Slow Cooked Lamb Chops

Omg so good! Slow cooked Lamb Chops Potato/Kumara mash and veges.. Yum yum yum 

Flour the chops and cook in a splash of olive oil with chopped onion and garlic. Add beef stock, tomato paste, sea salt and cracked pepper and Italian herbs. Slow cook for about 2 1/2 hours on high, the sauce will thicken and the meat will fall off the bone and be melt in your mouth. :-)

Lamb & Vege Cottage Pies

Waste not want not I say! I'm mixing up a brew of left over roast lamb and veg, going to make a pie with pastry on the bottom, lamb and veg filling and mash on top!

Blind bake some pastry cases.. I made these in Mexican sized Muffin Tins

Let the cases cool and add your pie filling, top with mashed potato and grated cheese

Bake until Golden! These pies are great with any filling. Especially delicious with left over

Corn Meat mixed with Cheesy white Sauce!

Man of the House's Chicken Wellington

Man of the house cooked this little number a few nights ago. Nice job Master Chef! It was delicious! Chicken breast with garlic, cheese and herbs wrapped in delicious smoked ham and then encased in pastry! Yum yum yum!

Pan fry the chicken breast with freshly crushed garlic and herbs of choice, let it cool. 

Place on a long slice of ham (large enough to wrap the chicken in) top with cheese and enclose the chicken with the ham. Wrap in pasty and seal with egg wash. Place in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper. Glaze with egg wash and bake at 200 degrees until the pastry is golden. Serve with your fave roast veges and greens.

Italian flavoured Roasted Chicken legs with Onion, Garlic & Mushroom Gravy

Very Quick and easy dinner tonight. Place Diced Onion, sliced Mushrooms and finely diced garlic on a deep baking tray. Cut slits in the chicken and stuff with sliced garlic. Pat the chicken skin with paper towel to make it really dry, makes really crispy skin when roasted. Place the chicken on top of the onions etc. Sprinkle with Dried Italian Herbs and Chicken Vegetta Stock Powder and roast until golden and cooked through. Transfer the chicken to another tray and use make a delicious gravy using the baking tray you have cooked the chicken. Serve with roast spuds and carrots and steamed corn on the cob.

Delicious Homemade Chicken Stock

In need of some chicken stock so in the pot goes a chicken cage, some carrot, onion, fresh parsley and thyme, cracked pepper and sea salt to simmer for approx 4 - 6 hours then strain.

Kabana and Cheese Puffs

Kabana And Cheese Puffs

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Plain Flour

1 teas Baking Powder

1/2 Teas Garlic Salt

3/4 Cup low fat Milk

1 Free Range Egg

1 Kabana finely diced

1 Cup grated Light tasty Cheese

Parmesan to sprinkle on top

What to do:

Make a batter by whisking the flour, baking powder, garlic salt, milk and egg.

Mix in the kabana and cheese. (You could use ham or cooked sausage or bacon instead of

 the kabana if you wanted to.) Let the batter sit for 10 mins and pop into a greased 24 cup mini muffin tin. Bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for approx 20 mins or until golden. 

Delicious served with a pizza style dipping sauce.

Lj's Quick & Easy Roasted Vege and Parmesan Slice

Hungry and in a hurry?? Throw together this delicious vegetarian slice. You can add ham or bacon if you wish to.

Ingredients:

8 Free Range Eggs
1/4 Cup Skim Milk
1/2 Red Capsicum diced
2 Shallots finely sliced
8 - 10 Cherry tomatoes sliced in quarters
1 Cup of each Pumpkin & Sweet Potato roasted
1/4 cup Parmesan
2 Tbs Plain Flour

What to do:

Whisk the eggs, milk and flour and set aside. Dice the pumpkin and sweet potato into small pieces and roast in the oven at 180 until gliden and tender. Place them into the bottom
of a lined slice tin. Sprinkle with the shallots and capsicum then the Parmesan and cherry tomatoes. Bake at 180 for 25 mins or until set and golden on top. Cut into slices and serve warm. Yum yum.

Creamy Chicken, Bacon and Corn Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 Free range Chicken Breasts finely diced
4 Shallots finely chopped
6 Rashers of Bacon Diced
1 Ltr Chicken Stock
300ml Light Sour Cream
2 x Tins of Creamed Corn
Soup noodles.. How ever many you like

What to do..

Sauté the Onion, Bacon, Chicken and shallots. Add the Creamed Corn and Chicken Stock. Cooking a low summer until the chicken is cooked and soft. Add the noodles and cook until soft. Add the sour cream before serving. If you don't like noodles, leave them out and serve with homemade croutons.

Coleslaw on the RUN!!

Quick and easy Coleslaw to throw together when you are in a hurry!!

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

450g or so of Whole Egg Mayo

2 Tbs Dijon Mustard

2 Tbs Wholegrain Mustard

(I used a Mexican Seeded Mustard my Mum makes)

2 tbs Lime Juice

Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

For the Coleslaw:

1/2 Cabbage finely chopped

2 Large Carrots grated

1/2 bunch Shallots diced

1 Red Capsicum  diced

Large handful of toast slithered Almonds

Give your Coleslaw a good mix in a large bowl. Put all in ingredients for the dressing into another bowl and mix well. Add the the Coleslaw mix and you are done!

Lj's Fresh Pasta Salad fit for a king!

Delicious and easy Vegetarian Pasta Salad.. A meal on it's own!

(You could add some shredded Chicken or flaked Tuna if you wish)

Ingredients:

500g Cooked Pasta

1 Cup chopped pitted Kalamata Olives

10 Sundried Tomatoes diced

A good handful of grated Mozzarella Cheese

A good handful of crumbled Cracker Barrel shaved extra sharp Vintage Cheddar

Handful of shredded fresh Basil

The Dressing:

In a food processor add the following:

6 Sundried Tomatoes

5 Cloves of fresh Garlic

2 Teas Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

6Tbs of the oil from the Sundried Tomatoes

3 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar

1/2 Cup pitted Kalamata Olives

Huge bunch of fresh Basil leaves

80g packet of shelled Pistachio's

Process until fine.

Mix everything together and DIG IN!!!!

Lj's Individual Vege Slice

So many left over Veges left in the fridge this week so I decided to use up what I had left and make a Vege Slice in individual muffin tins....

Ingredients:

1 Large grated Zucchini

1 Large grated Carrot

1/2 Capsicum diced

1 piece of grated Sweet Potato 

(about the size of a medium sized potato)

1/4 Small Kent Pumpkin grated

6 Free Range Eggs

250ml Extra light cream

3 Tbs Plain Flour

3 Tbs Grated Parmesan Cheese

Seas Salt and Cracked Pepper to season

Sliced tomato

Mozzarella Cheese

What to do :

Mix all ingredients together and place into Muffin Cases. Excluding the tomato and Mozzarella.

Top with a Slice of Tomato and some Mozzarella cheese.

Bake for approx 1/2 an hour in a preheated oven at 180 degrees. Serve warm or cold with Salad to make a nice meal , or have on it's own as a snack.

Beef Goulash Lj Style

A few weeks back I bought a whole Wagyu Rump as apparently it's the ducks nuts.. I didn't think so. It was the crappiest piece of steak I have ever eaten. I decided to casserole the rest and make a goulash for dinner tonight. Not a traditional Goulash recipe as I like to add some veges but it's a fave comfort food in our house. Smelling good..... You can add more or less of any of the seasons to your tastes.

Ingredients

1 kg Diced Beef

2 Onions diced

2 Cloves of Garlic diced

1 lge tin Crushed Tomatoes

3 Tbs Tomato Paste

2 Tsp Smoked Paprika 

1 Tsp dried Mustard

2 Teas powdered Beef Stock

2 Tbs Susieshire Sauce 

(This is my Mum's version of homemade Worstershire Sauce)

3 Carrots diced

6 Button Mushrooms Sliced

1 Cup water mixed with 1/4 cup Plain Flour
Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

What to do:

Very simple and easy slow cooker recipe...

Add diced beef and cover with the onions, carrots, garlic and mushrooms.

Mix together the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Paprika and 

dried Mustard and beef stock and pour over the top. 

Cook on low for at least 8 hours. When the meat is tender, add the plain flour and

water mix and turn to high for about 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken.

Serve on fluffy mashed potatoes.

Homemade Ricotta

Mum passed down this recipe and I have been making it for years. Ricotta isn't expensive to buy but I like making my own as I know exactly what is in it. 

Ingredients:

2 Ltrs Full cream milk (I use Skim)

250ml Cream (I use extra light cream)

4 Tbs fresh Lemon Juice

1 Tbs White Vinegar

What to do:

In a heavy based saucepan slowly heat the milk and the cream. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. When the milk and cream, begins to boil and the lemon juice and the vinegar. It will separate into curds and whey. Keep stirring until all the curds form. Pour into a clean chux cloth or tea towel over a sieve and bowl. Let it drain for approximately 5 minutes or so. Don't let it drain too long or it will be too dry. Cool in the fridge. If you are not going to use it straight away pop it into the cooled whey so that it stays moist.

Pink Lemonade Cake

I have modified a recipe I found on My Recipes...

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemonade-layer-cake-10000000249959/print/#

The cake is lovely but I think the Icing is a bit too sweet (For my tastes anyway) I'd probably prefer a nice butter icing instead of a cream cheese icing with this cake. with a little less Rasberry flavouring.


Ingredients:


For the Cake

1 1/3 cups Sugar
6 Tbs Butter softened
3 Tbs Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate ( Soda Stream Flavouring)
2 Teas Vanilla Extract
2 Large Free Range Eggs
2 Large Free Range Egg Whites
2 Cups Plain Flour
1 Teas Baking Powder
1/2 Teas Baking Soda
1 1/4 Cups Buttermilk

For the Icing


125g Light Philly Cheese
3 Cups Icing Sugar
2 Teas Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate
1 Teas Vanilla Extract

What to do


Beat the sugar, butter, Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate and  Vanilla Extract until creamy (about 5 mins) Add the eggs and egg whites one at a time, mixing well in between. Combine the Flour, Baking Soda and Baking Powder in a sifter and mix alternately with the buttermilk into the mixture. Beat until well combined and pour into a greased cake tin. I use cooking spray to grease my tins. Bake at 180 for approx 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Let it cool and ice! Grate some white chocolate for the top.

Roast Vege and Feta Frittata....

Mixed Roast Veg.. ( I used Zucchini, Carrot, Pumpkin, Red Onions, Garlic and Mushrooms. You can use whatever you have left in the fridge or whatever you like!) Roast off the vege until just tender in a splash of grape seed oil and place in the bottom of a pie dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a handful of chopped reduced fat Feta and some grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half. Whisk 300ml Extra light cream with 6 free range eggs and 1/2 cup skim milk and pour into over the veges. Sprinkle a handful of light tasty cheese over the top and bake on 180 for approx 40 mins or until it is set and golden brown.. Serve with a nice garden salad and home made salad dressing.

Quick and Easy Jamie Oliver Pavlova...Great when you have to throw together a delicious dessert in a hurry!

I was in a rush so threw together this quick and easy dessert I saw on Jamie's 30 Minute Meals.

Ingredients:

Pre made Pavlovas

Greek Yoghurt 

Lemon Curd (I've used some homemade, that I had left over from making lemon curd tarts)

Mixed Berries(I have defrosted some mixed frozen berries, Jamie used fresh raspberries)

What to do..

Put some honey into raspberries and mash a bit, add a few tbs of the yoghurt. Stir slightly to marble. Fill small pavlovas with the lemon curd, berry/yoghurt mix on top. Decorate with some berries on top and drizzle with honey. Jamie decorated with a mint leaf, I decided to just crumble some extra meringue over the top.

Who can go past an old fashioned Bacon & Egg Pie.... YUM!

Spray a round pie dish with cooking spray, line with shortcrust pastry and blind bake for 15 minutes or so. Saute some diced Bacon, red onion, red capsicum and mushrooms and add on top of the pastry. Mix together 6 eggs and 300 mls of extra light cream and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Pour over the bacon mix... Crack 4 or 5 whole eggs on top, decorate with chopped shallots and some low fat mozarella cheese and bake until golden. Slice and serve warm with Salad or chill and take out on a picnic.. which is the plan for us tomorrow. 

Fried Rice with Prawns & Bacon

Quick & Easy Lunch Menu today...

Very easy to throw together last minute...

I've heated the frypan with a splash of olive oil and sauteed some diced red onion, carrot, mushrooms, zucchini, red capsicum and garlic. Thrown in some diced bacon and saute until soft. In the meantime cook the rice. I do mine in the microwave, 1 cup rice to 2 1/2 cups of boiling water and cook for 12 minutes. (Add some powdered chicken stock or vegetta to the water) Throw in the cooked rice and toss through with some some cooked prawns, frozen baby peas and corn.  I've added some cracked pepper and sea salt, some soy sauce and a splash of lemon/lime juice.

It is also nice with some diced cooked chicked added as well!

Silverside.. trying something a little different

Ingredients:

1.5kg Silverside

1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tbs Brown Sugar

1/2 Cinnamon Stick

A few cloves and peppercorns

1 Onion cut in quarters with the skin on

(Remove the skin and put into your white sauce, The skins have so much flavour)

1 Whole carrot

2 Fresh Bay Leaves

(I was lucky enough to get some straight off the tree and dry them myself last visit to the country)

What to do:

Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 120 minutes.

Let it rest while making your white sauce. 

Nice popped into the oven for 10 minutes with some seeded

mustard on top.

Serve with a mix of potato and sweet potato mash, fresh cobs of corn smothered 

in real butter and lots of greens..

Roast Vege Omelette.. One of my fave healthy breakfasts!

I am a big fan of a hearty breakfast and I love omelette's! This morning I've used left over roast veg from a wicked roast pork and vege webber the man of the house cooked last night, added some avocado and low fat tasty cheese. Lots of cracked pepper and a splash of home made tomato sauce.. YUM! Oh and use fresh free range eggs!

Lj"s Vegetable Slice..

Healthy & Delicious!

Ingredients:

80g English Spinach

4 Small Zucchini grated

2 Carrots peeled and grated

2 Shallots sliced

1/2 Red Capsicum diced

Flat Leaf Parsley chopped

10 eggs

125ml Cream

1 Cup Canola Oil

2 Cups Grated Cheese

1 Cup SR Flour

Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper

Sliced Tomatoes and extra grated cheese to decorate the top

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the sliced tomatoes and extra cheese.

Place into 2 Round Deep Quiche dishes that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a 180 degree oven until golden.. around 35 minutes.

This makes 2 large slices.

Savoury Muffins.. yummy!

A quick and easy muffin to throw together for morning tea!

You can really add what ever savoury ingredients you like, I have just used up

what I had left in the fridge before heading out to do this weeks shopping..

Ingredients:

2 Cups SR Flour

1 Cup Grated Cheese

250g Sliced ham diced

6 Button Mushrooms sliced

1/2 Red Capsicum Sliced

2 Shallots finely sliced

Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

150g Melted Butter

1 Cup Milk

1 Egg

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until just combined. place into lined muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees. Cut in half and dollop with butter..

Yum, just delicious!!

Bacon and Avo Quiche... yum yum

Mmmmm... 2 of my fave foods! Avocado and Bacon! I get hungry just thinking about it lol... Very quick and easy lunch or dinner to throw together. Can be served warm or cool and with either salad or veges.. YUMMO!

Ingredients:

3 Rashers on Bacon diced

1/2  Red Onion diced

1/2 Red capsicum diced and 1/2 Sliced to decorate the top

4 Lge Button Mushrooms sliced

300ml Extra light cream

6 Free range eggs

150ml Extra light Sour Cream

1 Avocado sliced

Puff pastry

3/4 Cup grated tasty cheese

Sea Salt and Ground Pepper

What to do:

Blind bake the pastry and let it cool slightly. Saute the onion, bacon, capsicum and mushrooms. Whisk the eggs, cream and sour cream. Arrange the onion etc mix on top of the pastry. Top with the grated cheese and then the egg mixture. Decorate the top with the sliced avo and capsicum. bake on 180 for approx 40 minutes or until set and  golden. 

Roasted Pumpkin, Baby Spinach and Ricotta Crustless Quiche

Cooking some thing a little different today with a spin on Spinach Pie...

This little ripper is going to be lovely along side a nice garden salad sprinkled 

with some pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients:

Roasted kent pumpkin diced small (Enough to fit over the base of your pie dish with gaps)

A few handfuls of baby spinach with the stalks removed

6 free range eggs

125ml extra light cream

500g Smooth low fat Ricotta

Sea Salt and pepper 

Handful of pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Halved cherry tomatoes to decorate

What to do:

Lightly spray your baking dish with cooking spray and add your diced pumpkin. Roast until half cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly, then cover with baby spinach leaves. Whisk the eggs, cream and ricotta until smooth and season with sea salt and pepper. Pour over the pumpkin and spinach. Decorate with halved cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for around half an hour or until golden and set.

Whole Roasted Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Bacon

I haven't made this style of roast chicken in ages! Yummy, can't wait for dinner!

Pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Make a stuffing with chunky chopped garlic, onion, mixed herbs, a splash of olive oil and some powdered chicken stock. Stuff the chicken and wrap it with bacon breast side up.

Baste with the juices during cooking. I'm serving with roasted carrots, foil baked jacket potatoes and greens..

Marinated Roast Beef with Seeded Mustard, Rosemary and Garlic.

Season your scored Roast Beef with sea salt and cracked pepper. In a pestle and mortar add a large clove of crushed garlic, a lge sprig of finely chopped fresh Rosemary, about a Tbs of Seeded Mustard (I've used my Mum's homemade... almost out Mum... hint hint!) a few splashes of good worstershire sauce, and a splash of olive oil. Make a paste and rub really well over the top of your roast beef.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Heat a roasting pan in the oven and transfer to the stove top. Place the beef in your hot pan with a splash of olive oil and sear on all sides except the top that you have marinated.  

Slice some onions and smash some garlic (enough for your roast to sit on in the pan) and place your roast on top. Reduce the heat to 200 degrees and pop into the oven and cook for a bit over an hr depending on how rare you like your meat. I like it pink so that is about right for a 1.5kg piece of Beef for my tastes. 

While the Beef is cooking prepare your veges and throw in after the beef has been cooking for around half an hour.  I'm doing roasted potatoes and carrots, fresh corn on the cob and peas. I boil my potatoes first for around ten minutes and smash them up a bit (Makes them really crunchy and crispy) Something I learnt from Jamie Oliver...

Once my Beef is cooked, I let it rest while I make the gravy from the pan juices. All that lovely onion, garlic and juices will make the most delicious gravy with a splash of red wine. 

Stuffed Chicken & Bacon Roll

We are living the chicken and bacon combo at the moment so I decided to throw together a stuffed chicken roll to be served with a potato bake and steamed greens.

Lay down some baking paper and strips of bacon, top with chicken thigh fillets. 

Mix together some cream cheese, chopped fresh chives and garlic. 

Spread over the chicken. Sauté some chopped bacon and sliced onion and add on top of the cream cheese mix followed by some sliced mushrooms and grated mozzarella.

Wrap up into a roll as tightly as you can and place into a loaf tin or silicon form. Bake at 180 degrees until cooked, I think about an hr. Drain the juices off while it is cooking and use that as your  base. YUMMY!! Test with a skewer or meat thermometer. Let in rest before slicing.

Easy Bacon and Egg Pies!

Using Puff Pastry, cut each sheet into 4. Press into a Muffin tin greased with cooking spray.

Saute chopped onion, bacon and mushrooms and place into the bottom of the pastry. Crack in a fresh free range egg and top with half a cherry tomato, some chopped shallots and grated cheese.

Bake in a 180 degrees oven for 25 minutes or until the pasty is golden and the egg is cooked. 

You can also make a big pie in a pyrex pie dish or what you have and slice it. I find these cook a lot quicker and it is a really easy meal to throw together. When I can I make fresh pastry, but being so busy at work these days I just don't have the time :-)

Chutney & Sauces for Christmas Gifts

Everyone loves homemade Chutney's and Sauces..

I have bottled some Tomato & Date Chutney and Tomato Sauce as gifts for my work mates this year.

I've designed a new Jar Label too..

Can't wait to package these up!

I made some Marinated Mushrooms with bite and some Mulberry Jam as well.

My brother in law's yummy potato salad!

My brother in law's yummy potato salad! Yummy! Wish I was there today!

Quarter & cook potatoes. Seeded mustard, fresh crushed garlic in mortar & pestle & onion cooked together until crisp. 

Mix through potato with Taylor's Avocado & Garlic dressing. Garnish with chopped shallots.

Pavlova... we all love it :-)

Everyone loves Pavlova so I made one for the first time in many years using a  recipe 

 from a CWA Cookery Book from Bundaberg that Mum gave me for my birthday last year. 

I made the topping from whatever fresh fruit I had fresh in the fridge

Ingredients:

12 Egg whites

450g Caster Sugar

2 Teas Vanilla

Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Tbs Cornflour

3 Tbs Sugar

1 Teas Vinegar

What to do:

Beat 2 Egg whites with salt. Gradually add the other 10 egg whites and beat until stiff.  Gradually add the caster sugar a few tbs at a time. Add the Vinegar and beat and then the vanilla and beat. You need to beat until all of the sugar is dissolved. To test you can put some mixture between your thumb and first finger and rub together, if it feels grainy there is more beating to do.. Once the sugar has dissolved fold in the the cornflour and sugar and mix in well. Drawn a large circle on baking paper and place onto a baking tray. Place the mixture into the circle and using a knife or spatula make a nice shape pushing the sides up to the top. Bake in a preheated oven on 160 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn down to 110 - 120 degrees and bake for a further 2 hours. Turn off and let it cool and dry out in the oven. 

I have served with freshly whipped cream, passionfruit/kiwifruit/strawberries and a mixed berry sauce.  I made the sauce from frozen mixed berries, a bit of sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce thickens. Let it cool completely before adding to the top of your other fruit on the pavlova. I cut the pavlova into slices and added the cream and the topping in individual serves. Alternatively you can decorate the whole Pav and then serve!

Stuffed Baked Chicken wrapped in Bacon

Really simple easy dinner tonight... I love dinners that practically cook themselves!

Saute some bacon, onion and mushrooms. Lie flat a piece of bacon, place your chicken thigh fillet on top and then your stuffing with a dollop of homemade garlic butter. Roll together and tie with string. Place into a baking dish. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, (I haven't give a time here as it depends on how much chicken you are cooking) Baste often with the juices while cooking.

3/4 through the cooking, add some of the juices to your veges and then add some cream to your dish. I've used about 125ml of extra light cream. Remove the chicken and take off the string at this stage. Mix about a tbs of cornflour and a teas of chicken stock powder with a bit of water and stir into the sauce, pop the chicken back in to finish cooking.  The cream will thicken and make a lovely sauce to serve over the top. Add some grated parmesan and cheddar to the sauce and a bit on top of your chicken.Serve with Roasted potatoes, carrots and greens.