Jolly Jerusalem

A bit of something different for dinner – pork and Jerusalem artichokes.  It could have been described as a culinary juxtaposition if only the Jerusalem artichokes had anything to do with Jerusalem!  Apparently, they are actually native to North America and are related to daisies (who knew?). So, sounds good in theory, but not quite!

Pork with Jerusalem artichokes

Anyway, other than trying to be clever with words, the meal was actually pretty clever in execution.  The artichokes were cooked in the oven with some sautéed red onions, garlic and a tin of tomatoes (a recipe called “smothered Jerusalem artichokes” from Marcella Hazan).  The pork, I quickly marinated in a little olive oil, garlic, light soy and a bit of Worcestershire sauce and then browned in a pan.  These were tossed on top of the artichokes, together with a few chopped up cherry tomatoes and cooked for about 15 minutes. Done!  How easy was that?

Even better, it tasted great and the Hungry Twins thought so too. They even devoured the Jerusalem artichokes!  Skye forgot how to use a bowl and tipped everything out….

Where’s my bowl?

Grace enjoyed the lot….

Love Jerusalem artichokes and pork chops!

All in all, not a bad effort!  The Hungry Twins ate everything on the plate (mushrooms and peas as well) and then had a few slices of plastic cheese, a big handful of grapes and still hungry…. Three bowls of yoghurt!!!

Back to their best.

Shepherd’s pie special

Dinner last night was a fabulous shepherd’s pie (if I say so myself).  Made from delicious Hutton Vale lamb bought at the Barossa Farmers’ Market on the weekend, this pie tasted extra good.  I had added some bacon pieces (at the expense of a cut finger) and these really added something special to the flavour.

Special shepherd’s pie

The Hungry Twins were pretty impressed – we couldn’t quite keep up with their demand for lamb.  And they even managed to eat most of their dinner from bowls!

Lovely lamb!

This lamb is really special – no joke!

Not a lot on the floor either – poor dogs (looks like it’s diet time for them!).

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

http://www.huttonvale.com/website/lamb/

 

 

Delightful dumplings

After a lovely BBQ lunch (sausages, lamb chops and steak), a bit of something different for dinner.  Answer – pork dumplings!  Pretty easy to make as you can buy the wonton wrappers all ready to go.  After a bit of fiddling around, they look like this…..

Uncooked dumplings

And then once you have boiled them for a few minutes and then dunked them in broth, they look like this….

The finished product…

The Hungry Twins had an interesting response to these – Grace thought the wonton wrapper was fabulous and Skye loved the pork cooked inside!  A match made in heaven – each Hungry Twin liked what the other didn’t…..

Wontons are wonderful!

Pork only please…..

The Hungry Twins also had a few leftover sausages and steak from lunch, a handful of peas and the ubiquitous plastic cheese.  A few grapes and there you go – another meal all done!  Quite a few bits discarded on the floor = happy dogs.

 

 

 

Saturday sausages

The Hungry Twins are back in form.  A large breakfast of porridge (one bowl each) and vegemite crumpets, followed by morning tea (not something they normally have) of more crumpets and grapes.  All this food was needed for the Hungry Twins’ weekly swimming lesson – missed out on last week because they had colds.  Lunch was meat pies, leftover curry pasta and some cherry tomatoes (plus strawberries and yet more grapes).

Pies are pretty good!

Curry pasta (second time around) is ok too!

For dinner, the Hungry Twins had pork sausages (bought at our local Foodland), peas and leftover Italian rat.  The sausages went down pretty quickly, followed by the peas.  Then Grace proceeded to devour the rat, while Skye preferred the curry pasta left from lunch (and last night!).

Give me rat (lots of rat)…..

Do dogs like sausages?

A nice pear (gone in an instant) and a handful of grapes for dessert.  It looks like the Hungry Twins are back to their best!

 

 

 

Broccoli, peas and pumpkin

The Hungry Twins have been feeling a bit delicate these last couple of days.  A cold has left them with a lack of appetite, this is a new experience.  Last night’s dinner was broccoli pasta, which was easy to make and went down well (although the volume was a lot less than usual).

A family favourite

Well, this I will eat!

And it’s even good for me…..

Leftovers from dinner were re-worked for lunch today – you can’t beat broccoli and pasta!

For dinner tonight I thought I’d try a new dish – risotto with pumpkin and peas.

And now for something different…..

It was met with mixed results.  Skye really liked the peas, but refused the pumpkin completely and only deigned to eat a couple of mouthfuls of risotto.  Grace devoured the pumpkin but tossed the peas overboard (usually she loves these!).  Thank goodness for dogs….

Peas not pumpkin, please!

Hmmm, no peas for me!

And thank goodness for fish fingers and cheese!  A couple sticks of each and a bowl of yoghurt (just like when they were tiny) and that was dinner.  A bit hard to believe that the Hungry Twins can eat so little…..  Hopefully they will be back to their usual ravenous selves soon!  Although, I can’t say that the dogs are complaining – all the more for them.

 

 

 

Well, nearly (chicken cacciatore)

Sometimes I have a grand plan for dinner, make it, think it tastes delicious and then it is totally unappreciated by the Hungry Twins.  Tonight was such a night!  I made a lovely chicken cacciatore with fabulous free-range chicken (our good friend, Saskia Beer again) with tasty basil and garlic roasted potatoes and the Hungry Twins preferred the frozen peas!

Chicken cacciatore, potatoes and peas

Thankfully, all the effort wasn’t completely wasted – the chicken bones were a hit with the Hungry Twins…..

Well, that’s more like it!

Who needs fancy chicken cacciatore when you have bones?

The Hungry Twins did eat SOME of their dinner.  Then quickly moved onto cheese, strawberries and grapes.  At least they liked those!

Finally – fruit!!! (Don’t waste my time with boring chicken)

My husband and I liked the chicken cacciatore – all the more for us!!

It’s tricky learning new things (bowls, again!)

A lovely autumn day today – a chilly start but the sun shone later.  Lunch outside was a must!  A few fish fingers to get the party started, before moving onto more gourmet delights.  Yummy pork sausages from our friend, Michael Wohltstadt at Heritage Barossa Pork, bought today at the Barossa Farmers’ Markets were the go.  Fresh corn on the cob (also from the markets) was cooked on the BBQ and it tasted great!  At least, the Hungry Twins seemed to think so.  Some peas and tomatoes and then strawberries and grapes rounded out the meal.

Although tasty, lunch was a bit of challenge for them – we are trying to teach the Hungry Twins how to use bowls.

It’s a bit hard to get the food out of the bowl!

They mostly have the idea, although Skye does like to take the food out of the bowl and put it on the tray of her high chair…. Nearly right!  One use for a bowl is to put it on your head.  Who would have thought that plastic ware could be so fashionable??

Plastic bowl = autumn fashion!

It looks like the Hungry Twins are getting the point of bowls!

Still, not a bad effort really!  My husband was very impressed with the Hungry Twins’ bowl-skills (we have been working on it during the week!).  Have to keep practising….

One day we might get it!

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

Homemade baked beans

Pork chop night tonight!  Served with roasted carrots, homemade baked beans and a few peas.

Baked beans for dinner!

The Hungry Twins loved it!  First they gobbled down the pork, then the peas were spotted (just boring old frozen peas, but the Hungry Twins do love them!) and these went as well.  Carrots next and then it was onto the baked beans – saving the best for last!  The butter beans were eaten by hand and the smaller cannellini beans were spoon-fed to the Hungry Twins.  Plastic cheese, some poached pears and a handful of grapes and that was it.  The Hungry Twins went through their meal so quickly, I didn’t even get a photo, so here is the recipe for the baked beans instead!

Once you have made your own baked beans, you will never want to use tinned ones again. This dish goes really well with grilled meats, especially pork.  It also tastes really good the next day on toast for breakfast!

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: Around 60 minutes
• Serves: 6 as a side dish 

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 rashers of bacon or pancetta, chopped into small pieces
• 400gm tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 400gm tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 200ml chicken stock
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• OPTIONAL100ml white wine
• OPTIONAL 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (you can use chilli flakes or we like to use homemade harissa)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200^oC.
2. Add olive oil to a heavy-based, oven-proof casserole dish over medium heat.  Cook onion and garlic until they start to soften (about five minutes).  Add the bacon pieces and cook until they start to brown (about five minutes).  Add chilli (if using) and stir.
3. Add butter and cannellini beans to pan and stir well.  Cook for about five minutes before adding white wine (if using) and stock.  Bring to a simmer and then add the tinned tomatoes and about 200ml water and stir well.
4. Bring to a simmer (about 10 minutes) then add to the oven and cook for around 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
5. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about five minutes before serving.

More peas, please!

You can’t beat peas.  They are easy to prepare (I use frozen baby peas), taste great (the girls love them) and they provide entertainment during dinner (the girls have fun picking them up one by one to eat).

Last night’s dinner was peas (of course), sweet corn, snow peas and beans, chicken meatballs and tomato sauce with pasta….. Followed by the favourite Duchess pears and a few grapes.

The peas and pasta were the winners – the girls love to slurp the fusilli pasta and then give a big cheeky smile.  The spirals make it easy to grip as well!  The chicken meatballs were viewed with some suspicion to start with but the girls warmed up to them and then gobbled them down.

It’s much easier now the girls eat what we have.  Even if we don’t manage to sit down to dinner together (although we do this several times a week), only having to make one dinner is a big time saver!