Prawn and Pork Dumplings

I love making dumplings. I usually get some minced pork from the Asian supermarket, shitake mushrooms and wonton wrappers then get some fresh prawns and spend the evening in front of my favourite tv show, wrapping them up.

Here is what I do:

1. Place five mushrooms, three stalks of spring onions, one brown onion, one small carrot and prawns in the food processor and mince.

2. In a mixing bowl, place minced pork and vegetables and prawns, add a tablespoon of soy sauce or oyster sauce. Add salt and pepper to season and mix well until combined.

3. Cover and place in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

4. To wrap, take a sheet of pastry, place a teaspoon of mixture into the middle of the pastry then bring the edges to cover the filling. Repeat until filling is used. Any leftover pastry can be wrapped and placed in the fridge.

6. Dumplings can then be steamed for 15-20 minutes.

To freeze dumplings:

1. To freeze the dumplings, place in a plastic container and layer dumplings with plastic cling wrap in between, space them out so they don't stick together.

2. Once frozen, move dumplings into zip lock bags.

Here are some before and after photos. Follow me on Instagram @heelsandspice  for more ideas and updates. Enjoy.

Brown Rice Salad

I am attending a housewarming bbq and what I usually do is make a dish to bring then leave the serving plate there as a gift.

Today, I have decided to make some brown rice salad. It is something simple, healthy, flavoursome and delicious.

So here is what I did:

1. Cook or heat up brown rice. I need two cups of cooked rice.

2. Mix half a teaspoon of chopped garlic, a teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of mirin or rice wine vinegar or just vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar (optional) and a tablespoon of olive oil and leave for ingredients to fuse together

3. Chop up a medium sized, red capsicum and three shallots or spring onions

4. In a large bowl, place brown rice, a cup of sultanas or raisins, half a cup of pepitas or sunflower seeds, capsicum, spring onions, dressing and mix well.

5. Serve in platter or bowl.

The combination of colours and flavours are just amazing. Nuts can be added or chicken but I prefer this dish to be meat-free. I hope you like it too. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @heelsandspice for more ideas and updates. Enjoy!

Breakfast - Omellete with leftover steamed veggies

My eldest son asked me for something different to eat for breakfast. That means something other than cereal, toast, bacon and eggs etc. I looked in the fridge and there was a bowl of steamed veggies leftover from last night's dinner. I asked him if he wanted an omellete with steamed veggies and he said 'yes please'.

Here is what I did:

1. Chop up half a small onion and pan fry on olive oil in a non-stick oven-proof pan
2. When onion starts to brown, add the steamed veggies. Put flame on low to medium as the veggies have come out of the fridge and needs time to warm.
3. Place 4-6 eggs in a bowl, add salt and pepper and beat.
4. Spread the vegetables out to an even layer then pour on the egg mix. Tilt the pan to spread out the egg. Leave on low flame to ensure the bottom is cooked through.
5. In the meantime, set you grill to 150 degrees celcius.
6. Once the omellete starts to solidify on the bottom, place the pan under the grill. Once the top starts to solidify and turn golden brown, remove from grill.
7. Sprinkle spring onions on top and serve.

It was a hit! Even my 5 year old who is not a fan of veggies had two serves. Enjoy!

Chilli Beef - Leftover Roast Beef Transformation #2

My previous post was about transforming leftover roast beef into a stir-fry with zucchini and mushroom. This post is about transforming it into a spicy dish that is filled with bursts of fresh flavours which tastes amazing with steamed rice.

1. In a blender/food processor, place:
x3 brown onions
x1 lemongrass or 3x kaffir lime leaves or a small piece of ginger
x1 garlic
x3 large red chillies or x1 red capsicum
x1 birds eye chilli for extra spicyness (optional)
x1 tsp sugar
x1 tsp salt and pepper
Blend until you get the desired texture. I prefer to be able to see the ingredients, some prefer more of a paste
2. Cut up beef to matchstick like pieces.
3. Add oil to wok or frying pan, once heated, add beef and leave on medium heat until all liquid has evaporated and beef has crisped on the edges.
4. Remove beef, wash the pan the add oil. Once heated, add the spice mix and stir fry on medium heat until capsicum and onions starts to wilt.
5. Add the beef and mix well.
6. Serve on steamed rice.

The spice mix can be used with vegetables or even boiled eggs (recipe coming soon). It is one of my favourites.

Follow me on Instagram @heelsandspice for more ideas and updates. Enjoy!

Stir-fry Beef with Vegetables - Leftover Roast Beef Transformation #1

So you made some roast beef and even though it was delicious, there was too much and now you have leftovers. If you want to transform it into a different dish without too much fuss, allow me show you what I did at our #wintergetaway2015 :

1. Get that roast out of the fridge and slice it up into matchsticks
2. Put some oil in a wok or frying pan and once oil is hot add the beef and leave for a few minutes on medium flame. It will release some liquid then gradually dry up. 3. Whilst that is going on, chop up some vegetables, I used mushrooms and zucchini.
4. Once beef starts to crisp up on the edges, remove from pan but leave the remaining juices there (don't wash the pan).
5. Add another tablespoon of oil then add the zucchini and a teaspoon of garlic. On medium heat, stir fry until the zucchini is near see-through then add the mushrooms. Once mushrooms starts to wilt, add beef and mix well.
6. Place a teaspoon of cornflour and place in a small bowl with some cold water. Mix well then pour onto the vegetables and beef and mix well.
7. Add salt and pepper as desired keeping in mind the beef was seasoned when roasted and the veggies have absorbed the liquid in the pan.
8. Serve on steamed rice or on it's own.

There is also a spicy option that I will post soon, so follow my instagram account @heelsandspice for updates. Enjoy!

Office Smoothie

I find it a real challenge to eat fruit. Despite living in Melbourne where we have a wealth of fresh fruit, I am not someone who has a habit of having fruit in my diet. Also, getting braces in my teeth and other attachments, I decided to make it easier for myself and make smoothies in my afternoon tea break.
1. To give me a boost to get me through the afternoon
2. To incorporate fruit in my diet

I know the last two smoothies in my instagram account included yoghurt, however most of the time I only have the fruit and some water to keep it all natural and raw.

So how do I do this in the office?

On my visit through a local department store, I saw a blender with a sports drink attachement for $15. It was cheaper than other types of smoothie blenders so I decided to give it a try. I store it in my bottom drawer in my workstation and every day at 3pm I take it into the kitchen where I have frozen berries in the freezer and pineapple that I cut up in portions and place in a bag in the freezer. I then bring a banana, kiwi fruit or get any other piece of fruit from the supermarket and those are my ingredients.

It takes minutes to cut up and place in the blender and since you are using the same bottle to drink out of there is minimal washing up. The blender is still going after a year and others have jumped on the wagon - the more the merrier.

So if you want more fruit in your diet and you cannot find the time elsewhere, especially if you are a busy mum like myself, try the smoothie at 3pm. It works for me.

Steamed Fish with Brocolli and Jasmine Rice in 20 minutes

Today was one of those days where I hadn't prepared anything for dinner. All I knew was that I wanted some fish fillets and some greens on rice. It was my turn to pick up the boys and they will be hungry.

So on my lunch break, I grabbed some skinless blue grenadier fillets from the supermarket and some fresh spring onions. I had some ginger at home so I decided to make some soy and ginger steamed fish and some veggies on the side, I was pretty sure we had some brocolli in the fridge.

When I arrived home, here is what I did:

1. Cook 3 cups of rice in the ricecooker. Turn it on and leave. It will take around 20 minutes to cook.

2. Mix 1 tsp of caster sugar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce (light), chopped up ginger and sliced spring onions (white part) in a bowl

3. Cut up the fish fillets into 4 parts each and spread around a pie dish or any flat dish that can hold liquid and fits into the steamer.

4. Pour the sauce on the fillets and place the whole dish in the steamer. Set for 15 minutes.

5. Cut brocolli into florets and wash in cold water. Place in a separate steamer for 2 minutes.

6. Once brocolli is steamed, stir fry in olive oil with garlic and chicken stock powder with 5 tablespoon of water.

7. Place a pan with 3 tablespoons of sesame oil until heated and once the fish is cooked, pour oil onto the steamed fish (watch out for splaterring)

8. Leave the fish steaming for another minute then take out of steamer. Garnish with green parts of the spring onion.

9. Get a bowl and fill with a cup of steamed jasmine rice, a cup of stir fry brocolli and a portion of fish. Pour some sauce over the fish and rice.

10. Serve and enjoy