Slowcooker Lentil Soup June 7, 2009

Not so pretty to look at I admit, but tasty

Ingredients:
1 c dried green lentils
1 c chopped leek
1 bacon bone (one of the rib bits is best)
About 6 baby potatoes
1 tb ground cumin
1 c corn kernels

Method:
1). Wash and chop the potatoes into bitesize pieces. rinse the lentils.
2). Put everything except the corn into the slowcooker, with just enough water to cover the ingredients.
3). Cook on high until the potato is soft and breaking apart (about 5 hours)
4). Use tongs to remove the bacon bone, pull off any meat you can.
5). Use a potato masher to gently mash the soup. How much you wash depends on how smooth you want the soup to be. Mash just a little to make a chunky soup, or mash a lot (or even use a stick blender to puree it) if you like a smoother soup.
6). Stir in the bacon and corn into the slowcooker and turn it off. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and then serve. Or allow to cool and spoon into containers for use later.

Potato and Lentil Patties May 2, 2009

(large “Ball” patties)

Ingredients:

For the patties:
1 tin lentils
4 cups (approx) boiled/steamed potato
1/2 cup corn
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp salt
6 rashers rindless/shortcut bacon (optional)

For breadcrumbs:
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (approx)
2 tb parmesan cheese
2 tb mixed herbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon pepper

Method:
Mash the potato with milk until very smooth and creamy. Chop and fry the bacon, then add all the patties ingredients together and mix well. Mix the breadcrumb mix together in a dish. Form the potato mixture into patties or balls (I find balls easier to work with) and coat with the crumbs. Spray a baking tray with olive oil, lay out the patties and spray the tops. Bake at 180ºC for about 20 mins.

(smaller flat patties)

Savoury zucchini muffins February 22, 2009

Ingredients:
150g bacon or ham (chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
1 cup of self-raising flour
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon mustard (optional)
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup grated cheese

Method:
1). Lightly fry the bacon and onion.
2). In a large bowl, combine the flour, oil, eggs, mustard and paprika. Mix well.
3). Add the cheese, zuccini and (cooled) fried mixture. Stirring well to combine.
4). Pour mixture into muffin tins, and place in a preheated 200C oven until golden brown and cooked through. 15 mins for mini muffins or 20-25 mins for larger muffins.

From http://alteredcutlery.blogspot.com/2007/11/muffins.html

Creamy Potato Salad (with bacon & egg) December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
Baby Potatoes
Chives
cracked Pepper
Light sour cream
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 egg
lots of bacon
Bottled Potato salad dressing (Kraft)

Method:
1). Cook the potatoes like you would for potato salad (chopped into bite sized pieces, I like to leave the skin on)
2). Chop and fry the bacon. Boil and chop the egg
3). When potatoes are cool, add a mix of the other ingredients (just mixed to taste).  Use about half and half with the dressing and sour cream as the dressing.

Vegetable Quiche December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
6 eggs
Spring onions, finely chopped
bacon (2 rashers), chopped
1/4 cup grated cheese
1 teaspoon cornflour
a “splash” of milk
1/4 cup of steamed broccoli
1/4 cup sweet corn
1/4 cup steamed pumpkin
1/4 cup spinach
1 sheet puff pastry
Optional – cooked diced chicken breast

 
Method:
1). Fry the bacon and spring onions. Then leave to cool.
2). Put the cornflour into a coffee mug, add the milk and stir until it is combined. Beat the eggs and milk mix together. Add whatever herbs and spices you like.
3). Add all ingredients together and stir gently, but don’t whisk it! (otherwise you’ll have too much air in the quiche and it will puff up and look bizarre
4). Line a deep flan tin with the pastry (I need to cut some of the overlap off and use it in the areas it doesn’t cover). Add the egg mix. Use a pastry brush to coat any exposed pastry with the filling mix.
5). Put this on the top shelf of the oven and bake until pastry is browned. You might need to turn the oven down towards the end to let the inside set without burning the pastry.

Chicken Parcels December 13, 2008

This is basically a “freeform pie” – rather than using a pie dish, you just slop the ingredients onto the sheet of pastry and wrap it up.

Ingredients version #1:
2 chicken breasts
4 rashers eye bacon (optional)
2 large mushrooms (or 4 smaller ones)
1 sachet cream of mushroom cup-a-soup
2 cubes of frozen spinach (or 1 cup fresh)
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup frozen peas
Cheese (tasty)
pastry

 

Method:
Fry the meats and mushrooms. Mix the mushroom cup-a-soup with about 1/2 a cup of water and pour over the meat. Add defrosted vegies. Mix all together. Make sure your mixture is not too runny.  Cut a slice (about 1/2cm thick) of cheese and lay it diagonally on the pastry sheet.

Scoop the mixture onto a sheet of pastry and fold the corners over to make a sort of envelope.  Make sure the pastry overlaps well so that it will seal and the filling will not leak out.  (You can make 4 small parcels by cutting the pastry into 4, or make one large one from a full sheet)

Then flip it over so the seams are down on a greased tray, and poke an airhole in the top. You can brush the pastry with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds and herbs.

Cook in a hot oven (200ºC ) until the pastry is cooked…. about 15-20 mins.

Hearty potato, bacon & chicken Soup December 13, 2008

This is a recipe for a thick creamy soup. If you are not a meat eater, you can leave out the meat. I like to make a big pot of soup and freeze some.

Ingredients:
4 large Potatoes
1/2 a Medium Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
600 ml Light (Reduced fat) Cream
4 finely chopped Chicken Breasts/Thighs)
1/4 Cup Fresh Chives
4 Rashers Bacon
2 Cobs Fresh Corn (or 1 cup Frozen/Tinned Corn)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1). Take the skin off the Chicken (if it has skin on), and finely chop them and the Bacon. Toss these into a large soup pot with just a touch of oil, and begin to fry these meats.
2). Finely chop the Onion, and chop the potatoes into quarters (For a faster cooking soup, cut the potato as if you were making potato salad – bite sized pieces) and add those to the pot. Continue frying.
3). Cut the corn off the cobb (or use frozen/tinned kernels). Finely chop the Garlic and chives, and add those and the corn to the pot when the meats and onion have browned (Garlic cooks quicker than Onion and you don’t want to burn it).
4). After a few moments (Don’t let the corn or Garlic burn), add approx 4 cups of water (enough to cover the ingredients), and simmer this for around 2 hours.
5). Add the Cream, Salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 minutes. I like to leave the soup with some lumps in it, rather than a pureed slop. So I make sure I leave it chunky.

When done enjoy a bowl with some nice crusty bread, and then pour the extra soup into containers to freeze or leave in the fridge for the next day (it will last a couple of days – depending on how fresh your meats and cream was).

Chicken & Mushroom Layer Bake December 13, 2008

Ingredients:
Chicken (breasts or thighs)
Bacon
Onion
Potato
Garlic
Mushrooms
Can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
Cheese (optional)
Herbs & Spices to taste

Method:
1). Lightly fry the leek, bacon and garlic.
2). In a baking dish pour enough of the soup to cover the bottom of the dish.
3). Slice the chicken breasts in half along them to make 2 thinner pieces and lay them out on the soup in one layer.  Thighs probably won’t need this as they won’t be as thick
4). Slice the potato (peeled or unpeeled) and lay the slices ontop of the chicken layer in a single layer.
5). Sprinkle a good covering of the fried stuff on top of the potato layer. If you want to have cheese, sprinkle a layer of cheese ontop of this.
6). Slice mushrooms and lay those out in a single layer on the cheese/bacon layer.
7). Then add a thin layer of the soup mix, then lay another layer of sliced potato, followed by another layer of fried stuff, then top more soup to completely cover the top, sprinkle more cheese ontop if you wish.

Cover with foil (or a lid) and bake at about 150C for about 30 mins, then remove the foil/lid and let it cook for another 10-15 mins to crisp the top a little.

Zucchini Slice December 13, 2008

I add bacon, but you could easily leave it out for a vegetarian dish

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped onion
3 rashers bacon (optional)
2 medium zucchinis, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup Self Raising flour
5 beaten eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
chopped herbs to taste

Method:
1). Fry onion and bacon (you could add garlic if you like – I would)
2). Combine other ingredients and pour into a greased baking dish.
3). Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes (Until golden brown on top). Test it like a cake to make sure the insides are not doughy.

Baked chicken and rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1cup rice
2-3 large mushrooms
1/2 a leek
1-2 chicken breasts
4 pieces “eye” bacon
2 bacon stock cubes, crumbled (optional)

Method:
1. Chop chicken and bacon into bite sized pieces. Finely slice leek and mushrooms.
2. Put rice and all ingredients into a ceramic baking/casserole dish (with a lid)
3. Pour about 1.5-2 cups water over the ingredients and bake in the oven (about 180C) for about an hour or until rice is cooked. Stir and test at half an hour, then at an hour, then every 15 mins after that.

Chicken & Bacon Pasta December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
Fresh Chives, Parsley and Basil (to taste – I’d use about 1/8 – 1/4 cup total, mostly chives)
2-3 large Mushrooms (depending on size)
4 Rashers Bacon
1 Chicken Breast or 2 Chicken thighs
Plain Flour
Milk or Evaporated milk (about 1-2 cups)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese (optional – I’d use 2 low fat cheese slices)

Method:
1). Put the Pasta on to boil.
2). Chop the Bacon and Chicken into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3). Fry the Bacon and Chicken until about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Chicken and Onion are browned. Add the Garlic, Mushrooms and herbs. Fry these until starting to brown.
4). In another pan add milk to about 2 tablespoons of flour, and blend to remove lumps. Bring this to the boil, stirring frequently to make a white sauce.
5). When thickened, add cheese and fried ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6). Either serve this poured over pasta, or mix the pasta through then serve.

Variation
Instead of milk and cheese, you can use a tin of evaporated milk (The “Light & Creamy”) one. Which gives a creamy taste

Special mashed potato November 16, 2008

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Bacon
Milk (or cream)
Salt and pepper
Corn
Cheese
Spray oil or butter

 
Method:
1). Boil potatoes to make mashed potato. Cut bacon into small pieces and fry. Steam the corn if you wish. When potatoes are cooked mash with some milk really well. No lumps! Just a really smooth mashed potato. If you’re not concerned with your weight, use cream instead of milk…..it makes a huge difference *drool*
 
2). Mix in well drained sweet corn (I like sweet juicy frozen as it is usually nicer), a decent amount of salt and cracked pepper, the bacon and cheese (grated).
 
3). When all mixed, spread out on a plate/tray and lightly spray oil, or brush melted butter over the top. Place under the grill, until top is golden brown.
 
You can eat this as a meal, or cut it into portions and serve with a meal. You could also form into small individual “mountains”/balls and bake them in the oven instead, and serve a “mountain” to each person.

Vegetable Slice November 16, 2008

Ingredients:
3 medium zucchini grated
1 sweet potato sliced finely and steamed
1 capsicum chopped finely
2 carrots grated
1 onion chopped finely
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
3 rashers bacon chopped finely (omit for vegetarian)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup olive oil
5 eggs
salt & pepper to taste

 
Method:
1). Preheat oven to 180°C and grease and line a baking dish/slice tray.
Lightly fry the bacon, garlic, onion and capsicum
2). In a large bowl, mix together the vegetables, fried items from above, sifted flour, oil, cheese, eggs and the salt and pepper. Mix well.
3). Pour into a prepared dish and bake for 30 mins, or until browned

 
(From – http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=140&mforum=yummystuff)

Potato & Bacon layer bake November 16, 2008

Ingredients:
4 cups shredded potato
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic
4 rashers bacon finely chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 can Light & Creamy Evaporated Milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt

 
Method:
1. Preheat ove to 350° F.
2. Fry the onion, bacon and garlic together until onion is soft.
3. Layer the ingredients into a greased baking dish, in the following layers:

Half the potatoes
Half the onion and bacon mixture
Half the cheese
Rest of potato
Rest of onion/bacon
Rest of the cheese

4. Combine the milk, egg and salt and pour this over the layered mixture.
5. cover with lid or aluminium foil and bake for 50-60 mins, then take the lid off and bake an additional 5 minutes until golden brown on top.

 
(Tweeked from the recipe found at http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=29566)