Cottage Pies with a Difference

Normally when one makes a Cottage Pie it's normal to top with Mashed Potato
Here's two different toppings to try
For the kids...Little Fried Potato Pom Poms and for the others
Mashed Pumpkin and Kumera (Sweet Potato)
I used a packet of mushroom soup to thicken and give the mince some extra flavour

Both were delicious
You may wonder why the cheese hasn't melted as normal
It is Pecorino... which does melt that well
Covering for a member of family who is having a break from Cow Dairy
Using normal cheddar cheese would be quite different
This amount made enough for 2 oval x 5 cup casserole dishes

750 gms of beef mince
1 tbs rice bran oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
250 gms mushrooms sliced
1 packet Mushroom soup
Water
Good dash of Tomato Ketchup

For the Topping
Packet Potato Pom Poms
1 sweet potato (Kumera)
1 piece of pumpkin about 400 gms
Knob of butter
Chives
Cheddar Cheese grated (about 200 gms)

Heat a large frying pan medium
Add oil then add the mince
you will have to do this in more than one batch
Season with Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
Fry till brown, remove and set aside

When the mince is cooked add a little more oil
Turn up the heat a bit
Throw in the mushrooms
Season with S & P
Toss them around till they start to brown
Remove and add to mince
Turn the heat down again
Time for the onion and garlic
Add to pan toss and cook till tender

Return the mince and mushrooms to the pan
Toss well
Add the mushroom soup mix and stir till blended

Add 1 cup of water
Stir well and cook till it thickens
You may need to add more water

Let it simmer away for 15-20 mins
checking frequently so it doesn't stick
When it is ready
Toss in a good dollop of ketchup
Transfer to the casserole dish

Meanwhile while the mince is cooking
Peel and dice the Kumera and the Pumpkin
Cook in salted water until tender

Mash with a good knob of butter
Taste and add extra S & P if needed
Add handful of chopped chives
Bake at 180C about 20-25 minutes
Sprinkle with some extra chives a some sea salt

With the other dish cover with Potato Pom Poms
Sprinkle over with Cheese

Bake at 180C till cheese melted and the mince bubbling
Garnish with chives and serve

Dinner is served

Chicken Pad Thai

I am always looking for tasty easy recipes that all the family will eat
This Pad Thai recipe was very popular
Add more or less chilli, depending on the tender mouths

200 gms Rice Stick noodles

1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs  brown sugar

2 tbs dry sherry

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tbs vegetable oil

500 gms Chicken breast finely sliced

3 spring onions

1 tsp garlic minced

1 cup bean shoots

1/4 cup unsalted cashew nuts

1 red chilli 

1 lime cut into wedges to serve

Place noodles into a large bowl,

Cover with boiling water and stand until soft, according to packet instructions.

Drain thoroughly. 

Meanwhile combine sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, dry sherry and lime juice in a jug. 

Heat a large non-stick frying pan. 

Add a little oil and cook the chicken strips in batches 

until lightly browned, adding more oil as needed.

Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat the remainder of the oil and stir-fry spring onions and garlic for 1 minute.

Add drained noodles and stir until well combined. 

Add sauce mixture toss until well combined. 

Return chicken to pan with bean shoots and cook until heated through. 

Spoon into serving bowls, top with chopped nuts, coriander leaves and slices of chilli (optional)

Serve with lime wedges, extra coriander and nuts. 

Red Thai Curry-One for the Family

This recipe was originally planned for the slow cooker but I slow cooked it in the oven instead ...I’m not fond of just throwing everything into the slow cooker

It may take a little longer in Prep time but the flavour improves with that extra care and attention

I doubled the recipe

That fed 6 people with leftovers for lunch the next day

These quantities will feed 4

500 g Stewing beef cut into 1 inch/2.5 cms cubes

2 tbs rice bran oil

2 potatoes peeled and diced 

2 Kumera peeled and diced 

1 onion peeled and diced

1 red or yellow capsicum

400 ml coconut cream

1/2 cup Beef Stock, I used Simon Gault's Beef stock in a tube

1 tbs fresh ginger finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

3 tbs Red Thai Curry Paste

1 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs cornflour

1 tbs lemon juice
1 bag Baby Spinach

In a large pan add rice Bran oil heat to medium heat

Add the beef and sauce till brown
Don't overcrowd the pan, do it in batches
Remove and set aside

Meanwhile Chop the onions and garlic finely

add to pan
sauce till soft
The add the ginger stir and cook another couple of minutes
Throw in the potato, kumera, and capsicum

Empty throw contents of the curry paste in and sauté another 2-3 minutes

its now time to add the beef in and the coconut cream

Stir and add the stock. bring to thew boil and simmer for about 2 hours on a very low heat

So when it is cooked, add the baby spinach, a good squeeze of lemon juice and serve 
We had it over rice

It is excellent the next day and as everything tastes better on toast

This was my lunch
Absolutely delicious 

Bake Your Tacos - A Different Way to Consume Them

Got the inspiration for this dish from the Hello Fresh people

Instead of making Chili and the condiments and wrapping them up in Tortillas 

How about...you bake them in the oven instead?

This looks pretty and was very popular with the family 

To feed 4- 6 people, I used

25 x 22 x 6 Deep baking dish

1 packet x 8 mini tortillas 

Homemade Chili (recipe below)

For the salad

2 large tomatoes chopped 

3 spring onions chopped 

3 tablespoons Coriander chopped 

1 Cos lettuce sliced 

French dressing (enough to dress your salad )

1 small tub Sour cream

100 gms grated cheddar cheese 

First make a batch of Chili

 

This is my favourite

 

Gilli's Chili

500 gms mince

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1 more tablespoons olive oil

1 onion sliced

1 small carrot chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed and chopped

1 tin Mexican beans

1 tin cherry tomatoes in juice

First

Brown the mince in olive oil

Season with spices

Cook for a couple of minutes

Remove from pan set aside

Saute onion, garlic and carrot till soft

Add back the mince

Plus beans and tomatoes.

Check seasoning and adjust if necessary

If the beans are not hot enough some more chili flakes would be good.

Cook gently for about 30 minutes

This improves on hanging about but you can eat it straight away

To assemble The Baked Tortilla

Grease the casserole dish with olive oil

Line it with the tortillas

Fill with the hot Chili

Sprinkle with grated cheese

 

Bake at 180C fan oven for about 30 minutes 

So the filling is bubbling and cheese is melted 

And the Tortillas are crisp

To serve 

Divide into 6 and slide into plate

Dress with sour cream and place serving of salad on the side

Dinner is served 

Eat Your Greens!!!

Sometimes it's hard to get kids to eat the leafy greens
But if you disguise the one that they really turn their nose up at like Silverbeet (Chard)
Just mix the sliced leaves with some other greens that kids seem to love
i.e.Broccoli,  Courgettes,
Add a shallot for flavour
Some peas
And Voila...Gorgeous bright green vege, who can resist this

Olive Oil
1 shallot peeled and sliced
1 head broccoli
1 courgette sliced
1 bunch silverbeet (chard)
1 cup frozen peas (blanched)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Remove stalks from the broccoli
slice into matchsticks

Cut broccoli head into "Trees "
Slice courgette

Remove stalks from silverbeet and  slice thinly
The slice leaves

Into a pan add good dash -(2-3) tablespoons Olive oil
Add sliced shallots
saute till soft
Add the broccoli stalks and silverbeet stalks

Meanwhile blanch Broccoli (trees) and courgettes slices in boiling salted water
 for 1 minute,

 drain and add to pan

Slice silverbeet leaves and add to pan
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

saute until soft
While this is happening
Blanch frozen peas in boiling salted water
Then add to  pan
taste and adjust seasoning if needed
An excellent side dish of vege for your dinner

Pair with your protein of the day and if you want some carbs
Mashed potato perhaps, always a favourite

Simple and Easy Lunch

 Sometimes you have some pasta leftover from a meal
Frequently one puts it in the fridge and forgets about it

WELL this time I decided to do something with it
Lunch for one

So so simple
This is one serving 
 
1 cup Cooked Pasta
Olive oil about 2 tablespoons
5 mushrooms chopped
Splash of wine
3 spring onions chopped
1/2 red pepper de seeded and cubed
A pinch of Vegeta. Or just sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a pan heat the olive oil till hot
Throw in chopped mushrooms
Season with Vegeta or S & P
Cook on high for 3-4 minutes

Add splash of wine
Let it absorb
Add red pepper, and spring onions
Cook till soft

Throw in pasta and heat through

Serve, 

If you have some coriander or basil
Add that as well

Delicious and simple lunch

Greek Salad 2 Ways

My Granddaughter wanted a "Greek Salad" to take to school for her lunch.
Technically its not a true Greek salad, as I added other tasty bits

A company called Sistema here in New Zealand makes an excellent container, which is perfect, particularly for this kind of lunch.

In The bottom you put the main ingredients
then there is another section that you pop on the top and you can keep the dry from the wet, so to speak

The ingredients are very simple
Cucumber, Tomato and Feta cheese
choose the amounts that suit you
I removed the seeds from both the cucumber and the tomato to stop them from going soggy
For this exercise...for 1 person, you will need

1/2 cup  seeded and diced cucumber
1/2 large tomato, seeds removed and diced
2 tablespoons crumbled Feta cheese
Sea Salt and Freshly ground Black Pepper
1/4 avocado diced
2 tablespoons french dressing
1 rasher of bacon fried and broken into pieces

In the bottom bit I placed the Cucumber. Tomato and Feta
In the top
Diced Avo dressed with the french dressing in one compartment and Cooked bacon in the other

Put them together and pop on the lid
Voila Lunch
All she had to do was mix them together when she was ready to eat

My other Granddaughter who was home sick and I, decided that we wanted to have this for lunch as well
I stretched the idea a bit further

Cucumber, cherry tomatoes halved, Feta cheese, red pepper, Avocado and cooked prawns
French Dressing as well

Cleo didn't want the Prawns or the Avo
So I dressed half the basics on one side of the platter
then added the Avo and Prawns to the other

Dressed it with French Dressing
Lunch for us
Perfect

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