Easy, frugal, bread, onion and tomato bake

This is such an easy and economical dish and had the added bonus of using up some ingredients that might be past their best.

There is no need to be exact with quantities either, it's that sort of dish.

I started with some thick slices of homemade bread that was slightly stale and buttered each slice lightly. Cut into cubes.

I chopped 1/2 a red onion.

I chopped roughly 10 tomatoes that were getting a bit old but still perfectly useable.

All this goes into a bowl together and drizzled with some olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt if desired and season with pepper.

I tipped all this into a baking dish and sprinkled with a little parmesan, then grated tasty cheese.

Pop into a hot oven (about 180 degrees C or 350 F) until golden brown on top.

Serve!

Labneh

I may have a new addiction. Labneh. I made some from my homemade yoghurt and all I can say is wow. If you've never tried it you really should!

I started with 1 kg homemade yoghurt. I've detailed one method here and my current preferred method here for making your own yoghurt.

I have written instructions for labneh in the past but I like this way of doing it more, it's easier and it makes more sense to use a colander.

So, you have your large square of muslin lining the colander and just dump your yoghurt in the middle. Have the colander set over a bowl or container to catch the whey.

To keep the muslin tidy and to let gravity work for you, tie the corners of the cloth loosely around a wooden spoon handle so that it is slightly suspended. 

Place in the fridge and leave for 24 hours. Make sure your bowl or container is big enough to collect the whey, or pour off the whey occasionally so it doesn't overflow (don't get rid of it though, it's precious! More of that in a future post.)

Unwrap the labneh. Stir in half a teaspoon of good salt and whip it up a bit with a fork. Now it's ready to store in an airtight container in the fridge. There are so many ways to use it - my favourite is to spread generously on a slab of homemade bread drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil or to place globs of it in a yummy salad. You can roll balls of it in herbs and place in olive oil. Just digging a spoon into it is a major temptation! 

With homemade yoghurt, labneh is a mild, creamy, healthy delight that you may well find as addictive as I do!

Rock cakes

These are a firm favourite in our family, a recipe that I come back to over and over. They are quick to make, use relatively few ingredients and are pretty healthy. They could be made healthier with wholemeal flour and a sugar substitute, but I'm happy to serve these to my kids as they are, knowing that they are fresh, home baked with no additives or preservatives :)

Our kids love to eat them warm from the oven, tops sliced off and spread with butter that melts in. They also love to top them with jam and cream (especially if the jam is home made!)

Here is the recipe for you to try, the kids like to help make them too.

Makes about 9 large rock cakes.

2 cups SR flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (or you can use your favourite spices e.g. a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove)

90grams butter

1/3 cup sugar of substitute

1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a mix of raisins, sultanas and currants)

1 egg

Milk to mix to a thick batter (around 1/2 cup?)

Raw sugar to top (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C and prepare a muffin tin with muffin patty pans. It helps to grease the top of the tray very lightly to prevent sticking. 

Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Add the chopped butter and rub into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. This step can be done in a food processor if you're feeling lazy (but then you have to wash the food processor bowl, so not worth the trouble to me!) Stir in the sugar and dried fruits. 

Add the egg and some of your milk and start mixing. You're going for a very thick, sticky batter, not dry at all. 

When thoroughly mixed, spoon the batter into the patty pans, filling about 3/4 of the way. This will give you a large cake that doesn't spill over the edge of the tin too much.

Sprinkle the tops of the batter with raw sugar (this is optional). 

Bake for around 18 minutes or until the tops are golden.

Turn out of tin onto a baking tray and watch them disappear!

Apple walnut bread

Here is the 2nd recipe from my recently inspired brain :)

Makes 2 large loaves.

150grams wholemeal flour

850grams white bread flour

3 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons butter

300ml milk

1 teaspoon molasses

350ml warm water

1 apple, peeled and chopped finely

100g chopped walnuts

Heat milk, butter and molasses until butter has just melted.

Place all dry ingredients into mixer with dough hook attached. (Yes, you can make by hand, just mix with wooden spoon at this point).

Start the mixer on low and gradually pour in the milk mixture, followed by the warm water. Allow to mix for 5 minutes, then add apple and walnuts. Mix for a further 5 minutes on low. (Or by hand until well mixed, then knead for at least 5 minutes). The mixture is very moist.

Make an oil spot on your bench (any veg oil is fine) and tip the dough onto it. Oil the inside of the bowl and place the dough back in, cover with oiled plastic wrap. Allow to rise for an hour.

Tip the dough back onto the oiled bench and cut in half with a sharp knife. Don't knead or attempt to press the air out. Gather the dough at the top of each piece so that it become circular or oval shape. Turn upside down onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (so that the smooth side is now facing up). Repeat with other loaf. Re-cover with the plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (C) while the loaves sit for 20 minutes.

Slash loaves with a sharp knife (if desired).

Bake for 5 minutes at 250, then turn down to 220 degrees (C) for a further 30 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack. Delicious warm with butter and cold with home made jam :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you use my recipe and suggestions for improvements are also welcome. 

Would you like my recipes to be printable? Let me know, then I'll find out how to get the print option thingy!

Apple choc cake recipe

This is my 8 year old daughter's first recipe and she wanted to share it with you all. It is a seriously delicious and moist cake!

1 cup of SR flour, sifted

120 grams butter, melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs, whisked

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons desiccated coconut

1/4 cup choc dots (white or brown)

1/2 apple, diced

Pre heat oven to 170 degrees (C). Place flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Add milk, eggs and vanilla, whisk until smooth. Place rest of ingredients in the same bowl and stir. Place in a greased cake tin (use baking paper on the bottom to prevent sticking). Put in oven for about 40 minutes, check the middle with a skewer for doneness.

 Gem says you can eat it either iced or un-iced, we have had it both ways and it's great with or without! Enjoy!

Healthier pikelets

1 cup SR white flour

1 cup SR wholemeal flour

1/2 cup of LSA mix *

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2.5 - 3 cups of milk kefir (if you don't have kefir, then plain milk will work fine)

Whisk all ingredients together. Heat a frying pan, add some rice bran oil or coconut oil. You want the pan nice and hot (not smoking!) Place spoonfuls of the batter in the pan and cook each side until done. 

Serving suggestions:

There are so many, but here are a few family favourites.

Fresh lemon juice and raw sugar

Butter and cinnamon sugar (just mix cinnamon and sugar together in a jar)

Jam and cream

Maple syrup or honey and cream

Raspberries dusted with icing sugar

Sliced banana and honey or brown sugar

Even just plain butter is nice!

These will disappear very quickly if there are small mouths around, enjoy!

They freeze very well if you want to make extras.

*LSA mix is linseed, sunflower seed and almond meal. It is available in health shops, health food section of the supermarket or at online whole food stockists like this.

Another chocolate cake recipe

Therese requested this recipe, or actually one of her children did, so here it is!

2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt
3/4 cup cocoa
200g soft butter
1 & 1/2 tspn vanilla essence
1 tspn bicarb soda
1/4 tspn salt
3 cups SR flour
1 cup of hot, strong espresso OR 1 cup hot water with 3 heaped tspns instant coffee

Place all ingredients in this order in a food processor for 1 minute. Place in greased baking tin (2 loaf tins or 1 20cm tin)
Cook at 160 degrees (C) for about 1 hour, use a skewer in the middle to test for readiness.

This goes really well in the freezer.

Buttercream icing:

I usually beat a couple of tablespoons of butter until creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar (and cocoa if you want chocolate icing- food colouring if you want it coloured) until it starts to get very thick. You can also add a small dash of milk to make it more creamy or to make a larger quantity so you can add more icing sugar without it being too dry.

This makes a really good. moist and flavoursome cake without being too rich or over the top.

Nougat

I've wanted to try nougat for a long time but always seemed to find a reason not to. Didn't have the right equipment, specialty ingredients, seemed too difficult.... and on and on.

My husband very kindly made it his quest to get me every tool and ingredient I needed. So I made some.

I'm partially happy with the result. It tastes really delicious but is way too gloopy. I used this recipe, next time I'll try another recipe and see if it's any better, in the meantime I'll enjoy having mouthfuls of sweet and tasty gloop!

Mixed berry muffins

               The boy made these yesterday and they were deliciously moist and sweet.

2 cups SR flour
3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract
1/2 to 1 cup of mixed berries or any type of berries
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
125g melted butter


Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C)
Combine sifted flour and sugar in a bowl.
Stir in combine melted butter and buttermilk, egg and vanilla.
Lightly stir in berries.
Spoon into patty pans place in muffin tin, fill to near the top for large muffins or 3/4 full for smaller ones.
Cook for about 20 minutes or until turning golden brown on top (don't overcook though!)
Dust icing sugar on top and leave to cool.

Nori rolls

Nori rolls (also known as California rolls) are so easy and healthy to make. Not to mention - totally delicious! My husband made these ones this morning. The filling can be as basic or extravagant as you want, we went for basic today.

You will need:

Seaweed sheets

Japanese rice (sushi rice)

Sushi vinegar

These are all available at Asian (particularly Japanese) food stores. Follow the instructions for cooking the rice, we use our rice cooker which does a perfect job.

thin strips of carrot, cucumber, other crunchy vegetable

avocado

toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Benito flakes (optional)

You simply lay out your seaweed sheets, lay on a thick line of your rice with the vinegar and sesame seeds mixed in, lay your filling ingredients on top of the rice and roll tightly. Brush a little water along the end of the sheet to make it stick.

Refrigerate until soft. Eat and enjoy! My children love these. You can dip the ends in soy sauce if you like.

If you're unsure about the rolling technique I'm sure Youtube would have a bunch of videos. Some people use bamboo rolling mats, but we don't find it necessary.

Chocolate Cake

With the plethora of chocolate cake recipes out there one may be forgiven for assuming that all chocolate cakes are created equal. However, like any dish there are so many variables to the end result. I must admit  my Grandmother's recipe, although quick and easy fell very short of delicious. So today I've tried a new recipe, and it's pretty good. Moist, flavoursome and makes a big family cake. So here's the recipe:

125 grams butter

2 cups plain flour 

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1.5 cups milk

2 tablespoons golden syrup

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb)

Prepare a large cake tin (I used my fruit cake tin) with baking paper and oil or butter.

Melt butter and syrup. In a bowl sift flour, cocoa and baking powder.

Add the sugar and eggs, then vanilla, milk and baking soda, beat for 1 - 2 minutes.

Mix in the butter and syrup liquid, beat for less than 1 minute. Pour into tin, bake in a moderate oven for 35 - 40 minutes.

*Note - I ended up cooking mine for longer than stated as it was still gooey in the middle, so keep checking it with a skewer. I also covered the top of the cake with baking paper after the first 20 minutes of cooking to prevent burning or overcooking.

Bread baking

I don't get nearly enough time for baking bread these days, I can't wait to get back to baking instead of buying again. The very cool and wintery conditions here have me pining for baking (and eating) hot bread again so I thought I'd try some online recipes.

First up was the essential winter indulgence, raisin bread. I used a recipe from here. I made a few modifications. The recipe says for two loaves, however there was only enough dough for one loaf. The result: a nice tasting loaf but very crumbly (you can see it falling apart a little after being cut). The children like it though, and we all had raisin toast for breakfast. Very nice!

Now here is something I've never tried - Challah, a traditional Jewish bread. This one is good if you have surplus eggs, as I do at the moment. Mine turned out a little less attractive than some, but you have to love that shine on the crust! The recipe was from here  and was very nice when eaten warm - moist and sweet. Unfortunately it's a bit of a write off today, but still ok for toast.

Home made pasta

Home made pasta is superb and surprisingly easy to make. It is time consuming but worth it!

Serves 4 - 5

500 grams fine pasta flour (also known as "tipo 00")

5 large eggs (free range are best)

Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle, crack your eggs into the hole.

Start to whisk eggs into flour using a fork until it comes together as a firm dough. If your mix is too dry you can add another egg, but don't let the dough become too sticky or wet.

Knead the dough until smooth and firm. Place a damp tea towel over the dough.

Cut a small piece off the dough and re-cover the rest.

Following your pasta machine instructions, roll the small piece of dough through on the largest setting (1). 

Fold flattened dough over as shown and roll through the number 1 setting again. Repeat a few times.  I dust lightly with flour so that it rolls through smoothly. Change the setting to 2 and roll through once. Keep changing the setting until you are on the flattest setting and your dough is long, thin and flat.

If your dough is really long, cut in half to make it more manageable. Dust both sides lightly with flour.

Now carefully feed your flattened dough through either the spaghetti or fettucini setting (I'm doing fettucini here). Lay the strips on your hand as they roll out rather than letting them sit on the bench.

Hang your pasta up to dry. I'm yet to discover the best way to do this, but I use a clothing rack which gives me plenty of hanging space.

When dry (usually a couple of hours, depending on the weather) collect all your pasta into a bowl or bag. Drop into a large pot of boiling, salted and oiled water and stir. Don't leave the pot as it only takes a few minutes to cook. Keep testing until al dente, then drain.

Here's the best part! I served my pasta with a home grown tomato and basil sauce, sprinkled with parmesan, sliced avocado and sprinkled over fresh parsley.

Delicious and healthy!

Home made sausage rolls

It must be the turn of the weather towards cooler days that has me thinking of hot and delicious food. It is so much cheaper to make your own sausage rolls. I cheat a little by using some pre - prepared products but I'm a long way from perfecting home made pastry so... Here is what I do:

250g sausage mince

4 sheets puff pastry

3 thick slices of bread

1 onion

salt and pepper

other seasonings of your choice

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup water

poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

This is a really versatile recipe, you can add in some grated zucchini or carrot, garlic, cheese etc.

Make an egg wash by whisking the egg and milk together in a cup. Soak the bread in the water for about 5 minutes, when soggy squeeze out excess water. Mix this with the mince, onion, salt & pepper and seasoning. Spoon a line of your mixture on the edge of your pastry and roll over so that pastry joins - you can paint the pastry with the egg wash to make it stick together better. Cut off the rest of the sheet of pastry and use it for the next roll - you should get 2 long rolls to one sheet of pastry.

Cut your roll in half, place on a tray and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle seeds on if using.

Pop into a 200 degree (C) oven until golden brown.

Mmmmmm!!

Basic Lemon & Poppy Seed Cake

For the cake

125grams butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or essence)

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup milk

rind of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

 For the glaze

3 tablespoons sugar

rest of juice from lemon

Preheat your oven to 180 d (c). Grease and line a standard round cake tin.

Cream butter, add sugar, vanilla and grated lemon rind. Beat until nice and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. 

Add the 2 tspns of lemon juice to the milk and mix lightly. Add the sifted flour and milk to the butter mixture in turns while beating slowly. Add in poppy seeds. Beat until creamy.

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, cake is cooked when a skewer stuck into the middle comes out clean.

When ready, turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

While the cake is warm, brush on the glaze which you've prepared while the cake is cooking.

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and lemon juice for about 5 minutes until beginning to thicken. You can let the glaze trickle down the sides of the cake if you have it on a plate!

This cake is gorgeous warm with double cream or icecream. Very popular with the children too!

Cornflake slice

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe, the children love it. Very easy.

1/4 pound butter

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cornflakes

1 cup coconut

Mely the butter and honey and add to mixed dry ingredients. Press into a shallow tin and bake at about 160 degrees (celsius). Allow to cool in tin, cut into squares. Simple!

Egg throwtogether slice

It's a strange name for a dish but I'm at a loss to know what else to call it. It's one of those dishes you make over the years and alter to suit what you have available. I have made this a lot since we have been keeping chooks and have plenty of eggs. So here's a basic recipe to get you started:

10 large or 12 smaller eggs
1 onion
3 - 4 rashers of bacon
1 cup milk
1/2 to 1 cup of milk
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup cheddar cheese (use some parmesan too if you have it, it's delicious!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tomato
salt & pepper
garlic salt, herbs, other seasoning (optional)

Cut up your bacon into small pieces and fry in olive oil until browning and smelling amazing. Add in chopped onion and continue to fry until browning. Lay into a large greased dish. (I use a large rectangular dish or roasting tray, as long as it has deep sides).
Whisk eggs in a bowl, add olive oil, salt, pepper and other seasoning if using. In a cup mix the flour with enough milk to make a paste, continue to mix in milk until runny in consistency.
Whisk the milk and flour as well as remaining milk into the eggs. Pour the mixture into your dish, over the bacon and onion.
Sprinkle grated cheese all over, then place thin slices of tomato on top.
Bake in a hot oven (200 degrees celscius) until golden brown on top.
Beautiful served with fresh, crisp salad.

There are plenty of other ingredients you can add to this, lastnight I dumped in a cup of leftover cooked rice. You can add grated zucchini, leftover roast vegetables, capsicum, tuna etc.

A very quick and easy dinner that all the family loves! If you try it let me know what you think.