Something different - food

Away from the renovations for a change

MONT and I had some very sweet and delicious calamari the other night

He'd caught it during our January beach sojourn

Heat pan with a little oil, add some chopped garlic and the calamari, cook for a minute then EAT! You can squeeze a little lemon over it if you like, but it's not essential...

Delicious.

Something easy for dinner

I've had a lot more time on my hands since losing my job late last year so I thought I'd put some of that time to good use and start cooking some interesting and different meals.

...and I've been inspired by this month's Delicious Magazine. Sometimes you buy a magazine or cookbook for a particular recipe and sadly, that's all you make out of it.

Not this month's Delicious.

It's been fabulous.

A case in point.....Thai Chicken Risotto

It's tasty and very easy because you kick things off on top of the stove, then plonk it in the oven for about half an hour to finish it off.

Quantities are for 6
You need:

Peanut oil
500 gr chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
1 onion finely chopped
1 red chilli, chopped and de-seeded
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 kaffir lime leaves finely shredded
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
2 cups chicken stock  (I used water)
1 cup coconut cream
2 tbsp fish sauce
200 gr green beans, trimmed and chopped
Coriander, fried Asian shallots and lime wedges (to serve)

Preheat oven to 180 c
Heat oil in flame proof casserole dish and add the chicken in batches and fry until browned. Remove the chicken and add the onion, chilli, garlic and half the kaffir lime leaves and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly then add the rice and curry paste and stir to coat the grains
Return the chicken to the dish with the stock and half a cup of water. Let it simmer then cover with the lid and cook in the oven for about 25 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the oven and stir in the coconut cream, fish sauce and beans then cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Top the risotto with the chopped coriander, fried Asian shallots and remaining kaffir lime leaves and serve with lime wedges.

Hope you like it...it's easy and delicious for dinner on a cool night.

Not. My. Day.

Despite the heat in Melbourne today, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen trying out a new recipe for a delicious cake. I'll post the recipe tomorrow because, if I say so myself, it is a beauty!!!!

But the day didn't start well...

I had the fumbles and dropsies!.

...and things just kept ending up on the floor.

The cake though. Oh the cake...

It is a plum cake and it is one of the yummiest I've ever made.

The recipe to come tomorrow, after I've cleaned up my mess

Tomatoes - slow roasted

Remember these from a few days ago?

Well, I turned them into these beauties...

Preheat oven to 100 degrees, cut tomatoes in half, place on a lined baking tray, season with freshly ground pepper and salt, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for about 2 and a half hours.

That's it

Delicious

They still turn out very moist and juicy, so if you want them to be a little "drier" then turn up the heat to about 150 degrees, but remember to check on them every hour, just to make sure they're OK.

I've also posted the recipe over here

From the Garden

Look what I found when I got home...

These luscious red beauties!

MONT put in three tomato plants around the rose bushes in December and they haven't stopped delivering!

I know what's for dinner tonight

Luscious cake

This is a lovely cake from Stacey Snacks...I've used her recipes before and they have NEVER disappointed

This is like a strawberry shortcake, but I didn't have strawberries it being Winter and all...so I used some jarred cherries I had...it was delish! Really delish!

I've posted the recipe over here 

Hope you like it, we sure did.

More Winter Food....

Winter's a time to stay indoors and tuck into some warming casseroles and stews...and that's mostly what's been on the menu at Number 10 these past couple of weeks.

If you like rich, tasty dishes then this is the one for you.

Oh...and it's really darn simple too.

It's a lamb, walnut and pineapple casserole and it's delicious and no, not too sweet, despite the use of pineapple juice.

If you'd like the recipe it's over here

Pizza ...and giveaway reminder

If you like pizza I've just posted a great recipe for a pizza dough over here

It's easy and delicious... great for Friday night dinner in front of the TV.



....and don't forget my Cavania giveaway...it's still on and well worth entering because the cards are simply gorgeous!

Just lovely!

An easy chicken recipe

Poached chicken with a home made tuna mayonnaise and potato salad may not sound too inviting, but believe me, it is!

You can find the recipe over here

It's a great dish for a lazy Sunday lunch....and it's also pretty healthy.

Hope you like it

I'm cookin'

Still no camera and no contact from the Insurance company as to the status of our claim.

But that hasn't stopped me....Instead I've enlisted the services of my mobile phone to take some shots. Not as good as my beloved Canon, but they'll do for now

I got to baking this weekend and thought I'd try a recipe from my girlfriend "G"...it's a carrot cake and I have to say it was easy and delicious.

You can get the recipe here

Happy baking...this cake really is super easy. Enjoy

'Twas the Saturday night before Christmas......

...and all through the house, no-one was sleeping because it's the day when the family heads to Number 10 for the annual Chrissy get together.

This year's menu consisted of my glazed ham, chicken wrapped in prosciutto, (thanks Stacey) roast beef and scalloped potatoes with some greens on the side.

This year, for dessert, I thought I'd try three things... a white chocolate and berry cheesecake...

A three tiered brown sugar pavlova and some (modified) white Christmas ice cream cones, thanks to Valli Little from Delicious Magazine

Everything turned out fine. Some were a little more fiddly than others, like the ice-cream cones.

Some were extremely easy with no hassles at all, like the chicken in prosciutto....

If you'd like the recipes, then you can go here to check them out. I'll be posting them over the next couple of days.

Plum Cake vs Prune Cake

I remember one of my favourite cooks, Maggie Beer once saying that she learned the importance of a name a long time ago, when she had a delectable prune cake in her restaurant and couldn't work out why it didn't sell...so changed it's name to "plum cake" and then watched it become one of their most popular. Same cake, different name.

It's funny how some people have a "thing" about prunes. Me? I love them...and that's why I really like this cake.

I made it at the weekend for our afternoon tea. It's easy and a little spicy and terrific with a cuppa...You can get the recipe here

Happy baking

The slow cooker gets another run

This time it was lamb shanks in the slow cooker...

I did them in a tomato, onion and mushroom sauce, with a few other veggies thrown in. Whatever's in the fridge is OK with me...

You can use just about any cut of meat with this recipe, even a leg of lamb would be good!

Delicious

The full recipe's here

Hope you like it

Baking at Number 10 again

MONT"s heading off to the country for work this week, so I've been busy baking him a cake to take.

This is an upside down apple cake...a variation on the Raspberry and cherry cake I made recently.

You can find the full recipe here

It looks good and I have to admit it tastes pretty good too...oh and did I mention it's super easy?

In the kitchen

I've been on a bit of a baking craze lately....Cakes, biscuits, sausage rolls...even an egg and bacon pie to put in MONT's lunchbox.

This is my latest creation...a Raspberry upside down cake. It's an adaptation of a recipe I posted here at my little cooking blog.

That one had cherries and raspberries, but I'd used up all the cherries, so instead opened a pack of frozen raspberries and also found a few frozen mixed berries in the fridge. That's what I love about baking, as long as you have the basics: sugar, butter, eggs and flour, you can do just about anything.

This ruby red beauty is really luscious and light...not too sweet, with just a hint of tartness.

You can see the full recipe here.

Hope you enjoy it...

Don't forget my giveaways this week...get commenting!

Gone to the Dogs

OK, it's recipe time gals...but not necessarily for human consumption. This is for critters.

Some years back I had the good fortune to come across a blog called "What I Cooked Last Night" written by Kitchen Hand. I found his wonderful blog by way of an article about food blogs in the Age Newspaper.

Kitchen Hand is located in Melbourne and at one time, took in greyhounds, sort of like a foster parent, before a full time carer/owner could be found.

Anyway, he posted a recipe for dog food, which I tried and have been making ever since for my critters.

I made some this weekend and it's easy and CHEAP...much cheaper than canned or packet muck....and did I mention they LOVE it!

Here's the recipe for canine stew:

1 kilo pet mince, he buys chicken mince for a couple of dollars a kilo, I also get minced ox cheeks for a bit of variety

1 carrot, grated

1 stalk celery chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic

half a cup of rice

half a cup of pasta shapes (or however much you like)

a glob of Vegemite

enough water to cover the meat

Put the meat, vegetables, Vegemite, garlic and water in a pot and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the rice and the pasta shapes. Let them cook until done.

That's it! The dogs love it, even the cat has munched in for her share as well.

OK, so it doesn't look all that appetising, but hey, just think of it as savoury mince. For Dogs.

He also suggests some raw bones, like chicken frames, for them to chew on, a can or two of home brand sardines and a marrow bone each week to clean their teeth.

Pretty good diet huh?

The Festival of Meat

Hi all...hope you had a splendiferous weekend!

We sure did.

Saturday night was terrific with all the family and kidlets converging on Number 10 for our annual Chrissie get together.

The littlies loved all their gifts, especially their tutus and magic wands and jelly bean bracelets, while the adults all loved the food.

This is the 2009 ham...and it went down a treat, as did the roast beef, chicken, terrine and seafood...yes it really was a celebration of meat! In fact most of the farmyard animals were represented on our table

But the question I am posed with now is: What do I do with all this left over food??!!

It looks like MONT is going to be eating ham sandwiches every day well into 2010.

Apart from the cooking and entertaining though, I spent part of Saturday morning finishing off a little project... more of that tomorrow, but when you see it I think you'll agree the transformation is amazing.

She's Here!

I picked her up today and have already set her up in a corner of the kitchen.

Isn't she lovely?

Now all I have to do is read the instructions and work out how to use her.

Hello You Sweet Thing

I don't usually go ga-ga over electrical appliances. But for this one, I'll make an exception.

I went to David Jones today at Doncaster and purchased this beauty. Well, I ordered it and paid for it. I am yet to get it home, but it'll only be a week, or so I'm told.

It's the 12 cup Kitchenaid Food Processor - in, you guessed it, white.

Last year I bought the stand mixer in a grey metallic finish and I love it, but thought I'd get this baby in white.

I've been saving credit card reward points and fly-bys points to redeem them for gift cards for what seems like ages and finally had (almost) enough to be able to purchase this.

It's my little present to me for Christmas.

Scrummy

This is what's left of last night's dinner. We started with four

It's a stuffed capsicum and it's one of the easiest things to make. Ever.

Quantities will vary depending on how many of these little beauties you make. It'll also depend on the size of the capsicum, or bell peppers, you use.

OK.....Preheat oven to about 180 degrees

First of all, partly cook some rice in the microwave. I used about half a cup and put it in for 6 minutes. It was almost cooked but not quite.

Chop an onion and whatever veggies you have. I used a couple of mushrooms and some zucchini. Cook them in a fry pan until just wilting.

Take some minced lamb, add an egg, the cooled onion mix, a heaped teaspoon of flour, the rice and whatever herbs and spices you like. Then mix it all around with your hands.

Now, you can either chop off the tops of the capsicum and scoop out the seeds and use the top as a lid, or you can slice the capsicum down the middle like little boats...it doesn't matter, whatever floats your boat.

Stuff the mixture into the capsicum, sprinkle on some grated cheese and place them in a baking dish. Open a can of tomato soup, pour it over the top and then add a cup of water and swish it around. Put in the oven for about 40 minutes and voila...Dinner is served.