What are you cooking today?

[cookie1]

You poor SA folks. You must be absolutely melting. Your heat has been so consistent. I hope you all have air con, especially you Judy. Hope you're getting a little stronger.

[faffa_70]

Yes thinking of you all and very thankful that we haven't had a heatwave here.....yet

[Katya]

Even though I'm envious that you're heading for summer whilst we're about to hit winter, I am really glad I don't have to face that sort of heat.   I'd melt 

[Amanda]

Bloody awful here, cookie, and NO aircon!
We live in the hills, where it is cooler at night, and have a pool so husband insists that we don't need it.
Easy for him to say from the comfort of an airconditioned office.  Heated conversations on the subject last night!!
40C today, dropping down to 30ish for 2 days, then back up again for the rest of the week.
Won't be much cooking going on again this week.

[judydawn]

I have an a/c so haven't noticed the heat at all as I haven't had my nose outside since coming home. In fact, I sit most of the day under a blanket with a/c set on 25^o , turn it off at night and just have the fan on and even then, most of the time that gets turned off too. Wouldn't like to be out in it though and sympathise with anyone who has to work out in it.

[Amanda]

Hi Judy - how are you feeling?
Hope that you are being looked after and taking it easy!

[cathy79]

Today I made Apple Oatmeal Fritters for Brunch, with enough left for a few morning teas.  Then I made Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, Zucchini Brownies and Tuna Mornay for dinner.

Plenty of morning tea options at our house at the moment.

[Katya]

Had a busy day yesterday.  Made bread and pea and lettuce soup for lunch.  Then Mediterranean seafood rice with chorizo (using some of the great chrorizo I bought back from Spain) from the Full Steam Ahead cookbook (recipe review in progress).  And also made a harissa paste for marinating chicken for our dinner tonight.  My poor machine felt a bit overworked by the end, but thereagain, so did I 

[bron]

Had another cooking course, christmas one, amazing, and guess what....another competition to win another book of my choice so have spent all weekend cooking. Have made Mojitos, Swiss Roll savoury filled with avocado, king prawns and crab (amaaaaaaazing!) and pink sauce, Salmon Tartar, Cream of Almond soup, Turron, Mandarin sorbet and Roscon de Reyes (which is a HUGE brioche very christmassy which literally fills the WHOLE oven and is absolutely delicious, the house smells lush, like a bakery in fact!!!) Will post you the photos to show off as soon as I can!

[andiesenji]

Yesterday I did the prep and today I will be finishing and canning a batch of pork mincemeat. 
This is an old family recipe that will eventually be incorporated into a pork fruitcake, stuffing for poultry and possibly some empanadas, beggar's bags (phyllo dough) or tarts. 
This goes back a few generations in my dad's family who moved to Kentucky in the 18th century when it was still the "frontier."
The farm on which I grew up is still in the family and my cousins raise "specialty" livestock and game birds, mostly for the restaurant and hotel trade. 
They send me a ham every year for Christmas and are sending me some pheasant for Thanksgiving.  Last year, since I was hosting a dinner, they sent me a 37 pound turkey that had to be roasted in my bread oven as it didn't fit in my convection oven.  (I then had to "burn-out" the bread oven to get rid of the turkey aroma before I could use it for unflavored breads.

[trudy]

Gee Bron that all sounds amazing.  Can't wait to see all the pics.

[Thermomixer]

Go bron - good luck - sounds like you're firing again.

andiesenji - sounds like you're having a great time too - and marzipan to boot.

[cookie1]

Phew, you are all so very busy.

All I've done today is boost the bread supply and tonight will be chicken in the Varoma in some form and vegies to go with it.  I did do Creme Brulee on Saturday.

I was informed that the biscuit barrel was empty so I've just made a batch of craisin shortbread. They've just come out of the oven and smell divine.

[CarolineW]

Bloody awful here, cookie, and NO aircon!
We live in the hills, where it is cooler at night, and have a pool so husband insists that we don't need it.
Easy for him to say from the comfort of an airconditioned office.  Heated conversations on the subject last night!!
40C today, dropping down to 30ish for 2 days, then back up again for the rest of the week.
Won't be much cooking going on again this week.

Go find some air conditioned shops to hang out in, and see how he feels about it then    No housework or cooking done, plenty of shopping ... should pretty soon come to the conclusion that a/c is a good, relatively cheap investment 

[CarolineW]

I'm still pathetically low on energy and ability to stand, but otherwise very healthy.  So there isn't all that much cooking going on. 

Yesterday I made the usual bread, prepped another giant slow cooker pot of mince. 

I grate the onion, garlic and any veg I can get my hands on - leek, carrot, swede and pumpkin yesterday - in the TMX, then saute it, then add to slow cooker with a pack of mince (which I made & browned in the TMX - started life as stewing steak), a few handfuls of oats to pad it out and improve the flavour / health benefits, a jar of salsa, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some red wine, and red kidney beans.  Add the chilli, coriander, cumin, oregano and rosemary, and leave to bubble away all day.  I usually add tomato puree too, but forgot it yesterday.

It is a very flavourful, cheap & healthy meal, which usually stocks our freezer well.  Last night it fed the crowd that came for my Birthday bonfire party, with almost every person asking for the recipe.  Which is why I bothered to say how to make it here 

Generally I leave out the chilli, cumin, coriander, salsa and kidney beans initially.  Then, when it's cooked, I take some out into a bowl to do a meal of shepherd's pie, adding gravy, etc.  Then I take another bowl out to finish off as spag bog sauce.  Finally, I add the other ingredients and leave it to bubble and mix flavours for a bit longer, which is then used for a meal of chilli and a meal of nachos.

It always amazes me how one pack of mince (or stewing steak) can be stretched so tastily to fill a whole (large) slow cooker bowl, and so make multiple meals.  It's the result of an experiment one week at the end of a month when finances were low, but I know I wouldn't bother doing it this way regularly if I didn't have the TMX to do the leg work for me.  As it is, I do it at least once per month now, and they are the family's favourite meals.

I'm just looking forward to having the energy to make the salsa from scratch again!