Winter warmers
Recipes from our team
There’s nothing nicer on a chilly day than preparing warming comfort food to enjoy with friends and family. From our home to yours, we’re sharing a few favourite recipes from our team to warm up your winter. Enjoy!
Karen's Fix Me Up Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 leek, trimmed and halved
1 large Agria potato, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets
1 cup frozen peas
120 grams baby spinach leaves
½ cup cream
½ cup basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
¼ cup mint leaves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
To serve
½ cup plain Greek-style yoghurt
¼ cup store-bought dukkah
Method
Heat butter and oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook the onion and leek with a good pinch of salt for 10 minutes. Add the potato and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes then stir in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes until the potato is soft. Add the broccoli and peas and cook for 5 minutes, add the spinach and take off the heat allowing the spinach to wilt. Still off the heat, whizz with a stick blender. Add the cream, basil and mint and whizz again until smooth. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
To serve Ladle into bowls and serve with a swirl of yoghurt, basil leaves and a sprinkling of dukkah.
Michelle's Baked Lamb + Potatoes
Ingredients
2 red onions roughly chopped
1.2kg potatoes cut into large chunks
1kg lamb cut into chunks
4 tbsp chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
3 heaped tsp cumin seeds
125ml olive oil
4 or 5 ripe tomatoes cut into thick slices
50g butter
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Put the onion, potato and lamb in a 5 litre casserole dish or deep baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley, cumin and olive oil and mix thoroughly. Put tomato slices on top in a single layer season with a little salt. Dot the butter over the top and pour about 125ml of water around the sides of the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours, tilting the dish from side to side a couple of times and spooning some of the pan juices over the top. The lamb should be very tender and the potatoes soft. Remove the foil and the oven temperature to 200 degrees C and cook for another 45 minutes or so, turning the lamb halfway through, or until the meat and potatoes are a little browned and the liquid has reduced. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Karen's Haloumi Fries
Ingredients
360g haloumi cheese blocks, 2 x 180g blocks.
2 cups canola oil (or other natural oil)
2 large eggs whisked
Flour dredge
1/2 cup plain/all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Italian herbs
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground white or black pepper
Crumb
1 cup panko or ordinary breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp cooking salt
Yoghurt garlic dipping sauce
1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove , finely grated
1/2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp cooking salt
Mix ingredients for dipping sauce in a bowl and set aside for at least 20 minutes to let the flavours develop.
Method
Cut the haloumi into fries around 1.5cm thick. The length will depend on the shape of your haloumi. Pat halloumi mostly dry using tea towels. Using 3 bowls large enough to toss the halloumi, put the eggs in one bowl, mix flour dredge in another and mix Crumb ingredients in a third. Dip a haloumi fry in flour, shake off excess. Dip in egg, allow excess to drip off. Coat in breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere, then place on tray. Toss haloumi in breadcrumbs (by tossing the bowl) so you don't have to touch. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over high heat until it reaches 180°C. Fry 5 haloumi sticks at a time for 1 1/2 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined tray. Repeat with remaining haloumi.
Air fry option (excellent!) Pre-heat air fryer to 200°C for 5 minutes. Oil spray fries and spray the basket. Place all haloumi fries in a single layer in a 7 L/qt+ air fryer. Cook for 9 minutes until crispy and golden.
Serve hot with yoghurt garlic dipping sauce.
Michele's Blueberry Cheesecake Brownie
Cake base ingredients
200g Whittaker’s 50% dark chocolate, broken into squares
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
Cheesecake topping ingredients
250g Anchor cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 Tsp fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 Tsp salt
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen are fine)
Icing sugar to sprinkle for garnish
Method
Preheat the oven to180degC. Butter and flour (or use baking paper) a 33cm x 22cm baking pan. Make the brownie: In a microwave on medium power gently and gradually melt the chocolate with the butter (takes about 3 mins), stirring, and cool. Don't use full power on microwave as this will ruin the chocolate. Whisk in the sugar and eggs, 1 at a time, and whisk in vanilla. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread the mix evenly in the prepared pan.
Cheesecake topping
In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon juice, egg, vanilla and salt. Beat in flour and spread mixture evenly over the brownie batter. Scatter the blueberries over the topping and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the top is puffed and pale golden and a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Do not over-cook. Cool brownies completely in the pan on a rack and chill, covered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Dust with icing sugar if desired. Makes 20 brownies.
