Egg and bacon pies are always delish

I got a text from my hairdresser a couple of days ago telling me she was looking forward to seeing me this Friday as it had been too long between cuts. It's the kind of text you love to receive because somebody is actually looking forward to seeing you!
My 6 weekly hair experience is always a pleasurable one. Teneil, my hairdresser is a gorgeous lively fun 20 something who always has plenty to talk about. After we get the pleasantries out of the way it is not long before I hear what she has been creating in the kitchen for herself and partner. She is stick thin but LOVES food, cooking and eating....how could I not like her?

I once told her about my favourite meal Nic cooks (stir fry beef with red cabbage and coriander), she got so excited, she went home and made it that night and loved it so much she took a photo and sent it to me!
She made me feel special, (always a warm fuzzy feeling) so I decided to make a yummy little something to take to my 10am appointment. I made one of my all time favourite snacks- egg and bacon pies.
It takes all of about 5 minutes to prepare, 10 minutes to cook and 2 minutes to eat- delicious!!!

I flavoured these little beauties with basil and goat's feta to give them a bit of a "I didn't really use up the only things left in my fridge feel" and it worked a treat.
My three top tips when whipping these up are:
a) hot oven, about 200 degrees
b) use a 'butter' puff pastry, the flavour is ten times better. The butter puff is usually only used for desserts but it is fab with these.
c) I also find that extra cracked pepper works a treat with the egg and bacon pies.

If all else fails and you don't have the time to make these then pop on over to www.camillabaker.com.au and I'll whip you up a batch myself.

Spicy Chicken Wings

I bought some chicken drumsticks and wings last weekend with the intention of making something really yummy. On Monday I had a feeling the week wasn't going to be a relaxed one so I popped them in the freezer for later on. On Wednesday I pulled them out again and last night (Saturday) I finally got inspired to make them into tasty morsals.  We usually eat Saturday night dinners separately from the boys so we can eat flavours Nic and I really enjoy and ones that the boys aren't quite ready for. Nic usually whips up a delicious and hot eggplant and potato curry or I'll make a stir fry with plenty of chilli and greens. Saturday is a night of no arguments at the dinner table because we all get to eat the foods we like and no one has to rush off anywhere!

The boys have the same reaction to chicken wings and legs as Nic and I do and I knew they would be gutted if they missed out so I marinated their chicken bits in a soy, garlic, black vinegar, curry powder (Keen's) and brown sugar mariande. Sadly I only had about an hour to let them marinate, however, that didn't seem to matter as they ate them with their noodles and veggies at rapid speed.

Once I had their chicken marinating I started on ours. Garlic, chilli and ginger were always going to be main contenders but I hadn't yet worked out the rest. I made a rub that was inspired by Vietnamese street stalls last year and it was a wonderful flavour with peppercorns being one of the main ingredients so I decided to try another version, also adding lime leaves to this equasion. Once I had pounded about 4 garlic cloves, a good size piece of ginger, 2 birds eye chillies and a pinch of salt together with the whole peppercorns, I then added the chopped lime leaf and about 2 tablespoons of rice bran oil to combine the flavours which will also make it easier to rub into the chicken wings.

The aroma was delicious as was the thought of combing them on the grill with the smokey BBQ flavour. They would be a wonderful snack if your sitting around watching the football, for a cocktail party or to eat with a big bowl of veggies and noodles as we did.
The wings crispen up on the bbq and are incredibly morish. Max had one of the leftover ones for lunch today and said he really enjoyed the flavour and that he likes chilli now....but the ones he had last night were yummy too. I guess we will be all eating dinner together on Saturday nights if the boys are enjoying our leftovers so much.......maybe we need to feed them a bit of leftover eggplant curry to deter them, after all we all need our relaxed meal times at least once a week.

Easter lamb with yummy greens

In our house, it really doesn't feel like Easter unless we have lamb and go camping. Sadly last years camping trip ended at 1am Easter Sunday with us packing up the boys and our drenched tent, then driving through the night back to Sydney.

Even though it has rained every Easter since we have been back in Australia we still love packing up the tent, esky and loads of food to go and hang out in the bush or by the ocean somewhere and just enjoy our beautiful country. This year is a little different.

We threw our sodden tent in the bin when we arrived home from last years camping trip because it was the second year it let us down and we haven't gotten around to buying another one.
At first I was really devistated we were staying in Sydney but then I remembered the coast is but an hour away and we can still relax and enjoy the weekend and maybe I might be able to whip up a batch of hot cross buns tomorrow?

Anyway enough about that!

I got a bit ahead of myself last week and bought a beautiful leg of lamb at my new favourite butcher down in Glebe- Glenmore Meats. It was the second time I'd visited and picked up a 2.2kg leg of lamb for $20!! It was a bargin and tasted fantastic.

I love lamb on the BBQ, the smokey flavour mixed with my favourite herbs and spices rubbed all over it (dried thyme, cracked pepper, cumin, smoked paprika and salt) then spike the leg with big pieces of garlic- YUM!
Once the BBQ is at medium temp place the leg in a tray that is heavly layered with thickly sliced onion and eggplant, pop the leg on top then lower the lid on the BBQ and cook for about 2 hours depending on the size of leg and your barbie.

To serve the leg I whipped up some very simple beans and asparagus cooked with one roughly diced tomato and a squeeze of lemon (and yes, that is half a lemon in the with the beans, gives it more of a citrus flavour), salt and pepper. A very light and easy side dish that compliments the lamb beautifully and if you have any left over they go really well on an antipasto platter.

Finishing Touches

One of my favourite family meals is a stir fry. I don't have a favourite recipe because I am always digging around in the fridge trying to use up the leftover veggies, or I'll get a craving for a certain vegetable, buy loads of it and then figure out how the rest of the family will stand eating it in copious amounts (I have had a taste for mushrooms lately).

I think I have stated in a fair few of my posts that I don't believe it hiding vegetables from the kids, instead I like to mix them with foodie bits I know they will like and it also means I won't get "Oh,this is disgusting" when they first lay eyes on the prepared meal (I learnt this when Max was going through his 'everything is DISGUSTING' phase, a word you really don't want to hear when you have just spend 20 minutes in the kitchen after a long hard day at work!)

Everyone in my family loves eggs cooked every way except scrambled so my good old fall back when it comes to sprucing up a stir fry is to make a three egg omelet. I'll always add fresh herbs (like basil, coriander or parsley) fish sauce and fresh garlic. Always make sure you have a hot wok, add a little bit of oil (2 tablespoons) and then cook your eggs really quickly. I never cook them all the way through because you don't want the omelet to be rubbery. Once they are almost done, flip the omelet over turn off the heat and slide it onto a paper towel to cool while you make your stir fry.
When it comes to serving, I cut the omelet into strips and pop it on top so it looks quite impressive.

Another taste sensation I tried out last week was quickly roasting cashew nuts in Chinese 5 spice with chili flakes. Again, just before I cooked the stir fry, I heated up about a 1/4 cup of peanut oil in the wok, lightly warmed the oil then added the cashews, once they were turning golden I added some fresh garlic slices then quickly strained off the oil, doused the nuts in 5 spice, chili flakes and salt then let them cool.
I find I can get away with adding dried chili flakes to nuts without the kids being to concerned about the spice because they are mixed in with all the other flavours.

My average veggie stir fry just got really interesting and was gobbled down in record speed. I didn't however manage to get away with excessive amounts of mushrooms but I did notice they ate more than usual, so win/win for me!

What to do with the leftover roast?

Roast chicken is one of the leftovers my boys will eat. I could lay out a whole chook, tell them it had been roasted a week before and they would happily devour it, but leftover veggies? Not a chance in hell!

I on the other hand will happily eat soft, cold, roasted pumpkin; I've been known to spread it on rolls instead of butter which brings cries of despair from Max & Alex.

I had a plan for the leftovers and one that I knew would work- risotto!

Risotto is the best way to disguise soft roasted vegetables enabling me to slip in the fennel they did not eat the night before because it looked "disgusting".

I make pumpkin risotto quite often so it didn't raise any red flags for the boys when I placed a big steaming bowl of orange risotto in front of them, I even got a 'this is good mum, did you put sugar in?'

Sugar indeed! That is what you get when you pop in the leftover fennel you boys didn't eat last night if you really must know (and no I didn't say that out loud, I just smiled and told them to eat up).

If I had a $1 for every time the kids told me they hated something and would NEVER eat it I'd be awash with gold coins! The fact that they didn't ask if fennel was in the risotto meant that I didn't have to lie to them so everyone wins and I don't have a fridge full of small containers growing mould on them because I'm the only one who will polish them off. Now I just need to find something lurking in there for tomorrow nights tea.

Leftovers + pasta

As I wrote on my last entry the skordalia was a success and dinner was wolfed down by all (not including the celery of course!). Having worked the past two evenings I thought I'd better clean out the 'leftovers' in the fridge. Seeing how the boys (Nic included) got the veal and pork lasagna for dinner last night there wasn't much in the way of left overs until I spied the white bowl sitting at the back covered in plastic and parsley- doesn't everyone have parsley running wild in the deep dark corners of their fridge??

 Knowing I couldn't top the lasagna I decided to put it to the test- did the boys really, like the skordalia? Because it was a couple of days old the oil had leached out a bit and intensified so I decided to pare it with fettuccine the random green beans I found and fresh cherry tomatoes. The results were

1) Over all 'look'- great, bright and eye catching

2) Flavor- rich, garlicky and very tasty

3)Speed- AWESOME!!! seriously dinner was on the table in 10 minutes and the fresh tomatoes really cut through the heavy flavor of the almond, bread and oil.

Next time I make the lamb and skordalia I will defiantly save a bit of the skordalia for a dinner later in the week.

  Max is sitting here eating ice cream, he demolished his dinner. Alex has only the lone cherry tomato to eat- the ice cream may or may not be hitting his lips- come on Alex you can do it!

Dinner on the fly.....

It's Pre-school open day/evening tonight. Of course it is a rush to get out the door, have the boys fed and bathed all to be on time (first meeting I should be on time- right?) for Alex's first schooling experience. 

There was left over bacon and spinach risotto in the fridge from Grammie Pam and Nic's dinner last night. (I swiped a piece of the boys favorite pork lasagna from work the night before which they think is a huge treat). After rolling the risotto mix into tablespoon sized balls, and then shallow frying in olive oil for 5-8 minutes-I served them with a green bean and cucumber salad dressed in lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. The crisp outside of the rice balls entice the boys while the soft creamy inner texture seals the deal (I bet they don't even find the spinach).

 I have an hour to go, Max devoured his in under 5 minutes while Alex is dragging (i think he found some spinach!). However I feel confidant we'll make the 6.30 start- I don't dare take them out after 6 with empty stomachs!

Leftovers

It is a hot and humid day in Chicago today. I have been running around like a crazed chicken, I'm hot, kids are hungry and I don't want to spend anymore than 20 minutes in the kitchen!

Leftovers in my house are usually eaten by Alex and I, however today if the other two resist they will be going hungry. We had some yummy soft polenta a couple of days ago, it was served with a spicy ginger tomato sauce and grilled fish- delish!

When ever I make polenta I always make extra for days such as today. We all LOVE polenta chips, so I thought I'd whip some up (within my 20 minute time frame) and serve it with the left over cold brats we had a few nights ago. Once I cracked open an icy cold beer, I tossed the sausage rounds in with chopped raw carrot, snow peas and green pepper sticks- as long as it is all raw the boys won't complain, and iceberg lettuce. Balsamic vinegar that has been swiftly shaken with a smashed piece of garlic clove, extra virgin olive oil and s&p is a wonderful dressing to compliment. There you have it- dinner on the table in 20 minutes. I didn't have to spend any longer in the hot kitchen than it took me to shallow fry the polenta chips in olive oil (lightly dusted with cornstarch) and throw the salad together. It was gobbled up with no complaints- except the usual picking out of the lettuce from Alex.