Cheese & Herb Tomatoes

I’ve raved about the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook series before, and this tasty tomato side dish is from the AWW Microwave Cookbook 2. Both of the microwave books are out of print, but I just picked up a secondhand copy from the local Salvos for my daughter – op shops and market stalls always have a few AWW cookbooks going for a song, so they’re very easy to find.

I fought having a microwave at all, for years, because I thought I would only use it for heating things up and defrosting. When I finally bought one, about 20 years ago, I was determined to learn how to use it properly and actually COOK in it, to make it worth the cost investment (they were a lot more expensive then, and my budget was tight!).

Both of the AWW microwave cookbooks were invaluable in helping me get the hang of this newfangled, quick-cooking technology, and I still use recipes from both books on a regular basis. I’ve shared a couple with you – Satay Chicken and Scalloped Potato & Bacon – and I’m sure I’ll share more with you in future.

I had children who were fussy eaters (thankfully they grew up and got over it, eventually), and a husband who was even worse! This tomato dish suited everyone’s tastes, although I had to pretend that the cheese on top was tasty cheese, as just mention of “spew cheese” would have made the dish inedible in the kids’ minds!!!

I use fresh basil whenever I have it growing (it loves the hot Summers here in Perth, and there’s a big clump growing at the moment in the communal bit of garden belonging to the flat I live in), but dried is fine too.

Cheese & Herb Tomatoes

500 gms tomatoes

30 gms butter

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/3 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

Cut tomatoes into 1cm thick slices. Place slices, slightly overlapping, in a large shallow dish (I find a pie plate works well).

Melt butter in a small bowl in microwave; stir in breadcrumbs and herbs, and cook on HIGH for a further 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cheese, and sprinkle mixture evenly over tomatoes.

Cook on HIGH for about 4 minutes or until tomatoes are heated through.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Crockpot Chicken

Well I moved house a week ago, but have had no proper Internet connection until now. I have my iPhone, with the WordPress app on it, but I don’t seem to be able to actually post anything that way. I also had no hot water for 4 days and still have a couple of minor problems waiting to be fixed, but the lack of wifi was my main concern!

As I mentioned, I did end up having Crust pizza on the evening of the move (see above – tandoori chicken with yoghurt drizzled on top, delicious), which actually did me for the next night as well. I love that pizza so much!

I am not completely unpacked yet, but the bulk of it is done. I am still manouevring my way around several large boxes in the middle of the floor though, as I don’t have room to put the things in them, so am just leaving some stuff packed up rather than have to repack it again in a year’s time when I will be moving again.

In the meantime it has been lovely finding old friends like my wok and bread machine, and of course my cookbooks. I was too tired to do much but collapse, for the first few days, especially as it was 38-40C for a few days in a row and there is no air conditioning (yet – it’s coming apparently) or pool where I am now. I have been working a lot and studying hard as well, but I finally felt back to normal a couple of days ago and decided to throw a few things in the crockpot for dinner when I came home from my day’s classes. I found an old “French chicken stew” recipe from years ago, and revamped it according to what I had in my (not yet restocked properly) pantry.

Coming home to the smell of something cooking is so divine!

Crockpot Chicken Stew

425 gm can cannellini beans, drained

2 cps chicken stock

6 chicken thigh fillets (skinless), cut into large chunks (you can use breast fillets, but they do dry out easily)

420 gm can tomato soup

3 small potatoes, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled & diced

1 brown onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp paprika

cracked pepper to taste

1 tsp cornflour (optional)

Place all ingredients in crockpot except cornflour; mix well, cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

A couple of hours before you are ready to eat, mix the cornflour to a paste with a little cold water; add to the crockpot and mix through, to thicken.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!