Spiced Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

• 500g lamb mince $7.00
• 3 sheets puff pastry $4.89
• 3 carrots $0.75
• 1/2 cabbage $1.20
• 3 spring onionds $0.50
• Bunch of mint $2.45
• 2 cloves of garlic $0.50
• Mayo $1.00
• 1 egg $0.50
  
• Dips: (didn't use much so not full price)
  hummus $1.00
  spring onion $1.00
  tzaziki $1.00
  
• Spices: $2.00 (*shrug*)
  hot paprika 1tsp
  tumeric 1/2 tsp
  cinnamon 1/2 tsp
  nutmeg 1/2 tsp
  allspice 1/2 tsp
  ginger 1/2 tsp
  cummin 1/2 tsp
  coriander 1/2 tsp
  Total $23.79
  

Method

1. Toast and grind whole spices.
   
   
2. Make a coleslaw, I used the food processor then clean it out
3. Process mint, lamb, garlic, 1 carrot (2 others were for the slaw) until finely minced.
4. Roll into logs and place onto pastry, I cut each sheet in half so I ended up with 6. Roll up pastry and brush with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
   
5. Bake in oven for 15-20 @ 200c
6. Serve with slaw and an assortment of dips.
   

Time to prepare: A suprising 50 minutes
Family Contentedness: 2 year consumed everything in sight and was spotted removing the pastry from the meat so he could get at just that, 4 year old consumed with a minimum of whining, albeit slathered with tomato sauce, with a little wheedling he ate the slaw too. Wife came looking for more.
Inspiration: Lifted lock stock and barrel from the pages of the sept 2008 delicious magazine.

Veal Saltimbocca or was that marsala

Ingredients

• 400g veal "schnitzel" $11.00
• 4 slices prosciutto $3.20
• 1 bunch sage $2.45
• 1 bunch carrots $1.90
• 1 bunch brocollini $2.30
• 2 squash $2.10
• 50g butter $0.50
• 100 ml white wine $2.00 (yep the picture has marsala, I changed my mind mid-cook)
  
• 1 lemon free from the tree
  Total $25.45
  

Method

1. Cut the veal into equal size pieces and pound the crap out of it to make it uniformly 5mm thick.
2. Slice the veg up into roughly equal sized pieces. I like to cut the carrots lengthwise.
   
3. Pick and place sage leaves on veal and then cover with prosciutto. Fold a corner over and pound some more to hold things in place.
   
   
4. Lightly coat both sides of the veal in well seasoned flour and fry in a little olive oil, start with the prosciutto side down over a medium heat.
5. In another pan, heat some oil and chuck in the veg.
   
6. When the veal is nice and brown, flip it and crank up the heat.
7. Pour about 50ml of water into the veg pan and cover to allow steam to soften the veg.
   
8. With the veal still in the pan, deglaze with the juice of the lemon and the white wine.
9. Once it starts to boil, turn down the heat and stir in the butter. (note it's important to let it split, like I did. Umm, that's a joke, I messed up it looks ugly but still tastes okay)
   
   
10. Toss the garlic in the veg pan and turn off the heat.
11. Season the sauce and serve.
    

Time to cook: 20 minutes
Family Contentedness: 2 year old scoffed the lot, he seemed to really like the softness of the veal; 4 year old whined about a sore tummy (4 year old speak for I don't like the look of that) and had to be cajoled into eating it, wouldn't touch the squash at all; wife is 24 weeks pregnant now so small meals are the go, but she liked the lemony bite to the sauce.

Chicken with Thyme and tomato

Ingredients

• 400g free range chicken thighs $8.90
• 800ml tomato passata $2.95
• 1 bunch thyme $2.45
• 400g cannelini beans $1.85
• 1/2 Garlic bread (I cheated and bought it) $2.45
  Total $18.60
  

Method

1. Trim the chicken things of excess fat
2. Whack garlic bread in preheated oven.
   
3. Strip 5-10 sprigs of thyme to make about 3 tbps of leaves and chop 'em up.
   
4. Fry thighs until nice and brown in a little olive oil, flavour the oil with a few springs of thyme if you like, use a big pan and be sure to remove the sprigs when the chicken is done
   
5. Pour in the passata and bring to the boil
   
   
6. Add the chopped thyme leaves.
7. When the tomato is good and thick, stir in the beans and heat through.
8. Serve with garlic bread for sauce sopping.

Time to prepare: 20 mins
Family happiness: 2 year old slurped it up and came looking for more (be careful he doesn't gag on any of the sprigs of thyme if you miss any, mine did), 4 year turned up his nose at the beans and ate the chicken, passata and garlic bread. Wife seemed happy, but she had it nuked so not really a reasonable test.

Pad Thai Lie

Not an authentic pad thai, hence the name, but tasty and quick none the less.
Ingredients

• 400g free range chicken thighs $7.20
• 1 capsicum $0.75
• 1 head brocolli $1.80
• 50g chopped peanuts $1.00
• 100g beanshoots $1.50
• 1 bunch coriander $2.45
• Rice noodles 400g $2.99
• 2 cloves garlic $0.50 (did end up using it)
  
• 1 stick celery $0.40
• 1/2 jar pad thai paste $2.45 (I used asia at home brand, seems to be free of numbered ingredients and actually consists of the stuff I'd use to make the sauce albeit with a lot more sugar)
  
• 8 snow peas $1.20
  Total $22.24
  

Method

1. Slice up all the veg into smallish bits, I like to cut on the bias to give more surface area to collect sauce and char.
2. Soak noodles in hot water to separate
3. Slice chicken thighs into strips.
4. Chop coarsely the coriander
   
   
5. In batches stir fry the chicken until 95% cooked, remove from heat and keep warm
6. In batches stir fry the veg, except bean shoots, until tender.
7. Add chicken back to pan (all at once) and stir in sauce.
8. Add veg back to pan and add more sauce.
9. When chicken is done, add noodles and mix.
10. When noodles are hot, remove from heat and stir through bean shoots and peanuts
    

Time to cook: 15 minutes
Family happiness: 4 year old eats chicken, noodles and veg avoiding the bean shoots; 2 year old won't feed himself with this but happily eats when fed (BTW 2 year olds don't really chew their food so bean shoots tend to trigger the gag reflex when they try and swallow); wife gobbles and comes looking for more.

Lamb roulade with carrots, brocollini and lime cous-cous

Ingredients

• 400g lamb backstrap $12.00
• Bunch of baby carrots $1.95
• Bunch of brocollini $2.45
• Sprig of basil $0.50
• 100g marinated roast capsicum $1.20
• 10 mini mozarella balls $2.00
• 100g Couscous $1.75
• 1 * Lime $0.75
• 2 * garlic cloves $1.20
  Total $23.80
  

Method

1. Remove zest from lime and mix with instant cous-cous.
   
2. Slice carrots in half length ways, and the brocollini into bits on the bias.
3. Chop the garlic finely.
4. Cut each backstrap in two length ways and beat with a meat mallet until they are roughly the same thickness. Season them well.
5. Lay basil, then capsicum, then mozarella slices on the backstrap.
   
   
6. Roll and secure with something (I used satay sticks)
   
7. Heat up two pans and put in a little oil. Chuck the carrots and brocollini into one.
8. Place the lamb into the other, cook on both sides for about 3 minutes.
9. Toss the carrots and brocollini after they have had some time to carmelise.
10. Toss about 1/4 cup of water into the veg pan and cover both pans. (to steam the veg and roast the lamb).
11. Cover the cous-cous with boiling water.
12. Wait five minutes then remove the lids from the pans and fluff up the cous-cous.
13. Plate up and eat.

Time to prepare: About 20 minutes
Audience happiness factor: 4 year old, 1 thumb up; 2 year old 2 thumbs up, wife 1 thumbs up (not a fan of the cous cous)

Chicken "Quesadillas"

Ingredients (sorry forgot to photograph before preping)

• 1 * Large roast free range chicken 10.40
• 15 * Tortillas 2.95
• 1 bunch coriander 2.45
  
• 300g colby cheese 3.45
  
• 1 corn cob 0.50
• 1 carrot 0.50
  
• 1 half head cabbage 1.95
  
• 2 sticks celery 0.45
• 1 egg 0.50
  
• 100ml canola Oil 1.00
  
• 1 tsp dijon mustard 0.25
  Total $24.40

Method

1. Make mayo in normal way, whisk yolk and oil together slowly, whisk the mustard in early.
2. Chop carrot, cabbage and celery and mix together with mayo
3. Remove kernels from corn cob, finely chop coriander leaves and mix.
4. Shred chicken and mix with corn
5. Dump in enough cheese to make a nice mixture.
   
   
6. To cook, lay a tortilla on a sandwich grill cover with chicken cheese mixture and some slaw, then lay another tortilla on top and toast.
7. For the little ones just cover half the tortilla with the chicken/slaw mix and fold over.
   

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: length of meal, I cook at the table.

5 C Risotto (chicken, corn, chorizo, capsicum, coriander)

Ingredients

• 400g free range chicken thighs $7.60
• 2 Chorizo $3.80
• 200g Arborio rice $1.20
• 2l Veal stock home made $4.20
• 1 White onion $0.40
  
• 6 baby capsicum $2.00 (on special)
• 120g can sweetcorn kernels $0.65
• Bunch coriander $2.45
• 2 cloves garlic $0.50
  
• Salt and Pepper $0.05
  Total $22.20
  
  

Method

1. Chop, dice and slice all ingredients as appropriate. The coriander roots are the best bit so chop them as well
   
   
2. Stick the stock in a pot and get it to a gentle simmer.
   
3. Fry the chorizo and chicken in a little olive oil, then remove from pan. Don't discard the oil it will have been flavoured nicely by the chorizo.
   
4. Saute the onion, garlic, coriander roots and capsicum until the capsicum and onion is soft.
   
5. Add the rice to the oil and stir until it is well coated.
6. When it's nice and hot, add ladles of the stock to the rice and stir like heck.
7. When the rice squishes nicely between your fingers add back the meat and then the coriander tops.
8. Season the dish
   
9. If you have some in the fridge grate some parmesan cheese into the hot rice and stir.