Better Than I Expected

Do you ever look at a recipe and think it looks good, then go to make it and think that it might not be so great after all? That's what I did with this one. Happily, the end result was quite tasty and I was pleasantly surprised. The kids scarfed it down, even Ms Picky (aka Offspring #2), so I think it's fair to say that I'd consider making it again. The original recipe is for 8 so I halved it (although I wasn't especially careful with with measurements, sorry) and still had leftovers - guess what the kids are having for dinner tomorrow night? I used half of a cooked chook from the supermarket but if you had leftover chicken from last night's roast dinner this would be a perfect way to use it up. I also cooked mine a little longer than suggested, only because I made it earlier this afternoon and then threw it in the fridge for a few hours so it needed to be properly heated through.

Chicken and Vegetable Pasta Bake
Good Taste, August 2007

Serves 8

1 tbs olive oil

1 brown onion, coarsely chopped

2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped

2 corncobs, husks and silk removed, kernels removed (I used a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and corn instead)

2 zucchini, trimmed, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed (I used the jarred variety)

300g dried risoni pasta

1 large roast chicken, skin and bones removed, meat shredded

1 1/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs

1 cup coarsely grated cheddar

Bechamel sauce

60g butter

1/3 cup plain flour

3 cups milk, warmed

2/3 cup coarsely grated cheese

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, corn kernels, zucchini and garlic and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

3. To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute or until the mixture bubbles. Remove from heat. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until well combined. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheddar.

4. Preheat oven to 190C. Add the pasta, bechamel sauce and chicken to the zucchini mixture and stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the pasta mixture into a 3 litre (12cup) capacity ovenproof dish.

5. Combine the breadcrumbs and cheddar in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the pasta mixture. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Serve.

More Reading Material

Just in case you don't have enough blogs to visit, here are a few more that I've been loving lately and will be adding to my sidebar when I get a chance. It might not be real soon though as things here are a little hectic. I can't make the links a different colour so they show up all pretty-like so just hold your cursor over the name of the blog and click on it to link over and have a read. (Edited to add: YAY!! I made it work so now the links are a different colour and you can find then real easily.)

Mountain Mama visited here a while ago and, as a matter of courtesy, I popped over to check out her site. I love it. She's on the other side of the country to me in a gorgeous country town and shares bits about her life and some lovely photos too. Go check out the tornado that just swept through her town - wow!

Iris is in Germany and I have been reading her blog for a while now. She loves Australia, she's funny and she lives a completely different life to me - all good reasons that I enjoy reading Double-Half.

Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice is one of the original Daring Bakers and she makes the most fabulous food and provides gorgeous photos too. Even if you're not big on baking, this one is worth visiting simply for the drool factor! You can also check out The Daring Bakers blogroll to see all the results from the participant's latest challenge.

And finally, a relatively new blog that has just been bought to my attention by Karen at Bitstop is Rock Recipes. Again, the drool factor is unavoidable and there is a nice mix of recipes on there.

Hope you enjoy browsing.

Sweet and Chewy

I made this slice the other day and we all enjoyed it. This is very sweet and also a bit rich so cut it into smaller than normal pieces and they should be just right.

A tip: If you're storing this in the fridge, like we are in this 37C heat, pull it out of the fridge about 5 minutes before you want to eat it so it's chewy rather than rock hard!

Choc, Apricot and Almond Slice
Woman's Day, April 30, 2007

125g butter, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 cups rolled oats

100g milk chocolate, finely chopped, plus extra 40g, melted

1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow, 160C. Lightly grease and line an 18 x 28cm slice pan.

2. Combine butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium pan. Stir over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until sugar dissolves.

3. Transfer butter mixture to a large bowl. Add oats, chocolate, flour, apricots and almonds. Mix well.

4. Press mixture firmly into prepared pan. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden.

5. Once slice is cold, drizzle with remaining melted chocolate. Allow to set. Cut into serving size pieces and store in an airtight container.

Here's another recipe that has been in the Ugly Binder for a while. I kept putting it off because of Offspring #2's hatred of pumpkin but finally decided to make it and pull the pumpkin bits out of her serving. Defeatist, I know, but I am sick of fighting with the kids at dinner time. They are generally very good but they both have a stubborn streak about a mile wide (hmmm... now where could that have come from??? LOL) and they are being fussy and painful at the moment.

Hubby and I really enjoyed this. It was tasty, easy and used up the leftover chicken quite nicely. Offspring #1 was very tired and being a big grump so I'm not going to count his opinion as I know that generally he would like this sort of dish. #2? Yeah, she lived up to expectations and ate the cheese out of the salad.

I had some of the leftovers for lunch and it is just as yummy cold the next day. I'll make this one again. Oh, and the photo? No, the vege bake isn't sitting on newspaper, the baking dish is clear glass and that is sitting on the newspaper!

Di's Vege Bake
Super Food Ideas, February 2007

Serves 6

5 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1 cup grated tasty cheese

1 carrot, peeled, grated (they were small so I used 2)

1 zucchini, trimmed, grated

4 green onions, finely chopped (didn't have any so I diced a brown onion and sauteed it with some dried mixed herbs)

150g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes

4 cup mushrooms, chopped (I used about 10 button mushrooms)

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped (didn't add this, see the note about the onion)

I also used the leftover chicken meat from the previous nights roasted chicken pieces. I guess I added about 1 1/2 cups worth.

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a 4cm deep, 20cm (base) square baking dish.

2. Whisk eggs and oil together in a jug. Combine flour, cheese, carrot, zucchini, onions, pumpkin, mushrooms and parsley (and the leftover chicken meat) in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add egg mixture and stir to combine.

3. Spoon vegetable mixture into prepared dish. Smooth surface. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden and set. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into squares. Serve hot or cold.

Oh Dear!

You know what kind of a day it is when you don't realise that the batteries you just threw into the rubbish bin were the rechargeables. And if you don't fish them out Hubby is going to go ballistic (because it's not the first, or even the second, time you've done this). So you find yourself sorting through such delights as last night's chicken bones, chopped up bits of lettuce, fusty bits of cheese, the contents of your purse that you cleaned out this morning and more soggy teabags than you care to remember... and that's the recognisable bits.

Bleurch!