Brie, smoked bacon and Cranberry Jam Pizza

I love store bought dough, mostly cause I can't make it but there is an endless number of uses for it from simple bread sticks for lunch boxes to Pizza's and this is our family favourite. 

1kg readymade Bread dough
1 packet cooked smoked bacon bits or rashers if you prefer (just fry them up in a pan)
1 triangle of Brie cheese (stick it in the freezer 30 min before cutting it so it's easy to slice)
1 tin of tomato puree 
1 Jar of Cranberry Jam or Fig Jam or Sour Cherry jam, I have used them all in this recipe and they all are delish.
Pizza spice

Break the dough into equal sized balls, tennis ball size.  Pull and stretch them to flatten them as much as you can, the base for this pizza is not a thin barely there base it's a nice thick soft crust.  make all your bases or as many as fit on 1 tray.
Using a brush cover the bases in tomato puree and sprinkle with pizza spice,
Put on the bacon be generous, no-one likes a selfish cook.
Slice Brie and put about 3/4 slices on Pizza
Bake it in the oven for around 10 min, then pull it out and put on about 2tsp of jam and stick it back in for 2 min to melt the jam a little.
Serve while warm but NOT hot.  Watch out for that Hot jam it's really HOT!!


My kids adore this Pizza because of the sweetness of the jam which really works well with the creaminess of the cheese and the smokiness of the bacon. It's quick and easy and delish, not pretty but oh so tasty. !!

Mince Pizza Rolls

These are my healthy version of Vetkoek.  Very similar to the real thing but without all the frying in oil.  They take a little longer to make but are well worth it. 

1kg readymade fresh dough from your local shop.  If it is not on the shelves ask the bakery for some.  It's around R10 a kg
1 packet mince around 500gms
Onion
Garlic
Jam whatever kind you have that is sweet.  Marmalade while yummy on toast is not good with this dish.
Mince spice or whatever spices you prefer to flavour your mince with I use a tsp of curry powder, paprika, S&P and green stuff be it basil, mixed herbs, parsley whatever you have on the spice rack.
Tomato puree a good one, the cheap stuff is not right for this dish.  Don't use tomato and onion mix or whole tomatoes, they are too wet for this mince dish.  The mince needs to be dry not wet and saucy.
Cheese lots of it.




Fry the mince up in the normal way.
Onion and garlic first, then add the mince and brown it nicely.
Add the spices the Jam (I used tomato jam because it's not to sweet) and half the tin of Tomato puree and set the rest aside for later.
Fry it all for 10 min getting out as much moisture as possible.  I ONLY use lean mince ever and it makes a HUGE difference in all my dishes in general.  It's a quality thing, the amount of moisture that comes out of normal everyday mince is horrible and leaves all my dishes when I use it with a greasy flavour, so while I am cheap on most things I don't skimp on mince.  Get the best quality you can for this dish or the rolls will go soggy and sloppy rather than staying firm and soft inside.
Once the mince is cooked, put it in a bowl and stick it in the fridge to cool for about an hour.  I normally make the mince a few hours before I am ready to make supper and just leave it in the fridge till I am ready, it must be cold since your hands will be right in the dish and you don't want to wind up with burnt fingers.  If you are trying to make this dish for supper and don't have time to cool it for a hour or 2, then cover a tray or big bowl in foil and flatten the mince onto the foil and spread it out as much as possible and stick it in the freezer while you make the rolls it won't be cold but you won't burn blisters on your hands.
Ok so mince done.

First spray and cook a tray to use.
Divide the dough up into equal sized balls about the size of a tennis ball.   You can do this earlier as well and cover the dough with a moist (hate that word lol) dishcloth to keep the dough from hardening and put it in the fridge too. 
1 Kg of dough makes about 9/10 balls but I normally use 2kgs because these rolls are so good you will want leftover for the next day.  Just double up on mince OR use less mince in each and fill the rest up with cheese or a tsp of apricot jam.
Once you have your balls ready, spray your hands with spray and cook and grab a ball and a spoon. 
Using the back of the spoon, push into the middle of the roll to make a well, push all around the inside edges to get a nice deep well, just don't push right through.
Now fill the hole with a tablespoon on mince, add more if you think it looks a little empty but use the 1st roll as a tester to see how much mince you can get in and still seal the dough nicely.  I normally get around 2 spoons in. 
Once the well is full but NOT overflowing, use your fingers to press the mince down really hard into the dough now grab opposite edges and seal the dough. Think Cornish pasty edge and pinch for all you are worth,  it does not have to pretty just seal the edges well, making sure there is no mince escaping.
Once sealed, flip it around in your hand and pull the opposite 2 edges together and seal as well.  It's a double seal to make sure the roll stay closed and the filling does not leak out.  This is why you need dry mince, wet mince will be oozing out about this time and there would be no way to seal it well.
Shape it into a ball again and drop it onto the tray. If you have used the right sized ball of dough and dry mince it will look just like it did now before you stuffed it.
Keep going until all the rolls are filled.
Once all the rolls are stuff and lined up on a tray, using a basting brush cover them in the remaining tomato puree.  I like being generous with it as it dries up while you cooking and while the flavour is overpowering uncooked once cooked it's much sweeter and milder so go ahead and slap a nice thick layer on.  Open another tin if you have to but cover them all over the top and sides.
Grate whatever cheese you are using, I use cheddar cause I love the taste of the crust melted cheddar makes but Mozzarella works well too if you like stringy cheese more than crusty.
Cover the tops of the rolls in a pile of cheese and spread it down the sides as best you can.
Now put it in the over for 25-30 min and bake till the whole house smells of fresh bread and the family have asked you at least twice "what smells so good" or "is supper ready yet"
Take out and serve warm with a salad or just as is.  It's also delicious cold in lunchboxes the next day and once you have the basics down, you can play around with flavours.  How about a mince and egg roll with a fried egg inside or a bacon and cheese roll or a roast chicken and mushroom roll with some gravy over the top?  So many combos to try and so little time to try them.  :)


WARNING: DO NOT TRY BITING INTO THESE UNTIL THEY HAVE STOOD FOR AT LEAST 10 MIN TO COOL DOWN.  THE INSIDES ARE VERY HOT!!!

 

Crustless Leftover Quiche

Easy to make Quiche that makes it's own crust and can be made with ANY filling

This is 1 of those dishes that can be put together in minutes and you can use pretty much anything.

I can't put down an exact recipe for this because there is none you use what you have. I had leftover mince from the pap and mince lasagne and some smocked chicken, broccoli and roast tatos from the night before. Don't worry I froze the leftovers of the mince and just defrosted them in the fridge. So all I do is spray and cook a quiche dish or any pie dish actually any glass dish will work. Add all your leftovers into the dish and flatten them nicely spreading it around. Now this is the mix you can use for any quiche you want to make.

6 Eggs
1 Cup milk, I use buttermilk or sour milk or cream or sour cream or even yogurt but more often than not I use sour milk. You know how you sometimes get that last cup or two of milk that goes sour before you get to use it, I freeze it and pull it out for this dish. Makes the batter nice and tart.
1 packet of a cheese sauce, those instant sauces that you normally mix with water and use on veggies. I like the bacon and cheese sauce most.
1/2 flour, self rising or plain it makes no difference in this dish.
2tsp baking powder
Extra milk however much you need to make sure the sauce it the right consistency. It needs to be the thickness of pancake batter, pourable but stir easy to stir.

Mix everything together in a bowl and beat it to make sure the lumps are all gone. Pour the batter over the leftovers and stick a fork in it a few times to make sure it goes all the way to the bottom, DON'T stir it just punch some holes it. The mixture will form a crust of sorts, and hold the whole quiche together.
Now cover it with cheese, whatever type you like most. I used parmesan on the chicken and veggie quiche and cheddar on the mince.
Put it in the oven and bake for 20 min of 190, take it out and stick a knife in the middle if it comes out dry it's done if not put it back for another 10 minutes watching it carefully.

Once out let it cool and serve while warm with chutney or pickles. It makes great leftover for lunch boxes the next day, lovely cold.

 Porcupine potatos

1 potato per person and 1or 2 extra for the next day cause someone will want it.

Mix whole grain mustard with a little olive oil.
S&P

Pop the tatos in the micro for 10 min and poke at least 2 holes on either side.

Once they are done and have cooled a little slice them about halfway though and stick a few rosemary tips into the slots, now drop them into the Mustard mix and use your hands to coat them nicely in the mix.  Put them on a tray and grind S&P over the top and bake them for 10min then take out and cool down, I like to eat the crispy rosemary with the tatos but Ty hates it so does Ronin, he also does not like the mustard coasting so you can see in the pic there is 1 plain 1 that is just coated in olive oil and S&P for him.  They are best served Hot.   Add a cold side salad of your choice for a easy cheap supper.

The perfect sides

Tonight's supper was all about the sides with are often neglected and treated as nothing more than a side dish...lol. Tonight I made the perfect roast tato, alot of roast tatos are all dry and rock hard on the outside and soft and fluffy inside but I like the soft and fluffy all over. I also made parmesan broccoli, it's a lite dish not smothered in cheese sauce and it's very very nice mostly cause it does not weigh a ton in your tummy. My last side is 1 that may have you think " she is nuts" but it is really good when I make it I usually make alot because trenton turns into a pig when he sees it. It is his favorite salad in the world. It's a avo, biltong and apple salad with fruity herbed yogurt dressing. The chicken was just plain breasts marinated in red wine and peri peri sauce nothing special there so not gonna focus on them.

Roast tatos with fresh parsley coating

1 kg new potatoes - I also add about 2 normal chopped up potatoes for texture and colour.  If you look at the pic you can see the big tatos are the darker coloured ones.
Sweet basil and sun dried tomato olive oil or any other olive oil you have on hand.
A little turmeric which gives them s lovely golden colour but does nothing to the taste
1tsp brown sugar also does nothing to the taste but helps the caramelization process along beautifully
Sea salt and black pepper
Chopped parsley

Firstly I steam the tatos in a Glad Steam Bag (love them, i use them so much in my kitchen) for 7 minutes so they are basically cooked through.
Once done I drain them and throw them around in the sieve to "rough them up" a little which makes them look good once baked.
Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with oil, turmeric, sugar and S & P be generous on the S & P. Toss the lot around and make sure every tato Is well covered. Place on baking dish and bake on 180 for 10 minutes, than take out snd turn them over to brown the other side. Do that about 3x making sure they go nice and crispy around the edges.
Once they are done take them out and sprinkle them with chopped parsley and toss again.
They are really delish and morish.

Parmesan and lemon broccoli

1 head broccoli sliced/broken up
1 bag grated parmesan cheese
1 lemon
S & P
Butter not margarine, real butter

Steam broccoli for 7 minutes till tender but still green
Once it's steams throw in butter, I don't like to overuse butter and I seldom buy it because it's so expensive what I do is ask for butter with every restaurant/take away meal and pop it in my bag when the meal is done. See I am thrifty lol.
I add 2 pats of butter and let it melt in, add the cheese, lemon juice to taste and S&P and only then give it a toss about. Don't stir it with a spoon just a quick toss around so you don't break the florets too much and wind up with green mushy looking broccoli. When you dish up put a small blob of butter on the top and sprinkle with cheese once more and add a squirt of lemon juice if u like. Crack some black pepper on top as a final touch.

Avo, biltong and apple salad with fruity herbed yogurt dressing.

Dressing
Make the dressing 1st and let it stand while you do the rest.
1 small tub vanilla yogurt, yes you read that correctly vanilla not plain. The sweetness of the vanilla is the key to why this salad is so good.
Chopped up parsley
Raisins also chopped up roughly
Mix it all together and put in bowl to sit and look pretty while you make the salad.

Salad
3 avos
1 apple
Chunk of dry biltong
Roughly chop avo and a sweet apple, this is not really great with those little green sour apples, the best apple in my opinion is golden delicious or pink lady apples. The apple pieces must be half the size of the avo pieces the avo is the star of this salad and the apple is just the underpaid co-star with a grudge. :)
Slice the biltong up into the thinnest slices you can manage or if you have pre-sliced then chop it up a little, you don't want big chunks in this salad. Keep a few slivers aside to use on top of salad one you dish up.

Put the salad in a bowl and pour over the dressing and stir it about gently so you don't have apple flavoured guacamole. Sprinkle the top with the leftover slivers.

Now all your sides are done, dish up and serve. I am not a huge fan of smothering veggies in heavy cream or cheese sauces the lighter the better for us. :)

Pap & Mince Lasagne

A super cheap end of the month meal that is very very delish and morish.

1 small pot of pap already made

1 tin sweetcorn

1/2 liter of plain/greek yougart

Cheese, lots of it

Onion, peppers, mushrooms

Lean Mince

Jam/sweet relish/chutney

Bottle of BBQ sauce

Make the pap however you like pap (I can't make pap *blush* any sort of pap at all, I suck at pap so I bribe my domestic to make a pot for me when she come in so I can make this dish) lol
Once the pap is made add the tin of corn, the yougurt and cheese and mix it up, leave to steam on the back of the stove while you make the mince. I have to tell you that my Hubby Ty can't tell the difference between this pap and mashed potato, ok he is not a foodie but I had him eating this pap for ages before I told him it was pap *evil grin*

Time for the veggies, now I know most people do the mince 1st and add veggies to it while cooking but I prefer cooking my veggies 1st and adding them once the mince is browned.  I think it keeps the colours fresh.
Chop up the Onion, peppers, mushrooms and start frying them off in a Med pan , add a blob of Jam and salt and pepper to the mix after a few minutes and take off the heat and set aside while you fry up the mince.

 

For the mince I like to dry fry it, I add a splash of EVO(that's Extra Light Olive Oil) and then I brown it for about 10 minutes.  I add a little water to the pan to keep it steaming.  Once it's nicely browned I add a bottle of BBQ sauce, or a small tin or tomato Puree or basically something wet to moisten it up. 

Once it's mixed through nicely I add the veggies back into the pan and mix it all together, making sure it's well mixed.  You want all the flavours to mix.

 

Get a glass dish out and spray and cook it all over, I don't use butter or oil cause I try very hard to stay away from using excessive fats where I can.  I do however use the Butter flavoured Spray and cook lol.

Spray you dish well and add your 1st layer of pap, it's easy to work with if your hands are damp, you can actually shape it to fit in corners.  Spread it out well and add a few spoons on mince on top, another layer of pan and more mince now keep going till something run out.  Finish off with pap on the top.  Sprinkle the lot with cheese and put under the Grill for a few min to melt and brown.

It's very nice just like that but I like to serve it with garlic bread and a salad as well. 

 

Bone Marrow and Veggie Soup or Good old fashioned healthy soup

I love this soup, it's a super healthy easy perfect for a cold winter day soup. 

1 kg marrow bones - cut on the long (I have to ask my butcher to do this specially for me because they are normally cut round.)

1/2 marrow bones cut round

Veggies, whatever U have lurking in your fridge that is past it\s best before date but still to good to throw away.  I used Marrows, a woolies mixed veggie mix, snow peas, onion and 2 baby cabbages.

2 tins of tomato soup or you can use packets of soup as well

Enough water to cover everything, when you see veggies floating stop adding water. 

  

First I get the long bones in the oven.  I cover them in salt, black pepper, olive oil and smoked paprika and roast them for 20 min.  Long enough to cook but not long enough so that the juices start melting away into fat.  Watch them if you are not sure, no less than 10 min no more than 25 should be a good time frame.

 While they are baking add the round marrow bones to a HOT pot with a little oil and brown them all over. 

The marrow inside should turn brownish, once they are browned on all sides, add in the veggies and fry them for just a few minutes to get some caramelising  happening.

Add in the tin of soup or the packets of soup that you have already mixed with a little hot water and smoothed out the lumps in. Once the bones in the oven are ready, take them out and let them cool a little then scrape all the yummy marrow out of the bones and add it to the soup pot.  You don't get much out but what there is is packed with flavour.  The dogs will love the bones and thank you with loads of puppy kisses.

Start adding water and don't stop till either everything is covered or the veggies start floating.  

Now let it boil away, I cook mine all day, the longer you cook it the better the taste in my opinion.

 I am not a fan of chunky soup for the most part, I like thick smooth soup so once it's been cooking for a few hours I pull the bones out and use my thunderstick to blend it all smooth, BUT if you like it chunky just slice the veggies up more before adding them in. 

Salt and Pepper the soup to your taste, add a dash of Tabasco if you like spice. 

Serve it with a nice warmed up crusty bread for sopping up all the flavours or make toasted cheese sarmies to dip in to....soups were meant for dipping.  If there is nothing to dip, dunk or drown in the soup it is not worth eating :)

Prawn Nachos with Mature chedder and jackomole (as my son calls it)

 Easy Peesy pudding and pie Nacho's the kids will love...well if they like prawns ;)

 Nacho's
1 packet of Nacho chips - even Dorito's Nacho cheese works
2 avos just ripe
Lots of lemons 
Chunk of Mature cheddar cheese
Tub of your fav cream cheese, I used woolies lite cream cheese
Any relish, I used woolies chilli and onion relish
A few tsp of Nando's perinaise
A packet of frozen peeled precooked prawns

Jackomole
Mash avo's well, I use my thunderstick on them to kill the chunks.
Add in as much lemon juice as u like for your taste.
Add whatever spices work for you - I used a little smoked paprika, chilli and chopped chives but there are so many ways to make this you do it however you like it best.

Place the Nachos in a pan, scatter them roughly
Blob on your cream cheese and relish
Mix the cooked prawns with the perinaise and put them on top
Now smother the lot with lots of cheese, I like the sharpness of mature cheddar but any cheese u have will do.  
Stick the pan under a hot grill to melt the cheese and make it gooey then dish up and serve it while hot and oozy.

We had it with Woolies Mexican rice which I DON'T recommend, it was bland and rather clumpy.
 It's a easy dish that takes 15 min to wack together.  Perfect for Friday movie nights.  U can use smoked chicken or those whole chickens you buy precooked and just strip the meat off or if you want to take a little longer make a batch of mince to add.  OR be smart and make extra mince the night before and use the leftover for this dish, U don't need much mince or any other meat for Nacho's.  You can get away with a 1 person sized portion, it's the perfect leftover dish. ;)

This is my Test Post

Been awhile since I did this so need to get my bearing again.  Stil the same person just have 1 extra hungry boy to feed now days.  Still a foodie thru and thru.