Cheese Scones

These scones are super super easy! They disappear super super quickly too! I add all sorts to them, veges, bacon, cheeses, herbs etc. They are great with soup and especially nice while still hot.

Cheese Scones Recipe

2 parts (cups) self rising flour

2 parts (cups) grated cheese

1 part (cup) milk

salt (I use garlic and herb salt)

(I use edam to keep all family members happy but prefer a really tasty cheese...blue cheese would be fantastic)

You could also add...combinations of bacon, red pepper, mushroom, tomato, fresh herbs...

Mix cheese, flour and salt, pour in milk and combine - try to mix only just enough to combine.

Pinch off balls and put on baking tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake for about 10 -15 mins (depends on size) at 200 degrees.

Chicken Potato Top Pie

Chicken Potato Top Pie

I've been making this pie (or versions of it) for years. 

The original recipe had a pastry topping. I started putting potato on top as a 'lower fat' option, but suspect that the mashed potato I make for it now is probably as bad as pastry!

The pictured pie has leeks and mushrooms in it but I also make it with celery and broccoli. I've made it with corn, carrots..pretty much whatever is in the fridge. My aim is usually to include as much vegetable as possible, so I can get away with not doing too much to go with it.

I never make this quite the same and trying to get quantities for someone else to make was a bit of a challenge. I like quite chunky bits of chicken and lots of sauce in it.

I pretty much always do a huge recipe and freeze half for a night when I want a reasonable meal but am really busy.

(If you plan to freeze it don't use mushrooms as they are odd when frozen and reheated)

(If you are planning on freezing half, double most of the measurements below)

This is also the meal I make to take to people who have just had babies, are sick or are having a hard time because it is so easy to either reheat or freeze.

Chicken and Potato Top Pie

Potatoes - peeled and chopped into large chunks

butter

garlic salt

grated tasty cheese

milk

Chicken (thighs are best because they don't dry out) - about 750g

oil - 1 tbs

60gm butter

2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)

2 stalks of celery (and/or 2 leeks, maybe mushrooms...)

1 onion chopped

1/4 cup flour (you may need to stir in a bit more if it is too runny)

1-2 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)

1 cup milk

1 tsp finely chopped rosemary (this is really important)

1 tsp finely chopped parsley

Potato Top

Peel potatoes and start cooking in salted water then going on with the pie filling steps below.

When cooked, drain water and mash with butter, garlic salt, cheese and a little milk to get it to a creamy consistency.

Pie Filling

Brown chicken in oil, then take out of pan and set aside.

Melt butter in frying pan and cook vegetables till soft.

Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes.

Remove from the heat and slowly stir in stock and milk. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Stir in chicken and herbs. Season if necessary - this will depend on how salty your stock was).

Spoon pie filling into a deep dish. This recipe bubbles up and over the top of the dish if the potato topping is too near the top...no matter how many times I make this dish I get caught out with an oven that needs cleaning afterwards.

Topping

Spoon the potato over the top being careful not to push it down into the pie mixture.

Grate cheese over the top.

Bake at about 200 C for abut 30 minutes - until bubbling and the topping started to go golden.

If you are freezing it, you don't need to bake until you are ready to use it.

If baking from frozen allow about 40-50 minutes.

Smoked Fish and Kumara Pie

Smoked Fish and Kumara Pie

 We often buy fresh fish from the Sushi Shop by our supermarket. The fish is always great. They also have smoked fish which I had not been able to find a good source for. 
Isabella has got old enough to appreciate smoked fish, probably prompted by a phase of making our own smoked salmon a couple of years ago.

This pie is really yummy! I made a lower calorie version without as much butter or cream and I left out the bacon. I added more veges - more celery, leeks and more onion and garlic. 
I made the sauce by adding the flour to the veges, rather than making more dishes.
I didn't add breadcrumbs but put the topping on in teaspoons to allow it to crisp up when cooking.
The kumera and potato topping had a really sweet taste.
Thanks to 'Love Food, Hate Waste NZ' and Al Brown for the recipe.

Ingredients

• 75g streaky bacon, chopped into 1/2 cm pieces

• 1 cup onion, finely chopped

• ½ cup celery, finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped

• 3-4 sprigs of thyme, tied together with kitchen string

• 3 hard boiled eggs

• 500g smoked fish

• 250g potatoes, diced

• 500g kumara, diced

• 100g butter (two amounts of 25g + 50g chopped into small cubes)

• ½ cup cream

• 2 ¾ cups milk

• Salt & pepper

• 25g flour

• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

Method

1 Heat oil in a pan on a medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the bacon, onion, celery and garlic. Cook for about three minutes until the vegetables start to get soft.

2 Add the thyme bundle, turn the heat down low, and let that cook for 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Once the onion has caramelised and the bacon is crispy, crumble in the hard boiled eggs and smoked fish. Set aside.

3 While the bacon mix is cooking down, bring water to the boil in a large pot. When it’s up to the boil, add the potatoes and set your timer for 10 minutes. When the potatoes have been boiling for 10 minutes, add the kumara to the pot, and set your timer for another 10 minutes.

4 Once both the potatoes and kumara are soft, drain them. Mash them and then stir in 25g butter, cream and 1/4 cup milk, and set aside.

5 To make the white sauce, add the butter (25g) to a medium sized pot on a medium heat, and let it melt. Once it’s melted, add the flour and stir like crazy. The flour and butter will form a paste. Make sure you cook this paste, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. By letting the flour ‘cook out’, you’ll avoid a floury-tasting white sauce.

6 Drizzle the milk (2 1/2 cups) into the roux, whisking all the while to get rid of any lumps. You’ll see the roux absorbing the milk as you add it, until eventually you have a thin sauce. When you’ve added all the milk, let the sauce cook without boiling for a few more minutes, until it thickens up. Set aside.

7 Finally, make the breadcrumb topping by placing the breadcrumbs into a roasting pan, and dotting the cubes of butter (50g) around. Bake these in a 150ºC oven for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until golden and delicious. Season with salt and pepper.

8 To assemble the pie, mix the white sauce and bacon mix together. Season to taste. Lay this in the bottom of a lasagne dish. Spoon the mashed kumara on top of the filling. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs.

9 Bake the whole thing at 180ºC for 30 minutes or so, until you can see the filling bubbling at the sides. Let the pie cool for a moment before devouring.

Cauliflower and apple soup

This one was a bit of a experiment. I was not convinced it was going to be approved by the family...surprisingly it was! This soup is reasonably simple in preparation and in taste. I'd make it again.

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
1 clove(s)fresh garlic, crushed
1500g Cauliflower, raw (1 head) cut into floret
2 medium fresh green apple, Granny Smith, coarsely chopped
4 cup(s) vegetable stock (1L) (I used chicken)
1 tbs fresh chives, finely chopped

Instructions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add cauliflower, apple and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until cauliflower and apple are tender.

Blend soup using a stick blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in cream, Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with chives.

2 ww points

Primavera Stuffed Chicken

Primavera Stuffed Chicken

I came across this great simple video on Facebook and decided to give it a try. 

We didn't stick exactly to to all the ingredients adding caramelised onions, fresh mozzarella, tomato, capscium and basil leaves instead. I made about 5 slices into the chicken (but not all the way through)
We cooked the chicken for 25-30 minutes.
It looked really impressive but as super easy!



The video here explains how to do it easily.

Thai Prawn Salad

This salad is an absolute family favourite. It's fresh, healthy and really, really tasty. It takes a little bit of preparation but this can be down well in advance. My mandolin makes the preparation much much easier.
We have innovated the recipe I used to make by adding julienned green mango. A fantastic addition which came from an amazing salad I've had a couple of times at Mekong Baby. The quantities are not very exact, especially the dressing which I make and then adjust until it tastes just right.
I add and delete ingredients (some are probably not very authentic) depending on what I have in the fridge but the prawns, coriander, cucumber and peanuts are always in it.
The recipe below serves 3-4 but is easily increased to serve more people.

Thai Prawn Salad

Ingredients

100g vermicelli noodles

300g medium cooked or green (raw) prawns

1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped

1-2 very green mangoes julienned

1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled seeded and cut into thin slices

1 capsicum thinly sliced

2-3 spring onions sliced

2-3 radishes thinly sliced

80g dry roasted cashews or peanuts, roughly chopped

Crispy dried shallots (to sprinkle on top to serve - I get these at an Asian supermarket)

Dressing:

30ml lime juice (from 1 small-medium lime)

1/4 tsp sesame oil

3 tsp Thai fish sauce

3 tsp grated palm sugar or brown sugar

1 small red chilli, finely chopped (I often use more)

Method

1.  To make the dressing: combine all dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar, shake and set aside.Try to do this well in advance of serving so the chilli infuses the dressing.

2.  Place vermicelli in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and soak until just tender (about 5 minutes), then rinse under cold water and drain well. I often toss a little sesame oil through the noodles to stop them sticking together.

3. If using green prawns, peel and devein the prawns, then quickly sear them in a little vegetable oil, over high heat, until just cooked, about 2 minutes each side. OR Poach in water with lemon, ginger, garlic and star anise until they change colour.

3. Combine the vermicelli noodles, prawns, mint and cucumber (and any other fruit/veges) in a large bowl and toss through the dressing. Pour any extra over the salad.

4. Spoon onto a plate, sprinkle with cashews or peanuts, dried shallots and serve.

Turkey and Prawn Dumplings

We love dumplings. We prefer them fried and steamed - in a frying pan with oil and water, cooked until the water evaporates and the remaining oil fries them.

We make a huge batch of them up and freeze them. Its a quick meal when we are in a rush. The making of the dipping sauces has become a bit of a competition. We love shopping trips to the huge asian supermarket near our home. It's always a bit of a challenge to identify ingredients and to find what we need.

The recipe for the dumpling filling is not an exact science. I add and delete part of it, usually increasing the chilli, ginger and garlic.

We found a dumpling press recently which has made the assembly process so much faster. 


The picture is of the fried version, the dumplings cooked in oil and water were browed on one side and steamed on the other.

TURKEY AND PRAWN DUMPLINGS

INGREDIENTS

• 500 gms of turkey mince 
• 500 gms minced prawns
• 1 cup shredded green cabbage
• 3 ounces shiitake mushrooms, diced (finely chopped button mushrooms)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 green onions (spring), thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 -2 chillies finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon Sriracha / hot chilli sauce)
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 36 2-inch won ton wrappers
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Soy sauce, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients.
• To assemble the dumplings, place wrappers on a work surface. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture into the center of each wrapper. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrappers with water. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon shape, pinching the edges to seal.
• Heat vegetable oil and water in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potstickers in a single layer and cook until golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Serve immediately.

If cooking from frozen add half cup of water and a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Cook frozen dumplings in pan covered until the water has gone and the dumplings are browned on one side. This will take about 15 minutes.

Prawn curry with tomatoes and herbs

This was a super easy meal to make. I prepared  most of it in advance, then just before we ate added the beans and prawns - both were frozen. I'm not a big fan of pre-prepared curry powder but this helped make it quick and easy.

Ingredients

1 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 clove(s) fresh garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 whole fresh red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
3 medium fresh tomato, coarsely chopped (I used 1 400g tin)
1 cup  chicken stock (250ml)
150g green beans, trimmed, sliced diagonally
450g prawns (500g peeled), tails intact
150g dry rice noodles, vermicelli
1⁄3 cup (s)fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
1⁄4 cup(s) fresh mint, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ginger, chilli and curry powder and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook for 3–4 minutes or until softened.
Add stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Add beans and prawns and cook for 5 minutes or until beans are tender and prawns are cooked through.
Meanwhile, place noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 3–5 minutes or until softened. Drain.
Divide noodles among serving bowls and top with prawn curry. Serve sprinkled with coriander and mint.

5 points

Vegetarian dhal

This recipe is a great make ahead one. Using the slow cooker means most of the preparation and possibly cooking can be done the day ahead with only the final steps to be completed on the night it is being eaten. I add a few different vegetables to it for variation.

Ingredients

1 1⁄2tbs sunflower oil
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
2clove(s)fresh garlic, crushed
2tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 whole fresh green chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
2tsp garam masala
8 whole Curry leaf
1⁄2cup(s) dry lentils (100g)
400g canned diced tomatoes (buy 1 x 400g can)
1 1⁄2cup(s)Vegetable stock, liquid, salt-reduced
800g pumpkin, butternut, raw, seeded, peeled, cut into 3cm cubes
1can(s) canned chickpeas, rinsed, drained (buy 1 x 400g can)
1 medium fresh cucumber, coarsely grated
1⁄4cup(s) fresh mint, finely chopped
1⁄4cup(s) fresh coriander, leaves

Instructions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion has softened. Add garam masala and curry leaves and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add lentils, tomatoes, stock and pumpkin and bring to a simmer. Transfer to a 4.5 litre (18-cup) slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low for 5 hours (or high for 2½ hours).

Add chickpeas, kidney beans and peas and cook, covered, on high for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Meanwhile, squeeze excess liquid from cucumber. Place in a bowl with mint and yoghurt and stir raita to combine. Top dhal with raita and coriander to serve.

4 points

Garlicky roast chicken with crushed lemon peas

A new recipe we tried and loved. It's pretty quick to prepare and with cooking time only takes about 35 minutes all up.

The baking time is for chicken breasts and needs to be reduced for thighs.

Ingredients

540g skinless chicken breast (buy 600g), fat trimmed

2 clove(s)fresh garlic, crushed

1tbs olive oil
1whole  leek, thinly sliced
2 cup(s) frozen peas, boiled (240g)
1⁄4cup(s) Chicken stock, liquid, salt-reduced (60ml)
400g baby potato, red skin, halved
1medium fresh lemon(s)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place chicken in a bowl with garlic and half the oil. Season well with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Place chicken on prepared tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook leek for 2-3 minutes to soften. Add peas and stock. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2-3 minutes or until peas are warmed through.

Meanwhile, place potato in a microwave-safe bowl. Add ½ cup (125ml) water. Cover and cook on HIGH (100%) for 8 minutes or until potato is just tender. Drain.

Remove peas from heat. Grate lemon rind over peas and season with salt and pepper. Crush peas with a potato masher until lightly crushed. Add lemon juice to taste. Slice chicken and serve with crushed peas and potato.

Serves 4 people

6 Points per serve

Carrot Cake

This recipe was a first time for us. It was a birthday cake for a family member and luckily it turned out really well. This one is a 'make again' and will become part of our repertoire!
It makes a big dense cake and the icing mixture makes a lot - probably enough to ice the sides too.

Cake

• 1 cup neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
• 2 cups raw or white sugar
• 4 small eggs
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup plain / all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 cups grated carrot (about 3 medium carrots)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp orange juice

Cream Cheese Icing

• 75g butter, at room temperature
• 250g cream cheese (not the spreadable kind)
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 cups icing / confectioner's sugar
• shredded zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 160ºC fanbake. Grease a 25cm-diameter loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Place oil, sugar and eggs in the bowl of a food processor and whizz to combine. Add both flours, salt, cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger and grated carrot and pulse again to just combine – don’t over-mix.

Dissolve baking soda in orange juice and pulse into cake mixture. Spread into prepared tin and bake until the top bounces back when pressed and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (55–60 minutes). Allow to cool before icing with Cream Cheese Icing.

To make the Cream Cheese Icing, place softened butter, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice and icing / confectioner's sugar in a food processor. Blend until smooth then spread over top and sides of cake. Garnish with orange zest.

Variation:

Add 1 cup raisins and / or ½ cup chopped walnuts.