Easy Potato Bake

Serves 4

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4 potatoes, peeled and sliced
125g diced bacon
1 onion, diced
300ml cream
1 cup grated cheese

Do This - 

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Spread half of the potatoes in a layer in the base of a greased ovenproof dish. Add half the onion, bacon, cream and cheese. Repeat with a layer of potatoes, then the remaining onion, bacon, cream and cheese. Finish the last top layer with cheese.
3. Bake in the oven until potatoes are tender and top is browned. (about 30-40 minutes)

Easy Butter Chicken

This recipe is from Taste.com.au

Serves 4

From Taste.com.au

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1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3cm piece ginger, peeled, finely grated

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

600g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

20g butter

1 brown onion, halved, thickly sliced

410g can tomato puree

1/2 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock

1/2 cup thickened cream

Basmati rice, to serve

Coriander leaves, to serve

Do This -

1. Place yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala and chilli powder in a glass or ceramic dish. Add chicken. Stir to coat. Cover. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Heat oil and butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until softened. Add chicken mixture to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chicken just starts to change colour. Add tomato puree and stock. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until chicken is tender and mixture has thickened slightly.
3. Stir in cream. Simmer for a further 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve with steamed rice and coriander leaves.

Sun dried tomato and mushroom pasta in a garlic and basil sauce

I found this recipe here but copied it into metric because it was too hard to follow in American measurements. 

Serves 4

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2 tablespoons olive oil
200g mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
100g sun-dried tomatoes, diced
2 chicken stock cubes (use vegetable for vegetarian version)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup half and half (may need to add another 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried basil (or up to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil)
fettuccine for 4

NOTE:
WHAT IS HALF AND HALF? Half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream). To make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup regular cream (heavy, or whipping cream).


Do This -

1. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat, add sliced mushrooms and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Add diced sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce heat.
2. Dissolve 2 chicken stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water. Add the broth to the pan and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes absorb some of the broth and the broth reduces somewhat. Add half and half, heavy cream and bring to boil just for a short moment. Add Parmesan cheese and cook the sauce, stirring, for a couple of minutes, on low-medium heat until the cheese melts. Add the basil.
3. If your sauce is too thick at this point - add another 1/2 cup half and half. If your sauce looks thin to you - do not continue simmering the sauce to thicken it as you will be adding pasta shortly (in the next step) - and pasta will absorb some of the sauce liquid. Even if the sauce looks thin now, it will not be so thin once you add pasta.
4. Cook fettuccine according to the package instruction. Drain and rinse in cold water (this will stop the cooking). Add the fettuccine into the sauce and continue cooking the sauce with the pasta in it, on medium heat, for a couple of minutes (or more - to achieve the desired thickness) stirring constantly to coat well.

Note: Do not add salt to the creamy sauce because it should already be salty enough from the chicken cubes. Check at the end when the sauce is done to see if some salt is needed.

4 Ingredients - Caramel Ice Cream

4 Ingredients - Garlic Prawns

4 Ingredients - Creamy Bacon & Sun Dried Tomato Chicken

Lasange

Lasagne is something I love to eat, but never make because it seems too fussy.

Well, tonight I gave it a go.

I combined three recipes from online searches and came up with this...

I reckon it's pretty good!

Serves 4

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• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g lean beef mince
• 400g can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 250g packet dried lasagne pasta sheets
• small carton of cream
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Do This -

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.
2. Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, until browned. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs and cinnamon.  Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat.
3. Soak the lasagne sheets in a single layer in boiling water for 5 mins. (Although the packet says no pre-cook, soaking improves the texture.) Drain well. 
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over base of a 7cm-deep, 25cm (base) square baking dish. Arrange pieces of lasagne over base of dish. Pour enough cream to just cover lasagne sheets. Spoon one-third of the mince mixture over pasta. Spread with one-quarter of the cheeses. Repeat layers twice. Top with lasagne sheets, cream and cheeses. Cover loosely with foil.
5. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until pasta is tender and cheese golden. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Option 1 - Replace cream with cream cheese.
Option 2 - Replace cream with ricotta cheese. 
Option 3 - Use a mix of all three

Potato Bake

Hubba wanted to cook a roast on his new Weber barbecue tonight so I thought a potato bake would be the perfect accompaniment. The only problem...I've never cooked a potato bake before! So I put the call out on Facebook and Twitter and six lovely ladies came to my rescue with six different recipes! I particularly liked this recipe from Sass. But I ended up putting the ideas together to make my own version. It had to be very plain because I was attempting to entice my 8yo Mr Fussy into trying something new. This is what I came up with...

The bad news is Mr Fussy wouldn't even try it.
The good news is Hubba loved it! And so did I!!

Serves 4

Get This -

6 potatoes
300mL cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon plain flour
salt
cheese

Do This -

1. Preheat oven to 180degC.
2. Peel and slice the potatoes.
3. Place in the bottom of an oven proof dish and sprinkle generously with salt.
4. Whisk together the cream, milk and flour.
5. Pour over the potatoes.
6. Cover with alfoil and bake for 40 minutes.
7. Remove the alfoil, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake uncovered on 200degC for a further 20 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake with Spinach & Semi-Dried Tomatoes

from Taste.com.au

Serves 4

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• 250g dried pasta
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped 
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 300ml light thickened cream
• 3/4 cup semi-dried tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Do This -

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a 5cm-deep, 20cm x 28cm (base), 8-cup capacity baking dish.
2. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 10 minutes or until tender.
3. Drain pasta and return to saucepan. Add chicken, spinach, cream, tomatoes and 1 cup parmesan. Toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared dish. Top with mozzarella and remaining parmesan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Spoon pasta bake onto serving plates. Serve.

Recipe from Taste.com.au

Fettuccine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Prosciutto

Serves 4

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1 teaspoon olive oil
100g thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips (or 4 finely chopped bacon rashers)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup pure cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
500g fettuccine
2 bunches of asparagus trimmed and cut into pieces
1 cup grated parmesan
¾ cup chopped fresh basil

Do This -

1. Cook fettuccine as per instructions on the pack.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick pan over medium heat until just smoking.  Cook prosciutto until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to paper towel-lined plate.
3. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in cream and lemon juice and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add asparagus to the pot of pasta with 4 minutes left of cooking time.  Reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain pasta and asparagus, and return to pot.
5. Add sauce, ½ cup reserved cooking water, parmesan, and basil to pot and toss to combine, adding remaining cooking water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle portions with crispy prosciutto.  Serve.

Mini Asparagus Frittatas

Makes 12

Get This - 

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup pure cream
• 1/4 cup grated tasty cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 bunch asparagus, trimmed, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped semi-dried tomatoes
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Do This -

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/170°C fan-forced. Grease 12 hole patty pan.
2. Whisk eggs, cream, cheese and garlic together in a jug. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Combine asparagus, tomato, basil and onion in a bowl. Spoon evenly into holes of prepared pan.
4. Pour egg mixture over asparagus mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and set.

Creamy Chicken Pasta Bake

Serves 4

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250g dried macaroni pasta
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
3 bacon rashers, cooked and chopped
100g broccoli
300ml light thickened cream
1 can tomatoes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Do This

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease an  8-cup capacity baking dish.
2. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 10 minutes or until tender. 
3. Drain pasta and return to saucepan. Add cooked chicken and bacon, broccoli, cream, tomatoes and parmesan. Toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared dish. Top with mozzarella. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.

Creamy Pea and Bacon Spaghetti

I had bacon in the freezer, cream in the fridge, and that was about it.
So I made this, and I'll be making it again...YUM!

(serves 4)

Get This -

300g spaghetti
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
6 rashers streaky bacon, rind removed, sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 garlic cloves, crushed
80g soft or cream cheese
300ml thin cream
1 cup (100g) grated parmesan cheese

Do This -

1. Cook pasta in a pan of boiling, salted water according to packet directions. Drain, then toss in a little olive oil.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large frypan over medium heat, then add bacon and cook until crisp and golden. Add peas and garlic and cook until garlic is no longer raw.
3. Add cream cheese and cream, then stir over low heat until cheese has melted.
4. Season with salt and plenty of cracked black pepper and stir in half of the parmesan. Add cooked spaghetti and toss. Serve topped with remaining parmesan.

Chicken Pasta Bake

If you like pasta bakes you'll love this one...easy and tasty...mmm mmm!


Serves 4


Get This -

300g of your favourite short pasta
1 onion, finely chopped
300ml cream
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 barbecue chicken, roughly chopped
3 bacon rashers
salt and pepper
1 cup tasty cheese


Do This -

• Preheat oven to 200C.
• Cook pasta in a large pot as per packet instructions.  Drain and set aside in baking dish.
• Meahwhile, cook bacon, chop, set aside.
• Saute onion in a little oil until softened but not brown.
• Add cream, bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes.
• Stir in corn, peas, parmesan, bacon and chicken and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add to pasta in baking dish, add salt and pepper and stir to mix well.
• Sprinkle cheese on top.
• Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until golden on top.
• Sprinkle with chopped parsley if you like.

I guarantee you'll want seconds!