Super simple onion rings

Ok so I confess onion rings would appear reasonably high on the "fried foods I shouldn't eat" list for me.

 

I'm not that big on hot chips or French fries but I do love an onion ring...I also adore a potato scallop but thank goodness I've never been tempted to make my own.

 

Now onion rings may not be super good for you but they are pretty simple to make and they are very inexpensive as well. If you're having a group of people they're a great side dish with burgers or even as a snack with a drink.

 

These ones aren't battered just dusted in flour so they are a little bit healthier.

 

Simple Onion Rings

 

3 large onions, sliced, rings separated.

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

s&p

1 teaspoon of paprika

 

1. Soak sliced onions in milk for about 30 minutes. (Longer won't hurt). This step takes the bit out of the onion so they get that slightly sweet flavour.

 

2. Heat oil in a pan, or a deep fryer till hot. (We used canola oil in a saucepan)

 

3. Meanwhile combine flour, S&P and paprika in a bowl.

 

4. Drain the onion slices and drench in flour.

 

5. Cook in batches in the hot oil until golden.

 

 

6.  Drain on absorbent paper. Season to taste.

 

Enjoy!

Time to kick-start the blog again

Time to kick-start the blog....

 

I just checked and I absolutely can't believe I haven't blogged since March. How is that even possible. I mean, I knew it had been a little while but that is ridiculous.

 

I guess I've been busy with work and my writing. I write my own novels and I did recently release the 3rd one. Be sure to visit my writing blog if you want to read about that.

 

http://moniquemcdonell.weebly.com/blog.html

 

Meanwhile I have of course been cooking. I was only thinking today that I really go through phases where I try new things and then fall back on faithful old friends/recipes.

 

A few weeks ago I realised I had a gift certificate to use up so I went and bought myself a couple of lovely cookbooks. Including this one which I have made a couple of things including Tupperware Chorizo.

 

Now I have to say it didn't taste exactly like regular chorizo but it did taste super yummy.

 

I then used it in the recipe from the book Chorizo Carbonara which was very yummy served up with a green salad.

 

I also added some to some beef mince for meat balls. And I added the rest into some beef and made two delicious meatloaves.

 

It was yummy and fun to experiment with something different. I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging about my cooking adventures now that spring is almost here. I have some really fun things I want to make.

 

 

And here is a picture of the birthday cake I made for my daughter's 13th birthday. I found this on Pinterest and it was the easiest cake ever - so much easier than Dora the Explorers Backpack or the Australian Women's Weekly Princess Castle.

 

If you like to cook and haven't joined Pinterest you should totally look into it.

 

 

 

 

Baked spinach & ricotta gnoccchi (gluten free/low carb)

I'm currently on a lower carb diet and do you know what I miss?

Bread?  No!

Potato? No

Sugar? Not even.

 

I miss pasta. It's yummy and it's hearty and it's a great fall-back family meal.

 

So this is my way of having pasta while not really having pasta. The gnocchi doesn't stay together as well as traditional gnocchi because it lacks flour to bind it but once it's baked it's reasonably firm and it's rich and cheesy and gives you that lovely "I just ate Italian food" feeling.

 

You can use full-fat ricotta and parmesan or low-fat. The result is the same.

 

I froze 2/3 of this for another meal so I think with salad this feeds 6.

 

Baked Spinach and ricoota gnocchi

500g ricotta

1 egg

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs (or use fresh)

1 box frozen spinach (thawed per instructions and drained).

500g spagetti sauce (Home made or the jarred variety)

pepper to taste

 

1. In a bowl combine ricotta, egg, spinach, herbs, parmesan and pepper. Stir to combine.

2. Spray a dish with olive oil.

3. Using two tablespoons form dumplings and arrange in dish (or in two as I did). Make sure they don't touch.

4. Pour sauce around the gnocchi.

5. Bake in a moderate oven about 25 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Simple Asparagus Frittata

For some reason my fridge is especially full today. It's not a bad thing but it's a bit crowded in there. I have loads of lovely vegetables to use up.

 

Luckily we're having visitors tomorrow and we'll be making good use of the beans, asparagus, sweet potato and corn which we'll have with a nice leg of lamb on the bbq. We also have loads of avocados so I think some guacamole might be in order too.

 

Even so I decided to whip up a quick aspargus frittata this afternoon to clear out some eggs. Fritatta's are a great way to use things up. Last week I made one using a bit of leftover ham, the last of the frozen peas, half a box of frozen spinch and a big handful of herbs including mint, basil and oregano. It was delicious!

 

I often make my frittata in a slice tin and bake it in the oven. It means I can walk away and do other things. However, for sheer presentation you can't beat a skillet. This would be delicious for a breakfast or brunch, to take on a picnic or just served with some salad and crusty bread for a simple meal.

 

Simple Asparagus Frittata

1 bunch of asparagus

1/2 a leek, diced (of course an onion would be fine)

a spash of olive oil

about 20g of butter

a handful of herbs - I used fresh basil, sage and oregano but dried would do

6 eggs

salt & pepper

1/2 a cup of cream

1/4 cup grated tasty or cheddar cheese (swiss would be nice too)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

 

1. Combine oil and butter, leek and herbs in a skillet and cook on low until leek is soft.

2. Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together eggs, cream, s&p and tasty cheese.

3. When leek is soft arrange aspargus in skillet and pour egg mixture on top.

4. When the fritatta is almost firm, sprinkle with parmesan and a little pepper and put under grill (or broiler as the Americans say) and cook till golden - about 10 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

 

Crab salad

The thing about seafood is it has to be eaten quickly or it turns.

 

Today I had to use up the other half of the crab from yesterday's Cucumber Crab Boats.

 

I decided on a simple Crab Salad. It was yummy and what made it extra good was the addition of some sunflower seeds and sushi seasoning on top.

 

Crab Lunch Salad

Serves one

 

Ingredients

 

Spinach leaves

1/2 an avocado diced

1/2 a cumber diced

4 cherry tomaatoes diced.

a tablespoon of sunflower seeds

a sprinkle of sushi seasoning

 

Crab salad (combine the following)

70g crab

a tablespoon of mayo

a squeze of lemon juice

1 celery stick deiced

1/2 teaspoon of dill

salt & pepper

 

1. Put spinach leaves in a bowl and layer other ingredients on top...finishing with sunflower seeds and sushi seasoning.

 

Side note: this is sushi seasoning...it's great flavouring and you use it on inside-out sushi! My daughter is adding it to everything these days. This brand is available at major supermarkets in Sydney but I'm sure there is quite a variety in Asian grocery stores.

 

Cucumber crab boats

At the moment I'm trying to reduce the carbohydrates I eat. I find that easy for dinner and even breakfast. Lunch is more of a challenge.

 

It's very easy to gran a roll or a couple of slices of bread or even some crackers and make something tasty and quick. In winter I make lots of soups which make great lunches full of veggies and legumes that fill me up.

 

Summer is a different challenge. Some of it is about your mindset as well. People readily pay $5-10 for lunch out while working but we all seem to baulk at buying slightly more expensive ingredients to make our own lunch.

 

This lunch involves crab. Fresh crab meat is $6 for 140g at my local supermarkets. I used about 70g for this lunch so $3 worth.

 

With the other ingredients I had it was probably less than $4 total...more than I spend on homemade lunches usually but less than anything I can buy out of the home.

 

For low-carb options of course you could use a tomato or an avocado if you have those and not a cucumber available. Or make a lettuce wrap.

 

If carbs aren't an issue this mix would be lovely on some rich rye bread!

 

Cucumber crab boats

Serves 1.

 

70g crab meat

1 celery stalk diced

a squeeze of lemon juice

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon of good quality whole egg mayo

1/2 teaspoon dill.

1 Lebanese cucumber.

 

1. Half the Lebanese cucumber and scoop out the seeds (I used my cherry pipper because it was a good size. Cut each half in half so you have 4 boats.

2. Combine other ingredients.

3. Scoop into cucumber boats.

 

Enjoy! (My photo only contains one as I had already eaten the other 3. I couldn't wait!)

Pizza Baguettes

Today is a gorgeous sunny Sunday in Sydney. I felt like something different for lunch. I didn't want a sandwich. I had some eggplant and lots of tomatoes and my daughter had a friend over. I wanted to use the bbq (or as Americans say the grill!)

 

Decisions, decisions.

 

I decided to make a baguette into pizzas.

 

 

1 baguette

tomato pasta or pizza sauce

bocconcinni or mozarella.

Toppings - we used ham, pineapple, tomato, grilled eggplant, basil

 

Slice the baguette in half and spread with pizza sauce/tomato paste.

Add toppings.

Cover with sliced bocconini.

Cover base in foil so the bread doesn't burn.

Cook on covered grill about 15 minute or until cheese melts.

Before they were cooked

Melanzana pizza baguette - eggplant, tomato and basil

Ham & eggplant pizza baguette