Faking It

Time to add another recipe. Picture to come because it looks better than mediocre!

This is where I wrap chicken breast with cheese (a swiss works well) and seeded mustard in bacon. Then cook it in a medium oven for about 30-40 minutes. Couldn't be easier - but it looks at least as good as the ones they serve in the restaurants. You can serve it with a salad or with roast vege. I put the vege on about a quarter of an hour in. I used sliced sweet potato, capsicum, carrots and onion cut into halves with a little golden syrup on top to caramelise.

Serve it to a special lady or friend then get down to playing singstar =). I can fake it there as well. Never fake it anywhere else though ;-)

Class not Arse

Simple and cheap but looks (and tastes) like a classy effort? Count me in. There's nothing like cheating and getting good results.

Not bad if I do say so myself. And so easy - don't even have to fry anything up first like pumpkin. Into ye olde slow-cooker it all went. A full head of broccoli, a couple of carrots, a shake of cumin (roughly a teaspoon would be my guess), 1 clove of garlic, and a cup or so of stock (enough to cover the veg - minus the florets). Cook on high in the slow-cooker for a couple of hours. Add the juice of a small lemon, then a massive tablespoon of sour cream (or a normal cream) and mush it up (however you do it - blender, soup mate thing (the wizzy sticks with blades that you just put into the pot and whir - love it!) or food processor).

Can be served hot or cold (you get bonus posh points for any soup served cold). I added a little sour cream and a couple of bacon chips (real bacon, made by me) to serve. Of course if it's vego then some parsley, or a some grated carrot looks just as good.

Can be served with the garlic bread or rolls if you want to make it a meal.

Povo Apple Pie

I felt like apple pie tonight. But couldn't be bothered making pastry or crumble, and well, I'd already defrosted an extra pita bread. So I gave the following a go.

Cut the bread open and buttered the inside. Sprinkled the bottom with sugar and mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice). I added peeled sliced granny smith and topped with some more sugar and mixed spice. Baked in a medium oven for 15 minutes, the smells were just like apple pie should be.

And damned if it didn't taste like it too. I'll be doing that again, that's for sure =).

EDIT: My brother just suggested that this could be done using normal bread and a toasty-toast (sandwich press, jaffle maker, whatever you want to call it). Make sure you butter on the inside and the outside of the bread, and add sugar and herbs as per above.

What a hottie!

Wow! Today was amazing. I was working outside and it was not at all enjoyable. The bath I had when I got home was though. I nearly went to the beach too (woohoo, I am now 1 minutes walk from the beach rather than 2 hours drive), but I think I'll save that for tomorrow after work. You see Saturday is actually my Friday - so it's not yet the end of the week for me =( - that said the overtime is about the only thing keeping my pay packet looking reasonable so I shouldn't complain... too much... meh, I'm sort of in a wingey mood so I think I'll leave all that drivel in.

I just had a nice dinner, and thought I'd let you know what it was so you can make it yourselves. I roasted some onion with golden syrup, and added it to a green leafy salad (rocket's ideal because of the strong flavours). I also cooked up a lamb chop and added some parmesan cheese to the salad and stirred it through with a little basalmic vinegar and olive oil. Yum!

Enjoy your days off tomorrow, while I slave over some hot plants. I'll laugh at you all on Monday =p

Inside Out Yiros

Mmmm, yeah! I love yiros, but in the back of beyond you can't get them (no the frozen ones from the supermarket do NOT count). Instead I make my own version with lamb chops. The salad is generally just lettuce and baby spinach leaves (I'd kill for tabouleh).

I make my own garlic mayo with good mayonnaise (the stuff made with eggs rather than chemicals) and some of that garlic in a jar (I told you I cheated when I cooked). I put that on top of the tossed salad, throw on the chops straight out of the pan and voila - simple, but believe me it's good. Even looks good if you're trying to impress ;-).

Burn baby burn!

Just a tip. Leaving a pan with oil in it on the heat too long is a bad thing. A very bad, and flaming thing. Putting it under the tap because you can't find the tea-towel to put over it, is even worse. =S

That said tonight's steak came up a treat! Pepper steak and salad for tea tonight. Pepper steak is easy enough. I just rub the steak with cracked black pepper and a chilli/garlic/salt mix I get from the supermarket. Yes it's cheating, no I don't care =). I cook it till it's done (ish - I like my meat to be red still).

Voila! That just leaves the salad. I was feeling lazy today so it's just iceberg lettuce and some of the baby spinach / rocket mix I have in the fridge and a dressing I had pre-prepared. From memory / taste it had apple cider vinegar, a little basalmic, some seeded mustard, extra virgin (mmm, tasty =p) olive oil, and a little honey.

So you promised food!?

Yes, yes I did. Just looking at my blog and realised it was missing something. That's right, food! When first conceptualising (if that wasn't a word before it damn well is now) this blog food was meant to be on the menu (badum-tish) . So far it isn't. Before the following post that is =).

My food for impressing friends and family right now is steak dianne. Sorry to all non-meatatarians, but this is my thing right now. I promise the next recipe will be for you!

I love food that looks and sounds impressive, but is butt easy (mmm, appetising) to make. An example... you know those 5 minute bread rolls you get at the supermarket? I brush them with olive oil and sprinkle them with dried herbs. Cook (for 5 minutes - sheesh, I would have thought you guys could work that one out =p), and serve with shared dipping bowls of olive oil and basalmic vinegar. Yum!

What about the steak dianne you say? The original recipe was taught to me by a bloke down the pub (not making that up). A couple of years later I modified it - by adding alcohol (red wine) of course. Mmmm, alcohol. Though sadly I think most of the alcohol boils off. But the thought's there, and the taste, and I even think it looks better, though that could just be because it looks more alcoholic.

Steak
First beat the steak with a blunt object, preferably one of those funky meat hammers, though I have substituted rolling pins, and other club-like objects at need. Rub garlic into one side (cheating is permissable - gotta love garlic in a jar), and cracked black peppercorns into the other. Sear on both sides, then cook until it's done the way your guests / you like it. Remove steak from pan and 'rest' on the plate (I'm not sure steak really needs to 'rest' - I mean it's me that's doing all the work here, right? But it sounds better than 'piss it off onto the plate so you can do the sauce.' At least I think so.

Dianne Sauce
Remove the pan from heat and add worcester sauce to the still hot pan and scrape off the burnt bits, do it again with about twice as much wine, then add about the same amount of cream. It should be a nice browny-pink colour. You'll need to experiment with this to get the right flavour - you might have noticed that I sort of make this up as I go along =).

Put sauce on the steak and serve with microwaved (oops sorry, steamed ;)) vegies or salad (I'll reveal the secret to my kickarse salad at some future date - ooh, the suspense). When they compliment on the meal resist the urge to tell them how easy it really was!