charred beef and rice noodle stir-fry from delicious. magazine.

I think the thing with takeaway is that it just never tastes the same when you try and make it at home and you don't get the variety of a couple of dishes in the same sitting. Yes even home alone on a Friday night I order at least 2 mains (plus entrees)... variety is the spice of life!

In the new delicious. magazine this month they have a great charred beef and rice noodles stir-fry recipe that tastes pretty close to a dish at the local thai around the corner from us. I just need to find the right noodles and I think it would have been spot on. My supermarket didn't have big fat flat rice noodles... I chose the fattest ones they had but not the same thing but then I'm being picky and in reality a noodle 1cm thinner is probably not going to make that much of a difference.

I was pretty impressed with this dish as there wasn't many ingredients and normally when I make a stir-fry I start getting every asian condiment and sauce in my fridge and pantry out and add a little of everything and then it all ends up tasting the same. This time I went by the recipe (kinda) and trusted it. I couldn't find bean sprouts so I used some baby pak choi instead and my measurements were adjusted slightly with the soy sauce as I adjusted the recipe for 2 people instead of 4 ...but it still tasted pretty amazing!

The only wok I own is a mini wok that still overflows when making fried rice for one so instead of charring the beef then charring the noodles in a wok on high I used my regular frying pan. This meant that they weren't really charred so even if you don't own a wok don't let that discourage you. It still tastes great even without the charring! It's easy, simple flavours and I was very impressed.

Before you serve it give it a little taste. I added a tiny splash extra fish sauce and dark soy to mine and big dollop of sambal oelek (chilli paste) but the brand of sauce you have used might be saltier than mine so always taste first. I have over salted on more than one occasion being heavy handed with the soy or oyster sauce and made it so salty that it was completely inedible. Now I'm a better safe than sorry girl :) I hate being disappointed with a dinner and wasting stomach space.

I think this is a great mid week dinner, I don't think it took more than 20 min to prep everything and cook it.

Charred beef & rice noodles stir-fry

Serves 2

(recipe adapted from delicious. magazine February 2015 issue - find original recipe here.)

300g minute beef steaks, sliced into strips

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

200g flat rice noodles (softened in boiling water if using dried)

2 teaspoons sunflower oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

5 spring onions, white & pale green parts chopped, dark green parts thinly sliced on an angle for garnish at the end

2 teaspoons of fish sauce

1 bunch broccolini, sliced in half and lengthways

1 bulb of baby pak choi, washed and leaves separated

sambal oelek (chilli paste), to serve

- Place a frying pan (or wok) on high heat and fry the beef and half of the dark soy sauce until the beef is brown all over and cooked through (or charred if using a wok) about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

- Place the same frying pan back on high heat and add your noodles and remaining soy sauce and cook for about 1 minute until noodles are charred (mine didn't char in the frying pan so if your using a wok this step might work).

- Next add both oils, chopped spring onions, fish sauce and vegetables and stir fry for a further 3 minutes until vegetables are tender.

- Return the beef to the pan with any resting juices and toss until heated through.

- Taste to see if you need a little extra dash of anything and serve with the dark green parts of the spring onions and some sambal oelek for a little bit of spice (optional).

Yotam Ottolenghi's baked orzo with mozzarella and oregano from Plenty More.

We all know how much I love a good pasta bake right? Well have I found a winner for you!

Rich, tomatoey, vegetable-full, cheesy and full of flavour. Does it get any better than that?!

This months Delicious. magazine features an exclusive extract from UK Chef Yotam Ottolenghi's new vegetarian cookbook Plenty More. His previous vegetarian cookbook Plenty is such a fantastic cookbook even if your not a vegetarian because it has salad and side option which go great with any meat. It also has some great stews that most meat eaters will completely forget that there isn't any meat in the dish in the first place. This little snippet Delicious. has provided has made me want this new cookbook so badly (I might have to visit book depository after I finish this post). Plus this months (November 2014) issue of Delicious magazine is a gooden! definaly go out and pick one up. now. There is so many recipes in it getting you in the mood for summer and food which just makes you want to host a summer party. Plus this weather we're having at the moment in Sydney is pretty good too for wanted to host summer lunches with huge jugs of mocktails full to the bring of ice and fresh mint.

The recipe that caught my eye was the Baked Orzo with Mozzarella and oregano. Umm.... yum!

Yotam Ottolenghi's approach to cooking vegetables is to make them 'sing with flavour' and I have to agree. The few recipes I've made of his in the past really do show off how delicious vegetables are as the hero and not just the runner up on the side.

This pasta bake is a little fiddley in the fact that you need to fry the vegetables off separately then add them all back in the pan then pour everything into a oven safe dish to bake it. I kinda cheated in this section and used a oven proof dish to fry everything in then I didn't have as much washing up in the end.

First I fried the cubed eggplant in some olive oil for about 8 minutes (yes I actually used a timer for this so I could kind of forget about it and come back and stir it every now and again while I chopped the rest of the goodies) then used a slotted spoon (or tongs) to take the eggplant out and let it drain on kitchen paper. Next I fried the carrots and celery for about 6 minutes and instead of taking them out of them pan I just added my onions and garlic and cooked it all for a further 5 minutes until they were soft.

I then added the orzo (which is also called risoni pasta) and tomato paste, gave it a good stir for a couple of minutes. Added the stock, fresh oregano, lemon zest and eggplant. I brought it to a boil then took it off the heat and added the mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper. At this point I should have poured everything into an oven proof dish but I was already using one so I just gave it all a good mix then arranged slices of tomatoes on top, sprinkled it with dried oregano, salt and pepper and baked it for 40 minutes at 200C (or 400F).

It then says cook until all the stock is absorbed but all my stock was pretty much absorbed before it went into the oven. I was a little worried I'd done it wrong and read the recipe wrong, again! But I re-read the recipe about 6 times and double checked the markings on my jug about 10 times and it all seemed right and it was a waiting game to see if it actually worked or not.

It worked!! YAY! It's going to be super hot when you take it out of the oven so let it sit for 5 minutes and then dig in! The cheese is stringy and vegetables full of flavour... this is also great cold the next day eaten straight out of the pot.

I defiantly recommend to give this a go if your a pasta bake lover like me. It brought back memories of my high school days and being surrounded by friends at my mums kitchen bench as we all devoured the easiest pasta bake known to 16 year old girls.

This will defiantly make an appearance again on our dinner table, it was freakin' delicious!

(I apologise for this photo... hunger 1 : dani 0)

Yotam Ottolenghi's baked orzo with mozzarella and oregano from Plenty More.

serves 4
(recipe adapted slightly, excerpt taken from Delicious. magazine Nov 2014)

 100ml olive oil
1 large eggplant, cut into 2cm pieces
4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1.5cm pieces
4 celery stalks, cut into 1.5cm pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
250g orzo (risoni) pasta
2 tsp tomato paste
375ml vegetable stock
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
120g mozzarella, cut into 1cm pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan
3 tomatoes, cut into 1cm slices
1 tsp dried oregano

- Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.

- In a oven proof pot heat the oil on a medium heat and fry the eggplant for about 8 minutes, stirring now and then until golden. Remove from pan using a slotted spoon or tongs and drain on some kitchen towel.

- In the same pan (keeping the oil) fry the celery and carrots for about 6 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and good for a further 5 minutes until everything is soft.

- Add the orzo (risoni) and tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes giving it a good stir. Then add the stock, fresh oregano, lemon zest and eggplant. Bring to a boil.

- Remove from the heat and stir in the mozzarella, parmesan, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp grounf black pepper. Mix well.

- Arrange the sliced tomato over the top. Sprinkle with the dried oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover (I used the lid to my pot but otherwise foil will be fine) and bake for 40 minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

- Let sit for 5 minutes before serving (or you'll burn the roof of your mouth off!).

Jamie Oliver's Calzone recipe from Delicious. magazine - September 2014 - Issue 141.

This weeks meal planning took me a while. I thought it was all done and dusted and was pretty impressed with myself then looked at what I'd planned to make this week and to be honest... none of recipes felt like a little challenge or something new. They were the things I would make before I started this blog, recipes I would make with no recipe to follow and get to the end of dinner and be a little disappointed at myself for not branching out. I had also chosen books from my shelf that I had cooked out of and blogged from already so I wasn't showing you a new sneak peek into my cookbook obsession. SCRAP IT! I thought and started again by choosing books/magazines I hadn't cooked from or blogged about yet and chose a recipe out of each to make this week.

It started off with Jamie Oliver's Calzones from the latest Delicious. magazine this month (September 2014 - Issue 141). I wanted a little challenge and this is exactly what I felt like. I adapted the recipe slightly because our local supermarket isn't very good with ingredients that are a little out of the ordinary or specialised.

I'll be honest. I was a little hesitant about making this but thought that if it fails completely it's only Tristan and myself who I'm feeding and we can always have pasta with cheese on if its terrible. So on that note, I had nothing to loose.

I started with the dough and quartered the recipe that Jamie gives in the magazine. For the Calzone recipe you are meant to half the recipe but then that makes six calzones. Six is a little much for two of us no matter how greedy we are sometimes so I halved it again, quartering the original recipe. I had to scale out 2g of dried yeast... that was a little tricky since my scales are very tempremental. I had planned on seeing how many teaspoons 7g was then quartering it by eye but went with the rough 2g measurement instead... and it worked! YAY!

I kneading the dough on my lovely blue bench top for 5 minutes then let it rest. The recipe says to rest it for 1 hour... I didn't have one hour. My stomach was eating itself even with just the thought home made Calzones. This step is good for tuck-shop lady arms.

For the filling I boiled two small potatoes, pan-fried some mushrooms, roughly chopped some baby rocket and then quartered bocconcini balls. The original recipe says use Taleggio cheese which is a strong soft italian cheese. When I worked in the restaurant it was on the cheese platter and it was a stinky one! I have nothing against smelly cheeses and I would have probably used Talleggio but like I've said above, our supermarket stocks a large brand variety of basics. And I have an obsession with bocconcini at the moment... mmm those soft little round milk stringy balls of cheese...

After I got over my day dreaming of cheese, cheese and more cheese. I divided the dough into three, rolled the out to roughly about 5mm thick. Divided the filling between the three and folded one side over sealing the edges, pinching the sides over each other. Scored the tops and baked them in a very hot oven for 20 minutes. YUM YUM YUM.

(Ok I'll admit something... I was meant to add a spoonful of creme fraise or sour cream to the filling but I got so excited that they were coming together and it was working and I wasn't pulling my hair out in frustration that I completely forgot to add it. But can confirm they are delicious with or without the cream fraise... I might add a couple of cherry tomatoes halved next time to make it a little more juicy. Who knows... maybe if I'd added the creme fraise I wouldn't be thinking nest time to add cherry tomatoes?!?)

Anyway... the verdict... it was scrumptious and I was pleased that I had gone outside my boundaries and made Calzones on a week night and not saved them for a weekend when I plan to make a more special meal and everything goes down the drain because something crops up. If your organised enough (not like me) you can even make the pizza dough the night before and leave it in the fridge so all you have to do it roll it out, fill them and bake them. How easy is that?!!

Let me know what you think... there are a few steps in here that are hard to explain... would a little video help?? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Click here for a different Calzone recipe by Jamie Oliver or make my version below :)

Calzone from Delicious. magazine September 2014 issue by Jamie Oliver.

Serves 2 hungry people or 3 with a side salad.

(recipe adapted)

Pizza Dough - 

250g 00 Flour (or strong white flour)

2g dried instand yeast (or 1/4 of a 7g sachet)

1 tsp caster sugar

15mL olive oil

Filling -

180g potatoes, halved

1 tsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 thyme sprigs, leaves removed

200g button mushrooms

1 garlic clove, crushed

pinch of chilli flakes

1 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream

150g bocconcini balls, quartered

1/2 cup baby rocket, roughly chopped

**Pre-heat your oven to 220 C or 420 F. **

Start by making the pizza dough: 

- Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl or onto your bench. Make a well in the centre.

- In a jug mix 160mL of warm water, dried yeast, caster sugar and olive oil together and let sit for a couple of minutes. (You are waking the yeast up in the step so it can make your dough rise later)

- Using a fork, pour the liquid into the well in the flour and start working it together gradually from the centre until all the flour has been incorporated. Don't worry if it looks like a shaggy mess at the moment. Turn it out onto your bench if you have used a bowl and start kneading it with the heel of your hand on a floured surface.

- The amount of extra flour you will need to add will depend on the weather and the type of flour you have used. You want an almost tacky dough. Not so sticky that it's sticking to your hands every time you knead it but you defiantly don't want it too dry. The more you knead it, the better it will come together. If you're unsure about adding too much flour start by adding a little at a time as you work the dough. Knead it for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and stretchy.

- Place the dough in a floured bowl and cover with a damp tea towel somewhere warm for 1 hour or until it's doubled in size. While your dough is resting, start your filling.

For the filling:

- Boil your potatoes for 12-14 minutes or until cooked through, drain and then slice into 1.5cm pieces. Allow to cook a little.

- Pan fry your mushrooms with the butter, olive oil and thyme until all the liquid has been absorbed and they start to colour. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for another minute. Allow to cool a little.

- In a bowl add the bocconcini, baby rocket, potatoes, mushrooms and creme fraiche (or sour cream) and mix together.

Constructing your Calzone:

- Knock back your dough by punching it down in the bowl then roughly knead it for a minute or so. (It's at this point you can cling wrap your dough and refrigerate it for 24 hours ready to use straight from the fridge). Divide it into 3 pieces.

- Roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick and circle in diameter as possible.

- Divide the filling up between the three rolled out pieces of dough.

- Fold one side over and bring the edge to meet the other edge. Seal it by pinching and turning the edges over on each other then giving the final end a good pinch. Do the same to all of them.

- Score the top then place in the oven for 20 minutes. I had to rotate my trays so get even baking so make sure you keep an eye on them when your oven is up this high.