The sugar syrup gives the sorbet texture, stopping it from setting rock hard. I intend to serve ours with some fruit salad. But I can also see it going nicely with some vodka and lemonade. Cheers!

How?

Make some sugar syrup, that is a cup of sugar and two cups of water, stirred on the stove top on low heat until sugar is dissolved. Then bring mixture to the boil for five minutes, or until thickened. Put aside to cool. Purée half a watermelon (1kg) seeds and rind removed, a handful of mint, and a squeeze of lime juice. Refrigerate and then mix as per your ice cream manufacturers instructions.

I had planned to make this meal on Friday night. However the gods were against me so we ended up having fish and chips. After having all the ingredients ready to cook, I realised that the stove top was out of gas. So I plugged in the electric frypan only to find that sugar ants had taken up residence in the temperature controller and had decided to vacate when their bottoms started to heat. I then unplugged the controller and threw it in water. I declared the war had been lost on dinner and retired to the couch. It was definitely a Friday!

Saturday night with a functioning stove top, I was in business. A family pie that serves six large slices with veggies, was on the menu. I decided on it after picking up a very large fresh leek from Rusty’s market on Friday. Chicken and leek is like a match made in heaven. I always like to keep a few pies in the freezer for lunches. Although we haven’t had any for a while. Home made Pies are a great alternative to sandwiches or saladas and salad on a wet cooler day. This always makes the short list as does garlic Thai prawn. Some of which I will have to make soon and fill up our deep freeze. If you don’t feel like making a large family pie, make some smaller individual serves. The filling will probably make 18-24 pies, but you will need more pastry. This recipe is so versatile I often chop and change it to suit my food craving of the day. Do you have a favorite pie? If so what is it?

Chicken, Leek, Mushroom and Wine Pie

Recipe By: Me
Serving Size: 6
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient: Chicken
Categories: Pie, Main Dish

-= Ingredients =-
1kg chicken thighs, diced
2 tbs olive oil
100 g unsalted butter
2 onions roughly chopped
2 leeks ; (white part only) sliced 1cm thick
4-5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 tbs honey wholegrain mustard
1 ½ tablespoons plain four
400 ml milk
125 ml white wine
1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 sheet frozen short crust pastry
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbs milk
Sesame ; seeds to garnish
Mixed ; salad leaves to serve

-= Instructions =-
Preheat the oven to 220’C. Grease the base of a 30cm round pie dish. Roll out shortcrust pastry to fit the base of your pie dish. Add rice or pastry weights and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove pastry weights and bake until just golden about another 5 minutes. Remove from oven to cool.

Add half the oil to a fry pan and cook half of the chicken until it is brown. Remove from pan and add the remaining oil and cook the chicken. Remove all chicken from the pan. Add butter to the pan over medium heat and when melted add onion and leek. Once onion is translucent add the flour. Turn the heat down and stir to form a paste. Gradually add the milk and wine, stirring to thicken the paste, once it thickens add more, gradually to form a sauce. If sauce is too thick add a bit more milk. Add the honey mustard and sliced mushrooms, cook on very low heat until softened. Add the chicken to the sauce and stir to combine.

Spoon filling into your pie dish. Brush rims of dishes with some egg, then press down rolled puff pastry lid to seal. Cut slits in tops. Brush with remaining egg and garnish with sesame seeds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden. Serve with mashed potato and veggies or salad.

Dinner is the one meal of the day that seems to cause the biggest stress. At this time of the day we are often exhausted, as are the kids and therefore patience runs thin. It’s not known as sherry/arsenic hour for no reason at all! A lot of the time, bad behaviour is the result of a child not getting mum and dad’s attention. I know for us the sherry hour appears worse on daycare days. Really when you look at this phenomenon it looks a lot like this. Tired child, tired parents, child wants comfort, parent wants peace. As children we look to our parents for comfort, as adults we look to sherry! On the days when I take more time and am more attentive to my child, he is better behaved. There is something in this. Dinner needs cooking, child needs attention, why not combine the two? I do not recommend this on a day when your patience is beyond recovery. Because you do need patience with children in the kitchen. However if you do take the time it can be an enjoyable experience. I love ‘mum/son’ time. At the same time hopefully son is also learning that convenience can come with planning and that dinner doesn’t come from a drive thru, which will hopefully form the basis for healthy eating choices in later life. Tonight dad was in charge of dinner. But we made some mini quiches for lunch tomorrow. Get your kids in the kitchen too and lessen the sherry!

Mini Quiches

Preparation Time 5 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes

Recipe By: Me
Serving Size: 18 (muffin size)
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient: Eggs
Categories: Kid Friendly, Baby friendly, Quiche/Tart, Lunch, Appetizers

-= Ingredients =-
150 g bacon, diced
½ brown onion, diced
Olive ; oil spray
5 eggs ; lightly whisked
125 ml Milk ; (1/2 cup)
250 g corn kernels ; can drained
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
40 g Cheddar matured ; (1/2 cup) finely grated
¼ cup mixed herbs, fresh
Salt and pepper for seasoning

-= Instructions =-
Preheat oven to 200°C. Fry the bacon and onion in a skillet, sprayed with olive oil.
Meanwhile, grease 18 x 125ml (1/2-cup) capacity muffin pans with butter. Line the bases with non-stick baking paper if desired. Whisk the eggs and milk together. Combine the cooked bacon and onion, corn, cheese and herbs with egg mixture and stir. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and set.

As a child I never had much sweet food growing up. We try to follow the same premise now with our own children. Only our rule is everything in moderation and aim for little or no scary preservatives if possible. These days everything is aimed around convenience, but truth be told, it really doesn’t take too much effort to make it yourself. These cookies took E and I twenty minutes. We made ours with english breakfast marmalade.

Coconut Jam Drops

Preparation Time
10 minutes

Cooking Time
15 minutes

Recipe By: Fresh Living – 4 April 2005, Page 48
Serving Size: 32
Main Ingredient: Coconut
Categories: Biscuits

-= Ingredients =-
125 g butter ; chopped, at room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour ; sifted
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup jam

-= Instructions =-
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two large flat baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix well. Add the flour and coconut, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Using a heaped teaspoon of mixture, roll into balls. Place onto baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with a spatula. Using the end of round handled wooden spoon, make an indentation in the centre of each biscuit. Fill the hole with a 1/4 tsp of jam.

Bake 1 tray at a time for 12-15 minutes or until light golden. Stand for 5 minutes on tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Stir fry is one of those meals that I put on my meal plan every week, because it’s quick, healthy and tasty. It’s also one of those meals that can be jazzed up and made lots of different ways. Variety is the spice of life they say! I like to prepare the veggies while the kids sleep, so all I have to do is literally toss them in the pan and put on some rice. It’s also an excuse to try out my new stir fry cast iron pan that Mr J got me for Christmas. I’m not much of a teflon fan. So when our electric wok started to peel I quit cooking in it. Who knows what we could otherwise be eating. I am working towards all of our cookware being high quality stainless steel. However I’m told that stir fry tastes better in the cast iron pan. I must say it is easier to clean then the electric wok, in terms of weight and doesn’t take up bench space, which I’m loving! The only thing with cast iron is that it rusts very easily. So as soon as you have washed it, dry it and lightly season with some oil before storing.

Stir fry Beef with Garlic and Pepper Sauce

Recipe By: Adapted from Mammaria taste forum
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Main Ingredient: Beef
Categories: Stir Fry, Weekday meal easy

-= Ingredients =-
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 each brown onion ; halved, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into batons
1 green capsicum, cut into batons
3 large mushrooms, sliced
2 each garlic cloves ; crushed
600 g beef fillet or rump steak ; trimmed, thinly sliced
2/3 cup beef stock
3/4 tsp cornflour
1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce

-= Instructions =-
Heat a wok over medium heat until hot. Add 3 tsp oil and swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until softened. Transfer to a bowl. Increase heat to high, add 3 tsp oil and half the beef. Stir fry 2-3 minutes or until browned.
Remove to a clean bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and beef. Blend together 1 Tbsp of stock and cornflour. Combine mixture with remaining stock, pepper, soy and hoisin sauce. Pour into wok. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil. Cook carrots for a minute before adding capsicum and finally mushrooms. Return beef and onion mixture to wok and stir fry for 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve with rice.

Sticky Honey Soy Chicken Wing Marinade

Recipe By: Me
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Main Ingredient: Chicken, honey, soy
Categories: Meats, Chicken

1kg chicken wings
1/4 cup Soy sauce ; light
2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
2 teaspoon Five spices powder
1 each garlic ; clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoon Honey
¼ teaspoon ginger

-= Instructions =-
Place chicken wings in a bowl with soy, sesame oil, five-spiced, garlic, ginger and honey. Toss to combine, refrigerate in a covered container. Every few hours upend container. Cook on bbq or in oven.

Temperatures in the thirties and gorgeous sunny days have had us wanting to spend time outdoors, preferably by the pool. So what better way to end the week than a dip in the lagoon and fresh pizza to boot. I absolutely love making pizzas. They are so satisfying and a great R & R food. I do chop and change my pizza flavours. I needed to use up some chorizo sausages so I settled on pizza. Chorizo sausage can generally be found in the deli area of any supermarket. They have a great spice to them, but aren’t hot, so still ok for the kids.

Mr J was very impressed with the base this time round. It was already good, but I managed to get the base to just puff up around the sides like the major takeaway chains pan based pizzas. I credit this to my lovely marble pastry board. I think it helped to keep the dough cooler for longer. Once kneaded by the Kitchen Aid I upturned it on my board and covered it with the KA bowl. I made two bases, one for the freezer. I did parbake the extra base as well so that all I have to do is dress the pizza next time we want a quick meal. The following recipe makes 2 pizza bases but only topping for one. The other one is for you to experiment with

Chorizo, Potato and Rosemary Pan Pizza

Recipe By: Me
Serving Size: topping for 1 Large pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Main Ingredient: Chorizo, potato, rosemary
Categories: Pizza

Pizza Dough

Recipe By: Karen Martini
Serving Size: 2 Large pizzas
Cuisine: Italian
Categories: Pizza, Bread

-= Ingredients =-
600 g Strong Flour
100 g Semolina
350 mililiters Water
50 ml Olive Oil
8 gram Yeast
10 g Salt

-= Instructions =-
Whisk water, oil and yeast together.
Sift flour, semolina and salt together in a mixing bowl.
With mixer on low and dough hook attached, add the wet ingredients all at once and then raise speed to high.
Mix until you have a silky smooth dough; about 10 minutes.
Leave to prove for as long as you can – overnight is ideal.
Preheat oven to 180’.
Flour your roller and bench and divide your dough into two portions.
Roll out and shape to form a pizza base. Once ready add an extra small handful of semolina flour to the pizza stone/tray. This will save you from having to scrape the pizza off the pan at the end.
If in a tray parbake the pizza until lightly golden (about 15 minutes) without topping this will prevent a soggy pizza. The pizza base is ready.

Topping

-= Ingredients =-
2 Chorizo Sausages ; thinly sliced into rounds
1 Potatoes, peeled ; cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Oil
1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped
Sea ; Salt and Fresh Black Pepper
1/2 red onion ; thinly sliced and cut in half
2 cloves Garlic ; minced
100 g semi dried tomatoes, chopped
150 g romano cheese ; grated
50 g mature cheddar cheese ; grated
2 dessert spoons tomato paste

-= Instructions =-

In a large lightly oiled frypan over medium heat cook the chorizo slices turning often until cooked through. When the chorizo is cooked remove from the pan. In the Chorizo oil, add the potatoes with the onion, garlic, rosemary and a sprinkling of salt. Cook the potatoes until soft in the middle and browned. Remove from heat and combine with chorizo sausage.

Dress the pizza base with tomato paste. Add a sprinkling of romano cheese and the chorizo/potato mixture. Top with semi dried tomatoes and remainder of cheese.

Place pizzas in oven, and bake on the upper oven rack for 10 to 15 minutes at 180’C, until the crust is golden, and cheese melted. Serve

I stumbled across the Kitchenaid website the other day when looking for beetroot recipes, recipe to feature soon. They suggested hanging pasta over the back of a chair on a tea towel. It dried beautifully. It also saved me the expense of a space using useless utensil. Pasta racks aren’t cheap!

One of this years Christmas presents was a marble board. It saves me flouring and is perfect for doughs. I have used it so much already.

I have also reduced the time I spend rolling the pasta through the flat roller. This step takes me a third of the time it once did. J says we can now reliably do away with store bought dried out pasta and indulge on silky fresh homemade pasta. Sounds good to me! We can also freeze any dried extra pasta for use later on, or just have leftovers.

To try out these improvements I chose fettucine alla carbonara. The taste was in the cooking! It fed us for two days and could reliably serve 6 people with a side of garlic bread.

Fettucine Alla Carbonara

Recipe By: Kitchenaid
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Main Ingredient: Fettucine

-= Ingredients =-
400 g fresh ; prepared fettuccine (see instructions below)
Carbonara sauce: -
1 tablespoon Olive oil
6 each rashers good quality ; lean bacon, cut into small pieces
4 each spring onions ; chopped
4 each eggs
250 ml Cream ; light (1 cup)
150 g Parmesan cheese ; grated*
Salt ; & pepper

-= Instructions =-
Cook the fettuccine in a large pan of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain well and return the hot pasta to the saucepan.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan. Cook the bacon and spring onions for 5 minutes. Whisk together the eggs, cream and about 2/3 of the cheese.

Pour the egg mixture over the hot pasta, and toss well. Cook for about 30 seconds only, or until heated through and the sauce lightly thickens. Season with the salt and pepper and serve immediately scattered with the remaining Parmesan.

Fettucine – fresh pasta with Kitchenaid

Recipe By: Kitchenaid
Serving Size: 4-6

-= Ingredients =-
300 g Plain flour ; (2 cups)
Good ; pinch salt
3 each eggs, lightly beaten
30 ml extra light olive oil
Extra ; flour

-= Instructions =-
Attach the flat beater to the stand mixer. Place the flour, salt, eggs and oil into the mixing bowl. Turn mixer to speed 2 and mix until mixture is combined. Remove flat beater and attach dough hook, knead for 3-4 minutes, or until dough indents when touched. Cover dough and let rest for 30 minutes.

With lightly floured hands, knead dough for about 30 seconds. Cut into thick slices about 1cm thick.

Attach lasagne sheet roller to stand mixer. Take one section of the dough and pat out to flatten. Turn mixer to speed 4 and feed dough into rollers. Fold dough in half and feed through again. Repeat this step about 3 more times, reducing the roller setting with each rolling. (Total rolling should be about 5 times).

Lay pasta onto a lightly floured bench. Repeat rolling with the remaining dough.

Remove the roller attachment and attach the fettuccine or spaghetti attachment. Feed the dough through the cutter. Dry the pasta.

Five weeks ago I baked our Christmas cake, a first for me. Instead of using the traditional brandy to soak the fruit I used spiced rum. We have been basting the cake weekly in the rum and I’m very much looking forward to cutting into it. I intend to serve it with home made vanilla ice cream and creme anglaise. The cake has made such an impression on my son. Even though we made it so long ago and it isn’t stored at home, he tells us that at Christmas he gets to see his much treasured grandparents and eat that cake! I can’t wait to share it with him. That’s what Christmas is all about isn’t it, spending it with family and loved ones and eating till you split!

Christmas cake with spiced rum

Preparation Time
30 minutes

Cooking Time
210 minutes

Recipe By: traditional fruitcake adapted from taste.com.au
Serving Size: 12
Cuisine: English
Main Ingredient: Spiced rum
Categories: Christmas, Cake

-= Ingredients =-
500 g sultanas
375 g Raisins ; coarsely chopped
300 g mixed glace cherries ; coarsely chopped
300 g Currants
250 ml spiced rum ; (1 cup)
Melted ; butter
250 g butter ; at room temperature
155 g Brown sugar ; (3/4 cup, firmly packed)
4 each eggs, at room temperature
115 g Jam (marmadale or citrus jam) ; (1/3 cup)
300 g Plain flour ; (2 cups)
75 g self raising flour ; (1/2 cup)
1 tsp mixed spice
1 package Blanched ; almonds
80 ml Spiced rum ; (1/3 cup) extra

-= Instructions =-
Combine the sultanas, raisins, cherries, currants and brandy in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside, stirring occasionally, for 6 hours to macerate.
Preheat oven to 150°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and sides with 2 layers of non-stick baking paper to reach 6cm above the edge of the pan.
Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined (the mixture may curdle at this stage – this is due to the high proportion of eggs to butter and doesn’t affect the result). Add the jam and beat until well combined. Add the combined flour and mixed spice, and fold until just combined. Stir in the sultana mixture. Spoon into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Tap the pan on the benchtop to settle the mixture. Arrange the almonds over the top.
Wrap the outside of the pan with 3 layers of newspaper, rising slightly higher than the baking paper. Secure with kitchen string. Bake, covering with foil if necessary to prevent overbrowning, for 3 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Pour the extra spiced rum over the hot cake. If keeping for a number of weeks, continue to add 1/3 cup of spiced rum once a week.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!