Simple Pancakes

My eldest daughter Lucy loves pancakes.  I always pretend they take too long to cook and so it's usually something she orders if we ever go out for Breakfast.  Kind of my way of encouraging her to be satisfied with porridge 7 days a week!  Well, I saw this cute little pan in Costco the other week and thought, this is it, this just makes it too easy.  The perfect circular pancake, my OCD about uniformity has been mitigated, no excuses left.

This morning Lucy woke at 4:58am and was up, bed made and dressed by 5:12 ready for school. We had a long morning ahead so I pulled out my new fancy nancy pan and tried this recipe from Food Network. It worked like a charm, I was impressed.  They were light and fluffy and so simple. We started with the simple pancake  I didn't add vanilla but I'm sure as the weeks pass she'll get a little more adventurous and we'll start making them with mashed banana or blueberries or something.  On weekends only... this is not becoming a new habit!

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose (plain) flour
1 tblspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 tblspn sugar
1 egg
2 tblspn vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tspn vanilla essence (optional)

Method:

• In a bowl sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.  
• Make a well and crack the egg.  Whisk it well with a fork
• Add the oil and milk and gradually combine until smooth
• Heat a griddle pan and brush a little oil or butter over the surface
• If using a molded griddle like mine, pour out approx 2 tblspn of batter into each mold and cook until it bubbles.
• Turn and cook on the other side
• Serve immediately with your choice of toppings, maple syrup, butter, fruit or lemon and sugar

Blue Cheese Burger

Mid week burgers don't have to be boring and they honestly don't have to take long to prepare.  I decided, made and was eating this one within 30mins.  I had some fresh ground beef in the fridge  and had been eating a little blue cheese on my salads this week so it didn't take me long to put two and two together.   What a hit!  I had given the girls dinner earlier so they didn't eat this but I would definitely try a version of this for them.  Maybe just use a nice aged cheddar and crumble that.  I wouldn't necessary add the hot sauce to theirs but a little dry mustard is an awesome hit of flavor with the worchestire sauce.  

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 brown onion, finely diced

400g ground beef sirloin

1 tspn dry mustard powder

a splash of worchestire sauce

sea salt and cracked pepper

2 tblspn hot sauce

3-4oz blue cheese or gorgonzola roughly crumbled

nice ciabatta rolls, heated

avocado, sliced

arugula

cucumber, sliced

mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing* or aioli 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350'F
• Finely dice your onion and cook gently over medium heat until translucent (I hate nothing more than raw onion in my burgers!). Allow to cool
• In a large bowl mix together the raw ground beef and all the other ingredients.  I added the onion while they were still a little warm but I was cooking the burgers straight away.  If you are planning on doing these ahead of time and refridgerating them, then please let the onion cool right down before mixing with your raw meat. 
• Divide your meat into 4 equal portions and roll into a ball
• Roll or rub a little oil over your patties and then place on a hot grill or grill plate on the stove. 
• I have the oven on, for the buns but I also use it cook the patties all the way through.  I like the outside charred and full of flavor but then I like them to give them some time and retaining their moisture by finishing them in the oven.  Get the grill hot, cook for approx 3-4 mins each side and then place them in the oven to continue to cook for another 5-8mins.  It also allows me to prep the other items.  
• Heat your buns in the oven for the last 4 mins to warm through and to get a little crunch on the outside.
• Build your burger however you like, but I kept this simple with some arugula, avocado and cucumber.  I could have probably done with some slightly carmelized red onion but it could have made it to sweet.  
• A little dollop of blue cheese dressing and it was divine!
• 
  

*A nice low(er) fat Blue Cheese Dressing

50g / about 1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup non fat greek yoghurt (or sour cream)

2 tblpsn white wine vinegar

3 tblspn pure orange juice

1 tblspn walnut oil

sea salt and cracked pepper

generous pinch of sugar

mix together in a bowl and refrigerate for up to 7 days

Christmas Craft Tradition

It is popular to share Holiday Traditions with the class at school so while I was thinking what it was that marks this time of year for us, I found myself at a disappointing low... 'how come we don't have any real traditions!'  There are the usual culinary traditions but even those seem to change depending on who's coming, the weather, the time of day, where we live... we don't ALWAYS have prawns or turkey, sometimes it is a beef fillet grilled on the BBQ or this year I'm even thinking a Beef Wellington.  We have trifle when it suits us and christmas pudding at others.  We do hang a stocking, we don't do St Nick, we have an "Elfie", we eat Indian curry on Christmas Eve and call it Curryfest and sometimes are back home to celebrate my sister's birthday with a cheesecake. Our girls have just turned five and six so I went looking for someone else's tradition we could hijack for our family for the rest of time.  Pinterest.  What a time waster that is, but wow - it shares some pretty cool ideas.  Check this out. A new update: I was brand new to Pinterest when I first found this idea and didn't actually 'pin it' to a board so I now can not find where I originally saw it but in doing a new search I think I may have found the original owner... a very talented woman at www.bluecricketdesign.net has something very similar as well as a million and one other creative ideas to do as a family or for special occasions.  Please look her up,  she is amazing!

This is a lovely gesture of gratitude and giving.  We've never seen houses so beautifully decorated than here in Wisconsin.  Obviously it's not limited to the Festive season, all year round they seem to take pride in their houses and adorn them in appropriate wreaths and garland for every season or occasion.  It's a real reminder of the changing land and weather.  We love it.  This idea resonated with me because it's nice to tell people you noticed what they do and appreciate it.   

Drive around your neighborhood and decide on the top  2 or 3 houses with the nicest Holiday decorations.  

Using a tin with a pull top, open the bottom rim with a can opener leaving the ring pull end in tact.

Empty the contents (we now have an enormous amount of peaches as I prepped this exercise for 2 classes 30 kids!) and wash the tin out thoroughly. 

Once dry, fill your tins with candy (leftover from Halloween perhaps) but ensure they are individually wrapped for hygiene purposes.

Seal the end using hot glue and push together to set.

Using any assortment of card paper or even wrapping paper, buttons, ribbons, sparkles or stickers... decorate your tin.  Write or print a little message saying how much you like your neighbors lights and then drop it off on their front door step over this Festive season.  It will bring a smile to their face and you would have fun enjoying their lights and making a small gift of appreciation.

I'd like to update this with some of the results from today's JK and SK class craft project if I can.... I hope the kids enjoy doing this!

Samosa pies & pasties

This is, in principal, a variation of my earlier curry puff recipe I suppose but with a chunkier, spicier filling.  A samosa pie similar to this won the popular vote at my friend's recent Annual Pie Party (more on that in another post) so I wanted to spruce up my curry puff in the same vain. My husband and I like things spicy so I knocked it out of the park with this one, please feel free to taper the heat if you prefer a milder curry.  It is easily done in this recipe, just cut the chili and curry powder by half.  I played around with a few different sizes and presentation methods today but the folded large pasties is a good package if you wish to freeze them for another time. The individual ramekin was perfect for our evening meal and looked adorable on the plate.  Of course you can omit the heavy spice altogether and make a kid friendly version easily enough, the use of the mash potato to help bind all the other ingredients makes it simple to manipulate and it has a wonderful mouth feel.  I love a pot pie of any variety and these are no exception. Have a go and see what you can come up with!

Makes approx 12 large pasties (1/2 sheet) 
or 24 medium (1/4 sheet)

Ingredients:
2 potatoes, diced and mashed
1 sweet potato, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup green beans, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tspn ground coriander
2 tblspn hot Indian curry powder
1 tspn chili powder
1/2 tspn turmeric
1 tblspn brown sugar
3 spring onions, diced

1/2 brown onion, diced
1 fresh red chili, diced (with or without seeds)
2 chicken breasts, poached in chicken stock with 1/2 tspn curry powder
cashew nuts, chopped (optional)
2 tbslpn freshly chopped cilantro
6 puff pastry sheets
1 egg, brushing pastry

These would be lovely without the chicken if you wanted to make a vegetarian option.


Method:

• Allow puff pastry sheets to defrost to room temperature
• Boil the potatoes in salted water, mash and allow to cool
• In a microwave safe bowl, par cook the sweet potato
• Poach the chicken pieces in chicken stock/broth with 1/2 tspn curry powder, once tender but not overly cooked, drain and set aside.
• In a pan, fry off the onion in a little vegetable oil.  Once the onion turns clear, add the spring onion and fresh chili.  I added the cooked chicken into this pan to sauté quickly with the chili powder, turmeric, sugar and ground coriander and the remaining curry powder (amount to your liking)
• Set aside and allow to cool
• Combine all the cooked vegetables, mash potato, uncooked beans and frozen peas, chicken etc in a large bowl and mix until well combined.  Stir in the fresh cilantro and cashew nuts.
• Cut pastry sheet in half diagonally (for large pasties) or in square quarters for smaller pasties.
• Preheat the oven to 425'F 
• Pierce the sides of the pastry you wish to seal with a fork, run a little egg wash over the pricks.  Place mixture on one side of the triangle fold over and fold and twists the edges to seal.  
• Brush top of pastry with egg wash and bake for approx 20-25mins or until golden brown
• Serve with sweet chili sauce or if you're game, Sriarcha hot chili sauce

Festive Season Stuffing

Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Boxing Day leftovers... however it rolls in your house, you might want to give this stuffing recipe a go next time you are hosting a Holiday Dinner. We thought it was sensational and as far as I'm concerned the best part of my Roast Turkey Dinner this Thanksgiving.  I had never cooked a roast Turkey before moving here let alone tried my hand at stuffing, so this was a surprise to me and the result was incredible.  I had heard rumors of what made a good foundation for stuffing but until I started to pull it together I didn't realize how far I could go with this.  Growing up, Mum used to cook her Turkey for Christmas Day with the stuffing inside the bird and that always gave the meat lovely flavor so I had never contemplated cooking the stuffing outside the bird, as a side dish.  This really appealed to me.   It also cuts down what you need to do at the last minute as so much of this can be prepared the day before.  

Ingredients:

1/2 brown onion, finely diced

1 carrot, diced

2 sticks celery, diced

200g (4 oz) pork sausage or 2 thick pork sausages, meat removed

a good handful of dried cranberries

1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock

2-3 thick slices stale bread, cut into cubed croutons

handful of roughly chopped walnuts

tblpsn each of freshly chopped sage, thyme and rosemary

1 clove garlic, crushed

3/4 cup diced mushrooms

butter (and more butter)

cracked pepper

sea salt

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400'F
• In a large fry pan, heat a little butter and saute the mushrooms with salt and pepper and garlic. Once cooked through, remove from the pan.
• Add more butter or oil and fry off the onion, then carrots and celery until soft and tender
• Add the pork sausage meat and break it up using a spoon and cook until browned
• Replace the mushrooms and now add the fresh herbs, cranberries and walnuts and toss well with a little of the chicken stock.
• Season with salt and pepper as needed
• In an oven proof dish, add the stuffing mixture together with the croutons
• Pour in the remainder of the chicken stock, tossing through the croutons until moist.
• Cook in the hot oven until the croutons brown and return to crunchy
• Then serve alongside your Christmas or Festive roast meat.

Quick gnocchi with chili and parmesan

I do like to make gnocchi from scratch, it's a fun and relatively easy process but the title of this recipe was "quick" gnocchi so here's the thing....You can buy some pretty good gnocchi in vacuum packs  from the supermarkets these days. I have some standing by at all times in my cupboard for those days when I really have run out of time.  I throw in as few ingredients as possible to whip up a quick, satisfying and flavorful meal in literally minutes.  Of course you can go to more trouble and fry off some lovely bacon or prosciutto and add peas and basil and whatever else takes your fancy but gnocchi is often just as good if it's left pretty much alone.  My girls like it with butter and parmesan which is a great side dish to any grilled meat and steamed veggie combination but we like it like this... A big bowl of spicy, gooey, cheesey goodness!  

Ingredients:
1 packet of vacuum sealed store bought gnocchi
1 fresh red chili, finely diced
freshly grated or shaved parmesan cheese
cracked black pepper
sea salt
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tin of anchovies (optional)

Method:

• Boil the kettle and then fill a saucepan with boiling water and add salt
• Add the gnocchi and cook until the gnocchi floats to the surface
• Once the gnocchi have boiled on the surface for about 1-2mins (they do need a little time on top to cook through) transfer the cooked gnocchi using a slotted spoon to a waiting fry pan full of butter.  Cook off the gnocchi in the butter and add the fresh chili
• Add some parmesan cheese to the pan and season.  
• If the gnocchi begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a dash of chicken stock or broth to loosen
• Serve with additional parmesan and chili flakes if you like it hot and eat immediately!

Chow Mein

I was after a quick and healthy fix for tonight's dinner so I remembered my friend Vanessa's chow mein. She has a wonderful little food blog too so if you need some more family friendly meal ideas, check out her blog at http://mums-in-the-kitchen.blogspot.com.  I decided to use ground turkey to keep it light and to make the most of this American favorite ground meat.  There is not a lot of choice in Asian noodles here so I made tonight's dish with just regular dried 2 minute ramen noodles.  The girls love them so I always have some in the house for emergencies and I figured by not using the 'sachet of evilness' I can actually make it into a totally acceptable meal.  It worked, this was awesome and super cheap and easy. I added the chili and chili sauce to our portions only, so the girls enjoyed it too.  They did their best to avoid the vegetables but it was proving difficult so they ended up just spooning it up.  I love a quick dish like this and you can mix it up using ground chicken, beef or even strips of flank steak or chicken breast for a chunkier version.  The ground meat works beautifully with kids in the picture as it just becomes a part of the meal not the main feature. Give this one a go for sure, you won't regret it.  

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
500g or 1lb ground turkey (or chicken) breast meat
1 tblspn sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
1 cup carrots, grated or blitzed
3/4 red pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup green beans, diced
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tblpsn oyster sauce
1 tblspn curry powder
2 tblpsn hoisin sauce
1 tspn sriarcha sauce (hot chili sauce) or to your taste
1 fresh red chili, diced
2 tblspn fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 chinese cabbage, shredded or about 2 cups
170g (6oz) singapore egg noodles (or 2 packets of dry ramen noodles)

Method:

• Boil the kettle and cook the noodles in a saucepan for approx 2mins until just tender.  (I added some chicken stock powder to the water for added flavor - do not use the sachet included in the noodles....evil!)  Once tender, drain and then pour over some cold water to stop the cooking process.
• In a large wok or fry pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until clear.
• Add the ground turkey and fry until fully cooked and browned.
• Add the garlic and continue to stir until fragrant, then add the fresh chili
• Add the oyster and hoisin sauces and curry powder. 
• Add the carrot, beans and red pepper and cook for a few minutes
• Now add the cabbage and the chicken stock and either put a lid over the wok to help steam or stir continuously until softened.
• Stir in the noodles and add a little more chicken stock or water if necessary to keep it loose and to create a little sauce.
• Stir through the cilantro and serve