Lemon,Honey and Chilli Prawns with Zucchini and Tomato Pasta ...

A fabulous combination, taken from the most recent Donna Hay Magazine (Summer). I did cheat a bit though .. instead of fresh green prawns I bought frozen green prawns that were peeled all but the tail. I know fresh would better, but sometimes I just don't have the time.... another popular meal, even Mr 12 who is not a huge fan of prawns ate the lot .. ENJOY !

Zucchini and Tomato Pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

2 sliced garlic cloves

1/2 tsp chillit flakes

2 tsp lemon zest

250g cherry tomatoes

2 thinly sliced zucchini

spaghetti

lemon juice

basil

grated parmesan cheese

Add oil, garlic, chilli flakes and lemon zest and cook for a minute. Add 250 halved cherry tomatoes and zucchini and cook for another minute. Add cooked warm spaghetti, lemon juice, basil and grated parmesan, salt and pepper and toss to combine.

Lemon, Honey and Chilli Prawns

500g peeled and deveined green prawns

2 tsp finely grated lemon rind

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp honey

1 chopped red chilli (I left this out because of the kids)

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients and set aside for 10 minutes. Thread prawns onto skewers and cook on a low char-grill or BBQ for 2 minutes each side, serve with lime wedges coriander.

Because of time contraints I didn't thread them on to skewers I just cooked them and added the prawns to the top of the pasta.

DOWNLOAD THE ZUCCHINI AND TOMATO PASTA HERE

DOWNLOAD THE LEMON AND HONEY PRAWNS HERE

Lamb and Rosemary Pies

I thought this recipe was going to be too fussy with two different types of pastry and getting them out of a muffin tin, I expected a messy disaster .... but not to be, they were easy to make ... and keep together :) .... Kids thought they were great, although a little big for Miss 5. Try them, they are worth it .. ENJOY !

Watch out for the next blog post..... after I put of the menu planner, there were a few questions about when I was going to fill it in, lol .... so this week I am going to list our menu for the week, just to give you some ideas .. :)


Lamb and Rosemary Pies


2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2 tsp fresh rosemary,chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
salt and pepper
350g Lamb Mince
1/2 cup beef stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas
2 large sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten

1. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in frying pan. Fry onion, rosemary, coriander and pinch of salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Add mince and fry for 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomatoes, and tomato paste.

2. Bring mixture to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in peas and leave to completely cool.

3. Preheat oven to 200 c. Grease a 6 hole Texas muffin tray. These are the really big hole muffin trays.

4. For pie bases, cut shortcrust pastry sheets in 4 and press down well into muffin cups. Trim. For pie lids, make 6 x 12cm diameter puff pastry circles.

5. Spoon mince into pastry cups, then brush rims with a little water. Top each pie with lid, pressing edges together to seal. Using fork, crimp edges and pierce a small hole in centres. ( I must admit, I didn't get to fussy hear with cripming extra .. i just pushed down the puff pastry onto the cups and they sealed ok)

6. Brush pie tops with egg. Bake for 20 minutes, let pies cool for 5 minutes.

Recipe from Real living magazine.



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Salmon ....

Salmon is a treat at our place, given there are 5 of us, it turns out an expensive meal. Lucky this recipe turned out so yummy that everyone ate it. I have all these types of spices in my pantry, if you don't they are available in small packages, so if you don't use these things very often then you won't have much left over. So here is salmon poached in a spiced soy broth... ENJOY !

Salmon poached in spiced soy broth

250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
250ml (1 cup) dry sherry (or I use Shao Hsing chinese rice wine)
125ml (1/2 cup) soy sauce
85 g (1/3 cup) coarsely chopped palm sugar (in other recipes they have
substitued brown sugar, just not tightly packed)
2 strips orange rind, white pith removed
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick (if unavailable use a large pinch on cinnamon)
1 tsp fennel seeds
4cm piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
4 skinless slmon fillets, halved
Steamed rice and chinese Broccoli to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180 c. Stir the stock, sherry,soy sauce,sugar,orange rind,star anise,cinnamon stick,fennel seeds and ginger in a saucepan over a medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium. Bring to a simmer.

2. Place the salmon, in a single layer, in a large roasting dish. Pour over the stock mixture. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 6 minutes. Set aside, covered for 5 mintues for medium, or until the salmon is cooked to your liking.

3. Transfer the salmon to a plate. Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a jug and reserve. Serve salmon with steamed rice, drizzle over a little reserved poaching liquid.


Recipe from Good Taste magazine Feb 10.





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Beetroot Tzatziki

Who would have thought making a dip was so easy ... lol ... i have always bought dip thinking they were too hard to make. Well i was wrong. Last night for dinner we had Lamb and Feta Kofta with Beetroot Tzatziki, and we all loved it. I don't imagine that this is the authentic recipe given that it uses canned beetroot, but it turns out so yummy I am sure we can gloss over that part .. ENJOY !

Beetroot Tzatziki

225g can sliced beetroot, drained
90g (1/3cup) Greek style natural yoghurt
2tbs chopped fresh mint
1 small french shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove

Process the beetroot, yoghurt, mint, shallot and garlic in the food processor until smooth.





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Easy Basil Pesto

As we have nut allergies in our house, its almost impossible to buy Basil Pesto over the counter because of the nut content ... so for the first time I have made it myself. It was so easy :) ... Even though this recipe has nuts in it, I have just omitted them. I am sure it won't taste like traditional Pesto should, but everyone loved it ... We had the pesto with Fish and roasted cherry tomatoes and red onions ... ENJOY !

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Ramano cheese
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. ( If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Next time I think i will grate the cheese a little finer, the photo shows I put in a little more parmesan than the recipe said :)

Recipe from www.simplyrecipes.com

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Really Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The kids are home for the holidays and baking is always a popular activity and this recipe is so easy the kids can definitely get in there and help. So with flour everywhere, the extra choc chips tasted and the spoons and beaters licked here is our result :) ENJOY !




The recipe ..

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups tightly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180 c. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and stir to combine. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. Fold through chocolate chips.

Place spoonfuls of cookie mixture on a greased and lined baking tray, allowing room for spreading. Cook for 15-20 mintues, until they turn pale gold.

Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before placing biscuits on a wire rack to cool further. Makes 16.






Recipe from Bill Granger ..... “Bills Sydney Food”


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Tarts ....

Here is the Fruit Mince Tart/Pies recipe ... Its very easy, even the pastry part, if you really don't think you can do the pastry, Woolworths (and other supermarkets I assume) sell pastry shells that you could use instead. Also another recipe I tried out on unsuspecting guests on Sunday :) .. Baked Orange and Ricotta Tarts. These were just as easy, although there is pastry involved again. And take note of the 2tablespoons of Icing suger in the pastry of the ricotta tarts, not 2 cups like I put in the first time lol ..


Christmas Mince Pies

2 cups Plain Flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
185g unsalted butter, chopped
1/4 cup caster sugar
1-2 tbsp lemon juice or iced water
1 cup fruit mincemeat (see additional recipe)
1 eggwhite, lightly beaten
Icing supgar to dust

1 Preheat oven to 200c. Grease 2 x 12 hole patty tins (muffin tins are a too deep as I found out) To make pastry, sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in butter using fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar. Add egg yolks and enough lemon juice or iced water to bring the ingredients together to form a dough.

2. Knead dough gently on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Halve dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out one of the pastry parcels between two sheets of baking paper until 3-5 mm thick. Using a 6.5cm round cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Place the rounds into the prepared tins. Spoon 2 tsp of fruit mince into each. Reserve scraps for decorating the tops; reknead, wrap and chill until required. Repeat the process with second portion of dough, fillng remaining patty tin.

3. Reroll reserved scraps of pastry and cut into small stars. Top each pie with a star and brush with eggwhite. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool, completely in the pans. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with a little icing sugar, if desired.

This recipe is from Home Beautiful December 09 issue

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Baked Orange and Ricotta Tartlets

Melted butter for greasing
2 cups of plain flour
2 tbsp pure icing sugar
125g butter, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
Extra flour for kneading
Extra 1 egg, ightly beaten
Pure icing sugar sifted for dusting

Filling

250g fresh ricotta
1/4 icing sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Finely grated rind of 1 Orange
1 tsp orange essence ( I couldn’t find the essence anywhere so I used the juice of
1/2 an orange ... I am sure the taste would be different but they tasted great with the juice)
1 tbsp plain flour


1. Preheat oven to 200c. Brush 12 hole patty cake tin with melted butter. Process flour and icing sugar in a food processor for 30 seconds. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg and process until dough comes together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and gently knead. Form dough in to 2cm thick disc; wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick and cut out 12 rounds using a round fluted 8 cm biscuit cutter. Line each hole of prepared tin with a round. Prick base of each pastry shell with a fork and put tin in freezer for 5 mintues. Form Pastry scraps into a disc and reserve for later use. Put tin in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until light and golden. Stand tin on wire rack to cool. Reduce oven to 180c.

3. To make orange filling, put ricotta and icing sugar in a medium bowl, add egg, orange rind, essence and flour and whisk to combine. Spoon ricotta mixture into each cooled pastry shell.

4. Roll out reserved pastry until 5mm thick. Cut pastry into 5mm wide strips. Cut strips long enough to reach from one side of tarts to the other. Top each tart with 2 pastry strips, to form a cross. Brush pastry with extra egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until ricoota mixture is form and crosses are golden. Trasfer to a wire rack to cool. When cold, dust with icing sugar and serve.


This recipe looks long and involved but really, its not...


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