Spicy Sausage and Bacon Paella

Description:
I highly doubt this recipe is for an authentic paella. But it's quick, easy and relatively cheap to make. You can serve this as a main meal or it would make a great side dish at a BBQ or pot luck dinner.

This doesn't last long in our household so I usually make a double batch! It's a good recipe to freeze, I usually do this with leftovers, in single sized servings.



Ingredients:
* 3 chorizo (or other spicy sausage or salami), sliced diagonally
* 4 rashers bacon, chopped
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 green capsicum, sliced (I prefer zucchini)
* 1 clove of garlic, crushed
* 11/2 cups long-grain white rice
* 440 g canned tomatoes
* 3/4 cup chicken stock
* 1 teaspoon turmeric
* salt & pepper, to taste

Note: You can also add/vary the ingredients depending on what vegetables you have on hand at the time. Finely chopped broccoli is good. I sometimes add a few chopped mushrooms and/or 1/2 cup of frozen peas.

Directions:
Cook the sausages and bacon in a large electric frying pan, or a skillet until well browned (about 5 mins). Remove from pan & drain on paper towels.

Add onion, capsicum, garlic & rice to the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring for 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes (incl juice), chicken stock & turmeric. Stir to combine.

Cover pan with a tight fitting lid and bring slowly to the boil. Stir, cover again then reduce to a simmer, for approx 25 minutes or until the liquid is almost absorbed and the rice is tender.

Return the sausage & bacon to the pan, stir and heat through. Season with salt & pepper.

**My Notes**
The first few times I made this I did it the way shown above. But I found it took far longer than 25 minutes simmering for the rice to cook. I also had to keep adding extra chicken stock.I can't stand hard or undercooked rice so now I cheat! I partially cook the rice in the microwave for about 9-10 minutes & add it to the pan when I add the tomatoes. I still add chicken stock at that point (but halve the amount). Reduce the simmer time to 15-20 minutes and it turns out perfect every time.

Thai Green Chicken Curry

Description:
This is another favourite in our house.

Making this from scratch really doesn't take much longer than using a pre-prepared sauce, but you really notice the difference in taste!



Ingredients:
* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* 1 brown onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 3cm piece of ginger, peeled, grated
* 1 tablespoon green curry paste
* 1kg chicken breast fillets, trimmed, cut into 2cm cubes
* 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
* 1/3 cup Ayam Light Coconut Milk
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce
* 1 large lime, juiced
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 cup coriander leaves
* 1/2 cup mint leaves
* 1 cup steamed jasmine rice and
* lime wedges, to serve

Sometimes I will add fresh noodles to the curry instead of serving it on rice.
Bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and mushrooms are optional extras I occasionally add, if I don't have the full quantity of chicken the recipe calls for.

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in curry paste. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.
2. Add chicken to pan. Stir to coat in curry mixture & toss until the chicken is cooked through.
Combine stock, coconut milk and 1 cup water in a jug. Stir into curry mixture. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil.
3. Combine fish sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice and sugar in a small bowl. Stir into curry. Roughly chop half the coriander and mint. Stir into curry. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
4. Spoon curry over rice. Top with remaining coriander and mint. Serve with lime.

Another draft out of the way - Yaay

Beer Battered Onion Rings

Description:
I've had this recipe for some time & finally got around to making it tonight. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It rated much better in my books than different recipes I've tried in past. The batter was very light and extremely crispy, and didn't go at all soggy.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Egg (or egg replacer equivalent of one egg)
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 12-oz. beer
3 large sweet onions, sliced into rings
Vegetable oil for frying


Directions:
•In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

•Add the egg, oil, and beer and stir until just combined.

•Dip the onion rings into the batter, then drop them into hot vegetable oil (about 365°F).

•Cook in batches, until golden and crispy (about 2-3 mins), then remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Rating:	★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

I'm sure you all know what it's like to wait for a movie to come out that you really want to see & then you find out it's a piece of crap? I kinda felt this way about this movie.

I was excited when I heard that one of my favourite books from one of my all time favourite authors was going to be made into a movie. I really enjoyed both of the Elizabeth movies & had hoped this would be of a similar quality.

With the exception of Natalie Portman ( who starred as Anne Boleyn) the rest of the casting was abysmal. Scarlett Johansson (Mary) couldn't act her way out of a paper bag, even with a map and a compass. David Morrissey (the Duke of Norfolk) just couldn't compare in presence or talent to Christopher Eccleston's performance in Elizabeth and they could have substituted Eric Bana (King Henry V111) with a store mannequin and no one would have noticed.

The screenplay was weak. I couldn't wait for this one to end.

If you think I wouldn't recommend buying a copy of this movie then you'd be dead wrong. Yes you should buy it..........and give it to that family member you really don't like this christmas.

Linguine with Smoked __________ (you fill in the blank)

Description:
This is a recipe I stumbled across several years ago & I've tried it with smoked chicken, ham, salmon & turkey.

The ingredients stay basically the same, although when using the salmon I skip the mustard & add a little fresh dill instead.

Whilst I prefer the taste of the smoked ingredient I've also done this on occasion using regular leftover roast chicken.

Sometimes I'll add a few sliced button mushrooms, zucchini or cucumbers depends on whether I have any handy at the time...The key is to keep it simple...don't add too many extras to confuse the flavours.

Ingredients:
400 - 500 gms of linguine pasta. (I can't find this fresh here so I use a dried version)
1 smoked chicken (or substitute). Approx 300-500 gms.
300-400 gms sour cream (Lite is okay, you can't tell the difference)
1-2 T wholegrain mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

The ingredients are rough because I don't really measure exact quantities

Directions:
Okay here's how you put it together....

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil & cook the linguine until al dente. Drain the pasta but reserve 1/2 cup of the water in case you need to thin the sauce. (I think I've only ever done this once)

If using smoked chicken, remove all the meat & discard the skin & bones. Slice into bite size chunks.

Place the sour cream in a frying pan & warm it over a very low heat until it thins, stir in the mustard (or dill) and season to taste with salt & pepper. Add the smoked ingredient. Toss in the linguine & parsley & mix well until coated.
Serve....

I serve this as a main, along with a garlic or herb bread, although it could easily be served as a side dish also.

Raspberry Cheesecake

Description:
I took the cheesecake recipe that Iri posted (which was delicious btw) for Lee's cooking challenge and adapted it from a pineapple flavoured one to raspberry.

This turned out really well ;)

Ingredients:
Base
1 pkt biscuits (digestives or superwine)
100g butter
¼ tsp cinnamon
3 tsp brown sugar

Topping
3 tsp gelatine
½ cup hot water
60g cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp vanilla
300gms fresh or frozen raspberries
150ml cream

Directions:
Crush biscuits finely. Stir in melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Press mixture into tin. Chill in the fridge until needed.

Dissolve gelatine in hot water and cool. In the foodprocessor cream sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese. Add half of the raspberries and continue mixing until smooth.Then stir in the gelatine. Whip cream and fold into mixture. Pour onto base and chill to set.

The remaining raspberries can be used to decorate the top of the cheesecake, once chilled, or served on the side.

The Original
Instead of the raspberries you will need a 450g tin crushed pineapple and 1 tbsp lemon juice. After you have creamed the sugar and the cream cheese add the lemon juice, pineapple and gelatine, stir well then fold in the cream.

Carrot Cake

Description:
Carey-Ann posted this recipe a few weeks back saying she came across this recipe 10 years ago & it's the best carrot cake she has ever had.

Cake making is not my forte but I thought I would give this a try. I didn't add either the walnuts or the coconut first time around. I don't have enough cake pans to try the tier cake so I just made the large one.
I have to say I was very impressed. The pineapple adds a really nice flavour and the cake was light and moist.

Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil (sunflower oil)
4 eggs
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup coconut (optional)

Cream Cheese Icing:

1/2 cup (112 gms) butter
8oz (225 gms ) cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb (450 gms) icing sugar




Directions:
Preheat Oven to 180°C (350°F)

Sift first 5 ingredients. Add sugar, oil and eggs and mix well. Blend in the rest of the cake ingredients.
Grease and flour cake pans.
Makes either - a 3 layer cake, bake for approx 35 minutes.
- or 1 large 13x9 inch cake tin, bake for approx 45 minutes.

Icing: Combine ingredients; mix well. Makes enough for a 3 layer cake. For large cake, cut icing ingredients in half.