Bouquet Garni – its the fancy way to say “I got a bunch of herbs tied together!”
Using a bouquet garni in your slow cooked meals is gold, but if your family is anything like ours, they don’t like digging through their slow cooked meat looking for herbs on the loose.
Here’s how to make your own at home – it’s so easy, you will wonder why you didn’t think of it earlier!
You’ll need to get some fresh herbs – either from your garden, your neighbour’s garden, or the local supermarket.
In the dish that we are preparing here, beef brisket, we used sliced onions in the pot – keep one of the onion layers for the bouquet garni.
Wash your herbs and gather them into a bunch, carefully place the hard end of the herbs inside the onion skin.
Then bend the herbs back over themselves so that they fit inside the onion skin.
Get some cooking twine, and firmly wrap the herbs so that they are encased inside the onion skin.
That’s it! Ready to use.
Tip: when you finish cooking your meat, the bouquet garni can easily be removed from the juices.
Peanut Butter Biscuits
Peanut butter biscuits are yummy in a lunchbox, or with a cuppa – these easy biscuits will have them begging for more every week.
Ingredients
- 125g butter, softened
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1/2 cup brown
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 1/2 cup self raising flour
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
Preheat the oven to 180ºc.
Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat well. Add vanilla essence and peanut butter – again, mix well. Slowly add flour to mixture until a soft dry dough forms.
Form small balls of mixture and place on lined trays. I actually add a bit of extra flour if I think the mixture is too wet.
Bake in oven until golden in colour (about 10-12 minutes).
Cool on tray. Once cool, store in airtight container.
Quick Noodles Asian Style – Fast, Easy, Cheap
This recipe for quick noodles is probably the only time I ever use 2 minute noodles – this is a really quick dish – not suitable to reheat, but you could use whatever left over meats you have instead of the prawns.
Cheats Quick Noodles, Asian Style (serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 300 g green prawns
- 3 rashes bacon – chopped
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 1 clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic)
- 3 shallots – sliced diagonally
- diced chilli (depending how hot you like it)
- 1-2 packets of 2 minute noodles
- bok choy or similar greens
- sliced carrot
- kepap manin sauce (sweet soy sauce)
- splash of oyster sauce or fish sauce
- sweet chilli sauce (about 3 tablespoons – to taste)
- sesame oil (substitute if not available)
Shell and devein the prawns (do not throw out – use for stock). Boil the kettle/jug – place noodles in heat proof bowl and pour water over to cover – strain when cooked. Heat up a fry pan (hot), add some oil to the bottom. Cook prawns until they curl, remove from pan. Cook onion and bacon, add garlic and chilli (crushed ginger too if you like ginger). Add sauces and green vegetables and carrot. Add prawns and noodles. Serve with shallots on top.
Things you can add:
- chopped corriander at the last minute
- try topping with chopped peanuts
- swap the prawns for chicken
- use left over meats
- use frozen stir fry vegetable mix – defrost/cook before adding as they will take the heat out of the pan
Pictured above is the version I had for lunch yesterday (I think it might be on the menu again today it was so delicious!). I used bacon, onion, Chinese cabbage, peanuts, coriander and Me Goreng Noodles (with the little packaged spices and sauces). The process is still the same, cook the noodles, fry the onion and bacon, stir in the cabbage, fry the egg – once you have the concept, the alternatives are endless!
Cupcake Recipe with Strawberry Jam and Cream Cheese Topping
This cupcake recipe is so simple, and delicious – try cutting off the tops when they are done and put in a spoonful of strawberry jam and some Cream Cheese topping or whipped cream…..
To make your cupcake recipe, you’ll need the following:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup self raising flour
- 2/3 cup castor sugar
- 125g butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk.
Firstly, make sure the butter is definitely softened – otherwise the mixture ends up lumpy.
Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until combined, then on medium speed until batter is smooth.
Line cupcake tray with paper liners. Oven to 160 deg C. Put spoonfuls of mixture into patty pans to about 3/4 full. Bake about 15-20 mins until golden.
Once cooled, gently make an insertion from the side of the cupcake toward the middle (in the shape of a smiley face) – spoon some jam into the slot.
Make up some frosting – see my recipe here
And generously cover the cakes with frosting.
Cream Cheese Topping
All good cakes deserve a cream cheese topping – so yummy!
This is a really simple cream cheese topping to make for cakes – a creamy alternative to icing. Fluffy and creamy – delicious. You can add whatever flavour you want, here’s the basic recipe.
- 100g softened butter
- 100g cream cheese (softened)
- 2 cups icing sugar
- Vanilla essence to taste.
Once the butter and cream cheese is nice and smooth (taste it, should be creamy) gradually add the icing sugar. Don’t add it all at once or you will spend the rest of the day cleaning up the kitchen. Add about a tablespoon of vanilla essence to taste. Add a little milk if the mixture is too firm.
The end consistency should be about that of thick whipped cream – ice your cakes.
Banana Cake
For something a bit different, you can add cocoa powder (sifted); or purée some fresh or frozen berries; zest of lemon or orange; anything that takes your fancy.
Lamb Shanks – cheats way to an easy meal
Ok, ok, I know – lamb shanks – cheats way??
Yes, I am going to cheat – funds are tight at the moment, so why do I have to pay top dollar for a cut of meat?
My cheats method is of course using the pressure cooker….the meat was labelled “lamb offcuts”- some of it looked like shanks – more like chunks, and I figured whatever I didn’t use, I could always turn into a curry. For this dish I am using the chunkier pieces of meat which are probably shanks cut in half lengthways (not the delicate little “French”shanks which are twice the price).
Ingredients:
- lamb pieces (or lamb shanks)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 onions
- 1 bay leaf
- peppercorns
- 12 cloves garlic
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup red wine
You need to coat the lamb shanks in flour, then pan fry in some oil to brown off the meat (and seal in the juices).
Then place the lamb shanks into the pressure cooker. Add sliced onion, garlic, peppercorns, stock and wine, bay leaf.
Place setting on a roast style setting – if this cycle goes for 24 minutes (like mine) then run for 3 cycles.
If cooking in the oven, you want low and slow – about 160deg for 4 hours.
If cooking in the slow cooker – put on low heat for about 8 hours (longer the better) and baste it with the sauces and turn meat every now and then.
Green Beans with Tomato Sauce – A Quick Side Dish
This green beans recipe is really quick and easy to make, and is delicious too…. great substitute if you are having a roast and don’t have time to make gravy….serve with chicken schnitzel, steak, sausages….anything really.
I remember my grandmother “top and tailing” green beans and us as kids eating them raw – I still enjoy eating them raw, and as a family we love this easy dish.
Ingredients:
- handful (or 2 or 3) of fresh green beans, washed and topped and tailed, cut to desired length
- half a small tin of tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons of garlic
- 2 tablespoons butter
- chilli if desired (use Dave’s Chilli)
Wash, top and tail the beans and cut to length. Put in saucepan with all other ingredients. Swirl some water into the tomato paste tin to get the rest of the paste out, add to pan.
Lemon Cheesecake – Easy No Bake Recipe
I love lemon cheesecake – this one is easy as its no bake – the longer you leave it (a day or two) before eating, the more lemony it is in flavour.
There is something special about that first bite of a cheesecake – has the base got the right texture? is the filling smooth and creamy? is it just sweet enough? This lemon cheesecake ticks all those boxes…try some, you won’t like it – you’ll LOVE it!
Ingredients:
Base:
- 500 g sweet biscuits – arrowroot or butternut
- 200g butter, melted
Filling:
- 2 x 250g cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 x 400g tins sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- juice and zest of 5 lemons
- 3 tablespoons gelatin
Blend the biscuits until they are crumbs in the processor – while processor is still running, add melted butter.
Press crumb mix into the bottom of a lined springform pan (I used 23cm) and up the sides. Place in freezer for about 30 minutes. If it looks like there is too much butter, use paper towel to soak up the excess.
Using a blender, beat the cream cheese until smooth, light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Beat until smooth and well combined. Boil water, pour into a cup (about 1/2 cup boiling water), add gelatin and stir until combined and there aren’t any lumps. Add to lemon mix. Beat well.
Remove tin from freezer. pour lemon mix over base. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight until set.
Things to note: I love lemon! I love the zest of it, and when it is in a sweet, I love the sweet and sour zingy thing that happens in my mouth when I eat it – the more zing, the better it is. This cheesecake will improve with flavour if you leave it for a day or two before consuming.
Chicken Schnitzel – Homemade Secret Recipe
My kids love this chicken schnitzel – you could substitute the chicken for veal as an option – great to keep for lunches the next day (if they last).
“Muuuuuummmmmmmm…….can we have chicken schnitzel tonight?” came the usual cry – and I knew in an instant, that there wouldn’t be any left overs of chicken schnitzel tonight.
Ingredients
- 1kg chicken breast (or use tenderloins)
- breadcrumbs
- bunch fresh basil
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese – grated
- 2 eggs
- milk
- 1/2 cup flour
- oil for cooking (do not use olive oil) – peanut oil works well, or vegetable, canola.
In another bowl, place the flour. Season with salt.
In a 3rd bowl, place your breadcrumb mixture (if you do not want to make your own breadcrumbs, use packaged ones).
Dunk the chicken fillets into the flour mixture first – make sure that you completely cover the fillets with the flour.
Next into the egg mixture, again make sure that the egg mixture completely covers the flour – this is so that the breadcrumb mix will stick.
Finally into the breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs over the chicken fillets.
Place on plate.
Heat oil – to see if oil is hot enough, drop some bread into the oil – if it fries then it is hot enough – if nothing happens wait a little longer.
Carefully ease the schnitzel into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it in (oil splashes are painful).
Homemade Breadcrumbs – Don’t Throw Out Your Leftover Bread!
Years ago I gave up on the store bought breadcrumbs – they were too dry, bland, and I had no idea where they really came from – so I started making my own homemade breadcrumbs and I’ve never looked back.
Ok, so we have all bought breadcrumbs which come out of either a cardboard box or a plastic bag…but what about homemade breadcrumbs? Do you look at all that left over bread in the freezer and chuck most of it out? It’s time to make your own breadcrumbs, and here’s how I do it…
First of all, gather all those scrappy bits of bread out of the freezer (you had no idea there were so many bags in there did you??) including all the ends and broken bits. Take a look on the bench – is there any old bread there that you can use (not if its growing things though!). Hang onto a couple of the plastic bags, you will need them in a minute!
Cut or break the bread up into smaller chunks, and put them into the food processor and process until fine.
Put them back into the plastic bag and tie them off – when you put them into the freezer, try and spread the crumbs out throughout the bag so that they aren’t in a huge clump (makes it hard to use later).
What can I use them for?
- Chicken Schnitzel
- Sausage Rolls
- Rissoles
- Meatloaf