Savoury mince

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. 1 kg beef mince
2. 1 can diced tomatoes
3. half a cup of worcestershire sauce
4. half a cup tomato paste
5. 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)
6. 1 litre vegetable stock
7. 2 chopped onions (I use a Tupperware Happy Chopper. It means that Katharine can help me cook)
8. 2 cloves garlic, diced
9. 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

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

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

See how easy that one was? Serves 3.

Roast chicken with chorizo

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...

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

1. 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.
2. Cook until all squash is cooked - firm, but not hard.
3. Blitz with an emersion blender.
4. Add the curry paste to taste.
5. Add sour cream until a smooth consistency, blending as you add the sour cream.
6. Serve with crusty bread, and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Chicken and mushroom risotto

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Heat remaining oil in frying pan, and cook the chicken over a medium-high heat, until golden. Remove to a chopping board, and cover.
4. 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

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

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!