 2 to 3 generous handfuls of frozen mixed berries

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Slice croissants in half, butter one side and spread with raspberry or strawberry jam.
  3. Arrange in a greased baking dish.
  4. Whisk together extra-large free-range eggs, vanilla extract, milk, grated lemon zest, then pour the mixture over the croissant slices and top with generous handfuls of frozen mixed berries.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes, then serve warm.

This bread and butter pudding looks ovely at the table and can be made with things that you already have in the cupboard, like butter, eggs and milk. Just make sure you pick up a few croissants when you get your frozen berries and keep them in the freezer until you need them.

Pop on over to the Woolworths Pantry for more delicious ideas and recipes!

Enjoy the weekend,

Hannah

xx

Consultant Food Editor, Woolworths TASTE magazine

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by Woolies Pantry

The easiest roast chicken dinner ever

May 25, 2012 in Cooking with Woolies, Woolies Pantry

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Isn’t it great how happy cooking can make you! This week has been one of those inexplicably mad weeks. Maybe it has something to do with the end of the month drawing near, but at around 4pm this afternoon my head was spinning with a never-ending to-do list.

I don’t know if you ever get yourself into the same spin, but the only thing that normally helps is a trip to the shops.

Usually shopping for clothes lifts my spirits, but since the leftover noodles didn’t quite hit the spot for lunch, a food shop was in order. This is where I happened across Woolworths’ butter-basted, easy-to-cook chicken. I originally thought of making peri-peri chicken from scratch, but I still had a few things to do so I thought I’d take the shortcut.

Roast chicken with shoestring potatoes

Roast chicken with shoestring potatoes

It is currently on the Eat In For 4 for under R150 special offer (which also offers the option of a Portuguese peri peri easy-cook roast chicken and a herby Tuscan version).

A delicious roast chicken dinner was ready to be put into the oven. All I needed to do was make my favourite shoestring potatoes to serve on the side. You can also cut yellow peppers in half, scoop out the pips and stuff them with rosa tomatoes, feta, olives, garlic and fresh basil. Drizzle a little olive oil over and season with freshly ground black pepper, but no salt as the feta is already salty.

It was so effortless (and did I say delish), that this meal became the highlight of my week. It may sound silly, but nothing makes me feel better than a home-cooked meal when you’re on deadline and teetering on the edge of a crazy week!

Do yourself a favour and give it a try. By cooking the chicken in the bag it retains all the beautiful flavours and the chicken is super moist.

Have a great weekend filled with food you love to eat.

Hannah

Consultant Food Editor, Woolworths TASTE

xx

Ps, on the topic of chicken, if you’re in the mood for a warming chicken casserole, follow the link to the Woolies Pantry for a delicious recipe. All the ingredients are ready to be bundled into a virtual basket and bought online. This recipe is one of Abigail Donnelly’s absolute favourites.

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