About Me

My photo
Im 30 yrs old very happy married to a wonderful man (Nathan) i have a 7yr old son (Lochlan) and one on the way! We live in a town called Davistown. Im an aussie that use to live in the states! But have recently returned back to Australia! And im VERY passionate about cooking and my family!

Blog Archive

Friday, August 13, 2010

Chili Done My Way!


Ok i know its NOT Chili weather.... BUT once in a while a nice bowl of chili goes along way!
I was digging around in my chest freezer and came across some lovely chunks of stewing beef, ground lamb and ground turkey just enough of each kind not to make a full meal out of them, SO chilli it was! I laid them out the night prior to the long slow simmering, I dug around in my pantry and found 4 different kinds of dried beans (ChicPeas, White Northen, Kidney and Black Eyed Peas) I soaked about 1 cup of each in a deep bowl with water all the way to the top and then i added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I soaked them over night, rinsed them the next morning felt how tender they were and realised i needed them to cook a little longer.
So now for the whole recipe i spose!

Slow Cooked 3 Meat 4 Bean Chili

1 pound of ground lamb
1 pound of ground turkey
1 pound of stewing beef
1 large onion (chopped and diced)
4 fresh red chillies (roughly chopped)
3 Tablespoons of fresh minced garlic
2 cups of homemade chicken stock
sea salt
1 Tablespoon of chipotle powder
ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon of cumin
1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
2 Tablespoons of homemixed Taco seasoning
2 cups of diced tomatoes with their juices still
2 cups of tomato juice
1 cup of chic peas (dryed)
1 cup of white northen beans (dryed)
1 cup of kidney beans (dryed)
1 cup of black eyed peas (dryed)
1 cup of liquid from the beans
and for garnishing
dash of lime juice
sour cream
grated cheese

I know seems like alot doesnt it! But we eat on it for a day or so and then i reinvent it :) and add cream cheese to it and pour it over tortilla chips some grated cheese and nachos it is!
Or mix it with cream cheese and a lil sour cream and turn it into a delish dip!

Soap your dry beans the night before make sure its a big enough bowl for the beans to soak in add a couple spoonfuls of apple cider vinegar to the beans and water.
Before starting your chili check the beans if still not tender enough add the drained beans to a pot cover with water add some seal salt and bring to a boil, check beans occasionally while preparing the chili if tender enough remove from heat and leave them in the water, remember you will need some of this liquid for your chili!

In a large pot heat up a little olive oil, when hot toss in your diced onions, minced garlic and your roughly chopped red chillies.
Saute the mixture for a few mins (if it starts to stick and burn add some of your stock) next you will want to toss your ground turkey and ground lamb into the mix and brown it. Once the ground meat is browned add the chunks of stew beef let it seal on all sides (the chunks of meat change colour) add and coat all the ground meat and chunks of beef with the chipotle, garlic powder, pinch of salt, cumin, taco seasoning and black pepper let simmer for a few minutes then add the rest of your stock, diced tomatoes and juice. Once all added bring the pot of yummies to a slow boil then turn it down to low. You will slow cook the pot for about 1-2 hours stirring occasionally. After about 2 hours your going to want to add your drained beans to the pot, stir them in depending how much your chili has cooked down depends on whether or not you will use the alotted amount of bean liquid. At this stage my chili is good and thick and i need the 1 cup of liquid :) i let this cook on the lowest setting for hours but sometimes my boys cant wait and dig in right away which is fine as it is technically good and cooked! When ready to eat i always serve it up with a spoonful of sourcream some tasty grated cheese and a squeeze of lime juice!

Really this chili ive found the longer it cooks the better the flavours!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Local Summer Veggies and Local Merlot Simmered Beef


Ah yes who doesnt LOVE summer goodies! I have been cooking up a storm lately and my boys couldnt be happier!

The beef i used here is from my local butchers shop and it was lovely and tender!
The veggies are from our local farmers market! Fresh patty pan squash, green beans and red skin new potatoes!

Nothing fancy when it came to these veggies i steamed them in my double boiler pots i checked how tender each lot of veggies were and when almost done i removed them and placed them in a dish where they continued to finish cooking while the other veggies steamed.

The simple sauce i made was just melted homemade butter and a couple of tablespoonfuls of sweet soy sauce mixed toegether right before serving i drizzeled it over the steamed veggies! It was a delish way to get my boys to eat these veggies!
The beef was cooked with home grown onions from my adopted americans mothers garden and before i go on i must add that boy were they hot! The minute i cut the top off the onion my eyes watered straight away! Anyway i used 2 small brown onins sliced them up threw in 4 cloves of home grown garlic i used a tablespoon of homemade butter to saute the onion and garlic in. Once they had cooked down i added the beef chunks and browned them. After that i added half a cup of homemade chicken stock to the pan placed the lid of and let it simmer for about 15mins, after that i added about half a cup of locally made merlot to the meat added a pinch of sea salt about 1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of celery salt i placed the lid on the pan and let it simmer for about half an hour. This was extremely tasty!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

SourDough Muffins! YUM!


Sorry for my MIA i have been busy cooking and trying new recipes and spending time with my boys :)

Ok so this is not a new recipe per say but i never make these babies the same way!
So i have a jar that lives in my fridge and every few days i bring said jar out and let it get to room temp then i feed it :) and that jar sits on my counter top with cheese cloth over it so it can grow! What am i talking about? I am talking about SourDough Starter! So the day i came about this recipe i was looking at my 2 full jars of sourdough starter that i NEEDED to do something with! So i began searching what i could do with this stuff (other then crackers, pancakes and breads) and i came across a recipe for Strawberry SourDough Muffins, i cant not find exactly where i found the recipe but i really was NOT impressed with it..... It required WAY to much sugar, baking soda, eggs and salt!
So after looking threw my other muffin recipes i came up with this extremely easy and totally tasty recipe!
Now i will warn you all these can be VERY addicting! One will NOT be enough!
Pictured here in the post are 5 different varieties of this muffin recipe!

1. Strawberry, Black Berry and Dark Chocolate Chip
2. Strawberry, Mulberry, Blackberry and Black Raspberry
3. Vanilla and Mango
4. Black Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Chip
5. Mango and Strawberry
Play with this recipe i encourage it! I am starting to play with savory flavors! These make great GREAT quick grab breakfasts or lovely afternoon snacks for the kiddies!


Now for the Recipe!

SourDough Strawberry Muffins
1 cup of sourdough starter
2 cups of flour (white/wheat)
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup of sucanat
1 egg
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of milk
1 + 1/2 Tbsp of Vanilla extract
1 + 1/2 cup of diced strawberries(or any other fruit)

Preheat over at 375 degrees. Mix everything but the diced strawberries in a large mixing bowl until combined. Then fold in the strawberries. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake 35mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in tins for a couple of muffins b4 removing and placing on a wire rack took cool completely! Makes 24 small muffins.

You can add many different fruits as i have already mention to this batter! They are divine! Cream cheese is also lovely smeared on them! Enjoy!