The balloon whisk and pyrex dish

Muffins! Fruit muffins!

2012-02-15T23:11:00.000+11:00

I've been looking at ways to get the kids to eat more fruit, so when I found a simple fruit muffin recipe, I figured I'd give it a go.
I found the recipe too dry, so I've ended up adding in an extra 1/2 cup milk, and I really do think they benefit from a spice and/or herb.

2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup fruit

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, leaving a well in the middle.

Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until only just mixed.

Fold the fruit in.

Cook in preheated moderate (180C/350F) oven in muffin trays for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you want chocolate muffins, use 1/2 cup cocoa in place of 1/2 cup of self raising flour, and the fruit for choc chips.

A light soup

2012-01-16T20:09:00.000+11:00

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of soups, especially in summer. But, today, when the InfoxicatedMan said he wanted chicken for tonights dinner, I cringed. I had to ask a friend, Quentin, what he could suggest. And he suggested something light, with chili and green onions. And from there, I thought "Hmm... I could do with a Thai inspired soup..."
So, here's my take. And please note, the chicken was leftovers from a roast I did, stuffed with 2 lemons and garlic. It doesn't have measurements.

1 chicken (approximately), pre-cooked and still on the bone
Green onions, whole
2 stalks lemon grass (you will need to bash this to help release the flavours)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
2 birds-eye (small red) chilis, seeds removed
3 generous tablespoons fish sauce
water to cover
1 wombok
snow peas

Throw all ingredients into a large saucepan, bring to boil, simmer for at least an hour.
Drain the broth into a large bowl, and strip the chicken off the bone. Place chicken and broth back into the saucepan with 2 cups of good chicken stock.
Add a generous handful of snow peas and some shredded wombok, and stir through well.

And here it is (OMG! A photo!)

A revisit...

2011-11-04T19:29:00.000+11:00

A while back, I posted a recipe for Russian Friendship Tea. Since then, I've looked for instant tea, and the only type I can find is instant iced tea (such as Nestea).
I'm thinking I may buy some so I can try it. I'm thinking combining the amount for the instant tea and instant lemonade mix, and using the Nestea stuff.

Salmon cakes

2011-11-02T00:50:00.000+11:00

Many years ago, I cooked a family recipe for fish cakes. It had onions, garlic, eggs, bread (cubed and soaked in milk), and ground coriander (spice), then crumbed (flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs) and shallow fried.
As much as I like the simplicity of that recipe, I wanted something different. I wanted something I could eat without needing to crumb and fry, if I had to. So I developed this recipe.

1kg potatoes, peeled, cubed and steamed and then mashed
400g tinned red salmon
3 spring onions, diced finely
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (herb, aka cilantro)
Bread crumbs

Combine the first 4 ingredients, adding a dash of milk if too dry and they won't hold together well
Crumb lightly
Fry until golden

You can eat this without crumbing and frying, as a simple spread for a sandwich.

I make these salmon cakes and serve them as a fish burger.

A lazy Saturday...

2011-10-22T12:28:00.000+11:00

A few weeks back, I put down some limoncello starter. That is, I bought vodka and a few lemons, peeled the lemons and soaked them in the vodka (seriously, a jar filled with peels and vodka just covering it) for 4 or so weeks. Today, I finished making it, as per my mandarincello recipe. And just in time - I'm almost out of cider ;)

But, while I was at it, I figured I may as well make some creamed rice. My friend, Julia sent me the Donna Hay recipe, which I've since adapted slightly. So, here's my version.

1 cup arborio rice
4 cups full cream milk
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan.
Bring to boil
Reduce to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

Enjoy hot or cold

Chicken "cacciatore"

2011-10-14T17:49:00.000+11:00

So, cacciatore apparently means hunter in Italian, so this is Hunter's Chicken.
Actually, it isn't so much cacciatore, but it is my version of it.
It's what I call a "meat plus wet" recipe - That is, meat, plus liquid (a tin of soup, some wine, some stock or similar) over heat or in the oven for an hour or so makes dinner. Of course, the longer you leave it, the better it tastes.

So, this recipe is for 4 adults, but since its me and the girls at home tonight, I'll still be making the same amount.

1 large onion - sliced
1 clove of garlic - minced
4 chicken marylands
2 tins (410 g each) of whole tomatoes
black olives to season (that's your salt, peoples)

Cook down the onions in a large, heavy based saucepan until transparent. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.
Push the onion garlic mixture aside, and brown the chicken.
Pour in the tomatoes, and a few olives to season.
Simmer for at least 1 hour, or as long as you desire.

Serve with creamy polenta or mashed potatoes.

Anniversary dinner

2011-08-25T10:30:00.000+10:00

For those of you who've been living under a rock, it was my wedding anniversary yesterday.
So, last night, I decided to make mustard crusted rack of lamb, hasselback potatoes and roasted asparagus. This is significant for a reason - the dinner at our wedding reception was mustard crusted rack of lamb. Off the top of my head, I cannot remember what the sides for it were, but I do remember the lamb. And last nights was pretty damned close, if slightly over cooked.

Hasselback potatoes

garlic - 1 clove per person
butter - 1 tablespoon for 2 people
salt and pepper to taste
1 large potato per person

Make a garlic butter from softened butter and minced garlic. Season well
Peel each potato. Cut in half lengthways.
Place flattened side of the potato on the chopping board. Along the length of the potato, cut into the potato to around 3mm from the base, around 3mm apart.
Rub the garlic butter into the top of the potatoes, attempting to get the butter into cuts.
Bake for ~45 minutes in a moderate (180C or 350F) oven.

Mustard crusted rack of lamb

1 lamb rack - 4 bones for on each - per person
1 tablespoon of English mustard per rack
bread crumbs
Olive oil for cooking
Salt and pepper to season

For each person, prepare a 4 rib rack of lamb. These should be Frenched. Season well, and brown fat side first in a large oven proof frying pan (I used my trustworthy cast iron frying pan).
Remove the racks from the frying pan, rub English mustard over the now browned fat. Pat breadcumbs onto the mustard.
Return to pan, and place on the top shelf of the oven.
Cook until the potatoes are also done

Baked asparagus

4 fresh asparagus spears per person
oil
salt to taste

Place asparagus into an oven proof dish or frying pan (again, I used my trustworthy cast iron frying pan - this time, the medium sized one)
Coat well with olive oil (I used a lemon infused one) and season
Place on bottom shelf of oven for the last ten minutes of cooking time

Chocolate spoons

2011-06-13T18:25:00.000+10:00

I keep seeing chocolate spoon images, so I figured I'd try making some. I looked around for recipes both I and my kids would like, and found nothing all of us would enjoy. So, I decided to play around a bit.

Good quality chocolate (I used white, dark and milk)
mini patty cases
cocoa and caster sugar (for the milk chocolate)
zip lock bags
any other flavourings you may enjoy and some extra for decoration
Plastic spoons

Break the chocolate into small pieces. Place broken chocolate into zip lock bags with the flavourings and seal tightly (I placed 1 heaped tablespoon cocoa and 1 heaped tab of caster sugar with the milk choc, some chopped sugar free ginger and vanilla seeds in the white choc, and some crushed peppermint lollies in the dark choc)
Place sealed bags in a large heat proof bowl, and pour over boiling water
When melted, snip a corner off the bag, and pipe into the mini patty cases
decorate as appropriate (mini marshmallows, crushed up caramels)
Place spoon upright in almost set chocolate.

When the chocolates have set completely, place in an airtight container.

To use, pour boiling milk over the chocolate spoons, and stir vigourously.

Muesli slice

2011-05-05T20:06:00.000+10:00

We Aussies would be tempted to call this a muesli bar - and in fact, the flavours I used are inspired by a well know commercial flavour of muesli bar. I also know that Americans would call it a granola bar.
This one is super easy, because I used store bought muesli.

4 cups muesli
1 tin (395mL) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup glace cherries, chopped
coconut essence

Preheat oven to 180C (fan forced)
lightly grease a slice tin (23cm by 23cm)
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients
tip in to the slice tin, and level out
bake for approximately 30 minute, or until golden on the top.
Allow to cool in tin, turn out, and cut in to 16 squares.

I'm going to try with other fruit combinations in the next few weeks. I'm thinking dried cranberries and white chocolate would work well.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

5 can soup

2011-04-16T12:14:00.001+10:00

So, yesterday, I decided that because it was getting cold (it's Autumn here in Australia, and this particular town gets snow from late Autumn through to late Spring).
I googled for a soup recipe (I also have a pumpkin soup cooking), and came across seven can soup. I decided to change it slightly, and am making a five can soup.

1 can butter beans
1 can tomatoes (whole)
3 cans of soup

Pour each of the soup cans into the slow cooker.
Pour in the tomato soup.
Rinse the butter beans, and refill the can with water. Pour in to the slow cooker.

Cook on low for several hours. After 3 hours, taste for seasoning. If it is too salty, add in some halved, new potatoes.

Mini spinach frittatas

2011-03-21T22:03:00.001+11:00

So, the other day, I had a Brain Storm.
See, the InfoxicatedMan has recently started a job where he will be spending a fair bit of time away from home. Including overnights. And he gets up fairly early each morning, too - He has to be at work before 7, so he leaves home at around 6.
And that got me thinking. Normally, he makes a coffee and has that and a cigarette for breakfast. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon snack tend to be one-hand food, too. Last night, the request was made for chicken legs for lunch. (I baked them as I was making beef stroganoff.) I also thought to ask, what if I could find a recipe for a simple, nutritious, protein rich breakfast. Would he eat it?
So, I went looking. And found egg muffins.
But, being me, I thought I'd change it slightly.

1 bunch fresh spinach
4 large eggs
150mL cream
100g cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Chop spinach roughly, removing the stalk
Rinse well
Wilt in heavy based pan with lid. Remove from pan, and allow to cool
Beat cream until soft ribbons form
Chop cooled spinach, and add to eggs. Mix thoroughly
Stir in cottage cheese
Fold in cream
Cook in greased cupcake tins for approximately 15 minutes, or until no longer wobbly
Allow to cool to room temp, and place in a container

These should freeze well, and are great to eat hot, cold, or room temp

I'm also thinking chorizo and semidried tomatoes, pear and blue cheese, and fennel and camembert.

Home made KFC style chicken

2011-01-26T16:41:00.000+11:00

Several years back, we lived in the ~~lovely~~ interesting town of Lismore. It's a uni town. That is, if not for the uni (Southern Cross), the town pretty much wouldn't exist. Like many uni towns, there were several fast food outlets. 4 Subways, a KFC, 2 Maccas, a Red Rooster...
Anyways, we lived across the road from KFC. And some nights, we'd feel like cooking just wasn't an option. So, we'd go across the road and grab KFC. Of course, we always felt sick after it, so we figured we'd play around with some seasoning, and here's what we came up with.

1kg of chicken breast (diced, so its like popcorn chicken)
Flour
Masterfoods Season All
Paprika
Mustard powder
Egg wash
Hot oil (180C is good. Use the deep fryer you have. It's easiest)

Mix the flour with the season all - try 2 parts flour to one part season all. Add in a few tablespoons of paprika and mustard. Mix them thoroughly.
Dip the chicken bits in the egg wash.
Dust liberally with the seasoned flour.
Fry until golden.
Continue in batches.
Re-fry the chicken until a dark golden colour.

Serve with fries, mustard (I suggest American, or honey mustard) and tomato sauce.

A thought...

2011-01-12T12:08:00.000+11:00

My sister, Bast, lives in South East Queensland, in Logan. They're in a slab house, so if the rivers do break near them, they'll be swimming. My thoughts and prayers are with Bast, MrBast, the two baby girls (Bast' twins - aka Cut and Paste), BastJr, and the pets.

Uses for candy canes...

2011-01-01T12:24:00.000+11:00

Inspired by this post on white hot chocolate with ginger, and with a rather large excess of candy canes hanging from the tree, I'm thinking of Ideas.
So far, I've used a small candy cane per mug of hot chocolate, I've been drinking peppermint mocha coffee each morning, and I'm eyeing off a bottle of vodka (peppermint vodka? Of course I want to try it).
Anyone else have any ideas?

My new blog button

2010-11-19T11:03:00.002+11:00

I've finally folded and decided I should do this.
So, I played with GIMP this morning until I had something I like.
Do you like?
So, the thing is, you can now have this VERY SAME BUTTON on your blog, and all you need to do is copy and paste the code I shall be leave at the bottom of this post. I will need to edit it (of course) so that I get the correct location for the button, and I will also be playing with the html boxes on the side so I have a permalink there for it.

Thoughts?

Baked pork chops with caramelised apple

2010-10-08T11:35:00.005+11:00

I did this one the other day. I looked in the freezer, saw some rather large pork chops, and had an Idea (intentional capitalisation). It worked well, because I used the same sauce I baked the pork chops in for the spare ribs the kids had, and it was snazzy enough for the guest we had for dinner, too (I found out she'd be eating with us at 430 in the afternoon)

1 large pork chop per adult
2 pork spare ribs per child
2 potatoes per person
6 rashers bacon
Ginger (grated)
cinnamon (ground)
bourbon (eyeball this bit)
Brown sugar (around 1 cup, not firmly packed)
4 large green apples, peeled and diced roughly
2oz (60g) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grated ginger

Mix bourbon, a good measure of cinnamon and a good measure of grated ginger with the brown sugar. Add some water if you think it needs it.
Pour over the pork chops (and spare ribs) and turn them a few times while you're chopping up the potatoes.
Cook the potatoes for smashing in plenty of boiling, salted water.
AT THE SAME TIME put the pork into a moderate (180C) oven to cook while you're doing everything else.
Melt butter in heavy based frying pan, add in the apples, and start the caramelise them. Add in the brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Coat the apples well in the resulting caramel sauce, and reduce heat as much as you can.
TURN THE MEAT NOW
Cook bacon your preferred way (oven, under the grill in the oven, microwave - just make sure it's crunchy)
Smash the potatoes with a good helping of butter, and season sparingly. Add in the crumbled bacon, and a good handful of cheese.

Serve it all up on a plate, with plenty of Wet Ones nearby

Chicken and mushroom pasta bake

2010-10-08T11:24:00.004+11:00

I made this one last night, and found it stupidly easy.

You could easily add in some good chunks of bacon, and it would make a lovely chicken boscaiola sauce.

1 packet pasta (we used penne, but any pasta will work well)
1 leek - finely chopped
200g mushrooms - finely sliced
A good splash of white wine
Olive oil
Philadelphia cream for cooking (I apologise for the flash, but I didn't design that site :P )
Cheese for sprinkling and baking

Cook pasta according to directions on packet.
Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan.
Cook chicken, mushrooms and leeks together in the olive oil. Season to taste.
When chicken is sealed, add the white wine, and reduce.
Toss the chicken mixture and the Philly through the cooked, drained pasta.
Pour the lot into a baking dish (I used a lasagne dish), sprinkle over some cheese, and bake in a moderate (180C) oven until golden brown.

You can reheat the leftovers in a microwave by sprinkly a small amount extra cheese on top, and heating through.

You can also make ahead, but cook on a lower temp in the oven.

a lovely little chart you may like

2010-10-08T11:15:00.004+11:00

I often look in my pantry and think "what can I make with this?"

And then I found this chart (from HomeEc101).

It made me think about some of the things I cook, and it looks like substitution cooking is possible, too.

I apologise for the size, but it is small print.

Prepare for the flood!

2010-10-08T11:13:00.003+11:00

I realise I've been very slack lately, so I'll be posting a few things in the next few days - probably today, in fact.

Just a warning for those who get the RSS feed ;)

Pasta night

2010-09-30T12:19:00.002+10:00

Thursday nights are pasta nights in my house.

The reason is simple. Ian (that is, the InfoxicatedMan) doesn't like pasta (inorite? who doesn't like pasta?), and Thursday nights is Band Night.

This recipe is my standby, budget pasta recipe. I've added salami to it before, and fresh cherry tomatoes, and bocconcini, but as a general rule, this is it.

Pasta of choice (I've been using rollini lately, but I imagine penne or spirali would work well, too)
minced garlic to taste
chili to taste
sundried tomatoes
olives (pitted are best, and I normally use kalamata)
a tablespoon of tomato paste

Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. Make sure it's al dente.
Heat a heavy based pan on the cook top.
Add in some of the oil from the tomatoes or olives (its generally olive oil anyways).
Gently fry the garlic and chili.
Add in chopped sundried tomatoes and the tomato paste.
Stir through the olives.
Allow all to heat through.
Add drained pasta.

If you are adding salami, fry it off in chunks with the garlic and olive oil.

Prosciutto and pancetta should be fried (or baked) until crispy, and crumbled through at the last minute.

Any mozarella or bocconcini should be stirred through at the same time as the pasta.

The Cocktail bar - Moscow Mule

2010-09-13T16:51:00.004+10:00

I'm sitting here, drinking vodka lemonade and thinking what I could possibly do with the 1L of vodka my husband brought back duty free when he came back from Switzerland - and then I thought of the Vodka Mule.

Smirnoff at the moment have an RTD (ready to drink) called Smirnoff Mule at the moment, and I know 3 different recipes for this - I'm gonna give you my favourite first, and then the alternatives, which I'm not so sure on.

50 mL vodka (always use Smirnoff - mostly because its what I drink, and its also what tends to be the "house" vodka at pubs I work at)
Lime
Dry ginger ale

Muddle the lime in an old fashioned glass
Add the vodka
Add ice to top of glass
Top with dry ginger ale

The alternatives I know are using ginger beer, which is much spicier in flavour, and using lime cordial/syrup instead of real lime. If you're gonna use the lime syrup, make sure its the very pale chartreuse coloured syrup, not that dark green-kids-love-it stuff

Corned beef

2010-09-10T20:35:00.002+10:00

I mentioned to my friend, Destri (the same one mentioned here) that I should do a corned beef post, so here it is.

I've noticed a lot of my friends wouldn;t know how to cook corned beef, even if the piece of meat and a boiler (with the pickling brine in it) were put in front of them.

This is a recipe similar to what my husbands grandmother used to make, but developed for our personal tastes.

A decent sized chunk of silverside or "corning" beef
1/2 cup vinegar for each kg (2 lbs) beef
water to cover
sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves and cloves to taste

Place heavy pot boiler or stockpot on stove top with the above ingredients
bring to boil
reduce and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours

Serve with cabbage, mashed potatoes and white sauce

A product review...

2010-09-07T08:52:00.005+10:00

I generally don't do them unless something really OMG! comes up, and this is it.

I drink a lot of coffee. Read several mugs worth of bitter, dark coffee a day (yeah, I drink it with milk, but I can't drink plain black coffee as a rule).

Anyways, as I was walking through the supermarket yesterday, I came across Zolito coffee, in pop up cup sized filters. (I'd give you a link on their site, but a) I don't read or speak Thai, and b) it doesn't seem to be listed)

Anyways, here's the point (and yes, there is one). It makes a nice cup, and at $3.60 for a pack of 6, it's not bad....

Now to see if I can work out how to make my own cup filters...

Destri's Zesty Refrigerator Pickles

2010-09-05T16:31:00.003+10:00

I've copied this recipe exactly from my friend, Destri.

Just so we're all on the same page, Destri is a mate that I chat to online - ex-Navy, and an all round Good Bloke.

I'd give you his real name, but we're all kind of private about stuffs like that :)

1 large cucumber, cleaned and sliced into half-chips. (makes 2 -12 oz jars)

baby carrots

Onion optional

Rice wine vinegar

Hot water

1 Jalapeno

1 jar of banana peppers (you want pepper-infused vinegar)

2 (or more) clean jars with sealing lids.

Dried basil (or fresh)

Hot sauce (your fave, I used Frank's redhot sauce this week)

First off you want a jar that is just jalapeno peppers and/or hot banana peppers. You can refill this over and over with the rice vinegar and make more pepper-infused vinegar. You can add some of these pickled peppers to your pickle jars, and keep refilling your pepper-vinegar jar with fresh sliced peppers.

For refrigerator pickles, you want a mixture of 3/4 vinegar to 1/4 water for your brine. I'm on a low-sodium diet, so I'm not using any salt.

Fill your jars with the sliced cucumbers and carrots (if wanted). Pour hot brine over the pickles in the jar and then seal them. Shake it a lot and put it in the fridge. They will be awesome in 3 days and last a total of 2 weeks.

Brine this week.

2 parts Pepper-infused rice vinegar

1/4 cup of Frank's red hot sauce

1 part plain rice vinegar

1 part hot water. (1/3 of the vinegar amount)

Dried basil, 1 tsp

Garlic powder 1 tbsp.

-I stirred this all together in a large cup, letting the spices rehydrate. Try the brine it should be really zesty and have a serious twang. The pickles will be about 1/2 of this twang. The cucumbers have their own water that will mix with this. I added a few of the pickled Jalapeño slices to the jar.

These pickles seem to get better the spicier they are. You can reuse the brine I'd say 1 more time within the 2 week period. After that, start fresh with a new brine. I'd say that these are "Medium spicy", which for me is spicy enough. Lower-spicy threshold will say "Those are spicy!" but keep eating them. People who regularly eat Thai and Indian food will think they are good and just keep eating them. I haven't been able to make them /too/ spicy yet. This may be a challenge for somebody. Probably putting sliced jalapeños in the jar with the pickles should kick them up, and make the pickled jalapeños tasty as well. Adding onion slices makes tasty pickled onions. It's a pretty tolerant recipe for changes. These are dynamite out of the jar as a snack or on a sandwich. We pretty much just eat them out of the jar at game night. Interspersed with chips, bread, cheese etc.

I need a new script...

2010-08-29T13:09:00.002+10:00

One that will allow me to take images from other cooking blogs, condense them in a 3 by 3 multi image, and then blog it. I'm searching for it as we speak.

I figure that'll help me concentrate on adding some colour and interest to this blog, and also show you my inspirations for colour and cooking for the week.

Of course, I need a name and a day I do this on.

Ideas?

My wedding anniversary

2010-08-25T19:39:00.002+10:00

Yesterday was my 8th wedding anniversary.

That's right, I've been married to the InfoxicatedMan for 8 years now.

Unfortunately, Ian wasn't able to be here yesterday at all, since he had to be on a 5am flight to go to Switzerland with The Band this morning.

For this reason, we had a family dinner on Monday night - roast lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted onions, and peas and corn.

Oh, and the InfoxicatedMan made gravy.

From scratch.

And that is the recipe I will post later this week. Real gravy, without using an instant gravy mix.

The cocktail bar - Mojito

2010-07-30T17:39:00.002+10:00

Okay, so it's winter, but I love a good drink.

And since a friend just finished all the paperwork for her divorce today, its time for a damned good drink.

Tomorrow night, I will be making Bel a few of these - we're mourning a part of her life that should have been happy, but at the same time, celebrating the fact that she is less than 2 months from finally being free of her wife bashing ex husband.

So, here's to the future.

10 fresh mint leaves

1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 cup ice cubes

45ml white rum

125ml soda water

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture.

Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice and fill the glass with soda water. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge

If you don't have a muddler, feel free to use the end of a rolling pin or the handle of a wooden spoon.

And now for the non alcoholic version...

8-10 large mint leaves
1/2 c. sugar (you can add more if necessary, especially if kids are involved)
3/4 c. fresh lime juice (about 7 small, juicy limes)
1 24-oz. bottle of sparkling water (like Perrier or soda water)

Finely chop the mint leaves. Place the chopped mint leaves in a bowl or non-reactive pitcher and press them with a pestle or the back of a spoon to release the oils. Add the sugar and press the mint leaves and sugar together with the back of a spoon. Add the lime juice and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy.
If you haven't been mixing the mint and sugar in a pitcher, transfer to a glass or plastic pitcher. Right before serving, add the sparkling water and serve immediately over ice. Garnish with lime slices and mint leaves.

The Cocktail bar - The Tadam

2010-07-23T14:04:00.004+10:00

This one is a drink I invented.

I worked bar for 3 years at Mary Gilhooley's in Lismore, NSW, and 2 of my regs are lactose intolerant (I say are, because as far as I know, they haven't ceased to be lactose intolerant), and one is allergic to oranges. Add to that, the other one also doesn't like coffee (the flavour of it), and I was limited in the super-girly-cocktails these too manly men could drink. (Yeah, it was two blokes, but they always drank things like Breezers - I used to open their bottles, pour it into the prettiest cocktail glass I could, and add an umbrella)

So, my patented recipe for the Tadam (I'll explain the name underneath the recipe).

1 hurricane glass
1 shot Chambord
1/2 shot Absolut Vanilia
1/2 shot Absolut Raspberri
Cranberry juice
Lime segments
Ice

Muddle lime in glass
Add liqueurs in order
Add enough ice to fill glass
Top with cranberry juice

Non alcoholic version

Hurricane glass
Lime
Ice
Pineapple juice
Cranberry juice
Pink grapefruit juice

Muddle lime
Add ice
Add equal parts of all juices

Now for how it got its name.

My real name is Tanya (Yeah, I know. All this time, you actually though it was InfoxicatingLady, right? :P ), and one of the regs, for whom I invented this lovely OMG! This Will Get Me Plastered Drink is Adam. Doesn't take a genius from there, does it?

The Cocktail bar - The Mimosa

2010-07-21T11:04:00.003+10:00

I missed last weeks blog because I was otherwise occupied (that post is friends locked. If you want to be able to read it, you'll need to get a livejournal account, and friend me).

So, this is Friday afternoons post, which I promised you.

The Mimosa

The Mimosa is a beautiful, elegant, simple drink. Most of us have had them, and not realised what we were drinking, by name. In fact, most of us would call them "Champagne and OJ", which is technically incorrect, because Champagne is specific to the region of Champagne in France, which infers you're drinking The Good Stuff. Said Good Stuff should be enjoyed for what it is (Though, my opinion is that it's fizzy vinegar, but that's just me ;) ).

So, the recipe.

Sparkling wine (White, and preferably dry) - Chilled

Orange juice - Chilled

Champagne flutes - Chilled

Half fill the Champagne flutes with sparkling wine. Top with orange juice.

You can garnish with a slice or segment of orange, if you want.

Non alcoholic version

Use orange juice with soda water in champagne flutes, making sure both are chilled. Sparkling mineral water would also work well.

The Cocktail Bar - Limoncello, mandarincello, and a non alcoholic equivalent

2010-07-10T14:57:00.003+10:00

I've been seeing lots of recipes for limoncello around, and I have some going at the moment.

I also have some home made Everclear (don't ask) left over.

So, yesterday, I caught my trolls eating manadrin oranges, so I thought I'd make mandarincello with the skins left over.

It was really easy to make, too. I got the skins, rolled them up, put them in a cleaned and sterilised bourbon bottle, and poured the rest of the everclear over. All the Aussies out there can try this with vodka (or ask a mate with a still for just the pure alcohol, but you didn't hear that from me...)

In around 3 weeks, I should have around 1 Litre of mandarincello to drink, mixed with soda water (club soda) on ice.

And the non alcoholic version?

Freshly squeezed orange juice, mixed with lemonade (Sprite) will taste about the same :)

Home made air popped popcorn

2010-07-06T10:53:00.002+10:00

I make this one when the kids are driving me NUTS!

And since it's not just Birthday Month, but also the Winter Holidays (for school) here in Australia, I'm being driven nuts almost daily.

I have a friend from back when we were young and stupid and at high school, who thinks circuses, fairy floss and popcorn make everything better, too. So, Viv, this one is also for you :)

Take 1 paper bag per person.

Add 1 small hand full of popping corn to the bag.

Fold the top down well.

Place in microwave, and heat on high for around 1 minute, 20 seconds, or until most of the kernels are popped. (You can hear that bit. They stop popping).

Remove bag from microwave, and sprinkle with herbed salt

The Theme Is Unveiled!

2010-07-06T10:45:00.005+10:00

I've told you all before, but Bast and I are sisters. In fact, I'm pretty darn sure I've mentioned we're twins. Identical, in fact.

Mum also has another anniversary of her 21st birthday this year (we won't say how old she is - let's leave it at she was a young mum, shall we?)

Anyways, this month is Birthday Month, because there are 3 of us who are meant to get older. We may be growing older, but I'm not so sure we're growing up ;)

So, this month, all of our recipes are birthday themed.

And my cocktails will also have a mocktail version, too, because Bast shouldn't have to miss out on all the fun while she's pregnant.

Stay tuned, everyone!

The cocktail bar

2010-07-02T16:57:00.002+10:00

In a bid to post more regularly, I'll be posting a cocktail recipe each Friday afternoon.

The tag will be The Cocktail Bar.

I'll start next week :)

Theme Week

2010-07-01T13:38:00.002+10:00

Wanted to know if anyone has any ideas on what they would like to see on here for a theme week.

Said theme week will commence next Monday.

The best potatoes you will ever eat

2010-07-01T07:35:00.005+10:00

I have this rule for savoury meals. It's a really simple rule, too. Just about everything tastes better if you add cheese. And this recipe proves it. Though, the best-ness is magnified by the addition of diced onions and bacon.

Again, this is a "I don't measure anything" recipe, so make it in quantities you know will be eaten.

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Dice potatoes with skins still on, or peel and dice brushed potatoes
Lightly spray the bottom of a lasagne dish with spray on oil
Place potatoes in the dish in an even layer
Spray the top of the potatoes again
Cook for 30 minutes or so.

While the potatoes are cooking, dice a large onion and around 8 rashers of bacon. Mix these together with some mustard powder, or horseradish cream - or just leave them as they are.

Remove potatoes from oven, stir through onions and bacon mix.
Return to oven for 15 minutes
Remove potatoes from oven again, and sprinkle generously with grated cheese
Return to oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is browned

I serve this as a side dish for barbecues, or as part of a roast dinner. I'd probably eat it every day, if I could afford the bacon.

Meal Plans...

2010-06-22T15:50:00.002+10:00

I've had enough of never knowing what I'm eating until that afternoon or night.

I always forget to buy the meats/vegies before that day, and I end up cooking something I don't necessarily want to eat.

And for us, that is 3 different problems.

See, on Mondays, Isabella has Marching Girls, Tuesdays, Katharine has band practise (she's a cornet player :) ), and Thursdays, Ian has Fire Brigades Band practise.

I effectively have to have everyone fed by 630 pm, which normally doesn't happen because I don't think ahead.

So, today, I bit the bullet.

I looked into menu planning.

*sigh*

Worst thing is, it seems so... instinctive. And yet, noone I know does.

Do any of you meal plan?

If you do, does it work for you?

The Perfect Steak

2010-06-21T17:39:00.005+10:00

I like my steak more rare than medium, but I understand that some people (Mum included) like their steak to be well and truly cooked. She doesn't quite eat leather, but it isn't far from it.

I'm going to start with a few obvious pieces of advice on meat.

Working meat is tough. The neck, the tail, the legs. They get used. They're naturally tough. They should be slow cooked.
Non working meat is more tender. The meat from the back, the belly, the rump. All good steak meats.
Cast iron is a godsend, if it has been cured and stored right. Look after it, and it will look after you.
You don't need much seasoning on good meats. You also don't need much oil. You're sealing it, not deep or shallow frying.
Your oven is your friend.

Pre-heat your oven to 180C (350F)

Start with heating up a good oven proof frying pan. I have 3 cast iron frying pans. They are my friends.

While the pan is heating up, brush the meat with oil, or spray some on. Season lightly on both sides. If you're brushing with oil, make it garlic or chili oil, for a nice bit of extra flavour. Still sprinkle a little salt on it.

When the pan is hot, gently place your steak in it. Ignore it for a minute or two. Turn it once only.

Place the steak (still in the oven proof pan) in the oven.

Cook until perfect for you - 5 minutes for rare, 10 for medium, 15-20 for well done.

Serve with whichever sides you want. I suggest mash and season vegies.

I've also cooked chicken breast this way. Much more tender, not as dry, and super yummy.

Flavoured vodka

2010-06-19T10:35:00.007+10:00

THIS RECIPE IS FOR ADULTS ONLY. HERE IN AUSTRALIA, YOU MUST BE OVER 18, AND IN THE US, 21.

I'M SPECIFYING THIS BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS WHO DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND I WILL LIKELY BE FLAMED FOR NOT SPECIFYING THAT THIS IS AN ADULTS ONLY RECIPE.

Inspired by this post over at A Cozy Kitchen, I think flavoured vodka is in order.

I can see candy cane vodka for Christmas, cinnamon vodka (for any gods be d@mned time! - I can see {and taste} it now, cinnamon vodka with apple juice), musk stick flavoured vodka for my birthday...

I wonder how I could make chocolate vodka.

I see a bottle of vodka and experimentation is required.

Crispy Chicken Pieces

2010-05-26T10:57:00.004+10:00

This recipe is one of my old favourites, I just keep making it again and again, and no matter what, everyone loves it.
It gets it's name from the fact the skin on the chicken goes crispy.

1 Kilogram of chicken pieces (drumsticks, legs, wings, nibbles, whatever....)
3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Paprika (I prefer the smoked variety)

spray the bottom of a baking dish with oil
place chicken pieces in dish evenly (you may need more than one dish, depending on size)
brush chicken pieces with say sauce and then sprinkle with paprika
bake in preheated 180C oven until cooked. I'd love to give you a time on that, but it's dependant on the chicken pieces. Most of the time I use wings, and find it's done in half an hour.

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables, or as a finger food at a BBQ.

Italian style meat sauce

2010-05-26T10:41:00.004+10:00

This is another of my "I never actually measure anything" recipes.

I use this meat sauce for lasagne and also for spaghetti/pasta. The ever picky Katharine won't eat the lasagne because it's "too spicey", so I just throw some cooked spaghetti through a cup of it for her when we are eating lasagne. She seems to think it tastes different. I also get to add vegies to this, which is great. Neither my husband nor Katharine eat carrots, so I get them in whenever I can *grins*

1 large onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon finely chopped chili
1 cup tomato paste
1 large tin of tomatoes (use the whole peeled ones. The diced ones seem to be slimier, and have too much juice around them)
1 cup red wine
500 g mushrooms, finely diced
1 large carrot, grated
1.5 kg mince (preferably beef)

Heat a small amount of oil in a large frying pan or large saucepan
Add onions, garlic and chili - cook until transparent
Add mushrooms and carrots, stirring through until the pan is dry
Add wine, and simmer for a short while
Break up minced meat into pinches, stirring occasionally while doing it
Continue breaking up meat as you're going
When meat is almost completely browned, add tomato paste, and stir through thoroughly
Add tin of tomatoes, crushing in your hand as you are going
Simmer until you have a thick, rich sauce.

This makes 2 family sized lasagnes, 1 serve for Katharine, plus around 2 cups of sauce left over.

I'd also suggest adding salt and pepper to taste - but since I have a husband who adds snow to all meals, I don't bother.

Chicken with mushrooms, leeks and ricotta

2010-05-26T10:22:00.004+10:00

This one is a hat tip to an earlier recipe.

It's Autumn (Fall) here, so I'm cooking winter-y recipes.

3 kg chicken drumsticks (legs)
2 large leeks - finely sliced
500 g mushrooms - finely sliced
2 cups white wine
500g Ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Line 2 baking dishes with the leeks and mushrooms
Evenly divide the drumsticks between the trays
Pour 1 cup white wine over each tray
Cover each tray with baking paper and foil, to keep some of the moisture in
Bake for approximately 45 minutes
Turn drumsticks, and replace in oven for 15 minutes to brown
Take drumsticks out of trays, and stir through 250g of ricotta in each tray (with the wine, mushrooms and leeks)
Replace drumsticks, and return to oven to heat the ricotta through

I served this with rice, and blanched snow peas.

The teastick

2010-05-13T13:41:00.004+10:00

Again, not a recipe post!

I was stumbling last night, and came across The Teastick, a single serve way to get a lovely cup of tea.

This for me is wonderful in a few different ways.

I love tea. And it's because it's tea that I've posted it here
I love sleek looking designs that combine form and function so well, which is why it is also posted on InfoxicatingDesigns
I could see me using it, not just in a cup (I always drink my tea in a cup, with matching saucer), but I can also see my mother using it, for her plain, bland, boring black tea, in her bone china mug with a design of ~~otters chasing butterflies~~ badgers chasing a worm (I spoke to my mother yesterday. She chipped her otters mug)

I might have to buy it, just to check to see if it is as good as the reviews say

Cinnamon donut muffins

2010-05-07T13:32:00.004+10:00

I've been craving donuts for a few days, so I figured I better either buy some, or cook some.
I opted for the latter, and got my favourite cookbook out - Google.
I came up with this recipe, which aren't quite donuts, but are quite delicious.
If you don't feel like link clicking, here's the recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg
Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine
Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract
Divide batter evenly into 10 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean

While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl
When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar
Cool on a wire rack.

So, the verdict.

Next time, I make it with butter instead of vegetable oil. It requires that richness that butter gives, and the vegetable oil, while giving it moisture, didn't give it the richness it needs.

Also, I used cinnamon instead of nutmeg, which made them gorgeous. Bast and I discussed it earlier, and I have to agree, there is no such thing as too much cinnamon.

And the last thing. I used mini muffin pans. Perfect size for kids, or a mini muffin or two (donut hole?) with a mug of coffee.

Polenta

2010-05-07T10:38:00.003+10:00

This is the soft version - the one that hasn't been fried. At the end of this recipe, I'll give you instructions on how to make friend polenta - which is super yummy topped with fried off tomatoes, onions and olives for breakfast.

I'm a firm believer in cheese making everything taste better - and in this case, it's true. Plain polenta is very boring and bland.

1 litre boiling water or stock
1 cup polenta
butter
cheese
cream (optional for a looser polenta. If you want to be able to slice it up and fry it later, don't add the cream)

Bring water or stock up to boil.
Add 1 cup polenta
Simmer for 8-10 minutes
Stir in butter
Stir in cheese to taste
OPTIONAL stir in cream to make around the consistency of mashed potatoes

If you're going to be frying it up later, spread it out into a square dish or tin now. Allow to set. When it has set, slice into squares, triangles, diamonds, rectangles or circles. Gently shallow fry in butter and oil until crispy and golden brown.

If you're not frying it up, you can use it in place of mashed potatoes.

If you would like it sweeter, make it with half water, and half milk. Omit the butter and cheese, but add the milk. Serve with fruit coulis or rehydrated dried fruit.

Lamb casserole

2010-05-07T10:16:00.004+10:00

It's getting a little cooler down here in AU (and especially in Sydney), so I figured a warm winter meal was in order.
I also wanted something that was cheap, but delicious, so lamb casserole it is.
I'm doing it in the slow cooker tonight, but I'd normally do it in a casserole dish, in the oven, for around 2 hours, total.

Garlic (I'm using around 4 cloves), crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
1 teaspoon hot chili (seeds in)
1 cup tomato paste
1 large (2 medium) cans tomatoes
1 kilogram lamb chops (the cheaper the better, in my opinion)
2 large onions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Layer the meat and onions.
Combine the mint, garlic, chili, rosemary and tomato paste.
Place the tomato paste mix and the tinned tomatoes on top of the lamb in the slow cooker.
Cook on high for approximately 3 hours, then turn down to low. Allow to cook for as long as you want - the longer the better.

Serve with steamed green vegies and either polenta or mashed potatoes.

ChoreWars

2010-05-04T19:29:00.004+10:00

This is not a cooking post!

I'm always looking for a way to get everyone to pull their fair weight around the house - with cooking, cleaning, and everything else.

Imagine how happy I was when I came across this...

Russian friendship tea

2010-04-28T16:45:00.008+10:00

You may not know this, but Bast and I are sisters. Twins, in fact. Lucky Bast, right? ;)

Anyways, Bast is getting married soonish (okay, more like in around 12 months). This means thinking about Stuffs, like Wedding Favours, and food ideas.

The other day, we were discussing tea cup and saucer style favours with teas in them, like my Chai tea recipe.

And we came across this - Russian Friendship Tea.

We haven't tried it yet (at around 1200km apart, we don't exactly get together for a cup of coffee or tea, yanno?), but I suspect some of my friends will be getting gifts soon. I just need to buy the ingredients and actually make it. I'm sure I can find a jar for it.

So, how to make it:

Russian Friendship Tea Mix Recipe

2-1/2 cups Instant Orange Drink Mix
(like Tang)
1-1/2 cups Instant Lemonade Mix
(like Country Time)
1-1/2 cups Instant Unsweetened Tea
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
(all spices are the dried, ground kind- not whole!)

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly combined. (That’s pretty much it, folks!)

~~I'm not so sure you can buy dried lemonade mix here, but I have a feeling it's a dried sugar lemon flavoured powder.~~

I asked an online associate today, and she informs me that the instant lemonade mix is indeed sugar, lemon flavour, and nasty-sounding-chemical. I wonder if I can make up some lemon sugar and make it that way...

To serve, add 1 tablespoon to a cup, add boiling water, and enjoy

Pantry Tomato Soup

2010-04-21T13:33:00.004+10:00

OK, the soup thing for me at the moment is two fold.
Firstly it's beginning to get a little cooler down here in the southern hemisphere, and secondly, I'm pregnant, and consequently can't keep anything heavier than soup down.
This soup recipe has to be one of the easiest ones I make, and most of the ingredients are in the average kitchen pantry.

Ingredients:
4 tins of chopped peeled tomatoes
2 tins of water (by this i mean after the tomato tins are empty, use them as measures)
1 onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon chilli paste (optional)
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (optional)
4 teaspoons of powdered stock, flavour of your choice
Mixed herbs to taste.

Method:
Fry off the onion, garlic and chilli in a small amount of olive oil or butter.
Add the tins of tomatoes, and water, bring to the boil.
Once boiling add the stock powder and herbs.
Mix well, and then drop heat to a simmer for 30 minutes minimum. The longer you leave it, the more the flavours will develop.
Serve either as is for a rustic style soup, or liquidise.

Serves 4 to 5 people.

Chicken in pyjamas

2010-04-10T18:58:00.005+10:00

Tonight was lazy-cook night, so I made my version of chicken parmigiana.

Since it isn't the traditional meal, I don't call it chicken parmigiana. That, and the kids love the sound of "chicken in pyjamas". It sounds much more fun, food wise.

So, as I said, its my version, so I cheat a little.

2 chicken burger patties per person, or one chicken breast schnitzel per person
1 large jar of taco sauce per 10 patties (5 schnitzels), or a jar of pre made tomato salsa.
1 slice of cheese, or a generous pinch of grated cheese, per patty

Precook the chicken. You can shallow fry it, or deep fry it. Either way, make sure it is cooked.
Place each piece of chicken on a tray (as many on there as you can fit. You can generally fit 9-ish chicken patties on a biscuit tray)
Place a few tablespoons of the sauce/salsa in the middle of the chicken.
Put enough cheese on the chicken to make sure it's covered.
Cook in pre-heated oven, on moderate heat (180C or 150F) for around 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown

I served this with blanched mange tout for the kids, and got told yet again that I'm the best cook in the world.

*grin*

I know they're fibbing, but I love them for it anyways.

Chai tea

2010-03-10T14:22:00.004+11:00

This is one of my favourite ways to drink tea, and my girls love it, too. I acquired this recipe from a Sikh family I once worked with. They did catering, I did bar, waitressing, food service, staffing, and dishes for them. This recipe was a bonus one night, and only because I asked for it.
I use sugar because I prefer the taste to that of honey, or any other sweetened syrup.
This recipe is made per person, so you need to multiply it out for more.
Do not boil this, as it will make the tea bitter.

1 teaspoon loose leaf tea and one extra
2 cloves
2 cm cinnamon scroll
3 cardamom pods, cracked open
1/2 teaspoon coriander (round)
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk

Add all ingredients except milk to saucepan, and bring to boil.
Reduce heat, and simmer while stirring for 3 minutes.
Add milk, and bring back to boil, simmering for a further 3 minutes.

Strain into cups and enjoy

Vegan banana cake

2010-02-20T13:39:00.007+11:00

1/3 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 ripe bananas (overripe work best)
2 2/3 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons baking powder (bi-carb soda works just as well)

Preheat oven to 180C.

Melt margarine . Add in sugar, mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until smooth and creamy.

Add sugar/marg mixture to the bananas and mix well.

Add flour and baking powder slowly, mix until thoroughly incorporated.

Pour into greased cake tin.

Bake for 35 mins.

I've never iced or glazed this. I imagine it would be lovely with a thick chocolatey icing or frosting, though.

"Mexican" Sausages

2010-02-18T12:30:00.012+11:00

These aren't actually Mexican, by any stretch of the imagination. I guess you could also call them a sausage casserole. Similar to my Savoury Mince recipe, you can change it fairly easily. Depends on what you have on hand, and how hard or easy you want to make it for yourself.

2 sausages per person (You can use 1 thick one, or 2 thin ones. It's much the same)
1 cup tomato paste
2 cans of tomatoes
2 medium onions (sliced)
4 cloves of garlic - minced (you can use 2 tablespoons of minced garlic from a jar if you're feeling particularly lazy. same with the ginger and chili)
2 cm piece of ginger - chopped finely
1 red chili - chopped finely
paprika, cinnamon, cumin and coriander to taste
1 large potato per person, peeled and sliced finely

Cook sausages under a grill. Slice into bite sized pieces.

While sausages are cooking, cook onions until transparent. Add garlic, ginger and spices. Stir through well (the paprika will burn otherwise. We discussed this in my goulash recipe

Add the tomato paste and keep stirring. Add the tins of tomato. Continue stirring.

Add potatoes.

When potatoes are almost cooked, add sliced sausages.

I serve this with either grated cheese or greek style yoghurt. It gives it a more mellow flavour.

Savoury mince

2009-07-31T19:47:00.005+10:00

This one is an Aussie favourite...
Every Aussie mum has her own recipe. (even my mum, a notoriously and famously bad cook made it. She called it "concoction meat")
Here's my take :

1 kg beef mince
1 can diced tomatoes
half a cup of worcestershire sauce
half a cup tomato paste
herbs and spices to taste (I use paprika, cumin, ground coriander, dried rosemary and dried thyme. I use dried because it has a more intense flavour)
1 litre vegetable stock
2 chopped onions (I use a Tupperware Happy Chopper. It means that Katharine can help me cook)
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup frozen peas

Fry off onion is a small amount of canola oil.
Add garlic, and a splash of water.
Add in the mince, breaking it up.
Add in the can of tomatoes. Keep breaking up the mince.
Add in the tomato paste, and the stock.
Add in the worcestershire sauce.
Simmer for around 10 minutes.
Add in the herbs and spices, and frozen peas and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until still wet, but not sloppy.
Meanwhile, cook some rice, mash potatoes or pasta.

Serve mince over rice.

Warm chicken pasta salad

2009-07-25T00:29:00.003+10:00

Having made chicken with chorizo last night, I found myself with a spare chicken.
I hate wasting food, so I stripped the bones tonight. I ended up with around 2 cups of chicken, and a bit of chopped, cooked chorizo.
So, here's what I made...

2 cups chopped chicken
120 mL cream
1 teaspoon mild curry paste
5 cups of cooked pasta
1 cup cooked peas and corn kernels, mixed together.

100 g grated tasty cheese

Mix cream and curry paste together.
Pour over chopped chicken and cheese. Stir well.
Add pasta, peas and corn. Stir again.

See how easy that one was? Serves 3.

Roast chicken with chorizo

2009-07-23T18:17:00.004+10:00

So, today is my 30-somethingth birthday.

I'm making my own dinner tonight, and its made with 3 things I really love. Chicken, chorizo, and mash.

I've taken this recipe, and altered it slightly... no marjoram, canola instead of olive oil, and real sides.

Here's my take...

Slice up the chorizo, and place under the skin as in the other recipe.

Place in the baking tray, drizzle with the oil as in the other recipe.

Sprinkle well with fresh thyme.

Bake for the 1 hr, 15 minutes.

While the chickens are roasting, peel 6 medium to large potatoes. Cut into 1 inch cubes. cook until tender. Mash with plenty of ~~yellow heart attack~~ butter, and cheese. Stir through some chorizo, which you have fried off, diced, and drained well.

Serve the chicken on a bed of mash, and some blanched greens.

EDIT: It was a bit dry. Next time, I think I'll make a butter from paprika, garlic, and chili. That might be a good substitute for the chorizo, with the right flavours, but more moisture

Super easy pumpkin soup...

2009-07-22T16:34:00.004+10:00

1 large butternut squash (or pumpkin of your choice)
1 tablespoon curry paste (mild)
500 mL sour cream
vegetable stock

Peel and chop the butternut squash, removing all seeds. Place in a large boiler, and add enough vegetable stock to come to half way up the squash.
Cook until all squash is cooked - firm, but not hard.
Blitz with an emersion blender.
Add the curry paste to taste.
Add sour cream until a smooth consistency, blending as you add the sour cream.
Serve with crusty bread, and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Chicken and mushroom risotto

2009-07-06T19:49:00.003+10:00

I figured I'd try a recipe card recipe today.
You know the ones. You're walking through the supermarket, and there's a card, with a very nice looking meal on it.
So, here's the one I did for dinner tonight. It is meant to serve 6, but I'd rather guess 2 adults with decent appetites, 2 kids, and a toddler.

40 g butter
3 tbs oil
1 onion - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
2 cups arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbs fresh thyme - chopped
1 bunch asparagus - trimmed
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
600 g chicken - fat trimmed

Place butter and 2 tbs oil in a microwave safe dish. Heat uncovered on high for 2 minutes. Add onion and garlic, stir well and cook a further 3 minutes. Add rice, stir until coated in butter, and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in stock and white wine, cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Add thyme, and season (salt and pepper) to taste. Cover with a tight lid. Cook for a further 10 minutes, until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Cut asparagus into 4 cm pieces, and stir through the risotto with the peas and parmesan cheese. Replace lid, and set aside.
Heat remaining oil in frying pan, and cook the chicken over a medium-high heat, until golden. Remove to a chopping board, and cover.
Cook risotto a further 2 minutes, slice chicken. Spoon risotto into bowls, and top with chicken.

So. The critique of the dish...
It was dry. Very dry. Next time, I might stir some cream through before serving, or I'd do it on a cook top, simply so I have more control of the fluid/liquid levels.
Also, the thyme was very over powering... I'd probably halve it for next time.

Beef Goulash

2009-05-16T21:55:00.005+10:00

Beef goulash is one of my all time favourite winter foods. Not that I've had it all my life. My mother is the reason I learned to cook (that is, she can't cook...). So, this recipe is allegedly a traditional Hungarian goulash. I can't remember where I got the recipe from, but it's so damned easy that you don't even really need a recipe for it.

1 tablespoon canola or other flavourless oil
3 large onions, finely diced
2-3 heaped tablespoons paprika (smoked is the one to use in this recipe... its also knows as Hungarian paprika)
1 kg round steak (that's 3 generous steaks)
1 good, home grown, sun ripened tomato (I don't grow my own. I refuse to add a watery tomato to this recipe. So, I substitute a tablespoon of tomato paste)

Heat up a heavy based saucepan. Add the oil when the saucepan is hot. Add the onions, and gently saute until transparent. Take the saucepan off the heat.
This is very important. If the saucepan is left on the heat, this next step will make the goulash bitter
Add the paprika, and stir through. Add the meat, and coat it well with the paprika and onion mix. Put the saucepan back on the heat, and cover the meat with boiling water. Do not over cover it. The meat should be only just covered
Bring the meat to a simmer, add the tomato (or tomato paste). Simmer this away for a few hours, until the meat falls apart, and the water has almost evaporated.
Serve with buttered noodles, or creamy mash.

Note: I'm making the goulash in a slow cooker right now... I'll tell you how it turns out, 'kay?

Edit: It worked, thou it was slightly wetter than I like.

Next time, oven top+patience

Mother's Day Breakfast

2009-05-10T18:54:00.003+10:00

This mornings breakfast was a Mother's Day breakfast.
Unfortunately, I had to cook it :/

We had French toast (also known as pain perdu or eggy bread), and bacon.
Of course, Miss Fussy (Katharine) decided she didn't like French toast, so she had egg and bacon sandwiches.

So, here's what you do. You need to grill (as in, broil) the bacon. When you're about half way through, you need to mix together 2 eggs per person, with a good dollop of cream, a dash of milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
Dip in a slice of bread. Good bread is best for this, but any bread will do - as long as it isn't starting to grow. By the French name for it, I'd say stale bread works well, though I wouldn't know, because bread never gets a chance to go stale in our house :/
Fry the bread in a lightly greased frying pan, over a low heat, until golden.

Katherine's breakfast, btw, was boiled eggs, mashed with a little cheese, and some cream. This, with bacon on a sandwich, was as close as she gets to French toast.

And voila! A meal fit for Mum!

Salmon, risotto, and snow peas

2009-05-09T21:04:00.002+10:00

We'll start with preparing the salmon, shall we?

Finely slice a fennel bulb. Fennel has a slightly aniseed-y flavour, which complements fish very well.
Julienne a 1 inch (2.5 cm) long piece of ginger. Fresh really is best here.
Also, slice a lemon. This doesn't need to be finely sliced. Thick slices are probably better.
Place a decent piece of aluminium foil on the bench. Line it with baking paper. Place a thin layer of fennel on the baking paper, cover with 3 slices of lemon. Evenly divide the ginger in half. Place the salmon on the lemon slices, and sprinkle the ginger over the salmon.
Wrap the baking paper around the salmon, and then wrap that parcel in the foil, making sure its sealed well.
Place in an oven proof tray, and into a preheated, moderate oven. Ignore the oven for now.

Next is the risotto. Risotto is easy to make. It's just time consuming.

Finely dice an onion. If you're not going to cheat like I did tonight (I used a carton of creamy mushroom soup instead of actual mushrooms and cream), finely dice the dried mushrooms, and soak in boiling water. Also finely dice some normal mushrooms. This will bring your price down considerably.
Now, start with a good tablespoon of olive oil. Add around a tablespoon of butter. ** Melt these together, then add the onion. When that is transparent, add around half a cup of arborio rice. Stir this around until the rice is covered with the oil/butter mixture, and cook it for a bit longer. While its cooking off, add a tea spoon of minced garlic. If you add it when you're cooking off just the onions, it will burn, and make it taste bitter.
Now, add a cup of dry sherry, or vermouth. If you don't drink, or have neither, a cup of boiling water will have to do.
Once that is almost absorbed (you need to stir it constantly), you add the stock from the mushrooms, or half the carton of soup, which ever way you went. Keep stirring and absorbing until the rice is cooked. If you run out of stock or the soup carton before the rice is done, top it up with boiling water.
If you're using mushrooms instead of packet soup, add half a cup of cream, and a good grating of parmesan cheese at the end.

While you're doing all of that, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. When its boiling, add a good pinch (okay, several pinches) of salt. Now add the snow peas (also known as mange tout, and bring back up to the boil.
Drain it. Do this right before the risotto is almost done.

When the risotto is ready, the salmon will be ready. Plate up the salmon, with the fennel, lemon and ginger, a good dollop of risotto, and a handful of blanched snow peas.

This meal is tasty enough that even my kids eat it, but fancy enough that you can also serve it for a dinner party.
Oh, and the risotto will freeze well if you happen to have any left overs ;)

** Yes, it must be butter. You want it for the taste.

Good Friday Dinner

2009-04-10T10:17:00.003+10:00

I was going to do salmon mornay (that recipe will come later, I think), but suddenly realised my kids hate it.
So, I'll be doing salmon cheesey pasta.

Pasta is a regular side dish in our family, and cheesey pasta is the "default" way to eat it.

So, anyways, cook the pasta al dente, but just before it is, add a good handful of frozen peas and corn. When it comes up to the boil, drain well.
Add as much grated cheese as you want/can, and then add a can of red salmon. Make sure its chunky, has no bones, and the skin is also gone.

I'll let you know how it went later :)

EDIT: The kids loved it. I'll have to do this one again.

Chicken in lemon butter sauce

2009-03-28T20:44:00.004+11:00

Tonight, we had paillard of chicken fried in lemon and then thickened with butter.
We also had my world famous chunky mediterranean pasta as a side.
Anyways, recipe follows.

paillard of chicken
a few good tablespoons of butter
juice of 2 large lemons

Heat a large frying pan, spray on enough oil to lubricate.
Place the paillards in gently, and seal well on both sides.
Pour lemon juice over, and after bringing the lemon juice to the boil, add the butter. Reduce heat.
Simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve the chicken with the sauce over the top, and some kind of mediterranean side dish (pasta, risotto, etc)

Beef Stroganoff

2009-02-01T20:14:00.005+11:00

Slice one large onion finely
Slice 1 kg mushrooms thinly
Slice 500g beef thinly
Combine 2 tabs sugar with 1 tab mustard powder. Mix with just enough water to make into thick paste

Cook onions off in a deep, heavy based pan (okay. I cheat. I use an electric frying pan. shoot me, and get it done with?)
Add sliced beef. Stir this around until all is browned on the outside.
Cook down until almost no liquid remains.
Add sliced mushrooms.
Cook down until almost no liquid remains.
Add mustard and sugar paste.
Cook down until almost no liquid remains. (It should now be a dark, thick, sticky brown goop coating the meat, onions and mushrooms)
Slowly add 500 mL sour cream. (Add it 1 tablespoon at a time, or it will curdle)
Stir through 5(ish) cups of cooked pasta (1 cup when uncooked. DO NOT add uncooked pasta to this. Please cook that one cup uncooked pasta first)

Serve with warm crusty bread, and freshly blanched snow peas .

Katharine's 6th birthday party, and gift cake

2008-11-22T18:03:00.002+11:00

So. Katharine's 6th birthday party today.
I had originally organised to hold it at a park, but with the severe storms, and now the heat and humidity, we changed it to Hungry Jacks.
There's a pic (above) of the cake. It's a 2 layered sponge, with whipped cream inside. The frosting is just a simple vanilla frosting, the straps are a sour strawberry strap, and thats Smarties for polka dots. Oh. And the curly ribbon is inedible ;)

Hibiscus tea

2008-10-16T17:45:00.003+11:00

Its Spring here, now, so iced tea season.
This one is super simple, and "magic".

Get a few (I used around a dozen) hibiscus flowers.
Take the stamens out, and remove the green bits.
Put them into a tea pot.
Pour boiling water over, and add almost too much sugar (I use raw. Much nicer taste)
Allow to brew for a short while.
Pour into glasses with lots of ice.

And now the magic bit...
It looks a dark brown purple now.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice, and it'll go bright red!

Herbed salt

2008-09-25T11:08:00.003+10:00

Break up a good handful of the herb of choice, such as rosemary or basil.
Place in the bottom of a mortar and pestle.
Add a good handful of salt.
Bash the salt and herb together, until the salt goes the bright green (or appropriate colour) of the herb.

You can do this with orange peel and sugar, or lemon and sugar, or vanilla beans and sugar, etc, too.

The salts and sugars keep indefinitely in a sealed glass jar (I recycle the dried herb jars from the supermarket).

Use these to top savoury dishes or sweet dishes.

Pop tarts

2008-09-25T10:57:00.002+10:00

Cut one sheet (approximately 30 cm or 12 in square) into 3 equal-ish rectangles.
In the centre of each rectangle, leaving 1.5 cm along the edges, spread your choice of jam, chocolate spread, or cream cheese spread.
Fold in half length ways.
Press edges with a fork (it looks pretty, and it seals it together)
Knife small cuts into the top, and brush with milk
Place on a greased flat tray.
For the savoury (cheese) pop tarts, sprinkle with salt (I have rosemary salt... I'll write up how to make that later). The sweet ones get a sprinkling of raw or demerara sugar.
Bake in moderate (350F or 180C) oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

I use pre-made, frozen shortcrust pastry because pastry is something I just Don't Do. I can make it, I'm just lazy that way.

Sweet cardamom and cinnamon coconut rice

2008-09-14T12:50:00.002+10:00

Wash 1 1/2 cups rice well.
Add 1 cup water, and a tin of coconut cream.
Add 2 cinnamon sticks, and 6 cardamom pods, cracked open.
stir in 3 heaped tablespoons of sugar.
Cook using the normal absorption method for rice.

In another saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of sugar, and add a can of coconut cream. simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Serve the sauce over the coconut rice

Chicken in creamy white wine sauce

2008-09-08T19:12:00.002+10:00

Finely chop 1 leek (leave the green part - it can be used for stocks/soups)
Chop half dozen cup mushrooms (thinly sliced)

Poach 3 chicken breasts.
Fry off the leek in a frying pan with a half cup dry white wine, until transparent.
Add the mushrooms, and continue to fry until soft (use the lid).
Remove chicken from poaching liquid (use the same white wine, with bay leaf and water) when cooked. Cube roughly.
Add fresh cream (not thickened) to the mushrooms and leeks, bring to simmer.
Toss in the chicken, and bring back to simmer.
When simmered, add enough pasta (of choice) for 4 adults.
Serve with blanched snow peas or broccoli.

Baked eggs with prosciutto

2008-09-07T11:00:00.002+10:00

Spray a muffin tray with canola or other oil.
Preheat oven to 180C, or 350F.
Line 6 muffin holes with prosciutto.
Place some coarsely chopped green onions in the base of the prosciutto "cup"
Crack an egg into each "cup".
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until egg is cooked.
Serve with thick, buttered toast.

Serves 3 adults, or 2 adults, 2 children

Tonights meal is proudly brought to you by chunky mediterranean vegies

2008-08-13T11:56:00.002+10:00

Cook enough pasta for 3 people.
In heavy based, large frying pan, seal meat of choice (This also infers you can not use meat, if you so desire). Remove meat from frying pan and finish cooking in oven (A later post will detail how to cook the perfect steak).
De-glaze with white wine or dry sherry (you can use stock if you don't drink alcohol).
Add chunky chopped onions, zucchini, yellow squash, snow peas, and other chunky hard vegies of choice.
Around 2 minutes before serving, add a good double handful of cherry tomatoes (these should all be chopped in half, or the seeds with spurt at a super hot temp and burn the inside of your mouth), and some (seeded, whole) black olives.
Stir through some pesto and the pasta, and right before serving, some good mozarella or bocconcini cheese.

Ham parcels

2008-03-15T16:26:00.003+11:00

chop up 100 g ham
mix in 1 cup mayonnaise, and a large handful of cheese.
add 1 teaspoon of mustard powder
cut a square of prerolled puff pastry into 3 strips.
place a decent spoonful of ham mixture on one end of the pastry. fold over continuously to make triangles
bake in moderate oven for 15-20 minutes

This can easily be made vegetarian by using mushrooms, brocoli or spinach instead of the ham

Chocolate croissants

2008-03-15T14:58:00.002+11:00

take 1 square of frozen, prerolled puff pastry.
Cut into 4 triangles.
Spread Nutella (or other chocolate/choc hazlenut spread) along the longest edge.
Sprinkle with grated chocolate *
Roll from the longest edge towards the tip.
Curl the ends in.
Bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

* I've done it without the grated chocolate, and it still turns out well. Just spread the Nutella a little thicker ;)

Cheesey-mite scrolls

2008-03-15T14:18:00.002+11:00

This one is pretty easy

Get 1 piece of pre rolled, frozen puff pastry.
Spread vegemite over so that you can see it, leaving around 2 cm along one edge. Don't spread it too thin, it'll sweeten as it gets cooked.
Sprinkle a generous amount of cheese over the vegemite.
Roll up from the end that is totally covered towards the end that has no vegemite and cheese.
Cut into wheels around 1.5 cm / half inch thick.
Bake in oven for around 15 minutes, or until golden, at 180C