a Delicious Risotto Variation (Chicken, Porcini, Pea and Pumpkin) (GF, TMX)

The other night I was making risotto but didn't want to wait til our F&V shop arrived (home with Geoff) so decided to use up some stuff in the fridge and freezer. this was VERY good!! I make my risotto now based on baf65's recipe, which is a good one, much better than the one in my copy of the EDC. (i do love Tenina's version with basil, cream and lemon zest though, mmmmm)

I made this risotto using peas from our garden! yay! they were delish (though they needed a little more cooking than I'd given them).

If you are doing parmesan chop it before starting (maybe 10 secs on speed 8 i think)
chop a medium onion on speed 5 for a few seconds
add 50g of olive oil
saute for 2mins/100C/speed soft
add in some dried porcini mushrooms then chop on speed 5 until you can hear they are mostly chopped
pop in the butterfly
add 380g of arborio rice and 100g of white wine
saute for 2mins/100c/speed soft/reverse
add in 2tsp of stock concentrate (or 2 stock cubes) and 1000g of water
cook for 16mins/100c/speed soft/reverse *

Pour into thermoserver and leave to satnd for 5mins or so until more of the liquid is absorbed. serve with parmesan if desired

* at 8 minutes i added in:
1 chicken breast which i had previous put into portuguese spices, then grilled and chopped into 2cm pieces,
around 1/2 cup fresh peas (though i think fresh need to go in at the start of the cooking, frozen would go in now)
and about 200ml of pumpkin soup from the freezer :)

posted by Karen on http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/

Creamy Pasta Dish - kind of Boscaiola / Carbonara Cross (GF, TMX)

based on the recipe posted here

parmesan cheese, cut into 1cm cubes
around 6 shortcut pieces of bacon, cut into approx 1" pieces
4-5 mushrooms, or more if desired
1 packet (300g) San Remo gluten free spiral pasta
1 200g container sour cream
1 375g tin lite evaporated milk
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn chopped garlic (i had to use dried as i'm out of every other kind)
good sprinkle salt if desired
600-700g warm water *
2 eggs, lightly beaten
chopped parsley if desired

place parmesan in bowl, chop for 5-10 seconds on speed 10, place in bowl
place bacon and mushrooms in bowl, turn to closed lid, pulse on turbo once or twice until chopped
saute for 3 minutes on varoma speed soft
add all other ingredients except eggs and parsley
cook for 15 minutes at reverse 100' speed soft
remove measuring cup from lid, on reverse speed 3 or so pour eggs & parsley through lid.
place in thermoserver for 5 minutes before serving

no photo as it looked a bit like cat vomit LOL

Beef and Guiness Pie

just clearing out my crazy collection of recipe links and will be putting some recipes in here.
i'm pretty sure i made this last winter and it was delicious, taken from here. you can easily do the filling in the slow cooker (which i'm sure is what i did)

INGREDIENTS:
6 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
2 onions, halved and sliced
225g medium size chestnut or button mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1kg braising steak/chuck steak/stewing steak/casserole steak ( whatever you want to call it lol ), trimmed of fat and cut into 2.5cm chunks
5 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml Guinness
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

( 6 strips of bacon is optional ---very tasty though , also optional is a third cup of sultanas )

PREPARATION:
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large, oven-proof casserole dish and gently fry the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a large bowl.

2. Place the seasoned flour in a bowl and toss the meat in it, a handful at a time. Heat a little more oil in the pan and fry the flour-coated chunks of meat over a medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Do this in batches, coating each new batch of meat in the flour and adding more oil to the pan when needed. Transfer the browned meat to the onion and mushroom bowl while you fry the rest.

3. When all the meat is browned, return everything to the casserole dish and pour over the Guinness. Add the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer very gently, partially covered for 1� to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce slightly thickened. Alternatively, you can cook in a 170C/325F/gas mark 3 oven for the same amount of time. Check the liquid level occasionally to make sure it doesn�t become too dry, adding a little water if necessary.

4. When cooked, remove from the heat and tip the mixture into a wide baking dish, at least 5cm deep. Allow to cool to room temperature or store in the fridge.

5. Roll out the pastry and cut out 6 circles, each about 10cm in diameter, and lay them on the beef mixture so they overlap slightly. Brush with the beaten egg.

6. When ready to bake and serve, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and cook for 30 minutes or until the pastry is risen and golden and the pie heated through.

Quick, easy and healthy - oh and yummy!

spaghetti with vegetable and bean sauce
Originally uploaded by brazen20au

spaghetti with vegetable and bean sauce

serves 6

1 packet spaghetti (cook and drain according to directions)

around 1 tspn olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
several garlic cloves, chopped as desired
1 red and 1 green capsicum
1-2 sticks celery, finely diced (we have a lot of celery leftover from teh party lol it wasn't a very nice bunch :()
4 baby zucchinis, diced into 1cm pieces
several mushrooms, sliced (i use my tupperware egg slicer, done in seconds ;))
3 medium tomatoes, cut into 2cm dice
1 jar pasta sauce (i was going to use more tomatoes but they weren't ripe enough to make a nice sauce)
few tablespoons tomato paste
around 1/3 cup white wine
1 stock cube (chicken or vege)
1/2 tspn italian herbs
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

heat oil over medium heat and cook onion and garlic til starting to soften
add vegies except mushrooms and gently fry for 5 or so minutes
add the rest of the ingredients and simmer covered until the vegies are softened but not soggy (about 15 mins).
serve spaghetti topped with sauce and a little cheese (tasty or parmesan)

"comfort food" recipes from New Idea magazine

all 3 use the same basic principles for making, will convert to slow cooker soon.

beef, bean and bacon casserole
olive oil
1kg diced chuck steak
1 clove garlic
1 onion, chopped
6 bacon rashers, diced
150g tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
1 tab chopped fresh thyme
500g chat potatoes, quartered
420g red kidney beans, drained
steamed silverbeet to serve

sticky beef casserole
olive oil
1kg diced gravy beef
1 clove garlic
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 tab brown sugar
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
2 tab cornflour
2 tab water
1 long red chilli, finely sliced
200g sugar snap peas
basmati rice to serve

rolled beef brisket
olive oil
1kg rolled beef brisket
100g sliced pancetta, chopped
2 clove garlic
1 stick celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
400g pickling onion, peeled
1 tspn mixed herbs
200g cup mushies, quartered
1 cups (250ml) beef stock
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tab cornflour
2 tab water
mashed potato to serve

Method
heat oil, brown meat - in batches for diced meat
fry onion / garlic / bacon (plus pnacetta + carrot + celery)
add sauces, stock (plus mushrooms), etc bring to boil, replace beef and cover
cook in 160-180 oven for 1 1/4, 2, 3 hours
transfer to stovetop and add cornflour and water (and potatoes), cook til thickened
add extra veg and cook
serve

Calzone cuisine!

dinner tonight was a success - woohoo!! homemade calzones and everyone got to pick what they had on them - i made it VERY clear they weren't pizzas (remember my kids won't eat pizza) and they loved them ;p they also helped prepare and make them.

dough:
1-2 quantities of your favourite pizza dough (i used the thermomix one of course ;))
i put some italian herbs in it

when it's risen enough split into balls and roll out. you're going to fold them in half so put your toppings in the centre of one half of the circle.
fold the other half over and squeeze the edges together. cut some holes/vents in the top (or first initials like we did hehe)
bake in a 220'c oven for around 10-15 mins until cooked.

toppings:
you can use whatever you like! i was imagining a satay chicken, rocket and sweet potato version - yum! here is what we had:
bacon and onion lightly fried
pepperoni shredded
capsicum diced
fetta cheese crumbled
mozzarella cheese
diced roma tomatoes (fresh not tinned)
sliced mushrooms
parmesan cheese
rocket
pasta sauce
sliced black olives

Impossible Green Bean Pie

Serves 8

This is soooo much better than it sounds
(originally a WW recipe at 2 points per serve)


250g green beans, topped & tailed & cut into 2-3 cm pieces
100g mushrooms, sliced
50g onion, chopped
1 tspn garlic, minced
125g Cheddar Cheese, reduced fat
375ml milk (skim)
80g Defiance brand Scone & Damper mix
3 eggs
salt & pepper



1. Heat oven to 220c. Spray a 22cm pie plate with cooking spray.

2. cook beans in microwave with small amount of water for 5 minutes, drain.

3. mix beans, mushrooms, onion, garlic and cheese into pie plate.

4. beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into pie plate.

5. bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted between centre and edge comes out clean.

6. cool 5 minutes before cutting into 8 serving slices. Serve with tossed salad and hearty bread.

note: i haven't seen the damper mix in years. i think you could just sub with SR flour perhaps?