Ginger and Lime Corned Beef with Colcannon

Mr B and I returned home from our weekend away yesterday afternoon and my bags hadn't even hit the ground before I was elbow deep in flour, sugar and cream cheese - just the way I like it. Before I knew it we had a kitchen full of goodies including Easter Basket Cupcakes and Baileys Cheesecake (which I will tell you all about later in the week!).

Given that it was  St Patrick's Day, we indulged in some Ginger and Lime Corned Beef with Colcannon (and copious amounts of Baileys.....) and whilst it may not have been pretty, it was delicious.

To make this Ginger and Lime Corned Beef (Serves 4) you will need:

1.5kg of  Corned Beef
10-12 peppercorns
4 litres of ginger ale
2 tbspns crushed ginger
1 lime, quartered
1 tbspn crushed garlic
1-2 tspns crushed chilli

Place the corned beef in a large saucepan and cover with ginger ale. Add the remaining ingredients.

Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours.

When the Corned Beef has around 1/2 hour to go, get started on your Colcannon.

5 pieces of shortcut bacon
1/2 cup finely diced spring onions
1/2 savoy cabbage, diced
4 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
50g butter plus 40g extra
2 tbspns milk

Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Drain and set aside.

In a fry pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, cabbage and 1/2 of the spring onions for 7-10 mins or until cabbage is softened and bacon is cooked. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the milk and butter to the potatoes and mash well.

Stir through the cabbage and bacon mixture.

To serve the Colcannon, make a well in the centre and add the extra butter. Top with the remaining spring onion.

Remove the Corned Beef from the pot, slice and serve with English Mustard.

Enjoy with a tall glass of icy cold Baileys!

Mrs B xx

Mac and Cheese Topped with Loaded Potato Skins

On Sunday morning, Mr B was pottering around the kitchen making our egg and bacon breakfast while I was lazing around in bed. Feeling a little guilty about this, I decided to get up and give him a hand, albeit with the end stages of preparation. This was my first mistake. You see I was tired.....very tired. All week Mr B and I both look forward to our Sunday morning egg and bacon breakfast and for me it's about the whole package, sitting in bed with my eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee. But on this fateful morning, in my sleep deprived state, I topped my coffee mug up with milk instead of boiling water effectively giving me a large iced coffee to go with my eggs and bacon. I tried to fix it but only managed to make it worse. Cue no coffee for me. And for some reason, that just upset my apple cart (or coffee cup) for the whole entire day, I was hot and bothered and a giant grumble butt and in my mind that was how I was going to stay until I got my egg and bacon and coffee package next Sunday! 

Anyway, given it was a lovely sunny day and the bushfire threat around home had eased, Mr B decided it was a perfect day for a road trip to the Tahune Airwalk. Me and my grumpy pants were obviously thrilled about a 3 hour round trip in the car on a stinking hot day and we were even more thrilled to be hot and sweaty and bombarded by flies the whole time we were there, but grumpy pants aside, it was a beautiful spot with some incredible scenery. 

Whilst we were there, Mr B took the opportunity to go hang gliding which saw him cruise for 400m across a river at around 40km p/h. From what Mr B tells me, the view was amazing and just to be sure, he went twice! 

The airwalk itself is over 600m of what can only be described as 'walking in the tree-tops,' I mean take a look for yourself......

After the airwalk, we went on another walk through the forest that took us over two swinging bridges where yes, we both jumped up and down like little kids....and I may have cracked a smile. 

Anyway, to make up for my slightly grumpy mood, I decided to make Mr B a super fantastic awesome dinner guaranteed to make him totally forget that he is married to a sometimes grumpy pain in the butt wife and probably also to thank him for not leaving my grumpy ass down in the forest....

 

The only dish guaranteed to cover all of the above was this Macaroni and Cheese topped with Crispy Potato Skins filled with Bacon and Sour Cream.....oh yeah, you heard me.

It sounds long and complicated, but it tastes amazing and decadent and is comfort food wrapped up with I love you forever food topped with bacon....what more could you want?

Macaroni and Cheese topped with Crispy Potato Skins filled with Bacon and Sour Cream - Serves 4

250g macaroni
1.5 tbspn butter
1/2 tbspn plain flour
1.25 cups full cream milk
1/2 cup sour cream plus 1/2 cup extra
3 cups shredded tasty cheese
100g cream cheese
1 tspn cajun seasoning
2 rashers short cut bacon, finely diced
4 spring onions, finely diced
4 large potatoes

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Place the potatoes in an ovenproof dish and roast for an hour. Once they are cooked, remove from the oven to cool. Reduce oven heat to 180C.

Meanwhile, cook the macaroni as per packet directions.

While the macaroni is cooking, place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth (roughly 1 minute)

Add the milk, 1/2 cup sour cream and the cream cheese. Continue whisking until smooth. Add the shredded cheese and cajun seasoning and whisk until everything is combined. In a large oven proof dish, combine the macaroni and cheese sauce. Set aside.

Take the potatoes and cut in half. Depending on the size of your potatoes, cut each half into 2 pieces for small potatoes or 4 pieces for larger ones. Using a spoon or a melon baller, remove the majority of the flesh, leaving a thin layer of potato still in the skin. Scatter the potatoes over the top of your macaroni.

Lightly brush the potato skins with some olive oil.

Fill each potato skin with a tspn of the remaining sour cream.

In a fry pan over medium heat, cook the bacon and spring onion for 5-7 mins or until bacon is nice and crispy. Scatter the bacon and spring onion over the top of the potatoes.

Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and bake for 20-25 mins or until cheese is melted and golden.

I know it sounds a little fiddly, but alot of the processes take place simultaneously and to be honest, it's totally worth it (and Mr B totally thinks I'm an awesome wife again!)

Mrs B xx

Potato and Bacon Rosti

Mr B and I are still here, still sitting in our partially packed up house, watching and waiting. The fire around us seems to have settled a little which is lovely, but it's still quite large and uncontrolled so we are still on high alert. Here are some of the photos we have managed to get on our phones at the back of our property over the last day or so (our camera is packed somewhere in the depths of the car and I have no idea where it is...). 

 

 

Anyway, at the end of a day full of all of that, you need to sit down to something comforting, something good, something that is not just going to fill your belly, but something that is going to temporarily make you forget about all that crap going on just beyond your backyard....this Potato and Bacon Rosti totally did that for Mr B and I. For just a few minutes while we sat down to eat tea, it almost felt like any other night and with all the stress and anxiety and sleepless-ness going on right now, those moments are rare and when they do occur they are heaven.  

 

Potato and Bacon Rosti - Serves 2

Adapted from Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery

 

6 large potatoes

1/2 tspn salt
1 onion, finely diced
3 pieces short cut bacon, finely diced
4 pieces short cut bacon (extra)
1 tbspn butter
Tomato Relish to serve

Place the potatoes and salt in a large pot of cold water. Place the pot on the stove and bring to the boil. Allow the potatoes to cook for a further 10 mins after they begin to boil, then remove from heat, drain the water and allow them to cool.

Peel the potatoes once they are cool enough to handle. Grate the potatoes and set aside.

In a lightly greased frypan over medium high heat, cook the onion and diced bacon for 5-7 mins or until onion is transparent. Gently stir the onion and bacon through the grated potatoes.

Now to shape my rostis, I lightly buttered a small round ramekin and filled it with the grated potato mixture. You need to ensure the mixture is pressed in there well so that it holds together. Tip the ramekin upside down onto a plate and there you have your first rosti! Re-butter your ramkin and repeat with remaining mixture. You could also use a large round biscuit or pastry cutter if you prefer.

Melt the remaining butter in a fry pan over medium heat. Use a large spatula to lift the rostis gently into the frypan. Allow to cook for 10 mins before gently turning over. Cook for a further 8 mins and then they should be ready to serve. When the rostis had around 3-5 mins to go, I made some room in the fry pan and added the extra short cut bacon rashers. They should be nice and crispy by the time your rostis are done.

Serve the rostis topped with bacon and a generous spoonful of tomato relish and a side of salad.

Enjoy!!

Mrs B xx

Potato Wedges with Chilli Con Queso

Where does the time go!?

It's been ages since I've posted a blog, but it seems like just yesterday and I'm not entirely sure where all those days in between have gone?

Anyway, moving on, I'm back now....although I'm going away again tomorrow....but it's only for 5 days and IT IS Mr B and my first wedding anniversary so I think that is a fair excuse....

Moving onto other things, it has been super hot today, like melting hot, like it's too hot to do anything but lay on the couch in your underwear and drink. And speaking of drinking, last night Mr B bottled his latest batch of home brew ginger beer and he is tipping that this one will be a knock your socks off, kick you in the teeth, tip top brew.....we are resting all of our hopes on some ginger soaked in brandy so fingers crossed!

The happy brewer!

How cool do these labels look! I got them made for Mr B's birthday and seeing all the bottles, filled, capped, lined up and labelled, they just look so professional! 

So tonight, to celebrate our pending holiday (and because it's too damn hot to cook a big meal and we just wanted something easy....) we made these Potato Wedges with Chilli Con Queso from a Tex-Mex cookbook that Mum and Dad gave Mr B for Christmas. They were super easy and even more delicious!!

This served Mr B and I easy for dinner, but you could serve it as an entree for 4 people or for 2-3 people with some salad for a main.

You will need:
5-6 large potatoes
Oil

Place the potatoes on a baking tray and bake in an oven pre-heated to 220C for around an hour.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Now you can do this the night before like I did, saves you a hell of alot of time!

Once the potatoes are cool, cut each one in half and scoop out the flesh, leaving a thin layer of potato still in the skin.

Place the potatoes in a large pre-heated fry pan with some oil. Allow them to cook until they are golden and crispy. You will need to turn them after about 7-10 mins. Once they are done, remove them from the pan and allow them to drain on some paper towel.

For the Chilli Con Queso
30g butter
2 spring onions, finely diced
1 tspn crushed chilli
1.5 tspns crushed garlic
3/4 cup sour cream
1.5 cups grated cheese

To make the chilli con queso, start by melting the butter in a fry pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, chilli and spring onions and cook for 2-3 mins. Remove from the heat and add the sour cream and cheese. Return the pan to the heat and stir until smooth. You don't have to stir it constantly, but just be conscious of it.

For the Guacamole:
1 large avocado
1/2 tbspn lime juice
1/2 tbspn lemon juice
cracked pepper

To make the guacamole, start by cutting the avocado in half and removing the seed. Scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl. Add the lemon and lime juice and season with the pepper. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

For the Tomato Salsa

2 tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 tbspn lime juice
cracked pepper

To make the tomato salsa, combine the tomatoes, lime juice and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Now to put it all together, fill each potato skin with the chilli con queso, top with some tomato salsa and guacamole, sit down with a tequila and enjoy!!

Mrs B xx

Beef and Beer Casserole

Whilst Mr B and I were on our mini-moon we came across a sign that said Happy Wife Happy Life.....but what about Happy Husband?

You see all this week....and all last week for that matter, Mr B and I have been hauled up in our garage every night staining our new furniture. Getting new furniture is very exciting, spending 2 hours painting and sanding each night is not. And to top it all off painting is the one thing that Mr B really detests. So needless to say even though we only have one more night of painting to go, it may as well be 3 more months and Mr B is tired, miserable, seemingly allergic to paint fumes and generally over it. In an effort to 'turn that frown upside down' (you do not want to see the look Mr B gave me when I said that....I decided to put my rendition of Happy Little Vegemites on hold until further notice....) I decided to make this Beef and Beer Casserole with fresh bread for dinner tonight because let's be honest, anything involving beef, beer and in Mr B's case, fresh bread is bound to be a winner with the boys!

Beef and Beer Casserole

You will need:

2 tbspns oil
750g topside beef cut into 3cm cubes (you can use gravy beef or any other casserole beef if you wish)
1 leek, trimmed, halved, washed and sliced
1 tbspn crushed garlic
4 short cut bacon rasher trimmed and diced
250g sliced mushrooms
2 tbspns plain flour
2 large potatoes, chopped into 2cm cubes
2 dried bay leaves
1 tbspn crushed thyme (I use Gourmet Garden thyme - comes in a tube, like a crushed herb paste) or you could use 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
375ml beer
1.5 cups beef stock
Fresh crusty bread to serve

Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced and heat half the oil in a heavy-based, flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat. Cook the beef, in batches, for 5 minutes or until browned and transfer to a bowl / plate.

Heat remaining oil in the same dish and add leek, garlic, bacon and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion has softened. Return beef to dish and add the flour, potato, bay leaves and thyme. Stir well.

Stir in the beer and stock. Cover dish and bring to the boil. Transfer to oven and bake for 2 hours or until beef is tender. Check regularly and stir. Remove the bay leaves (does anyone else have trouble finding them!?) and serve with warm, crusty, buttery bread!

 

Enjoy your  dinner and enjoy the benefits of a happy husband! Mine is so deliriously happy and full right now, he has agreed to dye my hair for me!!

And on a side note, look at our little babies! They are no longer needing us to go out and feed them bottles of milk at all hours of the day and night, they simply have a bottle of water when we get home from work and spend the evening munching their way around the front yard before they go to bed....but the best thing? No matter where they are, as soon as they see us they come flying toward us at full speed as if to say 'Oh wow we have missed you!' and it just makes me melt every time....especially when they forget to brake and skid across the gravel or the grass trying to stop!! From the below picture, can you guess which one has been playing underneath the car and sticking his head in the grease!?

Mrs B xx

Eastern Potato and Lentil Bake

Another weekend has come and gone, and again I find myself curled up in bed far too early on a Sunday night, but it is just TOO cold to do anything else!

Last night Mr B and I had tickets to see Miss Pole Dance Tasmania and as it turns out, Mr B's sister and her partner were going as well, so we all decided to meet up beforehand and go to one of our favourite little restaurants, Amigos. Not only do they do the best mexican food, but they make awesome margaritas, ranging in size from regular to fishbowl to 1 litre jugs (which of course the boys had to try!)

After dinner we made our way to the show and I tell you what we were all completely enthralled all night, some of the things these girls could do were nothing short of amazing and required some serious strength! It was a lot of fun to watch and definitely made me wish I had kept going to the classes. I have a pole set up in our spare bedroom and it's great fun and great at building your strength up, but if I was still going to classes I would also be learning new tricks and moves as well. I think I will have to either look at going back to classes or really committing to spending more time practising at home!

This morning Mr B spoilt me with eggs, bacon, toast and coffee in bed - it was really raining hard outside and it was lovely sitting up in bed reading the paper with a beautiful breakfast! Plus he added a local product called Bush Dust (which is made of macadamia nuts, bush tomatoes, herbs, spices and Tasmanian native pepper) to the eggs and they were amazing!

We paid some more money off our new furniture today too which is very exciting, I can't wait to see how it all looks when we finally get it home. And then this afternoon we went to the movies to see Ted and eat choc-tops and popcorn and drink frozen fanta and generally just chill out. This weekend has gone way too fast, but for a change, we weren't so crazy busy that it passed us by, we actually got to enjoy it.

So you have had a great weekend yes?

And you don't want to come home after work on Monday and think about what you have to cook? Let alone spend hours in the kitchen? Have I got the meal for you!

Eastern Potato and Lentil Bake Serves 4

You will need:
1 cup red lentils
1 onion, chopped
2 tspns crushed garlic
1 tsp curry powder
Now I used 1 tspn of Bush Dust here too but you could also use 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp ground cumin instead.
1 stick celery, chopped
2 cups of chopped pumpkin
4-5 small / medium potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked
1 tbspn soy sauce
1 freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra light sour cream
3/4 cup low-fat grated cheese

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Place red lentils in a microwave safe dish and cover with water. Heat in the microwave for 7-10 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring frequently. Drain

In a lightly greased frypan over medium heat, add onion, garlic and spices. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until onions are soft

Add the celery and pumpkin and cook for a further 7-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender

Add the cooked potato, lentils, soy sauce, pepper and sour cream. Mix well to combine

Transfer the mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is golden

And you know what - this is totally one of those dishes that is even better the next day...you don't even have to heat it up, eat it straight out of the fridge...with a fork...or a spoon....whatever takes your fancy!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Mrs B xx

Mid-Week Tuna Casserole

Some days everything goes just how you planned it. 

Some days everything goes wrong right from the moment you get up.

And some days everything is going smoothly until 3:30pm when everything falls apart. These are the days you get home to find out that whilst you do have rum (hooray) your coke is flat (fail) and you only figure this out once you have mixed your drink (epic fail) and then your stuck drinking a flat rum and coke which really doesn't make you feel any better at all. These are days when you want something quick and easy and delicious and comforting for dinner, not something that requires every pot and pan you own and results in a sink full of washing up. 

So while I sit here with my flat rum and coke, 3 pots on the stove, a meatloaf in the oven and a sink full of washing up, let me tell you about how you can avoid this very situation. 

a) Stay in bed. What can possibly go wrong from the comfort of your own bed?! 

b) Go for a walk, buy a new lipstick, get your hair and nails done instead of having a drink at the end of a long day.....if you are rolling your eyes at this suggestion, then try keeping ample supplies of lemonade / coke on hand instead. 

c) Make this tuna casserole. It's quick, delicious, comforting and easy! Plus you can eat it in bed if the mood takes you. 

You will need

1 onion diced
2 sticks of celery diced
2 carrots diced
100g of baby spinach
425g tin of tuna in spring water drained
425g tin of corn kernels drained
1/2 cup milk
1 heaped tspn curry powder
2 tbspn plain flour
100g grated cheese
4 potatoes peeled and diced

Pre-heat oven to 160C.

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water, place on the stove over medium high heat and bring to the boil.

In a large fry pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the celery, carrot and curry powder and cook for a further 5-6 minutes or until carrots are softened.

Add the milk, plain flour, grated cheese, tuna and corn. Stir everything really well to combine.

Stir through the spinach until wilted.

Spoon mixture into a baking dish and top with potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 15 mins or until potato is golden. Serves 4.

d) On the off chance you don't have access to rum, nail polish, lip stick, walking tracks or tuna casserole....may I suggest you get yourself some pregnant sheep....coming home to a newborn lamb is guaranteed to brighten anyone's day! Isn't he just the cutest, sweetest little thing???

Mrs B xx

Chicken, Chorizo and Potato Bake

I have big things happening this week...like big things....

...it's only 44 days till I become a married woman...

...I spent most of today with a gorgeous lady who took over 400 photos of my parents house and garden, which they have just sold and she is going to make them into a photo book that I can give them for christmas

...it's OH's bday next week and I have organised for us to go to QLD for a week so he can see his 2 brothers that live there...this might not seem stressful but we leave tomorrow morning and OH still knows nothing about it, he is currently on his way back from working up north because his boss told him he has a job down here to do tomorrow....oh what a tangled web of lies we weave....

...Oh I'm tired just thinking about it all!!

So when you have a million things going on you want an easy meal, a tasty meal, something that makes your taste buds tingle and your belly happy :) something like this Spanish, Chicken and Chorizo Potato Bake!


For this, you will need:

350g chicken breast diced
100g thinly sliced chorizo
1-2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
3 potatoes thinly sliced
1 onion diced
200g swiss brown mushrooms sliced
2 tspns spanish seasoning
400g tin of diced tomatoes

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

Place a heavy based casserole dish on the stove top and add the onion and chicken. Cook for 3-4 mins or until chicken is sealed.

Add the mushrooms and chorizo and cook for a further 2-3 mins.

Add the tomatoes, seasoning and spinach leaves and stir to combine.

Layer the potatoes over the top of the mixture and bake for 20 mins. Cover with foil and bake for a further 20-25 mins or until potatoes are golden :)


Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm

Not only will the house smell delicious but you will have a solid 10 minutes of peace and quiet while the family is enjoying it too!

Hope you are all having a fantastic week :)

Em x

Rustic Lamb and Sweet Potato Pie

I am a big believer that we partially eat with our eyes and I totally understand the need to make dishes look appealing and appetizing, but sometimes I think a rustic homestyle dish can look so much more impressive and appealing then a mega styled restaurant dish....

Take this pie for example....


It looks rustic....it looks home made...just by looking at it you know it was made with love by someone who wanted YOU to enjoy it...

This pie is actually very very easy and delicious to boot...not to mention once you've got the basics down, it's also very versatile! I think I just seriously over used the word 'very' but you see my point!

Lamb and Sweet Potato Pie
1.5 cups plain flour
125g Flora Ultra Light Margarine (I know it's traditional to use butter in pastry, but in an effort to conserve calories I tried this and it worked!)
2 tbspns cold water
1 small zucchini (grated or finely diced)
1 small sweet potato (grated or finely diced)
1 small onion finely diced
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn allspice
1/4 cup mixed herbs such as rosemary, thyme and garlic
350g lean lamb mince
1 tbspn extra margarine (melted)
Salt and Pepper
Natural Yoghurt to serve

Pre-heat oven to 200C fan forced.

Using an electric mixer with dough hooks or a food processor, process the flour and butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and process until the mixture just comes together....you may need to add slightly more flour or water or butter here to get the right consistency, just be brave and use your judgement. If you are using an electric mixer, mix the dough until it reaches a smooth consistency. Refigerate the dough for 15-20 mins while you complete the next step.

In a bowl combine the zucchini, sweet potato, herbs, onion, paprika, allspice and mince. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the dough from the fridge and press into the base and sides of a large greased baking dish. Spoon the lamb mixture over the dough but don't be too fussy about going all the way to the edges. Fold the sides down over the filling to form sort of an open top pie. Brush the pastry with melted butter and bake for 45 mins or until pastry is golden. Serve pie with a dollop of yoghurt.

The only change I would make is a) have the camera battery charged so you can get a photo of the whole pie fresh out of the oven when it looks it's most specky....and b) scatter say 50-80g of crumbled fetta over the top of the pie before baking...mmmm gooey melty fetta!!

And last night OH and I went to Mum and Dad's for tea. As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted with the smell of Mum's chow mein and once that scent hit our nostrils we were up the drive and inside quick smart! Mum had decided to walk on the wild side and try adding tofu to her chow mein rather then chicken or tuna....not only was this a major step in itself, but it was also the first time Mum and Dad had cooked with tofu. Mum had picked up some sesame tofu nuggets at the supermarket and I must say the sesame seeds and the tofu itself added a layer of flavour and texture to the chow mein that just took it to a whole new level....the tried and tested family favourite has just had a tofu make over!!


Doesn't it make your mouth water just looking at it?

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Em x

Mozarella Madness!

Ok so can you guess what was on sale when we went to the supermarket this weekend?

In case you hadn't guessed...it was big huge blocks of gorgeous Mozarella....

So this week we are experiencing a bit of a mozarella menu madness, which to be honest is not a bad thing!

To start with we thought we would try these Potato Patties (did I mention they are stuffed with basil, tomato and mozarella??)


They were mighty good and mighty easy....sandwich a slice of mozarella and some fresh basil leaves between two slices of tomato and envelope the whole thing in mashed potato. Coat in breadcrumbs, fry and serve...


....but to be honest we were not totally sold, the tomato seemed to over power the herbs and the mozarella so the following night we tried them again but on a smaller scale and by omitting the tomato....and you know what? They were spectacular....so let me give you the new and improved recipe!!

Mozarella Stuffed Potato Balls
500g potatoes
1 tbspn butter
1 tspn wet italian herbs
100g mozarella cut into 1-2cm cubes
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
oil for frying

Boil the potatoes for 10-15 mins or until they are cooked. Drain the water and mash the spuds with the butter and herbs. Set aside to cool.

Once the potato is cool, roll tablespoons of it into balls. Push a cube of mozarella into the centre of each ball making sure it is covered back up so it doesn't leak out during the cooking process!

Roll the balls in breadcrumbs.

Heat a fry pan over medium - high heat and add 1 tbspn oil. Cook the lil potato balls for 2-3 mins on each side or until golden.

Mmmmmmmmm gooey cheesy potato goodness!!

And in other exciting news, for the next two weeks we are cat-sitting a 6 month old kitten called Misty while her parents are on holidays, she is just adorable and so full of character....I'm undecided as to wether I should give her back or skip the country with her!!



More Mozarella Madness...and Misty Madness tomorrow!!

Em x

WW Card File Challenge #6 Pot Roast Meatloaf

I actually made this a few months ago, it was the second thing I made out of my the card file...but then blogger had that epic tantrum and lost my post and my photos so last night we made it again, not that we were complaining because we loved it and were happy for the excuse to make it again! So we took more photos, it was more delicious then we remembered it being the first time and the best part is I can finally tell you all about it :)


Pot Roast Meatloaf
400g mince
1 small onion diced
1 tbspn wet italian herbs
1 tspn crushed wet garlic
2 tbspns spicy red tomato sauce or tomato chutney
2 eggs
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs

455g can tomato soup
2 tbspns tomato paste
2 cups water
4 small potatoes (peeled and whole)
800g pumpkin (cut into chunks)
1 large parsnip (cut into chunks)

Combine the mince, onion, herbs, garlic, tomato sauce, eggs and breadcrumbs in a bowl. You could also add some grated carrot and / or zucchini if you were trying to hide some vegies from the kidlets :) Get your hands in there and mix it all together. It is best if the mince is room temp or at the very least fully defrosted as when I did it, it was still half frozen and my hands are still recovering from the frost bite....

Shape the mince mixture into a round ball. Spray a large pot or castiron casserole dish with oil and add the meatloaf. After a few minutes turn over so that it browns on both sides. Remove from pan.

Add tomato soup, tomato paste and water to the pan. Stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Place the meatloaf carefully back into the pan and surround it with the potato, pumpkin and parsnip. You could also add some wedges or rings of onion in there as well if you wanted to. Cover with the lid and let the mixture simmer for around 40 mins on medium heat.


This makes 4 lovely serves, the vegetables are perfectly cooked, the meatloaf is full of flavour and melt in your mouth tender and it's perfect for a winter's night rugged up on the couch :)

Enjoy

Em x

Potato, Chorizo, Red Coats and Road Trips!

So Friday night I was lucky enough to go to dinner with the girls where we shared an awesome chicken, cranberry, bacon and brie pizza and I had a fabulous mushroom risotto and then we went late night shopping at Kmart where I picked up some bargain underwear :) All in all a great Friday night!

Then yesterday OH and I took a road trip up to Burnie which is 3.5 hours drive away to look at a bike for me! It was a little 250 Virago and it was just perfect, when I sat on it, it just felt right, everything was comfortable and easy to reach so hopefully it is going to be a great learner bike for me :) My uncle is doing some negotiating and all things going to plan, it will be here waiting for me when we get back from Melbourne next Saturday! To be honest I'm terrified about riding on the road, but you never know if you don't give these things a go! Whilst we were up north we also went to the Imaginarium (like a science works) where they had a display on all things spy related which was pretty cool, to Penguin where we saw the small, medium and large Penguin statues scattered through the town, to Anvers Chocolate Factory which was very impressive, just a shame the factory wasn't operating because it's all glass windows so you can see everything being made, and for a scenic drive through the Great Lakes which was just beautiful and we even saw wild deer - when we got home we were exhausted but it was a great day :)

Today I went shopping, OH brought me a gorgeous winter coat a few weeks ago, but since then I have worn it like every single day so today I went in search of another one in an effort to preserve the first one, I was thinking red, I was thinking thick, I was thinking warm...but in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined this - OH says I remind him of Paddington Bear in it, but I just love the look of it and it's so cosy!


And then tonight we had a big bowl of potatoes, spring onion and chorizo topped with cheese and sour cream...oh it was soooooo good!! Just boil the some halved spuds while you cook the spring onion and chorizo in the fry pan. Add the boiled spuds to the fry pan and cook for a few mins or until they start to get that golden look about them and serve :)


Hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

Em x

Potato Bake - Two Ways!

So last night OH and I both wanted potato bake....but we face that age old dilemma....I love a cheesy delicious potato bake as much as the next person, but I try and be a touch restrained whereas OH likes all these cheesy goodness he can get!
So, just like we do with lasagne, we decided to make two! And in the process we ended up having a three course potato inspired meal!

Course 1 - Potato Soup
Course 2 - Oven Roasted Potato and Kumara Chips


Course 3 - Potato Bake!


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Ok so the Potato Soup, really not that hard...but half way through the potato bakes being cooked, we took mine out and skimmed the stock off the top, put it in a bowl and OH MY GOD....OH and I argued over who got to eat it! It wasn't like a thick soup, but just a nice stock infused with all the potato flavours, oh it was delicious, it just needed some nice crusty fresh bread to go with it!

The Oven Roasted Potato and Kumara Chips were also easy, we thinly sliced about 300g potato and 1 small kumara, layered them in a small baking dish, gave them a light spray with some oil and seasoned them with some Season All - Garlic and chucked them in the oven with the potato bake. Keep giving them a good toss around the dish and I would say they roasted for about an hour alongside the potato bakes. Absolutely delicious!

And last but not least the Potato Bakes!

Preheat the oven to 180C and thinly slice about 1kg of potatoes.

Then we layered thinly sliced potatoes, grated cheese and some diced onion in two small baking dishes.

For the Cheese Lovers Potato Bake - On the stove top we melted 1 tbsnp butter then added 1 tbspn plain flour and cooked for 2mins. Keep it on a low heat just so you don't burn anything. Then add 1 cup of milk and stir through 1-1/2 cup grated pizza cheese (I use the pizza cheese because it incorporates mozarella, parmesan, cheddar and romano and has a great flavour). I also stirred in about 1/2 tspn of crushed garlic. Keep stirring until nice and thick and all ingredients incorporated. Pour over your sliced potatoes and season with cracked pepper. Cover with foil and bake for around an hour. Then remove foil and if your really keen, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for another 15 mins or until golden.

I will admit that OH's was awesome, but after one occasion where he put a whole 1kg pkt of cheese in the potato bake he made for our dinner one night, he has been banned from making mine!

And for the Health Conscious Potato Bake - I combined one vegetable stock cube, 1/2 tspn crushed garlic, 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of milk in a saucepan over low heat. Once everything is well combined pour over the sliced potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 mins, then remove from oven and use a ladel to remove any excess stock that is sitting on the surface (mmmmm potato soup!). Sprinkle with some light grated pizza cheese and place back in the oven for another 30-45 mins. I just stick a knife into mine to see if the potatoes are cooked. I found this was really delicious despite not having the creamy cheesy sauce but I pinched a forkful of OH's to make up for it!!

So there you have it - how we set out to make potato bake and ended up having a three course potato feast!

Em xx

Potato and Lentil Dahl

Well I spent today training a temp at work to take over my job....and really I mean I know its a new job...but in this case the guy has worked in the job before, and i am all for being careful but even though he spends so much time checking everything, he is still not accurate! And I have given him copious amounts of notes and manuals and he just isn't using them, when all the answers to the questions he asks me are right at his finger tips....grrrrrrrr....so apart from stabbing him in the eye with a pen, the only cure for this was whipping up this delicious and hearty dahl recipe.


Potato and Lentil Dahl

You will need

1 cup red lentils
1 onion
1 tspn crushed garlic
2 tbspns curry paste (any flavour)
400g potato, peeled, sliced and cooked
500g pumpkin, peeled, sliced and cooked
3 sticks of celery diced
1/2 cup of light sour cream
150g of baby spinach

- So firstly, put your lentils in a saucepan and cover with water, simmer for 15mins or until liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender. You may need to add more water.
- Meanwhile in a large frypan over medium heat, add your onion, celery, garlic and curry paste. Cook for 2 mins or until curry paste is fragrant and onion is tender.
- Add pumpkin and potato. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 mins or until mixture is thick.
- Stir through spinach and sour cream.
- Serve and enjoy!

I find this is a good way to get my partner to eat lentils, during the cooking process the mixture thickens to the point where you don't realise you are eating a big bowl of vegetarian goodness! This recipe does serve 4 normal portion sizes, but we tend to have 2 massive bowls of it for tea and it still comes in at around 500 cals depending on the sour cream you use, plus it's mega filling and really tasty - what more could you want on a rainy night?

No really...serious question, whats your favourite thing to do / eat on a rainy miserable night??

Em x

A Side of Lamb With Your Quarter Life Crisis?

Well at the moment I seem to be experiencing a quarter life crisis. Absolutely every element of my life is making my head hurt, my job, my career, not spending enough time in the kitchen, not being able to afford new shoes, my friends...even my wedding...I just feel like tearing the lot down and starting from scratch...so while I sort myself out why don't you try this recipe! Even as a vegetarian I didn't mind it!

Herbed Lamb Steaks and Buttered New Potatoes Serves 2

You need:

3 tspns freshly diced thyme
3 tspns freshly diced oregano
3 tspns lemon juice
1 200g tub of European style yoghurt
2 x 200g lamb steaks....all the lamb steaks had bone in them when I went shopping and I have not quite worked up to that stage of meat eating yet so I used beef round steak instead.

Combine 2 tspns of thyme, 2 tspns of oregano, 2 tspns of lemon juice and 100g yoghurt.
Pour into a shallow oven-proof dish and add steaks, ensuring meat is covered on both sides. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours to marinate.
Meanwhile combine remaining thyme, oregano, lemon juice and yoghurt and season with freshly ground salt and pepper.
Cook the steaks on a bbq to your liking and serve with yoghurt dressing and boiled new potatoes.

Really easy and tasty, only time consuming bit is leaving it to marinade!

I followed a Margaret Fulton recipe for the boiled potatoes and OH and I agreed that they were honestly the best spuds to show up on our dinner plates. And so simple! Boil some whole new potatoes (we used 400g) for 15-20 mins or until a skewer can be easily inserted into them. Drain the water and cut potatoes in half. Add 1 tbspn of butter to the pan and swirl everything around until the potatoes are glistening. Mmmmmmmmmm nom nom nom!


Em x

Sweet Potato, Salmon and Snow!

Well it is Saturday night and I am laying in bed on my lonesome. Mum and I have just got back from a delicious vegetarian dinner at Pashas and I am mega full so I am taking advantage of OH being away for his bucks weekend on a camping trip and having an early night!

Today has been great but as usual, nothing went to plan! Seeing as the Dad and OH were going to be away all weekend, the girls had organised to have our dress fittings and make the invites and the place cards before Mum and I took ourselves out to dinner. But last week we found out the dress maker was shut due to the AFL Grand Final and then yesterday we found out the paper hadn't arrived for the invites. So onto Plan B....The boys still left this morning in the pouring rain, thankfully it was sunny by the time they got to their destination though....(here is OH all packed and ready to go.)

....so Mum and I decided to do a bit of light shopping and went to all the shops we love to look at but the boys always whinge about! We even got time to check out a new cake shop we had heard about and they had a cake that was green with layers of raspberry sauce and a white cream (I think!) - I am intrigued and shall do further investigation, more to come on this one soon! While we were out I brought a whole heap of vegetable seedlings including pumpkin, cauliflower, baby carrots, capsicums, mint and eggplant and I also had some seed potatoes at home so I planted them when I got back this afternoon and the vegie patch looks so good now everything is in. I just hope they survive this time because it is very windy here tonight!



In other news, on Friday OH and I woke up at 6:30am ready to get up for work and we have a bit of a running joke where I say 'can we call in sick' and OH usually says 'no' and then we get up. But on Friday OH rolled over and said 'Yep - let's go see the snow before it all disappears' and thats exactly what we did. I rang work and arranged to go in at lunch time and then we were off! It's only about a 40min drive to the top of Mt Wellington from our place and as we got to the top the scenery was just beautiful, waterfalls, rocks, moss, forests, all surrounded by fog and covered in the last of this year's snow, it was great to see such untouched wilderness. We spent a bit of time playing in the snow and even had a picnic in the car!



Now what blog entry would be complete without a recipe! Today we have Sweet Potato and Salmon Quiche


You will need:

200g smoked salmon fillet
2 cups sweet potato cubed
3 spring onions chopped
100g baby spinach leaves
1 cloved crushed garlic
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
100g fetta
salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 220C and line a tray with baking paper. Roast sweet potato for 20 mins or until tender.
Saute spring onion, garlic and spinach until spinach has wilted. Place mixture in a greased quiche dish.
Top with roast sweet potato and crumbled fetta.
Lightly cook salmon in a fry pan before flaking and scattering in quiche dish.
Whisk eggs and milk, pour over other ingredients and top with salt and pepper.
Reduce oven to 180C and bake quiche for 30-40 mins or until set.

This is such a nice quiche and a great combination of salmon and sweet potato, really nice served with a simple tomato, cucumber and capsicum salad!

And OH requested that I put up his brandy snap basket filled with honeycomb ice cream and surrounded by chocolate custard and strawberries...he was very proud of it!


Well this week we have a peppered beef pot pie, spag bog and OH's fantabulous fried rice on the menu and round two of the golden syrup dumplings because they were just so very good!

And tomorrow, the chewiest yummiest ANZACS ever!!

Night xx

Spuds, spuds, glorious spuds!

I finally got to make my spuds tonight, and I decided to change the recipe up a little...potentially due to pure laziness. The general idea is you get the biggest spuds you can find, wrap them in foil and leave them in the oven for an hour or so till the inside is soft and the outside is crisp....then you cut the tops off, scoop out the filling and replace with a new and improved filling...but tonight OH and I were hungry, like hungry hungry so the whole hour in the oven thing just wasn't gonna cut it. Instead I decided to go with something a little like this:

Emily's Not So Jacket Potatoes

1kg potatoes
200ml light sour cream
3 tomatoes
1/4c parmesan cheese
1/2c chopped shallots
1 cup shaved ham shredded
1 tbspn butter
Salt and Pepper

Chop your potatoes and put them on to boil.
Combine all other ingredients in a bowl. I find putting the bowl in the fridge while your potatoes boil really helps bring out the flavours.
Once potatoes are tender, roughly mash and then add the other ingredients. Continue mashing until you reach your desired consistency and serve. How easy is that!
You can also put grated cheese on the top, but I like it just how it is. If you would like the original version, just combine the sour cream mix with the potato you scoop out and then spoon it all back into the shells and ENJOY!!



I was set up a bit with the lasagne last night, Mum gave me a box of lasagne sheets so I thought when they came over for tea last night I would use them....so I had planned my Pumpkin, Ricotta and Spinach Lasagne and when it came time to layer up I looked in the box and was horrified to discover only 4 sheets in there...it was a FAMILY SIZE box! I weighed them, checked the box, weighed them again, checked the box again incase of hidden doors or something...I was mortified. So when Mum got there I immediately began telling her she should take them back or complain or never buy the brand again....then I noticed she was rather sheepish....and the penny drops...she had used some of them and sealed the box back up before they mysteriously landed in my pantry! It was just typical lol and hilarious, especially seeing as I was on my high horse bagging out the pasta company for not packing their boxes properly! The lasagne turned out to be more of a pie, I ended up putting the sheets on the top and bottom and just had the filling in the middle, no layers, but still delicious! Pretty basic too, a layer of lasagne sheets, a layer of mashed pumpkin, a layer of ricotta combined with spinach, put your top lasagne sheets on and cover it all in tomato pasta sauce and cheese....mmmmmmm...going to have to try it with the layers though!



Oh and the pizza poppers came out brilliantly, kinda like lil pizza parcels...I was right though OH was straight into them, I made two trays and this was all I managed to get a photo of!



Otherwise life is peachy, I have a job interview for a Senior Payroll job on Thursday, really nervous about it, but pretty happy I got to interview stage. I am just your run of the mill payroll person so the step up to Senior would be brilliant, I'm not quite sure I'm good enough to be a Senior, but I'm stoked someone thinks I might be! Fingers crossed anyway coz my current work is pretty miserable, lack of work + redundancies makes for a very low work ethic!

And tomorrow I am off to a training course on Workers Compensation Legislation allllllllllllll day....only like a million things I would rather be doing! Maybe I should take a pillow!

Best be off though, have just put an apple crumble in the oven and it is making me a lil sad that I don't have stewed apples for brekkie this week! Definetly putting them back on the menu next week!!

Em x

Boy got skills....

Last night was stupid busy. Like you know when you get so busy you feel like your head just can't take anymore? That has been my week and I think I am just going to have tomorrow off and spend the day working on my Ebay store and listing the rest of my stock coz I never have time to do it and it takes like a whole day and I think I need to be away from my regular job for a day just to let my head return to normal.

Anyway OH picked me up from work yesterday and we went to buy a new laptop, I'm easy pleased, as long as it gets on the net, I can upload pics, listen to music and use word and excel thats all I need, el cheapo laptop here I come. Once confronted with all the shiny lil toys OH decides he needs his own laptop for 'work'.....or more to the point so when he works away (grand total of maybe 4 weeks a year) he can watch dvd's while the other boys go to the pub....the thought in itself of him sitting in his lil room on his own while the other boys are at the pub is hilarious...and never going to happen, but he wanted it right or wrong so 2 el cheapo laptops were now on the menu. I got really short and cranky with the salesman because he kept trying to sell us the next one up and I thought he would have been happy that we were buying two in the first place, not trying to see us one cheap one and one ridiculously expensive one! Nevermind, an hour later OH had gone home (couldn't be bothered waiting) so I walked out with two brand new laptops...and about 15mins to get to my last pole class which was about 20mins drive through peak hour traffic. Mind you peak hour traffic in Hobart is not bad, it's bad for Tassie, but it's not bad compared to places like Melbourne and Sydney. Made it to pole and our last class was fantastic and whilst I didn't manage to conquer hanging upside down off the pole (had terrible images of landing on my head) I now have my very own at home all set up in the spare room to continue practising on. So once I do conquer scary potentially landing on head move, I can go back and do the Intermediate classes.

I got home at about 7:30pm, starving because of the work out I'd had in class and because we normally eat at 6ish and as soon as I got out of the car I could smell the delicious scent of dinner. It is only recently that OH has started cooking regularly. We were having a big discussion one day about the state of our relationship which led to several changes, one being that at least once a week he cooks a meal of his choosing. I must say I am loving it, he is so happy and so proud of himself when he cooks something great and it takes some of the pressure off me. I love cooking but seven nights a week plus baking for lunches is just too much some weeks. Back onto the subject last night OH made a Beef Ragu and it was brilliant. Lil tiny seasoned meatballs cooked in a tomato and vegetable sauce, and we served it with some mash, but could be served with rice or pasta. It was delicious, the tomato base had some carrot, celery and potato in it, all of which were soft and tender, the meatballs were only seasoned with salt and cracked pepper but they packed a punch and soaked up the flavour from the sauce. I can't wait to have the leftovers tonight! One small problem is that I was so excited to try it I didn't remember to take photos until my bowl was clean and there was only the bowls of leftovers for tonight, so imagine the below picture with a big scoop of fluffy mashed spud and you'll get the idea!

I know I said I would write about the potential of me buying a cupcake shop but I so do not have time tonight, I have 4 batches of cupcakes to make tonight and one of them has to be St Kilda themed! But I promise I will fill you in tomorrow : )

Em x