Love Blinis

 

Love Blinis

Blinis are traditionally served with Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon

But I think they lend themselves to other flavours 

I used to make the blinis but discovered that you can buy them , ready made and frozen at the Supermarket 

Just take out the amount you need. They defrost in minutes 

Meanwhile prepare your cream cheese

I have mixed about 4 tablespoons of cream cheese with 2 teaspoons of this very tasty mango chutney, which is a favourite of mine 

Spread lavishly on the blinis and top with finely chopped red capsicum and sprinkle some chopped chives or green onions tops

Place on a pretty plate and Voila

Pre dinner nibbles or maybe even lunch for me 

Pinwheels 

I love finding new things to do with leftovers and I had some leftover mashed potato, in the fridge, usually I make fish cakes

In the middle of the night, I woke up and this idea came into my head, Why not pinwheels?

I lovemaking savoury pinwheels, and have tried many flavours

Here’s my latest

I haven't given exact quantities and it all depends on how much mashed potato one has

You will need

Sheet of Flaky Puff Pastry

Mashed potatoes 

Red pepper finely chopped

Red onion finely chopped 

A Tbs spoon grated Parmesan 

Small splash Sweet Chilli Sauce 

A little chopped spring onion leaf just for colour 

Egg to bind and to brush over  before baking

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

First, Prepare your vege

Mix the potatoes, red pepper, red onion, green onion

Sweet Chilli sauce and enough egg to bind 

Season with sea salt and black pepper 

Set aside while you wait for the pastry to defrost

Lay the pastry sheet on bench

Brush the top edge with egg 

Cover 2/3 of the sheet with the potato mix

Roll and place in fridge for at least 2 hours

Heat oven to 180C

Take roll out of fridge

Cut into slices. 

Place on baking sheet and brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with grated Parmesan Cheese and grate a little lemon zest over the top

Bake 

After 10 mins check. 

I like to turn the tray around for the remainder of the Cook

Should be done in another 5 mins

This time some of them needed a little bit more time, so they went back for another 2 mins

Remove from oven and leave to cool on rack

Best served just warm, or room temperature

 Very tasty 

So off to drinks, I went, accompanied by my tasty delights and they were a huge success

A Vegie Delight

A Veggie Delight 

 

I frequently have milk sitting in the fridge, I don't drink Milk or have it in either coffee or tea, but I like to have some 

on hand just in case of course and  it is necessary for some cooking 

I check the use by dates and when it is very close to the end ,  I usually turn the milk into bechamel sauce and freeze it

Very handy 

Also I tend to buy too many vege and need to use them up before they go off

So, using what I had in my freezer and fridge, I concocted this delicious Pasta bake

 For my one cup of sauce I used these ingredients 

Bechamel Sauce 1 cup (to make Bechamel Sauce see at bottom of the blog)

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs butter 

1/2 onion finely chopped 

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 courgette grated

5 cherry tomatoes sliced

Grated cheese

Fresh breadcrumbs 

To accompany

I sautéed some red onion, sliced Bok Choy and some sliced 

Celery lightly in a little olive oil

Method

In a pan melt the oil and butter

Add onions sauté till soft

Add red pepper and courgette and tomatoes

Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Continue to sauté till soft not browned 

Warm your prepared  bechamel sauce 

Add to vege 

Place in greased baking dishes 

Sprinkle with grated cheese and top with the breadcrumbs 

You can prepare this far ahead and set aside for cooking later 

Heat oven to 170C 

Cook till bubbly and the top is getting crisp

Serve with the sautéed vege on the side

Voila...Dinner is served 

Simple recipe for Bechamel Sauce

50 gms Butter
1/4 cup of plain flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
Sea salt and ground white pepper 

Gently melt the butter in a pan
Add flour and back on the heat for about a minute to cook the flour out
Slowly add the milk stirring with each addition to avoid lumps 
When all the milk is added 
Slowly bring to a simmer stirring all of the time 
Season with S & P to taste
This is now your base for any white sauce that you would like to cook with
It’s nice sometime to add a bay leaf while cooking but remove when the sauce is ready or the flavour will be too strong
Set aside
I am only using a cup of sauce for this recipe you can freeze the remainder another time

Waste Not Want Not

 Cooking for one person has it s challenges but I am a Leftover Queen and I hate waste

Here's a little delight That was simple and delicious 

I had 250 gms mince in the fridge and turned that into a bolognaise sauce

Very simple 

Olive oil

1/2 red onion chopped 

1 stick celery finely chopped

1/2 carrot finely hopped 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Beef stock

In a frying pan heat to medium heat

Add 1 tbs olive oil

Add mince and fry till brown

Remove and set aside

In the same pan 

Add a little more oil

Add onions sauce till soft

Add other vege

Season with S&P

When soft

Add mince back to the pan and add 

Enough beef stock just to cover and simmer for about 15 -20 mis

Meanwhile in a large pot of boiling salted water

Add a cup of pasta (I used Conchiglee, which look like little ears )

Cook for about 8-10 mins till al dente

Drain, toss in a little oil 

I like to add the sauce to the pasta before serving so that every little ear

Is covered in sauce

Serve covered with some grated Parmesan 

Sometimes a little chopped parsley for colour 

Of course there was quite a lot left over so I stored that in the freezer 

Last night I had lamb chops with mashed potatoes and peas

Of course again leftovers

Now time to be a little creative 

Cottage Pie me thinks

I removed the left over bolognaise from the freezer

I wanted to make it a bit more exciting

So I made a small bechamel sauce 

2 tbs butter

1/2 red onion finely chopped

2 tbs flour

Sea salt and white pepper 

Milk 

Melt the butter in a pot and add the onion 

Sauté till soft 

Season with Sea Salt & ground white pepper 

Add flour put back on the heat and gently heat till it forms a roux

Start adding enough milk a bit at the time till you get the consistency you want

Add to the mashed vege

Put aside

To assemble

Grease  some ramekins, this amount made 3 dinners

Add the mince mixture to the ramekin

Cover with the potato mixture and 

Voila, ready to go into the oven or freezer 

When ready to cook

Thaw and heat oven to 180C

Grate some cheese on top

And cook for about 20-30 mins till bubbling 

Delicious

😋 

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