feeding the family | Vegie Smugglers

Posts tagged feeding the family

Bring on summer (and my secret obsession with American mustard)

October 24, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Red meat · Tagged feeding the family, mealtime, recipe, vegetables

Finally, a bit of heat over the weekend. Back to being covered in miscellaneous bug bites and sunscreen. The kids are loving the longer days, although trying to get them into bed while it’s still twilight is a challenge. Then they’re up at the crack of dawn (as is the new kitten). I always forget how sleep deprived and cranky they get at this time of year!

As the weather warms up I’m always trying out new recipes that are a bit lighter and use more salad ingredients. Rest assured, I can find a way to stuff some vegies into nearly anything and this burger is a great example. Once you’ve tried burgers with extra hidden ingredients, you won’t want to go back to the bland, supermarket ones. There’s just so much more flavour and texture to enjoy in these.

Melting cheese over the top of the pattie does a double job of hiding the bits that aren’t brown and luring the children to eat more… more… MORE!

While I don’t deliberately avoid McDonalds, it does seem as though I can usually find a lot of other places I like to eat at first, so it’s with real glee that my kids like to tuck into a burger ‘just like McDonalds’.

The bun in the picture below is all fancy looking, but I usually serve them in the regular supermarket ‘sugar bread’ buns to get that real authentic burger vibe going on. And my secret, guilty pleasure – American mustard – is a great addition. Even if you’re already using the relish and tomato sauce, there’ll still be a place for a bit of the iridescent yellow stuff.

Here’s the recipe for the burger pattie – the relish recipe can be found in the new Vegie Smugglers 2 cookbook. Did you see that I’ve discounted the postage on it for a bit? It’s my way of apologising for any inconvenience as I find myself out of stock on Vegie Smugglers 1 until late November.

Guilty pleasure... American mustard on this is trashy but tastes great.

Cheeseburgers

500g lean beef mince
250g chickpeas, rinsed, drained (about half a cup)
1 carrot, peeled, grated
½ red capsicum, seeded, roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly whisked

Olive oil
4 cheese slices

To serve: Bread rolls or burger buns, tomato slices, lettuce, onion relish (recipe in the book), tomato sauce, American mustard.

Place the mince in a large bowl. Use a stick blender to blitz the chickpeas, carrot, capsicum and parsley. You can do this by hand, but the blender is good for lazy people like me.

Add the chickpea mixture, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg and black pepper to the bowl with the mince and use your hands to combine and make good-sized patties. Squeeze them firmly, then shape into thin patties.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the patties and squish down to 1-centimetre thick. This helps them cook through and makes them easier for small kids to eat.

Cook for 5 minutes, gently flip over and cook the other side for 4–5 minutes until cooked through. While the second side is cooking, place a cheese slice on top and let it melt over.

Serve the burgers on bread rolls or buns, topped with tomato, lettuce and onion relish.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (9) »

My pledge to you (and the business of cookbooks)

October 20, 2011 · Filed under News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family

The ‘oh, is that the time! I didn’t expect you so soon’ cover.

After bringing up the irritating topic of Tania Ramsay earlier this week, I’ve been dwelling on the formulaic cookbooks that get shoved onto the bookstore shelves each week. Be prepared for an onslaught – Christmas is coming.

And I’m caught up in it. I’ve got a long delay on my reprint of Vegie Smugglers 1 (sorry, folks, it’s almost sold out and there’s going to be a big gap in availability) since the Hong Kong printing presses are going crazy to produce title after title of celebrity/chef after interchangeable celebrity/chef in time for the December rush.

Does it bug you, the way they’re produced to such a regular standard? I’m starting to wonder if the large publishers don’t think we’re all a bit dim-witted and don’t notice that book after book is basically the same.

The covers are my most favourite part. Especially the ‘oh! I didn’t notice there was a photographer, lighting, make up person, stylist & art director in the room!’ shot. You know, like we’ve just walked in on them casually whipping up a feast for their fabulous friends or well behaved children. If they’re super famous, or someone we trust, then we’re allowed to make eye contact. The others will be smiling winningly whilst gazing just slightly over our shoulders. Apparently we like the men to be looking down or to our left, the women are all looking to our right, dreaming off towards a better future (true – design psychology). And of course, the teeth. Don’t get me started on the teeth. When a friend of ours was editing Delicious magazine, we’d dare her to find a shot of Jill Dupleix with her mouth shut. No teeth! Please! Just once! Never happened.

Anyway, I admit to being seduced by these covers myself, the relaxed kitchen settings, the soft focus, the food just moments away.

How many of them do you own? I own stacks of them. I remember reading that the average person makes about 3 recipes from each cookbook before they get bored and head back to the shops and get seduced by some other title. Do you think that’s right? I hope you make more than that from the fabulously different Vegie Smugglers cookbooks!

I really try to make my books about you and your families and not about me at all. Finally after much urging, I did put a tiny photo of myself into the second book. But I felt like a goose.

So here’s my pledge to you about my cookbooks (past, present and future)…
1. Every recipe has been given the seal of approval from my fussy children and I’m confident you’ll be able to cook it and serve it to yours, and
2. You will NEVER see a picture of my teeth or me on the cover of any of my books. Ever.

Comments (15) »

Spice is nice (except on your tongue – apparently)

October 18, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged chicken, feeding the family, parenting, recipe, vegetables

After four years of vegie-smuggling, I think I now have a way to get almost any vegie into my kids. Obviously some dishes are more popular than others, but my kids also realize each night that what you get is what you get and if you’re hungry then you just have to eat, since having a whinge and complain isn’t going to get you anywhere.

So what I’m working on now is pushing the boundaries on the spice front. Mr Meat & Potatoes is no problem at all. I can already see him as a drunken young adult ordering a curry or kebab with chilli sauce. Miss Fruitarian, however, is another story. She just can’t handle anything too spicy on her tongue. This is a bummer, since you can’t really hide spice, can you? Something is either spicy or it isn’t.

Usually I just make dishes like the pho that I can just add heat or extra spice to after I’ve served out the kid’s portions, but I’m also on a mission to get her to suck it up and handle of bit more flavour and heat. My starting places are mild tandoori chicken dishes and coconut cream curries. But to be honest, I get to add such insipid amounts of curry paste that my best friend and I are never too awestruck by these culinary adventures.

I do like this chicken curry recipe though. It’s based on one in Bill Granger’s Everyday cookbook. I like his family cooking. Unlike the boring-as-hell Tania Ramsey books, which are full of smiling photos of… err…. Tania and the odd recipe that my kids would just NEVER eat, you get the feeling that Bill actually DOES cook for his kids and isn’t just cashing in on a safe market.

So it was a Bill’s recipe where I saw this slightly unexpected mix of Indian and Asian flavours that results in something mild enough for fussy kids but interesting enough for the grown ups (especially with some coriander over the top). And of course it doesn’t hurt to serve this with pappadums – another lure ingredient.

I’m on the lookout for recipes to move onto after this one – ones that push the boundaries just a little further. Make sure you let me know if you’ve got any you enjoy.

Passing on a love of curry comfort

Gentle chicken curry

1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
1–2 tsp cumin powder
1–2 tsp coriander powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
500g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cubed
1 cup finely diced pumpkin (little 5mm cubes)
1 zucchini, finely diced (peeled first if you prefer)
400g can chopped tomatoes
¼ cup water
2 tsp brown sugar
Juice of ½ lime
Handful green beans, ends trimmed, sliced

To serve
Steamed rice
Cooked pappadums
Chopped coriander (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Fry the onion for 4–5 minutes until soft. Use a quantity of spice that will suit your family. Add the spices, garlic and ginger for a minute before adding the chicken. Stir and brown for 2 minutes then add the pumpkin and zucchini and continue stirring for another 3 minutes until the chicken is brown and the vegies are starting to soften.

Add the tomatoes and water. Cover and bring to a simmer, lower the heat and simmer away for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the sugar, lime juice and beans and stir through for a minute or so (I like my beans nice and crunchy). Serve with rice and pappadums. Sprinkle with coriander (if using).

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (14) »

How to have them begging for zucchini (in their lunchbox)

October 12, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, lunchbox, parenting, recipe

Now I don’t like to brag, and I generally am a very self-effacing person, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this recipe is possibly the most genius recipe I have ever formulated! It is just SO good. When my kids see me making these, they start JUMPING AROUND.

It meets all of my usual vegie-smuggling criteria – easy to make, full of all sorts of good ingredients, stores well and is tasty enough for kids and adults alike. You can eat them hot or cold – so whip up some for a side dish for tonight’s dinner and then pop the rest into tomorrow’s lunchboxes.

Did I mention that this recipe is from the complete Vegie Smugglers lunchbox planner? I like to give one recipe away for free (last term was the easy beetroot dip/sandwich spread). I know I’m banging on about the planner, but without a few sales here and there, the Vegie Smugglers blog ends up being a time-consuming and rewarding passion that I have to squeeze in between my other money-making commitments. But nearly every mum I talk to has some intriguing online venture going on, so you all know what I’m saying.

Anyway, enough blatant spamming. Here’s the recipe to enjoy.

Delicious. Yum. Easy. Yum. Lunchboxes. Yum.

Cheese Puffs

½ cup milk (soy is fine)
1 egg
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 zucchini, grated (peeled first if your kids hate green)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cups grated cheese (cheddar is best)
1 cup self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a baking tray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Add the paprika, zucchini, spring onions and cheese.

Sift over the flour. Mix well (it becomes a thick paste). Dollop out portions. Bake for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown and cooked through.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for several days.

MAKES 16

Comments (46) »

My top five ‘go-to’ dinners

September 27, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged dinner, feeding the family, freezer, recipe, vegetables

The other day on talkback radio the topic of discussion was how few dishes you could actually cook. The winner was some dad, who could cook 1 dish. And he’d been cooking it for 30 years without variation.

Apparently there was some study that the average person is able to cook only five dinners. Although I’ve just done some web searching and haven’t managed to find details of the study. Do you think it’s a myth?

A while back I remember reading on Lymes and Lycopene a post about this topic, and it linked to this interesting 2009 study which listed the nine most eaten meals in British households. All the regulars are there – spag bol, roasts, pasta etc etc. I suspect the Australian list would be pretty similar. Probably with a chicken stir-fry and Thai green curry to reflect our geography.

Sounds dull, but it’s no surprise that busy parents go back to the same meals each week.
1. You know you can cook them quickly.
2. You know the kids will eat them.
3. You’ve probably got all of the pantry items you need.

I wouldn’t dare interfere and say that this is wrong, but will point out that if you can manage to mix in a couple of ‘new’ recipes each week, your kids will be much more comfortable about leaving their food comfort zones and you’ll avoid a lot of the ‘I don’t eat that’ food battles.

So for inspiration, here’s a list of my five meals that I resort to often. I promise you that they are quick, easy to make and after a quick shop, you’ll have all of these ingredients in your pantry too, meaning that your ‘go-to’ list of easy dinners is now, instantly, 10.

Use up whatever is in your fridge or pantry in an easy fried rice

1. FRIED RICE
Even if you don’t have the ingredients for this exact recipe, a bit of egg omelette (just a whisked egg, fried), leftover rice and whatever canned or fresh vegies you have can be a delicious fried rice. Keep your flavourings simple – my kids are always happy with just a splash of soy sauce and mirin.
_____________________

A light summer meal that comes (mostly) from the freezer

2. FAJITAS
I’ve usually got a packet of tortillas in the cupboard, and some (slightly soggy) cucumber and tomato. And I always have a small container of this beef & lentil fajita mix in the freezer. It’s a great recipe for summer when you want to convenience of freezer meals, but are looking for a lighter option.

_____________________

Leave out whatever ingredients you don't have on hand

3. QUESADILLAS
And on the nights that are going so badly that even the freezer is bare, grab a tin of tuna and corn and you’ll have these quesadillas ready in a jiffy.

_____________________

Another flexible freezer winner

4. MEATBALLS
These oven-baked meatballs are easy to make ahead and taste great (to key to them is to make them with crumbly, not mushy feta). They are yum on pasta as the recipe suggests, but we ate them last week in tortillas (I’m seeing a theme here) with tomato chutney, diced fresh tomato, avocado and capsicum. Yum.

_____________________

And lastly? Here’a new recipe from Vegie Smugglers 2 – (have you bought your copy yet?) – that I just keep making and making. I find that I can drain off a fair bit of liquid and chop the meat up well (I cook up the kid’s portions then hack into them with kitchen scissors) and they happily slurp it all up. Then I can add chilli to the soup, leave it to brew for an hour or two until my best friend gets home and then he and I can chuck in our pre-prepared ingredients and enjoy a delicious adult, style dinner within minutes.

Prepare all this ahead, for days when your afternoon is going to be frantic

5. BEEF PHO

6 cups beef stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into slices
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp sugar
1 carrot, peeled, sliced into thin rounds
4 spring onions,
thinly sliced
400g lean beef (sirloin or rump), very thinly sliced – easily done with meat from the freezer
16 sugar snap peas
200g rice noodles
Bean sprouts

To serve:
Lime wedges
Coriander
Sliced spring onion
Fresh or dried chilli (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine the stock, fish sauce, ginger, star anise, cinnamon and sugar. Bring to the boil then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes (or up to an hour if you have time).

Add the carrot and cook for 2 minutes, then add the spring onion and beef for 2 minutes more. Finally, add the sugar snap peas and remove from the heat.

Prepare the noodles according to packet directions and divide between your bowls. Place the bean sprouts on top.

Ladle over the soup mixture. Top with lime, coriander, spring onion and chilli (if using).

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (3) »

Suddenly ‘Better homes and gardens’ seems relevant

September 13, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, News · Tagged chicken, feeding the family, parenting, recipe, vegetables

Once upon a time, Friday nights were all about cool bars and cocktails.

Remember when Friday nights were spent getting drunk at after work drinks? Tequila shots, inappropriate pashing and queues to use stinky blocked toilets? Aaaahhhh, the good old days.

These days I generally find myself spending Friday nights at home and Facebooking about wine. Gosh what an alco I must seem like (truly, I’m not, it’s just that by the end of the week, I am often very THIRSTY). Happily for a few months I can fill my nights with a Masterchef Masterclass and watch George and Gary make pretty piles of edible flowers, but with that gone, and Collectors a bit tainted after the whole kiddie-porn allegations, I find myself watching Better Homes and Gardens.

I can, of course, watch food being cooked until the cows come home, but all the other happy, cheery segments about making boat shaped bunk beds and fixing gout in canaries have glided over my head which is slightly addled after two glasses of wine. Last Friday night, however, there was a segment that had me all at attention… lawncare, that most riveting of subjects. But you see, for the first time, I have a lawn, and I was suddenly obsessively paying attention to the finer details of aeration and top dressing. You’ll be pleased to know that on Sunday morning I spent a good 10 minutes raking vigilantly until I got bored and wandered off for a cup of tea.

And who said the suburbs were dull?

Anyway, back to cooking and Karen Martini whipped up some chicken skewers that only required 47 ingredients and took 24 hours to prepare. They looked delicious. Although I think I’ll stick to my yakitori skewers, which (of course) include vegies. Serve them over a nice rice salad (you can find the recipe for that in the new Vegie Smugglers 2 cookbook – which is now on sale here) and voila!

Anyway, must dash, off to make a sensational chandelier out of corks and long-forgotten kitchen utensils. Thanks Friday night TV.

Food on sticks is always a winner.

Yakitori skewers

500g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp minced ginger
1 small red onion, halved, quartered
1 red capsicum, seeded, cut into 2–3cm squares
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise, cut into 1–2cm half-moons

Soak 10 bamboo skewers in cold water for at least 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into small, even pieces. Place in a bowl with the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger. Mix well.

Add the onion, capsicum and zucchini to the chicken and mix (hands work best). Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (if you have time).

Thread the chicken and vegies alternately onto the skewers. Break the onion up a little so that it will cook through.

Heat a large frying pan (or barbecue hot plate) over low–medium heat. Cook the skewers for 15–20 minutes, turning regularly to cook on all sides. The low heat allows the chicken to cook through without burning.

Comments (5) »

Something a bit fishy (and why my life resembles ‘The Block’)

August 28, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Fish, News · Tagged family, feeding the family, fish, recipe, vegetables, zucchini

The great Australian dream of home ownership is truly great, isn’t it? Somehow wrapped up in nonsense about freedom and opportunity we end up enslaving ourselves to ridiculous mortgages and weekends spent cruising Bunnings trying to find a parking space amid all the other folk pursuing their own Aussie dreams.

Our dream has just had a nightmarish phase as the simple sale of our flat coincided with US debt default worries, downgrades and stock market ‘volatility’ which made for some gut wrenching weeks as buyers fled the market and we were left with two mortgages, sleepless nights and a skin breakout that had me reaching for the concealer stick as though I was 14 all over again.

But thankfully we found just one person willing to pay at least something for our place. Let’s just say we weren’t in a great bargaining position and I could totally empathise with the contestants on ‘The Block’ who were barely able to mask their disappointment even under 8 tonnes of TV makeup and some pretty dresses.

But with everything signed and cooling offs cooled, the move is back on after a delay of several weeks. Which explains why my posts have been a bit all over the place. Too stressed to be inspired, I’ve been digging through the files to find pictures and old post ideas. My camera is buried in a box (hopefully) somewhere safe, so my only photography method is my iPhone which makes me as modern-as-tomorrow but not exactly precise.

So if you’ve thought there’s been something fishy with my posts – you’d be right! We’re nearly back on track though, so as a tribute to all things dodgy and cobbled together, here’s my ‘something fishy’ fish burritos recipe to enjoy.

Adults might like some bottled jalapenos to add a bit of kick.

Something fishy burritos

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
½ lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
125g can corn kernels, drained
400g skinless, boneless firm white fish fillets (try barramundi)

To serve:
10 bought tortillas
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, chopped
Avocado, chopped
Grated cheese
Mayonnaise (optional)

In a bowl, mix together the onion, zucchini, garlic, cumin, parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, or until starting to soften. Tip in the corn and keep everything mixing around for another 2–3 minutes or until the vegies are lovely and soft. Remove and set aside.

Sprinkle the fish with salt and black pepper and add whole to the pan. Cook over medium heat for 3–4 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Squeeze over a little extra lemon juice. Remove from the pan.

Warm the tortillas according to packet directions. To serve, pile up the vegie mix, break off some fish and add lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese and mayonnaise (if using). Roll up to serve.

MAKES 10

_____________________________

Other fish recipes to try:
Family fish pie
Salmon bites
Baked tuna & tomato rice
_____________________________

Comments (2) »

What the kids eat in… Italy

August 21, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Red meat, Vegie smuggling techniques, What the kids eat in... · Tagged feeding the family, pasta, recipe, vegetables

On the surface my kids are coping with moving quite well. They’re saying goodbyes and being philosophical, but I can tell from the way that their behaviour has skewed that the stress of it is taking its toll. They are both quite moody and irritable. Miss F is channelling Veruca Salt with “I want an oompa-loompa” quality turns over the colour of paint for her new bedroom. Mr M&P, who has a tendency to grumpiness, is using moving as a bit of an explain-all over his continuing outbursts.

I’m breathing deeply and understanding that they’re coping with quite a lot of loss.

High on the list of ‘Things we will miss’, are our amazingly fantastic upstairs neighbours. A retired Italian couple, when not flitting overseas they are hosting exuberant lunch parties. As the afternoons wear on and the wine and spirits flow, the Italian gets louder and more jovial and laughter booms out.

What’s not to love about a culture that rains chocolate on children? My kids have quickly learned that if they stand out in the courtyard and smile and wave endearingly, all sorts of goodies get dropped over the balcony. One time I even caught a tissue full of homemade biscuits being lowered down on string.

Italian food is such a seductive cuisine. It’s an easy-fix meal that is quick to cook and usually appeals to everyone. I’ve yet to meet a kid who doesn’t like pasta and you can use it to hide all sorts of good stuff in sauces, layered in lasagnes and tucked into tubes.

And then at the end, you can scoff a cannolli, sip amaretti and then best if you potter off for a bit of a lie down.

Cheese, pasta (and tomatoes, onions, fennel, spinach & carrot). Shhhhh.

Beef cannelloni

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves
500g lean beef mince
1 carrot, peeled, grated
1 cup finely diced fennel
1 cup spinach leaves (silverbeet or English), finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp sugar
700g bottle tomato passata
250g cannelloni tubes (buy the instant ones that don’t need to be boiled)
125g ricotta cheese
Grated pizza cheese
Salad and garlic bread, to serve

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic then the mince, breaking up lumps as you go. When the beef is just browned, add the carrot, fennel and spinach and stir well.

Mix through the tomatoes, herbs and sugar. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for
15 minutes. Taste and add salt and black pepper. (I LOVE heaps of pepper.)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Choose either individual gratin dishes or one 12–cup lasagne dish.
Pour a thin layer of tomato passata over the bottom of the dish. Use a small spoon to fill the cannelloni tubes with your meat mixture and line them up in the dish. Evenly pour over remaining passata and any leftover meat mixture. Dollop the ricotta about and sprinkle over as much pizza cheese as you like.

Individual portions will need to bake about 20 minutes – a larger dish for 30–35 – until the pasta is soft and the cheese is golden.

Serve with salad and garlic bread.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

Comments (6) »

We’re almost there… Vegie Smugglers 2 unveiled!

August 11, 2011 · Filed under News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged feeding the family, fundraising, parenting

The lovely Miss R is pretty pleased with seeing herself on the cover!

Unlike the uber-fast, instant-gratification, blogging world, creating a book can be a frustratingly slow process. There’s the photography (done in my kitchen), the writing and design (done at the dinner table), two rounds of editing (by the gorgeous Mel) and then the printing (I actually pay someone else to do that!) and then I wait for the final product.

And so it has been that the second installment of the Vegie Smugglers cookbook has been simmering away for the past year and a half. It starts of with lots of trial recipes. Lots of thumbs down from the kids and stoic silences from my best friend as they are subjected to various experimental recipes. Gradually dinners improve and by round 3 they are ooohhhing and aaaahhhing over them and I’m feeling quite pleased. I’ve usually photographed them along the way and the pages get laid out one by one and the excitement grows.

Remember these traffic light swirls? They've made it into the new book...

...and so have these prawn fritters...

...and so has the beetroot meatloaf (along with a stack of others too!)

For this book I enlisted a team of recipe testers to help me out. Their feedback was fantastic. It means that this book has had fresh eyes helping to question and clarify the recipes. I’m confident that anyone who enjoyed cooking from book 1 will be thrilled with book 2.

So stay tuned…. I should have it on sale by the middle of September.

Comments (7) »

Easily replaced (the ingredients, not you of course!)

August 9, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Ham/pork, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged brunch, cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe, vegetables

Switch the flavours in this frittata often to keep dinner interesting

Don’t we all love a versatile recipe! You might possibly think that I would be a very well-stocked and organized cook (considering I’ve produced two cookbooks) and often I am (I do try to menu plan and do one weekly shop), but quite often I’m a harried and hassled mother who find herself sifting through a range of recipes and finding myself one crucial ingredient short each time.

Which I why I try to shove as many flexible recipes as possible into my cookbooks. Sure, if you don’t have meat, the chilli recipe isn’t going to work out so well, but generally I’m more than happy for you to swap ingredients to suit both the taste buds of your family and the contents of your fridge.

This frittata recipe is a perfect example. Keep the core recipe true (eggs/flour/cheese/milk etc), but vary the meat & vegie flavours as much as you like. Just keep the quantities vaguely equivalent and you’ll be right.

Mini frittatas

Canola oil cooking spray
1½ cups cooked small pasta (such as macaroni)
1 cup cauliflower, chopped super-fine (so it looks like you’ve grated it)
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, grated
2 cooked sausages, finely chopped
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp chopped herbs (chives and parsley work best)
6 eggs
¾ cup milk
1 tsp minced garlic
¾ cup self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray (this is a recipe that works fantastically well using silicone muffin trays).

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, vegies, sausage, cheese, herbs, salt and black pepper.

In another bowl or jug, combine the eggs, milk and garlic. Use a whisk to stir in the flour and remove any lumps (give it a good hard stir and they’ll come out). Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well
to combine.

Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin holes and bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden and set.

MAKES 12
____________________________
If you like this recipe, make sure you try…
Tuna & rice puffs
Salmon Pikelets
____________________________