Time to get creative

I don’t know about you, but watching Masterchef gets me soooo inspired to get creative in the kitchen.  So, I have!!

First up there is the risotto.  I am fairly new to the wonders of risotto, but I am seriously hooked.  Use the base of the recipe and then go for it to create your own masterpieces.  Vegetarians can use vege stock instead of chicken and I’m thinking there could be a seafood one in our not too distant future…maybe with dill, prawns…and who knows what other goodies I will come up with.  Will have to keep you posted on this one.

Check out the recipe page for my Honey Roasted Pumkpin, Chicken, Bacon & Spinach Risotto.  Red capsicum work well in this one too.

Then came the sweet dish….heaven!!  A friend said I could call it a slice of heaven, but for now, I think I will run with THE Pantry Slice – it’s recipe is also on the recipe page.  I have called it that as it contains all the things that you will routinely find in my pantry.

I am really excited about this one as I made it completely from scratch – the risotto was a variation of some other recipes.  The slice is All Mine!!  And in case you hadn’t gathered, I am pretty proud of it

Be warned though, it is rich….and mourish….and rich….and mourish…..you get the idea.

And the best thing with both of these – perfect if you are on a budget!!

Would love to hear what you think of these.

And of course, the tools make this so much easier…you can get your own Chefs Toolbox equipment by going to www.ChefsToolbox/my/sharreid

Are we there yet?

Hi all

Yes, it has been a while – my apologies.  We will remedy that this year.

Are we there yet?  Is school back yet?  Have you had enough of the school holidays?  Are you counting down the days to Wednesday/Thursday this week?  Looking for something to do in the last few days?  Maybe we can help…

Like a lot of people our budget has been a little tight recently(especially after Christmas), so we have had to cut back on some things.  When I was a kid growing up, we had a great veggie patch at home (even though the pool was sacrificed to make way for it!! lol)

Where we live now, we don’t have the room to create a veggie patch, but we have room for some pots.  We had some pots left over from some plants that didn’t survive the new climate after we moved from Victoria 2 years ago, so we recycled them.  We have bought a lot of seedlings – tomatoes, lettuces, strawberries, sage, celery, rosemary, chives and roly poly carrots.  These are round carrots and don’t need as much depth as normal carrots – perfect for pots.

Our daughter helped us with the planting and working out what would go where.  She has been helping with the watering and for those on restrictions, use the water from your shower while you wait for it to warm up.  Place a bucket in the bottom of your shower and just let it run into the bucket and then pull the bucket out before you start using your soaps etc – perfect!!

With purchasing potting mix and stakes, we have spent around $60 all up.

There is nothing like the satisfaction that comes from eating your home grown veggies and of course you are saving as well.   My mouth is already watering in anticipation of those tomatoes!!

Then you can get the kids involved in working out what you are going to cook/prepare from these home grown wonders – you might even find that your kids will be happy to eat more veggies.  It’s amazing the difference that participation in the process makes to fussy eaters.  Hopefully that gives you something to do in these last few days – you could make it your Australia Day activity…apart from the barbie of course!!

Yep, it’s coming up to that time of year…

In case you have been living in a cave for the past month or so (and haven’t ventured into any shops) Christmas is just around the corner.

It’s really pleasing to see that Aussies are creating their own Christmas traditions when it comes to food and not relying solely on the influences of the Northen Hemisphere Wintery Christmases – through I have to confess, I do love attending Christmas in July and getting to enjoy all those hot goodies

Christmas in Australia is about great quality, fresh cold food.  For our family, Mum’s Famous Coleslaw has been a part of Christmas as long as I can remember – and she always made enough so that we had some for a few days after as well

I love fresh seafood, beautifully smoked hams and fresh salads, but of course need to make sure that I leave room for dessert!!  So I thought I would start sharing with you some of my family’s Christmas recipes, starting with Mum’s Famous Coleslaw.  The pineapple adds a really refreshing touch to it and of course, you can change this to whatever you want.  Have to confess though, when it comes to this dish, I am a purist!!  I don’t mess with the masterpiece

Enjoy!!

Coriander….Is it just me?

I may be about to start World War 3 in the culinary world, but here goes…..Is it just or me is anyone else out there ‘over’ coriander?  It seems to me that just about every Asian recipe now includes coriander – OK I may be exaggerating a little….but….

I was watching a lifestyle program the other night and they were making Sang Choi Bow….and included coriander.  I love this dish and have never seen it used in any of the restaurants where I have eaten it.  To my thinking, coriander would have to much flavour for such a sensitive dish.  Would you agree?

Coriander has it’s place – like every ingredient – but I am a little over it being used so much.  It has such a powerful punch to it that it can mask other subtle flavours in dishes.

Would love to hear what you think….

Also, I have just uploaded a new recipe.  Have strayed a little from the savoury and included one of my all time favourites – Boiled Fruit Cake.  This time I made them as little mini muffin sized cakes (using my Chef’s Toolbox mini muffin tray – no greasing needed) as I think they go further.  It is a lovely light recipe and the cakes freeze beautifully.  Great for cooking and storing for when unexpected guests arrive.  The smell of your kitchen when making these….ahhh….brings back very fond childhood memories.  Enjoy!!

Have some fun…

One of the things I love about savoury food (apart from eating it!!)  is that with most of it, you don’t have to stick precisely to the recipe.  Unlike a lot of sweet things – cakes etc – where you need to have the right quantities and ratios or the recipe won’t work.  Take the basics and add your own personal touches.

I have just listed my favourite aunt’s Bolognese Sauce recipe – or Bog sauce as we call it!!  This recipe base can be used for so much and in the picture I have used it to make a lasagne.  I like to be VERY generous with my sauce in between the layers.  To make this, simply alternate layers of pasta sheets, the bog sauce and a good gutsy cheese sauce and then top with extra grated parmesan cheese.  Bake in a moderate oven for around 20 minutes and voila – you have lasagne.

I normally make this quantity of the bog sauce up and freeze the sauce into smaller portions.  Most often, it gets mixed with some cooked pasta spirals and grated cheese and then cooked for a quick pasta bake.  A fabulously quick and filling meal.  Add some crusty bread and/or a salad to make it even more special.  It is also great with some home made parmesan gnocchi – that recipe another time.

You will note that there is Vegemite in the recipe.  For our non Australian fans – don’t worry.  You can do without it.  Honestly folks, take the basic recipe and play with it – have some fun.  After all, cooking should be fun!!

Cheers, Sharon

Hello world!

Yummy Wussy Food – great tasting food that is not spicy.  I have nothing against spicy food, it is just not to my taste.  I figured that there would be a few other people out there in the same bucket and there’s the people who maybe can’t eat spicy food due to a medical condition.  So this is for you

We aim to bring you some tips, recipes and ideas for cooking and eating Yummy Wussy Food.  For the Aussies, think old fashioned home cooking, but we will also throw in some new favourites.  Don’t think boring!!  Sort of in the mould of Julie from Masterchef.

Would also love to hear if you have some favourite recipes as well.  We still use herbs and spices, just not truck loads of hot spices.  All recipes posted will be tried by yours truly before posting, but please feel free to send them through to cooking@sharreid.com.au

So, this is also about you.  What would you like to see here?  Let us know and we’ll see what we can do.  Cooking should be fun, not a chore that you have to do.  Masterchef has brought a lot of people back into the kitchen – what do you like most about cooking?  Let us know.

While most of the recipes will be savoury, we will also post some sweet ones as well – yes, we confess, we love our sweets!!

Enjoy, Sharon