Food Blog Wanderings Part 4

Mains
Snobby Joes (a veggie version of an American classic)
Black Bean Burgers
Breads
Strawberry Sour Cream Bread
Easy Beer Bread
Sides
Baked Sweet Potato Fries (great side for the Snobby Joes)
Desserts
Cranberry Cherry Crumble
Drinkies
Gin, Juice, Plus...

Gourmet Mac 'n 3 Cheese

Macaroni
50g butter
1/4 c all purpose flour
2 1/2 c milk
1/2 c double cream
1/2 c dry white wine
1/4 c swiss/emmenthal cheese
1/4 c fontina cheese
1/4 c blue cheese
1 cup grated parmesan
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Cook Macaroni. Melt butter in pan. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add milk a bit at a time, whisking vigourously after each additon, then stir in cream, then white wine. Cook until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Add cheese (only 1/3 cup of parmesan) and stir well to mix, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in macaroni and pt mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle remaining parmesan over and bake for 25-30mins on 180C.

Slow Cookers

I need one. Any recommendations (from Australia)? Recipes also welcome;)

Food Blog Wanderings Part 3

Breakfast Foods
Breakfast Casserole w/Asparagus & Mushrooms
Soups
Tomato Soup (with extra veg)
Spicy Cauliflower Soup
Potato Leek Soup
Carrot and Cashew Soup ( a way to get your nuts in)
Cream of Spinach Soup
Sandwiches
Reuben (the King of sandwiches!)
Pirogie Sandwiches (for the slightly lazy or just impatient)
Mains
Chili Verde (because any chili is worth an attempt)
Lemon Pasta
Reuben Casserole (no such thing as too much corned beef)
Crockpot Beef Stew w/Olives & Capers
Sides
Roasted Garlic Hummus (made my 1st batch of roasted garlic yesterday)
Roasted Garlic, Pepper & White Bean dip
Mixed Bean & Goat Cheese dip
Salads
Dijon Potato Salad
Chickpea & Broccoli Salad
Pinto Bean Salad w/Avocado, Tomato & Red Onion
Desserts
Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins (just in time for Easter)
Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
Banana & Custard Tart

Heavy on the soups this time around, but we are soon to go back to a house in Australia with no heat in the winter, plus it fits in with my 1-2x per week veggie meals.

Kangaroo Salad with Fig, Apple & Feta

Kangaroo fillets
BBQ Sauce
Fresh fig, cut into slices
Apple, cut into slices
Baby spinach
Feta
Oil

Marinate kangaroo in BBQ Sauce. (Do yourself a favour and purchase some American BBQ Sauce from USA Foods. The Australian stuff is not worth injesting.) Mix other ingredients for salad. Add kangaroo, sliced (after you cook it of course, which I would suggest be done by grilling). Mix oil with some BBQ sauce, and use as dressing.

Grandma's Sunshine Cake

I don't actually remember my Grandma making this, but I know she'd love the internet, so I'm going to post a few of her recipes in remembrance. She got a word processor in her 80s and would have had a computer mastered if she was still living. Anyway, Grandma's recipes were fairly basic, and I remember her buying toaster strudel for me everytime I went to visit, but what she did cook was good.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 can madarin oranges w/juice
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
Icing
1 can crushed pineapple
1 container Cool Whip (If anyone knows where I can get this in Australia please advise!)
1 package instant vanilla pudding

Beat all together cake ingredients together until light and fluffy. Bake at 350/180 in 13x9x2in pan for 25 minutes or until brown. Cool before icing. Mix icing ingredients together until well mixed. Ice cake and keep in fridge, especially during the Adelaide heat waves!

Eggplant Stacks

A bit nicer than just mozzarella, tomato and basil salad;)

2 medium eggplants, sliced into 1/2in thick slices
olive oil
cottage cheese
mozzarella, thinly sliced
tomatoes, thickly sliced
prosciutto slices (optional)
fresh basil leaves
salt & fresh ground pepper

Brush eggplant slices with oil and grill 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. Lightly oil large baking dish, then place half eggplant slices in dish. Season cottage cheese with salt & pepper, then top eggplant slices with cottage cheese and place another layer of eggplant on top of cottage cheese. Top with a mozzarella slice, a slice of prosciutto and a tomato slice. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 200C for approx 20 minutes, until golden brown & heated through. Garnish with fresh basil and serve either warm or cold.

Pumpkin Soup

Although the Australian need to roast pumpkin waaay too often is killing my like of pumpkin, this soup is still a winner. It's also very simple.

1 large pumpkin, cut in chunks
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
1 can coconut milk or cream (depending on how heart healthy you're feeling, and of course how thick you want your soup)
coriander leaves to taste, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pumpkin chunks in boiling water until soft. Drain and reserve cooking water. Process chilli, garlic, half the coriander, salt & pepper in blender. Put pumpkin in blender with chilli mix and blend. Put mixture back in saucepan, add coconut milk or cream and simmer. If too thick, add some of reserved water. Serve with remaining coriander for garnish.
*Optional: Serve with crusty bread

Chocolate Coconut Meringue Tart

200g shortbread biscuits (can use my Madeira Biscuits recipe minus the raisins)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
50g coconut shavings
50g butter, melted/soft
Filling
400g dark cooking chocolate, melted
1 cup single cream
1 tsp vanilla
Meringue Top
4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar

Place biscuits, cocoa powder, coconut and butter in food processor and process until fine. Press mixture into tart tin and chill in fridge for approx 15 minutes. For filling, mix chocolate and cream in saucepan over low heat until chocolate melted. Stir in vanilla. Pour mix over biscuit base and chill in fridge for 30 minutes/until set. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add sugar and beat again until thick. Spoon over pie and bake on 200C for about 10 minutes or until peak golden and meringue is set. Chill before serving.
*Can also make without the meringue topping

Tuna and Sweet Corn Tortilla Wraps

Great for work lunches or appetisers if cut up into bite sized pieces.

Tuna, canned
Sweet corn
Mayonnaise
Avocado, cut up and 'squashed'
Baby spinach
Salt & Pepper to taste
Wraps/Tortillas

Mix tuna, corn & mayo. Spread avocado on tortilla wraps, salt & pepper, and cover with baby spinach. Spread tuna mix over. Wrap up and enjoy!

Eggplant & Olive Dip

1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
12 pitted black olives
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Bake eggplant whole at 190C for approx 45 minutes, or until soft. Remove skin when cool and chop, then put in food processor until smooth. Add garlic, lemon juice, olives, and process until mixed. Pour in olive oil, pepper & parsley while still processing. Serve with pita triangles.

Food Blog Wanderings Part 2

Desserts
Grasshopper Pie (it just sounds interesting)
Banana Coconut Bread Pudding (need I say more)
Anzac Biscuits (something very Austral-Kiwi)
Sweet Potato Cheesecake (because any cheesecake is good!)
Real Chocolate Moose (from a fellow 'Yank' down under)
Mains
Duck Laksa (Duck and spicy soup, yum)
Spicy Eggplant Pea Yogurt thingie (for my once a week veggie meal)
Sea Bass Poached in Creamy Curry Sauce
Thai Style Mince Pork & Pineapple Noodle Salad
Dead Good Carbonara (looks like a simple but gorgeous version)
Sides
Ginger Sweet Potato Fries (could also be a main)
Ken Hom's Cold Cucumber with Garlic
Breads
Orange Yogurt Bread
Beverages
Watermelon Honeydew Juice (this site has so many fabulous healthy drinkie recipes)

Duncan's Special Sausages

Well, Clare will have to correct me if I get this one wrong, but it came to mind when having a look back at another good bbq-type recipe, Windsong's ribs.

Very easy...slice some 'snags' (preferably beef) down the middle, stuff with fig or dates, and wrap in bacon...then bbq! Gorgeous...

Coconut Lemon Curd Bars

This is a recipe that is worth a second mention. Basically it's the same as my Coconut Lime Curd Bar recipe, except you substitute limes for lemons. I'm thinking about using oranges next time and putting cocoa powder in the base instead of coconut...'Jaffa Cake' curd bars;)

Breakfast Sausage

This is a recipe from another blog. It really was a treat, as you just can't get proper breakfast sausages down under, and you definitely can't get patties. The only thing I did differently was use golden syrup instead of brown sugar. I did so because it was what I had, but it also turned out well, and next time I might also add a bit of cinnamon. Best served with pikelets and "cheesy eggs";)