Christmas Preparations

Christmas is most definitely my favourite time of year. I don't know what it is about it but I always feel a tremendous sense of hope for the future and know that I will get to make my loved ones very happy be it with food or presents. I love the lights, the smells, the giggles. I love the chill in the air, the dark days and the smell of everyone lighting warm fires...

I of course love the food. I cannot claim to not induldge at Christmas. I enjoy how warm the kitchen is while cooking and I think it's a great excuse to stay creating in the kitchen. Normally Christmas dinner is a big even in our house. We love to challenge ourselfves every year, to create new ways of serving the best feast of the year. Some things don't change. Everyone has their traditions. One of ours is the stuffing. I have been making the same one since I took over from my mom when I was about 15. It's very simple. Nothing fancy involved but it is true Christmas for me. The second I smell it I know it is without a doubt going to be a great meal. This year Jamie Oliver has provided some foodspiration for us and i'm looking forward to putting it all together.

This year we are also having family over this Sunday for a little pre Christmas get together. I say "we" are having people over but in reality I have taken on a lot because Mr Big Red has to work (darn chefs) so all the preparation has fallen to me. Knowing I won't be able to spend a huge amount of hours in one day in the kitchen (4 year olds tend to become destructive after a while) I am preping what I can in advance.

This morning in My Big Red Kitchen we made our Cookies for Santa! I have taken my inspiration from many sites and without a recipe wasn't sure these would actually turn out but they did! I'm sure Santa will just love them!

                                           Peppermint & White Chocolate Cookies for Santa!

I also prepared something I have been wanting to make for a few year but never have. An alternative to mince pies. Lets call them... mince swirls? I'll work on the name...

Before I go on YES I took the lazy route and used store bought puff pastry and store bought mince meat. Why not cut corners?! If you plan on enjoying more than a few glasses of wine over the season (as I do) you really don't want to be worried about the little things. Except maybe keeping an eye that that wine glass doesn't empty!

Simple spread the mince meat over the pastry in a thin layer and roll carefully from either side towards the middle. You will end up with something like this

Next trim off the ends. It's not hugely important to do so but it does make it easier to judge how many even pieces you will be able to cut.
**Make sure your knife is sharp AND dust it with flour between each slice to avoid sticking**

I got 12 pieces. I'm sorry I don't have a delicious golden finished product to show you yet but these won't be cooked until tomorrow night. They will then cool over night and drizzled with a water/sugar Glace Icing. I'll pop them into the oven @ 180F for about 15 mins/until golden and crispy.

                                                              Waiting for the oven

Toffee Coffee Cupcakes

Oh yes indeed....

These are amazing! Get your finest coffee out everyone it will not be wasted here. These really taste like more and seem like a perfect family treat on a cold Autumn day. The coffee taste isn't over powering and the soft as air buttercream will melt in your mouth.

Go on...Try one

These are SO quick and simple!

You will get 12 - 16 depending on cases

175g self-raising Flour
175g caster sugar
175g butter, room temp
3 eggs
45ml espresso or your favourite blend

Topping
100g butter, room temp
100g icing sugar, add more to taste
1 tbsp butter vanilla or vanilla extract
Toffee Sauce to drizzle in delight!


Pre heat oven to 180C/356F

Large bowl, add flour, butter, sugar, eggs
No sifting or messing about
Whisk like there is no tomorrow!

Once all is soft and fluffy, gently fold in the coffee with a metal spoon
Or you can add while whisking

Pop into muffin cases/cupcake cases and bake for 15 mins
Move to a wire rack to cool

With the buttercream you are going to whisk it on high until it is air in a bowl. I want to be able see the air bubbles from here!
Again nothing fancy, butter, sugar, flavouring into a bowl and whisk, whisk, whisk!


Use a piping bag to add a little to each cupcake. You don't want to add too much because the buttercream will over power the coffee if you do. Pop into the fridge for a few minutes to set the buttercream a little.
Drizzle (with delight) the toffee over the top and enjoy!

They are the fastest cupcakes you've ever made right?!

R  x

Vegetarian Nut Loaf

Wow, wow I've been trying to post this recipe for ages but I couldn't find the piece of paper with my notes on it and I just could not remember one of the ingredients! Finally I spotted them while doing this weeks food shop and I am now able to share this meal!
This is a vegetarian take on the traditional meatloaf. As I've mentioned before our little foodie is not a meat fan and I want to make sure we're not forcing her to eat something she really doesn't want to SO along came this Nut Loaf. I hope you try it and your family loves it! I served with mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, peas and some gravy. We used beef gravy which is obviously not vegetarian friendly but a vegetable gravy would be just as nice! R x


Serves 6

You will need;

Vegetarian Nut Loaf

175g Butter
1 lrg Brown Onion, chopped fine
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
100g Mushrooms, your choice, chopped
100g unsalted Cashew Nuts, crushed
100g Brazil nuts, crushed
225g Brown Breadcrumbs
2 Eggs, beaten
4 tbsp Fresh Cream
Salt & Pepper
1 tsp Dried Thyme
3 tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped (dried can also be used)
1 Lemon, juice & zest


Grease and line a loaf tin. I use silicone cookware for this like this which cuts out the lining. Yes I can be lazy at times :)
Pre heat the oven to 200C / 400F

In a hot pan, cook the onion in half the butter until the onion is soft

To chop the nuts, you can use a food processor or if you don't have one, a Ziploc back and a rolling pin does the job. Also helps to get out any pent up frustration you may have

Pop the nuts into a large bowl with half the breadcrumbs.
Add the onions and any remaining butter
Stir in eggs and cream and season with salt & pepper

Melt the remaining butter in the pan and cook the mushrooms and garlic until soft
Add the zest of the lemon and the juice to the cooked mushrooms

Add the remaining breadcrumbs, thyme, parsley and season with salt & pepper

Back to your tin

Press HALF the nut mix into the bottom of the tin

Top with the mushroom mix, spreading evenly

Add the remaining nut mix and press down well using the back of a spoon

Cover with foil and pop into the oven for 45 mins

After 45 mins, remove the foil and return to the oven for 15 mins to brown

Leave to stand before removing from the tin

Organic Carrot & Thyme Soup

I'm sitting in my garden writing this post. The evening is cool but not cold. Just enough to pop something around your shoulders. I'm sitting at a wooden bench surrounded by my pots & crates where we are growing our veg. My 3 year old is sleeping soundly, my lovely husband is at work and our dog is throwing a toy at me wanting to play...again...

I did an awesome food shop this week. Loads of fresh, organic produce that I found at great prices. We only have one meat dish on our menu this week so that also helped stock the house with lovely fresh smelling veg. My daughter doesn't eat much meat and we decided to not try and encourage her but instead to up her intake of vegetarian meals which she happily eats. So do we! Lately my mini foodie has a love for fresh made soup. This week I made her a carrot soup and she ate two bowls with some brown soda bread :) So I decided I would share the recipe with you :)

R x


Of course you don't have to use organic produce!


You need;

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lrg brown onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
750ml vegetable stock
250g carrots, ends removed, washed & chopped
1 tsp (roughly) of thyme, dried or fresh
Salt & Pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large soup pot

Add the onion and cook until soft. When making a soup, don't worry about chopping the onion too carefully because you will be blending it at the end

Add garlic & thyme

Add stock & carrots soon after and bring to the boil

Season with salt & pepper

Reduce heat and simmer until the carrots are soft. This took about a half hour

Once the carrots are soft you can blend the soup. Be careful if transferring to a standing blender because it will be hot. No burns on my watch!

I served with some garlic croutons/brown soda bread

I also left the remaining soup to cool and portioned it into Ziploc bags and popped them into the freezer. I'm planning on building up a soup stock for winter. You know, for those days when it's more appealing to snuggle under a blanket watching a movie than to potter around the kitchen.


**I didn't peel the carrots to retain (in my opinion) goodness in the soup**
**You will need a hand blender or standing blender**

Healthy Pizza Night

Hi foodies!

Wow it feels like forever since i've posted. My desktop is FULL of pictures awaiting posting with recipes. Life its very busy right now and time is running away from me. Our little chef starts pre school in a months time and i'm trying to soak up all I can get before the big wide world gets its hands on her.

So I am going to try post at least some until September when I will give you all the attention you deserve! After I shed some tears because i'll be missing my baby girl!

Here is something I put together for dinner tonight. It's pretty simple but really fresh.

I hope you like it!

R  x


You will need;

Ready rolled Puff Pastry (store bought, lets take it easy)
1 courgette (zuccini), sliced thin
400g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 large red onion, sliced thin
1 tsp fine grain sugar
Olive oil
Handful Feta cheese, crumbled
Handful fresh basil, torn
1/2 fresh lemon


Add roughly 2 tbsp of olive oil to a hot pan and cook the onions until soft
Add tsp sugar and heat until melted. Only a few minutes
Set aside

Cut puff pastry into what ever shape you like. I usually do a small circle for our little chef and a large for us to half
Using a fork, pierce the base several times

Leaving a thin edge, spread the onion over the base

Top with tomatoes and courgette

Sprinkle the feta and drizzle with olive oil

Pop into the oven @ 200C
It will take 25 - 30 minutes to cook fully

After about 15 minutes take it out and add the fresh basil
Return to the oven until the pastry edges are golden


Before serving, drizzle with fresh lemon juice

Toblerone Cheesecake

Oh yes... What a gem this is. Not if your trying to trim down that's true but this is worth the extra run or zumba class. I'll admit I didn't use a recipe for this. A lot of the time when making desserts I go off the feel/taste as I'm making it. Be sure to taste this as you go to make sure it's as sweet or not to sweet. However you like it. Also beware of the base. If you like a nice hard base you'll want to add enough butter to make your biscuit very wet. Personally I like a very light base that crumbles in your mouth. Especially pleasing with the special base I made.

Personally this turned out to have the perfect balance. It wasn't too sweet but didn't have a strong cheese bite either. In the words of my husband "It's the best cheesecake I've ever tasted" OK technically he swore (Australians what can ya do) but it's rare for him to make such a comment so I was over pleased with myself. I think even if you wouldn't be toblerone's biggest fan, you'd still enjoy this. For presentation I drizzled with chocolate sauce and pipped some whipped cream on top. Hey what's a few more calories right? ;)

So here it is my Toblerone Cheesecake

You will need;

400g cream cheese
2 lrg heaped tbsp mascarpone
100g butter
6 hobnobs (or similar oat based biscuit)
5 rich tea biscuits (or similar plain biscuit)
200g Toblerone
1/4 cup icing sugar

Silicone dish or baking tin with removable base

Grease your dish using a small amount of butter. Make sure and get into the edges of your tin so you don't have a last minute disaster

Pop your biscuits into a Ziploc bag, remove air and seal
Take out your frustration with a rolling pin
Don't go too crazy. You want to keep a good textural base

Melt butter over a hob or in the microwave

Add more of less butter depending on how you like your base. I like it to stick but not to become hard
Mix gently in a bowl

Press gently into the base of your dish

Pop into the fridge


If you have a food processor this is a good time to dust it off.
You want to break up the toblerone. You can also use the good old rolling pin and Ziploc trick
Using a sieve, remove any fine powder that comes off while crushing
Set aside

In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until it holds a peak

Add mascarpone and whisk again

Add sugar, whisk again (you get the idea)

This is easiest if you use a hand mixer. You want to get as much air as possible into the mix. You want a very light fluffy mix when you're done.

Now you want to very gently fold in the crushed toblerone. Using your spoon, draw a line down the center of your mix and gently fold a side by turning from underneath. Gently repeat until the toblerone is mixed evenly. Take your time with this because you want to retain as much air as possible.

Gently pop into the dish on top of the biscuit base. Careful to not press the air out

Leave to set in the fridge. I left this for about 5 hours before I gave my husband some when he came in from work. Best left over night if you can.

That does seem like a rather long post but I hope I've remembered my own actions and passed on a few useful tips. Please let me know what you think and contact if you need any help :)

R x

Grow your own

Well here they are. The first lot of potatoes grown organically in our garden.

I roasted them in olive oil, salt & pepper and some garlic butter

There is a strange sense of pride when harvesting your own food. Myself and our little chef went out yesterday and dug up two lots. We still have loads of potatoes to come and a second harvest of spring onions coming soon. All our tomato plants (all 12) are growing strong. I grew them from seed so I'm overly impressed they are actually still alive let alone that so many survived.

On the sweet side we have strawberries, blueberries and cherries :)
Watch out for some yummy desserts when they are ready to be picked

I regret not planting carrots. I have a love of carrots and there seems to be a very poor crop available to buy. Though we grow mostly in pots so I think I may run out of deck space if I put much more on there.

I am a huge garden fan anyway but this year I'm really enjoying making random things from the garden. We have grown edible flowers (coming soon), I have made rose water from out own beautiful roses. I am hoping to do something with the sunflowers and there is lavender looking at me begging to be used creatively.

                     Here is the rose water. I will be posting a step by step how to soon

I hope it's not raining as much where ever you are in the world! Though at least I won't have to water the garden :)

R x

Strawberry Salad

Yes that's right, strawberry in a salad. Don't say no so quickly! Try it out. This really is very nice.

My lovely wife picked up some strawberries today while we were doing out food shop so this was the result when she couldn't decide what she felt like for dinner. "Something light and fresh"

I aim to please

This is really quick and simple, as any salad should be


Serves 4

You will need;

250g Strawberries, tops removed and quartered
1 bag of mixed leaves or about 200g if you grow them yourself
100g Spinach leaves
1/2 red onion, sliced very thin
100g Feta
Good handful of chopped walnuts

Dressing

1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
70ml balsamic vinegar

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and pop into the fridge until needed
This can also be saved, in the fridge if you have some left over

Combine all salad ingredients and crumble the feta
Toss gently

Toss through some of the dressing


Serve with chicken, fish, or with some pizza slices like we did

I hope you enjoy

B

Where is my Sunshine?!

This morning I was standing in the kitchen looking out the window, feeling a little less than enthusiastic about the sudden disappearance of the beautiful sunshine. I don't know about where you are but I was cold and feeling like crawling back under the covers was the best option this Sunday morning.
However with a husband getting ready to leave for work and a 3 year old hanging off my leg it was sadly not an option.
I am not a fan of tea (yes I said it) and I usually don't drink coffee unless out and about, so I needed to come up with something else to pep me up. We have a rather large selection of herbal teas but I just wasn't feeling the urge for that distinctive green tea taste.

While checking the plants and herbs by the window for dehydration I, as I often do, rubbed my fingers over the mint leaves for a quick intake of beautiful aroma

**Light bulb**

Mint into a glass, pour hot water over and leave to cool. The mint infuses beautifully and leaves a warm tummy pleasing drink.

So if you're feeling chilly today and happen to grow some mint, why not try this out?

Your insides will thank you

R

Rhubard Salad

This may sound like an odd mix and I wasn't totally sure until I sat down to eat it. Let me just say this is our new top salad! Really tasty and filling. I served with lamb chops and I think they really complemented each other. This needs to go top of your list for any summer BBQs this year. How great would this colourful delight look as a gift to the host?

Pretty simple to make

3 sticks of rhubarb, cut to 2cm cubes
A good drizzle of honey
Pickled beetroot (in a jar or make your own)
Fresh spinach leaves
100g goats cheese
Good handful chopped walnuts

Dressing made with Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper


Pop the rhubarb onto a baking tray and drizzle with honey. Into an oven to soften. This won't take long. Maybe 10 mins at 180C. Keep an eye on it. Allow to cool.

If not already done, quarter the beetroot

In a bowl whisk 3 tbsp of olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Into a large salad bowl add spinach, 3/4 each of the nuts, rhubarb, beetroot, crumbled goats cheese and dressing. Toss gently with hands

Top with the remaining goats cheese, walnuts, rhubarb and beetroot

Drizzle remaining dressing on top

Fish Cakes

OK so I'm not a huge fish fan. I may manage fish fingers or some take out fish when we are at the beach but even at that I will pick at it. Its the fishy smell I'm just not the person for fish! My husband created an awesome Salmon dish for me to try. Full of flavour. The sauce was wonderful but the salmon...well it didn't stay down :/

We have had fish cakes on our menu for weeks and I never made them. I honestly think I wrote them down about 4 weeks ago. So this week I bit the bullet and WOW I can't believe I waited this long to put them on. Fresh, nothing processed and SO good! Our mini taster gobbled them with her salad!

You can use any fish you like. Ensure there are no bones. I used the food processor but feel free to not be as lazy as I am :)

You will need

500g Fresh or Fresh Frozen fish of your choice
(we used basa)
500g of mashed potato
2 tbsp Creme Fraiche
500ml Vegetable/Fish stock
1 tbsp Parsley
1 tbsp Coriander
2 tbsp dark Soy Sauce
Flour for dusting

Pop the fish (defrosted) into the food processor and blitz until broken

Add mashed potato, creme fraiche, stock and blitz

Gently mix the parsley, coriander and soy sauce


These are best shallow fried but you can pop them in a fryer if you have one

Use your hands to form patty shapes and coat lightly in flour. Gently lower
into the hot oil.

They will cook in about 20 minutes


Serve with a Rocket salad (arugula)

Pineapple Pudding

Oven Baked


Ingredients

1 Small tin pineapple rings
3oz / 85g brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
Zest of an orange

Topping
140g / 5oz flour
50g / 2oz ground almonds
85g / 3oz caster sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
5 tbsp plain yogurt
85g / 3oz melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Pre heat oven to 190C

Toss sugar, pineapple, flour & orange zest in a bowl

Using a shallow baking dish (I used round) line the base of the dish
with the pineapple rings

In a second bowl, mix dry then wet ingredients for topping

Spoon mix over the pineapples in the dish


Bake for 50mins or until skewers clean

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Asian Lettuce Wraps

So I decided this week we would be avoiding meat. I wanted to introduce my husband to an apple and considering he bought be a food processor, decided to make use of it and bring in a daily fruit/veggie juice to boost the healthy food intake! Alas I believe he has eaten one apple. One lonely apple... *sigh*

The meals however have gone down much better. I banned processed foods,at home at least *shakes fist at husband* and stocked the fridge with fresh produce. Boy it looked and smelled amazing! As an extra bonus the yummy fresh produce has been USED not wasted and I sure an feeling good. I have a few meals to share *hangs head for being a bad blogger* and I cannot think of a better place to start.

The ever amazing Miss A has shared this with me when I demanding meat free ideas from some fantastic ladies. I've slightly altered but nothing major :)
Wait till I share the rest :)

OK so here are the Asian Lettuce wraps

Serves 4

Sauce:
1/3 cup orange juice (about 80ml, fresh if possible)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes *optional*

Make this up, whisk in a bowl and leave to stand. I left mine for about 2 hours

Wraps:
1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked)
400g minced turkey, tofu or beef
2 tsp very fine chopped garlic
2 tsp very fine chopped fresh ginger
1 lrg red pepper, cut to thin strips
6 spring onions, sliced thin
2 tbsp hoisin sauce (or 3 *snigger*)
8 lettuce leaves, Iceberg works well


Before doing any prep, cook the rice. Add it to boiling water and it will take up to 20 mins

Prep away!

Pre heat a wok. Add your choice of meat or "meat" with the garlic and ginger
Cook through. Break up the meat as you cook

Add the red pepper to warm

Drain rice

Add the spring onion & hoisin sauce

To serve, add rice, meat mix to the lettuce "cup" and drizzle the sauce over


I want to eat this again just typing about it!

The Pancakes / Crepes

Here is a pancake recipe to try. This makes really light fluffy pancakes that are really easy to eat. To use this recipe for crepes you can add water to get the runnier batter

**TOP TIP**
Only flip once!

You will need

225g flour (roughly 3/4 cup)
2tsp baking powder
1tsp sugar **optional for sweet pancakes**
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter

I like to make my pancake batter the night before but leaving it for at least an hour to rest and thicken will help too. You can of course use it right away but the batter will be more runny

Pop the butter into a small dish and melt either on the stove or in the microwave. 15seconds in the microwave will do it. Set aside to cool

Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add your milk and give it a quick mix with a whisk. Add the two eggs and mix well. With the butter you have two options. Add the melted butter right before cooking


There are a million and one ways to make crepes and pancakes. The main points are for thick American style pancakes you need a thick batter that doesn't run too much when you pop it into the hot pan. For thin crepes you want a runny batter that will easily coat the whole pan in a thin layer. Don't be afraid to try the savory ones! Many people stick to the lemon and sugar but hey this day comes every year so why not try something different this year? :)

Enjoy!

Pancakes!

How how I love pancakes or should I say crepes!

Pancakes have always been a huge favourite of mine. Something that is shared in our household! This year I have been toying with the idea of doing a breakfast pancake, a lunch pancake and a dinner pancake! Of course really I will probably not be able to resist topping mine with strawberry and icing sugar for each meal... Ooops

So considering Tuesday is fast approaching, here are our top pancake ideas :)


The Grill Master
Top a crepe with cooked bacon, mushroom and onion
Fold over into a triangle
Top with grated cheese and grill until deliciously melted

The Flip Flop
Cook one side of the pancake/crepe
Flip and top with grated cheese
Cook until the underside has cooked through
Add prosciutto & wilted spinach

The Great Breakfast
American style thick pancakes (say 3)
Top with crispy bacon
Drizzle with maple syrup


A Pine Party
Pancakes or crepes
Thinly sliced pineapple rings
Sprinkle powdered sugar
Drizzle with chocolate sauce

The Trusted
Lemon & sugar

The second in command
Cinnamon & sugar

Get it into Greek **healthier option**
Top with Greek yogurt
Sliced orange segments (or fruit of choice)
Drizzle with honey

Grow Your Own

So the last while my husband and I have been talking about and planning growing a lot more of our own food. We always SAY it but this year we will DO it. Of course the herbs are there but I want to find an interesting way to display/grow them.

I am hoping to start growing peppers because we buy SO many that I would love to try saving some $$ on that.

I am considering tomatoes, courgette (zucchini), potatoes *insert Irish joke*, onions and shallots.

I want to do this mainly in pots because the soil isn't great here and I have no plans to dig up the entire garden!

I want to create a fun place for our daughter to learn how to grow her own food. I am hoping to give her a few pots for her to look after. With help obviously. I think giant sunflowers will be a must because I think they will have a great impact when she sees them grown. Plus what kid doesn't like digging in the dirt?!


I'm really looking forward to this and I can't wait to post recipes grown with OUR produce from OUR garden. *excited*


I am so ready to the rain to stop so I can get out in the garden and clear up the sad forgotten plants who have fumbled their way through the winter.

Sausage Pasta

This is a super simple dish that has been such a HUGE hit with our little one. She requests it every afternoon for dinner! The sauce is home made and can be frozen if you want to make a large batch, or you can pop it into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge.


The dish contains

400g pork/turkey sausages
Spaghetti (I always cook to much **invest in pasta portion control**)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp tomato paste
250ml veg stock


Into a pot add tin tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and stock. Bring to the boil. Simmer until it reduces by half.

Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook

While reducing, grill the sausages and slice

Done and done!

Ratatouille Chicken

Serves 4

4 Chicken Breasts, no skin
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 courgette, cut into chunks
4 tomatoes, quartered
4 tbsp olive oil


Pre heat oven to 200C

Into a deep roasting tin, add veg and drizzle with olive oil. Mix gently to coat evenly

Place chicken breasts on top and brush with olive oil

Roast for 30 min or until chicken is cooken through

Seasonal Wrap

Serves 2

1 courgetta, sliced on angle
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
2 tortillas
4 tbsp pesto
100g goats cheese/feta


best grilled

Drizzle veg with a little olive oil and grill until soft, about 2 mins

Spread 1 tbsp pesto over the wrap

Crumble cheese on top

Divide veg between wraps


**can serve 4 if using smaller portions**