WEEK 2 COOKING CLASS.....TOMATO AND BASIL TART

Tomato and basil is the base of this tart ..
You can mix bacon , salami or chicken in with the cheese if you like.
Preheat your oven to 200deg C
Place ready made  sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured bench .
Mark a line around the border , 1"wide ....without cutting through the pasty.
Spray an oven tray with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle with fine polenta .
Place the pastry sheet on the tray . 
Now lightly sprinkle fine polenta over the pastry and set aside .
Slice a small tub of cherry tomatoes in half .
Lightly beat 2 eggs together .
Using a wooden spoon beat together in a large bowl  ..   375gm of ricotta cheese , the 2 lightly beaten eggs , 200gm of grated parmesan cheese , 1 tbs of minced garlic and a handful of fresh parsley , basil and mint finely chopped .( and the finely chopped meat or chicken if using )
Spoon the mixture inside the marked edge of the pastry and scatter over  the halved cherry tomatoes .
Place the pastry in the preheated oven on the baking tray  for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed .

 

GIPPSLAND FM 104.7

Tuesday 11am - 1 pm Traralgon and the Valley talks with Keith Ritchie ,  Cameron Coster  ( who is filling in for Vic Blackwood this week ) and I answering the cooking questions you never thought to ask ......!
What is vegetable oil ?
How to make the perfect scone  ?....
How to centre the yolk in a hard boiled egg and why would you ? The answer to that question is for Jan Street .
The best way to harvest rhubarb ?
Come and join the conversation tomorrow 11am  - 1 pm on Gippsland FM 104.7.

SUNDAY AT THE MANOR

This morning Ziggy the bulldog slept till she woke , usually I force her out of bed because of my work commitments .

Ziggy then joined  Winston ( the Husky ) and they dined on baked fish fillets and I enjoyed turkey fillet on toast with apple sauce ...
Once the dishes , washing and floors were dealt with ....
I decided tonight was to be a lazy Sunday Lasagne and   threw  a few basic ingredients together and then  I was out  in the garden .
Spring is the rebirth of the garden , there are so many pregnant buds on an assortment of plants ..but today it was about my orchids.......they are all in flower .......the Australian natives ,
specsiousum , cymbidium , spider orchid ......
Don’t over complicate your days off .....keep it simple .
Just because I can ..I’m serving the lasagne with chips in preference to a salad

 

ASIAN MEATBALLS WITH A CUCUMBER SALAD

Welcome back for term 4...
The  kitchen was full of amazing aromas ......the success of this recipe is the added flavours ..
So impressed with everything about this recipe ...I will be serving it at The Manor on the 19th of October ..

MEATBALL MIXTURE
Combine 1 kg of a good lean mince with 1 dsp of sesame oil , 1 cup of fine breadcrumbs , 1 tsp of minced garlic , 2 lightly beaten eggs at room temp , 1 dsp of minced garlic , 2 spring onions ( green part only ) finely sliced .
Now shape the mixture into golf sized balls .
Preheat a large pan drizzled with rice bran oil and cook meatballs in batches on  a high heat till cooked through .
Once the meatballs are done start preparing the sauce.
ASIAN SAUCE ....
Whisk together 2/3rds of a cup of hoisin sauce , 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar , 1 dspof minced garlic ,, 2 tbs of soy sauce / tamari, 1 tsp of sesame oil,  tsp of minced ginger .
Pour the sauce gently over the meatballs and gently stir till covered .
Sprinkle with sesame seeds .
Serve with a cucumber salad .....
CUCUMBER SALAD
To make this salad slice thin strips from 2 Lebanese cucumbers , using a vegetable peeler .
Place the cucumber strips into a bowl and add 1 dsp of sesame oil ,1 tsp of fish sauce , , 1/2 tstsp of brown sugar and 1 tbs of mirin.
Mix gently and refrigerate until ready to serve .

NOELENE'S COOKING CLASSES TERM 1V 2018.

WEEK 1 ......
ASIAN MEATBALLS WITH CUCUMBER SALAD

WEEK 2................TRUE SAUSAGE ROLLS
 CREAMY APPLE TART

WEEK3 .................SALAD WEEK
POTATO SALAD WITH MUSTARD DRESSING
WARM BEETROOT SALAD WITH SWEET POTATO CHIPS

WEEK 4 ................
LANCASHIRE HOTPOT
APPLE AND BLUEBERRY( BROWN BETTY ) CRUMBLE

WEEK 5
COQ AU VIN
TWIN BIKKIES

WEEK 6................
CHICKEN SATAY PIZZA
4 INGREDIENT BLACK FOREST CAKE .

WEEK 7 ...................
CHILLI CON CARNE
CHOCOLATE TART

WEEK 8 ...................
QUICK GORGONZOLA FOCACCIA
HARVEST SALAD

WEEK 9................
GLAZED HAM
BEST EVER CHRISTMAS CAKE .

BERRY COBBLER

Preheat your oven to 160 deg C.
Spread 600gm of frozen mixed berries ( thawed ) in a greased 23 cm baking dish .
Now sprinkle 1 packet of vanilla cake mix ( generic brand is fine ) in a medium bowl and combine with 1 lightly beaten egg and 120 gm of softened margarine .
Spoon this mixture over the thawed berries .
Bake in the preheated oven on 160 deg C for 45 minutes or until golden brown .
There you have it , a simple 4 ingredient dessert .
Serve with cream and or ice cream , delicious!

CHINESE CUSTARD TARTS

Chinese custard tarts are a custard egg tart and are common in various Asian countries , Portugal, Brazil and Britain .
You will need sheets of short crust pastry`.
Cut out circles to fit medium sized muffin cavities of a muffin tray .
Press the pastry circles into greased muffin cavities that have been lightly sprinkled with fine polenta .
Preheat your oven to 200 deg C
CUSTARD FILLING .....
Combine 125gm of castor sugar with  3/4 of a cup of water in a small pot over a medium heat till the sugar dissolves .
Cool completely.
Add 3 lightly beaten eggs and 90 ml of milk to the sugar syrup.
Mix to combine .
Carefully pour into the pastry cases .
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven .
Then  reduce heat to 180 deg C and bake for another 10 minutes or until filling is set .