Showing posts with label fast food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fast food. Show all posts
Icy poles
It's been a long time between posts, and even though I've been home full time for two months, I have to confess to not doing a lot of cooking recently. Mostly I've been busy with projects around the house, but it's also been pretty consistently hot this summer, and not at all conducive to baking.
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Instead of baking, Ive been freezing using my new Quick Pop Maker.
Recipes so far:
Creamy banana
2 bananas, mashed1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Peaches and cream
125ml peach nectar
30ml cream
50ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Virgin pina colada pops
1 pineapple, peeled and chopped
425ml coconut milk
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 9
Summer stripes
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup coconut water
Pour equal amounts of pomegranate juice into each mould. Freeze. Add equal amounts of orange juice to each mould. Freeze. Add coconut water and allow to finish freezing. Makes 3
Frozen milkshakes
3/4 cup milk
Topping to taste
Blend, then freeze as directed. Makes 3.
Drip-free icy poles
1 pkt jelly crystals
500ml water
Make jelly mix as directed. Chill without setting. Pour into moulds and freeze as directed. Makes 9.
While I love the Quick Pop Maker for its convenience - icy poles are only 7 minutes away at any time - any of these could be made just as easily in traditional moulds, plastic cups or even lined muffin trays as long as you've got a way to keep the sticks upright.
Sunday night fast food
I'm not a big fan of Sundays. Never have been. When I was small, they were all about having my hair washed and detangled, which trust me, hurts a lot when you're a little girl with long hair. When I was at uni, Sundays were for recovering from Saturday night, followed by a mad sprint to get work done for Monday classes. For a while there, Sunday was brunch day, which I have to admit, is the way things ought to be. Whenever there was no brunch, there were lazy afternoons spent at a bar at the beach listening to jazz. Sadly, I don't live near that beach or bar any more, and family arrangements mean there's no time for brunch unless it starts at quarter to lunch. Now, Sunday is all about Bunnings and outdoor stores and feeling restless.
Anyway, the last thing I want after a hard day of fidgeting and buying hardware is to make an elaborate meal. A fast meal is an absolute must on a Sunday night. This dish is quick, simple and pretty yummy. As always, using the best olive oil you can afford will give the best results.
2 serves fettuccine, linguine or penne
1-2 cups broccoli florets
1 tbspn olive oil
4 tbspn capers in vinegar, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tspn fresh dill, chopped
1/4 preserved lemon
150g smoked salmon
olive oil to serve
Anyway, the last thing I want after a hard day of fidgeting and buying hardware is to make an elaborate meal. A fast meal is an absolute must on a Sunday night. This dish is quick, simple and pretty yummy. As always, using the best olive oil you can afford will give the best results.
Pasta with smoked salmon, preserved lemon and capers
2 serves fettuccine, linguine or penne
1-2 cups broccoli florets
1 tbspn olive oil
4 tbspn capers in vinegar, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tspn fresh dill, chopped
1/4 preserved lemon
150g smoked salmon
olive oil to serve
Method
Cook pasta until al dente. Add broccoli during last four minutes. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small frying pan. Saute capers until slightly crisp. Add garlic and continue to saute until aromatic. Remove from heat and add dill. Remove flesh and pith from preserved lemon. Rinse well and chop finely. Add to caper mix. Drain pasta and broccoli. Tear the salmon into small pieces. Toss through caper mix and shredded smoked salmon. Drizzle with extra oil and serve with black pepper.Fast Food - Chinese Style
Normally I like to cook from scratch, but realistically, there are days when I just can't be bothered. On those days it's good to have a set of staples in the fridge or pantry to whip up some fast food. Vegie stir fry definitely fits the definition, and salt and pepper tofu, while not a staple, is definitely fast. All up, dinner was ready in around 20 minutes, which is faster than going out for take away, and most likely a fair bit cheaper too.
Salt and pepper tofu
1 packet tofu puffs
1/4 cup ground rice
2 tspns finely ground black pepper
2 tspns finely ground salt
spray olive oil
oil for frying
Method
Combine the salt, pepper and ground rice in a bag. Lightly spray the tofu puffs with oil. Place in the bag and shake to coat with rice mixture. Preheat oil to smoking point. Fry coated puffs until golden - around 2 minutes. Drain. Garnish with fried shallots or fresh sliced red chilli.
Hints for super fast stir fry
- Keep a bag of stir fry vegies in the freezer - my favourite blend includes water chestnuts, baby corn and bamboo shoots along with snow peas, broccoli, red capsicum and onion.
- Keep bottles of minced garlic and minced ginger.
- Make sure ground five spice is in your seasoning collection.
- Always have a bottle of stir fry sauce of some variety on hand. Mushroom flavoured stir fry sauce is great for vegetarians, oyster sauce is good for carnivores.
- Shelf fresh noodles are a good addition if you can't be bothered with rice.
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