easy chicken broth.

Yesterday was cold and wet, with the top temperature barely hitting 17 deg ...... it seemed like a good day to do some cooking and or baking.

 So made a chicken broth, complete with onions, garlic, chicken, carrot, some lime and chilli and plenty of greens ....

all I did was brown a couple of sliced onions, garlic and chopped carrots. Then a couple of litres of chicken stock and some chopped left over chicken pieces if you have any.  Add some spinach (though you can use a block or two of the frozen spinach) and a bunch or two of washed, chopped Bok Choy or any other green.

Let simmer for 20 mins.

It is then ready to eat with some crusty bread!

You can even leave it till the next day to reheat and have for lunch.

Maybe even add a few rice noodles before serving.


enjoy this tasty soup at any time.

tasty marinated mushrooms

After a nice long walk around the town a week or so ago, we came back home at about noon and after a quick lunch, got stuck into being 'productive'. 

I decided to do some marinated mushrooms and here is how I do them:

Make sure you have at least two clean glass jars with a wide opening.

You will also need:

canned whole mushrooms 

olive oil

cider vinegar

wine vinegar

garlic

salt and pepper

Italian seasoning and if it is available in your supermarket, the spicy Italian Seasoning is a great addition too.

The above are the items needed, you can decide on the amounts used. Today I used three cans of mushrooms, so will give you those quantities.

Open and drain three cans of mushrooms, place them in the clean glass jars.

Crush 6 gloves of garlic, 4 caps of cider vinegar, 8 caps of wine vinegar, salt and pepper, a teaspoon of Italian Seasoning and 2 cups of light olive oil in a jug. Mix well.

You can place the above ingredients in a blender, but it will make the mix quite 'frothy'. Better to mix with a spoon or fork.

Pour the garlic / oil mix over the drained mushrooms that are in the jars. Leave them stand for at least 24 hours. Longer if possible. Though I do tend to turn them over every few hours to start with. That way I know all the mushrooms are well and truly coated with this delicious olive oil / garlic marinade.

Serve with cheese, crackers or other appetizers and drinks. Make sure you have some toothpicks handy for guests to handle the slippery little mushrooms.

Sit back and enjoy!


since June 2012 only 43 people have read this particular blog post, now I have shifted it to this URL in October 2013 I will see how it goes!

banana bread

When John works from home or perhaps over the weekend he is often looking for something to 'munch on'!

The Banana Bread I made earlier this week always goes down well.

Well it was easy to decide what to bake considering I had two banana's that were well past their "use by date" sitting in the fruit basket.

The recipe I used is as follows:

1 1/2 cups of SR flour
1 cup sultanas
1/3 cup brown sugar    

1 tablespoon of honey

2 or 3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

I placed the flour in to a large bowl, added a cup of sultanas with the brown sugar.

Everything else went into the blender and was whizzed until it looked smooth. I added it to the flour / sugar mix and stirred.

Place it into a greased loaf pan, sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on top and pop it into the oven at 180 C deg for about 45 mins.

You can vary the above by adding chopped nuts, or use 2/3 cup sugar instead of the sugar / honey combo I use.

You can also omit the sultanas.

If you have sultanas that look kind of old and 'dry', pop them into a microwave safe dish with a half cup orange juice for a minute or two to 'plump' them a bit before adding to the above flour / sugar mix.

When the bread has finished baking, remove from the pan and let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.


enjoy a bit of Tasty Fun!

creamy pumpkin soup

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Who does not like creamy pumpkin soup on a cold winters day, or any day for that matter?

Our daughter certainly enjoys it and it's also a favourite amongst other family members. My brother has quite a large patch of pumpkins this year and so I took advantage of that to make a large pot of Pumpkin Soup.

The recipe is as follows:

above: peel and chop about 1 kg of pumpkin and two large potatoe's.

above: to a large pan on the stove top, add 2 tbsp of light olive oil, 3 cloves of crushed garlic and one finely chopped onion.

 above: cook for 2 - 3 minutes, until softened but not browned.  

Add

• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

gently stir for about 1/2 a minute.

above: add the chopped pumpkin and potatoe to a 'slow cooker' or add to the large pan already on the stove with the onions and spices. I added mine to a 'slow cooker'.

above: to the pumpkin and potatoe add the cooked onions and spices.

above: add a litre of chicken or vegetable stock.

above: in the 'slow cooker' place the lid on top and leave till cooked. Approx one hour or more. Turn the temperature down till ready to serve.

If using the large pan on the stove, add the vegetables and stock to the onions and spice mix, stir well. This will cook on a low heat in about 40 minutes. Stir every now and then. Do not let the vegetables stick to the bottom.

above: Before serving, let it cool slightly, then blend till smooth in batches. Return to pan to reheat.

Stir in light cream and add some parsley.

This is a very easy soup to make and will be enjoyed by all on these cold winter nights!

easy and tasty fun!!

pikelets, drop scones, griddle scones or flapjacks?

Came across a great blog post recently about pikelets and drop scones, it is called THE CLAYTONS BLOG.

Highly recommend reading that particular post. People often become confused about pikelets, griddle scones, flapjacks and or drop scones.  For me, any one of them is just like a "mini pancake". Though always thought that drop scones were just a little thicker than the pikelets.

Sometimes when people are making pikelets they add something acidic, perhaps lemon juice or sour milk. I know a few recipes that have yogurt as one of the ingredients.

Anyway, after browsing that blog I decided I had better make a few 'pikelets' for morning tea....

I used one cup of plain flour and a tablespoon of baking powder, placed them in a large mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, some cinnamon and mixed spice .....

In the blender I added 1/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup canned pie apple, a teaspoon of vanilla essence, a tablespoon of margarine and an egg and whizzed them for a minute. Then add the liquid mix to the flour mix and mix with a fork as seen below.....

spray or grease your stove top griddle pan or fry pan....

when the pan is hot, drop spoonfuls onto the hot pan....

when the tops start to bubble, that's when you flip them over.

Serve as soon as they are ready with butter. Now the ones above have apple and spices in them, they will be more 'liquidy' than usual due to the apple, you can reduce the amount of milk if you wish, or you can omit the apple and spices all together and have them plain. But do serve with butter, jam, conserve, honey, or anything else that you might like!I think most cooks would have their favourite.There are many other variations too .... eg: leave out the sugar and add cheese and herbs.

if you would like to try a plain recipe, the following is one I located off the Internet .....

Drop scones, also called Scotch pancakes, pikelets or flapjacks are easy and fun to make, and perfect for morning tea or even as a simple dessert. 

• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1. Mix flour and sugar. Make a well in the centre. Add milk to egg and pour into well. Using a wooden spoon, gradually beat in the flour.
2. Heat frying pan. Grease lightly with butter. Put tablespoons of the mixture onto the hot pan. When bubbles appear on surface of the scones, turn with a spatula. Allow to brown on other side and cook through.
   
3. Serve them hot with butter, as an accompaniment with soup or with jam and whipped cream for afternoon tea. Store wrapped in a tea towel, to keep them soft.
   
   
   have tasty fun!!

this blog post had 295 readers from June 2012 

till moving it across to this site in October 2013.


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a tasty roast

Most of us enjoy a nice piece of succulent roast beef, everyone has their favourite way to prepare and roast.

Wikipedia's description of Roast Beef is as follows:

Roast beef is a dish of beef which is roasted in an oven. Essentially prepared as a main meal, the leftovers can be and are often served within sandwiches and sometimes are used to make hash. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Australia, roast beef is one of the meats traditionally served at Sunday dinner, although it is also often served as a cold cut in delicatessen stores, usually in sandwiches. A traditional side dish to roast beef is Yorkshire pudding.

In the UK, roast beef is the signature national dish which holds cultural meaning for the English.

Some prefer roast beef to be served "rare" or "pink", meaning that the center of the joint is cooked so that it retains a reddish color. Others prefer roast beef to be cooked medium or well done.

Another website describe it as:

Roast beef is perfect for a Sunday roast or a midweek meal. Recipes range from a traditional rump roasts to modern tenderloin roast and all in between.

Some may prefer a pot roast ... and the difference is ....

Pot roast is of course that stringy beef that comes from a shoulder roast, a chuck roast,  originating from the front part of the cow. It takes a slow, moist roast very well and falls tenderly apart as soon as you remove it from its broth.

Pot roasting is perfect for large, inexpensive and less tender cuts of beef as the long, slow cooking infuses them with flavour and makes them extremely tender. The beef is browned all over and then very slowly braised with a little liquid in a covered pan. A piece of Bolar Blade is perfect for this.

Roast Beef has a steak like texture and will stand firmer when sliced and comes from cuts like  sirloin, scotch fillet, rib eye, topside, or rump - all butchered from the back part of the animal.

This week I purchased a piece of Bolar Blade. Now this would normally be used as a pot roast, its a cheaper cut of meat and usually needs long, slow cooking.  I decided to try it roasted.

Here goes.....

above: create small pockets with a sharp blade for the garlic cloves.

below: use any seasonings you wish, but I used the McCormicks "Steak Spice", Cumin and Coriander. Mix the spices you are using with some light olive oil.  Rub over the beef.

 
and let it 'rest' in this mix (oil and spices) for up to an hour....

if you have a cast iron pan, griddle pan etc, place it on the stove top to heat. Also turn on your oven to about 180 deg c.

above & below: when the plate is hot, sear your roast on all sides, this will help seal in the juices. This will only take a few minutes.

below: place the roast in a baking pan in the oven. At this point you can drizzle a small amount of light olive oil over the beef.

 

and while that is taking place, add a small amount of water to the cast iron pan to 'lift' the tasty roast pieces that were left behind. Leave to cool.

below: add pumpkin, potato's and carrot to the baking pan with the roast. These will take about an hour. Depends on the size you have cut them though.

below:  while the meat and vegetables are cooking, prepare the gravy / sauce using the meat juices from the pot.  This will be quite rich,  you can water it down somewhat if you desire.

below:  when you take the meat out of the oven, let it sit for about 10 minutes prior to carving.  Here you can see the meat juices and garlic pieces, just unfortunate that you cannot smell how delicious this really is!

below: while carving, leave the vegetables to finish their cooking in the oven.

and dinner is ready ........

I have not cooked a 'roast' for over 7 years, so am in no position to 'teach' anyone how to prepare or cook a roast. All I am doing is 'sharing' what I did for dinner on Monday night!

Stay tuned for what ever else I decide to cook or bake!


have some Tasty Fun!!

this blog post had 790 readers from
June 2012 till moving it across to this site in October 2013.

Biryani Chicken

Since being back in Australia I do seem to have time to learn to cook and bake again!

Something I have always enjoyed, but during the five + years we spent in Singapore, no baking and very little cooking was done at all. Eating out was 'at least' a five night a week experience. Not that I am complaining mind .... it was just a very different way of life.

That was life of an expat!

So since the new oven, stove and kitchen has been completed I have had them working overtime with the baking and cooking I have been 'playing around with'.  I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, its just something I enjoy.

Yesterdays meal was my Biryani Chicken.

I accidentally fell across this tasty meal when I decided to cook one night back in Singapore. There were two chicken breasts in the refrigerator and some spices and oil in the cupboard and had to think what to do with the little that was there. This is the result which we also had last night ....

below: two chicken breasts. Remove skin.

below: slice into finger lengths as seen here:

below: here is the seasoning I use. A Biryani Spice Mix for rice!

I purchased this at Mustafa's in Singapore and brought back a few with me to Australia. I paid $1.70 SGD (or about $1.34 AUD). I would imagine it to be available in most Indian grocery outlets. (I have since seen similar in International grocery stores)

below: empty the complete pack into a bowl and break up the lumps. It wont be completely 'lump free' but easier to use.

below: roll each chicken piece in the Biryani Spice Mix.

below: once all chicken pieces are well covered, place them back in the bowl and leave them for at least 30 minutes.

below: preheat the stove top pan, place a small amount of light Olive Oil on then add each chicken piece.

below: as each piece cooks, turn over.

below: serve with salad or vegetables.

This is not only a very quick and easy dish to prepare, but also very tasty.  It maybe too spicy to serve to young children though.  We had a few pieces of the Chicken Biryani left over and had it sliced in a sandwich for lunch the following day.

If you cannot locate Biryani Spice Mix at a store nearby, be adventurous and try some other spice mix using the above method.

Biryani Spices are usually found in large supermarkets in the "International Section" or in any Indian Grocery Store.


have tasty fun!!

this blog post had 281 readers from
June 2012 till moving it across to this site in October 2013.