Spinach & Ricotta Pinwheels

Spinach & Ricotta pinwheels                           make 18 wheels

Ingredients
3 sheets frozen Puff pastry
300g ricotta cheese
salt & pepper to taste
¾ cup baby spinach leaves (a handful)
3 tablespoons parmesan, finely grated
1 egg, whisked
Method
Preheat oven to hot (250c). Lay pastry out to thaw.  Spread the sheets with ricotta cheese and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan. Place a thin layer of spinach leaves on each pastry sheet. Roll each pastry sheet, and then cut into 6 rolls per sheet. Brush pastry with whisked egg and place on a lightly greased baking tray, about 2cm apart. Place in hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, keep an eye on them…..great snack or afternoon tea for the kids!

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

View Full Album

Occasion:
Birthday party.
Menu items
Sausage Rolls (see www.somethingfromnothing.com.au
‘Snacks’)
Chocolate cupcakes with cream filling, dusted with icing sugar.
Strawberries, marshmallows, caramel choc slice, pink drinks
Hot chocolates all round.
Decorations
2 decks of cards
Tea light candles in silver patty cake cases
Other pretty decorations of your choice
Tea pots, cups and saucers.
Dress ups.
Bunny ears, mad hats, Cheshire cat and Alice for the birthday girl……… all pulled out of your wardrobe, dress up bag, (or Op’ Shoppe)

No Chopping…I promise!!

Cheesy ‘Nacho’ burgers.    Makes 12 patties
Ingredients
1 kg beef mince
2 x 35g packets cheese sauce mix (dry)
1 x 35g packet taco mix
2 eggs

Method
Place all of the above ingredients in a large bowl and combine. With clean hands grab handfuls of mince and form them into a patty. Lightly grease a large fry pan and place on medium to high heat. Cook patties turning once until cooked through. Serve on hamburger buns with salad and a dollop of ‘light’ sour cream (optional).
Tip: when forming patties have hands slightly wet, this way mince doesn’t stick to your hands and it’s easier to form patties.

Left Overs!

This is a great idea for the inevitable left over mashed potato. Kids love this for a winter afternoon snack or a lazy weekend lunch!

Creamed Corn Potato Cakes       Makes 16 cakes

Ingredients
4 cups of mashed potato
2 eggs
200g tin creamed corn
½ cup Self Raising flour
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ cup Tasty cheese grated 
½ cup self raising flour
salt and pepper, for seasoning
Method
Combine all the above ingredients. Using an ice cream scoop, dollop potato mix into a lightly oiled, deep fry pan, placed on a medium heat. Cook for about 6 minutes. Then using a flat slide, carefully flip the cake and cook for the same time on the other side. Serve with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and grated Parmesan (optional). Or drizzle with some Sweet chilli sauce and serve with a side salad for a yum lunch!
You could also add chopped ham and/or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives.

“Master Chef”… in Miniature

Woowee…picture this, kindy to yr 2  (ages 5-7) for a 2 hour cooking working shop. You really don’t have sufficient adult supervision to do any actual cooking i.e. no hot pans!  So…what’s a girl to do?  Vietnamese spring rolls, (see www.somethingfromnothing.com.au for the recipe) for a start and then ‘cookie monster’ cupcakes.Then Kids coloured their own personalised cook book whilst I prepared hot chocolates, (with my cappuccino machine), and marshmallows to have with their cupcakes.  The kids had an absolute ball.  One hint was to make sure the children had plastic disposable gloves, especially whilst preparing/soaking their rice paper roll wrappers…very tactile, heaps of fun, 2 hours flew by in a snap!!  Catch ya’ later!!

Cookie monster cupcakes

Oven baked pork loin chops

Sorry guys can't help myself (but you'll thank me)...another winter warmer. Ideal comfort food for those freezing winter nights. Trendy in restaurants of late is slow baked pork belly (not that I would know!). Here's a great peasants alternative for the fam'.

For more yum recipes…www.somethingfromnothing.com.au

Oven Baked Pork Loin Chops          Serves 8
Ingredients
8 large Pork Loin chops
1/3 cup good Balsamic Vinegar
3 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
Method
Remove Pork chops from fridge and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to hot (240c). Next, lightly grease two large baking trays. Using a small bowl combine balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard and marmalade. Toss Pork chops completely through this marinade. Place Pork chops onto your baking trays and drizzle any remaining marinade onto Pork chops. Place Pork chops in the oven and cook on hot for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 150 and cook Pork chops for a further 40 minutes, basting Pork chops with pan juices occasionally. Remove and serve, using remaining pan juices as a Jus’ (sauce). Serve with your choice of vegetables. I suggest creamy mash potatoes and vegies…yum!

Nic’s Corner

Morning Tea at Nic’s.  We love ya’  Nic…you certainly have the ‘nac’, with lace tablecloths and ‘big girl’ cups and saucers… bring it on.  This tart is the absolute perfect blend of  mild citrus combined with creaminess and a yum biscuit crunch taboot!Citrus Tart with Cinnamon Pastry  (Y-U-M!!)   serves 8-10

Ingredients
Pastry;
1 pack ‘Nice' biscuits
100g butter, melted
2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Filling;
1 tin Condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
3  egg yolks

Method;
Preheat oven to moderate, (180c).
Blend biscuits, then combine with butter & cinnamon.  Press into a tart/flan dish and chill in fridge for about 10 minutes.  Combine all ‘filling’ ingredients, then pour evenly over biscuit base.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Allow to cool…absolutely delish with a dollop of whipped cream!!

‘Double dipping’ exemption??

Recently at her 5th birthday party, my 5 year old, Jo jo, was warned by one of her 5 year old guests, “no double dipping”, to that remark my daughter regally turned to her guest and replied, “the birthday girl is allowed to double dip!!” hmmm certainly is food for thought?  I wonder if it would stick in the wider community?  For the moment I think it ranks up there with the ‘10 second rule’.

speaking of birthday parties.. here’s a yummy one for the kids that takes three minutes max to prepare (for those birthdays that have slipped your mind!).

check out my website: http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au/ for this recipe. you’ll also find an ‘adult’ version of this cake, which is just delish!

Pizza ‘snack’ wraps Serves 6

Wow what  a busy week! thank God its almost  Friday!! These easy pizza ‘snack’ wraps are my saving grace when hungry children come in the door wanting food ASAP! A delicious,  quick and easy snack! For more ‘life saver’ recipes go to www.somethingfromnothing.com.au

       
Ingredients
6 tortilla wraps
3 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 cup grated cheese
1 large tomato, diced
½ cup pineapple pieces, drained
100g shaved ham
½ small red onion, very finely chopped
Method
Preheat oven to about 200c. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce evenly over the base of each wrap. Cover each wrap with a layer of cheese and top with tomato, pineapple, ham and a sprinkle of onion (optional). Place of a couple of flat baking trays, a few pizzas on each tray and cook for 5-10 minutes, until cheese melts and bubbles.

Nutella Cravings…

Britt here …( Leanne’s daughter)  I was just discussing with a girl at school today about how much better the world would be if there was Nutella ice cream.. Ferrero Australia – there’s your million. Anyway this discussion led to other Nutella cravings…

 

mum’s AMAZING Nutella choc torte (yes there is a link – look at it. do it. really you will thank me forever! it is soooo good :) follow the ‘cakes and cookies’ link)

and the delicious after school snack Nutella Pinwheels (follow the ‘cakes and cookies’ link for this one too)

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: eat directly from jar… 

mmm :)

Cookie-eating Cookie Monster!

Just ‘surfing’ the web and I found these gorgeous cupcakes on Time Out New York.. how cute are they?! i will certainly be making these for someone or other’s birthday…

My Beef Massaman Curry

Serves 10-12
 Massaman curry is a sweet, mild Thai curry. It’s very popular and for good reason, it’s delicious. It is also often used with lamb; however beef is also popular and more readily available (in Australia anyway). Here’s my version….enjoy!!

Ingredients
2 kg chuck beef steak, cut into cubes (2cm)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons garam masala spice blend
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 brown onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 tablespoons Massaman curry paste*
3 x 400ml tin coconut milk/cream
200ml water
2 tablespoons beef stock powder
2 teaspoons tamarind paste/puree*
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons palm sugar*or brown sugar
800g chat potatoes, cut into chunks
300g sweet potatoes, peeled cut into chunks
4 tablespoons roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Method
Toss the beef in the cinnamon and garam masala. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add the beef in batches and cook, turning to cook other side. Add remaining oil to the pan, reduce heat to medium, then sauté the onions and garlic for about 3 minutes, stirring until softened. Add curry paste and stir for a minute until fragrant. Add coconut milk, stock, tamarind, fish sauce and sugar and bring to the boil. Place everything (including potato and sweet potato), into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours, until beef is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Garnish with chopped peanuts, serve with rice.
Fancy; peel some sweet potato strips, (not the skin), and deep fry in about 1 cup of sizzling hot oil. Add a handful at a time (too few and the crisps will cook too quickly and blacken instead of turning golden); stand back for any splattering of oil due to water content in potato. Serve as a fancy garnish with chopped peanuts.

*From Asian food shops or in the Asian section of supermarket

Bangers and Garlic mash

Here’s another winter warmer, with a real rustic feel, goes down well with a nice soft red wine (Merlot)! 
Have a great Mother’s day for Sunday (in Australia anyway) and don’t forget for more recipes go to;
http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au

 

Bangers & Garlic Mash         Serves 8
Ingredients
Bangers
750g cooked sausages
200g bacon, rind removed & diced
1 large jar pasta sauce
1 825g tin tomatoes
2 large carrots, peeled & sliced
1 large brown onion, peeled & cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon beef stock powder, to taste
½ cup frozen peas
Mash
2½ kg peeled potatoes
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
White pepper, to taste 
2 tablespoons Garlic salt
Method
Bangers: Cut sausages in half or thirds. Place all of the above ingredients, (except peas) into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. In the final hour add and stir through peas. Alternatively place into a large, deep baking dish, cover well and cook in a preheated oven on 180c for 2 hours.
Mash: Boil potatoes until completely cooked. Drain then pour in milk. Using a potato masher or an electric cake mixer (high setting), mash potatoes thoroughly. Add more milk if required. Fold through butter, season with pepper, to taste and Garlic salt.
Tip; after a BBQ, freeze any left over sausages, ready for when you need them for your bangers & mash; thaw before use!

Quick quiche Serves 4-6

With winter sports upon us this is a really great recipe for when the kids come home ravenous! It can be in the oven before you leave to grab the kids and ready to put on the table with a salad when you arrive home.  If zucchini is not your thing add diced bacon, spinach,  or whatever you fancy! Double everything if  your family is as large as mine.

Ingredients
1½ sheets of ready made Puff pastry
4 eggs
1 x 300ml carton sour cream
1 tablespoon of Self Raising flour
1 cup grated cheese (Tasty)
1 small onion, peeled & finely diced
1 large zucchini, grated
1 clove garlic, peeled & minced
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated
salt & pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 180c.  Line a lightly greased quiche/baking dish with pastry to form a base.  Sprinkle onion and zucchini over the pastry base. Cover zucchini and onion with grated Tasty cheese.  In a separate bowl beat eggs, sour cream and flour until well combined; stir in minced garlic and parmesan, season with salt and pepper.  Pour gently over the zucchini/cheese onion mix. Place into a preheated oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until puffed, golden and set firm. And don’t forget for more great recipes go to http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au

Life is never dull… school holiday excitement

 

(nope. not original photo due to technical difficulties.. but you get the picture – no exaggeration!)

Life is never dull! Car hiccup this week, well actually the car caught fire (broken fuel line) and was completely incinerated with only a shell for an exterior. Fire brigade arrived, no one hurt and the car is insured. My husband and sons were on their way to tennis and yes we saved the tennis racquets, which I inquired about after the children! I joked with my boys that this was free (??) holiday excitement in 3D, though not recommended. Well its moments like these we need a bit of comfort food and a strong cup of coffee, before you call the insurance company, "but lucky I'm with AAMI!!”. Although this cake can be enjoyed on any occasion, car incineration is not required!!

 

Cherry Upside Down Cake
 Ingredients
1 can pitted cherries drained
125g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
½ cup self raising flour
¼ cup almond meal

Method
Preheat oven to 180˚. Grease a 4cm deep 20cm cake tin and line the bottom with baking paper. Using an electric beater, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold through flour and almond meal. Spread the drained cherries evenly over the bottom of the cake tin and carefully spread cake mixture over top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm and until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Delicious hot or cold. Enjoy! and remember for more great recipe ideas go to http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au

 

Back to School

Have not been able to blog for the last few weeks due to reasons beyond my control. Lots have happened. Last days of the school holidays, Australia Day, BACK TO SCHOOL!!! Joel started work. Youngest daughter Jojo started school. Dom started high school. Momentous milestones all of them. Hot cross buns are in the shops already so Easter is just around the corner.
Things will be back to normal soon and I will bring you some more of my kitchen creations. Until then keep referring to http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au/ and don't forget to tell your friends, God bless, Leanne

Club Sandwich

Holiday Fun...having a break at mum's for a few days. Needing a break from the beach we hit the Opportunity shops in the Southern Highlands, ('Op' shopping), it was heaps of fun! I picked up this great find, a Tupperware jelly ring mould for a buck. Home and a wash, I made this great jelly mould 'Club' Sandwich. Here's how and remember 'holiday fun' ideas don't always need to break the bank!

Club Sandwich

Ingredients

1 sliced loaf of fresh white bread, crusts removed

250g of any cold meat (or 6 eggs and 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, mashed)

200g sliced cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise (or avocado mashed with a squeeze lemon)

1 cup shredded lettuce (optional)

2 tomatoes thinly sliced (optional)

cooking spray

Method

Completely spray jelly mould with a light spray of cooking oil. Line entire jelly mould with bread. Place a layer of sandwich filling choice on to the bread lined mould, eg. mayonnaise, bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce. Completely cover with another layer of bread. Repeat this process until mould is completely filled to the top. Finish with a layer of bread. Place the mould lid tightly onto the top of the mould ring. Filling should be slightly bulging on top. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours. Unmould onto a flat plate. Cut into wedges and serve. Great to pack for a picnic. Just pop out onto a plate when ready to serve, wherever you are!

Quick and easy holiday nibbles

Happy New Year! Off to a party? Bring a plate please. Cost of living seems to soar when we can least afford it! Seafood is no exception. These nibbles are dead easy, inexpensive and appeal to the seafood lovers out there. Nice with a glass of champagne! And don't forget. For more finger food ideas go to http://www.somethingfromnothing.com.au/

Smoked Salmon Bites

Ingredients.

100g smoked salmon

1/2 cup good mayonnaise

2 tspns Horseradish Cream

Capers (2 or 3 per cracker)

Cracker biscuits. (I used Ritz)

Method

Combine Mayo and horseradish cream. Spread onto crackers. Top with a small amount of salmon and garnish with the capers.

Smoked Oyster Mini Toasts

Ingredients

1 tin Smoked Oysters (I used John West Chilli Oysters)

Cream cheese spread (I used Phillidelphia)

1/2 pack shop bought mini toast squares

Method

Spread each toast with a little cream cheese. Top with an oyster. Arrange on a platter and serve.