A vegetarian starter to a summer meal with a Mediterranean flavour.
⢠Eggplant rolls
Ingredients:
2 eggplants
1 tin of whole peeled tomatoes
200g ricotta
200g mozzarella
50g grated cheese
Cut off the green end of 2 eggplants, wash, and cut in thin long slices.
Fry or grill lightly and place on a paper covered plate.
In a non stick fry pan heat a little oil and infuse with a clove of garlic. Add the peeled tomatoes and cook until reduced to sauce consistency.
In a bowl mix the ricotta, mozzarella, and grated cheese, or any cheeses you
prefer. Add salt and pepper.
Spread the cheese mixture on each
aubergine slice, roll and place in an oven proof baking dish. Pour tomato sauce on top, add more grated cheese, and a few leaves of basil.
Place on a pre-heated oven at 180 for 10 minutes ( oven temperature and length of cooking will vary according to your individual cooker).
Came back to find that the recipes here are getting more complex!
I cook just for myself and anything that takes longer than 10 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking is just not for me. Quelle dommage!
Brussels sprouts either pan fried with bacon and onion, or steamed and butter added later, takes just a few minutes either way. I sometimes have that for breakfast.
Tuna treat⌠think I might have mentioned it further back in this thread, cant remember⌠cook up a potato, mash it, add some chopped onion (raw) and some frozen peas which have been steamed aready, mix in a small can of tuna, dump all in a microwave safe dish (I use glass bowls) and top with cheese. 4 minutes in the microwave oven to melt the cheese. total time probably 30 minutes.
vegies, bacon and rice: quickly fry up some frozen green beans (yes, they do fry up quite nicely) some chopped onion, mushrooms and bacon. In the meantime youâve done a 40 second microwaveable pot of brown rice, throw it all in a bowl with some butter, and mix it. Another fast feed )
Here is a rice recipe quick and easy for a special lady:
â˘Cold rice with lemon zucchini and tuna:
I wonât give the quantities because when we are alone we know how much to cook for ourselves.
This dish can be prepared even a few days ahead and kept in the fridge, itâs a cold dish suitable for hot days, and to have something at hand when we donât have the time nor the inclination to cook.
Method:
â˘Cook the rice any way you like it.
â˘Wash and cut into cubes the zucchini,
cook in a little oil or butter for 2 m.
Add the juice of a small lemon, cook a minute more.
â˘When cooled down, mix with the cold rice, the tuna, add thyme and oregano and the grated zest of the lemon.
You can add cherry tomatoes and olives if those are suitable for you.
I hesitate to add this as it will scare some people. But it is simple, few ingredients, cheap and very tasty. Mainly a finger-food snack or aperitif for a party but could be a lunch with other stuff. I think it is easy but YMMV. Prep time about 20 minutes, total time 2 to 3 hours.
Asian Caramel Wings
A kilo chicken wings, cut off the third joint (that is the tips) and use for stock, keep the two larger joints together, dry them on kitchen paper and return to the fridge.
Half a cup sugar
Half a cup fish sauce, measured out into a cup
3cm knob of fresh ginger peeled and grated
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Chilli powder to taste
Finely chopped spring onions.
Prepare and measure all ingredients.
In a small heavy saucepan, heat the sugar on medium heat stirring with a wooden spoon. You are making dark caramel, open the windows and put on the exhaust fan. The sugar will melt and go through several stages and I am not going to describe them all.
When it is all melted and runny scrape down the sides so there are no bits on the side or lumps. Watch carefully the colour and appearance. As it darkens it will start to bubble and froth. Stir quickly and pay attention, once it is dark brown (not black!) take off the heat, lean back, take a breath and pour in the fish sauce and stir quickly. It will bubble and spit but subside. Add the other ingredients except the onions, keep stirring and return to low heat. The caramel should dissolve and leave you with a sticky sauce like thin honey. Cool it.
Poor the sauce over the wings, in a bowl perhaps, and coat thoroughly. Refrigerate for an hour (or more) turning a few times.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan-forced, put the wings on an oiled slide or shallow metal pan and cook until well browned and caramel on the edges about 10-12 minutes each side . Pour any extra sauce over as you turn them.
Allow to cool a bit and serve sprinkled with spring onions. Provide finger bowls, paper napkins etc.
Itâs a beautiful recipe. But to anyone who is going to try it, may I say: Please,
be very careful, because caramel is the last stage of sugar cooking, and its temperature is the highest, even a droplet on your skin will stick and burn savagely. The most dangerous part is when adding liquids, stand back and protect your hand: maybe an oven glove?
Buffalo wings are meant to be spicy hot, eaten with celery and a cooling dip, often in a pub. The real deal should make one sweat.
My Far Southern style is just a main that goes well with slaw and hot chips or grilled zucchini. Not exactly quick but easy.
[X] Drumettes and wingettes - donât buy by weight, buy by the piece. It is easier to manage the quantity.
Arrange single layer on a lightly oiled grill/cooling rack on a baking tray.
Bake 40 minutes at 190FF
Remove and toss with your fav BBQ sauce in a bowl.
Return to rack and bake another ~15 minutes, then baste the tops.
Bake another 5~10 minutes.
Watch them at the 55 minute mark because different BBQ sauces will remain gooey, some will caramelise, and some will burn, so âname your poisonâ as your preference.
American style BBQ sauces have worked better for us than the typical Aussie variants.
A good quality Blue Cheese dipping sauce also goes great with them. We prefer our home made BC Sauce but there are some commercially sold that are decent.
Some may see this as silly or showing off, just let it cool you say. Nah. It is done because you need to stop the reaction quickly before it burns. There is a lot of chemistry going on and parts of it are exothermic (heat producing) so it can run away even if taken off the heat. It also concentrates the fish sauce.
You will see many caramel recipes add water at then start and then boil it off as the heat rises. This is not pointless as it slows down the reactions and allows you to produce a lighter milder caramel useful for desserts. In this case I want a dark caramel and a little bitterness will not go astray so we start with dry sugar. And itâs quicker.
I wanted to keep it simple and not do a treatise on sugar chemistry. Most people donât want or need to know why. Yes you can burn yourself if you are clumsy but it wonât be life threatening. The spitting will be the boiling fish sauce (100 C) not the caramel which will stay in the pot. Too many shy away from these old methods because they sound hard. Not so, what is going on in the pan is very complex, what is going on in the cookâs head is not. You canât buy this kind of caramel. My soapbox is sagging.
Was shopping at my Coles last week and I noticed the Deli had cooked roast beef slices . Hunting around the internet awhile ago so I thought I would give a recipe I saw there a go .
INGREDIENTS
6 slices of cooked roast beef . I purchased it at the Coles Deli .
1 packet of Coles seasoned stuffing mix .Contains Sage , Marjoram , Thyme and Rosemary.
Beef Stock . I used Campbellâs . You will need 1-2 cups .
Stick of celery
Medium sized onion
1 carrot
2 tablespoons of butter .
PREPARATION
Finely dice the celery and onion . Grate half of the carrot .
Put a skillet or fry pan on the stove at a low medium heat and add the butter .
I use a Crofton 28cm cast Iron ( Aldis) Skillet . When butter melts add celery, onion and carrot.
Cook till starts to become translucent ( big word ) and add packet of stuffing mix .
Add a cup of Beef stock and stir it in . You might need 1 1/2 cups .
Cook till the stuffing absorbs the stock and thickens . Take off stove and set aside to cool .
Lay the roast beef out on a chopping board .
Use a spoon to shape the stuffing mix into balls and wrap in roast beef .
Bit fiddly at start but practice makes perfect . Use a skewer to hold together if need be .
Place the balls on a baking tray and heat through for about 10 mins in 175c oven .
CABBAGE STIR FRY
A tasty dish that can be prepared in a skillet , large saucepan or wok . I used a wok . The important thing with this recipe is not wash the cabbage . Any moisture will cause the cabbage to steam and burn . The idea of this recipe is to brown the cabbage .
To prep the cabbage for dicing remove about three layers of the outer leaves and then cut the base flat at the root end to give you a stable cutting platform .
INGREDIENTS
1 small to medium cabbage . Prepare as described above . Remember do not wash it .
1 medium red onion .Roughly diced
Ghee {clarified butter } 2 tablespoons as a frying agent . I used the" Maharajahs Choice" brand
Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Curry powder 1 teaspoon.
Hoyts Italian herb mix or similar .2 heaped teaspoons .
PREPARATION
Place wok on stove . Medium heat . Add 2 tablespoons of Ghee .
After about 1 minute add the mustard seeds .
Now add the diced red onion and stir till it starts to soften
Add the cabbage .
Keep it moving by stirring it around the wok .
Add the turmeric and curry powder . Stir it through the cabbage thoroughly .
When the cabbage starts to brown add the Hoyts Italian Herb mix .
You leave the Herb mix till last as it contains garlic which if burns becomes bitter .
Keep stirring the cabbage until it browns . Takes 5-10 minutes depending on heat .
Keep stirring until cabbage browns . If needed add more Ghee
When the cabbage has browned . Take off heat and serve . .
I heated some garlic bread in the microwave . Topped it with the browned cabbage and a dollop of Dijon Mustard .
Found this quick and easy recipe from the internet: an interesting way to transform leftover rice (and also leftover veggies from a stir fry if you wish) into a tasty new dish.
Ingredients:
200g rice
3 eggs
30g Grated Parmesan or any grated cheese you prefer.
100g cooking cheese, any cheese
which melts, cut into small cubes.
Thyme or your fav herb.
Black pepper optional.
Salt to taste.
Add veggies if you wish.
Preparation:
In a large bowl place all the ingredients and mix very well.
Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan, add rice mixture.
Cook at med-low heat for about 20 m.
or until a golden skin forms underneath.
Put LOTS of butter in a pan, add cabbage. The cabbage should be all but swimming in the butter if you have used enough. Add whatever seasoning you like. Salt and pepper are the basics. Cook gently so as not to burn the butter, until tender.
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