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What gets me about this blog, is my total incapability to keep on top! I am not joking, this week I must have tried at least 5-6 different recipes, yet have run out of time to post them up here. Now I am only up to Recipe 44 and if I am to be "tracking along nicely" I should be up to Recipe 52. Oh dear!

Luckily enough, I have found some of the recipes I have done in the last couple of weeks and managed even to find some of the photo's I have taken of them- so YAY me! Recipes with pictures.

This recipe is from last night, as I had neighbours over for dinner. I may add the actual roast lamb itself as another recipe at another time (as I have always grown up with roasts and stupidly think that everyone knows how to make one), but today its Roasted Baby Beets as I had tonnes in my vege patch and had no idea how to cook them!

 

Recipe 44: Roasted Baby Beets

Baby Beets (or normal Beetroot)
1 tsp crushed garlic
4 sprigs of rosemary
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220c. Whilst this is heating Clean the beets washing off excess soil. 
2. Put the beets into a large pot and add enough water to cover them. Season with salt and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until just tender, then drain and place in a bowl of cooler water.
3. Using a potato peeler or knife, peel the outer skin off the beets when cool enough to handle- however you do want them warm to the touch for the next step.
4. In a bowl add garlic, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Place your beets and gently stir them around so all beets get a covering of the marinade. Leave for 5 minutes in the marinade so they absorb the sweetness.
5. After 5 minutes, place the beets on a greased roasting tray and roast for half an hour, or until the beets have a glazed dark look about them.
6. Serve with other roasted vegetables

Recipe 25: Marinated Bean Salad

As funds are getting tighter- I have now had to start digging into the freezer to find whatever I have to make a dinner. For a few weeks in December Aussie Farmers Direct provided me with at least a kilo of string beans/ Climber beans- something that as a family we do not eat a lot of, as basically, I only know how to boil them and then put them on a plate beside a piece of meat.
Thank goodness for Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at home". Everything is basic ingredients but fabulous taste and this one was no exception!

Marinated Bean Salad

Marinade:
2 small shallots or 1/2 a small red onion, peeled and very finely chopped.
Handful of fresh soft herbs - recommend chervil, parsley, tarragon, the yellow inner celery leaves are nice as well
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil


Approximately 250g Green Beans or Mixed Beans topped but not tailed


METHOD

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Drop in the beans and cook for about 5 minutes. When perfectly done, drain them in a colander.
2. To make the marinade, mix the shallot or onion in a bowl with the herbs, mustard, vinegar and approx of 4 tbsp of Olive oil.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the hot cooked beans and toss. Put to one side to allow the beans to cool down and take on all the fantastic flavours - then eat!

Recipe 21 & 22: Greek Salad with Lemon dressing

I love summer, nothing like vitamin D, a tan and summer fruit and vegetables. I also seem to be ok with dealing with greens.

Recipe number twenty one, (187 to go!) is one of the quickest salads ever and still is quite filling, so can be used as a main. Although Jamie Oliver deems it "Greek Salad"  I don't believe its exactly kosher.... it has Greek feta and olives- that's about it.

I have made this now twice and slightly different both times. Word of warning though, do not make it 1hr advance of your dinner party, otherwise it turns everything soggy :(

Avocado and Feta Salad

2 tomatoes
1 avocado
1 spanish onion
1 tsp dried oregano
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Handful of pitted olives
1 lemon
about 200g Feta Cheese
Lettuce mix (or Cos lettuce)
1/4 Ciabatta loaf *optional see step 5*

METHOD

1. Peel, stone and avocado. Cut into wedges and place in a bowl with squeezed half of a lemon. Cut the tomatoes erratically into 1cm shapes, finely dice the shallot.
2. Put the tomatoes, shallot, oregano with the avocado, splash with vinegar, a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside for 5 minutes
3. Rinse the lettuce mix and either put on separate plates or on one platter. Sprinkle the pitted olives onto the salad, spoon the avocado and tomato mix on, crumb feta cheese over. Toss the salad lightly.
4. Just prior to serving, drizzle the vinegar mix over the salad and with the second half of the lemon spritz the salad. Or alternatively serve with the lemon dressing (recipe 22)
5. *To add a little bit of carbs, grill slices of ciabatta with olive oil and either serve on the side or, wait till cool and then crumb over the salad (if you decide to crumb the bread, I would recommend preparing it just after step 1.)

Lemon Dressing

1 Lemon

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

METHOD

1. squeeze a whole lemon into a jug and then add olive oil - double that of what was squeezed from the lemon. e.g. if you squeeze 50ml of lemon juice, use 100ml of olive oil.
2. Taste and then add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Note: it will separate after a few hours, just shake before serving.

Recipe 20: Potato and Horseradish Salad

I got stuck into cleaning out the pantry today. Its been a mess for so long, full of bits and pieces that are in no particular order and so much so that we have doubled even tripled some ingredients like gravox (seriously, who needs 3 packets of the stuff? We make gravy only once every 3 months or so!). After doing that, I turned to our fridge and was not surprised to find so many bottles of pickled ingredients right at the back, but also resting amongst the piles of pickled onions, chargrilled capsicums was none other than 1/4 of a jar of horseradish cream- something that I had become somewhat addicted to during my pregnancy.
Being 30c, I realised that there was no way I could cook something hot.
With untold bags of new potatoes and Jamie Oliver behind me I set out to make a potato salad that would go with the beef roast strips that were resting in the fridge.

Potato and Horseradish Salad

680g new potatoes (I used 8 new potatoes)
salt and pepper
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 a celery heart, keep the small yellow leaves but with the stalks chopped finely
a bunch of flat leaved parsley, leaves picked and chopped
2-3 tsp grated horseradish (I used 1/4 jar of horse radish cream- which worked well instead)
3 heaped tblsp sourcream
a bunch of fresh tarragon leaves
extra virgin olive oil


METHOD

1. Chop the new potatoes into small pieces, boil the new potatoes in a pot of salted water until nicely cooked. Drain them and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Pour most of the lemon juice into a large bowl and add a good pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper, the chopped celery, parsley and horseradish.
3. Mix in the sour cream into the mixture, have a taste and if needed add more lemon juice.
4. Add the potatoes and mix well.

Serve with the roast beef, spoon on the potato salad and then for looks, garnish with the celery and tarragon leaves and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Nom, Nom, Nom, Best Potato salad I have ever made (but then again the first one I have made!)