Honey Soy Cauli from Every Night of the Week Veg by Lucy Tweed

Lucy Tweeds first book, Every Night of the Week, came out soon after I had a baby and the first thing I cooked after coming out of the newborn haze was Drunken Dumplings. And its one of my favourite recipes still and one of my favourite cookbooks. Everything I've cooked from it is so full of flavour, simple to put together and just delicious so when I was sent her new book, Every Night of the Week Veg. It made me very happy. The cover recipe is mouth watering... pizza rice. I mean omg get in my belly.

With the weekly grocery shop challenges up here in FNQ with barges getting turned around because of wrong temps it does limit the meal planning but turns out cauliflower and rice are not the first things to go in the shops up here. Ha! Until they read this that is. Lucy Tweed is the queen of baked, flavour packed rice and this Honey Soy Cauli is such an easy recipe to get ready and in the oven and dinner is on its way while you wrangle everything else that needs to be done before the madness witching hour.

You can prep the sauce and coat the cauliflower, played monster trucks, then pre-heat your oven, distract a toddler so they don't snack before dinner, prep the rice and put it all in the oven and still have time to go back to making duplo garages for the monster trucks. 

Honey Soy Cauli

Recipe from Every Night of the Week Veg by Lucy Tweed

Serves 4

1/4 cup (70g) white miso paste
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup (60ml) honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped, white and greens seperated
8cm piece of ginger, peeled and julienned
1 large cauliflower, cut into 8 wedges**
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups (440g) white rice
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Optional Ingredients
blanched greens and chilli crisp

The sticky, chewy business of baking rice with flavours is with us to stay, my friends.

It's a classic lazy approach disguised as a big flavour move. (It's actually both!) And so satisfying, because it's basically set and forget.

Cauliflowers are the greatest sauce-trappers, too.

Preheat the oven to 200C (400C) fan-forced.

Blend the miso, garlic, honey, soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, spring oil (white parts only) and a quarter of the ginger in a food processor until smooth.

Toss the cauliflower through the mix, making sure to coat it really well.

In a large roasting tray big enough to fir the cauliflower in a single layer, combine the oilive oil, rice, remaining ginger, chinese five-spice and salt.

Cover with 3 cups (750ml) of water and gently shake the pan to level out the rice.

Place the cauliflower into the water, then cover tightly with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for a further 25 minutes, basting with any remaining marinade for the final 5v minutes.

Serve with sesame seeds and the green parts of the spring onions.

** Cauliflower can take a while to roast. If you're short on time, blanch (4 minutes), steam (10 minutes) or microwave (4 minutes) the pieces prior to tossing them in the sauce.

Coconut Curry Vegetables from Slow Cooker Central Family Favourites by Paulene Christie.

About a month and a bit ago a made a vegetable curry in the slow cooker that lasted me until last week, divided up in portions in the freezer, it was my grab and go lunch I didn't need to think about. It was so easy to make I should have shared this earlier so you could have also been making it while it's been crazy cold here. But anyway - here it is now so now you too can know how to make this delicious and very easy vegetable curry which takes no time and all except some forward thinking and then forgetting about it for about 6 hours. 

The recipe is from a cookbook I received called 'Slow Cooking Central - Family Favourites' by Paulene Christie. This book shows that you can make pretty much anything in your slow cooker, from cauliflower cheese to pull-apart bread to all sorts of curries, stews and soups to meatballs to even a whole chicken (yep a whole chicken in the slow cooker). There is no faffing about in the kitchen or hunting high and low for weird ingredients with this book. It's simple and has some great classics that you can make in the slow cooker to make winter a little easier.

I decided to make the Coconut Curry Vegetables one Sunday so I had a warm and comforting dinner when I came in from my basketball game because it's all too easy to order takeaway and pick it up on the way home when it's just you and its cold and it's Sunday. I chucked all the veggies in the pot, along with the curry powder and coconut milk at about midday and let it bubble away on low for pretty much all afternoon until I came home at 6:30pm. The kitchen smelt so delicious and all I needed to do was whack on the rice cooker and I'd have dinner in 15 minutes. Perfect amount of time for a shower and to get into winter pyjamas, uggs and a dressing gown.

To make this recipe even easier, she suggests you can use frozen vegetables which means this is a recipe to always have up your sleeve even when there are fresh veggies or even no sad veggies in your crisper, which is what I had to use up. I used a mixture of sweet potato, carrots, potato, kale, cauliflower and broccoli. I had to add about a cup of water when I checked on it able halfway through but I think this is only because I didn't use frozen vegetables which would have given off a little water when thawed and cooked. At the very end I added a splash of fish sauce and soy sauce to give it some extra saltiness. Yum.

Coconut Curry Vegetables

Recipe extract from Slow Cooker Central Family Favourites by Paulene Christie.

A great vegetable side dish, or even a main course for our vegetarian fans. This is mild enough for the whole family to enjoy, but if you like a little heat you can always add more curry powder.

Serves 6 as a side dish
Preparation 15 mins
Cook 4 hours
Cooker capacity 5 litres

1 small sweet potato, cut into chunks
5 baby red potatoes, quartered
1kg frozen mixed vegetables, such as carrot, beans, broccoli and cauliflower (see note)
400ml can light coconut cream
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combines the sweet potato, potato and frozen vegetables in the slow cooker.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables.

3. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then low for 3 hours or until the potato is tender. Serve.

Notes: 
You can replace the frozen vegetables with the same quantity of fresh ones if you like. Use whatever you have on hand and cut into smallish chunks.

Some slow cookers cook more slowly than others, so use the high setting for longer if the potato is taking a long time to become tender. Keep the size of the potato chunks small, mo more than half the size of a golf ball.

If you want a thicker sauce, stir in extra thickening 10 minutes before serving: use a slurry of another 1 tablespoon of cornflour and 1 tablespoon of water.

Anna Jones's one-pan pea, lemon & asparagus pasta.

Lets be honest, we don't really get four seasons in Sydney, we get two and a few days of odd change in between. For the past couple of days I've felt the cool change, the shift into Autumn, and I love it. It's cooler at night (Thankgawwd!!) and the days haven't been stifling hot. I've happily (against my waistline) craved more comfort foods, slept with the donna on and even considered turning the oven on to bake rather than avoiding it like the plague. I know this won't last, there are some hot days on the forecast but I am enjoying the shift while it's here and also enjoying the last of summers produce before tomatoes lose their taste and stoned fruit feels like a dream.

Balsamic Onion Soda Bread aka your next cheese platter staple.

I've been really enjoying making bread lately and I've been trying my hand at sourdough which you might have seen over on instagram. My sourdough baking is VERY hit and miss but I might be my harshest critic as Tris is very complimentary of my bread and often tells me to shut-up when I start criticising my latest loaf. Which I'm sorry to say, this post is not about sourdough as I am in no way ready to share a sourdough recipe (yet) as I don't think I've found one that gives me consistent results or (which is most likely the answer) I'm not ready to even start to tell you what to do. I am newbie at it so feels a little cocky to start preaching to you what to do. But what I have made lately is a different kind of bread which I am comfortable to tell you about. Soda Bread. Balsamic Onion Soda Bread to be precise.

Spaghetti with zucchini, chilli flakes and lemon juice.

I have felt less than motivated the past week and a bit... no food cravings, inspiration or gusto to want to make a thing to be honest. I am happy to eat (that will probably never stop) but my cravings and want to make anything specific has gone missing. I am currently on the hunt for it...

It definitely didn't help when I thought I'd make myself a proper breakfast on Saturday and failed at boiling an egg. Yes you read that right. I can't boil an egg... according to my attempts on Saturday. I was excited that my want for cooking was on the return and the thought of a soft boiled egg on a freshly toasted english muffin got me excited! This soon turned into a feeling of failure when I cracked the top off my (what I thought was perfectly boiled) egg and scooped out my running yoke to only watch as a mostly raw egg plopped out and pooled around my nicely buttered english muffin. It's mostly cooked...it's mostly cooked....so I tried to tell myself. But the texture of slimy raw egg that had made my english muffin soggy was too much for me to get over and my breakfast ended up in the bin. I gave up and cleaned my teeth and left the house feeling like a failure.

How can I have a cooking blog when I can't even boil an egg.

On a more positive note though, I can boil pasta. Hooray for pasta!

Think positive. Think positive. Think positive.

One night last week when I was home alone and trying to think of something kinda healthy-ish to eat for dinner and required the least amount of dishes to wash up I came up with this. Spaghetti with grated zucchini, chilli flakes and lemon juice. It was quick, fresh and full of flavour...perfect midweek meal even if you feel like a cooking failure you can do this. You don't need to cook the sauce for a start which means there is already one less pot to clean so we are already winning!

I also discovered a little trick... if you pop two small (peeled) garlic cloves into the boiling water the same time as your pasta they go soft and mild and mushy and yum.

While thats all cooking grate 2 small zucchini's on a box grater, juice of half a juicy lemon, a generous pinch of chilli flakes, some chopped herbs if you have them in the fridge (parsley or basil) but if you don't do not stress and wait until your pasta is ready.

Fishing out the garlic cloves is the hardest part of this whole dinner. I suggest fishing them out before you drain the pasta because they seem to float but once you've drained the pasta they get lost in all the strands of spaghetti.

Once you've finished fishing, squash the garlic cloves with the back of a fork and add everything back into the pot you cooked the pasta in, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a nob of butter, a good seasoning of salt and freshly ground black pepper and finish with some parmesan cheese.

This made enough for 2 people or one greedy person who just wants to eats it straight out of the pot :)

Spaghetti with zucchini, chilli flakes and lemon juice.

Serves 2 people - or one greedy person

250g dried spaghetti
2 small zucchini's
2 small cloves of garlic
a splash of extra virgin olive oil
nob of butter
a generous pinch of chilli flakes
juice of half a juicy lemon
roughly 2 tablespoons of roughly chopped basil or parsley (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
grated parmesan cheese, to serve

- Throw your spaghetti and peeled garlic cloves into a pot of boiling salted water and cook according to packet instructions or until pasta is al dente.

- Meanwhile grate your zucchini using a box grater (or any grater you have) and get all your other ingredients ready to go.

- Fish out your garlic cloves just before you drain your pasta then place the drained pasta back in the pot with a good splash of extra virgin olive oil and a nob of butter. Squash the garlic cloves using the back of a fork until they are a paste then add them along with the chilli flakes, lemon juice and herbs (if using) to the pot with the pasta.

- Turn the heat on low for about 2-3 minutes just so the zucchini warms through a little bit more.

- Season with salt and pepper and serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top... either in a bowl or eat directly from the pot.

Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Scallions (spring onions) and Parsley from It's all Good.

Quinoa. Who hasn't heard of this super food lately? it's everywhere! quinoa everything!!!

I am going to admit that when I first saw this ingredient everywhere I pronounced it 'Quin-oh-ah'. Yep, I was one of them. Until everyone told me it was actually pronounced 'Keen-wa'  I said it wrong for months. I then thought the ingredient was silly because of it's name. Then I tasted it. I was a convert. A super healthy grain that works well in salads and is a change from rice and pasta and also works well as a side and also filling out chicken patties or making veggie burgers from scratch. Plus you feel super healthy while you eat it knowing it's a superfood. Guilt free.

To go with the Beer Butt Chicken and Potato Salad I made the other week I also made the Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Scallions (spring onions) and Parsley from It's all Good by Gwyneth Paltrow & Julia Turshen. It was so fresh and healthy and really hit the spot as a side to the chicken. It was like the healthy opposite to the potato salad. I added some baby spinach leaves to it to add a little greenery and they worked well. I served it as a warm salad and it was really delicious.

I'm always a little hesitant when it comes to cooking things like quinoa and rice as I'm so used to making it in the microwave but since our microwave busted I am a stovetop girl now. It's not as scary as I thought it would be, it's actually really really easy. I followed the recipe for Perfectly cooked Quinoa and presto! Perfectly cooked Quinoa! Definitely have a go at cooking quinoa, it's easier than it seems.

Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Scallions (spring onions) and Parsley from It's all Good.

serves 4 

(recipe adapted slightly)

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut roughly into 2cm cubes

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 cups of perfectly cooked quinoa (see recipe below)

3 spring onions 

3/4 cup chopped parsley

2 small handfuls of baby spinach leaves

- Preheat oven to 190C or 400F.

- Place butternut squash, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt on a baking tray and give it a good toss so that all the squash is covered in the oil.

- Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until soft.

- Whisk lemon juice with 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt. While the butternut squash is still warm but not piping hot, toss it in this lemon and oil mixture along with the quinoa, spring onions, parsley and baby spinach. 

- Taste and adjust seasoning and lemon juice if needed. Enjoy!

Perfectly Cooked Quinoa from It's all Good.

makes 3 cups

(recipe adapted into ml's)

1 cup quinoa

440ml water

big pinch sea salt

- Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve.

- Place the quinoa, salt and water (cold) in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover with a lid or foil and cook for about 12-15 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

- Turn the heat off, place a dry piece of paper towel between the pot and lid (or your homemade foil lid) and let it sit for 5 minutes.

- Fluff with a fork and serve.

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.

Nigella Lawson's Double Potato and Halloumi Bake from Nigella Bites cookbook.

So I've been a little bit bad on my posting this week. I started so well and I feel I've gone down hill which is dissapointing. I am hoping to be better this week and try and post more frequently.

I've just got home from fathers day breakfast. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Hope you had a good breakfast, I enjoyed it! Mum and Tristan cooked scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, grilled tomatoes, bacon, sourdough and then fruit toast to finish. It was so delicious! I ate too many chip sangers last night for dinner... terribly unhealthy dinner but quite tasty so it was nice to have a big breakfast.

Ok back to what I made on Thursday night.... eeek it's Sunday and I haven't posted what I made on Thursday for dinner yet. I'm terrible... Muriel.

I decided that because I'd mastered the chicken tray back last week that it was a new tray bake to try and I guess because Nigella Lawson's worked so well last time I'd try another tray bake of hers. I made the Double Potato and Halloumi Bake from Nigella Bites. Who doesn't love cheese? This was a delicious mixed potato bake with all the little extras that roast veggies should always have (garlic cloves and onions) with sweet capsicum throughout it then covered in burnished thin slices of squeaky halloumi cheese. YUM! We had it with steak that Tristan cooked on the BBQ. One day I'll cook a steak on the BBQ but I'm a little hopeless on a BBQ... I always end up with either well done steak with charcoal bits or a steak that is still moo-ing on my plate.

This dinner is another great dish to bung everything in an oven tray, shove it in the oven, go have a shower or potter around before dinner then just add the cheese for the last 10 minutes of cooking and  serve. It would be great by itself as a vegetarian main or as a side like we had it. I even had it cold for lunch the next day. Just add a little splash of balsamic vinegar to it when it's cold and you have an amazing roast vegetable salad. The halloumi doesn't do so well the next day so eat all of it straight away (I'm sure that won't be hard) and then add some feta the next day to turn it into a kick-ass salad!

Such a pretty colourful dinner!

The recipe says to use sweet potato and normal baking potatoes. When we were at the supermarket I found a  red sweet potato. I had no idea what it was like but I did expect it to be red on the inside but it was white and oxidised very quickly and turned a very unappetising splotchy brown colour. It tasted great when cooked, sort of in between a sweet potato and a normal baking potato. This is also a great recipe to double if your having friends over and just divide everything between two baking trays and there is no exact amount of any ingredient. If you want just sweet potatoes then just had sweet potatoes, if you don't like sweet potatoes this can be made with normal baking potatoes or carrots or pumpkin!? Ahhh the vegetable combinations are overwhelming!! Just bake it all until the veggies are cooked through and top with cheese... mmm I love halloumi.

Nigella Lawson's Double Potato and Halloumi Bake from Nigella Bites cookbook.

serves 2-3
(recipe adapted to suit to amount of potatoes I had at home)

3 medium sized baking potatoes
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium red sweet potato
1 red onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 red capsicum
1/2 yellow capsicum
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
 black pepper
180g halloumi cheese, thinly sliced

- Preheat oven to 200 C or 400 F.

- Cut the baking potatoes into 2cm pieces.

- Cut both sweet potatoes into 4cm pieces, they don't take as long to bake as normal potatoes.

- Peel and cut red onion into 8 wedges.

- De-seed and roughly cut both capsicums into 2cm pieces.

- Throw everything into a baking tray with the garlic gloves and extra virgin olive oil and give a good toss together. Make sure everything is spread out on a single layer and you haven't over crowded the tray. Split into two trays if you need to.

- Bake for 45 minutes (or until the potatoes are soft/cooked through). Place the halloumi over the top and bake for a further 15 minutes or put under a grill until melted and golden.

- Serve by itself or as a side dish. (don't forget it makes an amazing roast veggie salad the next day with a splash of balsamic vinegar!)

Yotam Ottolenghi 's Multi-vegetable Paella from PLENTY.

I do try and sneak in a vegetarian dinner at least one night of the week. Sometimes it goes unnoticed and other times I get a remark along the lines of 'Where's the meat?!' or 'Whats all this green stuff on my plate?' or I find him simply grilling a bit of fish or chicken on the BBQ (with enough garlic to kill a vampire) and get the polite question if I would like some too. Most of the time when the name of the dish has vegetable or vegetarian in the name then it definitely gets a reaction, just like last nights dinner.

Multi-vegetable Paella from Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook PLENTY. But this time it wasn't just him...throughout the entire meal we both kept imagining how good it would be with chicken and fish and calamari and prawns and mussels and baby clams and chorizo throughout it.

The Multi-vegetable Paella had a variety of vegetables in it but I couldn't help myself and did a little fridge empty in there. This dish would be great to do that with at the end of the week before the next grocery shop or have it as a store cupboard staple because there was a fair bit of frozen or jarred vegetables in it. And yet again this week, somehow I messed up the meal planning and there was no red capsicum in the fridge when I came to make this on Monday night but what I did have was left over jarred peppers in the fridge from Jamie's sausage fusilli I made the other weekend. YAY! I added some leftover baby spinach and a couple of carrots which are always floating around in the bottom of the fridge.

I actually own a paella pan and love any excuse to use it but after I had climbed on top of the kitchen cupboards and retrieved it and placed it on the stove it was total over-kill. It covered 90% of the cook top. I could almost have all four burners on at once and use it, so for two people it went straight back up to the top of the cupboard again and out came my trusty crock pot. You must think that I don't own any other pots but I do own the standard ikea set which does the job perfectly as well, I just have a soft spot for 'Bessey' my red crock pot.

PS. Happy Birthday big sister if you're reading this :)

Multi-vegetable Paella by Yotam Ottolenghi from PLENTY.
(serves 2 generously)

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 spanish onion, finely chopped
1 small capsicum, cut into strips (I used 3 jarred peppers instead)
1/2 fennel bulb, cut unto strips
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
150g aborio rice (or Calasparra)
100mL good-quality medium sherry
1 tsp saffron threads (if your a millionaire!... I used a pinch)
450mL boiling vegetable stock
200g shelled broad beans (I used frozen)
12 mini plum tomatoes, halved (I used a handful of cherry tomatoes)
5 small grilled artichokes in oil from a jar, quartered
15 pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 tbsp chopped parsley
4 lemon wedges
salt

- Fry onion for 5 minutes in olive oil over a medium heat. Add the capsicums (if using jarred like I did, save them till the end) and fennel and fry for a further few minutes until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

- Add bay leaves and spices stirring well. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes. De-glaze the pan with sherry and then add the saffron along with the stock. Season and then simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

- Make sure you remove the skin from the broad beans. To do this pour boiling water onto the beans and allow to sit for a couple of minutes then drain and allow to cool. Squeeze the broad beans from their skin, discarding the skin.

- When the rice is cook add the skinned broad beans, tomatoes, artichokes and olives (and jarred peppers if using them). Place the lid on and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

- Take the lid off, squeeze over the lemon juice and sprinkle the parsley and serve.

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding from Kitchen.

On Thursday night this week we had a dinner date. For dinner we had a choice of 'Steak and veggies or Lamb shanks? Ps. Pete makes pretty good Lamb Shanks :)' Well I think there was a clear winner even before we were given the choice, we were sold on lamb shanks. Not that there is anything wrong with steak and veggies but Lamb Shanks mid week, I was not passing that up!

It was my job to bring pudding so thats exactly what I did. Travelling pudding.

Now I LOVE bread and butter pudding but ew yuk to sultanas! I have an aversion to dried fruit in some things. They are allowed in a couple of things and thats it. Christmas Pudding, yes. Hot Cross buns, sometimes. Bread and Butter pudding, hell no! So when I saw Nigella Lawson 's Chocolate chip bread pudding from Kitchen, how could I resist? It was so easy to transport too and just put it all together when we got there and bung it in the oven for 45 min. The melted chocolate chips throughout it made it so decedent and rich. When it says it serves 4-6, it definitely can serve 6 unless your still hungry from dinner as its very filling. There was four of us and only a tiny bowl of left overs and we were all supporting food babies after.

All I kept thinking after making this is the endless possibilities which can be made with the simple custard mixture and bread... you can add frozen raspberries which would give a lovely sharp tang to the smooth vanilla flecked custard, or make Nutella sandwiches out of the bread and then drown it in custard, you could add chopped nuts on top to give more crunch, or zest lemons into the custard and fill the bread with lemon curd, or add cocoa powder to the custard and make a chocolate based custard, use brioche/ croissants/ hot cross buns or finger buns instead of plain bread... the variations are unlimited!

I substituted a few things in this recipe and added a vanilla pod and seeds because when there is an opportunity to add vanilla I jump on it. I also used 300mL of cream instead of 125mL as suggested because I didn't want half a carton of cream to sit in my fridge and go to waste, this made the custard richer than it should have been but I hate wastage. If I was to make it again and I knew the rest of the cream wasn't going to go to waste I would have followed the recipe exactly and only put in 125mL of cream and 500mL of milk.

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. (BYO Style).
(Recipe adapted)
Serves 4 hungry people or 6 for dessert

250g white bread, cubed (Nigella suggests to use stale bread but I just used plain bread from the freezer, thawed)
100g chocolate chips
3 eggs
40g brown sugar
2 tbs dark rum (I used a spiced rum called The Crackin')
300mL pure cream
325mL milk
1 vanilla pod, scraped
4 tsp raw sugar (Nigella uses demerara sugar but raw sugar is very similar and alot cheaper)

- Start by buttering the oven-proof dish your going to bake the pudding in (I used a 23cm diameter x 6cm deep dish) and put your cubed bread in there to sit while you make the custard.

- In a bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, cream, milk and vanilla seeds and pod in a bowl until well combined. If you are making this to bake straight away add your rum now too. I added mine right before I put the pudding together in case it started to cook the eggs. (Pour into a leak-free container if taking this dessert BYO.)

- I scaled my rum in a jar, raw sugar in a little container and chocolate chips in a zip-lock bag. Covered my dish of bread, packed my pink enviro bag with everything and off we went.

- When I got there I added the rum to the custard mix, took the pod out, tossed the chocolate chips with the bread then poured the custard mix over the bread and chocolate chips. Let it sit for about 20min then put it in a preheated 170 degrees Celsius oven for 45 min.

- Allow it to sit for 10min. Then dig in! Be warned... VERY RICH!