Detox... Totally insane right? Or is it?

I recently suffered a head cold. Frustrated by the constant need to blow my nose, I curled up on the couch with my blanket and packet of tissues and did some research on the 'why and how' we get sick with the common cold. The human body is an amazing thing. It has the ability to heal itself, even when put under immense pressure. Everyday we breathe in, ingest and absorb toxins; from the water we drink from kitchen taps that is laden with chemical contaminants, to the preservatives and additives in our food. They all have toxic effects on our body, and when our body can no longer cope with processing all this nasty stuff, it presses the 'evacuate' button. Enter the common cold, stage left. It has been estimated that, on average, we eat or drink about 3.75 litres of pesticides, take in five kilograms of chemical food additives and breathe in two grams of solid polution per year! Now that I have read up on the facts, I'm glad to have this cold. It means that my body is running efficiently. If I drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy and keep rested I feel certain I will feel much better on the flip-side.

Give lentils a chance...

Ok... So most meat eaters out there automatically start making faces of pure disgust at the mere mention of lentils. Why mess with the iconic meat pie by getting rid of the meat? But - I swear, lentils work SO well with this fantastic combo of mushrooms, crispy puff pastry and tongue-tingling mango, with a hint of mild curry to tie it all together. It makes 2 pies - and each pie serves 3 or 4 if served with a side salad or roasted vegies. They freeze really well, just defrost overnight in the fridge and then pop it in a 160 oC oven until heated through and crispy again. Serve it with some extra mango chutney or a dollop of natural yoghurt. Or, for the less adventurous, it tastes awesome with a slathering of tomato sauce. Lentil, Mushroom and Spinach En Croute 1 tbs olive oil 100g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced 3 cups baby spinach 150g roasted capsicum strips, drained sliced 800g canned brown lentils, rinsed and drained 2 tsp mild curry powder 2 tbs mango chutney, extra to serve 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 1 egg, beaten Plain yoghurt to serve Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Cook mushrooms, stirring, for 1 minute until it softens slightly. Add spinach, capsicum, lentils, curry powder and chutney. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 mins until well combined and spinich wilts. Allow to cool completely. Preheat oven to 180 oC. Line 2 trays with baking paper. Spread 1/4 of the mix down centre of one piece of pastry and then another 1/4 down the centre of the other. Top with cheese then evenly place remaining lentil mixture on top of cheese. Fold over, making sure to join the pastry together properly to avoid pie from splitting. Close in the ends of pie to enclose filling completely. Brush pastry with egg. Bake for 30 mins till golden. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Lasagne Kicks Butt

Chuck - It - Together Lasagne

400g beef mince

1 onion, chopped

olive oil

1 jar of pasta sauce (I use what ever is on special!)

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

1 small zucchini, grated

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup grated mozzerella cheese

30g butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 and a 1/2 cups milk

fresh lasagne sheets (you will need about 6... you can get them in packets in the dairy cabinet of supermarket)

METHOD

Splash a bit of olive oil into a deep frying pan or large saucepan. Heat over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until soft and then add mince. Break up with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until brown. Add Pasta sauce and bring to gentle simmer. Add Carrot and zucchini and cover and simmer, stirring occassionally. Cook for around 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. When melted add the flour. Stirring constantly until it bubbles, around 5 minutes. While stirring, add the milk, a little at a time. Continue stirring until sauce thickens. Using a wire whisk will help reduce the 'lumps'.

Grease a baking dish. Spoon some of the meat sauce onto the base of the dish. Then Layer with lasagne sheets, cutting to fit. Then layer with some more meat sauce, top with some of the white sauce and then top with a little of both cheeses.

Then repeat - lasagne sheets, meat sauce, white sauce and cheese, until no more sauce is left. You need to end with the cheese.

Cook in a pre-heated oven. 180oC. Cover with foil for the first 45 mins, and then uncover for 15 minutes.

I serve my lasagne with a simple salad.

Baby rocket leaves

Cherry tomatoes

Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Dressing made of olive oil and lemon juice - shaken up together in a clean jar.

Basil Chicken Cannelloni For My Suzy Poo

This one is for my dear friend Suzy. She is moving away and asked for me to keep posting things on here for her to make for her man. Lol. I have made this for the suzmeister before and she liked it so... here you are my love.

Basil Chicken Cannelloni on Wilted Spinach

Preparation Time 10 minutes Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1 3/4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1 small white onion, cut into quarters

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 1/4 tbs plain flour

365ml milk

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

450g lean chicken breast mince

1 120g pkt instant dried cannelloni tubes

30g (1/4 cup) shredded light mozzarella

1 bunch English spinach, stems trimmed, washed

Method Position an oven shelf in top rack of oven. Preheat oven to 230°C. Brush a 17 x 23cm shallow (base measurement) baking dish with 1/2 tsp of oil. Place 1 1/2 cups of basil leaves, onion, garlic, flour, 85ml milk, remaining oil, 1/2 tsp salt in bowl of a food processor. Process until basil is chopped. Combine mince, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1 tbs of basil mixture in bowl. Fill each cannelloni tube. Place in a single layer in the baking dish. Place remaining milk and basil mixture in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until mixture thickens. Pour sauce over the cannelloni and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes or until cannelloni are tender when pierced with a knife. Meanwhile, place the spinach with water clinging to the leaves in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, covered, shaking pan occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Place spinach on plates, top with 3 cannelloni tubes and remaining basil.

Recipe by Jane Charlton Australian Good Taste - July 2002

• Try using fresh lasagne sheets (you can buy them in packets in the dairy case at the supermarket) instead of the crusty old dried cannelloni tubes. You just put the filling in the centre of one sheet of lasagne pasta and roll 'em up! Easy as and they taste SO much better and don't go crusty and dry out when cooked.
• I found that adding a can of chopped tomatoes over the top of the dish along with the basil sauce makes it more of a 'meal'.
• I like serving this dish as an entree at dinner parties, as it is simple and tasty and gets the taste buds tingling. Mwah ha ha!!!!

Mmm... Italian Beefy Goodness

Mmmm... Italian food at it's best. Try this dish and you will look like a true Italian Mama.

Beef Braciole (Italian Beef Rolls)

Ingredients (serves 4)

6 x 1cm-thick slices beef scotch fillet or topside steak, trimmed

2 tbs finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbs finely grated parmesan cheese

2 tbs toasted pine nuts

6 slices prosciutto, halved widthways

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 cup (125ml) dry red wine

2 cups tomato passata* (sieved tomatoes)

1/4 cup sliced basil leaves, shredded

Method

Using a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound the steaks between sheets of baking paper to about 5mm thick. Cut steaks in 2 widthways. (You can ask your butcher to do this for you.) Combine the parsley, garlic, parmesan and pine nuts in a small bowl and season with sea salt and black pepper. Lay the prosciutto slices over each steak and scatter with parsley mixture. Roll up to enclose and secure with toothpicks. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat and cook the rolls for 3-4 minutes, turning, until browned all over. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Add wine to hot pan and boil until reduced by half. Add the passata and bring to the boil, then simmer over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Return rolls and any juices to pan, then scatter with basil and cook for 3 minutes or until heated through. Slice rolls in half and serve with soft polenta (see related recipe), if desired.

Notes & tips * Available in bottles from supermarkets.

delicious. Magazine - May 2006

Vegetarian can be VERY tasty!

This would hands down be the TASTIEST zucchini slice I have ever tried. It is simple to make too. The fresh herbs mixed with the feta and Parmesan cheese make this slice perfect for lunch or dinner. It is suggested to serve this slice with a Potato, Avocado, Pecan and Watercress salad. Just cook and cut some baby potatoes in half, slice the avocado, dry roast and crumble the pecans and lay them all on top of some watercress. I then top this salad with a dressing made up of some mayonnaise and a teaspoon of Dijon or wholegrain mustard and a bit of olive oil to thin the dressing down if need be. The salad compliments this slice perfectly and makes it a deliciously healthy well balanced meal.

Zucchini, Feta and Mint Slice

Ingredients (serves 6)

Polenta or breadcrumbs, to dust

700g (about 8) zucchini, coarsely grated

5 eggs

1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil, plus extra to brush

1 cup chopped chives

1/2 cup roughly chopped mint (or dill or basil)

220g feta, crumbled

150g freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Watercress, avocado, potato and toasted pecan salad, to serve (optional)

Method Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C not fan-forced). Butter a 5cm-deep,18cm-square cake pan and line with baking paper. Butter paper and dust with polenta or crumbs, then tap out excess. Place zucchini into a colander, weigh down with a plate and drain for 10 minutes. Whisk eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in olive oil, chopped chives and chopped mint or other herbs. Press down firmly on the plate over zucchini to squeeze out liquid, then stir zucchini into eggs. Add most of the feta (reserving a little for top) and the Parmesan, then season with salt and pepper. Add flour and mix with a metal spoon until combined. Spread batter into the pan and sprinkle with reserved feta. Gently press the cherry tomato halves, cut-side up, onto the surface. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is springy when pressed and it looks set when you insert the point of a knife into the centre. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then invert the pie onto a board. Peel away paper, then sit your serving platter on top and re-invert the pie onto it. Brush tomatoes with a little extra oil and serve warm or at room temperature, with the salad if desired.

From Delicious Magazine, November 2005 , Page 58 This Recipe is by Belinda Jeffrey

The Best Spaghetti Carbonara EVER!

Ok, maybe it is just because I don't normally like your typical spaghetti carbonara as found in the local Italian restaurant, that I found this recipe scrumdiddlyumptious, because this vesion is so different. When I think of carbonara sauce I think rich, creamy and bacon. This sauce is not overly creamy nor rich and it uses Pancetta instead of bacon and lemon zest which gives it a fresh taste.

Chicken & Lemon Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 450g dried spaghetti
• 175g piece smoked flat pancetta, cut into thin strips
• 4 sage leaves, chopped
• 2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
• 100ml thickened cream
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 50g unsalted butter
• 100g aged parmesan, finely grated (please use the fresh stuff from your deli!!!!)

Heat half the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Season the chicken and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil.

Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling water according to the packet directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat remaining oil in the frypan over medium-high heat, then cook the pancetta for 3-4 minutes until lightly golden. Stir in the sage, then remove from the heat. Cut the chicken into small pieces.

Lightly beat the eggs, egg yolks, cream and lemon zest in a small bowl.

Drain the pasta, then return to the saucepan (off the heat). Immediately add the pancetta mixture, chicken, egg mixture, butter, two-thirds of the parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper. Toss together well - the residual heat from the spaghetti will cook the sauce to a smooth, creamy sauce. Serve immediatly, sprinkled with the remaining parmesan.

This recipe is from delicious. magazine.

Hints and Tips...

• I found i had to turn the stovetop back onto a very low heat at the end when mixting the sauce in with the cooked spaghetti - as the heat from the spaghetti wasn't quite doing the job.
• You can use speck or just streaky bacon instead of the pancetta.

Nothing like a Strudel...

Why buy a frozen Strudel when cooking one is so easy?

The only painstaking bit is peeling the apples, and even then, it's only six apples.

Filo pastry can be a bit fiddly for people who haven't used it before, but don't worry if it tears - just stick it all together with the melted butter and no-one will be the wiser!

Apple and Date Strudel

Serves 8

• 6 green apples, peeled and sliced
• 6 fresh dates, seeded and chopped
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 150g almond meal
• 8 sheets ready-prepared filo pastry
• 100g butter, melted
• 1/2 cup flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180oC. Place the apples, dates, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and almond meal in a large bowl and toss to combine. Set aside. Layer the filo sheets together, brushing between each layer with the melted butter. Place the apple mixture along the middle of the pastry lengthways, fold over ends to enclose. Brush with remaining butter and sprinkle over almonds. Place the strudel on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden.

Pasta Bake...Mmm...cheesy!

This pasta bake is tasty, easy and is cheap to make. My little Charlie girl likes it too... BONUS! Use fresh ricotta cheese. Stay away from the nasty bland ricotta you buy in the tub in the supermarket's refrigerated aisle. Once you try the fresh ricotta from the deli, there is no going back! Fresh ricotta from the deli will only last a 3-4 days after you buy it though. Just store it in an airtight container in the fridge. The crazy thing is... I find buying it from the deli is cheaper then buying the silly tubs. Go figure!

Basil is such a wonderful herb. It's aroma is divine. Try growing some in the garden. I had no trouble growing it, except it seems the bugs and snails love to eat basil too! It is best grown in hot, dry conditions but I live in Melbourne and my basil plants look happy enough, just bring it inside when it's frosty. There are a few different varieties of basil including Sweet Basil which is the most common and Thai basil which has small leaves, purple stems and a subtle licorice taste.

This recipe is from Super Food Ideas Magazine.

Tomato and Ricotta Tortellini Bake

Serves 6

• 250g fresh ricotta cheese
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 3x400g cans peeled Italian tomatoes
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2x400g packets fresh tortellini pasta (I use cheese, but you can use beef or veal)
• 250g mozzarella cheese, thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 220oC. Lightly grease a 5cm-deep, 22cm x 30cm (base) baking dish. Beat ricotta with a wooden spoon until almost smooth.

Roughly chop three-quarters of the basil. Combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar and chopped basil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook, breaking up tomatoes with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes or until partially cooked. Drain pasta and spoon into prepared dish. Add tomato sauce and stir to coat.

Dollop ricotta over pasta. Top with mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbling around the edges. Top with remaining basil. Serve.

Curry in a Hurry!

Feel like a curry that the whole family can enjoy and one that won't take all afternoon to cook?

Here is the answer... an oven baked curry with mango to sweeten it up so that kids will be asking for seconds.

Baked Curried Chicken and Mango

Serves 6

• 30g ghee or 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbs Indian curry paste
• 1 large mango, flesh sliced
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup thickened cream
• 6 chicken thigh fillets or cutlets (with bone), skin removed
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped
• 1 tbs slivered almonds, toasted
• couscous or rice to serve

Preheat the oven to 200oC. Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add onion and cook over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until browned. Add curry, mango, stock powder, tomato and cream. Season, then bring to the boil.

Place the chicken in a greased baking dish. Pour the mango mixture over the chicken, cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for a further 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Garnish with coriander and slivered almonds and serve with cous cous or rice.

TIPS:

• ghee is clarified butter, used in Indian cooking and is available from supermarkets.
• If mangoes are out of season, use canned mango cheeks.
• I have used a can of chopped tomatoes before instead of fresh tomatoes.
• Use whatever Indian curry paste you prefer , depending on how spicy you want your curry to be.

This recipe was from Curry Magic - they sell spice mixes from their website. Check it out! currymagic.com.au