Butter Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Photo & recipe courtesy of the very clever Becky Higgins.

BUTTER-PECAN SWEET POTATOES

8 medium sweet potatoes (5 lbs.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
coarse salt
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1/3 c. pecan pieces
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and halve lengthwise; slice crosswise 1/2 inch thick. On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with olive oil; season with coarse salt.

2. Transfer half the potatoes to a second baking sheet; cook both sheets until potatoes are tender, tossing occasionally, 25-30 minutes.

(Note: To make ahead (up to 5 hours) prepare recipe through step 2. Cool; cover and refrigerate. About 15 minutes before ready to serve, proceed with recipe.

3. Sprinkle with butter, brown sugar, pecan pieces, and cayenne pepper, dividing evenly. Bake until sugar is caramelized and hard, about 10 minutes. Gently toss; serve immediately.

Suzyboo's Fabulous Soup

From somewhere online lol.

For my friend Sam in the hopes she doesn't have to eat another carrot soup disaster :)

Suzyboo's Fabulous Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 large brown onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil

3 large carrots
1 medium sized sweet potato
1/4 pumpkin (Jap is nice)
chicken or vegetable stock to cover the veg (will depend on how much veg you chuck in)

Method:

1. Saute the garlic and diced onion in olive oil until lightly browned.

2. Chuck in the carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin and saute till lightly browned.

3. Add chicken stock to cover the veg and boil till tender.

4. Puree with a stick blender and serve with toasted bread.

The browning of the veg really adds to the flavour of this soup! This soup would serve 4. So it is quite a small soup but it works equally well with larger quantities of veg and stock. One of my all time favourite soups. I tend to make it when we have unexpected guests over for lunch. Always a winner :)

Penang Beef Curry

Photo: courtesy of: taste.com.au

Penang Beef Curry

* 2 large brown onions, sliced
* 1 kg rump steak, diced
* 1/2 cup crushed peanuts (whole peanuts are really yummy too)
* 2 tablespoons good quality curry powder
* 1/2 cup condensed milk
* 1/2 cup coconut cream ( I used lite and the whole tin!!!)
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Chuck it all in the slow cooker and give it a quick stir.
2. Cook for around 5 hours on low.
3. Serve with basmati rice and some steamed veg.

Had this at a friends and loved it and have now made it at home. So easy. Kids liked it! All good really.

Mal's Meatloaf

Image courtsey of: taste.com

Well I never thought I'd see the day where I actually liked meatloaf but this recipe is so good! Highly recommended.

Mal's Meatloaf

• 500g mince of your choice (I've tried beef, chicken and turkey)

• 1 carton of full fat sour cream

• 1 packet tomato cup a soup

• a heavy sprinkling of Italian herbs (I use parsley, thyme and basil)

Mix till combined and placed into a meatloaf tin lined with baking paper.

• 2 rashers of bacon - diced

• BBQ sauce (use a little or a lot)
  

Top meatloaf with the diced bacon and BBQ sauce. Bake for about 45 minutes at 200d and enjoy.

Suzyboo's Beef Stroganoff

Photo courtesy of taste.com

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 kg blade steak, cut across the grain into thin strips
• 2 medium brown onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 tsp minced garlic
  
• 500g mushroom flats, sliced
• 125mls white wine
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 125mls (1/2 cup) beef stock
• 2 tbs dried parsley
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 2 heaped tsp cornflour, mixed in a little water
• 250g carton sour cream
• pasta to serve

1) Fry up the steak till nicely browned in two or three batches. Remove from the pan once browned.
2) Fry the onion and garlic till cooked. Add the beef and mushrooms.
3) Add the wine and allow to cook till reduced slightly.
4) Add the tomato paste, stock and herbs.
5) Simmer for about an hour. If you used a better cut (such as rump) you could simmer for a shorter time.
6) Once cooked stir through the corn flour mix and sour cream.
7) Serve over pasta.

We had ours tonight with home made Turkish rice and steamed veggies.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

Image courtsey of: i.ehow.com

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

• 1 tablespoon Ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon Dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Garlic powder or fresh
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 3/4 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Orange juice
• 1 Lime juice
• 1 Chilli
• 3 Green onions -- finely chopped
• 1 cup Onion -- finely chopped
• 1 whole boned chicken - Tim got this at the chicken shop at the Belco Markets.

1. Chuck it all in a 'bucket' and marinade for 12 hours (haha this is Tim's recipe).
2. BBQ till crispy.
3. Slice it up and serve.

This was seriously good! For more info on Jerk Chicken see here.

mmm that's tasty!

Well the casserole was so delicious.

Everyone loved it and all bowls were empty with a minimum of fuss.

100% success rate!

Next time I'd probably chuck some mushrooms on as well (I didn't have any in the house!)

Squealy ate a huge bowl full, he is going off because we had to rewind the Old Tom video!

Slow Cooker Beef and Red Wine

Photo courtesy of taste.com

What do you do with stacks of left over red wine from Geek Night? Cook a stew of course!

Beef and Red Wine - Slow Cooked

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1kg chuck steak, diced
• 1/3 cup seasoned plain flour
• 1 tin of tomatoes, pureed
  
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock, Massel brand
  
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 400g chat potatoes, halved
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced
• green beans, chopped
  
• pepper, herbs to taste ( I added thyme and parsley)

1. Chuck the steak into the slow cooker and coat with flour.
2. Chuck in all other ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Will check in tomorrow. Hopefully it's a thumbs up from the tots.

Jambalaya Cajun

Image courtesy of www.taste.com

Ingredients
Chuck the following into a slow cooker:

2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Cajun seasoning (I used the Hot stuff!)
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
2 or 3 tbs of tomato paste
1 cup of chicken stock (I used a heaped tsp of Massel brand)

Mix to combine.
Then add:

1kg of chicken (I used drumsticks)
1 finely diced onion
1 green capsicum, chopped

Stir and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.
30 minutes prior to serving add:

500g cooked prawns
2 cups of cooked white rice.

Enjoy of course. Will BBL with the report from La Familia, not sure if the cayenne pepper will be a winner? Wait and see I guess.

The verdict? 90% happy. Fuzzy didn't eat it, but then he is going through a fussy period. Squealy and Stringy loved it. For me this recipe needed more tomato, so I'll add some tomato paste next time I make it.

Tortilla with a Twist!

I decided to make a Tortilla the other night but wanted to use up all the leftovers in the fridge. This is so delicious I've decided to share the recipe so I don't forget it.

Tortilla With A Twist

Ingredients:

*left over roast chicken, potatoes and sweet potato, roughly chopped
*onion and bacon, diced
*mushrooms & zucchini, finely diced
* 6 eggs beaten with some milk and a good handful of parmesan cheese

1. Brown the onion and bacon
2. Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook till slightly softened
3. gently stir through the leftover chicken and veg
4. smooth down and pour the egg evenly over the veg mix
5. pop into a mod over for about 20-30mins.

We had ours served with garlic bread and salad.

100% success rate. Based on the fact that the kids ate it all without any complaints! Woohoo!!! Plus I used up a whole heap of bitsy bits out of the fridge.

ETA: it's a twist on the original as the ingredients are totally different! The traditional recipe passed on by my Abuela, the real deal Spanish recipe is just: fried onion and potato in olive oil with lots of salt. Once it's all soft, scoop out the potato. Add back into the pan with the beaten eggs and fry one side & then turning the whole omelet with a large dinner plate. So a hugely different recipe, but one that is diet and salt intake sensitive.

Mmmm smells good...

Husband Deluxe bought me a bread maker for Christmas. Now it isn't a fancy one, just a very basic model from Aldi for the bargain price of $69, but it sure does the job.

We have been mucking around with several recipes but so far this is our favourite one so far.

Whole Wheat Bread

1 3/4 cups water
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons Salt
4 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
6 teaspoons quick active yeast

1. Place all ingredients into the bread pan in order listed, except the yeast
2. Form a small well in the flour & pour the yeast in.
3. Place the pan into the bread maker & cook on the whole wheat program.

Husband Deluxe has decided to add a little olive oil to avoid the bread texture being too crumbly. Which is why you need more yeast in this recipe. It seems to work and the best thing is this bread is preservative 282 free, so is an excellent choice for Fuzzy Wuzzy.

I am planning on experimenting with making a loaf of raisin bread. Poor little guy. He always wants to eat English Muffins or Raisin Toast and they *all* have the 282 in there!!! If anyone knows of a 282 free raisin bread or English muffin please leave me a message.

The Verdict

Well the Pilaf was a great success. The children loved it in their own unique way. String Bean ate the lot and asked for seconds. Fuzzy Wuzzy ate mostly the chorizo. Squealy ate the rice and avoided the chorizo!

The oven roasted capsicum added to the original recipe really added to the flavour. I also decided to decrease the cumin down to 1/2 a tbs rather than a full tbs & I also omitted the chili (was worried the kids wouldn't go for it).





Fuzzy playing find the chorizo!


My favourite aspect of the meal: from start to finish, cooking time was 20 minutes. 5 to brown the onion and chorizo, 10 to gently boil the pilaf and 5 sitting time at the end. An excellent meal on the run esp. on a work night when time is so limited. I did all the prep at lunch time so it really was a quick and easy meal to throw together. Fool proof really! We had our with a green salad.

Look what we're having tonight:

Image Courtesy of John Paul Urizar.

Chorizo Pilaf. The recipe can be found here. Will be adding some oven roasted red capsicum to the recipe though. Yummo. Will report in tonight with the verdict.

I'll be thinking of you, Dear Crone, when we are enjoying this meal ;-)

First Aid

Well today I spent my day at the Guide hall doing a first aid course. I had to miss an afternoon tea with the EB girls, which was annoying. It always seems that way. No social engagements for ages then I have two things on at exactly the same time. Fate conspiring against my social life. But it all evened out anyway as the course was a major social outing anyway.

I walked in and there were another two Leaders who I met at the training day. 7 Leaders from our Guiding Hall (Murrungundie) and an old ABA friend who I haven't seen in quite awhile. I didn't know who to talk to first, always a difficult decision for a Gemini ;) The instructor was lovely, the content was interesting and the day flew by really quickly. I passed the course but it was interesting how much things have changed since I have last done my course (8 years ago and when I was in year 6). They have made the CPR component much easier to remember in the hopes that more people will feel confident enough to administer it. 2 rescue breaths to 30 compressions, regardless of whether it is an infant, child or adult.

Photography by Ben Dearnley

I came home to the lovely aroma of Greek Chicken that my wonderful husband cooked for us. He's just returned from 2 1/2 days of training down the coast. We all missed him terribly. Although String Bean and Fuzzy Wuzzy decided that he was on a mini-break, and that therefore it was all good.