today's choku bai jo shop

doesn't it look purdy in the boxes?! this lot cost me $76. it was still a LOT more than anyone else in teh shop LOL

CHICKEN JAMBALAYA

this is one of geoff's favourites. my mum makes it just for him - awwwwww! it's not one of my faves, not sure why! it's ok though lol

4 chicken breast fillets
2 tabs olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic crushed
1 small green pepper, chopped
410g (13oz) can tomatoes
2 small chicken stock cubes, crumbled
2 cups water
1 cup risoni pasta
1/4 tspn chilli powder
1/2 tspn season pepper
1/4 tspn dried thyme leaves
100g (3.5 ounces) leg ham, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, chopped

Cut chicken into 1 cm strips. Heat oil in pan, add chicken, cook stirring, until lightly browned and tender; drain chicken on absorbent paper.

Add onion, garlic and pepper to pan, cook, stirring until onion is soft. Stir in undrained crushed tomatoes, stock cubes, water, pasta, chilli, pepper and thyme. Bring to boil, simmer, covered for about 10 mins or until pasta is tender.

Add chicken, ham and olives to pan, simmer covered for further 10 mins or until most of liquid has been absorbed.

Serves 4

soups to try

to fill in time while my lunch defrosted and heated (pumpkin honey and mustard soup which wasn't overly tasty the first time around) i grabbed the family circle book of soups and stews and made a bit of a mental wish list for soups to try. i tend to think soups are something you don't really need a recipe for so it's time to get over that and try some new ones lol

mulligatawny soup
spicy lamb soup (i have the right lamb in teh freezer too)
creamy tomato soup
creamy beetroot soup (i still have 3-4 beetroot in the fridge too, i have never tried beetroot soup, i am a little scared lol)
spicy red lentil soup
spinach and potato soup
chicken and couscous soup
caribbean black bean soup (i have a packet of dried black beans in my cupboard and had NFI what to do with them LOL)


and it's reminded me i should make corn chowder some time soon, my mum has a recipe which is very quick and easy on a work night (it uses a few tinned ingredients)

Thai Chicken Balls

from Kristen in one of those recipe swap things that never seem to work LOL

This recipe is great for making with kids as they can do lots of stirring then spoon it into the muffin tins for you. These are very strongly flavoured so a little goes a long way - serve with plenty of rice and salad.

Thai chicken balls

Serving size: Serves 4

Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

500g chicken mince

¼ cup (60ml) oyster sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon self-raising flour

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

2/3 cup (160ml) coconut milk

soy sauce and sliced chillies or sweet chilli sauce, for serving

METHOD

Preheat the oven to moderately hot (200°C/180°C fan-forced). Grease two 12-hole mini muffin pans (1 tablespoon/20ml capacity).

Combine chicken mince, oyster sauce, garlic, flour, fish sauce, coriander and coconut milk in a large bowl. Place rounded tablespoons of mixture into prepared pans. Bake in a moderately hot oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Turn out and serve hot with combined soy sauce and chilli or sweet chilli sauce.

Suitable to freeze.

Not suitable to microwave.

Spicy Bars

an old family favourite (my family that is)

4 ozs butter (125g)

1/2 cup golden syrup

1 egg

1/2 tspn salt

1 tspn cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups SR flour

1 tspn instant coffee powder

1/2 tspn ground ginger

Place butter sugar and syrup in saucepan Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved Cool - add beaten egg and water Sift dry ingredients into bowl Gradually add liquid, mixing well Pour into greased lamington tin Bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes Cool slightly, ice with lemon icing Cut into squares

Menu Plan

Spaghetti Bolognese (ryan's choice)
needed: zucchinis, carrots, onions, garlic

Pasta Carbonara and Salad (emelia's choice)
needed: bacon, eggs, mixed salad, tomatoes, cucumber,

rice paper rolls (geoff's choice)
coriander, cucumber, prawns, hoisin sauce, rice vermicelli (?)

tandoori chicken, rice and daal
chicken, tandoori paste (?) yoghurt, cauli

stirfry beef with dani's plum sauce
broccoli, onion, plums, ginger (?)

pumpkin risotto
onions

minestrone and bread
bacon, carrot, zucchini, garlic, onions, tomatoes (?)

i'm not sure this blog is a good idea...

it's making me realise how much time in teh kitchen i spend and i'm thinking it's too much LOL

anyway, today we went out for a picnic by the lake with friends. we all took stuff to share, so i made vegie chilli (one of my friends is vegetarian) and rice to take. just did it on the stove top as the timing wasn't really right for the slow cooker. at the last minute i had thermomix make a batch of anzac biccies to take too.

we had the best day! it was such a lovely day (anzac day holiday) to spend out in the open air with friends.

both food offerings went down very well with everyone.

as a side note the new insulated serving dishes from tupperware are brilliant at keeping stuff hot just about forever! i have one and i just wish i could have afforded another 1-2 before i quit.

tonight's dinner was nuggets and chips for the kids (LOL) and homemade pizza for us (they just won't eat it so no point in making it for them). and there was twice enough dough than we needed (still pretty full from lunch lol) so we made another 2 pizzas and put them in the freezer - yay! dinner all ready for one night!

oh and sorry aobut posting the cauli soup recipe again, i'm too vague lol

Creamy Cauliflower and Bacon Soup

Serves 6

Easy winter recipe – only takes 20 minutes to make!
Serve with bread.

4 bacon rashers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups boiling water
2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
½ large cauliflower, cut into florets
1 x 375ml can evaporated low fat milk
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1. Heat a large saucepan, add the bacon & onion, cook, stirring, until the onion is soft.

2. Add the water, stock & cauliflower, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Place the mixture in a food processor and process until chopped finely. Return to the pan, add the milk and reheat without boiling. Sprinkle with the chives.

(a weightwatchers recipe)

Creamy Cauliflower and Bacon Soup

Serves 6

Easy winter recipe – only takes 20 minutes to make!
Serve with bread.

4 bacon rashers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups boiling water
2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
½ large cauliflower, cut into florets
1 x 375ml can evaporated low fat milk
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1. Heat a large saucepan, add the bacon & onion, cook, stirring, until the onion is soft.

2. Add the water, stock & cauliflower, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Place the mixture in a food processor and process until chopped finely. Return to the pan, add the milk and reheat without boiling. Sprinkle with the chives.

(a weightwatchers recipe)

Garlic Foccacia for morning tea...

thursdays are morning tea days at work. everyone is in one of 4 teams and each team provides MT once every 4 weeks. i usually try to provide something homemade as not many do and it's always nice to have homemade! i was tossing up this time between the prune cake or foccacia but it felt a bit cheap to just do foccacia but i had nothing to go with it. then i remembered that because most people in my team last time forgot, i had bought their shares but only one remembered to pay me! i think it cost me about $20-25 for my share of MT last month!!!! so i decided that foccacia was all good :D

as i was chopping garlic for dinner i did a garlic foccacia. this one didn't rise as much as the weekend's, but i'm not sure if it's because it wasn't as warm, or if it's because of something else. i just cut it to take the pic (and fit it in the container) and it seems ok inside, not tough or anything. on the weekend i cooked it at about 170'c (probably 180/190 really) and it seemed to cook better, whereas the recipe says to cook at 220'c.

anyway, i didn't really need to blog this but i took photos so might as well share lol

PS this was another thermomix recipe so making it took ummm 3 minutes i think, 1.5 hrs rise time and 20 minutes cookign time.

Grilled Lime Chicken with Thai Salad

well.... at work we have 2 booksellers who have boxes of books you can buy. i'm always always tempted by the recipe books despite the fact i have a million (over 60 since i cleared out / sold off some) and rarely use them lol

but before i planned my menu for the week i had had a look through one of them and found 2 recipes i wanted to make - the morroccan pork one and the lime chicken one. but when i went back to refresh my memory today .... the books had changed!!!!!

so i had to do a quick google for the lime chicken one (the moroccan one should be easy enough) but even so i feel like i've missed some vital ingredients. we'll see what it tastes like...


CHICKEN

Chicken breasts, as many as you need (i used 2 and split them through into 4 thin pieces but will need to slice them up to make them go far enough - generally i would need at least 3 for my carnivores but i don't have 3!!)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 small lime, wash, cut the ends off, cut some slices (not too thin or they burn on the grill!) and cut the rest into pieces to be chopped / smashed up
coriander (or other asian herb)
optional - chilli, chopped, some oil perhaps, some grated ginger
i would probably also use a touch of brown sugar and just enough fish sauce to make it a little bit liquid
note: you definitely need a little sugar and fish sauce in this, and half a small lime is more than enough for 4 breasts - our 2 were a bit sour, the little carnivores rejected them!


you need to either finely chop or smash in mortar and pestle or chop in thermomix (about 10 seconds or less on speed 6-7) until everything is in small pieces and well mixed. apply to chicken.

marinate the chicken for about half an hour (not too much longer or the lime makes the chicken go a bit funny)

grill and serve as it is, or slice up and toss through the salad

SALAD

greens of whatever kind you have / are in the mood for - ours are a coral lettuce and rocket, shredded
cucumber, julienned
carrot, julienned or grated
1/2 small red onion, finely sliced
1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced into strips
herbs including mint, coriander and basil, shredded
other vegies you might enjoy include bean sprouts
OH DAMN i meant to grill some pumpkin to have in it too!!! lol
note: salad was delicious, make sure you serve some dressing over the rice (rice was perfect with this). roasted peanuts would be fantastic in this too!

mix all salad ingredients well, top with dressing and toss to mix, serve with chicken and rice or rice noodles as desired

DRESSING
1-2 tspns brown sugar
maybe 3 tbs fish sauce
around 3 tabs white vinegar
splash of sesame oil (1/2 - 1 tpsn?)
you could also put into this more finely chopped garlic and chilli

ok, off to dish up and test....

Gai's Vegetarian chilli

Vege Tex Mex Chilli (mild to med)

1x Lg onion
2x cloves garlic
2x capsicums}remove seeds
2x jalepenos }& ribs

sate above in oil, add a little salt

add 1/2 bottle beer or 1 cup liquid vege stock

1xlg or 2x sm cans crushed tomatoes
1x can kidney beans
1x can black beans (or 3 bean mix)
1x can vege refried beans - add gradually whilst stirring

add (note I use handful in lieu of tab)
1 tab cayenne pepper sauce
1-1 1/2 tabs cummin powder
2 tabs chilli powder

stir and add salt & pepper

ready to serve in 1/2 hour or cook longer

serve with grated cheese / guacamole / corn chips / bread / salsa / shallots
or whatever takes your fancy

Deb's Bodacious chili

from an american friend who was living here for a while

Here's mine, except I usually used cooked chicken and cook it all day in a crock pot. I also tried to translate it from American to Aussie.

BODACIOUS CHILI.

1 kilo boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large onions, chopped
1 large green capsicum, coarsely chopped
1 large sweet red capiscum, coarsely chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons chili powder (mexican chili powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup Burgundy or other dry red wine
2 410 gram cans whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 410 gram can tomato puree
1 420 gram can kidney beans, drained
1 420 gram can chick-peas (garbanzo beans), drained
Spicy Sour Cream Topping
Shredded Cheddar cheese

• Cook first 7 ingredients in olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until meatbrowns. Drain and return meat mixture to Dutch oven.

• Stir in cocoa and next 13 ingredients.Bring mixture to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with Spicy Sour Cream Topping and shredded cheese

SPICY SOUR CREAM TOPPING

1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup salsa
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chili powder (mexican chili powder)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (sweet curry powder)
Dash of ground red pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients; cover and chill

Chilli Con Carne (and Senza Carne lol) - Slow Cooker

this is one of my favourite quick and easy to prepare slow cooker meals. for birthday parties (all our kids were born in months that are cooler for morning parties) i make this overnight and then serve it thicker as a dip with corn chips and sour cream. for dinner i serve it runnier with steamed rice and cheese on top.

it's very versatile as you can use all tinned products (as i do on work days) or fresh, if you have the time - and the products available!


500g lean beef mince (optional, if not used simply add 2-3 extra tins of beans etc)
1-2 onions, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
cumin, coriander, oregano, chilli / paprika / cayenne pepper / jalapeno peppers - approx 2 tabs of the first two, 1 tabs of oregano, and to taste for the last (i'm not even going to guess how much as i always end up with too much and ryan can't eat it lol)
a bit of cinnamon can be nice too.

fry til brown then place in slow cooker. (browning is optional, i prefer it but others don't worry)

place in slow cooker:
800 - 1600g (2-3 tins) of any combination of red kidney beans, 4 bean mix, cannelini beans and chick peas
maybe around 1200-1600g 3-4 tins of tomatoes (diced, crushed or whole). you can also use up any pasta sauce, sugo etc you might have stashed in the fridge.
chicken or beef stock - a few cubes / spoons of powder
vegies as desired including diced sweet potato, diced potato, diced capsicum of any colour, diced zucchini

when cooked serve with whatever you prefer of teh following:
sour cream
grated cheese
corn chips
white rice
fresh coriander
black olives
diced avocado
side salad

moussaka report

i stuck pretty closely to the recipe (gosh i find that hard LOL speaking of which have a read of this on dixie's blog - is that you? the cooking style not the cleavage lol)

it was a lot tastier than i expected!

having googled other recipes while eating it though and seeing the reaction to the vegies, next time i'm going to do it with mince and chop the vegies finely through the mince. plus add some spices and herbs.

should be good!

i served the moussaka with garlic bread. our neighbours' church has bread donated to it from bakers delight and they don't always manage to give it away, so every few weeks he will arrive on our doorstep with 2-3 bags full of bread! it's hard as we don't eat that much of that sort of bread and our freezer is usually too full for much, but i'm getting into the swing of using it up ;p

menu plan

so i can buy our F&V this evening after work...

moussaka
onion, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes, basil

grilled moroccan chicken (or pork) with couscous
sweet potato, coriander, cucumber, ??

grilled lime chicken with thai salad
lime, lettuce, cucumber, coriander, chilli, basil, onion, garlic, mint

fritatta
pumpkin, potatoes, capsicum,

rice noodles and veg
carrots, zucchini, broccoli, coriander

roast
potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, broccoli, brussel sprouts?, beans?

a little bit of hi-5 lol

pizza with salami and zucchini and-a lots-a mozzarella....

pizza pizza pizza it's-a lots-a fun to eat!

well, it's more fun to make (my kids LOVE making pizza but won't eat the damn stuff!)

Afternoon Tea at my house...

this afternoon i hosted an undercover wear party. one of my guests admitted to having stalked this blog and keeping an eye out to make sure that i hadn't eaten all the passionfruit slice i'd made so she could have some LOL *waving hello to L*

so, it was a yummy afternoon tea!

the passionfruit slice was good, though i made it with orange juice not lemon so it was different - didn't have the same tartness. i juiced 2 large oranges instead of 2 small lemons so i thought it might not set but my stupid oven timer has stopped working so i cooked it a little longer than i was supposed to anyway and it was fine :)

i also made the carrot cake which went down well, though when the party had finished i discovered miss emelia had been helping myself to the cream cheese on the half of the cake that was left lol

and just so it wasn't all sweet and rich i also served some homemade foccacia with the turkish dips leftover from last night.

i admit that i was actually going to serve the leftover turkish bread and have the foccacia with the pumpkin soup i made for lunch - but after i put it in the oven to rise for 15 mins i discovered unlike the bread recipe i use this one had to rise for 1 1/2 hours!!!! so we ate the turkish bread at lunchtime LOL i'm glad though - the foccacia (the thermomix recipe) was DIVINE! YUM! took about 4 minutes to make, and was cooked 2 hours later and better than any foccacia i've had since i lived in italy!

tip for me to remember though - to flour the mat before leaving it to rise - it stuck to the mat terribly.

g's turn to cook tonight, he's going to make the pasta recipe in the thermomix (i don't really feel like eating but the kids had their afternoon tea a good hour or so before me lol)

as for the pumpkin soup, i always feel recipes are kind of superfluous, it's so hard to stuff up pumpkin soup ;p
but todays was more of that huge ironbark pumpkin (it is sooooo damn hard to cut, omg), onion, garlic and ginger, and the aldi curry mix (i LOVE their blend, it is so good and totally different to the keens etc), chicken stock powder, 1 potato, 1 large carrot, and water to nearly cover. cook til soft, blend and then add a can of evaporated skim milk and mix well. serve!

Buttermilk Pancakes with Ricotta Cream

12/1/01 http://brazen.livejournal.com/258257.html

my gorgeous friend Demon Deeva did a post about buttermilk last night and is going to make my Spiced Prune Buttermilk Loaf but using dates and Figs which sounds yummo to me! anyway, i now post this recipe in her honour :-D


Serves 4, 7.2g fat per serve

1 cup (150g) self raising flour
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tab caster (fine) sugar
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
125g reduced fat smooth ricotta cheese (buy fresh, not in the container)
1/2 cup (125ml) maple syrup
1 medium lemon, cut into wedges

* sift flour, cinnamon and sugar into a medium bowl. whisk in the combined eggs and buttermilk gradually until smooth. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.

* pour 1/4 cup (60ml) of the batter into a heated oiled non-stick pan and cook til bubbles start to appear. turn the pancake and cook until browned underneath. remove the pancakes from the pan and cover to keep warm. repeat with the remaining batter to make eight pancakes.

* combine the ricotta with one tablespoon of the maple syrup in a small bowl.

* serve the pancakes with the ricotta mixture, remaining maple syrup and the lemon wedges.

Ginger Creams - one to try

just at M&D's and found this one in last week's Good Weekend.

makes 10 sandwiched together. takes 25 mins to make the biccies, more to do the icing)

180g butter, softened
50g (about 1/3 cup) brown sugar, sifted (who sifts sugar??! i'm lucky to even sift flour!)
1/2 tspn ground ginger
200g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
50g (1/2 cup) cornflour

preheat oven to 180'c

beat butter with brown sugar and ginger until light and pale. sift in dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until just combined.

roll tspns of mix to make 20 even sized balls.

place on baking tray lined with paper, far enough apart so they won't touch while cooking. press down with 2 fingers so they're about a cm high.

bake in centre of oven for 12-15 mins or until browned on top. turn tray midway if you think of it (these sound like my sort of instructions - allowing for vagueness!)

cool on tray until firm then transfer to wire rack.

ginger icing
50g butter, softened
100g (a little over 2/3 cup) icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tspn lemon juice

beat butter with sugar until smooth. beat ginger and juice. spread onto half the biccies and sandwich with the other half while icing is still soft.

store in airtight container.

Passionfruit Slice

this is a favourite for 'take a plates' as it's so quick and easy. it's very 'more-ish' though (ie you want to eat more and more lol) so i only ever make it to share. i have a playdate / morning tea tomorrow and need afternoon tea for my undercoverwear party on saturday so i'm going to whip this up now :)

i got this recipe off eb, but the topping is almost identical to what my great aunt (who was a fantastic baker and cook) used to make to top her homemade sponge cakes - YUM!

Passionfruit Slice

Base:
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
pinch salt
1 cup coconut
125g (4 oz) butter, melted

Topping:
1 400g tin condensed milk ( or skim sweetened condensed milk - tastes the same, but fewer calories!)
Juice of 2 small lemons
Pulp of 2 passionfruit

Method:
Base ~ Combine all ingredients. Line slice tray with greaseproof paper, and spread mixture in evenly. Bake in moderate oven 15 minutes. Cool.
Topping ~ Mix together and pour over cooked base. Cook a further 8 to 10 minutes

Banana Bread

I've been on a quest for the past few years to find the perfect banana bread recipe. no luck yet! i don't think this will be it, but it does look quick and easy which is more important today lol

Banana Bread from Taste

Makes

1 large loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup (80ml) sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 65g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• Butter and honey, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 900ml loaf pan.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar with 1 teaspoon of salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, oil and vanilla.
3. Add to the dry ingredients with banana and pecan and fold until just combined - do not overmix.
4. Place into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove, and slice thickly. Serve spread with butter and drizzled with honey.

Source

delicious. - February 2004 , Page 88

Recipe by Valli Little

Wicked Sandwich of the West

this will be tonight's dinner - means i have to cut up the whole scotch fillet though, ugh, i hate that job lOL

cool name huh?! *lol* this is a fantastic recipe from an online friend in Hawaii

1 pound (450g) sirloin tip steak, trimmed of fat and sliced thin
1/2 tspn paprika
1/4 tspn each salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 tab plain flour
1 1/4 cup water or beef stock (i find 1 more than enough)
2 tabs bbq sauce
2 tspn brown sugar
1/2 tspn dried thyme
1 large green capsicum, seeded and sliced into rings
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
4 large soft bread rolls

* place steak in a medium bowl and sprinkle with paprika, S&P, and garlic powder. Add flour and toss to coat all sides.
* spray a large non stick pan with cooking spray. add steak and cook over medium high heat until lightly browned and no longer pink. add broth, bbq sauce, brown sugar and thyme. stir and bring to the boil. reduce heat to low. cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
* add capsicum and onion, cover and simmer for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally (I find i need to leave the lid off to thicken the sauce)
* if mixture is too saucy, continue to simmer, uncovered, util most of the liquid has evaporated.
* serve on warm rolls. serves 4

today = officially disaster day

wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

only one thing turned out today - the orange cake i cooked in the tupperware silicone form cooked PERFECTLY

thosei cooked in patty tins stuck totally

the apple cake tastes great but has stuck in teh bowl (i have barely any cake tins so i cook in whatever i can find - drives me INSANE) and the inside have all fallen apart.

aaagh

ok, eta the apple cake wasn't cooked through even though the skewer came out clean :(

busy foodie day

and i'm kind of over it now (ok, i'm very over it - we're having leftovers for dinner and the kids are having oven baked nuggets and chips from the freezer lol)

first this morning i tried to turn my favourite muffin recipe into a strawberry yoghurt muffin recipe with dismal results :( i threw them out this afternoon as even *I* didn't want to eat them...

i then cooked the apple for this cake http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14581/custard+and+apple+teacake though it ended up more like a chunky apple sauce so i hope it works ok.

off to the markets after that to stock up on spices (nearly $70 worth lol) so i can make my own spice mixes, which won't happen til next weekend now. lunch was a treat of homemade nachos and then i made the custard for the apple cake, the cake itself (now cooking) and the thermomix orange cake which ryan loves.

i also need to work out something interesting to make with the humungous pumpkin our neighbours gave to us, which their neighbours grew. it's just not cold enough for soup!

is anyone else a wimp about cutting pumpkins? it's the whole reason i usually buy jap pumpkin *blush* i think this one is a bloody ironbark LMAO!!!

VENT!

why is it so hard to find strawberry recipes (puddings, cakes, muffins) that use FRESH strawberries and fresh strawberries only? not strawberry pudding mix and not jelly just fresh food!!!!

aaagh, americans and their love for pre-packaged food, they have a lot to answer for!!!

meat at last and dinner tonight...

$200 later and i have meat to last for a while LOL i will probably need to buy more next month, but not too much. i do need to get chicken as that is the most popular meat in teh house and it wasn't particularly cheap today so i only got 2 breasts. i did get a whole scotch fillet as well as a few whole fillets of beef, which is where the biggest cost came from, as well as a roast of every version (except chicken, i always buy the aldi marinated ones. not because i don't think i could marinate my own but because as a teenage i was caught too many times with the giblets etc left in the chicken and i'm too scared to chance it again LOL i hate handling chicken and have no intention of sticking my hands inside a chicken!)

so anyway, dinner tonight was mostly a success. i pounded out some veal steaks i bought and made my own crumbs in the thermomix. $10 of veal seemed excessive (not that we won't spend $10 on a meal's worth of meat every so often) but after pounding it will go far enough for 2 meals :) unfortunately g slightly burned it during cooking :( ryan and emelia didn't like it but rory loved it .

geoff did the sides - mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, carrot and surprisingly the little pale green zucchinis i bought went down a treat. rory ate not only her whole entire plateful but half of g's and then the leftovers in teh kitchen LOL she is an eating machine!!

the kids want strawberry custard for dessert (the thermomix means all natural custard consisting of a little sugar, flour, eggs, milk and fresh strawberries) but i'm too lazy LOL maybe they'll nag g enough to make it instead! mwahahahahhaha

EASY Mud Cake

Melt:
250g dark chocolate *
250g unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Add:
1 1/2 cups SR flour, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
2 eggs
1 tablespoon grog (brandy, tia maria, whatever)

mix **

bake at 180' for 30-40 minutes

* the lady who gave me the recipe says she always uses real chocolate, not cooking chocolate.
i used white chocolate brown sugar and butterscotch schnapps for a white / caramel mud cake.

this is the recipe i use to make our birthday cakes for decorating. i make it in a large round tin (maybe about 30cm across). I'll put some pics in of some of the cakes i've made for the kids' parties :D because it's so rich it goes for a lot of people.

spanakopita (well, the cheat's version!)

tonight's dinner was a pretend spanakopita (i'm too lazy to make it properly!) with a quick salad which i was also too lazy to put much effort into - hey, it's friday!

spanakopita, brazen style

2 sheets puff pastry (or do the filo thing if you're less lazy than me lol)
olive oil
1 red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 pkt greek feta (or any nice firm yet crumbly one), crumbled
a large container of either cottage cheese (drained) or ricotta (low fat for us)
some parmesan if desired (maybe about 1/4-1/3 cup)
black pepper
nutmeg, a pinch
salt, to taste
3 eggs
as much fresh dill, finely chopped, as you like (i love lots but the family aren't as keen)
2-3 bunches spinach (i used a red stemmed chard) or 2 pkts frozen spinach, steamed and drained
hint: as a tupperware addict i have to recommend the salad spinner for draining the spinach, omg it's good! lol

turn oven on to approx 190-200' (i'm not really sure, mine was on 180' but mine cooks hot)
thaw the pastry
gently cook the onion and garlic with oil until soft (i actually did it in the microwave)
basically mix everything else together
grease a pie dish and line with 1 sheet pastry (if you're motivated you might like to blind bake it, far too much effort for me lol)
top with the cheese / spinach mix
top with the other sheet (cut a few slits in teh centre of the top to let the steam escape)
bake for around 30 minutes or so until it's golden brown all across the top.


quick salad
i had plans of making a green salad but was far too lazy to make it lol so i just tossed together a few things and put on a bought dressing. the kids all ate different bits but love salads like this :)

1 tin kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 tin corn kernels, drained
few small tomatoes, in large dice (i used some cute egg ones we grew in our vegie garden!)
baby beetroots, quartered
mix and toss with italian dressing

2:4:1 slow cooker Laksa & stuffed capsicums

believe it or not i made a delicious laksa in the SC ( i really didn't think it would be as nice as it was!)

i put chicken sliced and onion sliced in the bottom, topped with laksa paste and boiling water. cooked on high for an hour or two. a few hours later i added most of my vegies, then an hour or so before it was done i added coconut cream and at the last minute some coriander and bean sprouts. it probably cooked for about 6 hours, maybe less.

today i made a really good winter comfort meal - stuffed capsicums.
buy as many capsicums as you can fit in your slow cooker - i recommend buying tall thin ones! cut the stems out and remove the seeds and membranes.
mix together 500g mince*, one chopped onion, 3/4 cup of uncooked rice, some herbs and spices. stuff this firmly into the capsicums.
spray the cooker with garlic flavoured cooking spray
place capsicums into the cooker
mix together a bottle of sugo / passata (or 2 tins chopped or pureed tomatoes) with some garlic and a little sugar if desired. pour over the capsicums.
cook on low for 6-7 hours.
in the last hour start to spoon the sauce over the tops (i used a turkey baster). then about 20 minutes before serving top with some grated cheese.

* if you're serving with a side salad or vegies this amount of meat is fine, but if you're having it as a one pot dinner i'd suggest using 250-350g meat and topping up with vegies such as semi dried tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, etc

Slow Cooker Vegie Dhal

vegie dhal
1 onion, diced
2 medium potatoes, diced
1/2 sweet potato, diced
maybe 2 cups of red lentils
2-3 teaspoons each of minced garlic and ginger
around 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon or more of curry powder
chicken stock / coconut milk / hot water - i had the CM powder and chicken stock powder too, so i used about 2/3 cup coconut milk powder, maybe 2-3 teaspoons of chicken stock and probably most of a litre of hot water.

cook all this on high for 3 hours then add in some green vegies (i used leftover spinach and rocket salad mix) and chopped coriander. serve with yoghurt and mango chutney.

** use any vegies you have in this eg: capsicum, pumpkin, carrot, cauliflower, peas, beans etc etc

slow cooker Pork & Apples

pork and apples - yum! 4/6/06

no real recipe - i used

pork chops (but wouldn't again as it was too fatty) quickly sealed over a high heat
2-3 red onions, caramelised over a low heat with some olive oil and
around 1-2 tablespoons of fennel seeds
sweet potato cut into chunks
half a bag of red lentils
chicken stock powder / cube
jar of apple sauce or apple puree or pie apple
dried apples
enough water to just cover everything

cook until the lentil are soupy and mushy

emelia and i just ate it on it's own with the pork broken up and mixed through it

Divine Berry Rice Pudding

SLOW COOKER 17/6/06

just made this one tonight and it was absolutely delicious - so rich and yum!
based on this one http://www.recipezaar.com/139197
i doubled the recipe as i have a 4l cooker, i think that doubling it would feed 8 maybe on its own, or more with icecream or cream or small serves? the recipe here is the doubled version.

1 tin condensed milk (i used lite)
1 tin evaporated milk (i used skim)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dried strawberries, chopped into 1/2's
1 tin dark cherries, drained
4 tablespoons ground almonds
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 pinch salt
4 cups milk (i used skim)
4 eggs

mix everything except the cherries in a greased slow cooker dish. cook on high for approx 4 hours (i stirred several times) add the cherries in about 2 hours before end.

Penguin's Delicious Chicken

here's a recipe inspired by a friend on another board my changes in italics...

Penguin's Delicious Chicken (serves 4)

8 chicken thighs or drumsticks 2 breasts, diced
2 Tbsp flour
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek, washed and sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-2 carrots, sliced 2 carrots
1 parsnip, sliced 2 parsnips
1 tin (400g) diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups chicken stock 1 chicken stock cube
3 tablespoons tomato paste

Preheat oven to 180C. Toss the chicken in seasoned flour.
In a heavy-based frying pan brown the chicken on high heat, then remove and place in a large casserole dish. Add a little more oil to the pan on medium heat and cook the leek, garlic, carrots and parsnip for 5 minutes, stirring until tender. Add to the chicken. Then put the tomatoes and stock in the pan and bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Add to the casserole dish. Cover and bake in oven for 1 hour, then remove lid and cook for 15-20 minutes more. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

You can use an onion if you don't like leeks. You can also substitute other veges if you prefer but this is a nice combination. Leftovers reheat beautifully!

spray pan with cooking spray, fry chicken til lightly browned, place in slow cooker. gently fry all veg & garlic until onion / leek is slightly softened. put all ingredients in SC & mix. cook on high 2 hours & low 1 hour.

Traceyleigh’s pin wheels

2 sheets of puff pastry,
1 egg lightly beaten,
100g ham thinly sliced,
150g crushed pineapple well drained
1/3 cup grated cheese

preheat oven to 180. Line two oven trays with foil and spray with oil.

layou pastry sheets, brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with ham, pineapple and cheese.

Press gently

Roll up each sheet and then cut into 10 rounds

Cook for 15 minutes

Mum’s Christmas Pudding

220g raisins
220g sultanas
110g currants
110g shredded peel (we don't add this)
100ml 1/8 pint or 2 1/1 fl ounces rum or brandy
250g butter
250g brown sugar
4 eggs
200g plain flour
blanched almonds
pinch salt
1/8 tspn bicarb soda
1/2 tspn spice
110g fine white breadcrumbs

Put fruit in bowl , add brandy and soak overnight.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs. Mix well. add almonds. sift flour, soda, salt, spice and add to mixture alternatively with soaked fruit.

Cook 3-4 hours and another hour on day of serving.

i volunteered to make the pudding a few years ago - what a disaster! unfortunately mum cna't be bothered these days :( I LOVE this pudding!!!

Zucchini Slice

375g zucchini - grated
1 large onion finely sliced
3 rashes of bacon chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup SR flour
1/4 cup oil
4 eggs - lightly beaten
salt pepper
1/2 red capsicum
1/2 green capsicum
mushrooms

Chop all ingredients finely (thermomix)
Combine with rest of ingredients
Pour into greased dish and bake at 175’ for 30-40’

i think this recipe was a blend of some on eb. i don't acutally follow the recipe, i just did this up to print out for g, who needs a recipe to cook! i also prefer it not chopped in the thermomix (too fine) and with just the zucchini, bacon and onion.

Spaghetti Pie

9' pie pan
6 ounces spaghetti
2 tbs. butter or margarine
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1 cup cottage cheese (8 oz.)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 8 oz can tomatoes, cut up
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz.)

Cook and drain spaghetti. Stir butter or margarine, eggs and parmesan cheese into hot spaghetti. Spray a 10' pie plate with Pam. Form spaghetti mixture into a crust in pan. Spread cottage cheese over crust.

Cook ground beef, onion and green pepper until veggies are tender and meat is browned. Drain excess fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano & garlic salt. Heat. Put meat mixture on top of cottage cheese. Bake uncovered 20 min. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.

Spiced Carrot Soup

based on a recipe that was in the sunday paper a few weeks ago - i made this one in the slow cooker and it was great!! and even if you're not that keen on carrots you'll like this one

1 kg carrots, peeled if you want, chopped into 1" pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 tspn each of black / brown mustard seeds, ground cumin and coriander
2-3 tspns of crushed garlic
olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup red lentils
2 chicken stock cubes
water as needed (at least 3 cups)
1/2 - 1 tin coconut cream
coriander to serve (optional)

heat oil and gently fry onion and spices on medium heat.
add carrots (or place carrots in bottom of slow cooker then top with onion spice mix)
add lentil then chicken stock cubes and water as required.
when carrots & lentils are nearly cooked add the coconut cream.
blend into soup consistency (or mash well) and add any more hot water required for soupiness!
serve with chopped coriander if desired.

I served mine with fresh wholemeal bread made in the bread maker, but it would be nice with a loaf of herb and garlic bread or naans or anything like that.

Weekly planning...

time to post a few recipes from my collection already typed up on the puter ;)

just waiting for one to open - my puter is in the late stages of dying and until g can reformat it and rescue me i need to be very very patient...

in the meantime i did my weekly shop at choku bai jo yesterday. i know i bought a lot of F&V as i still haven't had time to buy any meat so we are eating vegetarian atm (and funnily not a complaint from anyone yet) but why is it that i always buy 3-4 times more than anyone else in the shop???!!! i spent $73 and this is what i got:

apples (about 6 or so)
oranges (about 4)
3 punnets strawberries ($3 ea)
kiwifruit (4)
dill ($1.20)
chard x 2 ($3 ea)
3-4 green capsicums
1 red capsicums
heaps of carrots
few tomatoes
mushrooms
lettuce ($1)
eggs x 2 (freerange, $4.50 ea)
about 3-4 kg potatoes (half of 2 different kinds i can't remember but both teensy ones, one good for salad and one good for roasting or mashing)
beetroot (3, think that was $3)
plums ($1.20 for about 10)
zucchinis
avocado ($1.50 i think)
bananas (about 3-4 kg, i think they're $10.50 or around $3/kg)
asian greens
and shallots / spring onions or whatever you call them!

last night i used the asian greens and one of the carrots, plus sweet potato and potato from last week and made a very quick (as we weren't home til 6pm) vegie stirfry with satay sauce made from peanut butter. it was very popular :)

other things on teh menu are
spanakopita (or my version at least) tonight
homemade pizza
a warm potato salad with a green salad and grilled meat (chicken or steak)
a chocolate cake with beetroot in it!
and more beetroot dip ;)


hmmm not sure what else. i need to use last week's cabbage, the zucchinis, a few capsicums and corn on the cob, as well as the shallots. so maybe a warm asian salad such as a thai tofu one, plus a meal of meat and 3 veg to keep g happy LOL - that will be the zucchinis steamed, mashed potato and steamed corn on the cob (totally not m sort of meal, in fact i think he can cook it ;))

SANTA FE CHICKEN STEW

another from my paper stash - as yet untested

1 tbsp vege oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 tspn garlic powder
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 x 28oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 x 15oz can pinto beans, drained
1 x 14oz can kernel corn, drained
1 x 4oz can diced green chillies, drained
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tspn cornstarch
1 1/4 lb cooked, shredded chicken
sour cream (garnish)
shredded cheddar cheese (garnish)

1. in dutch oven or large pot, heat oil. add onion and saute 2-3 mins
2. add taco seasonings, tomatoes, beans, corn & chillis, mix well
3. in small bowl gradually blend broth into cornstarch using a wire whisk, stir into stew
4. stir in cooked chicken. bring to a boil, stirring frequently
5. reduce heat to low, simmer uncovered 30 mins, stirring occasionally (simmer longer for thicker stew)
6. garnish each serving with sour cream and cheddar cheese if desired.

here is the 'brazen-ification' of this recipe, this is what i will do when i make it.

SANTA FE CHICKEN STEW, brazen style (Thermomix)

1 onion, peeled & quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
a little olive oil
taco spices - about 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbpn ground coriander, 1 tspn cumin seeds, 1 tspn oregano, 1/2 tspn paprika
800g 0r 2x 400g can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 x 400g can mexi beans, undrained
1 x 400g can kernel corn, drained
jalapeno green chillies (to taste), drained & diced
1 cup cold chicken stock
1/2 tspn cornflour
600g cooked, shredded chicken (that's about 1 double breast)
sour cream (garnish)
shredded cheddar cheese (garnish)

1. chop onion and garlic for around 5-8 seconds on speed 6. add oil and taco seasonings, and cook 2-3 mins on temp 90, speed 1
   
2. add chicken stock and cornflour and mix for approx 20 seconds on reverse speed 4 until blended
   
3. add tomatoes, beans, corn & chillis, and cooked chicken. cook for 20 minutes on ??60-80, reverse speed 3-4 ???? (will need to test this)
   
4. garnish each serving with sour cream and cheddar cheese if desired. would also be nice to serve with black olives, corn chips or cornbread
   

OR.... SLOW COOKER VERSION
I would also do this in the slow cooker. i would double if not triple the recipe. i would leave the chicken breasts whole and shred them after cooking. i would not put in teh chicken stock - i would use chicken stock powder and add maybe 1 cup of water, and then only add more if needed. it would probably need cooking for around 8 hours.

i will definitely have to try this one soon!

OPERATION BUTTERMILK

this afternoon's assignment (much as i'd prefer to be sleeping - child-free) is to use up the carton of buttermilk i bought which is out of date tomorrow. i bought it planning to make pancakes (but never got around to it) and a marinade for chicken (but we have no meat left).

anyway, this is what i'm going to try:
black devil's food cake
spiced prune buttermilk loaf

i've also got to cook the cabbage to go with the beef casserole for dinner tonight (i love my cabbage slow cooked with a little butter, until it's soft and sweet - YUM!)

will report back on the recipes some time later...

REPORT
well the devil's food cake is ok. the kids seem to like it, not really my style (i prefer 'real chocolate' cakes like my mudcake). i must remember it's eggfree though for those days when i have no eggs in the house!

the prune loaf has only just gone in the oven but the batter is delicious and being fought over as i type! lol
ETA - the prune loaf is DIVINE! definitely one i will make again more than once. so delicious and you'd never know they were prunes.

MOUSSAKA

this recipe was given to me by a guy i used to work with - it was his daughter's recipe which she got from her (greek) mother. i haven't actually made it myself yet though!

Ingredients:
225g onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 tbsp vege oil
500g eggplant, sliced
1 large zucchini, sliced in strips
handful mushrooms, chopped
2 potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 can diced tomatoes
basil and oregano to taste
500ml white sauce (milk, margarine and flour)
150g grated cheese (parmesan and / or mozzarella)

Preparation:

1. preheat oven to 180'c (350F / gas mark 4). fry onions and garlic in 1 tbsp oil til brown

2. in another pan, fry eggplant in remaining all and set aside. repeat with zucchini and potato.

3. add mushrooms to onion and garlic mixture and cook gently for 5 mins, then pour into a shallow oven-proof dish. layer eggplant, potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes over the top.

4. make the white sauce. pour over the vege mixture, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 30 mins.

Brazen’s Oven Baked Pumpkin Risotto

2 cups diced pumpkin
1 cup Arborio rice
1 onion, finely chopped
2 ½ cups chicken stock
30g butter, chopped
2 Tab grated parmesan
2 Tab chopped parsely
Seasonings to taste

Place pumpkin, rice, and onion into a large ovenproof dish. Stir in stock. Top with butter. Cover dish tightly with a lid or foil.

Bake in moderate (180 degree) over for 30-40 minutes, or until rice and pumpkin are tender.

Stir in cheese, parsley and seasonings just before serving.

** for some reason i have become famous for this recipe on the essential baby website. actually it's not my recipe, it came from Georgia, an online friend :) i haven't even made it all that much as g isn't all that keen on it lOL now that we have the thermomix it's quicker to use that on a work day (20 mins cooking compared to 40). but i thought i'd add it in here for posterity and to see if it gets any new fans LOL

GOLDEN SYRUP DUMPLINGS

(A GRADUAL EXPERIMENT)

using this recipe http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/6557/golden+syrup+dumplings and trying to adapt it to the thermomix.

the dumpling part is easy peasy - just put the flour and butter in, d about 10-15 seconds on speed 6. add the egg and a dash of milk and put on closed lid + knead (the wheat symbol). tbh i'm not sure how long i did it, i didn't pay attention, but you just need it to come together into a ball.

i didn't make the syrup in the thermomix, i thought about it but was too scared LOL next time i will though. the recipe does need a little water in it - even after a few minutes with the dumplings there was no syrup left :( i love lots of syrup under the dumplings!

edited to add - they're ok, but a bit of a disaster really :( there wasn't enough sauce so there was NONE left and because my stove doesn't know the meaning of the words LOW HEAT the syrup had burnt onto the bottom of the saucepan :( still i think it will work better next time and the dumplings are nice!

oh, and i forgot to say that i halved the amount of sugar i put in.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
• 60g unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tbs milk, to beat
• Thick cream, to serve

• Syrup

• 30g butter
• 220g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 4 tbs golden syrup
• 1 small lemon, juiced

Method

1. Sift flour into a bowl, then rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Beat egg with a little milk and pour into flour mixture. Combine to form a dough, then divide into small balls.
2. To make the syrup, combine the ingredients together with 1 cup of water in a pan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Carefully add dough balls to syrup and boil for 20 minutes. Serve with syrup and cream.

Source

delicious. - July 2002 , Page 99

Recipe by Valli Little

CAULIFLOWER & BACON SOUP & HOMEMADE HAMBURGERS

catch up....

CAULIFLOWER & BACON SOUP

1 large cauliflower, cut into large florets
bacon, maybe about 4 or so rashers, with fat removed and diced
1 large onion, diced
small amount olive oil
chicken stock (i used 3 cubes but my cauli was huge!)
black pepper
water
1 tin evaporated skim milk

heat oil, fry onion and bacon for a few minutes
add some water, then cauli
top water up so it comes about 2/3 of the way up the cauli
add stock cubes and pepper
cook until very soft and starting to fall apart
puree with stick blender, add evap milk and puree to mix.

based on a weight watchers recipe. i highly recommend you DON'T do this one in the slow cooker, the taste of the cauli is incredibly strong and not all that pleasant!

surprisingly the kids all ate 2 bowls of it for lunch!!!



HOMEMADE HAMBURGERS

500g extra lean mince
1 onion, cut into quarters
1 carrot, ends cut off and cut into inch pieces
1 egg
around 2/3-1 cup of instant oats
garlic if desired

using thermomix chop onion, carrot and oats (and garlic), hmmmm speed 6-7 for maybe 5-10 seconds
add mince and egg and mix using reverse and speed 2-4 until well mixed

if possible chill mix in the fridge

use tupperware burger maker thingie (i forget what it's called!) to make burgers - whatever you don't use can be frozen raw or cooked

if possible chill in fridge again before cooking (i say if possible as i never remember to leave enough time to chill it at all lol)

fry in a pan sprayed with cooking spray or a little oil until nicely browned on the outside and cooked through.
you can also fry sliced onions if you like

we served ours on toast because we had lots of sliced bread and nothing else to use LOL but generally i would use rolls from my local bakery (because the burger buns you buy at the supermarket have preservative 282 in them). i've tried making my own rolls but they haven't been very successful :(

toast bottom layer of whatever bread you are using. top with onions if cooked, then a slice of cheese and grill til cheese is melted.
top with sliced tomato, beetroot (we used the organic ones i cooked the other day) and lettuce, some sauce of your choice and serve. you can serve with chips if you like but i think the burgers are too yummy to spoil with chips LOL

you can make a million variations of this of this of course, with herbs or spices in teh meat patties and various sauces or different cheeses on the burger. geoff loves his with a fried egg and bacon it as well.

any leftover cooked patties can be frozen (as above) or crumbled up and used in bolognaise or similar.

bigger versions of photos and more photos here (i don't want to put the original pics here, the file size is ginormous!)

CARROT CAKE (Thermomix)

BRAZEN'S THERMOMIX CARROT CAKE

2 cups roughly diced carrot

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (I use grapeseed)
2/3 cup applesauce (make in thermo)
3 eggs
1/2 tspn salt
1 1/3 tspn baking soda (bicarb)
1 1/3 tspn baking powder
1 1/3 tspn cinnamon or mixed spice
1 1/3 cups plain flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

place carrot in thermomix, chop on speed 6 for approx 5-10 seconds. remove.

place butterfly in thermo.
combine sugar and oil on speed 4 for approx 10-15 seconds. scrape sides down, add applesauce and mix on speed 4 for another 10-15 seconds.
reduce speed to 2 and add eggs one at a time through top and beat till smooth.
add dry ingredients and mix on speed 2 for around 10-15 seconds.
add in carrots and mix on speed 2 for 5-10 seconds.

pour into a greased cake tin and bake in a mod. slow over 160-180'c (325-350'F) for 1 hour.

(frosting yet to be thermo'd, will edit this later!)
cream cheese frosting:
250g / 8 oz cream cheese
3 tbspns butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tspn vanilla

mix together and spread on cook cake.

huh?

hmmmm it's sunday here, me thinks i need to check the time settings lol

JULIE'S CARROT CAKE

this recipe was given to me by a friend in the US and was the cake my mum made for our wedding it is a very light and 'fluffy' carrot cake, not like your traditional heavy ones.

1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tspn salt
1 1/3 tspn baking soda (bicarb)
1 1/3 tspn baking powder
1 1/3 tspn cinnamon
1 1/3 cups plain flour
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

combine sugar and oil with a beater. add eggs one at a time and beat till smooth. add dry ingredients and beat. fold in carrots.

pour into a greased cake tin and bake in a mod. slow over 160-180'c (325-350'F) for 1 hour.

cream cheese frosting:
250g / 8 oz cream cheese
3 tbspns butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tspn vanilla

mix together and spread on cook cake.

I'm just about to have a go at this one in the thermomix. on the stove is some cauli and bacon soup and in the slow cooker is a beef and vegie casserole with a splash of red wine.

after the carrot cake i'm going to make some sort of apple cake and maybe something else for snacks in teh freezer.

last night's dinner was delicious home made burgers and i even took pics! but i haven't uploaded them yet - trying to spend less time on the puter today so will post that later ...

Dips and garlic overload!

last night's dips and breads were yummy though a bit garlic overloaded - ooops! ryan was complaining about them being spicy and i thought he was crazy as i had put nothing spicy in but it was the garlic...

i still have garlic breath this morning LOL

i made
beetroot dip - beetroot, garlic, S&P, yoghurt, sumac
bean dip - mixed beans, olive oil, lemon juice, water, parsley, salt, garlic
spinach dip - english spinach, yoghurt, S&P, garlic
carrot - carrot (lol), cumin, coriander, yoghurt, salt

all 4 dips took about 20 minutes (inlcuding cooking the carrot one) in the thermomix, including washing it between each dip! i love my thermomix lol

I'M STARVING!!!!

dinner is cooking and i'm faint from hunger! i shopped at choku bai jo this afternoon and came home with 4 green bags full of goodies.

dinner tonight is baby zucchinis lightly fried with olive oil, a little bacon and garlic, and tossed with pasta. (based on a marcella hazan recipe i love which uses buffalo mozzarella instead of the bacon, plus a couple of beaten eggs - the heat cooks them enough to eat)

tomorrow night will be (bought) turkish pide bread with homemade dips - beetroot (fresh beetroots), hommus and maybe a carrot or something else. tonight i have to cook the beetroot and make the yoghurt ready for tomorrow.

also on the menu is cauliflower soup (maybe with bacon but i read an article today about the health concerns with red meat and processed meats which has made me a little nervous. i only use such tiny amounts but...) and probably with damper.

what else did i buy? hmmm serephina potatoes, carrots and baby eggplants for a beef casserole... i also have some broccoli and spanish peppers to make something with - maybe a stir fry. oh and tomatoes, lettuce and some of the beetroot to make homemade burgers...

i forget what other vegies were filling the bags but i also got apples, bananas, grapes (to send to daycare, we don't often eat them but i like to send something other than apples and oranges to daycare, the kids must get soooo bored LOL), honey and eggs, all organic.

i think dinner must be nearly ready, i HOPE!!! before i fall off my chair with hunger! LOL