Left over Turkey, Lime and Coriander Quesadillas

Needing to used up left over turkey.  Why not try Donna Hay's chicken Quesadillas but instead of using chicken, use turkey.
1/2 packet cream cheese
2 tbls Lime juice
2 green onions
2 cups cooked turkey or Chicken
1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1/2 chopped Coriander (cilantro) leaves
6 small corn or flour tortillas

Mix together all ingredients except for the tortillas in a bowl until well combined.  Sandwich the mixture between two torillas.  Brush with oil.  Either bbq or toast in a sandwich press for 2 minutes until warmed through.  Cut into wedges and serve with wedges of lime squeezed over the top.  You can serve with a green salad for a lovely lunch time meal.

Pizza Scrones - (A good way of using up leftover ham)

I made what I called pizza rolls one day and my daughters friend immediately christened these as pizza scrones as she said that they were a cross between a scone and a roll.  They have been called scrones ever since in our house. Here's how they are made.

Either make or purchase a pizza dough.  Roll it our into a rough rectangle and spread with pizza toppings.  After christmas I use ham and cheese as I usually have so much ham left over.

 Roll up along the long edge to make a large sausage rather like a swiss roll.  Cut in to inch slices.

Place cut side up in a lamington or baking dish lined with paper.  Bake in 200 oC oven for 10 to 15 minutes  or until golden.  I have used different fillings and you can experiment if you like.  Some of the other ideas are vegemite and cheese, pesto and goats cheese.



Duck, Mango and Noodle Salad

During summer my family are often off to outdoor events in which we need to take a picnic dinner.  I have been taking this favourite salad served in Chinese takeaway containers with chopsticks both of which I have purchased from a packaging store.   Here is my recipe.

Soak the rice noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes or until they are soft.  Rinse in cold water and drain. 

Slice cooked duck breasts (I have been buying cooked duck breasts in a Chinese style from the local supermarket.)

In a large bowl combine noodles, sliced duck breast, 2 chopped lebanese cucumber, bean shoots, 2 thinly sliced spring onions, large bunch of chopped fresh mint and coriander, 1 thinly sliced mango, and 2 tbls crushed roasted peanuts. 

For the dressing combined juice of 1 lime, 1 tbls fish sauce, 2 tbls soy sauce, 1 finely chopped red chili and 1 tbls palm sugar or brown sugar.

Pour the dressing over the other ingredients mix well to combine.  Dish out into takeway containers and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. 



Thai Chicken Puddings

This recipe has been taken from St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls "One Fine Day" Cookbook and was submitted by Susan Glenn.  It is the easiest meatball recipe I have ever seen as the meatballs are cooked in mini muffin tins and not fried and they therefore stay together really well.  Here is the recipe.

500g Chicken Mince
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 tbls Fish Sauce
1 1/4 cups coconut cream
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup Chopped Coriander
Coriander Leaves and sliced red chili for garnish
Sweet Chili sauce for dipping sauce.

Mix in a bowl chicken mince, garlic, oyster sauce, fish sauce, coconut cream, coriander, salt and pepper until combined.  Spoon the mixture into a non-stick mini muffin tin and cook in 180 oC oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until the meatballs have pulled away from the sides.  Serve warm on a platter sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves and slice chili with sweet chili sauce.  They can be served cold or warm, they can be frozen and then reheated in a microwave.

Cheats Roast Chicken

Easy and cheap, this meal can be prepared very quickly and it is a favourite with everyone in my family.

Spread out chicken drumsticks in a roasting pan.  Sprinkle with sea salt, paprika, fresh rosemary leaves and chopped bacon.  Break up a whole bulb of garlic and place unpeeled cloves between the drumstick.  Drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil over chicken.  Place in oven set at 180oC and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  I serve mine with potatoes in their jackets and steamed beans.

Sticky Pork Spare Ribs

What little kid or big kid doesn't love sticky bbq spare ribs?  Most people will have all these ingredients in their fridge or pantry cupboard bar the actual ribs.  They can be baked in the oven but I do think that they have a better flavour on the BBQ.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Barbecue Sauce
1/4 Tomato Ketchup (for Aussie People Tomato Sauce)
1 Tbls Honey
Pork spare ribs (Approx 14 individual ribs)

Mix the first three ingredients together.  Place the ribs in a clean plastic bag (zip lock) and pour over the sauce.  Seal the bag and make sure all the ribs are well covered.  You can put in the refrigerator at this point if you want.

BBQ the ribs for about 10 minutes but keep turning to so they don't burn.  Serve with Rice and Vegetables.

Dead Easy Steamed Chicken

This recipe is a family favourite of ours which I often use, especially if I have been over indulging. It is  simple, light, low fat and a lovely way to cook chicken breasts as they end up beautifully moist.

Marinade
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1tbls Mirin Wine (Japanese wine) or Chinese Cooking Wine or Dry Sherry

(If you want to cheat, you can always use a good quality commercially made teriyaki Marinade)

5 Chicken Breasts with skin removed.

Cover the chicken breasts with the marinade in a non reactive bowl (ie glass or stainless steal).  If you have time refrigerate for a couple of hours if not just leave for 5 mins.

Place baking paper in a bamboo steamer (or for those lucky enough in your thermomix steamer) and place the chicken on the paper.  Pour a little of the marinade over the top.

Half fill a wok with boiling water and place the steamer inside the wok and cover with the wok lid. Steam for 10 - 15 minutes.  The chicken should be firm but slightly springy to touch when it is done.

Serve with some green vegetables and steamed rice.

Kathryn's Cooking Tip

The one piece of cooking equipment I can not live without is a good knife.  My chef's knife is my favourite and I even take it on holidays with me!  If you do not have a decent knife I recommend that you acquire one as I can promise that cooking is much easier with a good quality sharp knife.

Jamie Oliver inspired Avocado Dip

I love the easy idea of chopping up all the ingredients on the same chopping board you plan to serve the dip.  I first saw this idea in Jamie Oliver's "30 Minute Meals" cookbook.

For my dip I chopped 1/2 punnet of cherry tomatoes, fresh coriander, a couple of avocados, a little bit of red chili (to your level of hotness), 1/2 red onion or 2 spring onions, juice of two limes and sea salt to taste.

Place all the ingredients on your board and chop away using the blade of the knife to scrape the ingredients back into the middle of the board as you chop.

Place a sprig of fresh coriander on the top for decoration and serve with your favourite dippers. (ie corn chips, raw vegetables, crackers etc).

My Version of Tomato Tarte Tatin

This recipe is my twist on Michele Cranston's recipe from the cookbook "Comfort".  It is one of thoses dishes which looks complicated but in fact is one of the easiest things to make and will make you look like a cooking superstar

1 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbs caster Sugar (fine grade sugar, not powered sugar)
1 sprig of fresh oregano
2 punnets of Cherry tomatoes
1 Sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
Fresh basil leaves (approx 12)
Marinated Persian Feta (I love the Meredith Dairy goats cheese)

Place the Vinegar, sugar and oregano in a non-stick fry pan.  Bring to the boil for 1 minute.  Add the whole cherry tomatoes.  Move the fry pan around, tossing the cherry tomatoes in the vinegar mixture until well coated.  Cook until tomatoes soften and cook down a bit making sure that you move them around in the pan so that they don't burn. 

When the tomatoes have cooked down a little bit but without losing too much shape, transfer them to an oiled quiche dish.  Place the sheet of puff pastry over the top of the tomatoes trimming it to fit the dish.

Bake in oven preheated to 200oC for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and nicely puffed.

Place your serving dish over the top of the quiche dish and carefully flip the tarte tatin on to place.  (You might need to carefully drain off excess liquid first if there is a lot of juice).

Sprinkle with the fresh basil leaves and feta cheese and then serve.

Smashed Potatoes

This recipe has to be one of my kids favourites.  It is great because it can be prepared early and just popped into the oven for the last 20  minutes.  Here's what you do.

Boil or microwave clean unpeeled potatoes until soft.  Place them into a china baking dish (ie lasagne dish) and smash them up with a potato masher until they are broken up into small pieces. 

Pour over them a good slosh of good quality of olive oil.  Sprinkle over a liberal amount of good salt and fresh rosemary leaves. 

(At this stage you can store in the fridge until later if you want to get organised earlier in the day)

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Beef Fillet with Oven Baked Mushroom Sauce

The other day I had to organise a dinner party with not a lot of notice.  This is my very quick recipe that I often cook for friend and family.


Ingredients
1 whole Beef Fillet
1 Tbs Chopped Fresh Rosemary
1 Tbs Chopped Fresh Thyme
1 Tbs Chopped Fresh Oregano
1 Tbs Good Quality Salt Flakes (I use either "Maldon" or Murry River Salt)
Approx 1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the Mushroom Sauce
2 to 3 cups of quartered Mushrooms
Approx 2 Tbls Flour (You can use Gluten Free if you wish)
1 Tbls Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Cups milk
approx 1/4 cup Chicken Stock

Fold the thin end of the Fillet over to make the fillet a uniform thickness.  Tie string around the fillet in several places to prevent the fillet from shrinking when cooking. See picture below.

Mix the herbs, salt and pepper together.  Roll the tied fillet in the mixture until well covered.  Sear in a roasting pan for a couple of minutes on each side.  (The pan should be one that can go on the stove top and in the oven)

Place chopped mushrooms in the roasting pan with the beef.  Place in oven Preheated to 200 C.  Cook for 20-30 minutes (I like my meat rare so i always take the meat out after 20 minutes.)

Cover the meat in foil and rest while you make the mushroom sauce.  Put the roasting pan with the mushroom on the stove top.  Sprinkle with the flour and cook for a little time until the flour has been absorbed by the liquid and thicken slightly.  Add the soy, stock and milk and cook until it has obtained the correct consistency.

I serve this with a nice green salad and my smashed potatoes.  Very easy and delicious.

Lamb Wraps

Here's what my family had for dinner tonight which was a great success for all.

I combined approx tablespoon of sumac, dried thyme, chopprd fresh oregano, toasted sesame seeds, sweet paprika, good quality flakey salt

or

1/4 good quality dukka

or

2 tbls middle eastern spice mix

2 tablespoon good quality olive olie

a good grind of pepper

2 lamb mini roast

 Mix oil with spices or dukka or middle eastern spice mix.  Cover lamb mini roast with mix.  Bake in oven at 200oC oven for 30 minutes. 

Serve lamb with cos lettuce, tzatziki dip, fetta cheese, chopped tomato on pita bread.

Kathryn's Family Meal Rescue

So many of my friends, like me, are busy with their kids, time poor and quite frankly out of energy by the end of the day.  The last thing that they feel like doing is spending any time or creative effort on that dreaded chore of cooking a family meal.  Although I like cooking, I too by the end of the day am looking for the quick fix for dinner, but I also like good food.  I have spent may years collecting ideas and recipes for simple dinners which give maximum taste and minimal effort, and I hope to share them with anyone who is interested.  My aim is to give everyday families the tools and inspiration to produce great meals which are easy to prepare and hopefully kid friendly.  Hopefully this site will take the fear out of cooking the family meal and provide some inspiration for the tired parent trying to feed a hungry family.