28 February 2012

Tin Ceiling Time!

That's right!
 
 
The progress has begun! 

Catching up on Meatless Mondays!

Sheesh! While we have been pretty good about our Meatless Mondays, I've had a hell of a time catching up on the recipes here. Let's just say, last night we had a lovely Veggie Curry with pumpkin, potatoes, zucchini, silverbeet, and red kidney beans. It was seriously easy! And so tasty... And because it all went so quickly, cooking and eating wise, I didn't even take photos. But you can easy imagine a Veggie Curry! See it in your mind..... Mmmmmm.

So anyway, here are a couple other ideas we've made over the past couple weeks!
Crustless Quiche!

Crustless Quiche

Whisk together:
4 eggs
1 cup milk (or cream)
1/2 cup self raising flour (or the equivalent of flour, salt and baking powder)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a variety of cheeses, vintage cheddar, tasty, a little feta)
1 chopped red onion
Any veggies that you want, silverbeet, spinach, etc (make sure you blanch them first though.)

Coat your pie dish with a little oil and put into a hot oven until it begins to smoke a little, carefully take out of the over and pour egg mixture into the hot dish and bake at 180 deg for approx 45 mins or until golden on top and puffed up.

Pretty good!

Another recipe that was REALLY lovely, and again REALLY easy - was inspired by the progress in the front entry way...
The slow progression from green to white reminded me of a wedding cake! No, the recipe is not a wedding cake, but it is a yummy cheesy green and white pasta bake.


This is one of those dishes that is way to easy. We had silverbeet, zucchini, green beans, and basil (as always) in the fridge and in a the garden. And with an array of cheese - yummy as!

Pasta Bake

  • 500g Pasta, cooked until al dente
  • a few cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbsp of oil
  • a good mix of green veggies, quickly blanched to give them a head start in the cooking process, this was silverbeet, zucchini, green beans and a little basil
  • enough milk and flour to make a nice white sauce (I always wing this, so I can't quite share the qty's. Sorry)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp of seeded mustard
  • Lots of cheese! Try different kinds of cheese too! Blue cheese can be REALLY good with mushrooms and onions. Feta can be good with kalamatta olives and basil, you get the idea. 
  • Breadcrumbs
So once the pasta is going, fry up the garlic in oil until slightly soft then add the flour. Take it off the heat and a add milk and stir until the flour is nicely blended, ie no lumpy bits. Put it back on the heat and let it thicken a bit. 

Meanwhile, blanch the veggies just a bit and throw them in with the cooked and drained pasta. 

Back to the sauce, once the sauce has thickened, add the mustard, salt and pepper, cheeses and what ever other spices you want to add. Stir and let the cheese melt slightly. 

Stir the cheesy mixture through the pasta and veggies and then put into a baking dish. Top with a little more cheese, parmesan is always nice, and sprinkle on some breadcrumbs.
Give it one more good salt and pepper and pop it into a preheated oven about 180C.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the top is nice and brown. 

Dig in! 

p.s. I'm sure I'm missing a few things in this, but hey, it's just the idea - work around what ever you have or don't have in the pantry. This is why I love making things like this, it's an extremely forgiving and comforting way of cooking. And carb-tastic!
I never said anything I make was healthy ;)
xx

Around the house...

As of late...
Cold Infusing Oil with Pineapple Sage

Pizza with my homemade Mozzarella. 
Sorry for the lateness on the posts! Trying to play catch up now! Watch out!
xo

21 February 2012

My Gramma's Portuguese Soup

Growing up, I loooooooved Gram's Portuguese Soup. When I finally got around to asking her for the recipe, I got the quick answer of - Uhhh, I don't have a recipe - as most good Grandmothers do. It was a little of this, a little of that..

Then randomly one day - you know how Gramma is - she gave me a cookbook of the classic Martha's Vineyard recipes, and the first recipe, on the first page, you guessed it!
I'm not sharing this one (family secret you know), but you can probably find it online somewhere now.

Anywho, moral of the story - I've been thinking a lot of about my Grandparents lately. While they are having there physical struggles at the moment, but I always try to put out heaps of good vibes their way. I love them and miss them heaps!
Plus, as always - I love embarrassing my family with photos from ages ago. Miss you and love you all!