Layered Garden Salad

I know it's winter over here and I've been cooking warm/hot comfort food for my family; anything cold would put me off and I'd usually boil or roast my vegies. So I was quite surprised myself when I felt like having some salad last weekend. But for all of you Northern Hemisphere folks, I thought I'd share this as it would be just the right thing for you to have now. This is called Layered Garden Salad. It's really creamy and refreshing at the same time. I love the mix-of-tastes-coming-together-in-one-salad kind of feel to it. It's even cheesy, which I love as well. I usually use a larger clear glass salad bowl for it as it is layered and it looks great seen through clear glass, but with this one I didn't use the full amount of ingredients in the recipe, I simply halved or adjusted to the amount I needed for this particular bowl as I thought the full amount is too much for just my family and I and I didn't want to waste as salads don't keep well if not eaten up straight away.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 lettuce
2 cups (250g) frozen peas
2 hard boiled eggs
250g mushrooms (finely chopped)
125g Tasty Cheddar Cheese (grated)
1 cup Mayonnaise ( I used "Whole Egg" Mayo, you can use any)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teasppons French mustard
6 shallots
4 rashes bacon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tomato, cut into wedges

(1) Shred lettuce coarsely, place in salad bowl.
(2) Sprinkle in cooked frozen peas over lettuce.
(3) Push eggs through sieve. Combine with finely chopped mushrooms. Spread over peas, topped with grated cheese.
(4) Combine mayo, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice and shallots. Pour over cheese.
(5) Dice bacon, fry in pan until crisp, drain.
(6) Top with tomato wedges, bacon and chopped parsley before serving. Enjoy!My early flowering (winter flowering) Australian-bred Lavenders from the Ruffles Collection are just starting to flower in my garden, they are a delight in the wintery dreary cold weather, even though they are not in their full-bloom glory yet; they have a superb scent which warms my heart! Simply lovely!

Nutty Rice Salad

There have been many overcast, cloudy and rainy days here, which suit me fine, as I love photographing outdoors when it doesn't have the glare of the sun cast on everything I try to shoot, but every now and again, a momentary slither of sunshine will crack through the clouds to say "Hi, I'm still here!"

Pink Simplicity
Golden Years
St. Cecilia Golden Years
Gold Bunny Ambridge Rose Jubilee Celebration
Ambridge Rose Gold Bunny Golden Years, Tamora buds
I was at my kitchen bench making "Nutty Rice Salad" and I noticed how beautiful things were partly shaded and partly washed in sunshine. So my inspiration juices started flowing and I quickly grabbed my camera, knowing this moment would pass all too soon if I didn't capture it.
The sun was simply playing Hide and Seek, one moment it was there, the next it was gone. So I could only comply and just used this to my advantage. I also got my new "French Chairs" mug (Salon Rouge by Christopher Vine) which my sister gave me and some gift spice jars involved, then one thing led to another, I got the roses in the pitchers to join in the fun as well. I even pulled them out of their comfort zone and made them stack on each other. They didn't mind one bit, they were awashed in the golden glow and showed off their glory (under the changing lighting circumstances) ever so beautifully and bravely.

These roses below consist of Golden Years (Yellow), Ambridge Rose (Apricot) and Jubilee Celebration (Medium Pink)Can't you tell I got a bit carried away? Now back to the Nutty Rice Salad, here's the recipe if you are interested in making it. It's a very tasty and nutritious salad, I love brown rice, and this is a more interesting way of eating brown rice. Hope you'll enjoy making and eating it. It's a great salad especially when you want a break from the normal tossed garden salad.

Ingredients:

200gm raw (1-2 cups cooked) brown rice
3-4 spring onion, or shallots
1 medium red capsicum/ bell pepper, diced, small pieces
3/4 cup dried currants (from dried fruit section)
4 tablespoons unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons Sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons Pine nuts
Medium can of corn kernals, drained
Chopped Parsley - a few sprigs (I used Continental or flat-leafed parsley, but you can use any parsley)
Cracked black pepper

For dressing:

1 1/2 tablespoons Sunflower Seed or Grapeseed Oil
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves crushed garlic

Roast cashews in oven till golden. (180C for around 10 minutes) Set aside. Cook brown rice according to instructions. When rice is cool, mix everything together (including dressing). If you are not serving it immediately, just delay adding the nuts in till you serve or the nuts will be soggy. Enjoy!!!

Maggie's Garden Muffins

I found this recipe in the Muffin Bible and the name caught my fancy. "Maggie's Garden Muffins". So I thought I'd try and bake them since the ingredients looked so healthy and I love zucchini, herbs, olive oil, pine nuts and cheese. The fabulous thing is they are all in one muffin.
Since these are Garden Muffins, I decided to help them appear "gardenish" by giving them the company of roses and herbs out of my garden. I think they feel right at home alongside all these garden buddies.
I was delighted to see that even the kids loved eating them, here is how to make them:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg, plus 2 egg whites
2/3 cup skim milk (I used full cream)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup grated zhuccini
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/3 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts (you have to have the pine nuts, they are soooo good in these!)

(1) Preheat oven to 220C. Grease muffin tins.

(2) Sift flours, baking powder and salt in large bowl.

(3) In a smaller bowl, whisk egg, egg whites, milk and oil until well blended. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, mix gently.

(4) Mix grated zucchini, basil, garlic, cheese and nuts into the mixture. Fill three-quarters full in muffin tins. (One of the tins I used made small bite-size muffins, great for kids!)

(5) Bake for 20 minutes. It's that simple!

Makes around 10-12 muffins. Edit: Please note that I made a mistake with the amount of Baking Powder, it should be 1 tablespoon instead of 1 teaspoon, which I've changed in the ingredients above. Sorry for the inconvenience caused by this.

Savoury Crepe with all the goodies

Here is a simple one for lunch, brunch or even dinner. My kids simply love crepes. I learnt how to make crepes for the whole family when I was around ten. We used to have them for breakfast with jam. So I don't have a set recipe as such when I make crepes, I simply mix self-raising flour with eggs, water and a bit of milk to get the consistency and amount I want, crepe batter is usually a bit runnier than pancake batter. You also make crepes thinner than you normally would pancakes. Then to top your crepe, you can use all sorts of meat and vegies. Some people roll it all up, but I eat it flat and open with all the goodies heaped on it. I used lettuce, cooked fresh mushrooms, sweet corn, tuna and a bit of mayonnaise and heaps of cracked black pepper. Well, after having savoury crepes, my kids made their favourite sweet one topped with chocolate topping and icing sugar. I let them as that is truly delicious, I know, I say it's not as healthy, but I graciously let them have it as a dessert. Have a yummy weekend, hope you get to cook...........crepes.

Quick Snack

One of the easiest ways to prepare a quick snack is by putting cracker biscuits, assorted cheeses and some fruit and vegies together on a cheeseboard. Apart from using it for parties, this is also very handy for when friends drop by your house for a quick visit. You can choose your favourite cheeses, but there are also assorted cheeses and biscuits readily packeted in the supermarket for this very purpose. I love Camembert, so I always have to include that. Sometimes I also use a dip with this.

Choc Almond Biscotti

Biscotti in Italy is a generic name referring to any type of biscuit/cookie. But in Australia (and North America), it refers to a dry, crisp, "twice-baked" biscuit/cookie which is very good for dunking into coffee, hot chocolate etc.
Often when we go to a cafe, a slice or two of biscotti is served with our cup of coffee and I feel like they're only like teasers. I love munching on Biscotti and so I make them at home myself. This is one of the recipes I love. Very more-ish as they are not too sweet and the nuts are simply delicious and nutritious. Happy munching and crunching!


Here's the recipe:

3 egg whites
1/3 cup (75g) of caster sugar
3/4 cup (110g) plain flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup (120g) blanched almonds, toasted

(1) Preheat oven to moderate (180C).

(2) Lightly grease 8cmx26cm bar cake pan; cover base and sides with baking paper.

(3) Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form; gradually add sugar, beating until sugar is dissolved between additions.

(4) Fold in combined sifted flour and cocoa powder, then almonds; spread mixture into prepared pan.

(5) Bake in moderate oven about 25 minutes or until loaf is browned lightly. Cool in pan for 2 hours.

(6) Preheat oven to slow(130C)

(7) Using a serrated or electric knife, cut loaf into 1cm slices. Place slices in a single layer on ungreased oven trays.

(8) Bake in slow oven about 15-20 minutes or until crisp and dry, cool on wire racks.

Cheesy Snack

These extremely simple and easy-as-pie Mini Cheesy Scrolls (Cheesy Buttons) are so more-ish and tasty. My kids (including their school friends) and hubby simply can't stay away from them until they've finished eating the whole lot every time I make them.

You only need four ingredients!
Puff pastry sheets (I use frozen store-bought ones, as puff pastry is too troublesome to make)
Philly's cream cheese
Grated Cheddar Cheese
French Onion Soup Mix to taste (in a packet)

I haven't given you the amount of each ingredient you need as I simply judge by "about this much" and "about that much", it's a word of mouth family kind of recipe. You know what I mean? You just have to do it and you'll know.

First, preheat oven to 220C. Leave the cream cheese out of the fridge to soften. Mix French Onion Soup Mix into the softened cream cheese, this is your chance to taste and try it, yay! Not too salty, not too bland, just right according to how you like it!

Get the puff pastry sheets out of the freezer. Pull one sheet off and put the rest back into the freezer. Cut pastry in halves with a sharp serrated knife when slightly thawed. You can even pop the other half back in the freezer as you work on the following.

Spread cream cheese and French onion soup mix on sheet. Add grated cheese on top. The amount is totally up to you.Roll the sheet to wrap around the filling. Add more cream cheese mix and grated cheese as you keep rolling.Now it's a filled roll.Slice it with your sharp serrated knife.Put on baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper, no greasing needed.Bake in the oven for around 10 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.Serve and enjoy. They are simply irresistable!Of course you can use a bit of a patriotic touch, just for fun!Warning: You'll have to keep making more, coz they'll disappear as soon as they're out of the oven.

Moussaka

Moussaka is one of the many dishes I like. Apparently it's made in many Mediterranean countries, each with a slight variation. I've always related to it as Greek. However, despite the variations, the main ingredients remain the same- a vegetable, usually aubergine, minced lamb (or beef) and a custard-like topping which can be a Bechamel sauce, sour cream or plain yogurt flavoured with cheese, and egg beaten into the mixture to give the characteristic texture. It's also a dish which makes aubergines tastier.

Before ovenI made one the other night for dinner which had no minced meat in it, it was a"Vegetable Moussaka". It tasted great, the combination of herbs, vegetables, lentils and white sauce was just delish!

Now it's cooked!

Here is the recipe:

Vegetable Moussaka

3 medium aubergines/eggplants, cut into 5mm slices
2 Tbsp olive oil, extra
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, diced
400g canned diced tomatoes
400g canned lentils, drained
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs

Cheese Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp plain flour
2 cups milk
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks

1. Cook aubergine slices in a large frypan until lightly browned. Meanwhile, heat extra olive oil in a saucepan, add onion, garlic, celery and carrot.
2. Cook stirring for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, lentils, tomato paste and dried herbs. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. For white sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring continuously, until sauce is thick and smooth. Add cheese and stir until melted through.
4. Remove from heat and add egg yolks. Line a greased 23cmx15cm baking dish with 1/3 of the aubergines, top with half the vegetables, then half the remaining aubergines, followed by vegetables, then remaining aubergines. Top with white sauce and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake in oven at 180C for 40 minutes. Serves 8.For those who might be curious about the book "Ottoline and the Yellow Cat", here are some of the illustrated pages which I was raving about. It has a sense of humour as well. Click on pictures to view larger if you want to have a read. Or simply go to www.panmacmillan.com/chrisriddell for more.

Make sure you have a great weekend, my dear friends and here are some blushing pinkiest flowers to lift your spirit.