Corned Beef (Slow Cooker)

Another staple meal. Best to do this when you are out most of the day as the smell makes you hungry in the afternoon!

1 corned silverside about a kilo or so or more
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 onion
8 - 12 cloves
water

Put the corned beef in the crock of the slow cooker. Add sugar and vinegar.
Peel onion leaving as much as the root as possible so it will stay together, cut it into 4 pieces lengthways. Stud each quarter with cloves. Toss in crock.
Cover the lot with water, cook on low for 7 hours or so. Crock pots vary a lot so if yours cooks fast give it less time. If it is an old one it will need 8 hours. You could also just boil this on the stove for an hour after it comes up to the boil.
Serve with cauliflower cheese and boiled or roasted potatoes and a green.

Potato Bake

This goes with meals where there is not much or any sauce. Like steak or BBQ Chicken or chicken scnitzels.

1 large potato per person
300g cream (up to 4 more if more than 4 - 600ml for 8)
grated cheese - lots.

Peel potatoes and slice thinly. Layer in a greased pyrex dish (square for 4 oblong for 8) until all used up. pour over the cream. Cover liberally with grated cheese.
Bake at 150 degrees for an hour and a half. cover top if it browns too much, but if the oven is not too warm it will be ok.

Rissoles and Gravy

This is a staple at our house. Popular with the male of the species. Especially with bread for the POMs amongst us.

500g mince
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1 egg
1onion
1 garlic clove
dash BBQ sauce
dash sweet chilli sauce
2beef OXO cubes
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 onions, sliced or handfuls of mushrooms, sliced.
oil to fry

Put mince, breadcrumbs, egg, grated onion, grated garlic, sauces in a bowl.
Take off your rings and moosh together with your hand.
Press flat and cut into 8 equal parts with a knife, like you were cutting up a cake.
Take each wedge out and shape into a round patty with your hands.
Place on a plate and pop in fridge till you are ready to cook.
Slice onions or mushrooms and put in a bowl.
Mix water, oxo cubes and cornflour in a jug or shake up in a large jar if you have one. Put aside.
Heat a large frypan, add oil, spread then add rissoles to brown on each side. Just brown, no need to cook all the way through. Put aside.
Lower heat. Add onions or mushrooms and scrape up the pan while you fry them till soft.
Add water oxo mix and stir till thickens. Add more water if too thick.
Put rissoles back in pan and simmer them in the gray for 5 minutes or so till they are cooked through.
Serve with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas or broccoli.

Orange Jaffa Cake (Gluten Free)

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe I got from the web. I made it for a morning tea at KISA's work as one of the staff needs gluten free treats. It was very yummy and quite a hit.

2 thin skinned oranges
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
200g ground almonds
250g caster sugar (i used regular sugar, we didn't die)
50g cocoa
Cover the washed oranges with cold water bring to boil and boil for 2 hours. Cool. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Toss in a food processor and process to mush. Add everything else and process till well mixed. Pour into a springform tin that has been greased and lined on the base with baking paper. Bake for 1 hour in a pre heated 180 degree oven. Watch for burning. Turn out when cold onto plate. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar before serving with a dollop of thick cream. And maybe raspberries...

Spanish Omelette

Last night I forgot to get meat out of the freezer for dinner, so made this Spanish Omelette up as I went along. It was a big hit with the KISA so I thought I had better get it down before I forget what I did. Feel free to try it. I knew I needed eggs and potatoes, the rest was what we had available.

slosh of olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 red cap that was lying in the fridge getting soft. You can use a fresh one though. Chopped.
2 tsp chopped garlic from the jar.
Fresh would be better.
3 small potatoes, chopped, leave skin on it's better for you.
2 - 3 teaspoons mexican seasoning *
3/4 cup of frozen peas
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
6 eggs, beaten.
about a cup of grated cheese or two large handfuls.

Heat the olive oil in a frypan (non stick if you can), fry the chopped onion, capsicum and potatoes, stiring regularly till potato is mostly cooked.
Add the garlic and the mexican seasoning and stir for another minute.
Add the frozen peas and tomatoes and stir fry til the tomatoes soften.
Add the eggs and cook gently till it is set around the edges.
Sprinkle with the cheese and put the frypan under a hot grill to cook and brown the top.
I sprinkled some cayenne pepper over the top too, because we love that stuff. But you don't have to.
When it is set and nicely browned, cut up into quarters and serve.
If you are a good housekeeper, you will add a salad and some crusty home made bread. If you are like me you will plonk it on a plate as is. Lotsa veggies already in it, right? It was yum..

*Mexican Seasoning. If you don't have this you can make it or just had chilli or not if you prefer.
1 heaped tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon chilli powder or flakes
Mix it up, store in a jar and use in chillis, burrito mix or spanish omelette!
(receipe from Enjoy! by Sophie Gray)

Pea and Ham Soup

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and at the deli counter at woolies they had ham bones. The marketing department must have decided it is soup weather, as on the same counter they had bags of yellow split peas. And since one of the ham bones was a very meaty one and looked pretty good, I figured I would play the game. So into the trolley went one meaty ham bone ($4.15) and one packet of split peas. So this is what I did with it:
Pea and Ham Soup
1 ham bone (not hocks try for a meaty leg bone)
1 500g packet yellow split peas
2 onions chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 sachet bouquet garni (like a tea bag)
good pinch whole peppercorns
12 cups water
Pop all of this into a large pot and bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 2 hours, stirring from time to time, especially as it thickens up towards the end. Just to stop it sticking. Pick out all the meat and bones with some tongs, making sure to get the tea bag bouquet garni, then use a stick blender to mush it all up till smooth (or a food processor or a regular blender, or just leave it the way it is, it is fine unblended as well). Pick the bones, skin and fat out and toss. Shred the meat (and I had lots from my bone!) and put back into the soup. If you start this about 3pm by the time your starving husband gets home from work it is nice and ready. He will nominate you for sainthood. It is that good. This stuff freezes well, but is best fresh I think.

Steak and Corn Slice

This was Jessie's favourite dinner when she was a little girl!

500g minced beef
30g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup packaged breadcrumbs
1/3 cup tomato sauce
3 eggs, lightly beaten
440g can creamed corn
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup tasty cheese

Heat butter in pan, add onion and cook until soft, add mince and fry until brown. drain mince mixture, combine with apple, breadcrumbs and tomato sauce. Press mixture into a greased 25cm flan dish.
Combine eggs with corn and cream, pour over mince and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake in moderate oven 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Stand slice 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Very yummy cold next day.
Great for work lunches as well.
Serve with salad.