Cheats Chicken Pasta

I made this last night out of what was in the cupboard. I call it cheats because it uses tinned stuff, but sometimes cheating is a good thing. It was searingly hot yesterday and my face was swollen with some allergy so cooking was not high on my list.

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional for the sooks)
1 tablespoon oil
1 tin Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup (or any cream of something soup would work too)
half soup can milk
1 jar hot taco sauce (or mild or medium)
1/3 taco jar water
6 - 8 mushrooms, sliced
handful baby spinach leaves (had them in the fridge - frozen peas would be a second choice)
chopped leftover cooked chicken meat
2 cups pasta spirals

Boil pasta, drain. Heat oil and fry up onion till soft, then add garlic and jalapeno. When all delicious looking, add mushrooms and fry till they are just softening up. Then add can of soup, half a can of milk, taco sauce and third jar of water (shake up to get all of the sauce). Stir together and heat till simmering, add chicken meat and spinach.
Use as a pasta sauce or turn into a pasta bake by plonking into a square pyrex dish and covering with equal parts soft bread crumbs* and grated cheese. About 3/4 cup of each is about right.

* Wizz crust of bread in the food processor and store crumbs in the freezer. Then they are always ready for crunchy topping, rissoles, meatloaf and stuffings.

Use It Up Thai Red Curry

The other night I had some leftover BBQ chicken and the end of the week veges in the crisper to use up. So I made this Thai Red Curry. It is not very authentic but it tastes good! The ingredients will vary according to your crisper and leftover situation.

meat - I use whatever is available or if I am making it for posh I use 500g chicken thigh fillets, 500g mixed seafood, 300g beef strips, tin of chick peas or block of hard tofu
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon oil to fry the onion in
1/2 tin Maesri thai red curry paste (this is the real stuff, don't substitute. It is also the cheapest way to buy it. When Jess did her Thai Cooking course in Sydney this is the one they recommended. They also said you should use the whole tin, but I don't recommend that unless you want your tongue to explode)
3 to 4 cups assorted chopped vegetables to your taste. In this house they are usually red pepper, celery, carrot, peas, mushrooms and spinach.
tin of coconut cream or milk. If your dietician is giving you a hard time about saturated fats, use low fat evaporated milk and 1 teaspoon coconut essence. This is what we did.
1 cup chicken stock
salt/pepper to taste. Or Vegeta or vegetable stock powder.

Heat the oil in large frypan and fry onion till softened and sweet. Add the curry paste and fry it for a minute or so to release the flavours.
If you are adding raw meat, add now and brown. If not add vegetables and stir fry till well coated with curry.
Add the coconut milk and stock if using, just the stock if you are not.
Cover and simmer till veges are nearly cooked.
If adding cooked leftover meat or seafood, add and simmer a couple minutes more.
If adding evaporated milk and essence, add now.
If you like you can thicken with 1 tbs cornflour mixed with a little of the milk at this stage.
If you are adding spinach add now so that it is just wilted when you serve.
Serve with rice.
Makes lots and the leftovers are good for torturing your work collegues with when you reheat at work for next days lunch.

Prawn Qeusadillas

Quesadillas de Camarones
This recipe is from Pioneer Woman Cooks, my favourite food porn website. Translated into Australian by me. We had these last week and they were delish. Quick as well.

8 Flour tortillas
500g raw prawn meat
1 cup taco sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1 red capsicum (could subsitute other veges about 1 cup per capsicum)
1 green capsicum (could substitute other veges but capsicum is the authentic flavour)
2 cups cheese, grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Pour taco sauce over prawns. Set aside. All day if necessary, though an hour is enough.
Chop vegetables into large pieces.
Heat frypan over high heat and add olive oil.
Cook vegetables over high heat until they start to get brown/black.
Remove from frypan and set aside. Return frypan to high heat, then dump in the prawns with the sauce. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until prawns look opaque. Add in a little water if the sauce gets dry.
Remove from pan and chop into bite-size pieces.
In a separate skillet, heat butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, then layer on ingredients: cheese, vegetables, and shrimp. Top with a little more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook on both sides, adding butter before flipping to the other side so the tortilla isn’t overly dry.Remove from skillet and slice into wedges. Serve with rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole—whatever you’d like!

Spag Bol

This is a special request for Leanne. Hi Leanne, good luck with the recipe!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic (or more depending on taste, no such thing as too much in this house)
500g minced beef
1 OXO beef stock cube
2 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
1 tin tomatoes
squirt of sweet chilli sauce
splosh of red wine (optional, I don't always do this)
1 tomato tin of water stirred with the spoon you measured the tomato paste with

Heat onion in a large frypan on medium heat. Fry onion till soft and golden and has released its sweet flavour. Stir it constantly while you do this so it doesn't burn. Add the crushed or grated garlic and stir fry quickly for a minute, then add the mince and stir fry that till it is browned off and crumbly. Keep chopping at the big lumps till it looks like mince should. I use an egg slice for this bit. Then add the crumbled stock cube and fry that off for a minute. Then add the tomato paste and mix that all together for another minute to release the flavours. Then add the tomatoes, sauce, wine if using, and the water. Add a teaspoon of sugar if you are not using the chilli sauce to soften the acidity of the tomatoes. If you have fresh basil and oregano, add a handful of each chopped up. Don't bother with dried herbs, they smell like dust, though a dash of rosemary doesn't hurt.Now lower the heat and simmer gently for AT LEAST AN HOUR!!! This is another secret. Most people think spag bol is a quick and easy after work meal. It isn't, it is a slow simmered stew and this really helps the flavours develop. Make a big pot on a weekend and freeze half. This recipe doubles well. Serve over boiled pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. The real stuff please, from the chill cabinet. Enjoy!!!!

Apricot Slice

This yummy slice is famous at Seaforth as Jean D's. She makes it for the funtions held at the community hall for the seniors, which are coordinated by M, my step mum. The icing is gorgeous as well.

1 cup coconut
2 cups self raising flour
6oz melted butter
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup sugar

Cover the diced apricots for half an hour with boiling water.
Melt the butter and mix with the dry ingredients and drained apricots. Press into a slice tray, Bake at 180 C for 30 minutes and then ice with lemon icing. Let it set over night before you slice it up.

Lemon Icing
3 cups icing mixture
1 rounded tablespoon butter (be generous as I think Jean has a big tablespoon)
juice of one lemon
Mix together. If too thick add a tad of hot water. I spread this while the slice was still warm it goes on easier.

I have a smallish slice tin and I think the recipe is designed for a bigger one. Still tasted good as a thick slice but as it is a biscuity texture the bigger slice tin would be better. I am going to try it with dates next time, I think that would be good. I love dates!

Potato Gnocchi

I made these out of this month's Recipes+ page 6. They are so good! And are one of KISA's favouites. It makes a lot so I have half the mix in the fridge. It means I will have to make Gnocchi again over the weekend as I don't think it will freeze well. Mashed potato tends to go a bit watery when frozen. You can serve it with your favourite sauce, I made a creamy garlic sauce out of what was in the fridge which was quite tasty.

4 large potatoes (1.2kg) equal size unpeeled
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups plain flour
Pinch of salt to taste

Place poatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
Cover with lid and bring to the boil. Uncover and cook for about 25 minutes until tender. I could have cooked mine longer as my spuds were quite big so there were some hard spots. I tested with a metal skewer.
Drain and cool potatoes a bit and peel the skins off. They will come off easily but boy spuds hold their heat well!!
Push potatoes through a wire seive so they are smooth. Season with salt. Add the flour and egg yolk and mix up well till it forms a dough. I used my hands by this stage.
Divide into two and put half aside unless you are feeding 6 people. Divide remaining dough into half and roll into a log about 30cm long on a floured surface. Cut the log into 3 cm pieces though I think you could make them smaller. Roll each piece into a ball, then press the tines of a fork into one side. Place on a floured plate or a tray.
Bring a pot of boiling water to a boil, and boil for 2 - 3 minutes until they float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon and put aside. If you are making up the whole recipe, you will have to do this bit in batches.
Serve with the sauce of choice. We like creamy garlic prawn and Pesto Spinach sauce.

Pesto Spinach Sauce sauce:
1 quantity of cooked gnocchi
4 rindless rashers bacon, chopped
300ml of cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup sun dried tomato pesto
250g frozen spinach, thawed
3/4 cup mozzerella grated
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Place cooked gnocchi in a greased rectangular pyrex dish.
Heat a medium frypan and fry the chopped bacon till crisp. Add cream, stock and pesto. Bring to the boil.
Reduce heat, simmer for 4 - 5 minutes till thickened slightly.
Stir in spinach. Add sauce mixture to gnocchi, stir to combine.
Top with cheeses.

Italian Style Country Loaf

I found this recipe in Recipies+ this month and made it last night as a test. Because it doesn't need much kneading I thought it would be good for camping. It turned out well, so will give it a try in the camp oven next!

1 teaspoon dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar (may try 1 tsp next)

3 cups plain bread flour

1 teaspoon salt (I might try a bit more next time)

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

extra flour to knead and to dust

Combine 1/2 cup lukewarm water, yeast and sugar in a cereal bowl. Half fill the sink with warm water, stand bowl in the water for 10 minutes till it goes frothy.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well and stir in the yeast mix and a cup of lukewarm water. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Stand in a sink of warm water for 45 minutes until dough has doubled in size.

Knead dough on a floured surface for 2 - 3 minutes till smooth. It will be quite sticky now so use your fingertips to knead for a further 5 minutes, don't add too much extra flour while kneading though you will need to add a bit.

Place on a greased baking tray, shap into a 30cm loaf. Dust generously with flour and make 6 smaill cuts in the top with a small sharp knife.

Place in a cold oven. Turn oven to 190C or 170C fan forced.

Bake for 45 minutes until crusty and golden brown.

I put mine in a bread tin and it turned out well also. As you can see it didn't last long!