Sometimes it nice to sit in the garden for breakfast.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Roast beef in Slow cooker
Happy Australia Day!!
Today is a public holiday here in Australia, so yesterday I went to the supermarket to pick up some salad stuff and all the meat was half price as the supermarket is closed today!
I got a roast silverside of beef and had no idea what to do with it so I did what all good cooks do and phoned my Mum!
She said cook it SLOWLY and it will come out lovely and tender she usually just salt and peppers it and puts in in the oven for 1 hour on high then 2 hours on low. I asked if I could add slivers of garlic like you do with a roast lamb and she said "It can only make it tastier"
Ingredients
1.5kg Roast Silverside of beef
3 large potatos
4 small carrots
3 small parsnip
5 small garlic cloves of garlic
half a leek, chopped
half a red onion, chopped
half a stock cube worth of stock (about 300ml)
good slug of red wine (about a glass and a half)
So I linned my slowcooker pot with thick slices of potato about 1cm thick.
I cut little holes in my roast and poked 2 cloves of garlic slivers into the holes.
Covered roast with ground black pepper. (I decided to leave the salting till later as I read somewhere that salting meat in slowcooking can make it dry out.)
Then browned off my roast on the stove top until all sides were sealed and set the garlic slivered peppered roast on the potato.
In the pot on the stove I fried the leek, onion and remaining garlic and added to the slow cooker, along with the carrot, big chunks, and parsnip, quartered.
I now put the stock and wine in the pot on the stove and brought it to the boil scraping all the meat brownings back into the liquid and poured this over the meat and veg in the pot.
cooked on high for 3hours turned and cooked for another hour.
Then it looked something like this!
I removed the meat and let it rest for 10 minutes while we made the gravy (I say we!! the boy made the gravy)
To make the gravy we scooped some juices from the pot and boiled up in a frypan we added BISTO!!! (british gravy powder that after hunting everywhere for we discoved it in the convienience store across the road from our house)
so anyway added 2 teaspoons of bisto straight into the pan juice mix and brought to the boil whist stirring to thicken.
This is the best gravy I've had in Australia.
The finished meal was compleated with frozen peas and cauliflour cheese. no roast puddings this time, the oven wasn't on just the grill to brown the top of the cauliflour cheese so the house stayed nice and cool.
The meat was so tender it was hard to carve without it crumbling. we left it cooking for so long as after 3 hours cooking we remembered the cauliflour cheese stilll had to be made so gave it an extra hour cooking time.
It was very very tasty. The parsnips were slightly soggy and lost there flavour but everything else was delish.
Will definatly do this again!!
Today is a public holiday here in Australia, so yesterday I went to the supermarket to pick up some salad stuff and all the meat was half price as the supermarket is closed today!
I got a roast silverside of beef and had no idea what to do with it so I did what all good cooks do and phoned my Mum!
She said cook it SLOWLY and it will come out lovely and tender she usually just salt and peppers it and puts in in the oven for 1 hour on high then 2 hours on low. I asked if I could add slivers of garlic like you do with a roast lamb and she said "It can only make it tastier"
Ingredients
1.5kg Roast Silverside of beef
3 large potatos
4 small carrots
3 small parsnip
5 small garlic cloves of garlic
half a leek, chopped
half a red onion, chopped
half a stock cube worth of stock (about 300ml)
good slug of red wine (about a glass and a half)
So I linned my slowcooker pot with thick slices of potato about 1cm thick.
I cut little holes in my roast and poked 2 cloves of garlic slivers into the holes.
Covered roast with ground black pepper. (I decided to leave the salting till later as I read somewhere that salting meat in slowcooking can make it dry out.)
Then browned off my roast on the stove top until all sides were sealed and set the garlic slivered peppered roast on the potato.
In the pot on the stove I fried the leek, onion and remaining garlic and added to the slow cooker, along with the carrot, big chunks, and parsnip, quartered.
I now put the stock and wine in the pot on the stove and brought it to the boil scraping all the meat brownings back into the liquid and poured this over the meat and veg in the pot.
cooked on high for 3hours turned and cooked for another hour.
Then it looked something like this!
I removed the meat and let it rest for 10 minutes while we made the gravy (I say we!! the boy made the gravy)
To make the gravy we scooped some juices from the pot and boiled up in a frypan we added BISTO!!! (british gravy powder that after hunting everywhere for we discoved it in the convienience store across the road from our house)so anyway added 2 teaspoons of bisto straight into the pan juice mix and brought to the boil whist stirring to thicken.
This is the best gravy I've had in Australia.
The finished meal was compleated with frozen peas and cauliflour cheese. no roast puddings this time, the oven wasn't on just the grill to brown the top of the cauliflour cheese so the house stayed nice and cool.
The meat was so tender it was hard to carve without it crumbling. we left it cooking for so long as after 3 hours cooking we remembered the cauliflour cheese stilll had to be made so gave it an extra hour cooking time.
It was very very tasty. The parsnips were slightly soggy and lost there flavour but everything else was delish.
Will definatly do this again!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake
Today one of the guys I work with was moving to another shift. He wasn't very happy about it so I decided to make him a cake.
I've been thinking about making a cake in the slow cooker since I discovered this is possible. I simply used a chocolate cake mix and cooked it on the slow cooker but it was really interesting and the house smelt fantastic!
Chocolate Cake
2 boxes cake mix (I have a 6L slow cooker so went double quantities)
3 eggs
Oil and water as back of packet.
Sprayed slow cooker pot with oil and placed two strips of greaseproof paper to make a cross to lift the cake out with also lined the bottom of pot with greaseproof paper and sprayed everything with oil again, (panicking about things sticking, moi? surely not!)
Mixed all ingredients up in a bowl with electric mixer as cake box instructions.
Pour into pot.
Cooked on High for 3 hours with lid venting with a chopstick to stop condensation.
Cake came out a bit burnt at the back, I think next time I would cook on high or 2 hours then turn down to low. I trimed burnt crust and it was fine.
Turn out on wire rack and cool
Ice with Cake mix Icing!!!!! Lick bowl.
Cake went down a storm at work!
Was lovely and moist in the middle with slightly hardened crust.
I liked baking in the slow cooker but next time will keep watch and adjust temperature (I'm on Nightshift so I went for a nap while it cooked and set my alarm).
I think this is the first time I've ever baked alone! I always did it with friends or family to help before! Does that mean I'm a grown up?
I've been thinking about making a cake in the slow cooker since I discovered this is possible. I simply used a chocolate cake mix and cooked it on the slow cooker but it was really interesting and the house smelt fantastic!
Chocolate Cake
2 boxes cake mix (I have a 6L slow cooker so went double quantities)
3 eggs
Oil and water as back of packet.
Sprayed slow cooker pot with oil and placed two strips of greaseproof paper to make a cross to lift the cake out with also lined the bottom of pot with greaseproof paper and sprayed everything with oil again, (panicking about things sticking, moi? surely not!)
Mixed all ingredients up in a bowl with electric mixer as cake box instructions.
Pour into pot.
Cooked on High for 3 hours with lid venting with a chopstick to stop condensation.
Cake came out a bit burnt at the back, I think next time I would cook on high or 2 hours then turn down to low. I trimed burnt crust and it was fine.
Turn out on wire rack and cool
Ice with Cake mix Icing!!!!! Lick bowl.
Cake went down a storm at work!
Was lovely and moist in the middle with slightly hardened crust.
I liked baking in the slow cooker but next time will keep watch and adjust temperature (I'm on Nightshift so I went for a nap while it cooked and set my alarm).
I think this is the first time I've ever baked alone! I always did it with friends or family to help before! Does that mean I'm a grown up?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Booze free
Boozy Susie is off the booze!
I decided to do it as a delayed new years resolution.
5 weeks no alcohol, (perhaps with the exception for Australia day as there will be bubbles and i'm a sucker for bubbles!) so 6 days down. It's not really that hard as I'm working night shift so can't drink in the evening anyway. It's amazing when I tell peope that I'm doing this how many of my friends are joining in, mainly they are doing from the 11th till the 26th, 2 weeks off to detox after christmas and before Australia day.
Reading: The Cannon - Natalie Angier
Working: Night shift
Drinking: Water stright from the fridge
Moods: Saw a parrot on my ride home this morning and nearly crashed as it was so pretty I wasn't looking where I was going. That lifted my mood.
I decided to do it as a delayed new years resolution.
5 weeks no alcohol, (perhaps with the exception for Australia day as there will be bubbles and i'm a sucker for bubbles!) so 6 days down. It's not really that hard as I'm working night shift so can't drink in the evening anyway. It's amazing when I tell peope that I'm doing this how many of my friends are joining in, mainly they are doing from the 11th till the 26th, 2 weeks off to detox after christmas and before Australia day.
Reading: The Cannon - Natalie Angier
Working: Night shift
Drinking: Water stright from the fridge
Moods: Saw a parrot on my ride home this morning and nearly crashed as it was so pretty I wasn't looking where I was going. That lifted my mood.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Auld Christmas
In Shetland we celebrate Auld Christmas on the 6th of jan. This is Christmas day by the Julian calendar. When the change over was made from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in the Britain Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. Some people saw this as 12 days being stolen and wanted there days back. The 25th of December would be the 6th of January on the new calendar so Christmas was moved too.
This is an old tradition, Christmas is now mainly celebrated on the 25th of December, but we also celebrate on the 6th of January by visiting family and friends. Me and the boy decided to keep this tradition by going out for a nice dinner somewhere we wouldn't usually go.
We went to Jasmin Indian Restaurant at Hindmarsh square in the CBD. Jasmin celebrates it's 29th birthday this year and has just been awarded "Best Indian Restaurant in Australia" at the 2008 Restaurant & Catering Association Awards for Excellence.
The menu was wonderful with too much to choose so went went with the "feed me" banquet where you choose whether you are hungry or starving, we went with hungry and still had more than we could manage.
We started with Tikka Prawns, they had a crispy coating on the outside and they were very tasty.
Tandoori Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken lightly marinated and cooked in the tandoor." These were nice but not as wonderful as I was expecting after the prawns
and perhaps Alu Tikkas "Potato patties as only Mrs., Singh can prepare." These reminded me of fishcakes without any fish
The prawn came with a wonderful sweet chilli sauce that tasted like it had capsicum in it too, the other two were served with a mint sauce, so scrummy
Then we had 2nd Starters!
Samosas "Meat, vegetables and spices wrapped in a light pastry, a specialty of the house." This was nice almost like a filo pastry.
and Tandoori Mushrooms "A large mushroom marinated in balsamic vinegar and coriander and cooked in the tandoor." These were delicious! so juicy and full of flavour.
For our mains we had
Bhoona Ghosht "A full-flavored medium to hot lamb curry prepared to an old family recipe."Butter Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken cooked in butter, coriander, tomato and ginger to produce the most popular dish served from the kitchen." and vegetable accompaniment from the specials menu, potato with green beans.
This was served with Tandoori baked Naan bread, Mango Chutney, Cucumber Raita, Papadams and of course rice.
Our second mains were
Beef Vindaloo "one of Mrs. Singh’s most outstanding creations. A favorite with those who like it hot." and Cheese Naan "a house specialty."
This was amazing tasty food far more than we needed and we ate far more than we should.
The banquet cost $44 per person.
We walked, or should I say rolled as our bellies were so full, down to Gouger Street to my favourite wine bar cork. We were in here shortly after it opened and had a lovely chat with the owner, he suggests wines you might like and gives wonderful tasters before you make your decision, it's a tiny little place but it has a lovely atmosphere and is perfectly situated opposite the markets.
This is an old tradition, Christmas is now mainly celebrated on the 25th of December, but we also celebrate on the 6th of January by visiting family and friends. Me and the boy decided to keep this tradition by going out for a nice dinner somewhere we wouldn't usually go.
We went to Jasmin Indian Restaurant at Hindmarsh square in the CBD. Jasmin celebrates it's 29th birthday this year and has just been awarded "Best Indian Restaurant in Australia" at the 2008 Restaurant & Catering Association Awards for Excellence.
The menu was wonderful with too much to choose so went went with the "feed me" banquet where you choose whether you are hungry or starving, we went with hungry and still had more than we could manage.
We started with Tikka Prawns, they had a crispy coating on the outside and they were very tasty.
Tandoori Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken lightly marinated and cooked in the tandoor." These were nice but not as wonderful as I was expecting after the prawns
and perhaps Alu Tikkas "Potato patties as only Mrs., Singh can prepare." These reminded me of fishcakes without any fish
The prawn came with a wonderful sweet chilli sauce that tasted like it had capsicum in it too, the other two were served with a mint sauce, so scrummy
Then we had 2nd Starters!
Samosas "Meat, vegetables and spices wrapped in a light pastry, a specialty of the house." This was nice almost like a filo pastry.
and Tandoori Mushrooms "A large mushroom marinated in balsamic vinegar and coriander and cooked in the tandoor." These were delicious! so juicy and full of flavour.
For our mains we had
Bhoona Ghosht "A full-flavored medium to hot lamb curry prepared to an old family recipe."Butter Chicken "Boneless pieces of chicken cooked in butter, coriander, tomato and ginger to produce the most popular dish served from the kitchen." and vegetable accompaniment from the specials menu, potato with green beans.
This was served with Tandoori baked Naan bread, Mango Chutney, Cucumber Raita, Papadams and of course rice.
Our second mains were
Beef Vindaloo "one of Mrs. Singh’s most outstanding creations. A favorite with those who like it hot." and Cheese Naan "a house specialty."
This was amazing tasty food far more than we needed and we ate far more than we should.
The banquet cost $44 per person.
We walked, or should I say rolled as our bellies were so full, down to Gouger Street to my favourite wine bar cork. We were in here shortly after it opened and had a lovely chat with the owner, he suggests wines you might like and gives wonderful tasters before you make your decision, it's a tiny little place but it has a lovely atmosphere and is perfectly situated opposite the markets.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Slow cooker
On Sunday we bought a slow cooker in the January sales.
I was very excited as I've wanted one for ages.
Its a Ronson 6 Litre which is huge! but it means when we cook something there is plenty left for the freezer.
I decided to start with Chilli con Carne from the Hot food cookbook I borrowed from the local library and modified for the slow cooker.
It came out well but a little sloppy I halved the liquid but I guess because it was mince it needed hardly any stock.
Looking forward to roasting a chicken and making stews once the wether is cooler, at 33 degrees it's not really soup and stew weather.
still very happy with my first attempt.
Chilli con carne
4 tsp grd cumin
1 tsp grd allspice
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tbs veg oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 small red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
1kg beef mince
2 tins of whole tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
500ml beef stock
1 tbs oregano chopped
1 tsp sugar
I dry fried the spices until fragrant and then threw everything in the slowcooker, gave it a good stir and went to bed (as I'm working night shift).
I woke up 8hrs later stired again. Tasted and decided it neaded salt, pepper, paprika and more garlic and less liquid. scooped 2 cups of liquid off and left for another hour.
served with tortillas, salad, guacamole and sour cream
very tasty! beans stayed whole, tomatoes still in big chunks, mince had turned to mush! next time less liquid and maybe slightly less cooking time.
All in all not bad for a first attempt.
I was very excited as I've wanted one for ages.
Its a Ronson 6 Litre which is huge! but it means when we cook something there is plenty left for the freezer.
I decided to start with Chilli con Carne from the Hot food cookbook I borrowed from the local library and modified for the slow cooker.
It came out well but a little sloppy I halved the liquid but I guess because it was mince it needed hardly any stock.
Looking forward to roasting a chicken and making stews once the wether is cooler, at 33 degrees it's not really soup and stew weather.
still very happy with my first attempt.
Chilli con carne
4 tsp grd cumin
1 tsp grd allspice
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tbs veg oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 small red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
1kg beef mince
2 tins of whole tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
500ml beef stock
1 tbs oregano chopped
1 tsp sugar
I dry fried the spices until fragrant and then threw everything in the slowcooker, gave it a good stir and went to bed (as I'm working night shift).
I woke up 8hrs later stired again. Tasted and decided it neaded salt, pepper, paprika and more garlic and less liquid. scooped 2 cups of liquid off and left for another hour.
served with tortillas, salad, guacamole and sour cream
very tasty! beans stayed whole, tomatoes still in big chunks, mince had turned to mush! next time less liquid and maybe slightly less cooking time.
All in all not bad for a first attempt.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Kite runner
I finally finished the kite runner it's a bookcrossing bookray I've been reading since October. I'm unsure about it. I found the discriptions very vivid and at times very uncomfortable. there were a few points when I had to put the book down and do nice things as it was making me feel quite depressed. But on the other hand it sucked me in and made me have these emotions for the characters, which has got to be good writing.
Today I have started The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling which my sister sent me for Christmas. I'm guessing it'll be a bit lighter!
Today I have started The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling which my sister sent me for Christmas. I'm guessing it'll be a bit lighter!
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