Green Chile a la Colorado
Green Chili a la Colorado
Green Chile a la Colorado
The Ganache ....
So ... here's the recipe ... with our modifications ... click on the link above for the original recipe and a video from the show !!
160g butter
Pinch of salt
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 punnet strawberries, 1 banana
160ml cream
40g butter
180g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the pastry case with baking paper and pastry beads or uncooked rice (finally I found a good use for brown rice !!!) . Blind-bake for 7-10 minutes, then remove baking paper and beads and bake for another 5-10 minutes until just golden. Press down any bubbles that have risen up and let it cool.
Meanwhile, whip thickened cream with vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Pour the chocolate ganache into the tart shells. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon or palette knife. Top with whipped cream and then with fruit ...
Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - 16 August 2010
Monday
Tuesday
Rory's Salmon
Red Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
Wednesday
Honey Lime Drumsticks
Corn on the Cob
Spicy Potatoes
Thursday
Lasagna
I'm going to make two big pans and freeze lots of leftovers !
Friday
Jono wants to make shepherds pie.
Again, going to make two big pans and freeze lots of leftovers !
Saturday
Alia is going to cook Mac and Cheese out of a kids cookbook we got from the library.
We're going to try making these cheesy crackers.
Sunday
I think Rory will do a Cheese and Burger Society Burger
Just not sure which one yet !
best green smoothie
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I just made the most perfect green smoothie combination today! I was getting burnt out on bananas and berries.
Here's what I added:
- 2 navel oranges peeled
(Found that tangelos are particularly yummy and SO juicy!) - 1 cup frozen pineapple
1/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut
Better yet...A splash of coconut milk! YUMMY and not gritty like the dried coconut flakes!
- a bit of organic agave nectar
- approx. 1/2 cup filtered water
- 6-8 ice cubes
Add to mixture:
- approx. 4 cups organic baby spinach
I gave My Girl a bit today, and she asked for MORE! So yummy!
Blueberry and Zucchini - Together ??
I modified it a tiny bit ...
1 1/2 cups zucchini (grated, squeezed and drained)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup greek yogurt & 2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 & 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
How to make it ...
Salad and Tiny Baby Pumpkins
Just pictures.
I bought these pumpkins because they were cute.
Cute but very impractical ! They have so little flesh on them
that you spend all your time trying to cut the skin off or leave them
whole and scoop the seeds out for very little left to actually eat !! I put the
skinless bits in something ... tasted like pumpkin. I baked the whole seedless ones
with cheese and cream and garlic and some other stuff inside them but we forgot to eat them
and by the time we came back and found that we'd forgotten, they so did not look like
something we wanted to eat ! So, I think these cute little pumpkins, not these four
but any future cute little pumpkins like these four that I buy, just because they
are cute (!!) will be destined to just look cute sitting on my counter top !
Because they were, very very cute ! And I loved them sitting there.
I just need to make that their purpose from the start ! Ok
pointless diamond shaped paragraph finished !!
Bonnie tries Jill's Soup ...
We tried Jill's Thai Coconut Soup the other night.
I did not have red curry paste so I used green. It was nice.
My conclusion on this dish is that the I should make it the day before I want to serve it.
I say this because I enjoyed it the first night but I LOVED it re-heated the second day for lunch !
The flavors were a lot more infused ...
Thanks Jilly ! Keep your recipes a-comin' !
Jim's Famous Ribs
Here's how he taught us to make his famous ribs:
For our barbecue last night, we served 18 people with the following:
16 lbs of Spare Ribs (We have found the meaty ribs at Costco to be quite satisfactory)
Separate the ribs and cover with marinade.
The ingredients for the marinade are as follows:
Equal portions of Kikkoman Soy Sauce and White Vinegar. For some reason, it has to be Kikkoman brand. We don't know why, but the taste just isn't the same with any other soy sauce.
Here are the quantities we used to serve 18:

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - 2 August 2010
Alia missed her night cooking this week b/c she and I went out for dinner.
Tonight, she's going to help Rory make The Bohemian #14 at Cheese and Burger.
I'm going to cook Tuesday night's dinner while they are doing the burgers.
I need to because Tuesday's are NUTSO and this Tuesday even more so !
Monday
I am going to make my chicken taco salad again !
YUMMMMM !
Tuesday
I didn't make this last week because my pasta machine BROKE AGAIN !
Not my fault this time !! I'm going to send it back for a refund !!
Winter Vegetable Tomato Sauce
with plain old dried pasta.
Wednesday
I'm so excited about trying Nanette's Pancit Guisado and Lumpiang Shanghai
Thursday
I'm going to try making this Orange and Coriander Marinated Salmon.
I'm going to serve this with whole wheat cous cous.
Friday
Jono wants to make Pizza.
We're going to try Garlic & Spinach Pizza w/Ricotta Blobs and Lemon Asparagus Pizza
We'll make a 4 or 5 cheese one too that the kids will love !
And I think I'll get some salami as a little treat.
Jono especially loves a good salami pizza.
Saturday
Alia wants to make grilled cheese and hot chips,
with fresh snow peas from our garden on the side ...
Chicken Taco Salad a la Bon-Chan
The salad itself was really simple. I made individual plates (and made lunches straight into tupperware containers at the same time) for each of us !
chopped lettuce leaves
a spoonful of black beans
sliced avocado
sour cream
a chunk of lime
corn chips
simple homemade salsa
chicken
for the salsa
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
finely diced red onion
crushed garlic
lime juice
salt and pepper
mix the above to taste
for the chicken
300g chicken ( I'll do more next time )
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 Tablespoon cumin
1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon onion flakes
1/2 Tablespoon sea salt
mix spices.
add to chicken when frying in olive oil.
i didn't use all of the spice mix ... saved about 1/2 for next time !
Other things I might also add to the salad but didn't this time ...
black olives
grated cheddar cheese
cilantro lime rice
Jono Makes Butter Chicken w/Saffron Rice
Jono LOVES butter chicken.
On his night to cook a couple weeks ago he requested that we try making it at home !
We found these recipes in a cookbook that was my Grandma's.
It is called Indian Food and Folklore.
We modified their recipes to look like this ...
For the butter chicken ....
1 kg chicken breast, cubed
7 tablespoons vinegar
Put the chicken and vinegar in a bowl for an hour or two. Mix the following ingredients in a food processor and let rest while the chicken is doing whatever it's doing in the vinegar.
4 garlic cloves
2 inch piece of fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of a mild curry paste. We used a green curry paste.
a big handful of chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon dried mint
150ml greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pour this luscious green mixture onto the chicken (after it's hour or two in the vinegar) and let marinate in the fridge overnight !
Preheat oven to 160c/325f
To cook, pour all of that chicken ... including the marinade ... into a roasting tin. (I lined mine with baking paper so the chicken wouldn't stick to the pan.) Bake for 20 minutes ... or until chicken is cooked through.
While that's cooking you'll need to get these ingredients together and make your sauce:6 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 small onion, thinly sliced
7 tablespoons thickened cream
1 tablespoon garam masala
For the rice ...
375g basmati rice
50g ghee
1/2 a cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods
6 cloves
1 red onion, sliced
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons boiling water
450 ml water
Put the saffron threads into the boiling water and let set at least 10 minutes.
Wash the rice. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain.
Melt the ghee and fry the spices in it. Add onion. Fry to desired onion consistency. Add rice. Fry 2 minutes. Add saffron water & the 450ml water. Stir. Bring to the boil. Cover. Cook gently ... about 20 minutes ... til liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
The Roadhouse
Here's what's on the burger ... (and the links to those recipes )
Beef Patty
Gruyere Cheese
Caramelized Onions
Bacon
Onion rings
Garlic Mayo
Toasted Onion Roll ... we couldn't find those, so we used Soft Whole Wheat Bread Rolls.
Summer Squash Sauté
I used:
1 tablespoon each extra virgin olive oil and butter
1/2 a yellow onion sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small yellow crookneck squash, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
salt & pepper, to taste
Topping:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 of a small lemon
Here's what I did:
Sauté sliced yellow onion, in olive oil and butter.
After the onion is soft add chopped garlic.
Next add sliced yellow crookneck squash and zucchini.
Continue to sauté until squash is crisp-tender. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Plate squash and add another tablespoon of olive oil to pan.
Quickly fry about 2 tablespoons of seasoned bread crumbs.
Sprinkle over squash and squeeze 1/4 of a lemon over top.
This makes enough for two as a side dish, but since it was my lunch, it was my complete meal.
Next time I may add a pinch of cheyenne pepper. Mmmm... :)
Buttermilk Ranch
We love Ranch. Unfortunatly, the store bought one is laced with preservatives ... and who knows what else !? So ... I have been on the lookout for one to make at home. I found a Ranch Dressing recipe in a Donna Hay cookbook ... it was a bit runny as a dip ... yet tasty ... so I modified it to make it more dippish ...
Here's what I did ...
3 Tablespoons Buttermilk
1/2 cup (or more if not thick enough) of sour cream
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
A handful of chopped chives and parsley
Salt and Pepper
I think all add some garlic and possible a bit of onion powder to it next time ...
Mix all ingredients and dip raw veggies into it. We love cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, carrot and yellow capsicum (bell pepper) !
Pancit Guisado ( Stir-Fried Rice Noodles)
Pancit Bihon Guisado is a Filipino noodle dish and is a staple second to rice. This was brought by the chinese immigrants and was localized since then.
Lumpiang Shanghai or Spring Rolls
It is of Chinese origin (originally called lunpia) and was brought to the Philippines by Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province. In the Philippines , lumpia is a commom menu during celebrations and feast. Here's the recipe.
Roast Vegetable Non-Frittata
Preheat oven to 180C
In a big baking tray :
1 zucchini ~ quartered and then halved (does that make sense ? just cut it how you like !)
1 big carrot ~ same at the zucchini
1 potato ~ chopped
a bit of kent pumpkin ~ I cut up a mini one and it was a pain in the bahookie.
yellow and red capsicum (bell pepper) ~ cut into strips
garlic ~ slivers ~ however many you like !
drizzle of olive oil and a bit of rock salt
I threw all that into the oven for 40 ish minutes. Til they were a bit soft ... don't burn them though !
Mix :
6 eggs
One cup cream
3/4 cup fetta
salt and pepper
a handful of greek basil leaves
pepper
SO ... next time, I will add the veggies to the mixture above, pour into a quiche dish and bake til done. But if you want to do it the Donna Hay way you should cook in a frying pan over low heat for 8 - 10 minutes ... til the frittata begins to set. At this point, do not and I repeat DO NOT try and flip it like a tortilla ! Instead, put the pan under the hot grill (broiler) for a few minutes til golden.
In the end, I just made mine into scrambled eggs ... still tasted good. Just looked like a dogs breakfast !
The Most Amazing Beef Curry
For the Beef :
1 tablespoon Homemade Curry Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Toasted spices:
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
3 whole cloves
1 (1-inch) cinnamon stick, broken
2 dried hot red chiles
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
Remaining ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3 cups vertically sliced onion
3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1 1/2 cups low-salt beef broth
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro stems
1/2 cup tomato puree
Preparation
To prepare beef, combine first 3 ingredients; rub evenly over beef. Cover and chill 2 hours, tossing occasionally.
To prepare toasted spices, heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add coriander and next 6 ingredients (coriander through bay leaves); cook 1 minute or until fragrant, shaking pan constantly. Place coriander mixture, sugar, cardamom, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a spice or coffee grinder, and process until finely ground.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add half of beef mixture; sauté 5 minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and beef mixture; remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and ginger to pan; cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add the toasted spice mixture, garlic, and paprika; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add beef, yogurt, and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the beef is tender.





