The Family Cooking Blog

Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
500g chicken breast cut into 1″ pieces
1 medium onion
1 tbsp dried basil
3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
pepper
salt
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 can diced tomatoes
250g spiral pasta

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package instructions.
Heat oil and sauté onion until tender, salt and pepper chicken pieces and add to the pan along with the garlic, cook until cooked through.
Add can of diced tomatoes, including juice, to the onion and chicken an heat until bubbling. Add butter, milk, and cheese to the pan. After it has simmered for a while to reduce the sauce, add the basil and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
Add the cooked pasta to the chicken pan and stir to combine.
Salt the dish just enough to bring out the flavour of the basil.

Crispy Ginger Beef

Ingredients:

1 lb flank steak or sirloin steak, sliced into narrow strips
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 large carrot, julienned
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
canola oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup sugar

Preparation:

Place cornstarch in a large bowl.
Add water gradually while whisking.
Beat eggs into cornstarch mixture.
Toss in beef and stir to coat.
Pour 1 inch of oil into pan (I used a pot, it helps cut down on splashes), heat until boiling hot, but not smoking.
Add a quarter of the beef to the oil.
Separate with a fork and cook, stirring frequently, until crispy, Remove, drain on paper towel and set aside.
Repeat until all the beef is cooked.
Drain off all oil except for about 1 tablespoons and add carrots, onion, ginger, and garlic in that order.
Stir fry briefly over high heat.
Combine last 5 ingredients and add to vegetable mixture.
Bring to a boil and then add beef.
Heat through and serve immediately.

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/CRISPY-GINGER-BEEF-50004915

We were blessed with a bunch of cuts of elk from a friend at church. As I haven’t cooked much game meat before I have been a bit apprehensive to cook it, even though every time I have tried it has turned out pretty well.

Tonight I decided to have a go at making Country-Fried Elk steak for dinner. I followed this recipe and it came out fantastic!

I also did some roast mini-potato, steamed vegetable and some gravy that I made from the drippings. The recipe I linked to called for “milk gravy”, but I just made my usual meet gravy and it came out a treat.

Next time I get some elk stakes I am definitely doing this one again …

Classic Beer Aussie Damper Recipe

I’ve written a few other recipes for damper (here and here). My last one was from the Aussie Griller web site, and this one is too …

Ingredients:

2 cups plain white flour
4 tsp baking powder
60g melted butter
1/2 bottle of beer
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200C (400F)
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
Kneed the dough to form a ball for about 4 – 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
Flatten the dough ball, brush on a bit of milk and dust it.
Place in on a floured baking tray.
Place it in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

This looks like another one that I’m going to enjoy trying out …

Cheese, Bacon and Chives Damper Recipe

Previously I have written up the damper recipe that I usually use. I’ve experimented a bit with that base recipe by adding different herbs to it, but this cheese, bacon and chives damper recipe by the Aussie Griller looks delicious.

Here is how to make it:

Ingredients:

2 cups plain white flour
4 tsp baking powder
60g melted butter
200ml milk
1/2 tsp salt
Handful diced bacon
Handful shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbs chopped chives

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200C (400F)
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
Kneed the dough to form a ball for about 5 – 8 minutes until it’s nice and firm
Flatten the dough ball, brush on a bit of milk and dust it.
Place in on a floured baking tray.
Place it in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

I can’t wait to try this one and I have subscribed to the Aussie Griller YouTube channel as well so that I can try out more of their great recipes.

Baked Ground Beef Wellington

I recently borrowed another cook book from our local public library, which I reckon is the best place to check out new cook books. The book I borrowed was Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals and had some pretty good recipes in it. The version of the book that I borrowed was the international version titled “Jamie’s Ministry of Food – Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24-Hours“.

So far the favourite recipe that I tried was the Baked Minced Beef Wellington. It was surprising easy to make, and tasted great! Everyone in the family wants me to make it again…

I found a recipe online that was very similar to Jamie Oliver’s recipe. Like I said, I am definitely making this one again.

How to Make the Perfect Omlette

I am a bit embarrassed to say I have always had a hard time making omelettes. Most of the time they would turn out more like scrambled eggs than an omelette. Lately though I have finally been successful in making a good omelette thanks to watching this video by Jamie Oliver …

Since watching that I have finally been able to make a three egg omelette that actually looks and folds like an omelette. I add a bit of milk to my eggs, rather than doing straight eggs like Jamie Oliver does, and with the size of pan that I have three eggs seems to be the perfect amount for it to be easy to flip at the right moment.

My wife prefers the size of a a two egg omelette though, which is a bit trickier to flip as it is thinner by the time it is ready to flip, but so far they are turning out much better than they used to before I watched Jamie’s video.

Home Made Non-Alcoholic Eggnog Recipe

A few years ago I started to make my own Eggnog and haven’t been able to drink the store bought stuff since. Making it can be tricky as it is very easy to over cook it, and if you do you end up with scrambled eggnog, which is gross. We actually did that the first time we tried to make eggnog and it took us 5-years to work up the courage to try again, but we are glad we did…

Ingredients:

6 2/3 cups of milk
2/3 cup of white sugar
8 x beaten egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
dash of nutmeg

You can also substitute in 2 x cups of cream for 2 x cups of milk if you prefer a thicker eggnog. I have also tried 3 cups of half & half cream in place of 3 cups of milk with good success.

If you want an alcoholic version of the eggnog recipe you can substitute 2/3 cup of rum in place of 2/3 cup of the milk.

Directions:

Stir together 4 cups of milk with the 2/3 cup of sugar and egg yolks over low heat. You will want to stir constantly so that none of the egg starts to cook on the bottom of the sauce pan (trust me, you don’t want this to happen). You want to warm the mix until it just adheres to the spoon. If it starts to boil or overcooks just throw it out, otherwise it will be like drinking scrambled eggs…

As soon as the eggnog is warmed transfer it to a sink full of icy cold water and cool it for at least 2-minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the remaining 2 2/3 cups of milk and the vanilla (you can substitute the 2/3 rum in for 2/3 of milk at this point). Cool for at least another 4-hours before enjoying.

Serving:

I usually pour my eggnog on to a couple of cubes of ice and then drink sprinkle some nutmeg on top and you are set to have some eggnog that crushes anything I have ever bought from the store.

My Review of A&W Coffee

Many of the fast-food outlets including A&W, McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. are starting to upgrade the quality of their coffee, finally. I have yet to have one that comes close to what you might get from a speciality coffee place like Starbucks, Second Cup or Tim Hortons, but they’re trying…

Yesterday I got some coupons in the mail that included two free coffees from A & W. I don’t think that I have tried their coffee before, so this morning on the way home from dropping the kids off at school I thought I try it out.

My first thoughts when I got the coffee into the car was what that it actually smelt quite good! That is of course a good first step towards a good cup of coffee.

When I got home I had a chance to try to coffee and to be honest, it didn’t live up to the smell. The coffee wasn’t as hot as I would like and since I have my black with no sugar I know that it wasn’t the milk that cooled it off.

Also, the coffee was bland. The smell was stronger than the taste. I wouldn’t say that I hate the coffee, but I also wouldn’t say that I like the coffee. If I got it for free I would drink it, but it’s not a coffee I would pay for.

The best “fast food” coffee that I think you can get is still from good old Tim Hortons. Surprisingly the second best fast food coffee I think is McDonald’s, especially when they give it away for free.

A & W Coffee Nutritional Information

One thing that I find interesting about A & W coffee is the nutritional information:

Most coffee that I’ve seen has a calorie count of 0, but A & W coffee has 5 calories in it. By contrast a Tim Horton’s coffee has 0 calories. I have also never seen black coffee with no sugar that has carbohydrates or sodium in it! This makes me suspect that it’s not just ground coffee that I’m buying, but that they have added other “flavour enhancers” or junk to the coffee.

I have one more free coffee coupon that I’ll probably use, but A & W coffee isn’t something that I can see myself paying for…

Recipe for Calzone and Home Made Pizza Pops

Tonight we tried something a bit different and decided to make our own Pizza Pops.

The good thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and is a good meal to be made with the kids. My kids were all for it tonight, until their eight-week old brother was brought out for some play time. I very quickly lost my co-cooks.

So, back to the recipe…

Ingredients:

2 x Packs of refrigerated pizza dough (I used Pillsbury pizza dough crust as it was on sale)
1 x large grated carrot
4 x slices of ham, cut into small pieces
1 x small can pineapple chunks
1 x cup grated cheese
4 x tablespoons BBQ or pasta / pizza sauce

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400F (375F if convection)
Unroll the pizza crust dough on a floured surface and roll them flat
Cut each of the the pizza crust dough in half
Put 1/4 of each of the ingredients in each half of the cut pizza dough
Fold the four halves in half and press down on the three edges to seal the pockets
Place the four pizza pockets on a non-stick baking tray
Put the baking tray in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes, until the crust is baked

And that’s it. Only about 30-minutes from start to finish for this recipe.

Each pizza pocket feeds two kids or one adult. This recipe has very quickly become a new family favourite.

I think that next time I might try this recipe from Pillsbury.