Sweet potato tots

Tater tots...  Not something I buy too often but wondered whether it would be worth making them for myself.  Verdict: they were so simple and really tasty.  I used some fried bacon for a bit of extra flavor but it would be equally as nice without it I think.  We had them with chicken parmesan and steamed vegetables so they weren't the highlight of the meal but for my salad lunch the next day, they certainly were the stand out! 

You could use regular white baking potatoes if you prefer regular tater tots but these were so sweet, they were almost like a butternut squash.  Once rolled, I kept them in the fridge until I was ready to fry them in the pan so they had a chance of holding their shape, they would certainly be a good thing to freeze and have ready when you wanted them.  I'd do them again for sure.  I did have the oven on as well so that I could fry them in small batches until golden and crispy and then finished them off in the oven for about 5mins.  I will try baking them from the start next time but I wanted to ensure these were crunchy as well as hot.

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, boiled and grated
3 rashers bacon, sliced
3 tblpsn all purpose flour
salt and pepper

Method:

• Boil the potatoes (with skins on) in hot water for about 10 -12mins until partially cooked then remove and run under cold water.
• Dice the bacon and cook in a skillet pan until browned and crunchy, drain on paper towel.
• Once cooled, dice the bacon further until you have small bacon bits.
• Peel the skin of the sweet potatoes and then using a box grater, roughly grate them 
• In a large bowl, mix the grated potato, flour, bacon and season
• Take a tablespoon of the mixture in your palm and roll and squash into a rough ball, then shape into tater tot size logs. 
• Leave on a tray and refridgerate (or freeze) until ready to pan fry or bake in the oven
• Serve as a side dish to your main meal or with a simple honey mustard dressing for a game day snack.

Honey mustard sauce
4 tblspn mayonnaise
2 tspn honey
2 tspn dijon mustard

Slow Cooked pulled BBQ pork

Pork shoulder was on special last week so I got myself about a 4.5lb piece - not for any real purpose, other than thinking I would grind my own delicious pork mince for my next batch of spaghetti bolognese. However instead of grinding it, I decided to throw it in the slow cooker and see what would happen using my trusted pork spare rib rub recipe.  It was so easy it was almost unbelievable. My rub blend is probably a tad too hot for my girls so if you want to make this for your whole family I suggest you just switch the cayenne pepper out for some dried oregano but otherwise the flavors were awesome.

I had this in the slow cooker by 1pm and by 5pm I literally could break the pork using the back of a fork, it was completely shreddable and there was plenty of liquid to keep it moist.  Again, the beauty of the slow cooker is that it stays warm all evening long so on those nights when people are coming and going, you can be flexible.  

Ingredients:
4lb pork shoulder
Pork spare rib rub (see my previous post http://whatsfordinner-mum.blogspot.com/2012/07/best-baby-back-ribs.html)
1/3 cup BBQ sauce (homemade or store bought)

Method:

• Cut pork shoulder into fist size pieces to ensure a greater surface area to coat the rub.  Massage  the rub onto each piece of pork
• Pour about 3/4 of the BBQ sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker
• Add the spice rubbed pork on top
• Cook on high for 4-5hrs or until the pork can be pulled apart with a fork
• Shred the meat and mix through the remaining sauce if needed.

Serve in a hamburger bun, taco or wrap with a simple coleslaw or avocado and sour cream

Penne with chicken and spinach

This was a hit last night.  I was intending to make a carbonara but we didn't have any bacon or eggs and I had some leftover cooked spinach I wanted to use up.  My friend Mel gave me a new tip - peel a zucchini and finely grate it and add it in with the onions.  The girls never notice or taste it and I feel better about adding some extra vegetables to their meal.  I used cream today because I had no eggs but you could probably make a white sauce using butter and flour if you wanted to avoid the cream.  I wiped up some yummy garlic bread by defrosting a leftover bread roll from my freezer, made a quick garlic butter and had that in the oven while I prepared and cooked this, we were eating within 20 mins easily and we all had a relaxed and enjoyable mealtime.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, diced
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic
1 zucchini, peeled and finely grated
1/2 cup cooked spinach, chopped
1 cup portobella mushrooms, sliced
knob of butter
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1/3 cup cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
400g penne pasta

Method:

• Boil pasta in salted water until al dente
• Drain and rinse in cold water
• Saute/steam spinach in a hot skillet with a lid on, in a drop of water until wilted. When cooked, drain and chop in a mini processor to a fine chop.
• Saute onions, add garlic and then grated zucchini
• Move to one side of the pan and add butter and mushrooms. Stir frequently and season well with salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are well browned.
• Add chicken pieces and cook through.
• Add cooked pasta, cooked spinach, cream and parmesan and stir until well combined and heated through
• Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Serve with garlic bread, a side salad and a sprinkle of additional parmesan cheese.  

Sugar Cookies

I have been busy baking cookies lately for various occasions for my girls at school.  Before moving to the States 2 years ago, I'd never baked a cookie in my life!  Just not a big thing in Australia so I was under some pressure to get up to speed, particularly if I wanted my little hobby with parties to succeed here in the US.  I quickly learned some basic techniques and now have been having more and more fun decorating sugar cookies for all sorts of occasions.  These are some from our Wedding Anniversary celebration a couple of weeks ago.  I really enjoyed putting together the event styling and preparing all the food for our event but I was particularly proud of these.  So simple but so cute. I have to credit the fact that I use an awesome sugar cookie recipe and more than that, I use an incredible vanilla extract which has transformed the taste!  

I use the recipe below from Glory from Glorious Treats and I love the flavor and texture.  Some cookie folk use icing sugar in their mixture but I'm not sure about that, might be something I try down the track but this gives a great texture to work with and so I am sticking to this for now.

Rolled Sugar Cookies, 

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

Directions:

Directions as per Glory, here at http://www.glorioustreats.com/2010/03/making-sugar-cookies-recipe-and-tips.html

I could rewrite her directions but she has done a wonderful job of working through each step with easy to follow photographs.  I also think it's necessary that you explore her site and get lost in her creativity... she's amazing.

Here are some more of mine for a baby shower Party Favor I finished today.... a little preppy, in some spunky colors of yellow, blue, lime green and grey.

Dukkah

Dukkah (pronounced Dook-ah) is an Egyptian spice and nut mixed which is usually served with bread and oil as an appetizer.  I gave these as a party favor gift at our recent Anniversary Party so I hope there are now people all over Wisconsin enjoying some tasty dukkah with their friends! It is a simple yet interesting start to a meal or you could use it in place of a breadcrumb to coat lamb or pork before pan frying or baking it.  There are loads of ways to use this versatile mix.  If you're interested in trying something different, you will be so surprised with the flavours you can achieve my mixing the basic blend of nuts with any other of your favorite element to make something you just love.

1 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup pistacchio nutes
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
salt
pepper or peppercorns

Method:

• In a hot dry skillet, roast the nuts and seeds separately until they are toasted and aromatic.
• Process each element in a coffee grinder to a coarse grind.  Finer if you wish but it is nice to have a bit of texture to it to grab hold of the oil on the bread.
• Mix the quantities you desire and add salt and pepper. 
• Optional: Add red pepper flakes, dried lemon etc (whatever takes your fancy) until you are happy with the flavor.
• Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 3months.
• To eat; tear off pieces of a nice rustic bread, dip it in a good quality olive oil, and then dip into a bowl of dukkah.  Delightful!

additional options:
ras el hanout
fennel seeds
dried lemon zest
red chili flakes
dried herbs - mint, thyme

Stuffed Red Peppers

This was a knock out.  Very easily made into a vegetarian meal and sometimes I would say it would even be preferred but tonight we ate it with some spicy chorizo sausage meat and it was amazing.  My apologizes, it is not the most gorgeous of photographs, but let me tell you - you will inhale it! I had some left over cous cous from the night before and needed to clear out my vegetable drawer of some rather suspicious looking zucchini's.... I whipped this up and had it in the oven within minutes.  A beautiful aroma filled my house as it cooked and with a simple salad, it was a great healthy mid week meal.

Ingredients:
1 cup israeli cous cous, cooked
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
100g chorizo sausage meat
1/2 small red onion, diced
butter
1 tspn garlic
smoked paprika
oregano, dried
2/3 cup portabello mushrooms, finely diced
1/2 medium zucchini, finely diced
chili powder or red pepper flakes
1/2-1 cup tomato sauce / pureed tomatoes
tabasco sauce, optional

vegetarian option:
diced zucchini
roasted butternut squash
roasted eggplant

Method:

• Carefully cut around and remove the stalk from the red pepper and then slice it in half.  Trim and clean up the seeds from the inside so that you have two tidy half shells.
• Pre heat your oven to 350'F
• In a saucepan, cook your cous cous in chicken stock and a pinch of salt, until tender.  When ready, add a knob of butter and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and mix through.
• Heat a small skillet, add a drop of olive oil and cook your diced red onion under tender.
• Add garlic and zucchinis and cook for about 3mins. Add the mushrooms and a knob of butter.  Season with salt and pepper, oregano and mix well.
• When the mushrooms and zucchinis have browned nicely, remove from the heat and pour all the onion, mushroom and zucchini into a mixing bowl.
• Cook your chorizo meat in the same skillet until browned.  Drain any excess fat.
• Mix your chorizo with your vegetables and taste.  Add tabasco, chili powder or smoked paprika to your liking.  
• Add 1/3 cup of tomato puree and mix well.
• Spoon mixture into your half red pepper shells and bake for approx 25mins.
• Baste with a little extra tomato sauce after 15mins of cooking to ensure it stays moist.

As everything is already cooked you are just waiting for the peppers to soften slightly and for the flavors to incorporate.  Serve with a fresh mixed leaf salad, corn on the cob or boiled potatoes.

Basil and Lime Chicken

It is the week of 4th of July and despite the lousy weather I am determined to keep my cooking light and fresh.  I have been eating whatever is coming out of my Farm box so basil, zucchini and broccoli were big this week.  I have made so much basil pesto lately that I needed a new excuse to pulse up basil and create a different meal.  I found this recipe via pinterest a little while ago and have been meaning to try it, it comes from http://goodenessgracious.com/2012/01/basil-lime-chicken.html.  It was delicious.   I actually sliced my chicken breasts through in half lengthwise before marinading and for quicker cooking and then sliced it in chunks once grilled .  It ensured it stayed moist but then once cut it allowed it to soak up all those yummy flavors of the sauce.  My girls enjoyed the chicken, the marinade was fresh and tasty without being overpowering.  I served it with a simple vegetable mix of small florets of broccoli and cauliflower and zucchini quartered, tossed in a little walnut oil and butter in a pan with garlic... it made for a great everyday meal with some zesty flavors to keep from being another boring chicken dish. Give it a try at your next summer BBQ, you'll really enjoy it I'm sure.

Ingredients - marinade
2 limes, juice of and zest
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 T worchestshire sauce
3 T olive oil
1 tspn dijon mustard
3 T soy sauce
3 green spring onions, finely diced
3 lbs  or 1 1/2kgs chicken breasts, whole

Pour all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until combined.  Place whole chicken breasts in the marinade and allow flavor to infuse, at least 1-2 hours in the refridgerator.

Ingredients - finishing sauce:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 green spring onions, chopped
1 lime, juice of
3 T fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 - 1 tspn sugar, to taste.
salt

Place all ingredients of sauce into a mini processor and process until combined.  Set aside until ready to serve.

Method:

• Pre-heat grill plate.
• Drain the chicken from the marinade and grill on the hot plate, approx 7 mins per side and until internal temp reaches 165'F. Allow to rest, then slice into large chunks.
• When served, pour over the lime and basil finishing sauce.
• Serve with your choice of vegetables, salad, rice or pasta.