Tomato & Prosciutto Risotto

My kids really love risotto. I make it all the time. This is my favourite tomato based one. If you can't get the Bush Tomato spice don't worry, it will still taste great without it.

2 slices Prosciutto per person
1 & 1/2 cups Aborio Rice
1 onion finely diced
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons ground Bush Tomato
1 teaspoon dried thyme (2 if using fresh)
1 tin tomatoes
1 cup red or white wine
3 cups chicken stock (approx)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the slices of prosciutto until browned & crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Cook the onion in a little oil until soft with a good pinch of salt. Add the garlic and rice and cook for a few minutes (keep stirring it). Add the cup of wine and tomatoes. Keep stiring until most of the moisture is gone. Add the Bush Tomato & Thyme. The keep adding chicken stock 1/2 a cup at a time until the rice has absorbed it all and the rice is tender. You need to keep stiring the whole time and the process should take about 20mins. Add the parmesan cheese just before stirring. Plate up the risotto and serve with a couple of slices of the crispy prosciutto. You can also top with extra parma cheese, fresh chopped parsley and cracked black pepper.

This serves 3 generously or 4 entree sized portions.

Chilli Beef & Cashew Stir Fry

This stir fry came about because I had few different sauces in my fridge and I was wanting to use them up. It turned out so well I now make this all the time. If you don't like chilli just leave the sambal paste out.

500g beef strips

1 onion sliced

1 red capsicum sliced

1 clove garlic minced

1 x 2cm piece of ginger grated

1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek paste (chilli paste)

2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce

2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon corn flour

1/4 cup chicken stock or water

1 cup cashew nuts

Stir fry the beef in a very hot wok or frypan until browned and set aside.

Cook the onion, capsicum, ginger & garlic until the onion is starting to turn translucent.

Add the beef back to the wok (including any juices), then add the Hoisin, Oyster, Soy Sauces and Sambal Oelek. Mix the cornflour into the stock/water and add to wok. Cook until sauce thickens slightly then add cashew nuts.

White Chocolate, Pistachio & Lemon Myrtle Cookies

I love to make use of my collection of Native Australian Spices from Herbies. Came up with this cookie one day and everyone loved the combination. This makes aboout 16 cookies. I usually double the recipe and freeze half of the dough for another day.

125g unsalted butter (at room temp)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground lemon myrtle
pinch salt
80g pistachio nuts
1 packet white chocolate chips (I use Nestle)

Preheat oven to 180deg and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add the egg & vanilla and mix well.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & lemon myrtle and place in the bowl with the butter egg mixture. Add the nuts and chocolate chips. Combine all until a dough forms (but don't overwork it).

Drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking tray and press down with a fork. You should leave a 2cm gap between each cookie.

Bake for 12-15mins until golden brown.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Ina Garten is one of my favourite cooks. I love her peanut butter brownies, however (like most American recipes) there is way too much butter & sugar in them. Therefore I have come up with my own version of her brownies. You can leave out the peanut butter to just have ordinary ones or add any additional flavours you like.

200g dark chocolate

250g unsalted butter

1 & 1/4 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup castor sugar

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 teaspoons peanut butter

Preheat oven to 180 deg. Line a square or rectangular slice tin with baking paper.

In the microwave, gently melt the butter and chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour & cocoa powder and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla and sugar until combined (a hand held whisk is just fine for this).

Combine the egg mixture with the melted chocolate & butter. Then gently fold the egg/chocolate into the flour.

Drop the teaspoons of peanut butter into the baking tin in a random pattern. Pour the brownie mix over the top. Very carefully, swirl each teaspoon of peanut butter through the mixture to create a marbled effect (don't over do it or the peanut butter will get lost!!)

Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 mins. The brownies should be gooey when you remove them from the oven.

Egg Fried Rice

I love this recipe. It works so well as a side dish to any stir fry / Asian style meal, is very easy to prepare and really yummy. I first saw this on the show 'Chinese Food Made Easy' on Foxtel. The tomato sounds strange but it really works well. You can see the original recipe here:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/eggfriedrice_89260.shtml

Hope you enjoy!

2 cups cooked & cold Jasmine or Basmati Rice
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3 eggs, beaten
2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup soya sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup choppped spring (green) onion

Heat a wok or frypan until smoking and add 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil. Add the eggs and cook (as you would an omlette) until just set. Remove from wok, slice into strips and set aside. Transfer the scrambled eggs to a warm plate and set aside.

Add the remaining grapeseed oil. Add the cooked rice and stir well to break up the grains, then add the tomatoes and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
Return the egg to the wok with the rice and tomatoes along with the soya sauce and sesame oil. Add the spring onion and cook for another 30 secs then it's ready to eat.

This recipe serves 4 people.

Making Your Own Laundry Detergent

For a few years now I have been making my own liquid laundry soap. With lots of kids and a sports mad Husband I found myself going through a ton of the stuff and it was costing me a fortune. Now I can make 40 litres of the stuff for around $6 (the same cost as a 1 litre 'brand name' in the supermarket) and it only takes about 15mins.

This recipe is for around 10 litres. Just double it if you want to make a bigger batch.

1.5 litres hot water

1 x Sunlight Soap Laundry Bar

1/2 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

Grate the Sunlight Soap with a cheese grater and slowly dissolve in a saucepan with the hot (but not boiling) water. You will need to stand & stir until it's completly dissolved.

Tip soapy water into an 11 litre (or more) bucket. Add the Washing Soda & Borax and stir well (mixture will be thick at this point). Then add about 9-10 litres of hot water from the tap. Stir well again and put aside to cool down (it will seem too thin but don't worry). After about 2 hours of cooling stir the liquid with a whisk to get rid of any lumps and combine any parts that have gone soild already. Then cover with a lid and let it cool overnight. The next morning it will be ready to use and will have thickened up nicely.