Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Multitasking in the kitchen


So, I took this shot of my stove with all the saucepans on it and a pot boiling in the back. I've got one of those tiny little apartment stoves with four burners. It's great when I'm only doing one or two things but the moment I need to use three or even all four of the burners, it starts to get a little cramped. Still, it does the job and dinner turned out perfectly cooked and delicious.

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Garlic prawns with spaghetti


It's a horrible, pouring wet day today. It has rained non-stop all day and not only has it rained but it has rained heavily. On top of that, I've had my fair share of running around in the rain, first to our Macquarie Park office for the afternoon, and then around the city to the store because my keyboard and mouse at work decided to die and I had to get a replacement. My poor little umbrelly got a workout keeping me covered but it did not save my shoes from getting sodding wet. I won't be able to wear those shoes again tomorrow 'cos they need to dry out.

Anyway just wanted to share ....

So with all the wet and running around, I did not have time to go to the store for groceries and decided to cook what's in the fridge, pantry and freezer. This means garlic prawns with spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino. I've done this dish before and posted the ingredients, but I never actually got round to posting the finished product, so here it is.

It's the exact same dish as the one I cooked here, which was sauteeing some prawns in garlic and olive oil with a pinch of salt, and serving it on a bed of spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino with a side of salad in caramelized balsamic vinegar and garlic olive oil dressing (which I texted The Boy to run to the grocery store to get the greenery for the salad on my behalf, which he kindly did between meetings today).

This is a favorite for both The Boy and I.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Chicken salad


I'm still a little sick so I haven't had much energy to cook anything special at home for dinner. Plus, I'm still getting into the rhythm of the new job and figuring it out.

The Boy was very kind and picked up a roast chicken from the store today, so we had a simple chicken salad for dinner.

Some light Caesar dressing tossed with shaved Parmesan cheese for extra flavor (it adds depth to the taste) and cut up pieces of the roast chicken.

Simple and tasty.

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Naughty snacks


After that exceedingly unsatisfying lunch, I felt the need to treat myself. I wandered into the IGA grocery store attached to the food court and raided their candy section. Ended up with these.

I can't decide whether to eat them or not. I'm not really that hungry.

Right now, they are sitting on my desk, staring at me.

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Tempura udon


This looks like a nice dish, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't!

I did not know what to have for lunch today, feeling a bit sick still after a relapse last night of the cold. My nose is still all stuffy and runny.

I ran through in my mind what I wanted to eat and ruled out wonton soup, a sandwich, sushi and saw this Japanese place in the food court by my office. I decided to try the tempura udon which was a big mistake.

The noodles were over-done. The tempura was totally greasy and over-fried and there was too much of it (though I can't complain about that).

I don't think I'm going to eat there again, at least not for their tempura udon. I might try the vegetable or chicken udon again if the fancy takes me another time.

Meanwhile, next to the Japanese place was a Korean place and they had a selection of bimbibab dishes that looked quite nice. I might give that a try tomorrow.

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Soft boiled eggs


Okay, so they don't looked soft boiled since they are just in the shell right now but that's what I made myself for breakfast today.

I was at a loss as to what to have for breakfast and there really isn't much food in the fridge. I haven't grocery shopped the entire last week, what with The Boy being away. I nibbled my way through dinner most of the week and ate lunch out at work.

So breakfast this morning was (not so) soft boiled eggs with a splash of soy sauce and ground black pepper.

This little dish brings back so many memories for me because it was what my grandmother made me each morning for breakfast when I was a child and she was getting me ready for school. I would get 2 soft boiled eggs with a slice of fresh bread to dunk into the gooey white and yellow mess each day. Ah ... such fond memories. :-)

My soft boiled eggs didn't turn out as soft as I would have liked because I think the machine is not calibrated quite right. I'm going to experiment the next time I make them again and use less water.

Overall though, very yummy!

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Wonton soup for lunch


I'm just settling into the new job, so I haven't had much time to post this week, which I'm rather disappointed about. On top of that, on my second day of the new job, I caught a cold, cough and sore throat. Not good!

I haven't settled into a routine where lunch is concerned right now, but on my first day, Katie, the lovely lady who was temporarily in my role and I went out to lunch in the food court across the street.

I had the won ton soup for $9.90 (I'm thinking $10 a day for lunch would be my upper limit on the budget and I'll try my best to stick to that) which was very, very tasty. So tasty, in fact, that I went back on day 2 for another helping.

Since then, I've had lunch here and there but nothing exciting to report.

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Happy Hoodie-Hoo Day

I have such a love of weird holidays and this one is one of the stranger ones where the name of the holiday goes.

Happy Hoodie-Hoo Day!!

According to the interwebs, it is Northern Hemisphere holiday, but as you read the description you will find that given the weather we've been having, this is not inappropriate.

I quote from the interwebs:


On this winter day, people go out at noon, wave their hands over their heads and chant "Hoodie-Hoo".
It is a day to chase away winter and bring in spring. After all, everyone in the northern hemisphere are sick and tired of winter at this point and a little crazy being cooped up inside all winter and not seeing the sun.

Did you know? Hoodie Hoo Day is a copyrighted holiday. It was created and is provided, courtesy of the great folks at Wellcat.com


Anyhow, whatever day you may be celebrating, I hope you have a great one. I'm off to finish cooking dinner.

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

What's for lunch?

Okay, so I'm onto my second wind (it's a very short one, so don't get your hopes up!) but I decided on one post that I really, really wanted to write.


I'm starting a new job tomorrow and I've been thinking about what to do about lunch each day.


I'm not the sort to bring in a pack lunch and I've just discovered that my new office does not have a kitchen. It has no microwave and has only a small bar fridge in the same room where the photocopier is. Good thing I'm not one for a packed lunch. :-)

I don't want to spend a lot of money on lunch each day, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep myself fed on a daily basis without breaking the bank.


I've already figured out what I'm going to do about coffee - I'm bringing in my own coffee machine, which will mean coffees cost 75c a cup rather than $4 a cup.


So, back to lunch ... I'm thinking that a few days a week, I could splurge and eat out. There will be at least one day a week, every other week or so where I have lunch with the best bud, so that takes care of that. Other days though ... I could possibly run home to make myself a sandwich, eat it and then run back to work, and that's quite literally since I live about a 15 minute walk from work and I plan on hoofing it daily. I have an hour for lunch, so if I'm quick and don't dawdle, I can make it home, heat up lunch or throw together a quick sandwich, eat, check Facebook, and hustle back to work.

The thought had crossed my mind that I could skip lunch but that is really not a good long term plan. :-) I'll eat, just need to figure out what's the best way to do it that will fit into the budget.

Any suggestions?

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I'm very tired

I'm very tired, so I'm not going to be posting anymore today. I was going to post about my garlic prawns with spaghetti, then I thought about posting about lunch tomorrow, then I thought I'd just put up a post that I had written a while ago but then I decided I was just plain tired.


See you tomorrow ... or if I perk up later this evening, maybe there will be something going up.

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Very long walk and lunch at HUX @ Nortons


Today, we made the ambitious decision to walk to HUX @ Nortons, which is 6.3km (according to Google Maps) from our home. It took us 75 minutes to walk there at a pretty good clip. About 10 minutes away from our destination, I was starting to feel it in my legs (it was mainly uphill).

We were blessed with amazing weather for the walk - a rare full day of lovely summer sunshine.

Lunch was delicious as always since the fabulous Jay Huxley was cooking once again.

I had a fish and chips, without the chips, but opted for the potato salad instead. The Boy had the Wagyu steak, which he tells me was very good. The Boy's words were "Jay really knows how to do 'medium rare' well."

Jay also decided that we didn't have enough carbs with our meals so he brought out the most amazing tasting potato slices. These were thinly sliced potatoes, deep fried and then seasoned with salt and pepper and a little bit of rosemary.

I decided to top off my meal with dessert which was a very yummy double chocolate brownie with berry coulis and vanilla bean ice cream. I ate the brownie but gave The Boy the vanilla bean ice cream.

Have I mentioned that I highly recommend Jay's restaurant? Do go there if you get a chance.

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Bouncing off coffee


If you've read my previous posts about my obsession with coffee - more specifically Nespresso coffee here and here, you'll know that I love my coffee but I drink decaf and only decaf. You are talking to a person who has not had much caffeine at all for close to 15 years.

Recently, I've been feeling a little sluggish in the morning and nothing seemed to perk me up. I decided to try a cup of coffee with caffeine in it. Upon discussion with The Boy on my sensitivity to caffeine (and believe me, I am VERY sensitive to it), we decided that maybe 1/2 a cup would be better. The Boy kindly offered to drink the remaining half cup for me.

I noticed one thing right away when I drank that half cup of coffee ...

Zing! ... Zing! ... Zing! ....


That caffeine stuff sure has some kick to it. It's no wonder so many people are addicted to it and can't function without it.

Know what else I've noticed?

I don't sleep so well, when I've had that teeny, tiny half cup of caffeinated coffee.


I've had a half cup of caffeinated coffee 3 times in the last month now and I've noticed that each time I've had it, that very same night, I'm not sleeping as well. I end up not sleeping deeply and falling into short patches of REM sleep, where I dream a lot, remember what I'm dreaming and I feel like I'm partially awake, a spectator in my own dream / sleep state. I would fall asleep, dream, wake up, then fall asleep, dream and wake up again, and repeat that pattern several times during the night. This annoys me a great deal since I value my sleep and I like waking up feeling like I've had a good night's sleep. When I have these weird caffeine induced sleep / dream cycles, it just drives me crazy. I feel like I've been cheated of my night of sleep ... but it sure makes me feel zippy right after I've drunk it.

Anyway, just wanted to vent. :-)

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

I was not exaggerating when I said lots of leftovers!!!


I've been talking about leftovers for days now and we've been eating leftovers for days now too ... the legacy of a few rather energetic cooking spurts on my part, larger than normal portions due to the recipe specs and having people over for meals.

We're still working through our leftovers but I think tonight we'll get through the last of it.

Fortunately, they all still taste very yummy.

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Got some fabulous sauces today


We were out at the store today and was attracted to the smell of fabulous Thai Green Curry cooking. Following our noses, we came to a stand demo-ing these amazing homemade pastes. They are a gourmet, family run business that does Asian sauces for curries and such. The Thai Green Curry which we tried was incredibly authentic.

Now, I usually make my own curry pastes when I cook curries but I'm not averse to getting a little help every now and then. After all, shopping for all the ingredients for a curry can be a time consuming event. You also need a mighty good blender to blend up the paste. Fortunately, I have the trusty Thermomix for that.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed the taste of the few sauces they had and we picked up a few to try. For the two of us, each jar can be portioned into two servings and they keep forever in the fridge once opened.

If you want to check them out, they are available in the food section of David Jones. I promise you, they are fabulous.

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Getting ready to cook tonight's dinner


All the ingredients one needs for a chicken and mushroom risotto, which is on the menu tonight.

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Mushroom mac and cheese


The Boy has had a craving for mac and cheese for ages and ages and he has been asking for it. I finally caved a few nights ago and made it for him.

The thing that I did not like about the mac and cheese recipes that I was finding was that I had to make a roux. I do not like the idea of making a roux and it seems rather intimidating to me - very easy to get it wrong.

Anyhow, I went searching in the interwebs and found a recipe for the cheese sauce for the mac and cheese that could be done in the Thermomix. Hooray! No making roux for me. However, if you don't have a Thermomix, here's a recipe that would work. It's actually very similar to the recipe that I used for my cheese sauce, except this one requires you to make a roux.

This likely won't apply to anyone who does not have a Thermomix, but here's what I did:

RECIPE for the cheese sauce:

Ingredients:
  • 60g butter
  • 50g plain flour
  • 750g milk
  • 120g cheddar cheese
  • 80g Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
  • Put Parmesan in thermomix and grate on speed 8 for 10 seconds. Set aside
  • Place cheddar cheese in bowl and grate for 10 seconds on speed 8. Set aside
  • Make sauce by placing butter, flour and milk into thermomix bowl and cooking at 90 degrees for 12 minutes on speed 4

Of course, even with the Thermomix I did not follow the recipe exactly. I made the roux exactly as the recipe stated and also the sauce, but then with with the cheeses, I also had a little bit of leftover Pecorino cheese in the fridge, so I grated that up as well. It made for a very cheesy sauce.

I also had some butter mushrooms leftover from breakfast a few mornings ago, so I ditched the sauce from that and added the mushrooms into the mix.

For the pasta, I boiled water and added some salt. After that, I added 250g of elbow pasts and boiled that for exactly 8 minutes for an al dente pasta. I drained the pasta and put it back into the pot I cooked it in.

Once the pasta was back in the pot and still hot (ha ha ... that rhymes! the silliest things amuse me!) I added the sauce and mixed in the cheese progressively.

After that, I added salt and pepper to taste. I used quite a bit of pepper to balance out the cheesiness of the sauce.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Hanging out at Cooking For Blokes


This here is Pete, my lovely instructor from Cooking For Blokes. I'm doing their Classic II classes, which are the advanced classes. I have 3 classes to make up in the coming weeks. One down, 2 to go.

Tonight, we made a pesto sauce which topped some potatoes and beans, gravalax (which will be ready next week and a Thai green chicken curry.

More pictures to come.

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Another dish from HUX @ Nortons ... Grilled salmon with caper butter sauce


I'm not a fan of cooking fish since I'm not a fan of fish, but Jay had this on his menu last night. It was a beautiful sashimi grade salmon that he had leftover from a function the previous night, so he put it on the menu.

It was served grilled (I had mine almost rare) with a caper butter sauce and a simple side salad. Very tasty.

I highly recommend heading over to HUX @ Nortons for a meal. The food is incredible even though it's at a pub because you have the wonderful Jay Huxley as head chef. I overheard a customer tell Jay that his fish and chips was the best that he had ever had, and for $11, it's super good value.


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Superb bangers and mash ... I didn't cook this


I didn't cook dinner last night. A friend took us out to dinner, and we headed over to another friend's restaurant - HUX @ Nortons, which is in the Nortons on Norton pub at 1 Norton Street, Leichhardt. The restaurant is being run by my friend Jay Huxley from Masterchef Australia and he is a superb chef.

The food is amazing and really good value. This bangers and mash dish was $11.

Oh and don't forget to try the brownies with vanilla bean ice cream and berry coulis. Also incredibly delicious.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Spinach and mushroom crustless quiche


This is a continuation from the breakfast we had on Sunday. I made so many dishes that I just have not had the opportunity to post it all.

I'm partial to quiches, particularly, quiches that do not require a crust because I, frankly, suck at anything that remotely hints at baking. It tends to be very hit and miss for me and it's more miss than hit. Plus I'm not confident around the mixer and the ingredients. I just have not had enough practice and I am not as passionate about baking as I am cooking.

Anyhow, I was delighted to find this recipe for a crustless quiche on Pinterest and decided to make it for the breakfast we were having. Here's the link to the original recipe. They have much prettier pictures than I do.


Here's the RECIPE:

Ingredients:
  • 250g fresh mushrooms sliced
  • ½ teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 box frozen spinach
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 75g fetta cheese
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Spray oil for pan


Instructions:
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave. Empty the box into a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.
  • Quickly rinse the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Place the sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray, add the minced garlic, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Turn the heat on to medium-high and sauté the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).
  • Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the cooked mushrooms and crumbled feta.
  • In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, parmesan, and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. (This step can be completed while the mushrooms are cooking) Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, mushrooms, and feta.
  • Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top and the center is solid. Every oven is different but this should take between 45 minutes and an hour. Slice and serve!


I admit to pretty much following the entire recipe except for one there ... there's always something, isn't there? :-)

Instead of milk, I used cream. I had a jar of cream in the fridge that had been there for a little while and I thought that it needed using up ... so I did. This made the quiche a lot richer, creamier and tastier. Cream = naughty = good!

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Failed whatever chicken something


I never know when I wrap stuff in a tortilla and make is wrap what to call it. A wrap? An enchillada? A tortilla? Well, whatever it is, the one I made last night failed spectacularly.

The above is what happens when you put too much filling in too small a tortilla wrap. I tried to hold it together with toothpicks but when it warmed up in the microwave the whole thing fell apart and what I was left with was a hot mess.

Fortunately, the hot mess still tasted good.

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Monday, February 13, 2012

Frying up chicken for enchiladas


We didn't do anything particularly fancy last night, since I was feeling uninspired and there was a lot of leftovers in the fridge. Darn Seville Chicken!!! The recipe was for a very large portion.

I just fried up some chicken with some seasoning and garlic to wrap up in soft tortilla wraps with cheese, tomato and lettuce. Easy peasy lazy!

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Blueberry buttermilk breakfast cake


We didn't do anything exciting for breakfast today, just the usual oatmeal, however, we did such a big breakfast yesterday, there's plenty to post on that.

Look at this lovely blueberry cake. It tastes wonderful too - not too sweet and just a little tangy and fruity from the blueberries. It was a hit with the breakfast guests. :-)

I got the recipe from Pinterest and here's a link to it.

Here's the RECIPE if you can't be bothered to look at the link:

Ingredients:
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
  • 7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries
  • ½ cup buttermilk

Note:
  • 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
  • ** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

Instructions:
  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF/170ºC. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
  • Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

The only thing I did differently is that instead of sugar I used a sugar replacement. I used the Hermesetas Granulated with Fructofibres®. It's great 'cos it is a 1 to 1 measure between it and regular sugar, which makes it a lot easier to measure for baking. I think using this made the cake less sweet.

One other thing I noticed too was the the amount of butter, sugar and lemon zest to cream was too small for my Kitchenaid, so it didn't work very well. I think next time I do this, I will have to do it by hand and then add it into the Kitchenaid when I'm ready to add the flour and buttermilk to for mixing.

Did I mention it was yummy? :-)

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Some of the dishes from breakfast


So ... breakfast is done, or rather brunch. It was yummy! :-)

Those are the baked beans, buttered mushrooms and the tomato medley with onion and garlic.

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Breaking out the Kitchenaid


We've got company for breakfast coming over. I've decided to cook up a storm.

Here's what's on the menu:


The Kitchenaid was being used for the Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake.

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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Colorful food


I've decided to try something new tonight and I'm cooking a one pot dish called Seville Chicken. It's Spanish.

This is partway through the process where I'm sauteing the ingredients. I love what a colorful medley it all makes in the pot.

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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Frosting ze carrot cake


This is not terribly exciting. I put vanilla cream frosting on top of the carrot cake because I was told that carrot cake is not carrot cake without frosting. :-)

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Wot a lot of garlic


Whenever I head out to lunch with my girlfriend, Wendy, I often stop at the grocery store, Asian or otherwise to pick up a few things for the kitchen. Today, after lunch, we stepped into a little Korean grocery store next to the sushi train place where we had lunch.

Saw these bags of pre-peeled garlic for $1.50 a packet and both Wendy and I picked some up. I'm not sure what Wendy is going to do with her garlic, but I decided that my garlic can go into a jar of olive oil to be preserved and used in the future.

Keeping the peeled garlic in olive oil is a wonderful way of storing garlic for future use. It keeps for ages but based on the amount of garlic we go through, this will not last all that long. It is very handy though because it saves on the peeling and the chopping and the mincing. While the chopping and mincing is all very good for practicing my knife skills, it's much more efficient to put the garlic in the stick blender for 3 seconds.

When I'm done with the garlic in the jar, I can use the olive oil. I'll end up with lovely garlic infused olive oil that I can use in salad dressings.

Hooray!

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Swedish meatballs with creamy mushroom sauce and fettuccine


I'm not cooking tonight - we're just pulling some stuff out of the freezer and it just happens to be this dish which I made a few nights ago. I had posted on the first part of the cooking process which included the recipe for the meatballs, but I never posted on the rest of the meal.

I had so much leftover from the other night that I put some of it away in the freezer for another night. I didn't think we'd be pulling it out of the freezer so soon, but this is what The Boy wanted for dinner tonight. I had suggested leftovers (again!) but he protested to having chicken curry 3 nights in a row.

A friend of mine, whom I showed the picture of the dish to said it certainly looks a lot better than the meatballs you get from Ikea. Well, I would certainly hope so! I didn't use any fillers in the recipe.

So the previous post has the recipe for the meatballs, I'm going to post the RECIPE for the creamy mushroom sauce here:

Ingredients:
  • 600ml cream
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
  • 1 packet dry mushroom soup mix
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
  • Heat olive oil in pan and put in onions and garlic to cook. Sautee for a few minutes but do not brown
  • Add mushrooms into pan and cook until water is mostly gone
  • Add white wine and bring to a simmer (this should happen fairly quickly)
  • Add the packet of dry mushroom soup mix and stir in wine until mixed through
  • Add bay leaves and cream and bring to a boil
  • Simmer gently until sauce thickens (if the sauce becomes too think, you can add a bit more white wine to thin it out)
  • When the sauce is ready, add salt and pepper to taste
  • Serve over fettuccine and meatballs

Note: this is quite a rich, creamy sauce, so you don't need a lot. Too much sauce on your fettuccine might be too rich and be hard to digest or difficult to eat.

I served the meatballs and fettuccine with a side salad of green lettuce leaf mix. I dressed it with a simple balsamic dressing which was 3 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil and 2 tablespoons caramelized balsamic vinegar, shaken well together.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Pepperoni pizza puffs

I have recently been introduced to Pinterest by a friend of mine. I was warned that it would be a complete time suck and I signed up anyway, just 'cos there were things there that I really liked the look of.

Upon my first moments of browsing the site, I came across a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Puffs that looked really delicious and quite easy to make. Also as it happens, The Boy was having some work people over to the apartment for drinks that afternoon and I thought "hmmm... I could make those!" and I did. They turned out to be very tasty and as one of the guys said, "these are very more-ish".


I can't recall where the original recipe came from now, so I apologies into the ether which is the Internet to the person I got this recipe from. I do acknowledge that I got it from you. *sending "thank you" thoughts*

Anyway, these are great for a snack, for a party or just frozen to pull out and defrosted to much on while watching TV. Here's the RECIPE:

Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup cubed pepperoni
  • 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Instructions:
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
  • Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Here are some things to pay attention to:
  • The recipe made a few more than 24 mini muffins. I just used up the rest of the batter for another batch without filling up the whole pan. You can also put it into a larger muffin pan and make one large puff, if you are that way inclined.


  • The recipe says 20 - 25 minutes, but my oven runs hot, so it only took about 15 minutes. I suggest that you check early on and when it turns a lovely golden brown, then take it out of the oven. Don't leave it too long without checking, 'cos they might just end up burned.

This is the color that you want the pizza puffs to be
when you pull them out of the oven

  • I was pretty generous with the chili flakes. I put in 1/4 teaspoon and that gave the pizza puffs a real kick, which I liked.
  • I did not use pizza sauce because I didn't have any of that. Instead I used a jar of pasta sauce and that worked fine too. I also didn't warm it up and just left it at room temperature.

Munch away!!!

Do you have any favorite party munchies that you are particularly fond of? What snacks do you love that you keep going back for more? Do you like making your own snacks or do you just get them from the store?



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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Curry ala Thermomix


Well, The Boy decided he was feeling better, so we ate the curry for dinner. I have to say that cooking with the Thermomix does not really feel like cooking at all ... hence my posts on Facebook while cooking:

Daz in the Kitchen
Currently cooking a chicken curry in the thermomix, which is really not cooking at all. You kinda just put stuff into it and press buttons. Easy peasy. Of course, the proof is the fact that it's cooking and I'm on facebook.
Like · · Share · 3 hours ago

and then:

Daz in the Kitchen
The Thermomix is now cooking the rice we're going to eat with the curry. I'm again ... on facebook! :-)
Like · · Share · 2 hours ago

I'm very amused by my own laziness when it comes to cooking with the Thermomix. :-)

Anyhow, this recipe is straight out of the Everyday Cookbook that comes when one gets the Thermomix.

I've modified it here for normal cooking (which is way more fun - but I can't spend time on Facebook while I'm cooking!).

Here's the RECIPE:

Ingredients:
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 30g oil
  • 100g curry paste
  • 300g - 400g coconut milk
  • 4 potatoes chopped into bite size pieces
  • 500g chicken, diced into 3cm cubes
  • 200g fresh or frozen mixed vegetables (such as, cauliflower, carrots, peas or broccoli) in bite size pieces (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh Coriander (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • Chili powder and flakes to taste

Instructions:
  • Place garlic and onion in pan, with oil and curry paste and cook in pot for 3 or 4 minutes
  • Add coconut and potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
  • Add chicken and mixed vegetables and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
  • About 3 minutes before chicken and vegetables finish cooking, add coriander and continue to cook
  • Add salt to taste and chili powder and flakes for some additional heat, if desired

The curry turned out to be very tasty and The Boy really enjoyed it. That recipe made a lot of curry though. There was plenty leftover and can very easily feed 4 people.

I did do a few things differently, only because I did not have all the ingredients on hand.
  • I did not have any potatoes, so didn't use it.
  • I used fresh carrots cut up into small pieces and frozen peas.
  • I did not have curry paste, so used 1 tablespoon of curry powder instead.
  • It was a very mild curry. I did not put a lot of chili into to for a lot of heat. I decided to go easy on the spice. :-)

© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Thermomix hard at work, I'm not


The Boy suggested last night that I make a curry with the Thermomix. I decided to give it a go even though my last two tries while tasty have not made me entirely happy. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing the matter with the taste of the food, I think it was just my taste buds acting up. Anyhow, tonight's dinner, if we decide to eat it (The Boy said his stomach doesn't feel too good) is a chicken curry cooked in the Thermomix. If not, then it will go in the fridge and we'll eat it for dinner tomorrow night.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

For Bufo ...

Here's what it looks like when I log in to see the Kindle Touch using my overseas account. (click to enlarge picture).


When I log on with my US account this is what I see on my Amazon.com homepage:


And then when I click onto the Kindle picture on the welcome screen, this is what comes up: (My region here is set to US).


And this is what it looks like with all the cookies deleted and not signed in:




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Monday, February 6, 2012

Making meatballs for dinner


It's a messy job but someone's got to do it and that someone was The Boy!!! Well, okay, I did help, which made shaping the meatballs go a lot quicker.

The Boy wanted Swedish meatballs for dinner tonight, which meant meatballs, creamy mushroom sauce with fettuccine. (We seem to be eating a lot of pasta with our meals lately).

We decided that we would make our own meatballs. We've bought meatballs from the grocery store before and they were quite decent, but decided to make them ourselves this time.


Here's what we did:

Ingredients:
  • 500g mince beef
  • 1 small onion chopped finely
  • 1 carrot chopped finely
  • 4 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 bunch of chived chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • Oil (any sort other than olive oil)

Instructions:
  • Mix all the ingredients (except the oil) thoroughly in a large bowl
  • Form into small round balls
  • Heat a pan and fill with about 1cm of oil
  • Cook meatballs in oil until golden brown

The recipe made about 30 meatballs, of which we ate about 10 tonight. The rest we've put in the freezer for another meal or two.

The verdict? The Boy says it tasted exactly the way he expected it to taste. :-)

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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Toppings on our very lopsided pizza


Well, our pizza dough didn't rise as much as it should have, though I'm not entirely certain of that.

We rolled it out on a baking sheet and rolling pin and it came out looking very lopsided. We decided that we could live with a lopsided pizza. Really, what choice did we have? I'm sure those pizza guys spend years perfecting their craft of throwing those perfect pizza rounds.

Toppings on the pizza included:
  • Homemade pizza sauce
  • 1/4 onion sliced thinly
  • 1/4 green capsicum sliced thinly
  • 4 mushrooms sliced thinly
  • 6 cloves of garlic (we like garlic)
  • Chili flakes (use or leave out depending on whether you like your spice or not)
  • Homemade salami sliced thinly (courtesy of The Best Bud)
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese

We've put it into the oven and now hoping for the best.

UPDATE: The pizza turned out to be very tasty despite it's very unfortunate shape, which we didn't notice while eating it. :-)

UPDATE 2: The Boy tells me that my recipe does not provide enough instructions, so here's the rest of it.

Here's my RECIPE for my homemade pizza sauce:
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • Some Italian herbs
  • Salt & pepper to taste

This makes a fair bit of sauce so what I like to do is use small baggies and make up single serves of pizza sauce to freeze for future use.

To prepare the sauce:
  • Blend the diced tomatoes until smooth
  • Add the tomato paste and herbs
  • Place everything into a small pot
  • Heat over the stove and bring to a boil
  • Simmer gently for 1 hour, making sure the sauce doesn't dry out (if it is starting to look too dry or thick, just add some water)
  •  Add the salt and pepper to taste
  • Set it out to cool before using

And to put it all together:
  • First of all, use about 4 or 5 tablespoons of the pizza sauce and spread all over the pizza base
  • Then spread the minced garlic and sprinkle the chili flakes over the base
  • After that, add a thin layer of the shredded cheese on the base
  • Once that is done, layer the rest of your ingredients on the base
  • Top with more shredded cheese and put into oven to cook at 160dC for about 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown

 Hope your pizza turns out fabulous.


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