Spiced Rice

rice is another regular in our house, we love it and eat it often. this spiced rice dish is delicious served either on its own or with something else of your choice, I love it with vegetable korma!. this is my entry for this months Ravishing Rice, Monthly Mingle, a fun Monthly event started by Meeta and this month hosted by Nags at Edible Garden.

there's really no recipe to speak of. you just need to boil (or steam) 2 cups of rice I put a bit of curry powder in the water as it gives a nice flavour without being too spicy. I love spicy but OH and my daughter don't, ggrrr, ther's no accounting for some tastes is there ;)

fry some mustard seeds, some cumin seeds, some cardomom pods and a bit of curry until fragrant. add a small diced onion, and a small diced red capsicum. fry until just starting to soften. add cooled rice and heat gently stiring constantly. add toasted flaked almonds & sultana's and continue to stir until heated through. fluff up rice and serve!

Penne With Beef Ragu

I love pasta and would happily eat it every day, there are just so many varieties, so many ways you can serve it! recently I made this beef ragu to serve with penne pasta (one of my families favourite pasta's) I'm sending it to this weeks Presto Pasta Nights a fun weekly event started by Ruth & this week hosted by Ruth (there are often guest hosts for this great event)

Beef ragu

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
100g prosciutto, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
700g beef mince
1 cup red wine or beef stock
700ml bottle Italian tomato pasta sauce

Method

1. Make beef ragu: Heat oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, prosciutto and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 7 to 8 minutes or until soft.
2. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes or until mince begins to brown. Add wine or stock. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce and 1/2 cup cold water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water following packet directions, until tender. Drain. Divide pasta between serving bowls. Spoon over beef ragu. Serve with parmesan.

Mandarin Salad

I love this light and refreshing salad either on its own as is or its delicious stuffed into pitta. as well as the mandarin its also good with crisp apple slices. it takes just a matter of minutes to make. am sending it to spices ect for the 15 minute cooking event.

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 x 310g cans mandarin segments, drained

( I used fresh mandarins, as many as liked)
1 large red capsicum, deseeded, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, coarsely grated
60g mixed salad leaves, trimmed
3 shallots, trimmed, sliced
2/3 cup (90g) walnuts, chopped
1 tbs sesame seeds, toasted
Dressing
1 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
3cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
Method
Whisk the dressing ingredients in a small bowl until well combined.
Place the remaining ingredients into a large serving bowl. Drizzle with the dressing and toss gently to combine.

Coconut & Lime Syrup Cake

I'd seen this cake in a food magazine ages ago and seeing as I love limes, love coconut I put it aside to make later, (as it turned out it was way later) having picked up some limes on a whim while out shopping yesterday I decided the time was right to make it. glad I did as even tho perhaps it doesn't look much, its gorgeous and will be made many times again! this is my entry for Bookmarked Recipes a fabulous weekly event started by Ruth and this week hosted by Divya at Dil Se

Ingredients (serves 8)

125g butter, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 1/4 cups desiccated coconut

Lime syrup

3 limes, rind finely shredded, juiced
1/2 cup white sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line a 6cm deep, 22cm (base) springform cake pan.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat (see shortcut). Transfer to a bowl. Add eggs and milk. Stir until combined.
3. Combine flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Add milk mixture. Stir to combine. Spread mixture into pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Make lime syrup Combine 1/2 cup lime juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Stir in lime rind.
5. Pour hot lime syrup over hot cake. Allow cake to cool in pan before releasing side of pan. Cut into slices and serve.

Beef Curry

I love curries and make them as often as I can (as OH is not that much of a fan its not often enough) but I indulge when I can. this one is a favourite!



2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1kg chuck steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup beef stock
steamed basmati rice, to serve

Method

1. Combine coriander, cumin, turmeric, pepper, chilli, garlic, ginger and lemon juice in a bowl to form a paste. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add half the beef. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining oil and beef.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add spice paste. Cook for 1 minute. Return beef to saucepan. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until meat is coated with paste. Add tomato paste and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until beef is tender.
4. Remove lid. Cook, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes, or until sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Serve with rice.
   

Little Fruit & Spice Cakes

These little cakes are so simple to make & simply delicious to eat. I'm sorry there isn't really a recipe as such. I just use a basic cupcake/fairy cake recipe replacing white sugar with brown or raw sugar. I add a teaspoon mixed spice and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (to your taste) and approx 3/4 to 1 small cup mixed dry fruit (you can soak it it tea/juice or for a treat perhaps brandy/sherry if you like, for a few hours or so) I usually find I need to add approx 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra liquid to the original cupcake recipe in order to accomadate the extra ingredients! I sprinke the tops of each cake with demerera sugar before baking!

Platinum Chef Winner

First can I apologise totally for my extreme slowness in getting this done! am truely sorry but have had so much going on. now to the challenge. for whatever reason (and I think its because my simple little blog is not well known) but I only had one entry! however that entry was a clever and creative use of the platinum chef challenge ingredients chose. and it was delicious. this Platinum Chef Challenge winner is Cookie from Workout then Cook. thank you so much Cookie for a fabulous entry and for your patience! please check out Cookie's wonderful blog full of really delicious recipes for details of the next Platinum Chef Challenge!

Cookie's Apricot Glazed Pork Chops & Mashed Butternut Squash