Autumn recipe list :: Week 2

Did I say I was going to post these on a Monday? Silly me, Wednesday is a much better day, isn't it? Well, it is for me this week since I have been sick and unable to scrape together much more than beans on toast for the littles.
Here's a seven day Autumnal menu plucked from my master list:
:: Spicy Chicken Meatballs
A family favourite of ours (Daddy actually makes them best) from Bill Granger's Every Day. The good thing about Bill is that he has kids, so I find he gets that balance of spicy enough for an adult palette but not too spicy for a little palette just right.
:: Pork Cutlets with Apple Sauce
I am very taken with these pork products at the moment.
Ingredients:
4 pork cutlets
4 apples
2 tblspns caster sugar
2 bunches broccolini
Make it:
Preheat oven to 200°C and warm an oiled baking tray. Heat 2 tblspns of olive oil in a fry pan on medium-high heat and cook cutlets about 3 minutes each side. Transfer to baking tray and cook in oven for approximately 10 minutes.
Core and peel apples and slice into rings. Cook in a shallow pan over medium-high heat, adding 3 tblspns of water and the caster sugar. Cook for approximately 10 minutes stirring occasionally until apples have browned and are soft. When apples are about 3 minutes away from being ready sprinkle with a pinch of demura sugar.
Serve with steamed broccolini.
:: Pumpkin Soup
Who doesn't love soup? Our daughter, that's who. It's heartbreaking because everyone else in the family could live on the stuff. She will tolerate this one with a crusty roll with lashings of butter. This makes enough to have leftovers for a mummy lunch or two throughout the week.
Ingredients:
2 tblspns olive oil
1 leek
I clove garlic
1/2 tspn ground cumin
1/2 tspn freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1 kg butternut pumpkin
2 potatoes
1L vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream
Make it:
Heat oil over low heat in a large pot and add thinly sliced leek. Cook, stirring occasionally until soft (about 5 minutes). Meanwhile peel and chop your pumpkin and potato. Stir in crushed garlic, cumin and nutmeg and pour in stock. Turn heat to high, add pumpkin and potato and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Take off heat and stand for 10 minutes then blend with a stick blender or in a food processor. Return to pot, stir in cream and heat gently for about 5 minutes. Add cracked pepper, a drizzle more cream and a pinch more nutmeg and serve with crusty rolls.
:: Flathead with Sweet Potato Chips
I batter my flathead the way I saw Bill Granger do whiting on one of his cooking shows.
Ingredients:
1/2 kilo flathead
1 kg sweet potato
1 cup plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
Pinch turmeric
Make it:
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Peel sweet potato and cut into "chips" — about 1cm wide and 8cm long (but don't get too fussy, they will all taste the same). Toss your chips in some olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and then arrange on a baking tray in a single layer. Bake for around 40 minutes, turning once, or until golden.
When the chips are about 10-15 minutes away from ready sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl and season with a pinch of turmeric, sea salt and ground pepper. Make a well in the centre and whisk in about 1 cup or more of cold mineral water to make a smooth batter (I use tap water if I don't have mineral water).
Heat about 3cm of oil in a deep fry pan over medium-high heat. Dust fish pieces in flour and then dip in batter, wiping any excess on the edge of the bowl on the way out and lower carefully into hot oil. Turn fish after about 3 minutes and allow an extra 2 minutes on the flip side. Remove and drain on paper towel before serving with chips.
:: Chicken and Leek Pie
I am not a "meat pie" fan but pastry is in my mind a perfect place for chicken and leek to get together. I have yet to find my perfect Chicken Pie recipe so I'm trying the Women's Weekly version and will report back on its worthiness.
:: Spaghetti with Garlic and Herbs
The easiest throw-it-together comfort meal for mine is this (especially when my hubbie cooks it). You simply cook up a packet of spaghetti and dress it with a good quality olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, some sea salt, garlic salt, cracked pepper, whatever fresh herbs you have on hand and a sprinkle of grated parmesan. Wholemeal spaghetti has just the right texture to hold all of this together.
:: Pork Noodle Salad
The salad part is actually off the back of a packet of dried noodles! It's one of our son's favourite meals.
Ingredients:
Pork fillet (about 350g)
100g packet fried noodles
1/2 chinese cabbage
4 shallots
100g pinenuts
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tblspn soy sauce
2 tspns sesame oil
1/2 cup olive oil
Make it:
Preheat oven to 200°C. Rub your pork fillet over with a bit of combined soy and plum sauce or hoisin sauce. Place on a baking tray and cook for approximately 15 minutes or until just cooked through. Wrap in foil and set aside when done.
Meanwhile combine vinegar, castor sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and olive oil in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. To make salad chop cabbage finely so that it is shredded and put in a large serving bowl. Chop shallots thinly and toss with cabbage. Now shred your pork by holding still with one fork and scraping with the prongs of another and add to salad. Pour dressing over and mix well. Just before serving mix through fried noodles and pine nuts.