Left over casserole pies

I never waste a left over casserole or bolognese sauce.  My slow cooked Beef casserole makes the best ever pies.

I use the silicon muffin tins when I make the pies because they come out much easier.

Using ready rolled sheets of pastry, I cut a circle of pastry approx twice the diameter of the muffin diameter.  Carefully push the circle of pastry into the muffin tin.

Using a pastry brush, I brush each pie bottom with beaten egg.

Fill with left over filling and fit a smaller circle of pastry on the top, pinching the edges as you go.  (I get a little fancy and place a plait of pastry around the edge.)

Brush with beaten egg and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is lovely and golden.

Slow Cooked Beef Casserole

There is nothing more warming and comforting as my slow Cooked Beef Casserole.  I know that casseroles are a little work, but the great thing is that they can be cooked the day before, they can be frozen and saved for later, and I often recreate a different dish with any left overs.    There are a few tricks to getting a great casserole.  Firstly, make sure you have a really good casserole dish which can be taken straight from the top of the stove and placed in the oven.  (Why waste all those fantastic carmelised onion and meat flavours created when browning your meat.)  Secondly, make sure you allow enough time for cooking so that the meat almost melts.  This recipe has been modified from Stephanie Alexander's Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients
1/4 plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
700g diced gravy beef
Olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 stick of celery finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
100g diced pancetta
1/2 cup dry white wine
freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups chicken stock
1 can pureed tomatos
1 tub tomato paste
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf

Dredge the beef in the seasoned flour.  Heat oil in casserole dish and brown the meat in batches.  Set meat aside.

Heat a little more oil in the casserole dish.  Add the onion, celery, pancetta, and garlic.  Cook until onion is nicely brown and slightly caramelised.

Return the beef to the casserole dish.    Add all the other remaining ingredients.  Place in the oven set to 160 oC and cook for at least 1 hour or until the meat is falling apart.

I like to serve this casserole with either mashed potato or couscous.

Proscuitto, spinach, bocconcini roast chicken with roasted tomatoes

My kids request this dish on a regular basis and is one of the few meals that they all eat. 

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts

8 Baby Bocconcini cheese

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

4 slices of proscuitto

Fresh Pesto Sauce

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes

Line a baking dish with baking paper.  

Butterfly the chicken breasts and open out flat.  Lay on one half 1 slice of proscuitto, spinach leaves, bocconcini and a little pesto sauce (about 1 tsp).  Fold the half which has not got topping on back over the half with the topping.  Place in prepared baking dish.  Scatter the cherry tomatoes over the chicken.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 150 - 180oC.

Sticky Sesame Honey Lamb Cutlets

What kid wouldn't love this dish! Slightly sweet and sticky.

 I have taken this recipe from the Women's Weekly After -Work Cook book.

Ingredients:
12 Lamb Cutlets
1/2 cup honey
1 tbls light soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tbls toasted sesame seeds
1 green onion thinly sliced.

Cook the lamb cutlets in a non-stick fry pan until just pink in the middle.  Remove.

Add the remaining ingredients excluding the onion into the pan and cook until sauce thickens.

Return the lamb chops to the pan and cook until the lamb is cooked through and well coated in sticky sauce.  Serve with the green onion sprinkled on top.

Abbey's Pesto and Chicken Pizza

Ingredients
BBQ chicken Shredded
Fresh pesto sauce
Baby Bocconcini cheese sliced
Pizza base (or pizza dough)

Either roll out pizza dough and spread with the pesto or spread straight onto a ready made pizza base.  Top with sliced bocconcini cheese and then with the shredded chicken.

Bake in a hot oven for about 20 mins.

Teriyaki Style Salmon Steaks

I cook this salmon the other day and it was amazing and so easy.  I have taken this recipe from Feb 2012 Delicious magazine.

2 tbls brown sugar
1 tbls sunflower oil
2 tbls soy sauce (Use a wheat-free soy if you want to be gluten free)
2 tbls finely grated ginger
1 clove garlic crushed
Salmon steaks with skin on.

Mix together the sugar, oil, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.  Pour over the salmon steaks in a non reactive bowl.  Leave for 30 mins.  Cook skin side down in a ridged fry pan for 4 mins basting with the left over marinade as the salmon is cooking. Turn and carefully peel off the skin and disregard. Cook for a further 2 mins while once again basting with the marinade.  Turn briefly to brown up the skin protected side.  Serve with steamed rice and Chinese vegetables.

Computer Glitch

I apologise for not updating my blog lately.  I have changed my computer over and have had a little trouble uploading the photos.  The problem is sorted now.  I plan to have Sundays as my blog day, so expect a new recipe each week.  Thanks for being patient with me.

Watermelon, Feta, Black Olive and Lime Salad

When I first saw this salad I thought it was the weirdest combination of ingredients and I would never work.  It was such an odd combination I just had to try it to see what it was like.  It worked so well with the combination of the sweet watermelon and salty feta and olives and the sour lime juice and it has been a regular salad at our bbq's ever since.

Ingredients
1 red onion sliced thinly
juice of two limes
Watermelon chopped into cubes
150g crumbed feta (I like the creamy danish feta)
1/4 cup pitted kalamatta olives

Place the onion and lime juice in a non reactive bowl and set aside for 5 mins.

Place the other ingredients into a salad bowl, and pour over the onion and juice.  Gently mix the salad.