What's for dinner Mum?

Chicken Vegetable Potato Bake

2012-01-16T13:30:00.001+11:00

Last week, the day I did the groceries, I wasn't really feeling like cooking anything spectacular so I brought home a BBQ chicken, thinking we would have chicken and salad for dinner. My mind started ticking over and I realised we did that the week before and it felt a little boring. So I thought I would do a potato bake, then it turned into a chicken and vegetable potato bake, I kind of just made this up as I went along. It was enjoyed by all.

Chicken Vegetable Potato Bake

                                1 BBQ chicken
                                6 small potatoes
                                1/2 sweet potato
                                2 spring onions
                                1 carrot
                                1 zucchini
                                1 packet French Onion Soup mix
                                250ml sour light cream
                                olive oil
                                your choice of grated cheese for topping I used Colby
                                and Mozzerella

Turn on oven to 200°C/390°F. Pre-boil chunkily sliced potatoes until just cooked, then drain. I don't peel my potatoes, however I did peel the sweet potato. Slice carrots and zucchini and lay them on the bottom of a baking dish.

The next layer is the chicken pulled off the bone and spread across the zucchini and carrots. Slice the spring onions and sprinkle over top of chicken.

Then layer the pre-boiled potatoes over the chicken and spring onions.

Mix the packet of French Onion soup mix and the sour light cream together, add a dash of milk to make it a little more runny consistency and make it spread a bit further, pour over top of potatoes.

Finally sprinkle cheese over the top and bake in the oven for 30mins until golden brown.

Serve with a salad.

Strawberry Jam

2012-01-14T12:30:00.008+11:00

When we visit my mum in Queensland in the September/October school holidays we always buy lots of strawberries from the farm down the road. They are the best, juiciest and most full strawberries I have ever tasted. They sell large ones, that are perfect as well as the not so perfect and 'jam' strawberries, little ones they can't sell at the market. These little ones still taste amazing and are very cheap. I think I brought back 6 kgs of strawberries. I cut up and froze half to use in smoothies and cooking and the other half were cut up for jam.

Strawberry Jam

3kg strawberries, hulled, halved

3kg white sugar

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Cut strawberries into whatever size you like. I cut mine into quarters as I don't really like lumpy strawberries in my jam. You can cut half into quarters and the rest into halves or even whole if you like fruity lumps in your jam.

Place strawberries in a saucepan and stir through sugar. Leave for 1-2 hours while sugar softens the fruit.

It really becomes juicy

Add lemon juice (fresh from my mums tree) then cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fruit is soft.

Cook mixture until fruit is mostly dissolved and jam coats the back of a spoon. Fill the jars with jam, somewhere I read that you seal the lid and turn the jar upside down and allow to cool and the lids will automatically seal. It seemed to work for me, when the jam was cooled I opened a jar and the lid popped just like it should do. I also stored my jam in the fridge as it didn't set totally but had a good thickness to it, and I just want to make sure it won't go off.

I think I filled about 7 or 8 jam jars that I had tucked away for this occasion.

It is just so delicious on a piece of home made bread, there is nothing quite like your own home made jam.

Marbled Chocolate Cookies

2011-05-23T14:09:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since my last recipe was posted, in fact I have been reminded that it's been 5 months. Thanks to the promptings of Argentum Vulgaris from Things that Fizz and Stuff. I finally have a recipe to share. He's done a blog review of "What's for Dinner Mum?" and "EarthWalkerfamily" too over at Bloggers Cafe! So with the help of my son Sam another recipe is finally going up. Sam has made these cookies many times, I think they have become his signature dish. They are a really yummy chocolatey treat especially warm from the oven. Enjoy!!

Marbled Chocolate Cookies

                             2 cups plain flour
                             1/2 teaspoon baking powder
                             1/4 teaspoon salt
                             1/2 cup brown sugar
                             1/2 cup white sugar
                             1/2 cup softened butter
                             1/2 cup sour cream
                             1 teaspoon vanilla
                             1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 160°C/300°F. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine sugars in a large bowl, add softened butter and mix until it forms a grainy paste. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla, mix until fully combined.

Melt the chocolate chips, if you're using dark chocolate just melt slowly in the microwave for a couple of minutes, stirring then heating until fully melted.

Pour melted chocolate over the cookie batter and lightly fold through, don't mix in completely as you want to get the marbled effect of the white cookie dough and chocolate ripples.

Drop spoonfuls onto a lined cookie tray and bake for 19 minutes.

One of the rewards of making cookies, you get to lick the beater!

And you also get to eat the cookies warm, fresh from the oven.

Cannelloni Ricotta with Tomato Sauce

2010-12-11T12:33:00.001+11:00

This is one of my favourite meals to eat. The kids love it and you will find it is a great Summer time dinner that you will want to make again. It does take a little preparation time but it is so worth it. Each time I make it, I do it a little differently, maybe adding a few pine nuts into the cheese mix one time or using cannelloni tubes instead of the lasagna sheets. Just follow the instructions below to find out what works best for you. Don't forget to improvise along the way, that's how most of my cooking gets done. Enjoy!!

Cannelloni Ricotta with Tomato Sauce

                                        Tomato sauce ingredients

                                        1 red onion finely diced
                                        1 800g tin of chopped tomatoes
                                        3 garlic cloves
                                        salt/pepper
                                        1 teaspoon sugar

Cannelloni ingredients

                                        5 large silver beet leaves (stalks cut off) cut finely
                                        lasagna sheets (quick cooking ones)
                                        500g low fat ricotta cheese
                                        1/4 cup grated parmesan
                                        3 garlic cloves crushed
                                        fresh basil chopped
                                        1 egg yolk
                                        salt
                                        1/4 grated parmesan for topping
                                        1 cup grated colby or cheddar cheese for topping

Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F. Steam chopped silver beet until wilted and soft, but still bright green, put aside to cool.

Gently cook onion in a pan in a little olive oil until soft, add tinned tomatoes and garlic, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, you can also add some chopped basil to the tomato sauce as well as adding basil to the cheese mixture. Add salt, pepper and a teaspoon of sugar, mix and take off stove. Using a hand blender purée the tomato mixture to remove all lumps, then put aside.

In a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, grated parmesan, cooled silver beet, chopped basil, egg yolk and salt.

Next you need to pre-soften the lasagna sheets in a large dish with very hot water big enough to hold them. This doesn't take very long, about 5 minutes, or alternatively you can use cannelloni tubes. I use Barilla la collezione lasagna sheets as they soften and cook quickly and you don't have to worry about crunching into hard uncooked pasta. Don't leave them soaking too long as they tend to stick together.

Cover the base of your large baking dish with some of the prepared tomato sauce, reserve some for covering the cannelloni. When lasagna sheets are ready lay one out at a time, put some of the cheese and spinach mix on the end of the sheet and roll it up into the cannelloni, place in the baking dish.

If you're using cannelloni tubes, put your cheese mix into a zip lock bag, snip off the bottom corner of the bag and squeeze into the tubes.

Cover the cannelloni with the rest of the tomato sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese and parmesan for the topping.

Cook for 30-40 mins in a hot oven, 200°C/400°F until golden brown.

Serve your Cannelloni ricotta with a salad and you will find it to be a lovely light but very tasty meal, perfect for those hot Summer nights.

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

2010-12-08T13:10:00.005+11:00

I have been making this chocolate fudge recipe all of my married life, about 15 years so far. It is my special Christmas fudge that I make once a year, however I seem to be making a couple of batches each year now, especially for those church Relief Society Christmas dinners and wrapped up as gifts for friends around this giving season. It is so simple and easy to make, it is also very sweet so don't be tempted to eat it all, wrap some up and enjoy sharing the rich chocolatey goodness with someone special.

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

                                        250g dark chocolate melts
                                        250g dark cooking chocolate
                                        395g tin of condensed milk
                                        60g butter
                                        1 1/2 cups pistachios

Heat the shelled pistachios in a hot pan on the stove until they are lightly browned, keep shaking the pan to cook evenly, do not burn.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. You can use any kind of dark cooking chocolate, I just mix it up a little with different types, or you can just use 500g of the same dark cooking chocolate or dark chocolate melts.

Then add the condensed milk and keep stirring gently until all of the lumps of chocolate have dissolved.

After adding the condensed milk the fudge mixture thickens and becomes glossy, when all of the chocolate lumps have dissolved you can add the pistachios and mix in. The more pistachio's the better, I think.

Pour the mixture into a lined rectangular tin, cover with plastic and refrigerate for a few hours.

When the fudge has set, remove from the tin and cut into small cubes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. This fudge looks fantastic wrapped up in clear cellophane and tied with a ribbon for an easy Christmas gift.

Apple Blueberry Pie

2010-10-16T16:27:00.002+11:00

In honour of the first apple pie I baked back in 1997, which happened to be Canadian thanksgiving, today I have baked an Apple Blueberry pie. I know I'm a week late for Canadian thanksgiving, but I didn't have the ingredients last weekend and today even though it is Spring here, it happens to be very windy and chilly, the perfect kind of day for pie. This is my trusty go to recipe that I have used since 1997 for apple pie. I also use the same pie crust recipe, without the sugar, for any savory pie I might make. Enjoy!!

Apple Blueberry Pie

Pie crust

                                         2 1/4 cups plain flour
                                         1 teaspoon baking powder
                                         1/3 cup cornflour
                                         1/3 cup custard powder
                                         185g butter, softened
                                         2 tablespoons sugar
                                         1 egg yolk
                                         2/3 cup water
                                         1 egg white

Filling

                                         7 large apples, I used Granny Smith
                                            with a few Pink ladys
                                         1/2 cup water
                                         3 tablespoons sugar
                                         l/2 teaspoon cinamon
                                         1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
                                         1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
                                         2 tablespoons apricot jam (I used mango jam)

To prepare the pastry sift flours, custard powder and baking powder into at bowl, rub in the softened butter and add the sugar.

Mix together and then add the egg yolk with the water. You may need to add a little more water if it's not coming together as you mix and knead it. Knead together and then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To prepare the filling peel, quarter and core the apples. Cut each quarter into three slices. Put apples into a saucepan with sugar, cinnamon, lemon rind and water. Cook on the stove until apples become tender but not soft. Add the frozen blueberries and mix gently with the apples for a couple more minutes then take off the stove.

Turn oven on to 190°C/375°F. Remove pastry from the fridge and divide into two. Roll out one half of the pastry on a lightly floured surface for the base of the pie, enough to cover the edges of a greased pie dish. Spread the base of the pastry in the pie dish with apricot jam,

then add the cooked apple and blueberries. Brush the edges of the pastry with lightly beaten egg.

Roll out the second half of pastry and place over top of pie. Squeeze the edges together, trim and then pinch to shape. Cut a slit in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Brush the top of pie with egg white and add any cut pastry shapes, I cut out some little maple leaves.

Finally sprinkle with a little extra sugar and bake in oven for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

When pie is ready allow to sit for a few minutes then best served hot/warm with ice cream.

Hash Browns

2010-09-04T13:50:00.000+10:00

I made these for breakfast this morning, I felt like a little something different and I had never made them before. They went down really fast. My boys said they were like the real thing you buy in a restaurant, except for the really brown ones, they were a little too crunchy. These might be just the thing for a Fathers Day breakfast. Enjoy!!

Hash browns

                                       6 large unpeeled potatoes washed and grated
                                       1 egg lightly beaten
                                       2 tbs plain flour
                                       Salt and pepper to season
                                       Grape seed oil for frying in

Preheat oven to 120°C/248°F, and line a baking tray with paper towel ready to put the hash browns on when cooked. Turn stove onto medium-high heat with oil in the pan to a depth of 2 cms or so.

While the oil is heating up, grate the potatoes into a sieve or colander to allow the moisture to drain. Squeeze the grated potatoes to get out as much moisture as you can.

Transfer potatoes to a large bowl, beat the egg, add to potatoes and mix. Sprinkle the flour lightly over the potatoes, add salt and pepper, mix until combined.

To test the oil just drop a little potato mix into the heated oil. It should brown up pretty quickly if the oil is ready. Don't have the oil too hot, but just enough to lightly brown the hash browns. Grab a small handful of potato, shape it in your hand, place into the oil and flatten with a spatula so it will cook evenly. Depending on your pan size, cook about 5 at a time. When the edges start to brown check to see if it's ready to flip over. You want them to be a golden brown on both sides. Top up oil in pan if necessary. Keep cooked hash browns on the lined tray in the oven. Repeat until all of the potato mix is finished.

Serve with a little fruit, some bacon or eggs. You can even add some sweet potato or onion to the potato mix for a little variation.

Caramel White Chocolate Blondies

2010-08-20T12:32:00.002+10:00

This recipe is one my mum used to bake for us as kids....and still does. She used to make it for my primary school tuckshop and the kids used to love it. Her recipe was a little different from mine below as she used to put sultanas and chopped up dried apricots in it and she called it 'Fruit Slice'. I'm afraid it was time to reinvent the recipe as we got a little tired of the fruit in it and as some of my boys don't seem to like sultanas in cakes any more, so we replaced them with white chocolate buds. This brings out the caramel flavour of the mixture. Although you can try it with sultanas and dried apricots or some macadamia nuts for a different flavour and texture. Play around with your add in's to find your favourites!!

Caramel White Chocolate Blondies

                                     250g butter
                                     2 cups brown sugar
                                     2 eggs
                                     2 cups flour
                                     4 teaspoons baking powder
                                     2 teaspoon vanilla
                                     1 cup white chocolate buds

Turn oven on to 180°C/ 350°F. Melt the butter in a saucepan over the stove. Add the brown sugar and mix well until mostly combined.

Take off the stove and let it cool a little while before adding eggs, you don't want the eggs to cook as you add it to the mixture. Mix thoroughly while adding eggs. Add vanilla, flour and baking powder and combine.

Pour into a lined lamington tin or 33 x 23 cm rectangle pan. Sprinkle white chocolate buds over top and push a few in or alternatively you can add them in the mixture before pouring into the tin.

Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. Do not over bake otherwise it becomes too crispy, you want it to be moist and soft. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing into squares.

Sausage and Bean Hotpot

2010-08-09T18:32:00.002+10:00

This recipe is basically a concoction of recipes I have followed, improved upon, now it is just in my head and at last I have written it down. This recipe uses a lot of staple canned vegetables that I keep a good stock of on the shelves. Four bean mix, tinned tomatoes and tomato soup, the fresh vegies are pretty basic too. The sausages I used were extra lean pork sausages with ginger and shallots, you can use whatever sausages you like, so long as they are flavoursome and preferably not your cheapest variety of pigs bits and pieces (sorry). My slow cooker is 6 litres, if yours is smaller just halve the ingredients. When cooking I always make a big batch so we can spread it across for two meals. You can also cook this on the stove top in a large pan which is what I used to do, at least with the slow cooker you can leave it all day. Enjoy!!

Sausage and Bean Hotpot

                                     4 potatoes diced
                                     1/2 orange sweet potato diced
                                     1 red onion sliced
                                     2 sticks celery diced
                                     4 cloves of garlic cut in half
                                     2 500g packets of sausages
                                     2 800g cans of diced tomatoes
                                     1 420g can tomato soup
                                     1 750g can of 4 bean mix drained and rinsed
                                     2 1/2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
                                     1-2 tablespoon soy sauce
   1 tablespoon brown sugar
                                     salt/pepper to taste
                                     2 teaspoons chicken stock dissolved in the water
                                     2 cups water
                                     1 cup chopped green beans (optional)

Brown the sausages in a pan and then add to slow cooker.

Dice and slice vegetables and add to slow cooker along with the garlic.

Add the canned ingredients, the worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, water and stock. If you're like me who left it until midday to get the pot ready, keep slow cooker on high for a few hours first. Otherwise just slow cook on low for at least 6 to 7 hrs.

One hour before serving take the sausages out of the pot and slice into bite sized pieces and then put them back in the pot. I also like to cut up some green beans at this stage and put them in the pot too, so they don't get too soggy for the first serving and stay a little crunchy.

Serve with some toast or a crusty loaf of bread.

xxx

Raspberry Hazelnut Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

2010-07-30T14:40:00.003+10:00

It was Donald's (my husband's) birthday yesterday so I was searching for the perfect cake to bake. Last year I baked a rich Black Forest Gateau, this year it is more fruity and nutty with hazelnuts and raspberries. The mixture for the cake is the most delicious mixture I have ever tasted and this recipe makes a large batch so there will be plenty of finger dipping and taste testing as you go. The recipe calls for a mascarpone cream icing but I have decided to make a maple cream cheese icing instead. I'll let you know how it all works out together.

Raspberry Hazelnut Cake

                              250g butter softened
                              2 cups caster sugar
                              6 eggs
                              1 1/2 cups plain flour
                              1 teaspoon baking powder
                              1 cup hazelnut meal
                              2/3 cup sour light cream
                              300g frozen raspberries
                              1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts chopped coarsely

Maple Cream Cheese Icing

                              60g butter softened
                              250g cream cheese softened
                              4 tablespoons maple syrup
                              2 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180°/160°C fan forced, 350°F/325°F fan forced. Grease a deep 22cm round cake pan, line the base and sides with baking paper.

Beat butter and sugar in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in the sifted flour, baking powder, hazelnut meal and sour cream. Fold in the raspberries gently, you want to try and keep them whole.

Pour mixture into the pan.

I had a bit of mixture left over so I poured it into a friand tin which made perfect little samples of the cake to taste test.

Bake cake for approx 1 1/2 hours. Stand cake in pan 10 minutes then turn top-side up onto wire rack to cool.

To make the Maple cream cheese icing beat butter, cream cheese and syrup in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sifted icing sugar until spreadable. Spread over the top and sides of the cooled cake and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.

The maple cream cheese icing was very smooth and delicious with the hazelnuts and raspberry cake, very yummy indeed.

Both recipes can be found in The Australian Women's Weekly Mix : cakes, muffins, biscuits and puddings.

Carrot, Banana and Blueberry Muffins

2010-06-09T09:07:00.003+10:00

This is a very easy and simple recipe that is a little healthier than most muffins. It uses wholemeal plain flour, a little raw sugar, fruit and a carrot. It is moist, sweet and......well, fruity. A perfect afternoon treat.

Carrot, Banana and Blueberry Muffins

              125g butter
              1/2 cup raw sugar
              2 eggs
              2 cups grated carrot
              2 ripe banana's mashed (1 would suffice)
              1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
              1 cup wholemeal plain flour
              1 teaspoon bicarb soda
              2 teaspoon baking powder
              1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar together and add eggs. Mix well then add carrots, banana and blueberries. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together, flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and cinnamon until well blended.

In a large bowl mix the wet and dry ingredients together, just using a spoon, you don't want to mash the blueberries. Portion out into a muffin tin lined with patty cases. It makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins. Bake at 180°C/360°F for 25 minutes.

Alternatively you could bake it in a lined loaf tin at the same temperature for 45 to 50 minutes. If you don't have blueberries you can always substitute with sultana's.

Chive and Bacon Damper

2010-04-23T11:50:00.003+10:00

This damper is fantastic with a simple tomato soup. However I made a simple chive damper without the bacon and the cheese to go with my Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup. You can add what ever fresh herbs you like to this recipe or have it totally plain with a little butter and golden syrup drizzled over top. It's very quick and easy to make.

Chive and Bacon Damper

2 bacon rashers fat trimmed off and chopped finely

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

30g butter

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (tasty or colby)

2 tblsp finely chopped fresh chives (spring onions or ordinary onions)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

Cook bacon in pan until crisp then put on paper towel to drain. Put flour in bowl add baking powder and rub in butter, add cheese, chives and bacon. Add milk and enough water to mix to a soft sticky dough. Turn dough onto floured surface, knead until smooth. Shape dough into a long loaf shape (to make sure the centre cooks); place on flat tray lined with baking paper. Mark a few cuts into the dough so it opens out a little while cooking and brush with a little extra milk. Bake in moderately hot oven 190-200°C/375-400°F for approx. 25-35 mins. Serve with butter and tomato soup.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

2010-04-23T11:27:00.003+10:00

I have found this soup, and the way it's cooked, to be a life and time saver. No more standing over the stove stirring in case the bottom of the pot is burning. All you need is time to prepare and chop the vegetables. I really didn't time how long I cooked it. I put it in the pot at about 10am gave it a stir and turned it down to low at about 1pm and added the pasta one hour before serving which was around 6pm. That's about it. It doesn't require oil and if you wanted some of your vegies to be a little crisper like green beans and capsicum, save them till last before putting in the pot, it gives a little crunchy texture. Enjoy!! This one's for you Kim.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

2 carrots diced
1 red onion diced
3 sticks celery diced
1 zucchini diced
2 potato's diced
1 red capsicum (red pepper) diced
a handful of green beans chopped
5 rashers short cut bacon (without the fatty ends)
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 800g tin chopped roma tomatoes
1 750g tin 4 bean mix (drained and rinsed)
4 teaspoons chicken stock powder
5 cups warm water
1 cup small shaped pasta
salt and pepper for seasoning

Add all chopped ingredients and garlic to the slow cooker pot with the cooker turned on to high.

Add stock dissolved in the warm water, add tinned tomatoes and drained and rinsed tin of beans, give a bit of a stir.

After two hours give another stir and turn down to low. One hour before serving taste and season with salt and pepper if desired and add pasta. You may need to add a little more boiling water at this point as the pasta soaks up a lot. I baked a chive damper to go with this very hearty soup but a crusty loaf of bread works just as well.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

2010-03-19T16:03:00.001+11:00

A fantastic Friday afternoon treat, that will hopefully last the weekend through.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

200g dark cooking chocolate
250g butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup plain flour

Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F. Line a rectangular baking pan with baking paper.

In a saucepan gently melt the chocolate and butter, stirring over a low heat until all blended and smooth.

In a large bowl beat eggs for about 4 minutes until they are a light yellow colour. Add sugar continue to mix until all combined. Add vanilla, melted chocolate and butter, mix until smooth. Add flour and mix until combined.

Pour batter into the lined baking pan. Bake in a slow oven for approx 45-55 minutes. The brownies should develop a light crust on top but should be moist in the middle. Best not to over cook.

Are most delicious served warm with your favourite vanilla ice cream.

Rice Bubble Date Slice

2010-02-06T13:19:00.002+11:00

My friend Yvonne (whom I made the Caramel Mud Cake for) makes this slice for her kids birthdays and I just love it. I finally found the recipe and made it myself. Now if you're giving this to your kids don't tell them there are dates in it...that is until after they've eaten it and told you how much they love it. I was never fond of dates on their own but in this you hardly know they're there. This slice has a lovely caramel flavour to it. Great for kids parties or an afternoon snack.

Rice Bubble Date Slice

4 cups rice bubbles
125g butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar
250g packet dates chopped finely
¼ cup condensed milk

Lightly grease an 18 x 28cm slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper. Place rice bubbles in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan on low. Add the sugar, dates and condensed milk. Stir for 10-15 minutes until dates soften and fall apart. Remove from heat.

Add mixture to rice bubbles, stirring until well combined.

Spoon into prepared pan, pressing firmly.

Chill for 2-3 hours until firm. Cut slice into squares to serve.

For a little decadence melt a little milk chocolate and pour a thin layer over top of slice before cutting then refrigerate.

Potato and Onion Tortilla

2010-01-06T10:32:00.005+11:00

I found this recipe in another of my sisters cookbooks that she passed onto me. It comes from "Mediterranean: a taste of the sun in over 150 recipes" by Jacqueline Clark and Joanna Farrow and they tell me that this is one of the signature dishes of Spain. It is a perfect summer dish, my kids loved it and it's pretty easy to make. You just need a large frying pan and a plate or pizza tray to match the size of the pan for flipping the tortilla over. It's one of those dishes that is filling and just needs a little salad or vegies on the side to accompany it.

Potato and Onion Tortilla

1 1/2 cups olive oil
6 large potatoes sliced
2 Spanish onions sliced
6 eggs
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan. Stir in the potato, onion and a little salt. Cover and cook gently for 20 minutes, until soft.Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Remove the onion and potato from the pan with a slotted spoon and add to the eggs.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour off some of the oil, leaving about 4 tablespoons in the pan. (Reserve leftover oil for other cooking.) Heat the pan again. When the oil is very hot, pour in the egg mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Cover the pan with a plate or pizza tray and invert the omelet onto it. I had the temperature up a little too high so it stuck to the pan, so I turned it down and the second side cooked and slid out beautifully.

Slide it back into the pan

and cook for 5 more minutes, until golden brown and moist in the middle.

I served it in wedges with some cooked silver beet and pine nuts and some grape tomatoes.

Christmas Chocolate Star Cookies

2009-12-13T16:54:00.003+11:00

I bake these cookies a few weeks before Christmas every year, decorate them and give them away for little gifts. It's my thing. I don't like buying presents for acquaintances but I do love to bake and give something home made with love. Stacked up on top of each other wrapped in clear cellophane tied with a festive ribbon, these cookies make a lovely little gift.

The cookies are just the right size to pop into your mouth without anybody noticing. I make a chocolate batch accompanied by a vanilla batch. My boys and husband are often very disappointed that we give most of them away, not this time, I made two double batches to make sure there was enough to go around and some left over. The recipe is based on Mrs Fields, Snowy White Chocolate Crescents, I just shape them a little differently.

Christmas Chocolate Star Cookies

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Decorations

White chocolate for melting
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Combine flour and cocoa in a bowl, mix well, put aside. In a medium bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add vanilla and egg, and beat until light and smooth.

Scrape down sides of bowl, then add flour and cocoa mixture.

Blend on a low speed until fully incorporated. The dough will be moist and crumbly but kneads together well. Grab a handful of dough and roll into a ball. Sprinkle flour on your working surface and roll out dough, lightly flouring the rolling pin so it doesn't stick. Roll out to what ever thickness you desire, remember the thinner they are the more crispy they will be or the thicker, the more moist they will be.

Cut out your star shapes. When cutting out large stars I used my BBQ mate (flat metal spatula) to slide in and lift up the star so it didn't tear while transferring to the lined baking tray. The little stars were easy to pick up and pop out of the cookie cutter.

Reserve a little dough for blending and kneading with your left over bits after cutting out the stars. Otherwise the dough gets a little too dry and crumbly towards the end if you keep kneading it with the flour.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Let cool completely before decorating.

Decorating:

I melt a handful of white chocolate buds and use it in a piping bag with a small, plain nib and swirl patterns across each cookie.

If that seems like too much then dusting with icing sugar works beautifully too.

Note: If you want to make vanilla star cookies just substitute flour with the cocoa.

Orange poppy seed roasted vegetable salad

2009-12-06T20:24:00.006+11:00

This is my special occasion roast veggie salad and it comes from my Family Circle Fabulous Salads book. I make it for Christmas or big family get togethers. This one I made for my church's Relief Society Christmas dinner and it didn't last very long before it was all gone. It can be served straight from the oven or as a warm salad a few hours out of the oven. Just don't put the Brie on top until you're ready to serve. It is just a beautiful salad for any time of the year.

Orange Poppy Seed Roasted Vegetable Salad

6 small potatoes quartered (I don't even peel them)
(hint: chop all of the veggies about the same size, but not too big)
2 parsnips peeled and chopped in chunks
1/2 of a large orange sweet potato chopped
1/4 jap pumpkin chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
4 small brown onions quartered
3 cloves of garlic peeled and halved
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
200g triple cream Brie thinly sliced

Orange dressing

1/2 cup orange juice
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Preheat oven 200°C/400°F. Place all of the chopped veggies and garlic in a bowl toss in oil, salt and then spread over a large lined baking tray.

I used two trays to spread the veggies over. Bake in oven for 50 mins to an hour. Check after the first 20 mins, toss then sprinkle with poppy seeds and put back in the oven for another 20 mins and check again after that and give another toss to bake evenly.

To make the dressing whisk the ingredients in a small jug or jar to combine.

When veggies are done transfer to a large bowl, pour the dressing over the warm veggies and toss to coat, you may not need all of the dressing. Be gentle or the veggies will squish.

Then top with the slices of Brie. Watch the Brie melt ever so slowly over the veggies and then serve and enjoy!!

Caramel Mud Cake with Caramel Icing

2009-11-27T16:37:00.002+11:00

It was my friend Yvonne's birthday last week. She and I both have 3 boys of the same age, who all started pre-school together and have been going to play group together too. So what do you get a super mum for her birthday....well, I never know...so I bake. I baked a heart shaped caramel mud cake with caramel icing and decorated with piped white chocolate flowers. I had some mixture left over so I also made some mud cup cakes too! It was so easy, you just need to allow for a bit of time for the slow baking and the cooling down of the cake before icing. Enjoy!

Caramel mud cake

Melted butter, to grease
200g butter, cubed
200g white chocolate, chopped
200g (1 cup, firmly packed) dark brown sugar
180ml (3/4 cup) hot water
1 tbs golden syrup
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, at room temperature
150g (1 cup) plain flour
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour (or plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
Icing sugar, to dust (optional or see caramel icing recipe below)

Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter. Line base and side with non-stick baking paper. Place butter, chocolate, sugar, water, golden syrup and vanilla essence in a heavy-based saucepan. Another option is to do this part in the microwave see note below.

Stir over medium-low heat with a wooden spoon for 5 mins or until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.

Set aside for 20 mins to cool.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift combined flours over chocolate mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Pour mixture into greased and lined pan and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 mins or until a skewer comes out almost clean. Stand cake for 20 mins before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar or mix up some caramel icing.

Caramel Mud Cake Icing

½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons thickened cream
60 g butter, chopped
1½ cups icing sugar
¼ cup white chocolate buttons

Place brown sugar, cream, butter and chocolate buttons in a saucepan and heat until butter and chocolate have melted. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the sifted icing sugar to a spreadable consistency. Spread icing quickly over the cooled caramel mud cake. Melt a few white chocolate buttons and pipe some decoration onto the cake for a finishing touch.

Note: Microwave tip: Place butter, chocolate, sugar, water, golden syrup and vanilla essence in a heatproof microwave-safe bowl. Heat, uncovered, on High stirring with a wooden spoon, for 3-4 mins until chocolate melts. Remember to adjust the cooking time to less if you are using a smaller tin + muffin tin.

Jelly oranges

2009-11-22T22:57:00.008+11:00

Kids love jelly and these bite sized jelly boats, not a drop is wasted. These are such a fun party treat for the kids. A friend, another girl who has three son's, made jelly oranges for their birthday parties every year. I finally cracked on to what a great idea they are and have started doing it for my own boys birthdays. The trick is to get thick skinned navel oranges, hopefully with a small navel so the jelly liquid doesn't leak out before it sets. Thick skinned because you don't want to rip or cut the skin while trying to de-orange the orange peel. You'll see what I mean.

Jelly oranges

4-5 oranges
2 packets of jelly crystals
boiling water and cold water for mixing with the jelly crystals

Cut oranges in half from where the stalk was down to the navel, otherwise the jelly mix will leak out of the navel. Then, with a small sharp knife, edge around the orange and the peel to help lift the orange segments out. Don't poke the knife in too far or you'll make a hole in the peel and the jelly will leak out of it. I lost a few orange halves that way. Use your fingers to pry the orange away from the peel.

Scrape any excess orange off the peel as the juice may affect the setting of the jelly. Rinse and pat dry. Set the orange shells on a tray making sure all are even, tuck a little paper towel under to ensure no wobbles. Save the oranges segments for afternoon tea.

Mix up your packets of jelly as per the instructions on the box. Pour cooled jelly into the orange halves and set in the fridge. Allow a few hours.

When ready to serve slice the oranges into segments and serve.

It would be fun to pull these out at half time at a soccer game, give the kids a bit of a surprise and a boost.

Roasted garlic pumpkin

2009-11-09T20:10:00.001+11:00

I just love pumpkin, particularly the Jap pumpkin (or the Kent variety) it's rich yellow, orange colour, and the flavour is so sweet. If you want something extra to liven up your salads or just as a side dish this is the most delicious intense flavour. As it bakes in the oven the outside of the pumpkin becomes crispy but inside it is sweet and as smooth as silk.

Roasted garlic pumpkin

1/4 Jap pumpkin (or Kentish)
1-2 cloves garlic
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Chop up chunks of pumpkin 2 cm diameter with or without the skin. I chopped off the skin. Coat in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and 1 crushed garlic clove. I used one big fat clove. Toss together and then spread over flat baking tray lined with baking paper.

Cook in hot oven 210° C/420° F approx 30 mins or until pumpkin darkens, crisps and reduces in size and caramalises, but is not burnt.

It is so sweet and delicious. Eat on it’s own, throw over a green salad, top a pizza with it or just as a side dish.

Pavlova

2009-10-30T11:12:00.006+11:00

This is the first time I have made a pavlova. My mum has always been the pavlova chef so I have never needed to make one. It was a hot Spring day that felt like summer was here, and I had a hankering for a pavlova, thanks Womens Weekly for providing the instructions. I never knew it was so easy. I have made meringue before, see the Crispy Chocolate Meringues recipe, but never a full pavlova. Just make sure your beat the sugar until it dissolves, rub the mixture between your fingers to test otherwise during and after baking it sweats droplets. It is such a delicious, sweet and crunchy summer desert, enjoy.

Pavlova

2 teaspoons butter softened
2 teaspoons cornflour
5 egg whites at room temperature
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour, extra
375ml thickened cream, whipped (see note below)
250g strawberries quartered
1 mango diced or sliced into small pieces
1/3 cup passionfruit pulp (optional)

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F (130°C/250°F fan forced). Grease a lined cookie tray with softened butter, then sift the cornflour over the greased area.

When separating the eggs, do not get any yolks into the whites as they won't whip as well. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until dissolved between additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Use a large metal spoon or spatula to fold in extra sifted cornflour.

Pile the meringue into the centre of the prepared tray.

Use the back of a metal spoon to spread the meringue into a 23cm circle, making a shallow well in the centre, a bit like a birds nest a little higher at the sides to hold in your cream and fruit topping.

Reduce the oven temperature to 100°C/200°F (80°C/180°F fan-forced). Bake pavlova in the lower half of the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until dry and crisp. Turn off the oven, cool in oven with door ajar. Serve pavlova topped with whipped cream, strawberries and mango (passionfruit opptional).

Note: When whipping cream add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of icing sugar, it gives the cream a fuller flavour.

White Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

2009-09-03T09:20:00.003+10:00

Blondies, I found out after much pondering, are the opposite of brownies. So if you've had enough of chocolate brownies, but still need a chocolate sweet fix then you must try these. I have been experimenting with these blondies to include hazelnuts into the recipe. I first baked them with whole hazelnuts and just white chocolate, it was delicious but I felt the nuts were too big. My next experiment was to use a whole block of hazelnut milk chocolate, as the nuts were already roasted and crushed to perfection, surrounded by milk chocolate which made it even better. So here is the recipe from my latest experiment which I think is rather yummy. You can substitute raspberries for the blueberries and just use white chocolate, and for a little added extra add a handful of roasted chopped macadamias.

White Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

125g butter, chopped

180g white eating chocolate, chopped

180g block of hazelnut chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (165g) sugar

2 eggs beaten lightly

1 1/4 cup (110g) plain flour

1 teasp baking powder

150g fresh or frozen blueberries

Combine butter and two-thirds of the white chocolate in a medium saucepan, stir over a low heat until smooth. Cool 10 mins.

Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F. Grease a 23cm square slab cake pan, line the base and sides with baking paper.

Stir sugar and eggs into butter mixture then sifted flours, remaining chocolate and then the blue berries. Gently mix, you don't want the blueberries getting too squashed up. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 mins. Cool in the pan.

When cooled, slice up and dust with icing sugar.

Jam Drop Cookies

2009-08-22T09:17:00.002+10:00

My computer is in the computer hospital at the moment with all of my cooking photo's on it, so I'm resorting to a recipe I frequently bake, and have posted on my family blog previously. This recipe is so smooth and delicious and the family just love them. This one comes from a cook book that Donald and I got as a wedding present. It has been one of the most useful recipe books I own. Thanks to Kim, Donald's cousin we are the proud owners of one "Mrs Fields Cookie Book" and we just loooove it.

So the recipe I'm going to share today is based on Mrs Fields Suprise-Filled Cookies, but I've added a little custard powder to make them taste smoother. Bascially they're jam drop cookies.

Jam Drop Cookies

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1/4 cup custard powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

your favourite jam for the filling

Preheat oven to 150° C/300° F

In a medium bowl combine flour, custard powder and baking powder. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside. In a medium bowl cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour mixture and blend at low speed until combined. The dough will be firm.

Scoop teaspoonfuls of dough, roll into balls about 2 cm diameter and place on ungreased baking sheets or baking paper about 2 1/2 cm's apart, they will spread as they cook. Use your thumb to depress the middle of the cookie ball and make a little well, but not too hard that you make a hole in the bottom. Using a teaspoon drop a little of your jam to fill the well, not too much as it will spill over while it cooks.

Bake for 22-24 minutes until very lightly golden yellow. Remember the jam will be stinking hot when they come out so wait till they cool a little before munching into them.

Black Forest Gateau

2009-07-30T18:05:00.003+10:00

Alright, if you're prepared for deliciousness, richness, chocolatey, moist and creamy and did I mention rich, then this is the cake for you. It was perfect, just how I wanted it to be. This was my husbands birthday cake, I don't think he was prepared for how rich and chocolatey his birthday cake was to be...I was! I've made basic black forest cakes before with just an ordinary chocolate cake base, but this time I followed the books recipe, except for the kirsch liquor, which we don't use and didn't need. The recipe comes from my Chocolate Dreams recipe book by Christine France, I inherited it from my sister.... thank you Gabby.

Black Forest Gateau

6 eggs

1 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup melted butter

Filling

60ml Kirsch (optional I didn't use it)

600ml/2 1/2 cups double cream or thickened cream

2 tblspn icing sugar

1/2 teasp vanilla essence

675g jar/can pitted black cherries well drained

Juice from the jar of cherries.

To Decorate

2 Cadbury Flake bars crumbled or grated chocolate

Fresh or drained cherries

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease three 19cm round cake tins.

**I used two 21cm round tins and made double the mixture to bake 4 cakes. It depends on the size of your pans and how big you want your cake. I'm making a 3 layer cake and I have frozen the 4th cake.**

Line the bottom and sides of each tin with non-stick baking paper. Combine the eggs with the sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer until pale and very thick.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder over the mixture and fold in lightly and evenly with a metal spoon. Gently stir in the melted butter.

Divide the mixture among the prepared tins, smoothing them level. I only cooked two at a time.

Bake for 15-18 mins, until the cakes have risen and are springy to the touch leave them to cool in the tins for about 5 mins, then turn out on to wire racks and leave to cool completely. Remove the lining from each cake.

Prick each layer of cake all over with a skewer then sprinkle with a couple of table spoons of cherry juice (or the Kirsch).

Using a hand held electric mixer, whip the cream in a bowl until it starts to thicken, then gradually beat in the icing sugar and vanilla essence until the mixture begins to hold its shape.

To assemble, spread one cake layer with a thick layer of cream and top with about half of the cherries.

Put second cake layer over the top of the first, spread with cream, top with cherries. You could leave the cake like this and it would still be wonderful. But I'm going for 3 layers of decadence.

Top with the final cake layer.

Spread the remaining cream all over the cake top and sides.

Sprinkle with chocolate and decorate with cherries. I used a piping bag for the cream blobs that the cherries sit on.

Cherries with stalks or without?

I think I prefer the stalks left on they look like little birthday candles.

Homemade Sausage rolls

2009-07-24T17:25:00.002+10:00

I have been making these sausage rolls for birthday parties over the past few years. I am tired of greasy sausage rolls from the frozen food section and wanted to make a healthier, tastier version for the kids (and adults). It is easy and you get to choose the type of filling for your sausage rolls. So go get yourself some lovely gourmet sausages the flavour of your choice. I chose lamb, rosemary, mint and garlic for these ones.

Sausage Rolls

6 gourmet sausages, your choice of flavour

2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry

1 egg beaten

1 table spoon sesame seeds

Turn on your oven to 200°C/400°F. Line baking trays with baking paper. Defrost 2 sheets of puff pastry about an hour before you start cooking. It will give the pastry time to thaw so it's easy to work it.

You need about 3 gourmet sausages per square sheet of puff pastry. Peel the skin off your sausages just like for the spaghetti and meatballs. Cut the pastry in half. Lay the sausage down the long edge of the puff pastry and add another 1/2 sausage until the lenth of the pastry is covered and comes to the end of the pastry. You can always stretch the sausage to fit. Brush beaten egg on the opposite edge of the pastry to the sausage. Now roll the pastry until the sausage is covered. The egg will seal the pastry and sausage roll together.

Cut the large roll into whatever sized sausage rolls you like, I like bite size, and place them onto a lined baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the pastry and sausages.

Brush beaten egg on top of sausage rolls and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Place in a hot oven for 20-25 mins until golden brown and sausage is cooked.

Serve with tomato sauce (compulsory).

Chocolate Marshmallow Cloud Cookies

2009-07-15T17:05:00.002+10:00

It's school holidays and with the boys home from school I have lots more time for cooking. It's just a matter of deciding what treat to cook. Today we baked chocolate marshmallow cloud cookies, which comes from my Mrs Fields cookie book. With my little marshmallow goblin helpers (goblin cause that's what they do when they help, gobble, gobble, gobble) we sifted flour and cocoa and added the marshmallows to the mix.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cloud Cookies

3 cups plain flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup salted butter softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups dark choc bits
1 100g bag mini marshmallows, frozen

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Put the marshmallows in the freezer prior to baking and keep them there, they need to be kept cold before they go into the cookies.

In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. Set aside.

Combine sugars in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend in butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speeed until lght and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until combined. Batter will be very stiff.

Gather a ball of mixture in the palm of your hand, make a well in the middle and fill with 4-5 frozen marshmallows, cover over completely encasing them and forming a 2-inch-diameter dough ball. Make sure the marshmallows are covered otherwise they will spill out while cooking and become too chewy rather than soft and marshmallowy. I have tried making smaller cookies with less marshmallows and have tried making them bigger, it just depends if you can handle the sweetness, they are very rich. I prefer the smaller cookies.

Place balls on lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on pan 2 minutes then transfer to a cool flat surface or pop into your mouth.

Mini Quiches

2009-07-14T07:30:00.006+10:00

These little quiches are lovely for brunch or lunch and can even go in the kids lunch boxes the next day. I just used my normal quiche recipe that I use for larger quiches. The egg mix is always changing when ever I make a quiche. You can add whatever bits and pieces to flavour your quiche, cherry tomato on the top, chopped asparagus or mix up a bit of chopped spinach, what ever you have in your fridge.

Mini quiches

6 Eggs whisked
3 slices Bacon chopped, fat removed
2 shallots chopped
125 grams grated colby cheese
125 ml Cream or sour cream
125 ml Milk

2 tablespoons cottage cheese
3 sheets Frozen puff pastry thawed

Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F. Thaw the puff pastry separately on the bench on it's plastic. Grease a 12 muffin tray pan with oil, I used olive oil. Cut out circles in the pastry the size of a ramekin. You want them big enough to fit your muffin tray sections with the edges a little higher than the muffin cups so it's easier to get them out when they're cooked. Cut a little triangle out of the circle to make it easier to fit into the muffin tin. Any left over pastry can be added together, kneaded and rolled out to make more quiches.

Shape the pastry into the muffin tins and press down to seal the cut pastry.

Cook up the finely chopped bacon and then add the chopped shallots. Put them aside. Combine beaten eggs, milk, cream or sour cream, cottage cheese and season with salt. Add half of the bacon and shallots (save some to sprinkle on top of quiches) and all the grated cheese. Spoon evenly into the pastry and sprinkle with remaining bacon and shallots.

Cook in the oven until the eggs are set and pastry is cooked and puffed. Approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The eggs will rise while they cook and then settle down when out of the oven. Don't they look scrumptious all puffy and golden!

Raspberry and White chocolate muffins

2009-07-11T12:43:00.008+10:00

I've never made these muffins before and have dreamed of them for years since I first saw Ainsley Harriott on tv making extra tall ones wrapped in baking paper. I can't quite remember how he did it but these simple ones are pretty scrumptious. I just love how the mixture goes a lovely shade of pink. I found this recipe here. Next time I'll attempt the more decadent tall ones.

Raspberry and white chocolate muffins

2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
50g butter, melted
1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
180g good white chocolate, roughly chopped or white choc buds

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Place 12 large patty cases into a muffin pan. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and mix in the sugar.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk and butter. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. Using a large spoon, gently fold the raspberries and chocolate into the mixture until just combined, you don't want to over stir it or the raspberries squish up.

Distribute the batter between patty cases.

Bake for 20-25 min, or until a skewer comes out clean and muffins are golden.

Chicken Pie

2009-06-23T13:43:00.002+10:00

This pie is oh so delicious and looks rather tempting. The pastry mix is one I use for making apple pie only I omitted the sugar and still kept in the custard powder, it comes from my "Best recipes from the Weekly". I think the custard powder helps to give it that rich golden colour and a nice smooth crust to taste. The chicken pie filling is one that I have made up from a combination of recipes off the internet and have ironed out the wrinkles to make it a perfect pie. I had lots of chicken so I decided to make two pies. One I cooked and the other I prepared but didn't cook, so it went straight into the freezer for another day. The ingredients below are for one pie, just double it for two, although I must say I did only use half of a large chicken, it was a very big chicken. Just give yourself plenty of time for this pie, pastry could be made in the morning or the day before so you just have to roll it out and add the filling.

Chicken Pie

Pastry

1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1/3 cup cornflour

1/3 cup custard powder

185g butter

1/3 cup water approx

1 egg white

sesame seeds

Filling
2 potatoes diced and pre boiled
1/2 sweet potato diced and pre boiled
1 carrot diced
1 onion chopped chunkily

2 sticks of celery chopped finely
30g butter
extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots
thyme
rosemary
3/4 cup corn kernals
1/2 large BBQ chicken chopped (free range if possible)
1 tablespn corn flour
1 teaspoon chicken stock
300ml water

salt & pepper to season

To make the pastry, sift flour, cornflour and custard powder together with the baking powder, rub in softened butter. Make a well in the centre, add egg yolk and enough water to mix to a firm dough, knead lightly. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the pie filling.

Turn oven on to 190° C/375° F. Boil potatoes until just ready, you don't want them too soft. Oil large pan with extra virgin olive oil and a dob of butter, gently cook up the onion, carrot and celery until softened. Add chopped chicken and herbs then the cooked potatoes, corn, shallots and seasoning. Gently mix together. Add water to the stock and cornflour, mix together then stir into the pie filling, let thicken. Turn off the heat. You also don't want the pie too soggy, the liquid just binds the ingredients together.

Retrieve pastry from the fridge and cut into two halves. Roll out the first half of pastry onto floured surface. Roll it large enough to cover the greased pie plate with a little over hang around the edge.

Fill the pie with the cooked filling. Brush egg white around the rim of the pastry. Roll out second half of pastry and cover over the pie, press edges together firmly and trim.

Any spare bits of pastry can be rolled out and shaped to decorate your pie. Brush top of pie with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut an X in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape while cooking.

Bake in moderately hot oven 25-35 mins until golden brown, serve immediately. Any leftovers are great for a warm lunch the next day.

School lunches

2009-06-19T09:53:00.003+10:00

Back in my day lunch times at school were called little lunch and big lunch and we had a tuckshop at the school where you could get a lunch order or just buy a snack over the counter. I remember in grade one, the tuckshop was about 15 meters away from our class room and the smell of pies and sausage rolls heating up through the morning used to make me so hungry. On a hot summer's day in Queensland you could buy a sunny boy triangular pyramid shaped ice block that would last all the lunch hour because it was frozen solid. Usually at the end of the lunch hour you'd be left with a tasteless blob of ice as you sucked the juice out of it.

Today my boys call their little lunch recess and big lunch is just lunch time, tuckshop is now canteen. At my boys school there is only one day in the week that the canteen is open all day and on Fridays it's open for recess only. During the early years of my first son's schooling we never really did lunch orders, but since my second son started school it's been a habit in the last year or so every Tuesday to have a lunch order. I look forward to Tuesdays, not only does it give me a break on Tuesday mornings from making lunches, but if the cupboard is bare I don't have to worry, unless of course we have run out of small change...then we have to raid the money boxes.

The lunches I make for my boys every day is fairly simple. The only pre-packed thing I sometimes use is a little pyramid of laughing cow cheese to pop into their recess. For their recess, I cut up a piece of fruit and have crackers and cheese or a little container that I put some dip into. This recess had some carrot sticks for dipping, a few water crackers, grapes and spinach and pine nut dip in a tiny sealed container. Sometimes it's just cookies or muffins that I have made, but there's always a piece of fruit.

For lunch it's always a sandwich. Ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce and a little mayo on whole grain bread. It varies sometimes, ham, cheese and avocado, chicken, tomato and avocado etc depending on what I have in the fridge. We don't do peanut butter at school because of children with allergies, so we save peanut butter sandwiches for the weekend. My boys like the same things for lunches pretty much every day. I just vary the fruit and the sandwich fillers. I love this time of year, the fruit, especially mandarines are fantastic for putting in lunch boxes whole, if it's an apple I usually quarter it and cut out the middle seed section and give half to each child and throw in a few grapes or half of a banana.

My theory about school lunches is if you make it bite size they can pop it into their mouths easily and have enough time for play. If they eat their lunches, which they do, then I know they are pretty much getting a balance of all the right food groups and we can have something yummy for afternoon tea.

Chocolate Hazelnut slice

2009-06-16T13:01:00.002+10:00

I was looking for something to bake this morning as it was time for something sweet. As I was flicking through a recipe book from the boys school, compiled by the families to celebrate 50 years of the school, I came across this Chocolate Hazelnut slice. Most of the time when I see a recipe I fancy I want to cook it there and then, so a lot of the time I have to make do with what ingredients I have. I am not one for popping down to the shops for just a few ingredients as I usually come home with a trolley full. So if I don't have it, I improvise or twist it to a similar recipe, the same goes with all of my recipes, I never seem to bake exactly the same thing twice. Now I didn't have a hazelnut chocolate bar on hand (they don't last long in our house) but I did have some hazelnuts in the cupboard which I crushed and added to 200g of milk and dark chocolate melts and I also don't use copha so see the alternative if you're not a fan of it either.

Chocolate Hazelnut Slice

250g plain sweet biscuits (milk arrowroot)

125g butter melted

150g flaked almonds or chopped slivered almonds

1/2 tin condensed milk

2 tablespoons golden syrup

200g block hazelnut chocolate melted

30g copha (hydrogenated coconut oil) melted

(see note below * about alternative for copha)

Line a 20cm x 20cm square tin, (or of similar dimensions) with baking paper. Call for your biscuit crusher to come and help you, mine is the best helper, he hammered away at a bag full of biscuits and then we poured them into a bowl to finish them off.

Crush biscuits, chop almonds and place in a bowl. Add melted butter, golden syrup and condensed milk.

Mix well and press into prepared tin, refrigerate.

For the topping, melt the chocolate and copha together in a double boiler and pour over base. Refrigerate 1-2 hours then cut into squares.

*Alternatively: I didn't have copha, I don't like copha and I won't use copha so instead I melted about 200g of choc melts, a combination of milk chocolate and dark chocolate bits and I added about 30g butter instead. When the chocolate was melted and smooth I also added a few tablespoons of condensed milk and then the crushed hazelnuts. You don't have to add the condensed milk if you don't want to as it firms up the melted chocolate mix (this is how I make chocolate fudge) you have to press the chocolate mixture onto the base with your fingers, it's quite malleable when warm, to smooth it out.

Once you have pressed the chocolate over the base refrigerate for a few hours and then cut into slices. It's quite a sweet slice due to the condensed milk and golden syrup but a little piece does rather nicely for afternoon tea or desert.

Vegetable Lasagne

2009-06-12T11:45:00.004+10:00

After being afraid of making lasagne in my early 20's it is now one of the easy meals that I am so used to preparing that I rarely use a recipe. This recipe is one of the many different lasagnes I cook. So please forgive me if it seems a little long winded, as I wrote this one out myself weeks after making and taking the photos. This is such a delicious dish that my kids will eat, particularly because it has lasagne sheets, tomato sauce and cheese, which tend to disguise the vegies and fools them into thinking they are eating a regular lasagne. It may look a little complicated but just prepare the chopped vegies and sauce ahead of time and all you have to do is make up the layers. The tomato sauce could be made anytime even the day before, just heat it up a little before you start layering. I also make a double size lasagne in a large baking dish. We usually get two meals out of it and serve it again a few days later. The ingredients below should be enough for a standard lasagne dish, if you use a larger one just double the ingredients.

Vegetable Lasagne

Filling
2 zuchini’s sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced
1 capsicum (red bell pepper)
fresh baby spinach
fresh basil and oregano leaves.
lasagne sheets

Tomato Sauce
1 800g tin of chopped whole peeled tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 brown onion diced finely
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Topping

Ricotta cheese approx 375g
Grated Colby approx 1-2 cups
Sliced mozzerella or bocconcini

(approx 1 container of bocconcini)

Turn oven on to 200° C/400° F

To make the sauce cook onions in pan on medium heat with olive oil, until softened. Add tinned chopped tomatoes, mix and simmer, then add crushed garlic. You might want to cover a little as the tomato bubbles about a lot. Allow to simmer on low heat for at least 10 mins while you prepare the vegetables.

Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of lasagne dish, then a layer of zuchini, carrot, capsicum, spinach, basil and oregano and a little more sauce. Then place the lasagne sheets evenly across. Layer more vegies and then sauce and repeat again. You end up with about three layers of lasagne sheets and vegies.

For the top layer after you put down the last layer of lasagne sheets dob a few blobs of sauce over the lasagne sheets, dob some blobs of riccotta cheese, sprinkle with grated colby cheese and top with small slices of mozzerella or bocconcini cheese. Then blob any sauce in spots over top of the cheese. I like dobbing blobs.

Bake in a hot oven 200°C/400°F for about 40-45 mins or until the top is bubbling and browned a little. Serve with a side salad or just on its own.

Breakfast Crepes

2009-06-08T15:09:00.001+10:00

I am not a great lover of pancakes but I love crepes. I have only eaten theses ones for breakfast, but these crepes can be used for anything, deserts, seafood or savory dishes. I love them for breakfast with fresh fruit, maple syrup and melted butter. This is the breakfast I ask for when it's Mothers Day or my Birthday. This time I made them for my boys. They really love constructing their own crepes. My boys chose to have fruit crepes for their "Kids Day" breakfast this year. For a little background on Kids Day go here.

Breakfast Crepes

2 cups plain flour

2 cups milk + extra

1 tspn vanilla essence

6 eggs

pinch salt

1 tablespoon sugar

butter

maple syrup

fruit salad

Turn your hotplates on to just above a medium heat or if you have a gas stove keep a low flame. Sit your flat pans on the stove top to heat up. In a medium bowl add flour, sugar, salt and stir through. Add eggs, vanilla and most of milk to the flour mixture. Stir through until combined, add the rest of the milk. I use my electric hand beaters to thoroughly mix and make sure there are no lumps. You want the consistency of the mixture to be like thin runny custard, because your crepes need to be thin. If it's too thick just add more milk to the mixture and stir in.

With a folded up piece of paper towel wipe a bit of butter on to it and then rub around the surface of the pan. You don't want liquid butter running across the surface though, just a thin film of butter to stop the crepe from sticking to the pan. If you have a large pouring jug transfer the mixture into that to make pouring onto the pan easier. Now pour your first crepe to the size of a saucer. Then swirl the pan and mixture around to spread the crepe out a little thinner. When the surface of the crepe looks dull and not shiny and wet, use a spatula and gently lift to turn over the crepe.

You don't want the crepe too dark, just a light browning as it cooks quickly. Turn down the heat a little if it cooks too quick or turn it up if it's not browning. There is a delicate balance to the heat so try not to swing from hot to cold try to keep the temperature steady.

While the crepes are cooking cut up some fresh fruit, any that you might like. I used navel oranges, kiwi fruit, rock melon and banana, a light fresh mix. After each crepe is cooked place in a container to keep warm until all crepes are done.

In a small jug melt about 80 grams of butter. This is for pouring over the crepes with the maple syrup. Next step constructing your crepe. Lay out your crepe, add a serving of fruit.

Then roll it up like these guys. "Rollin, rollin, rollin..."!

Pour a little melted butter and some maple syrup, or maple flavoured syrup over the crepe and enjoy. This batch makes about 18 crepes, some for today and some for tomorrow...or maybe desert.

Crispy Chocolate Meringues

2009-06-06T07:30:00.002+10:00

For a light crunchy chocolate treat, these are fantastic. I've made a trial batch as I will be making them next week at our church's cooking group. My friend Stacy is going to be making pizza's for us and I thought these might go down as a light and sweet snack after pizza. They are easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Crispy Chocolate Meringues

2 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups cornflakes, crushed
125g dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons drinking chocolate, for dusting

Preheat oven to moderately slow 160°C/325°F. Line baking tray with baking paper. Crush up the corn flakes with a pestle and chop up the chocolate with a big sharp knife. There is something satisfying about chopping up chocolate, it gives a certain raspy crunch. I did start to grate it up but it takes too long and crunching it up with a knife is much quicker.

Using electric beaters, beat egg white in a small bowl until stiff peaks form. Add sugar gradually and beat until sugar has dissolved and mixture is thick and glossy.

Using a metal spoon, fold the cornflakes and chocolate gently into the egg white mixure and stir until combined.

It should look a little like this.

Spoon 2 heaped teaspoons of meringue mixture on prepared baking tray 2 cm apart. Bake 25-30 mins or until dry and firm to touch.

Dust meringues with sifted drinking chocolate while still hot, but don't do this...

...it makes a bit of a mess. Transfer to a wire rack when almost cool. They are best eaten when they have cooled completely as they crisp up to a crunchy texture. If you eat them too soon they might be a little chewy unless of course you like them that way.

I think they look like little mountains, a whole range of little mountains.

Recipe from Crazy for Chocolate by Family Circle.

Goulash Soup

2009-06-02T07:00:00.000+10:00

I have made this soup only a couple of times in the last few years. I first tasted it in Melbourne while I was living with my Aunt Desley. She made it, and it has stuck in my mind ever since as one of the most delicious soups I've tried. It’s the perfect winter warmer, rich and flavoursome and goes well with a crusty white ploughmans loaf. So first things first, put your crusty white loaf on in your bread maker or start mixing it up yourself so that it is ready for when you start eating your soup. Now this recipe can be a little fiddly so give yourself plenty of time. I’ve tried to simplify the method a little, but it is so worth it in the end.

Goulash Soup

30g butter
2 large onions finely chopped
2 large carrots chopped
3 sticks celery finely chopped
500g pork steak or stirfry strips
125g or 5 bacon strips (I used rindless short cut bacon)
3 teaspoons paprika
60g butter extra
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup flour
2 litres of water
2 tspn beef stock
2 tspn chicken stock
1/4 tspn caraway seeds (optional)
1/3 cup tomato paste
salt, pepper
3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)
cream (optional)

You will need two large pans, one for the soup mix and one for cooking up the ingredients. I used my deep pan on the stove top to cook up the vegies and meat and then transferred the mix into the large soup pot. You will notice the ingredients above with (optional) are the ones I didn’t have and the soup was still magnificent without them.

Heat butter and a little oil in large pan, add peeled and chopped onions, carrot and celery. Saute gently until golden brown, remove from pan.

Add extra butter and oil to pan, add pork and bacon pieces. Cook gently until meat is golden brown, remove from pan.

Add flour to pan, stir until dark golden brown. Add paprika, stir 1 minute more. The recipe actually called for 2 tablespoons of paprika but I felt it was too much so I used 3 teaspoons, you can add which ever your tastebuds desire. Remove pan from heat, add water, stir until soup comes to boil. Mix well so you don’t get any lumpy bits and reduce the heat. Pour soup mix into large soup pot add pork, bacon and vegetables, stir until combined. Add caraway seeds, beef and chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir until combined, season with salt and pepper. Cover, simmer gently 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from soup with a slotted spoon and most of the carrot pieces.

Cut up meat pieces finely. Before adding the meat back to the pot, I blend up the soup mix with a hand blender, just to disguise some of the celery and onion bits from my kids. Then add the meat and carrots back to the soup. Add chopped parsley (I didn’t have any so I didn’t use it). Spoon into serving bowls and swirl a little cream on top of each (again I didn’t have any cream but the soup itself is wonderful without it). Serve with your lovely fresh baked bread.

Recipe from Best Ever Recipes of the Australian Women's Weekly cookbook.

Pumpkin Prune cake

2009-05-26T21:08:00.002+10:00

I just love all things pumpkin and I love this cake recipe. Somehow I forget that I have it and only bake it once or twice a year. It is such a lovely moist cake with no need for icing. It is so yummy straight out of the oven with the golden rich yellow colour and flavour. However we didn't have any prunes so we used sultanas/raisins instead although I know the prunes would give it a good extra sweetness.

Pumpkin and Prune Cake

250g butter

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup cold mashed pumpkin

I used a Jap pumpkin (or Kent), it's suggested not

to use butternut pumpkin

1/2 cup finely chopped prunes or sultanas

2 cups plain flour

4 teasp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

Turn oven on to 180°C/350°F.

Cream butter, orange rind and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in orange juice, pumpkin and prunes, then sifted flour and baking powder, alternately with enough milk to give a soft consistency. Spread into greased deep 20cm round cake tin with base lined with paper, bake in moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, stand 5 mins, turn onto wire rack and cool. But not too much because you want to eat it when it's hot, especially with butter. Mmmm sweet and salty, enjoy!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2009-05-22T11:00:00.002+10:00

For a quick and easy meal you can't go past spaghetti and meatballs. Firstly you must buy some gourmet sausages, thin spaghetti and a bottle of pasata. Do not, I repeat, do not buy thin cheap pork sausages made out of pigs bits and bread meal. You need delicious flavoursome sausages that you can actually see the meat in them. I used lamb, mint and rosemary sausages from our lovely butcher down the road. They make a most beautiful range of gourmet sausages, my favourites are chicken and sweet corn and pork, leek and roasted garlic, which I often use for my spagetti and meatballs. These sausages have a flavour all on their own and only need a little back up....the passata, a cooked tomato concentrate.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

7-8 gourmet sausages your flavour of choice

1 700g jar passata

thin spaghetti noodles

extra virgin olive oil

grated parmesan

side salad of your choice

balsamic vinegar

Slice down one side of your sausages with sharp knife and peel off the sausage skin. Heat pan and add a dash of extra virgin olive oil. You won't need too much oil as the sausages will have their own fat to add to the pan.

When pan is hot break off chunks of sausage and drop into the pan. Let the sausage brown a little then shake the pan up a bit to brown the other side of the meatballs. You want them cooked through but not burnt and sticking to the pan. You may need to drain a little of the fat out of the pan, but leave some as that has flavour in it. While these are cooking boil a large pot of salted water for your spaghetti.

Pour in the whole jar of passata with the meatballs.

Mix it up a little and let bubble and simmer while your spagetti cooks

When your spaghetti is cooked, drain serve it up on a plate topped with the meatballs and sauce. Finish it up with a little salad dressed with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle a little fresh grated parmesan over the meatballs.

Your kids will thank you and say "this is a great dinner mummy"......"I love this dinner mummy"......and then this will happen...

.....there will be none left and they will be singing "On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed......".

Full lyrics go here.

Scone Cookies

2009-05-20T09:45:00.001+10:00

This is the first time I've tried this recipe. They are supposed to be rock cakes but as soon as Donald saw them he said they looked like little scones and they taste a little like them too. So that is what I've christened them as they are far from rock cakes. The recipe is taken from another Australian Womens Weekly cook book: babies and toddlers good food. I changed the recipe a little again as I preferred my method of mixing. You can also adjust the amount of baking powder so they don't get that baking powder spiciness in them, you know how it makes your teeth squeek, so just add a little less if you want. I made half of the batch with sultanas and the other half with chocolate chips as one of my boys doesn't like sultanas, I try to please every one.

Scone Cookies

3 cups plain flour

5 tspns baking powder

1/2 tspn cinnamon

135g butter, chopped and softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sultanas/or 1 cup choc chips

3/4 cup milk approx

2 eggs

sugar extra for sprinkling on top

Turn oven on 190°C/375°F. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into bowl. Mix butter and sugar together then stir in flour mixture and a alternate with a little milk and add the eggs. Mix in sultanas or choc chips. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on a lined baking tray a few cm's apart. I rolled them in my hand to round them off before putting on the tray, it got a little sticky though.

Sprinkle extra sugar over top of each cookie and bake in a moderately hot oven for 11-12 minutes or until browned lightly. Makes about 45 cookies.

Welcome

2009-05-16T13:01:00.001+10:00

Welcome to my new cooking blog. Aptly titled, because that is what I hear everyday. What's for dinner Mum? I am a mum to 3 hungry boys and coming up with miracles every day to please every child as well as a husband and myself is hard work. So I have been accumulating a few recipes and to help you take some of the guess work out of thinking up dinners or snacks or deserts I will be sharing them with you. This blog will eventually be a cook book for when my boys leave home and they can take it with them where ever they may be. I know that's a long time away but I thought I'd get started now. I've been posting recipes on our family blog earthwalkerfamily every now and then so I'll be transferring those recipes here, so don't feel duped if you've seen it all before.

A special big thank you to Donald for conjuring up my new header, if only I looked that good every day.

Chocolate cup cakes

2009-05-16T13:00:00.000+10:00

I thought I might start the new blog off with a lovely chocolate cup cake recipe. I spent last week baking 5 dozen of these for school cake day and Mother's day morning tea and topped them off with a glossy chocolate icing with a sprinkling of hearts. This recipe comes from my trusty old Best Recipes from the Weekly (Australian Women's Weekly) cookbook. It's an old one and I picked it up second hand in a bookstore in Chilliwack, BC Cananda back in 1997 for $5.50. I've tweaked the recipe a little to suit me but it's pretty much the same as in the book.

Chocolate cup cakes

185 g butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Chocolate icing

60g dark chocolate melts or choc bits
15g butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tblsp milk

Turn oven on to 180°C/350°F. Mix sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, add eggs. Sift dry ingredients and mix together and add chocolate chips. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together until the mixture becomes lighter in colour.

You can either pour all of the mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake for approx 30 mins in a moderate oven until a skewer comes out clean, don’t over cook, you want to keep it a moist cake.

Or you can bake as cup cakes and put desert spoons of the mixture into lined cupcake pans and bake for approx 16 mins. The cup cakes will bounce back when ready when you press them, don’t over cook. Cool cakes completely before icing. Unless of course you like hot cup cakes with gooey chocolate icing running down your fingers then it's entirely up to you. If you can wait, here's the icing recipe.

Chocolate Icing: Melt chocolate and butter in a small pan over low heat, stir in sifted icing sugar and enough milk to soften the mixture. If you prefer to melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water that is fine. Take off the heat and mix in more icing sugar or milk depending on how thick you want your icing. I like to get that shiny glaze and smoothness to the icing before I put it on the cakes so when it sets they look smooth and glossy. If the icing starts to roughen up or harden add a little milk and put on stove for a minute to loosen it up.

Flat Roasted Chicken

2009-05-16T00:45:00.000+10:00

I published this recipe as a celebration of my 300th blog post on my family blog. This is a quick and easy way of preparing a tasty roast chicken in a hurry. If you don't have the fresh herbs, dried will do fine. I think this is one of Donna Hays recipes from The Instant Cook book. She has some very simple recipes that are very easy to cook. I just love a good simple chicken dish with fresh herbs, I have a few up my sleeve. I hope you enjoy this one.

Flat roasted chicken

1 whole free range chicken

1 lemon sliced

handful of thyme sprigs

handful of oregano sprigs, you can also pull the leaves

off the stalk of oregano and thyme if you prefer it that way.

8 garlic cloves

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 200°C (390°F)

Prepare your roasting tray, lay half of the garlic cloves unpeeled, half the lemon slices and half of the thyme and oregano into the bottom of the tray.

Cut the chicken either down the breast bone or the back bone and open up the one cut side. You'll need a big sharp knife or kitchen scissors for this. Turn the open side down into the tray on top of herbs and garlic, press on top to flatten the chicken. Rub olive oil all over, season with salt and pepper and place remaining thyme and oregano over top, with the rest of the garlic cloves tucked in under the wings and in crevises. Lay the remaining lemon slices over top of the herbs and chicken.

Now depending on how quick you want to eat your chicken you can put it straight into the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown, or you can turn down the oven to 180°C (350°F) and cover the tray with aluminium foil and cook it a little slower for an 1 hr 10 mins or so (this keeps it lovely and moist) and then take the foil off and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so until it browns up a little. I've tried it both ways and have loved it either way.

If you want quick roast vegies too, pre-boil some potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots, drain then sprinkle with olive oil and salt then put in the oven on another tray for about 30 mins. Keep and eye on the chicken and vegies as I have a slow oven and yours may be quicker, you just don't want the chicken to dry out.

Retain the juices from the pan and some of the cooked garlic, squeeze the garlic out of the shell and mix up a little gravy, add some flour, chicken stock and water and bring slowly to the boil. It is a lovely, lemony chickeny, garlicy flavour, delicious poured over the chicken and any roast vegies.

Sorry I forgot to take photo's of the finished product but I was so eager to dig in and eat it, so you'll have to make do with partial shots of the roasted chicken.