Turkey & Chorizo Burritos inspired by Donna Hay.

Have you ever lost your mojo? Get your mind our of the gutter!! I mean something you were so passionate about which kind of turned all a little bit sour, only for you to realise that maybe you should have left it a passion and not pursued it further then maybe, just maybe you’d still be in love with it?

Sorry, a little deep for a Friday morning.

So in attempt to find my mojo again I thought the only way to do this was to start cooking again, and I mean a girls got to eat right?! I have had a fair few weeks off and definitely eaten way too much local Thai-takeaway and pizza.

I did have this horrible freezer experience last week when I went to reheat some mystery unlabelled mince container for dinner and ended up with freezer tasting pasta sauce. That meal inspired me to throw out everything that was a mystery and unlabelled in my freezer and to my horror there was quite a few containers and ziplock bags that all contained freezer flavoured mystery sauces.

So with a freezer that is no longer threatens your toes with mystery frozen items falling out when you open the door and no mojo. We also had no food. SO meal planning started again and to the supermarket I went and came back with a lot of food that surprisingly didn’t break the bank as previous shops have done.

On Monday night we had Turkey and Chorizo burritos inspired by a recipe in the latest Donna Hay magazine -Summer issue (Feb/Mar 2015) which is out now. They were delicious and a lot fresher than burritos I’ve made before. I felt healthy after and not overly full which is a nice change… I can never order the right about of Thai food (2 entrees, 1 main and a large rice oh but thats not enough for delivery... ok add another main dish to the order). I also decided to use turkey mince instead of chicken mince because well… I can. That’s what I think I need to keep reminding myself that you can change a recipe and it’s not written in stone and if it is written in stone, there is stone masons for a reason.

The mince mixture when cooking looked a little dry and a bit nothing if I am honest. I wanted to add a can of tomatoes to it or something to make it saucy but restrained and I’m glad I did because it wasn’t dry at all when it all come together. I added a teaspoon of smoked paprika to the mince for extra flavour and with the lack of fresh coriander I went to my newly sorted freezer to find the frozen stuff and BLURGH! Freezer tasking coriander anyone??? So I ditched that and dried coriander leaves it was and you know what it still tasted pretty damn good but I will admit fresh coriander would make it better.

I served the turkey and chorizo mince with diced tomato, lettuce, grated cheese, sour cream, black beans and guacamole. DE-LISH!

I wouldn’t say my mojo is back after making one meal… but hunger is a great motivator to make dinner.

Turkey and Chorizo Burritos (with all the trimmings).

serves 2
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Summer Feb/Mar 2015 issue.

1 tablespoon olive oil (or any other mild cooking oil)

250g turkey mince

1 chorizo sausage, diced finely

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Guacamole:

1 avocado, mashed with a fork

½ small tomato, diced

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1x 400g can black beans drained and rinsed

To serve:

Sour cream

1 tomato, diced

4 tortillas, warmed

grated cheese

chilli sauce

mixed lettuce leaves

- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add your chorizo, turkey mince, garlic and chilli. Break the mince up with a wooden spoon as you fry it all until its lovely and brown. Add the paprika and dried coriander and cook until the mince is cooked through. (This will looks a little dry but trust me it will be ok.)

- Meanwhile: heat the black beans in the microwave or over the stove until piping hot,  make guacamole by mixing all ingredients together and warm the tortillas.

- Serve with the condiments of your choice and dig in. 

Donna Hay's chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto

I wish I could say that I've been on a extended overseas trip or spend the past few weeks lazying on the beach or even come up with the next greatest invention.

But no.

I have felt unmotivated and not very hungry to cook and thats the utter truth. I'm sorry if my thousands of readers have missed my not so regular posts but I can only try and promise I will get better at posting but who knows?! maybe I will go on an exotic holiday somewhere far far away with no internet and then I actually have a real excuse! The only exotic things I'll be eating is what I cook up for myself in my little blue and white kitchen.

But on a more festive note... Who's excited for Christmas???? I am!!! Has anyone started Christmas baking or soaking fruit or even made their Christmas pudding or cake? I always wish we had a white Christmas where we got to all snuggle up in front of a fire and have warm roast lunches and play board games and drink hot chocolate and tea all day (or mulled wine). I guess if Christmas day was meant to be cold and not so nice weather it's great to plan a day inside or have snow fights outside but here in Australia Christmas days normally rain and it's muggy. Where is the lovely hot summers days we get in January?? maybe we should post-pone Christmas until January when the weather is more of a dry heat and not muggy and humid..hmmm. I guess ice cold summery cocktails by the pool, eating fresh seafood isn't really anything I should complain about hey?! Fingers crossed for sunshine this year!

Anywhooo... back on the blog posting front. The other say I made the chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto from the new Donna Hay CHRISTMAS issue. (I'm such a fiend for Christmas magazines... gotta catch them all!) Super yummy and very easy! I adapted the recipe to feed two people but you could easily double or triple this for more people and it's a great new way of cooking eggplant. I'd never done it like this before but will defiantly do this again. It's go great with steak on the BBQ too!

First I cut the eggplant in half and then make a garlic, herby, chilli oil and brushed the cut side of the eggplant with the oil and baked it for about 20 minutes (the recipe says 15 but I'm finally getting to know my oven and everything normally takes a little longer than expected). Then I added some cherry tomatoes and baked it for a further 10 minutes (again the recipe says 5 minutes not 10). I then checked to see if the eggplant was cooked by poking it with a sharp pointed knife and if it went in and out easily... done! while the eggplant was cooking in the oven I made a sort of parsley pesto and cooked my pasta for about 10 minutes (or until al dente). Once the eggplant was ready and the pasta was cooked I tossed the pesto through the pasta and served up half an eggplant and some roasted tomatoes on the plate along with the pesto pasta. I was a little unsure about how this would all taste but BY GOLLY it was good! I didn't quite nail the presentation of this dish but the taste of of made up for it... really YUM! and easy too which is alway a bonus :)

Chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto.

recipe adapted from Donna Hay magazine issue 78.

serves 2

1 clove of garlic, crushed

pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 medium sized eggplant, cut in half

200g cherry tomatoes
250g linguine (any pasta is good)
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

- Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.

- Combine crushed garlic, salt, pepper, chilli, lemon zest and only 2 tablespoons (40ml) of the olive oil in a small bowl. Rub or brush this mixture all over the cut side of the eggplant halves.

- Place the eggplant, cut side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20 minutes.
(I always scrunch my baking paper under running water before so it's easier to fit in the tray and it also reduces the corners of the paper burning - Jamie Oliver tip)

- Meanwhile while the eggplant is in the oven baking make your pesto. Place parsley, mint, parmesan, remainder of the olive oil and lemon juice in a small food processor or mortar and pestle and process or smash until it becomes a sort of paste or the herbs are finely chopped.

- After the 20 minutes of baking add the cherry tomatoes to the tray and bake for a further 10 minutes.

- Cook your pasta for 8-10 minutes or until it is al dente then toss the hot pasta and pesto together.

- Serve all together and enjoy (the eggplant is super yummy scooped out and tossed through the pasta). 

Chicken in white wine with lemon potatoes from Donna Hay Magazine - Issue 76.

First off let me tell you that meat in general doesn't exactly photo very well on an iphone camera. A new camera is on my wish list and I've picked it out, its just in the works at the moment. So I start by apologising for my photos... and I don't think this will be the first time I apologise for my photos either.

I've done the meal planning again this week and I had no dramas at the supermarket...yeehaa!

Back home now and back to no dishwasher so a one pot dish was perfect for tonights dinner. I think it could have definitely gone for some sugar snap peas thrown in at the last few minutes of cooking to give a little crunch and sweetness... also might have given the dish a little colour. Yes I know some people hate that when herbs or vegetables are added 'just for colour' but this would have also improved the taste and texture not just the overall colour. And its easy for a food stylist or photographer to make a dish look better than someone like me who is cooking dinner at night with no natural light whatsoever or fancy flash that makes it look like there is no flash at all. I did my best with what I had (and yes I used a filter on my phone for a couple of them).

Oooo and lemon zest... I would zest my half a lemon and add it in somewhere while everything cooks.


The chicken was deliciously juicy and the potatoes soaked up all the lovely sauce. In the magazine it looks almost baked but mine turned out kind of poached even though I did as the recipe said and browned it in olive oil to start with. I would put it under the grill or in the oven next time to brown the top up and help evaporate some of the sauce as it ended up swimming in sauce on our plates.

A very tasty chicken dish and best of all, hardly any washing up!

Chicken in white wine with lemon potatoes from Donna Hay magazine Issue 76.
(recipe adapted)
Serves 4

1 tbs olive oil
4 chicken breasts, skin removed
salt & pepper
200g marinated artichokes
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
500g chat potatoes, sliced into 1cm thick
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
handful of fresh thyme
2 handfuls of sugar snap peas (optional- although I would add them!)
juice and zest of half a lemon
parmesan, to serve

- Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom oven proof pot. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts then add them to the hot oil, frying on each side until toasted brown.

- Once the chicken is browned on both sides remove it from the pan and add the garlic and artichokes and cook in the oil left in the pan until garlic is tender.

- Add the stock, wine, thyme, zest and potatoes to the artichokes and garlic and bring to the boil. Add the chicken back in the pot and place a tight fitting lid on top and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and soft and the chicken is cooked through. If your adding sugar snap peas add them towards the end but don't over cook them, you still want them to have some crunch.

(If your chicken isn't very browned on top I would put the pot uncovered under the grill or in the oven for a bit to reduce the sauce and brown the chicken on top.)

- Squeeze the lemon juice over to finish and a sprinkling of parmesan.