A recipe based on the classic Potato au Gratin . Easily prepared with a cook time of about 1 1/4 hours .
INGREDIENTS
8 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut into 5mm thick rounds .
8 medium sized white or red onions peeled and cut into rounds about 5mm thick .
3 cups of grated cheese . I used some Parmesan , Bega Vintage tasty and some smoked cheddar from the local deli .
Hoyts Italian herb mix . This contains black pepper and salt . Enough for me but others may add to taste .
Extra Virgin olive oil . I used Cobram Estates Robust Flavour .
A baking dish . I used a Glad roasting tray . These are reusable a couple of times and quite handy to have . Available at the major Supermarkets .
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 200 C
Wipe the inside of the baking tray liberally with the Olive Oil .
Place the potato rounds on the bottom of the tray until covered .
Place a layer of onion rounds on top of the potatoes .
Take your cheese and sprinkle half of it over the potatoes and onions .
Sprinkle a teaspoon of the Hoyts Italian herb mix over the potatoes and onions and cheese
Add another layer of potatoes over the cheese . Repeat with onions and cheese .
Sprinle another teaspoon of the Hoyts over the cheese .
Place in oven for approximately 1-1 1/4 hours .
Serving suggestions . Goes well with rice or pasta .Add some spring onions a good slurp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil . Iāve used the Hoyts Italian Herb Mix quite a lot recently . It contains most of extras I would normally add to recipe ; namely Garlic , Black pepper , salt , marjoram ,basil , oregano , parsley , onion , red capsicum. tomato in a dried form . At around $5 a jar it is good value and really livens up a recipe .
Most of us associate the humble Brussels sprout with a bland vegetable always served boiled . On a recent shopping trip I purchased 2 500g bags of frozen sprouts for $4.70 . I purchased them from Coles . Fresh were $14.50 a KG .
I checked the pantry and fridge and made the following recipe . So tasty yet so easy .
INGREDIENTS
500 gm of Brussels Sprouts . I used frozen from Coles
Grated Parmesan cheese to garnish
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil . I used Cobram Estates Robust Flavour .
2 stalks of spring onion to garnish .
1 teaspoon Hoyts Italian Herb mix .
PREPARATION
Take your skillet or fry pan . I used an Aldi Crofton 28 cm skillet and add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and bring to a medium to high heat .
Add the sprouts and get some stirring action going .
Keep the sprouts moving around . Add more Olive oil if need be . When they start to brown and crisp on the out side add a teaspoon of Hoyts Italian Herb mix or similar .
When brownie crisp or lightly charred on the outside take off the heat .
Pour the sprouts onto a serving dish and grate some Parmesan cheese over them and a good drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil .
Garnish with the spring onions .
An easy yet very tasty dish using a less popular vegetable that seems to be more readily available at the present time .
Another tasty easy to prepare recipe using a vegetable that seems more readily available at the moment .
INGREDIENTS
1 KG of Brussels Sprouts . I used 2 x500 gm frozen from Coles .
Parmesan cheese about 1 1/2 cups grated. Cheddar cheese 1 1/2 cups grated. The amount of cheese will vary depending on how much you like it .
6 medium sized onions cut into rounds . Cut them thinly as onions have rather a long cooking time .
Herbs and spices to suit . I used my old standby Hoyts Italian herb mix .
250 gm of bread crumbs . I used Coles .
Baking or roasting dish .I used Glad pressed aluminium BBG Trays . They are pressed out of aluminium foil and at 29 cm x 19 cm x 5 cm just the right size . They come in a pack of 4 for around $4.50 . They also have other sizes that can come in handy too .
Stock pot or large sauce pan to cook the sprouts . I have a Le Creuset 5 lt stock pot . If need be you can cook the sprouts in 2 lots . Do not over cook them .
Extra Virgin Olive Oil . I used Cobram Estates Robust .
PREPARATION
Pre heat oven to 200C
Bring your stock pot of large saucepan to the boil .
Whilst the water is coming to the boil prep your onions . Cut them into rings as thin as possible
When water comes to the boil add the sprouts . Bring water back to the boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes . Cook till they soften . Donāt let them become mushy .
Wipe the baking pan out with a good coating of the Olive oil . Make sure you do the sides .
When cooked drain the sprouts into a colander .
Place the sprouts in the baking tray until bottom is covered .
Take your onion rounds and place over the sprouts .
Add a layer of cheese over the onion whilst also adding some bread crumbs .
Sprinkle a teaspoon of your herb mix over the cheese and bread crumbs
If you have sprouts left over repeat the above and use any cheese , onions or bread crumbs left over to cover them .
Place tray in your pre heated oven for about 1 - 1 1/4 hours .
When cooked remove and serve .
I garnished mine with some fresh oregano and parsley .
Donāt forget to give a good slurp of Extra virgin Olive oil too.
During this time of food shortages I will be on the look out for the less popular foods that can be easily prepared and bulked out to help your budget . A friend of mine prepared the above recipe and added some pasta to the water when cooking the sprouts to bulk it out . Good idea .
If you have any recipes please feel free to post them .
When will CHOICE print and sell the CHOICE Community Recipe Book? Thatās a serious question btw even if in a lighthearted manner and itās definitely not a frivolous post.
Or even a few recipes, even add a supplement to the magazine to add the recipesā¦lots of choices for CHOICE to leverage these great recipes and hints.
There would be some interesting stuff there ā¦ and not just for the cruciphagous. Would the costs of printing and distributing in the digital age hold it back? Maybe an online version free to members instead.
Womens Day recipe books seem to sell well at newsagents and supermarkets. I donāt have a problem with any way they might choose to produce it. Digital, fee or free, added as a supplement to the magazine, printed, produced on sheets such as single recipe sheets as seen in some supermarkets. Just be good/nice to have a compilation of them all together somewhere as a resource. As my posts have now gone quite off the topic I will cease my ramblings in this matter.
A very tasty and easy stir fry that can be cooked in a wok or large fry pan . To prepare the leeks I use this method . Remove the tough outer leaves . Cut the tops off where the green goes from light to dark green . Cut off the roots . Cut the remainder into rounds and place in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water . Leeks often contain a lot of grit near the root system so rinse well . Drain them well and they are ready to use .
INGREDIENTS
750 gr of leeks prepared as above
250 gr of carrots grated . Thatās roughly 2 big ones or 4 smaller .
Herb mix . I use the Hoyts Italian Herb mix .
Extra Virgin Olive Oil . I use Cobram Estates Robust .
Spring onion and a thinly sliced tomato to garnish .
.
PREPARATION
Place 2 table spoons of olive oil into your wok or fry pan and bring to a medium heat .
Add leeks and fry for around 2 minutes or until they start to wilt.
Stir in grated carrot .
After about 1 minute add a heaped teaspoon of the Herb mix .
Cook for another minute .
Take off the heat and add to a serving dish .
Finely chop up some spring onion and thinly slice a tomato and add to garnish .
Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste .
Donāt forget to give it a good slurp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil .
A recipe posted by Food Champion Peter @phb No edits on his original post .
We use cabbage in jaio zi (Chinese dumplings). The recipe isā¦
3-4 cups cabbage (cut finely and blanched)
500gm pork mince (Asian butcher if you can)
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce or Chinese black vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon white pepper (use black if you donāt have white)
4 cloves garlic (optional)
120 dumpling wrappers
Mix ingredients. Let sit in the fridge for about 1-2 hours.
Fill jaio zi (round dumpling) wrappers (a heaped teaspoon per dumpling). Inside of wrapper is the floury side. Fold wrappers and seal edge with a wipe of a wer finger along the edge before pressing closed.
Place in fridge on a tray (layers separated with baking paper) to let the edge sealā¦30 minutes. Cook either steam, boil or as pot stickers.
Freeze on the tray. When frozen, separate and bag for future enjoyment.
Serve with dumpling sauce (bought one) or make your own (1 part soy sauce, one part Chinese black vinegar and garlic/chilli to taste).
Often when a type of vegetable is in plentiful supply we are tempted to buy more than is actually needed by our household, and when it looses its freshness in the fridge, it gets binned. To avoid waste we could preserve it by freezing.
The other day, to avoid frequent shopping trips, instead of buying a few loose carrots I bought a packet of one Kg and thought of freezing the content.
I washed, peeled, cut into 1ā rounds,
blanched and let the pieces get frozen for a few hours, separately, on baking paper. Then just placed them in a tightly closed freezer bag, ready to be used when needed.
The same can be done with most veggies, except maybe those with high water content like celery and lettuce which do not come out of defrosting too well. And donāt forget to label and date the freezer bag.
One of go to meals for my lunch is a bowl of rice . Even lightly salted it can taste bland after awhile . I started to add a " bit of this and and bit of that " and came up with a tasty dish . I use an absorption rice cooker so when I refer to cups of rice it is the cup that comes with the cooker . I have Ronson JAR rice cooker but the cup that came with it is the same as the Breville and Kambrook I used to ow
INGREDIENTS
2 cups ( cooker sized ones ) of rice . I use Sun Rice Australian Medium brown rice .
Massel Reduced salt Chicken stock powder .
Hoyts Italian Herb mix . Have tried 5 spice etc bit the Hoyts does it for me .
Olive oil .Half a teaspoon in the bottom of the rice cooker stops any rice foaming .
PREPARATION
Take 500ml of warm water and dissolve a teaspoon of the Massel chicken stock powder .
Take 2 cups of the rice and add to a fine mesh sieve and thoroughly rinse under cold water .
Add the half teaspoon of olive oil to the rice cooker . Add the rinsed rice then the chicken stock . Swirl the bowl around a couple of times so the rice settles evenly .
Add 2 teaspoons of the Hoyts Italian Herb Mix .
Turn the cooker on and let stand for around 5 minutes when cooked for a fluffier rice .
Spoon rice onto a serving dish .
It is optional but I sometimes grate some cheese , Parmesan , Smoked cheddar etc over it .
If I have any spring onions I sometimes finely chop one as a garnish .
Mashed potato with capers is also tasty, mustard into mashed potato is another oneā¦along with adding 3 or 4 cloves (or more) to the potatoes prior to boiling. These get mashed up and add a delicious sweet garlic taste to the mash.
As the weather gets colder this pie recipe is both easy to prepare and ideal for the cold nights ahead . Rather tasty too . The recipe was based on one that was handed down to me by my grand mother (maternal ) . I donāt know how the name originated but it is what she always called it . I modernised it slightly .
INGREDIENTS
Fillo pastry sheets . I used Antonious Chilled Fillo pastry from Coles . You will need 8 sheets . If you are browsing for the pastry it is sometimes spelt Filo or phyllo .
Baking tray . I used a Glad pressed aluminium tray 29cm x 19 cm x 5 cm .
1 of each of the following . Small to medium sized . A Swede , a parsnip , a turnip , a potato . Peeled and cubed .
A saucepan large enough to cook the cubed vegetables .
2 x 220 gm cans of Spaghetti in tomato sauce . I used the Carole brand from Aldis
2 x 220 gm cans of baked beans in tomato sauce . Again I used Aldis Carole brand .
Dried chives . I used Masterfoods although Hoyts are good too
Hoyts Italian Herb Mix .
Extra virgin Olive Oil . Used Cobram Estates .
Freshly ground black pepper
PREPARATION
Have your sheets of Chilled Fillo pastry ready by taking them out of the fridge for at least an hour to bring to room temp .
Bring a saucepan large enough to take the cubed vegetables to the boil . Lightly salt and add the cubed vegetables .Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 - 10 minutes .
Pre heat your oven to about 180c - 200c .
Wipe out the inside of the pie dish with olive oil . Make sure you wipe the sides .
Take one sheet of the Fillo pastry and cut it to fit the bottom and sides of the pie tray making sure there is at least 12mm overhanging the sides.
With a pastry brush apply Olive oil evenly to the Fillo pastry . Add another sheet and brush with olive oil until you have the base and sides of the pie 4 sheets thick . You must brush the olive oil between the Fillo sheets . You can used melted butter or Ghee if you so desire .
The vegies should be cooked by now . Drain them well into a colander then return them to the sauce pan and mash them . A rough mash is all you will need . Add pepper to taste .
Spoon the vegies into the pie dish . Spread them evenly with the back of a spoon .
Open up a can of baked beans and spread over the vegies .
Open a can of spaghetti and add to the mixture and smooth with back of a spoon .
Repeat with the remaining two cans .
Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of dried chives over the mixture and follow with a teaspoon of the Hoyts Italian herb mix .
Cut a sheet of the Fillo pastry slightly larger than the baking tray and place it over the mixture . Coat with olive oli and repeat this another 3 times till 4 sheets have been added .
Run the back of a knife around the edge of the pie tray and incorporate the top with the over hanging Fillo to seal . Brush the top of the pie with some olive oil .
Take a fork and put some holes in the pastry top near the centre .
Place in the preheated oven and cook for around 45 minutes or until top crust is a golden brown .
Goes well with some sliced tomatoes and spring onions .
