Nikujaga

This recipe was taught to me by my host mother when I lived in Japan for 6 months during high school. It is a beef and potato stew that is a popular home-style Japanese meal. The green beans aren't always used in nikujaga but my host mother liked to add them to give the dish a bit of green. I've also made this dish in a slow cooker and it turned out well.

NIKUJAGA (Japanese beef and potato stew)

Ingredients
1 large brown onion, chopped roughly
100g green beans, chopped in half
1 1/2 carrots, sliced
4-5 potatoes, cut into chunks
450-500g beef, diced
soy sauce (approx 1/3 cup)
brown sugar (approx 3 tablespoons)
1 cup water
a splash of sake or mirin (optional)
1 sachet of bonito flakes (optional)

Bonito flakes can be found at any Asian grocery shop. They used to sell it at Safeway but I haven't been able to find it the last few times I've been there. It is basically just dried fish flakes.

Method:
Step 1: Brown beef in a pan
Step 2: Add onions, potatoes and carrots
Step 3: Add water, soy sauce, sugar and optional extras (bonito/sake) - to taste
Step 4: simmer for approx 20 mins (add more water/sugar/soy sauce if needed)
Step 5: Add green beans
Step 6: Simmer until beans are tender. Serve with rice.

Ricotta Pancakes with Banana and Honeycomb Butter

I had some left-over ricotta from the omnivore lasagna I made on Sunday (and it's use by date was today!) so I went searching for some recipes that would use up the rest of it. I came across Bill Granger's ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter on the Australian Women's Weekly website and it sounded delish! (see recipe here)

I made a few alterations to the recipe (mainly because I couldn't be bothered beating egg whites!) and just threw everything in the one bowl to make the pancakes. I'm sure they would be a lot lighter and fluffier if I had followed the recipe, but they were absolutely fine and my husband gobbled it down.

I used a smashed up crunchie bar for the honeycomb and substituted golden syrup for the honey (because I'm not keen on the taste of honey no matter how hard I try and make myself like it). I also lightly caramalised the banana in a pan with a little golden syrup before putting them on the pancakes (used the same pan to save the washing up!).

There is no need to wait 2 hrs for the butter either (unless you want to cut it in pretty shapes from a log), I just put the bowl that I mixed it up in straight in the fridge while I got on with the pancakes. It was (softly) set by the time I was finished which was fine.


VEGETABLE PASTA

For dinner we had a simple vegetable pasta with an olive oil based sauce. We had onion, mushroom, tomatoes, peas, spinach leaves and garlic in it. You can add whatever veggies you have in the fridge. I usually try to have 1-2 vegetarian meals a week (to help save $ and prevent bowel cancer!) and usually one of these dishes is a pasta. Often I use a tomato-based sauce because it's a little healthier than the olive oil based sauce - but I like the olive oil one for a bit of a change.


Now I have to go and lie down because I've eaten far to much............

Sago Chop Casserole with lemon and garlic beans

This recipe was given to me by my mother and it reminds me of my childhood. It's a great meal for when the weather is getting cooler and is as cheap as anything! Very quick to put together as well - preparation time is only around 5 minutes (add more time for mashed potato/beans). I use the lamb forequarter chops, which are often sold very cheaply in bulk.

For best results - bung it all into a slow cooker. However, it can also be done in the oven as I did this evening (didn't plan ahead long enough to use the slow cooker!).

I like to serve this dish with deliciously buttery mashed potato and green beans with lemon and garlic (see recipe below). Although it doesn't sound that appetising, give it a go - people have always commented on how yummy it is (and how they were surprised!!)


SAGO CHOP CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
6 lamb chops (cheapies will do, I use the forequarter ones)
1 brown onion (chopped)
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup tomato sauce (can substitute with a cup of tomato-based pasta sauce if you wish)
1/2 cup sago (found in the pudding/jelly aisle of the supermarket)
3 tablespoons worstershire sauce
chopped carrot

Method:
Put all ingredients into a casserole dish, except the carrot, and bake at 200C for 15 mins.
Add the carrot and bake for a further 30-40 minutes.

Serve with mashed potato and lemon & garlic beans

LEMON AND GARLIC BEANS

Ingredients:
Green beans
Several cloves of garlic
Juice of one lemon

Method:
Steam beans until almost cooked. Put in a hot pan and add garlic. squeeze lemon juice over the top and serve.

(Pic 1: before it went in the oven)

Omnivore Lasagna

The "Omnivore Lasagna" was created by combining the recipe for a standard meat lasanga and a vegetarian version. It's great because it means that you don't have to bother making a salad or anything to get some veggies in the meal. Definitely one to make on a Sunday afternoon and it gives plenty of leftovers to have during the week (can also be frozen).

OMNIVORE LASAGNA

Ricotta Mix
300g ricotta
50g fetta
1 box frozen spinach (or a large bunch of fresh spinach)
1 egg

Meat Mix
500g mince beef
1 large brown onion (chopped)
1 tin diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
a dash of olive oil
(mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant and other veggies optional)

Cheesy white sauce
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 1/2 cups milk
50g grated tasty cheese

Plus a bottle of pasta sauce/pureed tomatoes/passatta and instant lasagna sheets

Step 1: Fry onion and olive oil in a pan until onion is translucent. Add mince meat and brown. Once meat is browned, add veggies to your liking (mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, etc) and the tin of diced tomatoes.

Step 2: Microwave spinach until defrosted and warm. Squeeze out excess water and put in a large bowl. Add ricotta, feta and egg, then mix together.

Step 3: Place butter in saucepan. Once it begins to melt, add in the flour and stir to make a paste. Gradually add the milk, whisking as you go. The milk will thicken as it heats up. Add chesse at the end and stir until melted.

Step 4: Pour some tomato puree into the bottom of a oven proof dish. Add a layer of pasta sheets, then a layer of white sauce, a layer of the meat mix and a layer of the ricotta mix. Repeat this process. Top the last layer of pasta sheets with the white sauce and pureed tomatoes.

Step 5: Bake in oven 180C for around 30-40 minutes.

pop my cherry

Everyone has a first blog post and this is mine. Hopefully it will be memorable. I'm in my upper twenties and have recently moved into my first home with my husband (whom I shall refer to as "Zucchini"). We live in Victoria Australia.

I plan to blog about cooking, general house stuff and life in general. I hope you enjoy!

Now on to the juicy stuff. I will share with you my absolute favourite slice recipe. This recipe was given to me by my grandma, who considers herself a wonderful cook (but in truth, this would have to be one of the only things that she makes that's actually edible). Don't let that put you off though, it really is a delicious slice and I always receive many compliments whenever I make it. So here it is...

ELDELICIO SLICE (aka chocolate slice... thought that name was a bit boring)

2 packets of marie biscuits (crushed)
2 tablespoons cocoa
200g butter (melted)
1 tin condensed milk (395g)
2 tablespoons golden syrup
200g block hazelnut chocolate - chopped (I actually like to use 2 packets...as some does get eaten during the cooking process....)

Step 1: Combine crushed maries biscuits, melted butter, cocoa, condensed milk and golden syrup. Press into a slice tray and place in fridge.

Step 2: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.

Step 3: Pour melted chocolate over the slice to create a delicious top layer.

Step 4: Return tray to the fridge for at least one hour.

Step 5: Cut into slices and enjoy!