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.

Comforting favourites

Cold weather today (pretty chilly all week really) so some yummy wintry favourites for dinner.  Lamb rack, Italian ratatouille (caponata) and mashed potatoes.

Tasty dinner treats – lamb, caponata and mashed potatoes

The lamb (cut into Hungry Twins’-sized portions) was eaten with serious intent.  Skye and Grace managed to eat two cutlets each and probably would have eaten more if we hadn’t saved them for our dinner!  Next, they moved onto mashed potatoes and the Italian rat.  Working on improving their skills with bowls and spoons, there were mixed results.  Skye got the idea pretty quickly, but Grace was a bit slower on the uptake….

I think I might be getting the hang of this spoon thing!

Hmm, do I use the spoon? Quicker to use my hands!!

Either way, the Hungry Twins enjoyed it!  A few slices of plastic cheese were required while the apple and oat muffin warmed up in the microwave.  The muffin disappeared, so a few pears in juice were required…. A huge meal eaten and enjoyed by the Hungry Twins.  Post-meal bath required!

 

 

 

Super chicken

Dinner always tastes better in good company. It certainly seemed the case tonight!  Granny is visiting from Sydney for the week and the Hungry Twins were very excited.  This all translated into huge appetites….

Marrakesh chicken, broccolini and mashed potato

The chicken (marinated in marrakesh spices, bought from Saskia Beer at the Barossa Farmers’ Market) was devoured in about a micro-second.  We had to tear pieces from our chicken to share with the Hungry Twins!  The broccolini wasn’t much of a hit (thankfully, Monty the golden retriever eats cooked broccoli!) but the mash was enthusiastically eaten from a spoon.

Where’s the chicken?

Do I have broccoli stuck in my teeth?

After all this food, you would think that they wouldn’t need anymore.  But no, plastic cheese (three slices between them), pears and grapes were required before they were satisfied!

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

http://saskiabeer.com

 

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.

 

 

 

Sausages, pizza and cheese

A dinner was a bit of everything tonight.  Sausages (from Barossa Heritage Pork, bought today at the Barossa Farmers’ Markets), stir-fry veg, homemade pizzas and plastic cheese!

Pizza with ham and olives

Sausages are always a hit (two nights in a row!) with the Hungry Twins, so no complaints there. Except that perhaps we could have given them another one (they had one each), but then we wouldn’t have had any dinner ourselves!

Anymore sausages? Or did my sister eat them all…..

The stir-fry veg was given a luke-warm reception, but some of it did get eaten.  Pizza was the hero of course.  Particularly given that it had olives, an all-time favourite of the Hungry Twins!

Can I have some more pizza?

They were still a bit hungry after all of this (hard to believe, I know), so we tossed them some plastic cheese.  Good move!  Not only do they love to eat it, but they also find it quite entertaining to break it into little pieces before eating.  Food AND fun all in one!

Plastic cheese is GOOD

A few grapes each and there you go – dinner done again!

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

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

 

 

Dinner from a box

Tasty chilli basil chicken tonight.  Easy to make – it comes out of a box (the flavours do anyway!).  Just add chicken and vegetables.

Chilli basil chicken

It’s one of those meals that require little thought – just chop up the chicken and veg, add the various sauces and there you go!  I use Marion’s Kitchen meal-in-a-box.  The flavours are great and even though it has a little bit of heat, the Hungry Twins love it.

Chicken from the bowl to my mouth…. (mostly)

A bit of plastic cheese and the last of the pears and two happy customers!  A bit of cleaning up to do – somehow the Hungry Twins manage to get sauce up to their elbows (even though they used their bowls for most of the meal!!).

http://marionskitchen.com.au/food-range/marions-kitchen-thai-basil-chilli-stir-fry/

 

 

Meat and three veg (and a bit of cheese)

Quite a lot of cheese, really.  Tonight for dinner the Hungry Twins had steak (marinated in worcestershire and light soy), leftover homemade baked beans and some broccoli and cauliflower cheese.

Steak and three veg

The steak was eaten with such enthusiasm that I was hard-pressed to keep up with the demand for sliced pieces (until the Hungry Twins have molars, chopped up steak is still the go).  The broccoli and cauliflower cheese was also a hit.  I made this using a River Cottage recipe that uses hot English mustard.  It has lots of tasty cheese and the addition of the mustard definitely adds to the flavour!

Tastes good!

Hmm, anymore cauliflower left?

The beans, leftover from the other night, were also happily eaten from a spoon (all the better for quicker eating!).  The Hungry Twins had a brief interlude of three slices of plastic cheese before a nice, fat and juicy Duchess pear for dessert.  Happiness all round.

 

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.

Peanut butter curry

Lunch was mix’n’match today.  Vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches to start and then onto the leftover cheat’s curry from the other night.  The sandwiches were eaten enthusiastically, although the tough crusts were tossed on the floor (a hazard of homemade bread – hard crusts!).  Cheat’s curry was ok second time around, but the pasta was the most popular item in the curry.  The Hungry Twins rummaged through their offering to find the elusive pasta pieces before moving onto the less-choice bits.  A bit left for Monty the golden retriever to eat for dinner (he won’t complain!).  A few slices of plastic cheese, some bits of pear and then grapes and lunch was all over!

And there’s another bit of pasta….

I can’t have eaten all the pasta already!!

Peanut butter for dinner

Butter chicken with pasta and veg

Made a butter chicken curry for dinner for the Hungry Twins, together with some pasta to soak up the sauce and some veg.  It wasn’t received so well.  Grace threw several pieces of chicken and pasta (usually a winner) on the floor and then proceeded to eat the corn and peas quite happily.  Skye, suffering from the imminent arrival of some new teeth, wasn’t too keen on anything.  A few pieces of pasta were eaten but everything else was rejected!  Some plastic cheese kept the Hungry Twins happy until we could devise another dinner plan….

Peanut butter on fresh homemade bread to the rescue.  Good thing we have a large jar of peanut butter in the pantry!

Saved by peanut butter!

Soft bread is ok on sore gums….

Then it was bread and honey (a recent favourite), followed by some slices of nectarine (probably the last for the year).  Perhaps their morning orientation visit to their new child care centre wore them out?  We’ll try the dinner leftovers tomorrow for lunch and see if we have better success.

Plenty of food thrown onto the floor.  At least the dogs had a tasty dinner…..