Some recipes I would like to try...

Nothing too exciting happening here in the kitchen today. I have a piece of beef in the crockpot for dinner because I'm feeling lazy and low on iron. I'll make a sweet potato crumble to have with it later.

I was just surfing the net thinking about some recipes I have had on my "must try" list for a while.

For well over a year I have been planning to make gozlemes. I'm not sure why I put of making them. I think perhaps it is the thought of rolling that dough out so thin, but really they are cheap and easy and oh so yummy so I really must get onto this. I'm sure my daughter would enjoy helping with these and I stumbled upon a recipe in a magazine today so it must be a sign from the universe.

Similarly I have wanted to try pannacotta. I keep thinking I will do it when we have friends over and in the end I go for something tried and true, or something easier instead.

Ricotta gnocchi is also on the list. These always look so light and deliscious. They are not hard but I seem to buy the ricotta and end up using it in some other recipe. Another one I really shouldn't put off.

This week I am also definitely planning to make some caramel syrup for coffees. I did make some pumpkin spice latte syrup a couple of years back so I know it's not hard. Santa gave me some caramel syrup for Christmas so I think as the little bottle will be empty in a day or so I will make my own to refill it. I do try and drink coffee at home. I like to add the $4 a coffee out would have cost me to my savings jar. It makes me feel virtuous even though I am anything but most of the time.

I'll post the recipes and pictures for these things and the many many others on my list when I make them. I better go turn some withering berries into muffins for tomorrow's picnic now.

Summer lentil salad

In summer, just like everyone else, we eat lots of salads. This is a simple lentil salad that is a twist on tabbouli. I had planned to make that but inexplicably I was out of burghul. It's funny that because burghul and polenta and cous cous seem to be strange items that either multiply or vanish from my pantry -in this case it was vanish.

Anyway this recipe uses, herbs, tomato and spring onions just like tabbouli but tinned brown lentils instead of burghul (cracked wheat) which made it super quick as I didn't need to waste time waiting for the burgul to soak. The addition of lentils makes it a good option for adding extra fibre to the diet, also a good thing as we start the New Year with all the usual resolutions for healthy eating.

We had ours with fish done on the bbq but this would be nice with grilled chicken or a nice lamb chop as well.

Summer Lentil Salad
1 tin brown lentils, drained and rinsed
8 cherry tomatoes quartered (you could easily dice a whole tomato)
3 spring onions sliced
1/4 cup of baby spinach leaves, shredded
100g feta crumbled
juice of 1/4 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill till ready to serve. Serves 4.

Homemade baked beans - the breakfast of champions

My family love my homemade baked beans. My daughter in fact does not even eat tinned baked beans but she, and her friends when they visit, can't get enough of these. They are low in fat but high in both flavour and fibre.

This is a recipe I adapted from one in Jill Dupleix's cookbook, Old Food. I have had this book for years and it is very well-worn. Her baked cheesecake was a  make-ahead dinner party staple for years. My recipe varies from hers in a several ways but keeps the original flavours.

You will love these baked beans. They are inepensive but delicious. They do use maple syrup with can be expensive here in Australia but there Queen now bottles some in Tasmania and Aldi also stocks sometimes so there are options out there.

I use a ham hock, the end of the Christmas ham is perfect and is what I used when I made these a few days agao, but they sell them year-round at the supermarket deli.

Homemade Baked Beans
1 ham bone or hock
1 onion diced
4 240g tins of beans drained and rinsed (any combination of navy beans, white beans, cannellini beans will do, you can make one tin kidney beans for variety)
2 cloves
1 tin diced tomatoes
1tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp maple syrup
2tbsp worstershire sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 extra tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

Heat some olive oil in a heavy based casserolle dish or saucepan with a lid. Add the onion and cook on low until soft, about 5 minutes. Stick the cloves into the ham hock and add to pan. Add remaining ingredients (except extra brown sugar) plus 2 cups of water to pan. Stir and cover.

This is mine just before I put it in the oven.

Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours, stirring once or twice, if you feel it's too dry you can add extra water, though I have never had to. Remove lid and take out ham hock, remove meat and fat from the bone. Also remove the cloves and bay leaf at this time. Return meat to the pan and extra brown sugar if using and bake an additional half hour.

Enjoy.

New Year, New Start Again

Apparently I decided at the same time last year to commit to posting regularly on this blog. Clearly that didn't happen in 2011 so let's hope for a much better result in 2012.

Summer is in full swing here and for us it means lots of picnics, boating and catching up with friends. Yesterday as I was preparing for a houseful of guests I decided I would host a themed dinner every month in 2012.

Last night's dinner was an easy favourite a pizza and pasta night. We made a double batch of pizza dough and made up four pizzas; ham and pineapple, ham and mushroom, supreme and bbq meatlovers. I also did a big batch of bolognese suace and pulled a ham, pea and mushroom pasta bake from the freezer. Friends brough nibbles, garlic bread and salad. Easy.

Some of the themed dinners I have in mind for the year include:

• Chinese New Year
• Greek night
• Indian or Curry night
• Christmas in July
• American
• Paella night

Meanwhile we have been doing some dinners of fish which we catch on the harbour. We usually serve it with home made tartare sauce. Tartare sauce is really very easy to make and the homemade is far superior to the stuff you get in the jar so take 5 minutes to make your own next time you are having fish for dinner. The most important thing is to use good whole egg mayonaise - if you use the cheap vinegary stuff you may as well just open a jar or tartare. I like the S&W brand but there are other good ones out there such as Paul Newmans and Hellmans.

This is the basic recipe but you need to taste for for sweetness and saltiness yourself.

Tartare Sauce
1/2 a cup whole egg mayonaise (you can of coure make your own)
1/2 teaspoon dill (Fresh or dried)
2 sweet cucumber pickles diced
1 teaspoon of capers
generous squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

 Combine all in a small bowl or ramekin. Enjoy! It does taste better if you can pop it back in the fridge for a while to let the flavours combine but you can certainly have it straight away.

A healthy lunch box treat.

Now that the price of bananas is returning to normal after the price hike that came from the Queensland floods it is nice to be able to enjoy the humble banana again.

Banana bread is a popular treat in lunchboxes and at cafes but the reality is much of it is high in fat and not as good for us as we would like to believe.

This banana carrot cake is low-fat and uses wholemeal flour and as such is a great option. You can omit the nuts if your school or work place is a nut-free environment as so many are. Alternatively I have used chopped nuts or walnuts rather than pecans if that's all I have had on hand.

Banana carrot cake

90g butter

1 cup raw sugar

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup grated carrot

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 ½ cups wholemeal flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder sifted

1 teaspoon bi-carb sifted

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ cup chopped pecans (I leave these out due to nut-free school policy)

1. Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in carrot and banana
2. Fold in sifted ingredients and pecans. Spoon mix into greased and base lines 20cm round cake pan.(I use a lamington pan because the slices are a better shape for lunch-boxes etc).
3. Bake in a moderately slow oven 180C fo 50-55 minutes of until cooked when tested. Stand 5 minutes before turning out.

I cut before I freeze. Enjoy!

Re-igntiting my interest in the kitchen

I am just back from a fabulous month-long vacation in the USA. We drove over 3,000 miles through the South-West, we took on Orlando with a vengeance and we sampled some of the best that NYC and Washington D.C have to offer.

We collectively agreed we probably didn't need to eat another burger or fry for quite some time and my daughter definitely doesn't want to see a children's menu featuring cheese pizza, pb&j or mac and cheese anytime soon.

So now we're home and it's back to the kitchen for me. It's time to get creative and it's spring which means a shift in how we eat; more eating outside, less casserolles and pasta bakes.

Tonight however we're having a Shepherd's Pie. I found some nice lamb mince at a bargain price and it's a nice hearty veggie filled dinner. For a twist I'm cooking it in my cast iron skillet which we are putting in the oven to cook the potato. Sometimes just altering the way you serve or present a meal can alter your experience of it entirely.


Sheperds Pie in a Skillet
500g lamb mince
1 onion diced
2 carrots diced
2 celery sticks diced
1/4 cup tomao paste
1 tin crushed tomato
1/2 jar spagetti sauce
1 tablespoon worstershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried italian herbs
4 chopped basil leaves
2 teaspoons chopped dill
1/2kg potato, boiled
1/2 cup grated cheese.
1/4 cup grated cheese (reserved)
paprika if desired

Soften onion, celery and carrot in oil in skillet or oven-proof fry pan. Add lamb mince and herbs and brown. Add tomato paste and cook off to release flavour. Add tomato, spagetti sauce and worstershire and cook till delish and flavours melded...about 1/2 an hour.(you may need to add water if it is too dry).

Mash potato to taste and stir in grated cheese. Top meat mix and sprinkle on extra cheese(and parika). Cook in oven till potato sets...about 1/2 an hour.

Enjoy. We're having ours with corn, brocolli and grean beans. The whole meal works out at about $2 a head which is very good value for a meal laden with veggies.

Menu planning - part one

I know plenty of people who never menu plan or have never even thought to. Some people think it inhibits creativity and boxes you in.  It’s a bit like people who write books, lots of them think plotting/planning is creative death.

When I write a book I like a rough outline. I know sometimes I will deviate from it and plans will change and I’m prepared to be led wherever my characters want to take me.

I’m the same with menu planning. I like looking at the list on my fridge and knowing that we have the food and the ingredients  to keep us nourished for the week but if my husband’s shift changes or friends invite us over for dinner I am happy to change my plans.

I happen to have a husband with a rather unpredictable job which means some days he starts work at 5am, sometimes he starts at noon and some days he doesn’t start at all, so flexibility is key.

I find menu planning saves me stress and money. We have been on a no-takeout policy around here since January 2010. I think we have had take-out for dinner maybe twice in all that time.  At $20 a week that’s quite a saving.

I’m also a very lucky gal because my lovely husband is a great cook. If I have a menu plan on the fridge and I am held up I can say “pick something off the list” and he can make dinner. 

Strategy

I menu plan in two ways. Sometimes  when life is extra crazy I just plan for the week ahead and other times I plan for the month.

The weekly plan

If I’m doing a weekly plan and I have a vague idea of my husband’s schedule I like to plan around that and my daughter’s schedule and mine.

For example she has activities that keep her out until 7.30pm Monday’s and Wednesday’s but she is ravenous when she walks in the door. On Thursdays I take her to clarinet from 5.30-6.30pm so there isn’t anyone here to cook then.

I also try and incorporate the following into the menu

-          Chicken

-          Red meat

-          Meat free or not so meaty meal (eg quiche, risotto, vegetarian pasta, spanokopita)

-          Fun (pizza, tacos, burgers, myo crepes)

-          Restaurant style ( a fancier more labour intensive meal)

-          Something DH cooks (So I get a night off)

-          Roast (this might be the beef or chicken or pork…it gives us meat for sandwiches and usually for another meal eg a pie, a stir fry)

-          Leftovers or a makeover meal

So our menu might look like this:

Monday – slow-cooker pot roast

Tuesday  – oven fried chicken, cornbread and coleslaw

Wednesday  – quiche

Thursday – spaghetti and meatballs

Friday – homemade pizza

Saturday – bbq

Sunday – paella

How will I have reached that menu?

Well I buy meat that looks good at a good price wherever I see it so firstly I look in my freezer. What have I got? A piece of beef? A whole chicken? Prawns and chorizo? Lots of eggs? And what haven’t we had lately…we really don’t want to eat roast chicken three weeks running or too much pasta or rice either.

You can search all over the internet for lots of information about menu planning.

Come back later for planning the monthly plan