When you think it is all book marked.......

Just when I thought that I had all my stirfry sauce recipes all bookmarked on the internet I  discover that one of my links has been taken down disappeared.   Thank fully I took a printed copy quite some time ago and today I stumbled upon it. So in the hope of preserving this go to recipe that is great with veges here it is .....




Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Sauce.

Serves two

Mix together 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp tomato sauce.  1 x 227g tin pineapple pieces in natural juice.  1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2 tsp sweetener and tsp corn flour.

Pour into stir fry and finish cooking.

My family love this recipe.  Tonight we had leek, broccoli and yellow capsicum along with a little meat that was left over from the night before.  I needed added some round egg noodles that are cooked.

Super Easy Pasta Dish

I have this pasta meal that is a go too when I have very little time.  I have been asked for this recipe and since I invented in a rush one day it is less than perfect.  Needless to say my family love this meal.

Egg Fettuchini with tomato, bacon and capsicum (or vege of choice)

Ingredients

10 rashers of chicken bacon
1 medium onion diced
1 capsicum diced
1 400 g of chopped tinned tomatoes
fresh basil to taste -  I use about 3/4 cup of basil
salt and pepper
500g egg tagliatelle

Method

1.  Cook tagliatelle according to packaging

2.  At the same time, in a saucepan, put  bacon and diced onion in a heated saucepan.  Cook for about 1 minute or until the onion is transparent and bacon is just cooked.

3.  Add to the saucepan the capsicum, tomatoes, basil and seasoning to taste.  Cook until it is all heated through.

4.  Take the saucepan off the heat and add the pasta to the sauce in the saucepan.

It is best served immediately.

This recipe serves 2 adults and 2 children.

(On this day I only had yellow capsicum left in the fridge so dinner was not so colourful but still tasted great.)

Cooking while camping

When we go camping I have a few basics which are a must.....a hot running shower just like at home and a clean flushing toilet.  I don't think that I am asking much really.  Anyway each year we go camping we add a few new item to our list of things to take camping and this year it was amoung a couple of other things, a new bbq.  Oh boy it is lovely.  It packs up small and cooks fast.  I could not wait to use it.

So armed with some tin foil I cooked easy prepared one touch kind of meals.

Wrap  potato, meat of choice (sausages on this night) in tin foil.  Pop the hood down on the barbeque then sit and enjoy your company.

 Thats it until cooked.  Assemble salad on your plate and consider it ready to eat.

Take a look...

 Pipping hot from the oven ready to unwrap.

 Basic camping food but tasty after a long day at the beach and in the water swimming.

 Here are the family here enjoying the meal. (Hayden is in respite care).

 The best part of it all the barbeque is clean the tin foil saves some dishes and the children were on the dishes anyway.

Traditional Food at my table.

With Christmas only one sleep away I am sitting here pondering what traditions I have instilled in my family.  What will my children carry on when they are adults and creating their own traditions.  There are many things that I hope my children will carry forward but tonight it is all about food.  With us living in a nation where Christmas is a early summer event.  No snow for us and plenty of unstable windy, hot and sunny and even wet days are possible.

So with that in mind I would share What is in my oven gently cooking at the moment ready to take with me tomorrow to our family Christmas.

Meringues  yes I know.  While in New Zealand the Pavlova is proudly claimed as its own although history is debatable and states that it was a dessert that was invented after Anna Pavlova had been on tour with her ballet troupe traveling around New Zealand and Australia.  Whatever the case it was invented in Australasia.

As an upshot of that dessert, which coincidentally I don't like very much, I have made the tradition in my house to make meringues.  Just like a pavlova it is made with egg while just smaller and crunchier.  I guess this why I like the meringue over the pavlova. 

So without wasting anymore words here is my recipe for meringues.

Meringues

In preparation you need to make sure you have the tools you are using perfectly clean and dry.  Your egg beater and bowl both need to be grease clean and dry.  Water, grease and fluffy egg whites do not combine well.  

That also brings me to another point.  Humidity and meringues do not combine well together as well.


Now I have got these two things out there let us begin.


4 egg white  (room temperature)
a pinch of salt
1 cup of castor sugar

Steps

1.  Place 4 egg whites into a metal bowl (maybe an old wives tale but I was always told it should be a metal bowl) and beat until the egg whites form peaks that can stand on their own.

2.   Next add in the pinch of salt and tablespoon at a time the sugar.  Beat until the sugar has disappeared before adding the next tablespoon of sugar.

3.  When all the sugar is in you will have a glossy looking mixture ready for spooning onto your tray covered in baking paper.  Don't forget you will need to have lovely looking peaks too.

4.  Place in an oven pre heated to 120 degrees celcius and then cool the oven temperature down to 90 degrees celcius.  Bake for about 1 1/2 hours and then turn your oven off leaving the meringues in the oven for 3 or so hours. 

5.  Store for up to 3 weeks in an air tight container.


I will be covering mine in a berry coolie with the option of light cream and fresh fruit.  Self assembled.

Pineapple

Today I thought that I would blog something just a little different.

When I was living in Brunei one of the thing I loved was all the local fruit.  No I am not taking about the vomit smelling durian fruit.

 (image source here)

 

 

I am talking about the pineapple.  Truth be known the pineapple I bought was probably imported but we very cheap none the less.  One of the most painful things about pineapple is the cutting of the skin off.  I always seemed to leave bits of that tough skin on the edible flesh.  So I asked a friends wonderful amah Bless if she would show me how to cut the pineapple the local way and this is what I found.

• Firstly you take the pineapple and cut the skin off.  Now we don't grow this fruit in New Zealand so I thought I would post the photo of an unpicked fruit.

(Source here)

 

 

Then you run your knife around the pineapple following the little bits of skin left and you end up with a fruit looking like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Next you quarter your pinapple down the verticle line.

 

 

 

 

Next you notice that a pineapple has a hard core which can be unplesant to eat so cut it out.

 

 

 

 

Finally you cut your pineapple into bite size bits.  I slice down the long line three times and then cut into the size you enjoy.  That is all there is to it.

 









 

 



Leftover ham

Just what to do with leftover ham from Christmas?  I have tried a little something new today.  I was a variation on a recipe I had.

Zuchini and Ham Bites


You will need....

2 zucchini grated
440g of ham
1 egg white
4 tbls cornflour
2 tbl of mint and pastley
salt and pepper to taste
spray oil for pan

Now you need to...

• Place all the ingredients in a bowl and thoroughly combine.  Be careful not to add too much salt because ham is quite salty. 
• Heat a pan lightly sprayed with oil.  Place large spoonfuls of mixture onto the heated pan. 
• Cook

This recipe is easy and fresh on your pallette

We ate these with new potatoes and green vege blanched.

Macaroons Recipe

I am always on the lookout for a sweet treat that is not too calorific.  This one is really easy to make and fills the sweet tooth need.  Maybe you might like it.

 

Macaroons

2 egg (whites)
3/4 cup of castor sugar
100g melted chocolate
100g almond meal

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees celcius in a convection oven.
2. Beat the egg white until they form stiff peaks.
3. Slowly add the sugar while beating .  The mixture will look glossy when you have completed this step.
4. Carefully fold in the melted chocolate and almond meal.
5. Using a teaspoon place drops of the mixture on a baking tray covered in baking paper.
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

This recipe is sensitive to humidity which can cause the macaroons to collapse.

Noodly Dinner

This recipe has evolved in our family over the years and is affectionately known as the Noodly Dinner.  It is perfect for adding veges to your childrens diet and introducing some Asian style flavours.


Noodly Dinner


Serves six people

Ingredients

1kg of egg noodles
4 eggs
a handful of meat (chicken, beef, today I used leftover ham)
1 large carrot grated
1 green capsicum cut into bite size pieces
1 cup of of frozen peas
2.5 cm of freshly grated ginger (I store my ginger in the freezer)
2 Tbs of soya sauce
2 tsp of sesame oil

Method

• Pre cook the noodles as per package
• Wisk the eggs in a bowl until well beaten.  Heat a fry pan with a spray of oil.  Cook the eggs like an omlette.  Remove from pan when cook and when cooler to touch cut into bite size pieces.
• Cook meat through then remove from the heat.
• Put all the veges and grated ginger in the fry pan which has been sprayed with oil.  Cook until meets your taste, we like it just a little crunchy but you might like it really soft.
• Finally mixed all the veges, egg, meat, soya sauce and sesame oil together in a large bowl. 
• Serve and enjoy.

(Photo is by me.  It is slightly out of focus.  I am promising myself to work out how to take better food photos)

Chocolate Chip Brownies

I thought being the entertaining time of the year I would test drive and sweet treat or two to whip up for such moments.

Today I tried the Chocolate Chip Brownie.  Actually I found the recipe on the packaging of one of the ingredients...being the sucker for advertising I am I bought what was needed and here we are.

I am no way linked to the products or the website that the recipe is from but there you go.  One very delicious, perhaps slightly undercooked but delicious brownie.  I would say only for special ocassions as it is very rich.

Toasted Museli

I have been looking for a new breakfast.  Toast was getting really boring so I have taken with this homemade toasted museli.  I double the recipe because my children love this too.

2 cups of oats
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup of sultanas
1/2 cup of maple syrup

Mix all above together well.  Cook in a fan baked over at 160 degrees celcius for about 20 minutes.

There it is straight out of my oven.  You really need smell-a-vision.  Just perfect to look at better to smell.

Serve with yoghurt and fresh fruit.  Hmmmm I cant wait for the morning.

Chocolate Chippie Biscuits

My children love helping me bake.  McKenzie has shown a real interest in baking by herself so I thought I would share the best kiddie friendly biscuit for home baking.  It can be beaten forever and even be stored in the freezer for one of those time short moments.

Chocolate Chippie Biscuits

(source a well tested and tried recipe my Mum has passed on so that is why the measurements are imperial rather than metric)

Ingredients

8oz butter
8oz soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
12 oz self raising flour
chocolate bits to  your taste

Method

Heat the oven to 180 celsius

1.  Cream butter and sugar.

2.  Beat in the vanilla and egg.

3.  Stir in the self raising flour and finally add in the chocolate

4.  Using a teaspoon spoon the mixture onto a cookie tray lined with baking paper.  Flatten the mixture with a moistened fork.

5.  Bake for 10 minute or until brown.

6.  Cool on  a rack.

(Made by McKenzie just last week)

Beetroot Relish

This was my best find of last weeks menu.  We had it on our burger and while the children were not so keen on it I think that they will need to be given time to acquire the taste.

Beetroot Relish
(Souce Weight Watchers Magazine Feb 2011) no online link to this recipe

1/2 cup of cider vinegar
1 tbs of brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 medium beetroot peeled and coarsley grated
1 medium green apple peeled and grated.

Put the cider vinegar, sugar and alt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the beetroot and apple, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally for 6-8 minutes or unti lbeetroot is tender when checked.

That is all there is too it.

Freezer Jam

With strawberries at there cheapest here in New Zealand and I have some time due to holidays I thought that I would would have a go a making some freezer jam.  Now I am new to jam making but bravely set to work.  The strawberries were very cheap, just $5.00 for what I needed.  I used this recipe from Simple Organic.  I could not find any sugar free pectin but went ahead anyway with what I could find. 

So here are my six little jars just cooling on the bench. 

The ingredients I used were

• fresh strawberries  -  six small punnets made the 4 crushed cups I needed bought from the man sitting on the side of the road selling them.
• I packet of jam making pectin
• white grape juice.  I could only find the Grapetiser Sparkling White Grape Juice.
• honey - the runny variety.

I hope it tastes fine when the family comes to give it the taste test.



Monday Menu 27 September

This week I am going to be away on holiday so my menu will not be posted.  Instead I am going post this new recipe I tried tonight.  Mmmmm.  Thanks to Deb for sharing it will me

Quick Quiche


Serves: 6

Points per Serve: 3

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:


Olive Oil Spray

Asparagus Spears 1 bunch, cut into 4 lengths (OR 1 tin. Drained)

Weight Watchers Bacon 4 slices cut into thin strips

Feta Cheese – reduced fat 60 grams, crumbled

Self-raising Flour ½ cup (75 grams)

Eggs 3

Evaporated Skim Milk 375 ml can

Preheat oven to 180 C. Spray a 23 cm pie or 4 cup (1 litre) Quiche dish, lightly with oil. Place asparagus into a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 2 minutes, then drain well.

Spray a medium non-stick frying pan lightly with oil and place over medium heat. Cook bacon for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Sprinkle feta, bacon and asparagus over the base of dish.

Sift flour into a bowl and gradually add combined eggs and milk, stirring with a whisk. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour in the dish.

Bake for 35 minutes, until set and golden brown. Cool slightly, then cut into wedges to serve.

I was so hungry when diner was ready that I forgot to take a photo with the food.  Instead here is the empty dish...yes the dish was made by me.

Steak and Kidney Crockpot

I have frequently over the last few months made a steak and kidney crockpot meal.  This has happened out of necessity and because I happened to have a plentiful supply of this meat in my freezer.  So I thought that I would take the time to blog this recipe because it is simple and when you are a busy mum like me that is essential.

Steak and Kidney Crockpot

500g of steak and kidney
 1 - 1 1/2 cupts any leftover veg washed and diced
1 cup frozen mixed vege
curry powder to taste
salt and peper to taste
1 tsp beef stock
1400g tin of diced tomatoes

Throw all the ingredients into your crockpot and cook on low for about 8 hours. 

Serve over a bed of rice.

So I will be back to update this post with a photo as mine didn't turn out in focus.  Sorry.

Ham Corn and Pasta Pie

Ham, Corn and Cheese Pasta pie

(weight watchers magazine nz/au  June 2010)

I have made alterations to the orginal.

1 small(200g) leek (pale section only), thinly sliced, washed, drained

1*310g corn kernels, rinsed, drained   ( I used frozen corn)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 medium zucchini, grated

250g leftover penne pasta

4 green shallots, trimmed, thinly sliced

150g ww shaved leg ham, chopped

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup (20g) finely grated parmesan cheese

3/4 cup (90g) light cheese grated tasty cheese
1. Preheat the barbeque to 130ish degrees.  I run all 4 burners to achieve this quickly.

2. Lightly spray a large non-stick frying pan with oil and heat over medium heat.  Add leek, corn, garlic and zucchini.  Cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until leek has softened.  Transfer leek mixture to a large bowl.add pasta,shallots, ham, eggs and half the combined cheeses.  Stir to combine.

3. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared cake tin.sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set.cool in tin for 10 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Serve with salad vegetables and enjoy.

So here is our uncooked pie ready on the barbeque waiting for the lid to go down. 

Enjoy

Homemade Fish and Chips

Last week one of my readers asked how the homemade fish and chips went so I thought for a change I would put a recipe up.

A little while ago my husband was up in Rarotonga with work and bought us home some fish. For some reason I could not cook it up that night and reduced the fish to being frozen. Now I am not a fish connoisseur by any means but what I do know is that fish is best eaten fresh. By the time the fish got back to New Zealand it was not more than 5 hours out of the water. Lucky us.

Finally after a number of weeks I get round to looking into what to now do to the fish especially since it has been in the freezer and came a cross a nice simple kiddy friendly recipe that not only would they eat but could make with a little help from adults.

So here is the recipe.

Fish Fingers

4 fillets fleshy white fish
1/2 cup flour
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 Tbl low fat milk
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
4 lemon wedges to serve

Serves 4

1. cut your fish fillets into finger length strips.

2. Spread the flour and breadcrumbs out on two separate plates, and season the flour with salt and pepper.

3. Beak the egg into a bowl, add the milk and mix together using a fork or whisk.

4. Coat the fish fingers with flour, then dip them into the egg mixture. Then coat them well on both sides with the breadcrumbs.

5. Heat the oil ina fry pan over a medium heat and add the fish firngers. Fry for 3-4 munutes on each side un til browned on the outside but cooked in the middle. The fish fingers are cooked when the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and the flesh has turned white.


As for the chips.

You will need

two large potatoes
spray oil
flavour of your choice.

Cut the potatoes into even bite sized pieces. Lay them flat on a baking tray that is lined with baking paper. Spray lightly with oil and sprinkle with your flavour.

Bake in an 200 degree C oven for 20 minutes.

My children just loved the result and can't wait for Dad to go to Rarotonga again. If I says so myself the fish was just perfectly light and flaky.