Nutella Macarons

I have failed making macarons so many times it's not funny. If it's not my shell failing from being under cooked, put in the oven too soon, or the feet not rising much, it's my filling that fails. Well this day, somehow, my macarons decided to work.


- 1 egg white
- 50g caster sugar
- 30g icing sugar
- 30g almond meal
- some chopped hazelnuts (for the top)
- nutella (for the filling)


1. Whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar until stiff peaks form.


2. Fold in the sifted combined icing sugar and almond meal. (DO NOT OVER MIX)


3. Pipe blobs of mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and leave to rest for 30 minutes.


4. After 30 minutes, touch a blob lightly. If it doesn't stick to you, then they're ready to go into the oven. If they do, leave until it doesn't. Add some chopped hazelnuts to every 2nd blob.


5. Bake for 15 minutes at 150 degrees celcius. Once 15 minutes is up, if you lightly push on a shell and it doesn't move on the feet, they're ready. If they do move, leave for another minute. Remove from the oven and cool.


6. Once cool, sandwich together with the amount of nutella to your liking.

step 3

 

 

 

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Cannelloni

Every time that I've made this dish I've used the hard cannelloni rolls to stuff. I have so much trouble trying to fill them because they always seemed to break on me. I've even tried to stuff them after cooking them a little bit making them softer... made it worse if you ask me. But when I shopping for my ingredients, I noticed in the fridge section there's fresh lasagne sheets and next to them were FRESH CANNELLONI SHEETS. These were so easy to use!! They're in little rectangles, you put your stuffing on them, then they just roll up without tearing!!

- 1 tub creamed ricotta
- 1 tub cottage cheese
- 2 packets fresh cannelloni sheets
- 1 bunch spinach
- 2 small cans of tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian salad herbs
- 1 packet parmesan cheese

1. Cook spinach until it is soft, set aside and cool.

2. When cooled, add the mixed cheeses and a little of the parmesan.

3. Stuff the cannelloni sheets with the spinach mixture and roll.

4. Make the sauce by combining the canned tomatoes with the salad herbs in a saucepan and heating. Add salt and pepper.

5. Put the rolled cannelloni into baking trays and top with sauce and parmesan cheese.

6. Bake at 180 degrees celcius until the cheese has browned to your liking.

step 3

step 5

step 5

 

Beef Stroganoff

Just when I thought I finished making the dish, I realized I forgot one of the main ingredients. The sour cream. Thank goodness I realized before it was too late.

- 2 tablespoons oil                    
- 500g beef, cut in strips                          

- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 420g can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon worcestshire sauce
- 150g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons parsley

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the beef and cook for 3 minutes or until browned. Add the onion and paprika and cook until soft.

2. Add the soup, tomato sauce, and worcestshire sauce and mix well. Stir in the mushrooms. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until meat is tender.

3. Stir in the sour cream and parsley.  

Orzo with Sundried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

When I found this recipe, I didn't know what orzo was. I was thinking maybe it was some sort of Spanish meat. Boy I was wrong. I looked it up, and found it was a type of pasta. I just used risoni in the dish as it looked the same. I could not believe the taste of the sun dried tomatoes. They're so tasty!

- 1 cup orzo (in my case risoni)                    

- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat your stock in a saucepan.

2. In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until it is soft.

3. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are cooked. Remove to a bowl.

4. Add the orzo to the pan. Stir to coat the orzo with the oil.

5. Cook the orzo like a risotto... Add a little bit of the hot stock to the orzo, stir occasionally to avoid sticking, then when that stock is soaked up, add a little more. Continue until all the stock is gone ad the orzo is tender.

6. Add the mushroom mixture that you set aside in the bowl (STEP 3). Mix in the parmesan cheese and parsley.

7. Check for salt and pepper.

Zucchini Lasagne

Trust me to forget to take photos of this dish as I went along. This recipe I don't have any photos for it as once I thought to take photos of it, it was already made under a layer of melted cheese. I find for my liking, I needed to add a little extra salt in the middle of eating it. I just didn't put enough while I was making it.

*SAUCE:

- 3x400g tins of diced tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of Italian salad herbs

- Lasagne sheets
- 1 kg zucchini, sliced
- 3 cups fresh ricotta
- salt to taste
- 100g grated parmesan


1. Place all the sauce ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the garlic, oil and salt. Cook for 1 minute.


2. Layer in a lasagne dish: sauce, lasagne sheet, zucchini, then ricotta. End with a layer of sauce then top with parmesan.


3. Bake at 180 degrees celcius with lids off until cheese is to your liking on top.  

Teriyaki Chicken and Mushroom Pies

- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 kg chicken                                            

- 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 150g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup thick teriyaki marinade and sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
- 5 shallots
- 3 sheets puff pastry

1. Place flour in a large bag, add chicken and coat well.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the oil and add the chicken. Remove and set aside.

3. Add the mushrooms and garlic to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes until golden. Return the chicken and any juices. Combine the marinade, stock, and sweet chilli sauce in a jug. Add to the chicken mixture. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes, or until chicken is well coated. Add the chopped shallots.

4. Turn mixture into pies by using a pie cooking machine, or by making a casing out of the pastry and bake for 30-35 minutes.  

Melting Moments

I think this to myself every time I make these biscuits, and do you think I remember? nope. I think these biscuits need to be cooked a little longer, as they feel some what claggy when eaten.

BISCUIT:
- 125g butter
- 2 tablespoons sifted icing sugar     

- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup cornflour

FILLING:
- 30g butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1-2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius, and lightly grease a baking tray.

2. Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy (BISCUIT)

3. Sift flours together and combine with the butter mixture (BISCUIT)

4. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place 3 cm apart, and flatten with a fork. Bake for 10-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

5. Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, adding enough milk to make a spreadable mixture. Cool biscuits and sandwich 2 biscuits together with this filling.