Fried Rice

Mr V is definitely a handy person to have in the kitchen.  His mother raised him to be able to feed himself well.  This is a most sensible skill to teach our sons!  I tend to stay out of his way if he is making food!  I think he could be likened to Chef Ramsey but without the bad language and angry outbursts (so that just leaves the efficient whirlwind part!)

Here is the fried rice he made us.

3 1/2 cups uncooked rice
4 Tbsp lamb fat
left over meat (we used roast lamb)
2 cups of mixed vegetables
2 onions
2 Tbsp tamari sauce
2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper

1. Melt the lamb fat and put the rice into the frying pan.  Fry until the rice is very golden brown; about 5 minutes.
2. Add the left over meat and any vegetables that require longer cooking such as carrots.  Heat these through.
3. Toss the chopped onion, tamari sauce and curry powder through the rice and meat.
4. Add 7 cups of water slowly one at a time stirring constantly.
5. When the rice is cooked, add any remaining vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve.

Broken Glass Jelly

Fun to make.  Yummy to eat. 

1 packet of red jelly crystals
1 packet of green jelly crystals
1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (about 1 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp gelatin powder

1. Make up the red jelly with ONE CUP of boiling water.  
2. Make up the green jelly with ONE CUP of boiling water.
3. Put these in the fridge to set.  They will be very firm which is how you need them.
4. Cut the firm, set jelly into cubes about 1cm and carefully mix the two colours in a dish.
5. Put 2 Tbsp of gelatin powder into 1/2 a cup of cold water and let it bloom (the process where the powdered gelatin swells and softens).
6. Add 1/2 a cup of boiling water and dissolve the gelatin.  Add the tin of condensed milk and stir to combine.
7. Allow to cool and pour over the coloured cubes.
   
8. Put it in the fridge to set.
9. Once set, cut into shapes of your choice and serve.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Bake

Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Bake

10 medium sized potatoes
2 kumara
2 onions
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup of left over roast lamb
1 large bok choy
1 bunch spinach
1 large kale leaf
1 250g tub of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
8 slices of bacon

1. Cook the potatoes until tender.  Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease an oven dish.
3. In a frying pan melt the butter and add the onion, saute until tender.  Add them to the potatoes.
4. Add the green vegetables meat and cream cheese to the potatoes and onion.  Stir to combine.
5. Put this into the oven dish and top with cheese.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until heated through and golden.

~Lorna

BBQ Ranch Chicken Casserole

BBQ Ranch Chicken Casserole

So easy and so yummy.

500g chicken
500g pasta
1 cup corn
3 tomatoes
1 onion diced
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
salt
pepper
1 1/2 cups ranch dressing
3/4 cup bbq sauce
1 cup cheese

1. Cook pasta until nearly done.  Set aside.
2. Cook the chicken and remove from bones.  Chop and set aside.
3. Heat oven to 180 degrees C and lightly grease a casserole dish.
4. In a large bowl combine diced tomatoes, diced onion, corn, cooked pasta and chopped chicken.  Add salt and pepper.  Mix well.
5. Mix the ranch dressing and bbq sauce well, and pour it in the bowl with other ingredients stirring to combine.  
6. Mix the first amount of cheese through.
7. Transfer the mixture into the casserole dish and spread it evenly.  Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

Recipe sourced from Will Cook For Smiles

~Lorna

Maple Glazed Sausages

Maple Glazed Sausages

This sounded delicious, and it is... if you like sweet things!

18 real lamb sausages

1/2 cup of real maple syrup

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1. Cook the sausages and drain off the fat.
2. Tip the final 3 ingredients in the pan and heat until bubbling and the sausages are nicely coated.
3. Serve with fluffy white rice and vegetables.

~Lorna

Vegetable Soup

Known as "floaty" soup in our family as we so often have thick blended soups.  This is a welcome change sometimes! 

4 litres of meat stock

3 carrots

1 parsnip

2 potato

2 kumara

3 onions

1 cup frozen corn

2 sticks of celery

salt, pepper, herbs, spices to flavour

1. Bring the stock to the boil.

2. While the stock is getting to the boil, cut the vegetables into small bites sized chunks in the order given and add them to the pot as you go. 

3. Turn down to a simmer until veggies are soft.

4. Add flavourings.

We serve this soup with warm from the oven home made buns, cheese slices and chutney.

{{Photos to come}}

~Lorna

Orange Vegetable Soup

Another favourite lunch soup for our family is our orange vegetable soup.

The bone broth gives flavour, and the small amount of fat in the broth helps to make you feel full.  The split red lentils are high in protein which also give you that "satisfied" feeling at the end of the meal. 

This recipe feeds 4 adults and 4 children.

4 litres of meat stock

1/4 of a large pumpkin or half a small  pumpkin

4 carrots

2 kumara

2 onions

1 cup of split red lentils

salt, pepper, herbs, spices to flavour

1. Put first 6 ingredients in a pot.  Bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer until veggies are soft.

2. Blend the soup.

3. Add flavourings.

4. Optional – if the soup is thinner than you require, thicken with cornflour

    (add cold water to 2Tbsp of cornflour to make a paste, then add to the soup stirring well)

Serve with grated cheese (parmesan is nice), sour cream, croutons, home made bread dippers, parsely



~Lorna

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin soup is a winter lunch staple for our family, served with home made bread dipping sticks.  

The bone broth gives flavour, and the small amount of fat in the broth helps to make you feel full.  The split red lentils are high in protein which also give you that "satisfied" feeling at the end of the meal.  

4 litres of bone broth or stock

1/2 a large pumpkin or one small pumpkin

2 onions

1 cup of split red lentils

salt, pepper, herbs, spices to flavour

1. Put first 4 ingredients in a pot.  Bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer until pumpkin is soft.

2. Blend the soup.

3. Add flavourings.

4. Optional – if the soup is thinner than you require, thicken with cornflour

    (add cold water to 4Tbsp of cornflour to make a paste, then add to the soup stirring well)

Serve with grated cheese (parmesan is nice), sour cream, croutons, home made bread dippers, parsely

This recipe feeds 4 adults and 4 children.

{{Photos to come}}

~Lorna

Home Made Hot Chocolate Mix

I like to make things from scratch when I can; that way I know what is in it.  I found some hot choc recipes and after a bit of trying it out this is our version.

4 cups of icing sugar
2 cups of cocoa
5 cups of whole milk powder
4 tsp cornflour
2 tsp salt (we use a mineral rich salt like Himalayan Salt - much nicer, much healthier)
2 pinches cayenne pepper
Sometimes I put in a little bit of cinnamon

Sift all the ingredients together.  Store in a jar.  Use 1 Tablespoon per cup of hot chocolate topped with water and milk if so desired.

{{Photos to come}}

~Lorna

Baked Potatoes and Bacon and Egg Bake

Baked Potatoes, Bacon and Egg Bake, Salad

Baked Potatoes with festive left overs
Clockwise from top (Bacon/Egg Bake, Macaroni Cheese left overs, Sour Cream, Coleslaw, Home Cooked Beetroot, Lettuce/Cucumber salad with cranberries, Steamed Red Onion and Green Capsicum)

Baked Potatoes

When I think of baked potatoes I think of too much work or too messy.  These are neither!  They are easy and delicious.

To cut these potatoes slice a small sliver off one side so the potato sits flat, place chopsticks either side, cut across the potato to form 5mm slices

1. Wash the potatoes and cut them as explained above.  Place in a roasting pan.
2. Brush with melted butter or melted lamb fat and sprinkle with a little salt.
3. Cover, and place in the oven at 220 degrees C for 45 minutes.
4. Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
5. Remove from the oven and brush them again with butter or fat.
6. Sprinkle with a topping of breadcrumbs, herbs, and grated Parmesan cheese.  
7. Return to the oven and grill until the crumb mixture is golden.

Serve with sour cream, sweet Thai Chili sauce, and steamed red onion and capsicum.

Bacon and Egg Bake

I really like bacon and egg pie.  Last night I just ran out of time so I threw together this and it worked perfectly!

1. Cook 6 slices of bacon that have been chopped up into small cubes.  Put them into a well greased deep oven dish like a loaf pan.
2. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of frozen corn in with the bacon.  Add some onion diced up.
3. Crack 8 eggs over the top and move them about with a soup spoon to ensure they fill in all the gaps.
4. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and herbs on the top.
5. Cook for 30 minutes at 180 - 220 degrees C

Done and delicious!

~Lorna

Berry Meringue Wreath

This is super easy!

12 meringues

Berry jam, sauce, preserve

Whipped cream

Frozen or Fresh berries

Lay the meringues in a circle.  Top with whipped cream.  Pour over some berry sauce.  Top with berries and mint sprigs.

Done! 

Eat....yum!

Chicken Pie Wreath

This was so easy to make and so yummy!

The quantities I will share here feed our family of nine (5 adult serves, 4 child serves)

1x 2kg chicken roasted
4 cups of chopped broccoli 
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 capsicum
1 1/3 cups of cream
5 tsp cornflour
2 tsp chicken stock
pepper
2 cups of cheese
pastry - 75 grams butter, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup water (make 3 lots of this)

1. Remove all the meat from the chicken bones and place aside to cool.
2. Put the vegetables in a pot with a small amount of water to steam until bright in colour but still firm.
3. Mix the chicken stock, pepper, and cornflour with a little bit of the cream to form a paste.  Then add the rest of the cream and mix well.  Tip over the cooled chicken.
4. Drain the water from the vegetables and allow them to cool.  
5. Add them to the chicken and cream mixing well to combine.  Put the mixture in the fridge for a few hours.
6. Make the pastry.  Roll out thin and cut into long triangle shapes.  We used 16.
7. Lay 8 triangles in a circle with the tips pointing out of the circle.  Fill with the chicken/vegetable filling and cheese.  Fold the tips over the filling and tuck under the base.  There will be some filling showing, this is ok.
8.  Brush the pastry with egg or milk.
9. Bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
10. Serve

We had ours with stuffing (from the chicken) and coleslaw.

Apple Cider Vinegar

A few years ago a friend gave me a large box of cooking apples.  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try to make apple cider vinegar. 

We washed the apples and put them in a large (unused) bin and chopped them up with a large knife.  Water was added, enough to cover the apples.

The bin was covered and left for two weeks apart from some occasional stirring.

After the 2 weeks we scooped the apples and water out of the bin and into a cheese cloth bag.  This was suspended above a bucket to allow all the liquid to drain out of the solids.

Sugar was added, about 3 - 6 cups and the liquid left in a warm dry place for 9 months mostly undisturbed.  

We bottled the resulting vinegar.

Sausage Casserole

This recipe makes a small amount of sausages go a long way!  

This meal fed 5 adults and 4 children.

12 sausages (not especially big ones either)
2 large carrots (not peeled)
5 potatoes (not peeled)
2 onions
(you could also add kumara and parsnip)

3 Tbsp cornflour
1 Tbsp tamari sauce
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt 
pepper to taste 

3 1/2 cups of rice

bunch of spinach
2 bok choy 
2 sticks of celery with the leaves on

1.  Put the sausages in a large electric frying pan with some water to cook.
2.  While the sausages begin to cook, wash the potatoes and carrots.  Cut them into bite sized chunks and add them to the sausages in the pan.
3.  When the vegetables are almost cooked through add the onion and turn down to a low heat.
4.  Wash the rice well and add 7 cups of water.  Cook for 10 minutes or until the water is gone.  Stir the rice to fluff it up and remove it from the heat.
5.  While the rice is cooking, cut up the spinach, bok choy and celery and put it in a frying pan with a little water.  Steam cook for a few minutes until the leaves turn bright green and remove from heat to serve.
6.  Mix the cornflour, tamari sauce, mustard, salt and pepper together with a small amount of cold water to make a paste.  Add 3 cups of cold water and pour this over the sausages. Cook on high until the gravy thickens.
7.  Serve.

Made by J14

What To Do With Tomatoes

Tomatoes, we use them in so many things!  When tomatoes are in season I look for boxes of cheap, soft tomatoes.  I got the 7kg box below for $7.

From a box of tomatoes I can make tomato stock for soups, tomato puree for pizzas, gravies and casseroles, and the left over seeds and skins I either use in pickles or chutney or I feed them to our chickens.

This is how I do it: 

1. Cut each tomato in half and put into a large pot.  Do not add water.  Tomatoes have a high water content and will soon be floating in their own juice.

2. Put the pot on the stove top and turn onto high.  As soon as the tomatoes are boiling turn it down low to simmer and give them a stir to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

3.  When the tomatoes on the top look soft and pulpy remove them from the heat and allow to cool a little.  The next step is to strain the juice from the pulp.  DO NOT stir or squash the tomatoes!  Just pour through a sieve or colander to separate.  You may need to do portions at a time depending on how big your sieve is.  Allow each portion of pulp to sit in the sieve/colander for about 10 minutes gently folding the pulp over to allow gravity to pull the juice through.  This makes a thicker puree in the next stage.

 

4.  Here is the juice.  I now tip this into ice cream containers to store in the freezer.  I sieve it from this bowl to the container to remove the light pulp.  You don't need to do this, but I like to.


















5.  Tomato juice ready to use or freeze.


















6.  Take the pulp and blend it with a stick blender.  

7.  This step is the hard part.  Put about 1 cup of blended pulp into a sieve and using a soup spoon, push the pulp through the mesh to separate the seeds and skin from the flesh of the tomato.  The end result is a lovely thick tomato flesh puree and a dry skin and seed mix.

8.  Bag up the seed/skin for future pickle/chutney.  Line a muffin tray with plastic wrap and spoon the puree into the molds.  Freeze and turn them out into a plastic bag when frozen.

Bone Broth (Soup Base)

Soup is so much nicer when made with a bone broth or a stock as opposed to just water.  This is how we make our bone broth.  I used to use a large stock pot on my stove top, but a crock pot is so much more efficient!  

Bones – chicken carcass, chop bones, any bones you cook that have meat on that you eat really!, or buy soup bones, even salmon bones but don’t ask me that one....

1. Put bones in crock pot, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (this helps extract the minerals from the bones) and cover the bones with water.

2. Turn on overnight or for 8-12 hours or when bones crumble when pressed between your fingers. 

3. Let it cool. 

4. Skim fat from the top and store it in the freezer.  (It is delicious to use to fry eggs or roast veggies or oven fries.  We even cook our pizza dough tortillas in it!)

5. Drain liquid stock from bones using a sieve (bones done blend too well ... we've tired accidently!)

6. Freeze or use.

I also use, as a soup base, the water that I cook crock pot meat in such as corned silver side, roasts (I start my roasts in my c/p and put them in oven about 30 minutes before I serve it to crisp up the outside), any other meat that you cook in your crock pot that you would tip out the liquid from before serving.

* Note ...we waste almost nothing!  The bones, once cooked until I can get no more from them, are then tossed to our chickens!