Tried and true favourite recipes

@blackcat20 I'm sure you shared your pulled pork recipe somewhere but can't find it - can find a few mentions of it but not the recipe. Would you mind sharing please?
Spice mix:
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon packed golden brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 1⁄2 tsp ground coughin
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cayenne peppe
it.

Pork: I used a rolled pork shoulder. Remove the netting and the rind. Pat down and rub with olive oil, the coat with spice rub (recipe below). In the bottom of a heavy casserole dish put one slice onion and several sliced garlic gloves, and one cup of water. Sit your pork on top and let rest in the fridge overnight.

Cook at 150c for 4-5 hours.

Check the pork, it should fall apart when you stick a fork into it. I took mine out of the oven and let it sit for a little while. Then remove from the pan, and use two forks to shred or "pull" the pork. Return to the pan and mix through the onion/garlic mix. Also add enough BBQ sauce to your liking and even a bit of spice mix if you want.
 
Mars Bars brownie recipe - yummo

Ingredients:

  • 4 Mars Bars (it's cheaper to use a bag of fun-size bars, 3minis = 1 full size Mars Bar)
  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 100g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)
  • 100g plain chocolate (I used Plaistowe 70%) but the original recipe calls for a not so dark chocolate
  • 65g cocoa powder
  • 75g plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 250g caster sugar (I cut this down to 200g)
  • 3 large eggs
1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9" square tin with baking paper.

2. Chop the butter and chocolates into small chunks. Cut 2 of the Mars Bars (or 6 minis) into very small pieces. Melt these together in a large pan or in a large bowl in the microwave.

3. When it's all smooth and melted, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour in the sugar, then sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, and fold in with a metal spoon.

4. Whisk the eggs together in a small dish or jug, and slowly add them to the mix, beating them in as you go until it's nice and smooth.

5. Chop the other 2 Mars Bars (or 6 minis) into about 10 or 12 chunks and fold them into the mix.

6. Pour and scrape the mix into your lined tin, and spread it evenly into the corners, levelling it out on top.

(NB: At this point, I'd recommend pushing any exposed pieces of Mars Bar back into the mix, as I found the sugary nougat and caramel burnt and crystallised quite quickly)

7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few sticky crumbs on.

8. Remove the tin from the oven and place on a wire rack and allow the brownies to cool IN THE TIN until they're just warm, then remove entirely and cool on the rack the rest of the way.
9. Cut to whatever size you like. I found 24 was big enough, as they're quite rich.
 
Mars Bars brownie recipe - yummo

Ingredients:

  • 4 Mars Bars (it's cheaper to use a bag of fun-size bars, 3minis = 1 full size Mars Bar)
  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 100g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)
  • 100g plain chocolate (I used Plaistowe 70%) but the original recipe calls for a not so dark chocolate
  • 65g cocoa powder
  • 75g plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 250g caster sugar (I cut this down to 200g)
  • 3 large eggs
1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9" square tin with baking paper.

2. Chop the butter and chocolates into small chunks. Cut 2 of the Mars Bars (or 6 minis) into very small pieces. Melt these together in a large pan or in a large bowl in the microwave.

3. When it's all smooth and melted, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour in the sugar, then sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, and fold in with a metal spoon.

4. Whisk the eggs together in a small dish or jug, and slowly add them to the mix, beating them in as you go until it's nice and smooth.

5. Chop the other 2 Mars Bars (or 6 minis) into about 10 or 12 chunks and fold them into the mix.

6. Pour and scrape the mix into your lined tin, and spread it evenly into the corners, levelling it out on top.

(NB: At this point, I'd recommend pushing any exposed pieces of Mars Bar back into the mix, as I found the sugary nougat and caramel burnt and crystallised quite quickly)

7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few sticky crumbs on.

8. Remove the tin from the oven and place on a wire rack and allow the brownies to cool IN THE TIN until they're just warm, then remove entirely and cool on the rack the rest of the way.
9. Cut to whatever size you like. I found 24 was big enough, as they're quite rich.

I will definitely try this recipe, good thing I have a couple of Mars bars on my fridge.
 
Bit of a catch up with some throw together meals Ive been making

Home made chicken pies. Ive been using the pie maker for any leftovers and its been a winner.
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Been experimenting with Cauliflower and Almond flour to make our own pizza bases. I actually think if you dont say anything, most people wouldnt even notice other than its a thin & crispy base/not as doughy.
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My usual go-to, pretty healthy dinner is a mish mash of thai and laos dishes.

Frypan - heat oil, garlic, onion, chilli. Ginger if you want.
Add whatever veges are in the bottom of the fridge, cook. Things like broccoli, cauliflower, carrot will require extra time - do them first. Then zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum, other softer veges.
Go the 1-2-3 classic ratio of thai cooking - 1 serve sweet (I use palm sugar but you can use normal sugar, honey, whatever), 2 salty (fish sauce) and 3 sour (oyster sauce +/- lime juice or tamarind).
Just before serving, mix a bit of cornflour with a bit of water to make a runny paste. Chuck it in the pan, remove from heat and stir. Makes a nice thick gravy.
Serve with rice or noodles if you want, whatever meat (I'll often throw some fish or prawns in just after doing the sauce, but before the cornflour).

Precook the meat if not using seafood, set aside, then throw back in after the sauce stage to reheat and get coated.
 
Bit of a catch up with some throw together meals Ive been making

Home made chicken pies. Ive been using the pie maker for any leftovers and its been a winner.
View attachment 187070


Been experimenting with Cauliflower and Almond flour to make our own pizza bases. I actually think if you dont say anything, most people wouldnt even notice other than its a thin & crispy base/not as doughy.
View attachment 187073
View attachment 187071

Sounds good and looks good as well, can you elaborate on the base, please?
 
First time was a recipe but now I generally throw the below in whatever quantites that make me feel good plus garlic ect.

I dont use 2 eggs as I found the mixture was too runny so its a vibe/listen to what your mixture is telling you.

FOR THE CAULIFLOWER CRUST
  • 1 head cauliflower, chopped
  • 2 large eggs (I use only 1)
  • Almond Flour (not included in original recipe but I added as mixture felt runny)
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Mozerella or Tasty, I use whatever I have in the house and more than half a cup because hello, cheese.
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan (I use more because hello, cheese).
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (or whatever. I add garlic ect)
  • Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • Mix all together
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
  2. To make the cauliflower crust, add cauliflower to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until small size, about 2-3 cups.
    You can also buy Cauliflower "Rice" in the freezer section at Coles, which has already been chopped ect but Ive never tried it/prefer my own.
  3. Steam or microwave cauliflower
  4. Using a clean dish towel or cheese cloth, drain cauliflower completely, removing as much water as possible and let cool.
  5. Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl. Stir in eggs, mozzarella, Parmesan and Italian seasoning; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  6. Spread cauliflower mixture onto prepared baking sheet/pizza pan. I use non stick baking paper and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Sometimes I flip to cook both sides, sometimes I dont.
  7. I let the base cool/crisp before I prepare pizze.
  8. Top with pizza sauce, cheeses and whatever Place into oven and bake until the cheese has melted.
 
A super easy, always a fav, never any left over slow cooker beef recipe for todays dinner... but wait... disaster... my slow cooker wouldnt stay on low/program, it kept shutting off and beeping.

But thankfully I had a spare/in the box slow cooker (because I thought the machine was doing weird things/thought it was about to kack itself) and dinner is saved!

If you have a slow cooker - please try this recipe. I acutally put my machine on low for 10hrs because I use the cheapest chuck beef I can buy.


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Better late than never. Haven't made the sausage rolls for a bit, but I thought I'd make them as it's the NRL Grand Final:

STEP ONE - defrost 5-6 sheets puff pastry and keep moist under a damp tea towel. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

STEP TWO - Into a large bowl:
500g sausage mince
4 slices white bread (crusts removed) that have been soaked in warm water and wrung to remove water,
finely chopped large onion, shallots, grated carrot, parsley - whatever takes your flavour fancy (I sometimes throw in a bit of curry powder or finely chopped celery and mint). Even pistachios work well in these!
2 large tablespoons mixed herbs
1 tablespoon each of sea salt flakes and white pepper plus a sprinkle of any other seasoning that you prefer.

2 x egg yolks mixed with a teaspoon of cold water and stored in a solid glass jug with a pastry brush. (Glaze)


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STEP THREE

Mix with hands to form a nice moist combination - the bread will prevent the meat from shrinking during cooking, so never omit it. Spoon into a large icing bag and place a sheet of pastry across the board as illustrated.

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STEP FOUR

Pipe a generous roll of mixture across the edge closest to you. Roll up to halfway and split the sheet in half with a sharp knife. Flatten the roll slightly and cut into 7 small equal rolls.

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Glaze with the egg mixture and arrange on a large tray that has been lined with baking paper. Repeat until full and bake in a moderately hot oven 15 minutes, then reduce for another 20 mins or until golden brown.

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Serve with ketchup or chutney. Enjoy!

Edited to include the sausage mince as base ingredient - as per Mr Clipped's begging. He wants his favourite recipe, not my wild antics.
 
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Better late than never. Haven't made the sausage rolls for a bit, but I thought I'd make them as it's the NRL Grand Final:

STEP ONE - defrost 5-6 sheets puff pastry and keep moist under a damp tea towel. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

STEP TWO - Into a large bowl:
500g pork/veal mince (or good quality beef mince)
4 slices white bread (crusts removed) that have been soaked in warm water and wrung to remove water,
finely chopped large onion, shallots, fennel, grated carrot, parsley - whatever takes your flavour fancy (I sometimes throw in a bit of curry powder or finely chopped celery and mint). Even pistachios work well in these!
2 large tablespoons mixed herbs
1 tablespoon each of sea salt flakes and white pepper plus a sprinkle of any other seasoning that you prefer.

2 x egg yolks mixed with a teaspoon of cold water and stored in a solid glass jug with a pastry brush. (Glaze)

View attachment 191518

STEP THREE

Mix with hands to form a nice moist combination - the bread will prevent the meat from shrinking during cooking, so never omit it. Spoon into a large icing bag and place a sheet of pastry across the board as illustrated.

View attachment 191519

View attachment 191520

STEP FOUR

Pipe a generous roll of mixture across the edge closest to you. Roll up to halfway and split the sheet in half with a sharp knife. Flatten the roll slightly and cut into 7 small equal rolls.

View attachment 191521

View attachment 191522

View attachment 191523

Glaze with the egg mixture and arrange on a large tray that has been lined with baking paper. Repeat until full and bake in a moderately hot oven 15 minutes, then reduce for another 20 mins or until golden brown.

View attachment 191524

View attachment 191525

Serve with ketchup or chutney. Enjoy!
Well I’m just really impressed with your photography for each step!
 
So Mr Clipped has begged me to discard the pork & veal mince version - he says it is nothing on my sausage mince rolls. I have edited the above recipe to appease him.
 
Fantastic slow cooked beef. Not the cheapest of meals but we got a lot out of it (fed 5 comfortably with enough left over for salad for lunch the next day )

 
As requested...... 👍

Difficult to make right now, white flour seems to be around but brown or wholemeal is like gold dust. Good luck and enjoy! Here's what it looks like.. when it's nearly gone :D
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Irish Brown Bread (soda bread)
I use an 8 oz cup but a bit bigger is not a problem. If you have measuring cups it's better otherwise just convert it to metric.
1 cups plain flour
2 cups brown flour coarse texture if you can find it but not essential.
1 cup porridge oats
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tablespoon bread soda
1/2 tablespoon salt
Mix together to blend all dry ingredients.
Add 4 tablespoons olive oil and 1 egg. (If you have a pastry blender it's much easier to mix in to dry ingredients.)
Blend until dry ingredients look like small peas, I add enough buttermilk until all dry ingredients are moist and you have a thick dropping consistency. About 1/4 ltr.
Put dough in a greaseproof lined or greased 1lb tin. I use loaf tin liners. Make sure the dough is well pushed into corners using back of a metal spoon, It will be sticky. Now here is the secret. Wet the back of the spoon with cold water and level the top. This will keep the top moist enough while cooking to rise nicely. If you have a bread making setting on you oven you will get great results bake for 35 mins. Otherwise bake at 220 / gas mark 7 for 35 mins. If you have a dodgy oven you may have to tweak times.
 
As we're just start self isolation, I'll be making it later today. Will post a photo then as it cooks.

Sweet. Isn't it amazing, I have never cooked so much as I have cooked this week. Rather than duck out for takeaway (apologies to our local but we just don't have the funds to do that anymore) I find myself sifting through the pantry and devising meals from whatever I find. Our son is studying Hospitality in Year 11 but he is now home after the school transitioned to online. So I decided to give him a basic cooking session each afternoon.

Today's lesson was (appropriately) Anzac Cookies:

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