Batter Up

When we lived in Noosa, Dwayne would go fishing almost everyday, so we had to create some good recipes to cook all the fish he brought home. This batter that Dwayne would make was really good, and had a little kick to it. Excellent with calamari and prawns as well.

Beer Battered Fish

1 bottle of beer

1 tsp chili powder

s & p

2 cups flour

Any kind of fish you like

Calamari

Prawns

Lemon

Tartar Sauce

Enough oil for deep frying.

Whisk top 4 ingredients together in a bowl. Heat oil to med-high, until a drop of batter starts to sizzle. Dip any kind of seafood you like into batter, shake off excess, put in fryer. Cook until both sides are golden and crispy. 

Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce. 

Slow down.. and enjoy Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I love any chance I get to use my slow cooker, and beef stew is a favorite! It's so easy to prep the night before then in the morning you just turn it on and when you get home, there's a meal waiting for you! This is a basic recipe, but it always makes Dwayne happy.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

1 Lb your choice of beef

2 carrots

3 stalks celery

1 medium onion

2 large potatoes

5-10 mushrooms

4 cloves garlic

3-4 tbsp thyme

worchestershire sauce to taste

3 tbsp flour to coat beef and 4 extra to thicken stew

8 cups beef stock

s & p

enough oil for frying beef

Chop all veggies into bite sized chunks, dice garlic and chop beef. Toss uncooked been into the flour to coat, add s & p. 

In a large skillet, very shallow fry the meat until just browned.

combine all ingredients into the slow cooker, pour in beef stock and worchestershire sauce.

Cook for 7-8 hours on low.

When done, mix in flour to thicken to your desire.

Enjoy!

Fijian Fruit Salad

On our last trip to Fiji, we visited the islands and ended up staying in quite an odd "resort" called "Bay of Plenty".. though, I wasn't sure what the 'plenty' part meant due to the fact that we were 2 of 4 guests staying there. Anyways.. one day I decided to go on a farm walk with the other couple staying there, while Dwayne went spearfishing.  We walked along while one of the fijian men told us about all the different types of things they grew and what they did with it. We picked tomatoes, peppers, mangoes, papayas and bananas, then the fijian sat down on the group and wove us all baskets out of palm fronds so that we could carry our goods back. Oh, this was after he chopped an ENTIRE tree down with a machete to get us a hand of bananas!

We headed back and then we had a fijian "cooking lesson".. I really would have called it a "sit and watch while I make you a fruit salad". Anyways, here's what we got..

Fijian Fruit Salad

3 bananas

1 large papaya

1 mango

1/2 cup coconut milk

Chop all fruits into same size pieces. Put in bowl. Pour in coconut milk, stir and enjoy.

Best served on a beach in the fijian sun.

Mmmmushroom and Goat Cheese Tart

This recipe comes from my not so wonderful "puff pastry phase". Only reason it wasn't wonderful was due to the large amount of butter in the puff pastry.. but shh on that. These tarts are GooOod.

Mushroom  & Goat Cheese Tart

1 pack of pre-made puff pastry

10 mushrooms

3 cloves garlic

1 med red onion

sprinkle of thyme

1/2 cup goat cheese

Easy as pie, well a tart actually.

Preheat oven to puff pastry package directions.

Defrost puff pastry until its moldable and cut 2 circles per tart (top and bottom). Put bottom pieces of puff pastry on an oiled cookie sheet.

Saute in a pan with some olive oil, the chopped garlic, onion and mushroom. Season with any spices you like; I used thyme. Do not over cook, just enough to sweat onions and cook mushrooms.

Place a spoonful of mix onto one of the bottom puff pastry circles. Leave room around the edges so pastry can stick to itself. Put a few small dollops of cheese on top of each mushroom mix. 

Place top puff pastry pieces onto bottom with mix and press together around the edges. Cut slits into top. 

Cook according to package directions, or until pastry has puffed up and browned.

Serve warm.

Mmm tasty!

Cucumber Salad

A very simple, yet very yummy salad, good as a small side dish.

Cucumber Salad

2 lg cucumbers

1/4 cup vinegar

1-2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

chili flakes to taste

salt and pepper

Peel, slice and de-seed the cuc's. Chop into thin slices. 

In a small bowl combine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and chili flakes. Mix well and toss in with cucumbers.

Let it sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 

So yummy! So vinegary!

Fresh Salsa

This salsa is so good that our friend Sutto took it for lunch and ate it between 2 pieces of bread as a salsa sandwich. Enough said.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

2 large tomatoes 

1 large white or red onion

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 jalapeno pepper

1 or 2 small red chilis

3 cloves garlic

1 or 2 lime

cilantro to taste

Well, it's simple. Chop all veggies into small pieces, chop garlic into really tiny pieces and chop chilis and jalapeno with gloves on. Obviously into small wee pieces as well. Squeeze lime over top, chop cilantro and add however much you like. Mix, taste and modify if needed, annnnnd done. 

Dwayne's Muy Bueno Enchiladas

Dwayne is an excellent cook and this is one of my favorite meals that he makes. I have also posted a recipe for my Muy Bueno Salsa to go with it. 

Enchiladas

6 Flour tortillas

1 lb ground beef (or Veggie Ground Round works well too, it's not so greasy)

1 pack taco seasoning

1 med onion

5 mushrooms

For the topping:

1 jar of medium salsa

1 can of tomato sauce

cheddar cheese, enough to cover the pan of enchiladas

Pre-heat oven to 300.

In a frying pan, saute chopped onions and mushrooms. Add beef and cook all the way through. Add seasoning and 1/4 cup water. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Spoon beef mix onto tortillas and roll like a burrito, place into a baking dish large enough to fit all 6. Repeat process until you run outta tortillas or beef mix.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping (except cheese) then pour mix over top the enchiladas. Cover with grated cheese.

Put baking dish into oven and cook for 20 minutes and the cheese has melted.

Serve with a side of refried beans, tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

 

This soup is awesome.. Pho Real.

Ok, lame start, I know, but come on.. it asked for it. The vietnamese soup "Pho" is not only tasty but some of the names of the restaurants housing this meal are also quite entertaining. I know you know I am thinking about "Pho Bch Nga".. yeah, sound that one out.

Aaanyways, the soup is really good and it eats like a meal. Ok well maybe make a few salad rolls too!

Pho Ga

1 Breast of Chicken

1 Medium Onion

2 Cups Bean Sprouts

1 Cup of long rice noodles

Fresh Cilantro or Mint (completely optional, I myself, opt out.)

1 small lime

1 package Pho broth or stock cubes

6 cups of water

Here we go.. in a pot boil water and pho flavoring.

While that is brewing, VERY thinly slice the chicken. 

In a separate bowl, cover the rice noodles with boiling water and let sit until soft. When done, strain and divide into your soup bowls.

Make a plate for the table that includes the bean sprouts, the cilantro and or mint leaves, the wedged lime and THINLY sliced onion. You will not cook these in with the broth.

Once the soup has reached boiling point, turn the heat down to med-high and add the chicken. It will start to cook right away and won't take long if you have sliced it thin enough. Once it has cooked for about 3-4 minutes divide chicken and broth into your soup bowls, over top the noodles.

So now is the fun part. 

With the plate you made of the sprout etc, each person can add what and how much of whatever they like. Also, it's nice to serve with soy sauce, hot chili sauce and hoisin sauce. These are all very good in the soup. It's an easy dinner and it shakes things up a little too. You can always modify recipe to your taste as well, ie: beef instead of chicken, add your own veggies, whatever you like.. I just hope you like it either way!

Yummy.. Fettucini Carbonara!

I fell in love with carbonara after having it in Melbourne, Australia, a multicultural mecca. We found the best italian restaurant call "Amiconi's", it was so authentic and most of the people there were italians so we figured we couldn't go wrong! Dwayne, myself and our friend Lene went one night and we all were more than satisfied with what we ordered. I got Mushroom and Tortellini Afredo, Dwayne had Gnocchi, and Lene.. the Carbonara, Mmmm. So I think I have perfected the essence of the legendary Carbonara and here it is!

Fettucini Carbonara

(enough feed for a table of 4)

1 pack of fettucini noodles (better if fresh)

6 or 7 slices of lean bacon or proscuitto, if you're feeling fancy

5 mushrooms

4 cloves garlic

1 large egg

1/2 large onion

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

handful chopped parsley

Ok so, chop all your bacon into pieces (whatever size you like), fry in pan until bacon cooked but not crispy. 

Chop mushrooms, garlic and onions and add to the mix. When they have cooked for about 3-5 minutes, turn down the heat.

Now, you can add a little bit of white wine at this point if you prefer. 

Pour in the cream and let the sauce simmer for a good 20 minutes to a half hour. 

Get your noodles cooking to be ready when the sauce is done.

When sauce is done simmering, take off heat and crack the egg into the mix. Make sure to stir it up right away to avoid large chunks. The heat will cook the egg, so don't worry.

After the egg is in, add the parsley, mix in the noodles, serve and enjoy with a LARGE glass of wine.