Quorn Pad Thai Noodles

This easy Quorn based Pad Thai dish was not quite as flavoursome as it could be, and the egg made it look a bit gluggy – not like the perfect bowl of rice noodles featured on the website! It is also not of the same WOW Factor quality as the yummy Salmon Pad Thai recipe that I absolutely adore making. It was satisfactory enough however. With the addition of some extra chilli or other sauces, maybe some chopped bok choy, and perhaps 1 egg instead of 2 next time, it is a great dish for after work when you just want to collapse in a chair with a bowl of something and a glass of wine.

Actually, the glass of wine goes without saying, no matter what the meal…..

I used cashews instead of peanuts, as I don’t like peanuts much. My local Coles supermarket has this great new thing called Scoop & Weigh, where you measure out your own nuts, fruits, seeds etc and weigh the little bag on a self-serve scales, then print out your own barcode sticker, just like the girls behind the deli! I’m having fun buying lots of bits & pieces, just cos’ I can! It’s so cool, just like playing shops when I was 6…..

Source: http://westender.com.au/coles-gets-a-market-style-facelift/

I added extra spring onion to the dish, and lots of coriander, for which a quantity wasn’t specified. I also added some lime zest, mainly because I paid $2 for one lime so I was determined to use every bit of it. Why do I not have any friends with a lime tree in their garden….

Happy Fooding!

Roast Veg Frittata

This frittata was SO easy, I was very impressed. It is based on a recipe from the new River Cottage Veg cookbook, and this particular recipe was recommended to me by a work colleague.

The vegies you use are completely up to you, and I didn’t have the right size baking dish as most of mine are currently still packed (and will remain so while I am living where I am at the moment – no room to put them anywhere!). This is a very forgiving dish though – you could make it in a dish of any shape or size I reckon and it would still come out fine.

 I do love roast beetroot and it was perfect in this; I was thinking maybe I’d make one just with beetroot and pumpkin next time, as the two go well together and the colours look great too.

Roast Veg Frittata

~600 gms mixed Winter veg (I used beetroot, pumpkin, carrot & potato), cut into 2-3cm chunks

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp olive oil (or use olive oil spray)

7-8 eggs

3 spring onions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp dried thyme

cracked pepper, to taste

30 gms parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preheat oven to 190C.

Toss the vegies in a bowl with oil and garlic, then spread out on a baking tray. Roast for about 40 minutes, until vegies are all tender and starting to caramelise in places.

Beat the eggs together with the herbs and cracked pepper.

Transfer the vegies to a 23cm square ovenproof dish, and pour the egg mixture evenly over. Scatter the parmesan cheese over the top and return to the oven for 20 minutes, until the egg is all set and the top is puffed up and starting to colour.

Serve warm or cold.

Serves 6

The original recipe called for the vegies to be roasted in the ovenproof dish, and then the egg mixture simply poured over the top; however, I wanted to spread my vegies out more, so I have cooked them on a separate oven tray first and then transferred to the final dish. I do think this would be a great party or picnic dish, as you could quite easily double it and make it in a large lasagne type dish, and cut it into small squares. A good one to make ahead too, as it’s yummy cold (I should know, I had a leftover bit for brekky the next day!).

Don’t forget to enter the Poachies giveaway, by liking my previous post!

Happy Fooding!

Scrumptious Scallops

I had this Scallops with Pureed Cauliflower dish last week – it doesn’t make a huge quantity – only enough for 2 really and certainly not a heavy, filling meal. In fact it would be great for an entree at a dinner party, if you could be bothered being that fancy on top of whatever work you were doing for the main dish.

It tasted great – the combination of scallops, pancetta, cauli and mushroom really worked well together (although as you can see, the pancetta was accidentally burnt to a crisp – literally!).

You can find the recipe here at the BBC Good Food website.

Happy Fooding!

Another Dinner For One….

Snacky Sunday night can’t-be-bothered meal here……I read recently an idea for adding feta cheese to egg dishes and thought hmmmmm I’ll try adding haloumi to some scrambled eggs. Great idea – I cut 90 gms of haloumi into small cubes and marinated them for an hour in a bit of lemon juice, with a generous sprinkling of dried thyme and merken (use chilli powder if you can’t get merken).  Then I simply dry-fried the cubes in a non-stick omelette pan, for about a minute (tossing about), added 3 eggs (beaten with a little milk, cracked pepper and some fresh garlic chives) and stirred until it was 3/4 cooked. Took off the heat, stirred through a few drops of truffle oil, served it on toast and YUMMO there was my easy supper.

Actually, it was very filling, so probably 3 eggs was too much for one person, but I don’t eat eggs very often so it was a nice treat. 2 eggs and a little less haloumi would be good next time. I couldn’t waste it though!

Enjoyed it with a glass of vino, of course…..

I know it looks a bit “grey” but thats because the herbs and spices kind of get into the egg mixture. It certainly wouldn’t win any prizes for looks, but then I only made it to please ME so who cares.

Happy Fooding!

A Recipe From Childhood

Christmas & New Year cooking is all around me at the moment! Very exciting time of year.

My earliest memories of “helping” my mum in the kitchen, are when she was making these mini egg & bacon pies. I was allowed to place the bacon and parsley in the pastry cups, and later on when I was a bit more trustworthy, I got to pour the egg mixture over them. I love making a batch of these, they freeze well and you can vary them for vegetarians by using a filling of spring onion or mushroom instead of the bacon.

I’ve listed vague quantities, but there aren’t any rules to this. I pretty much just break eggs into a jug and use it ’til I run out of either eggs or bacon or pastry!

You will need a patty pan tray – not the muffin trays as the holes are too big. A cupcake sized tray and preferably a large one (I have two catering sized ones that hold 24 each) or several of the small sized ones.

Mini Egg & Bacon Pies

frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

eggs

milk

rindless bacon, trimmed of fat and diced

fresh parsley or chives, finely chopped

cracked pepper, to taste

Spray trays with olive oil spray. Using a round cookie cutter (or use a similar sized glass), cut out circles of pastry and place these in the tray holes.

Crack several eggs into a jug (I usually use about 9) and add about half a cup of milk. Whisk until well combined.

Place a little bacon and parsley into each pastry depression. Sprinkle with pepper.

Carefully pour egg mixture over each pastry cup, filling almost to the top.

Bake in a 190C oven for 10-15 minutes, until egg is cooked & puffed up and pastry is cooked. Let cool in tins for a few minutes then remove. Freezes well and can be served hot or cold.

Happy Fooding!

Healthy Tuna

For someone who adores all things salmon, with tuna coming a close second, you’ll be surprised to know that I’m NOT a big fan of the canned varieties. I do love freshly seared or sashimi tuna, but the canned stuff just doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid. I rarely use it in anything, but this slice dish is one exception.

Originally this quiche was made in a pie dish, but in recent years I’ve been making it in a rectangular tin and cutting it into squares to serve cold. Quite delicious, good for you and super easy. Don’t worry if it looks a bit separated when you first mix it and put it into the tin – it all comes together as it cooks. I did overcook it a bit this time, hence it is a bit dark on top – I forgot how quickly it cooks and my oven is quite a hot one.

Tuna Slice

125 gm pkt water crackers

185 gm can tuna (in springwater or brine, not oil), drained

1 cup tasty cheese, grated

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

3 eggs

1 cup milk

fresh herbs, to taste (I usually use parsley or chives)

cracked pepper, to taste

Crush the crackers with your hands, into a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Place in a greased or lined rectangular baking tin (or a pie/quiche dish if you want to serve it cut into wedges).

Bake at 190C for about 20 minutes until cooked and browned on top (note: if using a pie dish it will take a few minutes longer, depending on your oven).

Serve warm or cold.

Happy Fooding!

Light & Healthy Pasta

This was an interesting meal – I am now doing some casual library work, and after arriving home last Saturday I was pretty exhausted. Did not feel like cooking anything too time consuming, but I was hungry and really wanted something healthy and refreshing. I decided to try this recipe from the current Super Food Ideas magazine – literally just cooked pasta with salmon, herbs and lemon juice folded through.

The original recipe called for rocket, which I find too bitter, so I substituted baby spinach instead, and I also added some green beans, as I had bought some lovely fresh ones that day.

I really loved this dish; however, my boyfriend hated it! He is usually very appreciative of my cooking efforts and has a reputation at work for bringing in delicious leftovers for his lunch. Not this time though – I ate the rest cold as a salad for my next two lunches, which I was quite happy to do as it meant I didn’t have to share it and could be a complete pig lol.

See what you think anyway……

Smoked Salmon Penne

500 gms dried penne pasta

2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

130 gms smoked salmon, chopped

100 gms baby spinach leaves

180 gms green beans

extra lemons, cut into wedges, for serving

Cut green beans into 5cm lengths and cook for 2 minutes in a little water, on HIGH in the microwave. Drain.

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, until tender. Drain and return to pan.

Add all ingredients to the cooked pasta and toss gently to combine until the spinach wilts.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!