Muffins

This is a generic muffin recipe which you can use to make any muffin that takes your fancy, depending on what you like or have available or both. I have been successfully using this recipe in many variations for a while. I found it on the simple savings australia forum, and I have no idea who posted it. If anyone recognises it I would be happy to attribute it to its rightful author.

2 cups plain flour
4 heaped teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar

Mix these in a large bowl. Stir in your chosen flavourings to these dry ingredients for example, chopped apple or sultanas, and the nuts or choc chips type ingredients.
If you are flavouring with mashed bananas add after the wet stuff.
Basically you add wet stuff to dry stuff and by adding fruit to the dry stuff it gets coated in flour which stops it sinking to the bottom. Surpisingly.
Next, melt 100g butter in a jug, add 1 egg and 1 cup of milk and whisk well. Add to the dry mix. When you add the wet stuff, do so gently, and only just mix it till the flour is mixed in. If you overmix, the mufffins will be tough.
Spoon the mix into muffin tins, it makes 12 genrous muffins.
Bake at 180degrees for 20 minutes. Test that the centre is cooked with a skewer.
Flavourings:
1 cup soft flavouring and 1/2 cup hard flavouring.
Like:
2 small chopped apples, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, sprinkle tops of muffins with sugar before baking
1 banana, mashed, 1.2 cup choc chips
1 cup frozen rasperries, 1/2 cup white chocoalte bits
1 tin peaches, well drained
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen or tinned, can add chop chips if wished
1 cup pineapple, 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup chocolate chips you can mix the chocolate types, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder added with the flour.
1 cup dates chopped, 1/2 cup walnuts, use brown sugar instaed of white, can serve like
stickydate puddings.
Savoury:
1 cup grated cheese, 2 rashers bacon, chopped and microwaved till cooked, some chopped onion.

To convert to a quick dessert, make up any of these, cook in a slice tin, cut into squares, dust with icing sugar, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Mexican Spiced Tomato Soup

This is a recipe from "Enjoy" by Sophie Gray of Destitute Gourmet fame. I am posting this for Judy. Hi Judy!!

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 teaspoon mexican seasoning *
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
6 cups beef stock
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 cups red lentils
2 tablespoons brown sugar

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions and garlic. Fry until soft and golden.
Add mexican seasoning and stir around for a minute, then add the tomato paste, tomatoes, stock, lentils and sugar.
Bring to the boil and stir and then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
If you like it smooth, puree with a stick blender or the food processor, but I don't mind it the way it is. A dollop of sour cream is nice in this.

Chicken stock

I am a great believer in the nourishing properties of the broth from bones that have had the goodness boiled out of them so have been making this stock for over a year now. This stock goes in risottos, curries, gravies, soups and much more. I always have a few 2 cup containers of it in the freezer.
2kg chicken bits and bobs, bones, frames, necks, wings. I save the bones etc from other chicken meals and bring up to weight with raw carcases. Less fat that way.
2 onions with skin left on, quartered
2 carrots, cut into chunks
tops of a half bunch of celery chopped up roughly
teaspoon peppercorns
bouquet garni
10 cups water
Put into a big pot and bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours.
Drain, put into freezer containers and chill in the fridge. When cold, scrape fat off and freeze stock. Keep the fat to roast potatoes in, it is divine. Don't tell the dietician I said that.

If you have a pressure cooker, halve everything, except pepper and bouquet garni , add 6 cups water instead of 10 and bring to low pressure, lower heat to maintain pressure and cook for 20-25 minutes. Turn off gas and let pressure reduce on its own.

Tandoori Chicken

I made this for a camping trip a couple of weeks ago. I put it all in a zip lock bag and put at the bottom of the camp fridge and let it think about itself for a day or so. Plopped the fillets on the cast iron grill over some coals. Oh man! It would go well on some long sticks or metal skewers as well. We are having this at our BBQ tomorrow night. Another yoghurt exception.

Chicken thigh fillets 1 - 2 per person
equal parts of
Pataks Tandoori Paste and
natural yoghurt

Mix altogether in bowl or zip lock bag for a few hours or so.
Grill.
Serve with Naan bread

Beef Vindaloo Curry (Slow Cooker)

Great winter meal for the working family. Or family that goes out all day. Leftovers freeze up well for workday lunches. KISA would eat this every day if he could.

2 onions, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 jar Pataks Vindaloo Curry Paste (Test your palate first, this stuff is HOT!)
1kg gravy beef (shin of beef), chopped into 1 inch cubes or so
2 tin chopped tomatoes
any veges you fancy adding, or none if you don't want to

Spray the sides of the crock pot insert, plop everything in and stir up.
Put on low and leave it for the day.
Serve with rice.
Warms your cockles.

Cauliflower Cheese

A must have side dish to corned beef, a winterBBQ or roast lamb, chicken or beef. Or a vegetarian main dish.

1 head of cauliflower as white as you can find.
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
grated cheese, lots if you are bad like us
ground pepper

Trim the cauliflower into little servings about the size of a mandarin, and steam lightly.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour for about a minute till well mixed and the flour cooked.
With a balloon whisk, stir in the milk and keep stirring till sauce thickens and boils.
Turn off and mix in a good handful of grated cheese and some pepper. Some cayenne is nice here too if you like it spicy.
Put the cauliflower into a greased pyrex dish and pour over the sauce.
Sprinkle top with more grated cheese and bake in a moderate oven about 30 minutes till golden and luscious.
You can mix some broccoli in with the cauliflower if you like and you can mix some breadcrumbs with the cheese if you like some crunch.

Gozlemes

Normally I don't eat yohurt. These are the exception. Seriously good.

200g plain yoghurt
pinch salt
250g self raising flour
100g baby spinach
200g feta cheese
salt and pepper
olive oil
lemon wedges to serve if you want to be posh

Beat yoghurt and salt in a bowl till smooth. gradually add flour till you have a stiff dough.
Knead incorporating flout till soft and a bit sticky.
Put in a bowl, cover leave aside for about 30 minutes.
Divide into 4, roll each piece to 20 -25cm circle.
Place spinach and fetta over half of each circle and close over seal edges with a fork.
Preheat BBQ or frypan, spray or brush each gozleme with oil, then fry till base is golden, turn and fry other side till golden.
Devour!
You could use other fillings too, sort of like a turkish jaffle!