Jun24

Donna Hay’s Pumpkin, Ricotta and Basil Lasagne

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Yesterday I was the grateful recipient of a ‘day off’ by myself. My husband ordered me to ‘go to a cafe and read a book’ which I readily agreed was a wonderful way to use some of the day. Beforehand, I found a copy of Donna Hay’s No Time To Cook, and having used it a number of times, sat down to read it like a novel, page by page. By the end I was inspired by a number of the recipes, especially this one. Normally a yummy vegetarian dish, I knew my husband would prefer it with the addition of mince, and the result was a less stodgy and much healthier lasagne. With 750g of mince added to the passata sauce this dish costs around $16 and around $11 if you keep it vegetarian. Serves 10.
  • 1.2kg ricotta (buy it from the deli, not the fridge section, much cheaper!)
  • 160g grated parmesan
  • 6 tbsp chopped chives (if you have it)
  • 8 tbsp shredded basil (if you have it)
  • 1 rounded tbsp finely grated lemon rind
  • sea salt and cracked black pepper
  • 4 tbsp coarsely chopped oregano leaves (if you have it)
  • 1.25 litres tomato passata
  • 450g-600g lasagne sheets
  • 1.5kg pumpkin peeled, seeded and sliced thinly (2-3mm)
  • 100g grated mozzarella
  1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
  2. Combine ricotta, half the grated parmesan, chives, basil, lemon rind, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Stir oregano into passata.
  3. Place a layer of lasagne sheets into the base of a greased 20cm x 35cm baking dish (about 7cm deep, 3.5-4 litre capacity). Top with a third of the pumpkin and spoon over a third of the passata mixture. Top with a third of the ricotta mixture and another layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat layers, ending with a layer of lasagne sheets and the remaining ricotta mixture.
  4. Sprinkle with mozzarella and the remaining parmesan, cover with aluminium foil and bake for 1½ hours.
Jun23

Jodi’s Mum’s Lemon Tea Cake

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The lemon tree out the side of my house has been bursting with lemons for the last few weeks and I’ve been racking my brain to find ways to use them up. I’m really not the most sentimental of people but I quite like it that the variety of lemon my tree brings forth is a ‘Meyer’ lemon – my maiden name. According to my grandmother, one of our long lost relatives first propagated it and it’s now one of the most readily available varieties. So I was excited when my friend Jodi emailed me her mother’s recipe for Lemon Tea Cake. When I made this ridiculously easy cake, I so enjoyed the neatness of it all – using all the lemon’s rind and juice with no wastage. This cake will set you back no more than 20 minutes and $3. Thanks for sharing, Jodi.

  • 1  1/2 cups self raising flour
  • 1 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup extra
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 120g butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees (170 fan forced). Grease and line a 20cm round, ring or loaf tin.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, sift flour, add sugar and salt. Rub in butter. (This is done easily if you grate butter cold, straight from the fridge.)
  3. Combine beaten eggs and milk and stir into mixture. Fold in lemon rind.
  4. Pour into the tin and bake for about 50mins, but start checking earlier with a skewer.
  5. Mix juice of lemon and 1/4 cup sugar and remove cake from the oven. Immediately spoon lemon juice/sugar mixture over cake and allow to soak into the cake.
  6. Leave in tin to cool. Serve by itself or with cream and ice cream for dessert.
Jun14

Chocolate Fudge Slice with Caramello Chocolate

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A number of years ago my friend Kara gave me this divine recipe and since then it’s been one of my favourites for when I need to quickly make a morning or afternoon tea or a fast dessert. The consistency of the slice is nice and chewy with the oozing Caramello chocolate randomly permeating the mixture. It’s a fast melt and mix recipe which will take you no more than 10 minutes to mix and pop into the oven. One of the things I love most about this recipe is it’s versatility – my friend Nicole makes it with white chocolate chunks and it’s easy to substitute the Caramello for whatever chocolate you prefer. If you buy your chocolate on special and use home brand condensed milk, this yummy option will cost less than $6 to make. Finally, consider using it as a desert serving up a square for each person with a scoop of ice cream. Serves 24+

  • 1 cup self raising flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup coconut
  • 2 heaped tabs cocoa
  • 125g butter, melted
  • 400g can condensed milk
  • 1 family size block Cadbury Caramello chocolate (replace with whatever you fancy)
  1. Grease and line a rectangular 16x26cm slice tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan-forced 170 deg).
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients (except chocolate), press into slice tin. Break chocolate into individual squares and press them randomly and firmly into the mixture in the tin.
  3. Bake for 20-25 mins, but start checking early. The slice should be rise back after a light touch but still be a little wobbly and soft when it comes out of the oven. It will continue to cook as it cools.
Jun13

Nigella’s Chocolate Pots

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This is one of the easiest, yummiest and affordable dessert recipes I’ve ever come across. I love food that’s served in ramekins because it always looks great and costs are kept down by controlling portion size. Originally from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Bites, this gluten free dessert is a winner in my book because it takes no more than 10 minutes to make and then it’s straight into the fridge for later – and it’s literally all done. Every time I make these rich little treasures they get devoured. The mixture makes 8 small ramekins (about 1/3 cup capacity each), but In the photo above, I over-filled mine and so it only made 6 portions. I picked up my little ramekins from Kitchen Antics for $1.95 each. Tonight they’re on offer because it’s the State of Origin and my sister and brother in law are coming to watch it with us. Total cost $3.

  • 175 grams dark chocolate, minimun 70% cocoa
  • 150 ml thickened cream
  • 100 ml milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  1. Crush the chocolate to smithereens in a food processor. Heat the cream and milk until just about boiling, add the vanilla and pour down the funnel over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Process for another 30 seconds, then crack the egg down the funnel and process again for 45 seconds.
  2. Pour into 8 little ramekins until 3/4 full. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Serve naked or topped with berries.
Jun12

Fast French Chicken Dinner

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I have a recipe for a yummy but somewhat complicated french chicken casserole, which is just not very achievable in a busy week. It’s unfortunate, because it tastes so good! The recipe that follows is my attempt to get around this problem. Using all the same ingredients, I’ve fiddled a bit to make something very similar in less than half an hour. If you’re worried about the fat content in the cream, feel free to replace it for lite and creamy evaporated milk, and if you don’t like mushrooms just leave them out. I hope you enjoy this fast, easy, affordable and gluten free dinner. Total cost less than $12 and serves 6.

  • 2 chicken breasts, cut diagonally into 4cm (ish) lengths
  • 4 rashers bacon, cut into strips
  • 1 leek or red onion or brown onion (nicest with leek, but don’t go and buy one if you have onions)
  • 200g mushrooms, sliced
  • 400ml cream
  • 1/2 cup white wine (dry is best, but sweet won’t wreck your dinner)
  • 1/2 cup fresh parmesan, finely grated
  • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme (parsley and shallots work too. Just make do)
  1. In a large frypan, brown off bacon, leek and mushrooms. Remove from pan and set aside.
  2. Return pan to heat and brown chicken pieces on all sides, but leave uncooked in the middle. Return mushrooms, leek and bacon to pan with the chicken and pour over cream and white wine. Simmer gently with lid on for 15-20 mins stirring relatively often to prevent catching.
  3. While chicken is simmering, prepare any vegetables you’d like to serve it with (mash potato, carrots, beans and broccoli work well).
  4. Sprinkle thyme and grated parmesan over the chicken mixture and stir gently until melted and combined. Allow mixture to thicken and season with salt and pepper. Serve on mashed potato or rice with steamed vegetables.
Jun8

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

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Beef Stroganoff is a winter staple in our house. It’s a great choice for warming up on a cold night and it’s the sort of dish that stretches easily to accommodate others at the last minute. The recipe that follows started out as a Woman’s Weekly recipe from the 80’s but has morphed over the years into something that works in the slow cooker and takes my family’s tastebuds into account (we like it quite tomatoey). Please know that this recipe copes well with the addition of veggies such as carrots and green beans, which stretches it even further and improves the nutritional value – simply throw them in the slow cooker about an hour before serving. If you don’t have a slow cooker or need to make this in the late afternoon, simply halve the amount of beef stock and cook the whole thing in an electric frypan. The only catch is, that you will need to let it simmer away for no less than 1 hour to ensure the beef is nice and tender. Finally, a couple of comments about slow cookers: remember the versatility of using a slow cooker. I’ve often made this recipe after dinner when there’s less disruption and let the stroganoff cook overnight on low. In the morning it’s ready to divide up and freeze, refrigerate until dinner time or even give away to someone who needs it. Also, it’s important to know that getting something like this going in the slow cooker can take a good half an hour (though, that’s all it will require of you), so consider increasing the quantities to completely fill it – providing you with lots of meals for the future and the most economical use of your time. Doubling this recipe completely fills a 5.5L cooker. With the quantities listed below this dish will cost under $15 and serves 8.

  • 1kg beef – rump (dearer) or chuck (cheaper) steak, diced or cut into thin strips
  • 3/4 brown paper bag mushrooms, peeled and quartered
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • half cup plain flour or cornflour
  • olive oil for browning
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • half a large jar tomato paste
  • half cup sour cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss strips of beef in flour and brown in a frypan on very high heat, a little at a time until the whole batch has been browned.

2. Add sliced onions, garlic, mushrooms, stock, tomato paste and stir well. Allow to simmer for a few hours or put it all in the slow cooker on LOW for around 8 hours.

3. Just before serving, stir through the sour cream and serve on either rice or fettacine.

May31

Cheese & Bacon Muffin Bites

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I really can’t tell you how much I love this cheap, versatile and easy recipe. These cheese and bacon savoury muffins are flavoursome, light and fluffy and quick as can be to make. I have used this recipe for a variety of purposes, including: a sugar-free and filling morning tea for the kids’ lunch boxes, mini-muffin sized ones for church morning teas and regular muffin sized numbers to pull out of the freezer to eat with soup (they freshen up beautifully after a few minutes in the oven). Unlike lots of savoury muffins these aren’t heavy and scone-like, they’re puffy and light. If you’d like to add other things such as grated carrot and zucchini, this recipe can certainly handle it if you add a little more milk to your mixture (the mixture should be quite a wet mixture that’s not over-mixed). When I made the ones pictured, I had little bits of un-eaten cheese in the fridge (cast-offs of swiss cheese, parmesan etc…) and so I used them all up to total the cheese component. The end result was a yummy mix of cheese flavours that would have otherwise ended up in the bin. These work really well as plain cheese muffins too, just leave out the bacon.

  • 1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese
  • 200g bacon, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 4 teasp baking powder
  • 1/4 teasp salt
  • 1/4 teasp dry mustard (if you don’t have dry, just use dijon or whatever you’ve got in the fridge)
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)
  • chopped herbs such as spring onion, dill or parsley (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and grease a 12 hole muffin pan using cooking spray
  2. Place grated cheese and bacon in a large bowl. Sift in flour (or not, if you couldn’t be bothered), baking powder, salt, mustard and pepper. Add herbs and sesame seeds if desired (or save the seeds to sprinkle on top).
  3. Lightly beat eggs and milk together in a jug. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the eggs and milk. Mix together gently using a knife with a cutting action so as not to over-mix.
  4. Place one heaped dessert spoon of mixture in each muffin hole and bake for 12-15 mins until muffins spring back when lightly touched. Makes 12.
May28

Hearty Chicken and Vegetable Soup

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Katrina put me onto this soup recipe a few weeks back and I thought I’d give it a go today. I tried it today because we’ve got a big week ahead (one of our kids is having their tonsils and adenoids out tomorrow), I wanted a meal to give away and I wanted to put the rest in the fridge for the number of lunches and dinners we’ll need quickly in the days to come. For all these reasons, I doubled the quantities and I really enjoyed the ease of this recipe – it only took around 20 minutes of peeling and chopping before sticking it on the stove to simmer. The ingredients list tells you to use chicken lovely legs, but today at my butcher, drumsticks were on special and lovely legs were not. I decided the saving in cost was worth the 5 extra minutes to remove the skin from each drumstick, and seeing as the recipe requires the removal of bones, I figured it didn’t matter that each leg was not shortened. The end result was yummy, full of good meat and healthy vegetables. Total cost, less than $8 and feeds 6-8. Thanks for the link, Katrina and thanks taste.com for the recipe and photo.

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 leek, halved, washed, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 large carrot, peeled, diced
  • 2 sticks celery, diced
  • 2 small zucchini, diced
  • 1 swede or turnip, peeled, diced
  • 1 1/4 cups dry soup mix, rinsed
  • 8 cups chicken stock (I use powder cause it’s cheaper)
  • 1kg skinless chicken lovely legs (or drumsticks)
  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add carrot, celery, zucchini and swede. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in soup mix, stock, chicken and 1 cup cold water. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil.
  2. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until soup mix and vegetables are tender.
  3. Remove chicken legs from soup. Allow to cool slightly. Remove meat from bones. Roughly chop chicken meat and add to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into warmed bowls. Serve with bread if desired.
  • Packet dry soup mix is a combination of split peas and lentils. You can find it near the chickpeas in the supermarket.
May27

Donna Hay’s Spiced Fish with Sesame Ginger Noodles

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Another recipe from Donna Hay’s No Time to Cook, my friend Sonja made this for us for dinner last year – in my kitchen, so I just got to sit back and watch! I couldn’t believe how fast and yummy the whole dish was and so was keen to give it a go myself. When left to my own devices with no recipe, I normally really struggle to cook asian food that doesn’t all taste the same, but this simple recipe gets the balance of these readily available flavours just right without any stress. This recipe feeds 4 and calls for 4 firm white fish fillets, and I couldn’t believe that the 4 HUGE Basa fillets I picked up from the deli at Coles cost $4.80. The whole meal cost less than $8 and no more than 20 mins to make. I keep coming back to this recipe for all these reasons of simplicity and affordability, but also because I always think our family should be eating more fish and my brain struggles to think of anything but tuna (which not everyone loves). If you use gluten free rice stick noodles (such as Chang’s), this recipe is gluten and dairy free. And finally, if you don’t like much spiciness in asian food, go easy on the thai curry paste – and if you do like it spicy, go ahead and knock yourself out.

  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tabs sesame seeds
  • 2 tabs fresh ginger, grated
  • 6 shallots or green onions, roughly chopped
  • 2 tabs fish sauce
  • 200g dried rice stick noodles
  • 4 tsp red curry paste (if you’ve only got green in the fridge, that’s fine too)
  • 2 tabs olive oil
  • 4 firm white fish fillets
  • 2/3 cup fresh coriander (if you have it and if you like it)
  • 2/3 cup fresh mint leaves (if you have it and if you like it)
  1. Place a medium non-stick frypan over low heat, add sesame oil, seeds, ginger, shallots and fish sauce and cook for 2-3 mins. Remove sesame mixture from pan and set aside. Wipe pan clean.
  2. Place noodles in a heat-proof bowl, cover with boiling water for 10 mins until separated and tender. 
  3. Combine curry paste and oil in a bowl and brush over both sides of the fish. Return the pan to low heat, add the fish and cook for 5 mins each side or until the fish is cooked through. 
  4. Drain noodles, stir through sesame mixture and divide between plates. Top with fish and herbs to serve as well as steamed boy-choy if you’re keen.