super simple turkey bake...

I love dishes where everyone gets to tuck in and help themselves. It brings people together and I just love sharing food around the table. I've found a nice festive bake to make use of all the Christmas dinner leftovers. This is delicious and obviously the recipe is just a guide, so feel free to chuck in anything else you might like. I love mushrooms so add those in to almost everything I cook.

Ingredients:
stuffing, use leftovers if you have some, if not you can use a packet mix if you are not up to making another batch to cover the top of the bake.
turkey, enough to feed four, feel free to add some leftover ham to this aswell if you dont have enough turkey.
brocolli, again use the left overs this is what this recipe is all about, maybe even cook some extra on Christmas day so you know you have enough for both days.
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup of milk
grated cheese, enough to taste, leftovers from the cheese plate are great for this.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Combine your turkey and brocolli in a baking dish.
3. Mix the soup, milk and cheese and pour over the top of the turkey and brocolli.
4. Top with the stuffing and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. It really is as easy as that!

This is so quick and easy, you would be crazy not to try it.

Merry Christmas!

cheeky chicken and leek bake...

I've always been a huge fan of a great bake. There is something so comforting about a delicious bake and I just love serving one up in my Emma Bridgewater baker and leaving everyone dig in and help themselves. It's such a great way to use leftovers aswell and transform them into something new and delicious.

This is one that I cook over and over again and I've never had anyone not want to go back for seconds. It is so delicious and really great on cold winter evenings served up with some baby potatoes and green beans, or just as nice in the summer with some fresh salad.

Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
4 chicken breasts, diced
2 leeks, washed and sliced
25g butter
2tbsp plain flour
300ml semi-skimmed milk
125g Cheddar cheese, grated
mushrooms, optional, I just can never have too many mushrooms.

1. Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan and add the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add the leeks and cooks for a further 10 minutes while covered.
3. Meanwhile in a small saucepan melt the butter and add the flour. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
4. Take the saucepan off the heat and gradually stir in the milk, bring to the boil until thickened, then season and add half the cheese. Stir until melted.
5. Place the chicken in an ovenproof baking dish and pour over the cheese sauce.
6. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese (at this point I usually decide I need more cheese) and place under a preheated grill until all the cheese is golden and bubbling.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this. You must try it, I'm almost certain you'll love it.

cosy cobbler...

This is a recipe me and my friend found to test out some new bakers that were being produced at work. If I remember correctly I think we ate the whole thing that night but did bake another one for an office birthday party that was being held the next day so we could share our triumph. It is so delicious and really easy to make and light on the washing up too.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup milk
2 tins of peach slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg or a vanilla pod

1. Preheat the oven to 180° celcius, gas mark 4.
2. Melt the butter in a large oven proof baker.
3. Combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, the baking powder and the salt in a bowl.
4. Add the milk, stirring just until dry ingredients have all been combined.
5. Pour the batter over the melted butter but do not stir.
6. Bring the remaining 1 cup of sugar, the peach slices and the lemon juice to the boil over a high heat while stirring constantly.
7. Remove from the heat and pour over the batter in the baker and again do not stir.
8. Sprinkle with cinnomon or nutmeg if desired. I tend to prefer nutmeg or even add some vanilla to the milk for a super luxurious taste.
9. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

You can serve the cobbler warm or cool and I love to add a big scoop of vanilla icecream on top. Delicious.

healthy ham quiche...

I think there may be a bit of a pattern forming with any recipes I share, they all seem to be one pot wonders or pretty close to it. It's not that I'm a lazy cook or can't wash up although I'm sure if I didn't have my amazing fiance to wash up after me I might be less inclined to cook, its just that these are the kind of meals I love to eat and love to serve. I'm a massive sharer and even when out for dinner I love to get all different dishes so that everyone can taste a bit of everything else. I also hate waste and love dishes where you can use up any little leftovers that you have lying around. What you might think is destined for the bin can soon be turned into something delicious once you know how. This is another recipe I found in a healthy magazine. I love finding recipes in magazines and then changing them up a little, this usually involves making them less healthy by adding more cheese or cream but hey an extra walk around the park will sort that out.

This one is delicious and can be served up with potato salad, or coleslaw or just a simple green salad if you like.

Ingredients:
2 slices whole-grain bread, roughly chopped
1 large egg plus 5 large egg whites, maybe keep the extra egg yokes to make some homemade mayonnaise for the potato salad. yummy.
1 1/2 cups semi skimmed milk
165g ham, roughly cut into small cubes, you dont need to be too fussy about this. Use up any left overs you may have from a boiled ham in this recipe.
100g low-fat Swiss cheese cut into small cubes, the original recipe called for a little less but hey you only live once, use different cheese for different flavours too, whatever you have lying around.
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/ 375°F/ Gas mark 4.
2. In a food processor chop bread into rough crumbs. You can do this easily using the pulse setting.
3. Put the crumbs in an oven proof baking dish and press the crumbs firmly onto bottom of the dish to form a crust.
4. Bake this for 10 minutes, until the edges go a golden colour.
5. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk egg, egg whites and milk until just combined.
6. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until well blended.
7. Pour egg mixture over top of crust. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until top is puffed up and golden brown and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
8. Remove from the oven and let to stand for at least 10 minutes.
9. Run your knife around the edge to try to loosen the quiche from the dish. Then cut into pieces and serve up.

Mmmmm Delicious...

trick or treats...

So I know that around this time of year in almost every restaurant, cafe and bakery there will be pumpkin inspired recipes on every menu and blackboard. I like pumpkin, but there's only so much pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie that one can eat, so I went in search of a pumpkin recipe that I hadn't tried or even heard of before and I think I came up with a real gem.

It's fair to say I'm a bit of a chocoholic, so this one satisfies both my chocolate desires while also using the delicious pumpkin that is up for grabs everywhere right now.

Pumpkin and Nutella muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1 cup of canned pumpkin
1/2 a cup of granulated sugar
1/2 a cup of brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (not essence)
nutella, yum, if you're like me you will use a lot.

1. Preheat the oven to 190°/ 350°F/ Gas mark 4.
2. Line a muffin tray with liners or if your using a silicone muffin tray there is no need to use the liners.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the salt together
4. In large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
5. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until there are no lumps.
6. Fill the muffin trays until they are 3/4 full.
7. Top each muffin with about 1 teaspoon of Nutella and use a toothpick to swirl it into the batter. If the nutella is quite hard pop the jar in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it a little. If like me you love nutella then why not pop some nutella into the middle of each muffin too before filling the muffin tray.
8. Bake muffins for 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Serve warm but do be careful as the nutella will be hot after cooking so be sure to allow enough cooling time.

These are delicious served with hot chocolate too. Mmm very Autumnal.

Enjoy.

choco banana toasties...

I love toasties. They are always a massive winner with me. I remember when we were young and I'd come home from horse-riding and it would be so cold in the winter and toasties would always hit the spot and warm my fingers too.

I'm a sucker for a ham, cheese and mushroom toasty as I love mushrooms with everything. Sometimes it's a struggle for me not eat them all raw before I even manage to cook them.

I also love any toasty with leftover turkey or chicken, add some cheese and onion, maybe a few mushys too. mmmmm yummy. Toasties are such a great way to use up all those odds and ends in the fridge too which is another one of my favourite things to do. Clean out the fridge and slap it all between two slices of bread. Delicious.

I've tried a variety of toasty combinations but all were savoury until I discovered this little gem. Great as a breakfast toasty, or a kind of healthy snack too.

Choco Banana Toasties

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
1 Banana, cut into slices
Nutella

This one probably doesnt need any instructions but here we go, make a banana and nutella sandwich and toast until golden and gooey. Leave to cool for a moment or so as the nutella can get very hot and you don't want a burnt mouth. Nothing worse.

Cut up and enjoy. Yummy. Perfect with a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winters night snuggled up watching a movie.

super salmon...

I have always been a massive fan of cooking shows and really got into Masterchef Australia this year. I love going to nice restaurants and having not only delicious food served to me but something that looks amazing aswell. I love to cook at home but never quite managed the restaurant look on a plate until I saw this recipe. It was a masterchef cook along so I got to cook with the chef on tv and it really could not have been easier. If you are having a dinner party or just want to impress someone with your restaurant standard food then this is the recipe for you and it's quick and easy too.

Pan-fried Salmon with Baby Brocolli and Orange Sauce
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
8 Navel Oranges, these are the big guys with the sticky out bit at the end
360g or two bunches of baby brocolli
4 skinless salmon fillets at room temperature
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
30g unsalted butter cubed

1. Cut off the tops and bottoms of 2 oranges. This next bit is a bit tricky, using a large sharp knife, cut away the peel and white pith from the oranges, following the curve of the oranges from top to bottom. With one orange in your hand, work over a bowl and make 2 cuts along the membranes on either side of a segment, then lift the segment out of the membranes and drop it into the bowl. Repeat until all the segments from both oranges have been removed. Set the segments aside. Squeeze the membranes over a small saucepan to release as much juice as possible. Squeeze enough juice from the remaining 6 oranges to make about 2 cups total juice.

2. Place the saucepan over a medium heat for about 7-10 minutes until the liquid reduces a little and becomes syrupy. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

3. Meanwhile bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the baby brocolli and cook for two minutes or until a really bright green colour. Then remove and place in iced water to cool completely. Then remove and pat dry.

4. Heat a large non stick frying pan and add a little olive oil. Dust the salmon fillets with a little salt and black pepper then place the salmon in the pan and cook for 3 minutes before turning over and cooking the other side for 1-2 minutes. If you like your salmon a little well cooked then leave on for another minute or so. Remove these from the frying pan and leave to rest for a couple of minutes.

5. Remove any excess oil from the frying pan and add the brocolli and cook for a minute or two before adding a tbsp of butter to the pan. Swirl around to coat the brocolli. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and season with salt and black pepper.

6. Now for the fun bit. Divide the brocolli between the four plates, then top with the salmon. Garnish with the orange segments. Whisk the remaining butter into the orange sauce and pour over the salmon.

Yummy. I'm feeling peckish just thinking about this dish. I have made it a few times and although it looks like a lot of instructions this can all be cooked in under half an hour. Easy Peasy. Enjoy!!

http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/2935/pan-fried-salmon-with-baby-broccoli-and-orange-sauce/