Wholemeal veggie muffins

INGREDIENTS

2-3 grated carrots
1 grated zucchini
1 cup grated pumpkin
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
1 cup Self raising flour
1 tbs chives
1 tbs parsley
3/4 tbs salt
3 eggs
Half a cup of milk
3 tbs butter/margarine (melted)
Half a cup of grated tasty cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Canola spray

METHOD

Squeeze the juice from the zucchini and pumpkin and place all grated veggies in a bowl.
At flours, herbs, and salt, and mix until the veggies are coated in the flour.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs, milk and butter.

Make a well in the centre of the veggies and add the egg mixture.  Add the cheeses and stir until mixed well (but not too much or the muffins will become tough).

Spoon into a greased muffin tray (12 capacity) and bake on 180 degrees C for around 25 minutes or when squewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Once cooled, freeze individually wrapped in cling film.

Pumpkin, bacon and fetta pasta bake

Another dish I put together based on "available ingredients" in my pantry and fridge!

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 or half a pumpkin, diced
1 clove of garlic
3 or 4 rashers of bacon, diced
2 tbs olive oil
1 packet of penne
120g fetta cheese, crumbled
half a cup of cream
half a cup of grated mozarella or tasty cheese
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

METHOD

Put pumpkin, garlic and bacon into a baking dish with the olive oil and bake for around 30-40 mins.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling water and a pinch of salt. Drain.

Once the pumpkin mixture is cooked, add the pasta into the baking dish and stir.  Pour in the cream, add the parsley, fetta, and parmesan, together with salt and pepper to taste, and stir.  Sprinkle with mozarella or tasty cheese.

Bake for a further 20 mins or until golden and crispy.

Delicious!

Cheesymite scrolls

These are a nice snack for the kids. I freeze them in portions of 6 and all you need to do is take a bag out in the morning and in an hour or two it's ready to eat.

All you need is puff pastry, vegemite, and grated tasty cheese.

Defrost some puff pastry, spread with vegemite, add grated cheese (I prefer to grate my own rather then use packet grated cheese as it melts better), roll, and slice into about 8 pieces.  Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle with some more cheese on top, and bake on 180C degrees for about 10 mins.

You can use any filling of your choice, including curry mince and sweet chilli and cheese.

Quick and easy Dark Chocolate and walnut tart

6 Ingredients - that's all you need to make this easy peasy chocolate tart.
I used dark chocolate, but you could easily use milk chocolate if you aren't a dark chocolate fan.

I also used store-bought shortcrust pastry, but you can always make your own, and add some powdered cooking chocolate to the dough to make it more chocolatey.

INGREDIENTS:

2 frozen shortcrust pastry sheets (If you can find it, sweetcrust pastry is ideal)
200g block of dark (or milk) Cadbury cooking chocolate
1 cup of cream
half a cup of caster sugar
2 eggs
a handful of crushed/whole walnuts

METHOD:

Once the pastry has thawed, place two sheets on top of each other into a tart pan with removable bottom.  Cut excess from around the edges.

Blind bake with rice or baking beads for 15 mins, and remove the rice and cook for a further 10 mins.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and melt the chocolate. Add the sugar and cream and stir.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding the eggs.

Stir and pour mixture into the tart tin.  Sprinkle with walnuts (or nut of choice) and bake on 170 degrees for a further 30 mins.

Remove from the oven when just cooked through.  The mixture will harden when cooled.  Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Serve with cream and strawberries.

If you prefer to make your own sweetcrust pastry - here is a recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups plain flour
150g soft butter
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 cup caster sugar
Plain flour for dusting

METHOD:
 
Place the flour, butter and salt into a bowl and rub together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Break egg into a separate bowl, add sugar and mix lightly.

Add to the flour mixture and mix until pastry comes together. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out and pressing into the tart tin.

Moroccan Meatballs served with char-grilled veggies and cous cous

We really like Moroccan food in this house - the kids love cous cous so we are almost guaranteed empty plates.

Tonight I made Moroccan Meatballs and served them with veggies and cous cous. I didn't exactly char-grill the veggies, I pan-fried them, but they were delicious.

Got the recipe from one of those housewife magazines - I think it was Take-5.  Flicking through food magazines is my favourite thing to do when I'm at my mother-in-laws house as she buys them for the crosswords.

I changed it a little though.

I did find the meatballs fell apart slightly when I was cooking them, so I would probably put less yoghurt in the mixture next time, and maybe some breadcrumbs to bind them.

Oh and I doubled the recipe so there are leftovers for tomorrow night's dinner (as I'm out all day tomorrow).

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
500g premium mince
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 small bunch of mint, finely chopped
black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
425g tin of diced roma tomatoes
375ml chicken stock
1 spanish onion, sliced (optional - I forgot to buy some so didn't have any and it still tasted lovely)
1 large red capsicum, chopped
1 or 2 large zucchinis, sliced
1 large eggplants (or two small ones), diced
1 and a half cups of water
1 tbsp margarine
1 and a half cups of cous cous

METHOD:
Put mince, paprika, cumin, yoghurt, and 1/4 cup chopped mint into a large bowl. Season with pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.  Roll mixture into balls.
Heat oil in a large non-stick fry-pan.  Add meatballs and cook until lightly browned all over.

Stir in the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for around 25 mins until meatballs are cooked through and liquid has reduced and thickened.

Grease a heated pan and throw in the veggies until browned.

Bring water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a saucepan.  Turn the heat off.
Add the cous cous and stand for 5 mins.  Return to the stove, add margarine, and stir with a fork to separate.  Add to the veggies, together with the remaining chopped mint, and stir.

Serve the meatballs on a bed of cous cous and veggies.
Enjoy!!!

Dinner party (Part 3 - Dessert. BERRY CLAFOUTIS)

This is the first time I've made Berry Clafoutis, and it definitely won't be the last.
It was delicious! Although next time I probably will halve the amount of berries I use as it was a little overpowering.

INGREDIENTS:
670g jar (or thereabouts) of berries
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup cream
3 eggs
2 tbsp plain flour
1 cup caster sugar

METHOD:
Drain the berries, reserving the liquid.  Divide the berries between 6 lightly greased ramekins (or you can use a 23cm pie dish).

Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, flour and half cup of sugar.

Pour mixture over the berries and bake in a 180C preheated oven for about 25 mins (or 45 mins for the pie dish) until light golden and just firm in the centre.

Meanwhile, combine the reserved cherry liquid and remaining half cup of caster sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 8 minutes until liquid has reduced and thickened slightly.

Serve with whipped cream and berry syrup.

This dessert can be made a day in advance, and can be eaten warm or cold.

Dinner party (Part 2 - Main meal. CHICKEN PENANG CURRY)

Chicken Penang Curry is a regular in our house. We have tried many Penang Curry pastes over the years, and by far the best we have had is the Valcom brand (available at most supermarkets in the Asian section).

The recipe is on the back of the jar - basically put 4 Tbsp Penang Curry Paste and a bit of oil into a wok and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Add 500g chicken and cook until it starts to brown. Add one tin of coconut milk, 1 tbsp sugar, and a couple of tbsp fish sauce.  Add the veggies (I used brocolli and carrot, but cauliflower and green beans are also nice) and simmer until the veggies are cooked.  Right before turning off the heat, add kaffir lime leaves. Serve with Jasmine rice.

I doubled this recipe and it easily caters for 6-8 people.