Corn Chowder

as i posted a week or two ago my mum had a very quick easy and yummy recipe for corn chowder which i will probably use some time over winter for a work night dinner, but it does use mostly tinned ingredients. I wanted something similar but with mostly fresh ingredients. using the chowder recipes on taste for inspiration i came up with this recipe...

the amount i made will last us for 2-3 meals so it's a lot

olive oil
2 large onions, finely diced
6 slices shortcut bacon, finely diced
garlic to taste, chopped (i used a whole bulb as i have sick children)
around 1L water
5 chicken stock cubes
1 large carrot, diced
2 potatoes, diced
6-9 cobs of corn, de-husked, rinsed and kernels cut off the cob
about 1L low fat milk (you might need more, i'm not really sure. i used up the container of buttermilk as well)
cornflour to thicken (maybe about 6 tablespoons), mixed with small amount milk
can of creamed corn, optional
1/2 bunch spinach, chopped finely, optional
fresh lemon thyme
cayenne pepper, optional - only a small amount
black pepper, optional
fetta cheese, optional

heat oil, gently fry onion, bacon and garlic
add water and stock
add rest of the vegies
add milk and cornflour mix, stir well.
when carrot and potato is soft without being mushy add creamed corn, spinach, thyme and cayenne. let spinach wilt.
serve with cracked black pepper if desired and crumbled feta on top

would be nice served with fresh bread or damper :) YUM!

oh this would be easily done in the slow cooker, would probably take about 4-5 hours, maybe 6 depending on how small your diced vegies were.

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