The Cook Book » Kid Friendly

Bircher Muesli

Clair — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:53:47 +0000

Bircher Muesli is a very delicious, healthy and nutritious way to start your day! Try out this quick and easy bircher muesli recipe and see what you think (any left overs can be kept in the fridge for a few days).

NB. This bircher muesli recipe needs to stand overnight to soften the oats, so you will need to make this in advance.

Bircher Muesli Recipe Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup water
1 cup natural yoghurt
3 tbsp honey
1 granny smith apple, grated

Bircher Muesli Recipe Method

Mix the oats, water and lemon juice together, cover and pop in the fridge to stand overnight. The next morning, stir through the yoghurt, honey and grated apple until well combined. Serve with thick, sweet greek yoghurt and any fruit that is in season (we have used stewed plums). You may also like to sprinkle with some toasted almonds or other nuts for crunch.

Spooky Halloween Cookies (Biscuits) Recipe

Clair — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:49:36 +0000

With halloween just around the corner, what better excuse than to involve the kids in making some fun halloween cookies using this great recipe. The cookie base recipe is not too sweet, but quite shortbread-y, making it a perfect match for the icing.

Get pumpkin, witch and ghost cookie cutters from your local craft shop or home wares store, and away you go! You will only ever be limited by your imagination (and the kids will have fun too).

Spooky Halloween Cookies (Biscuits) Ingredients

240g plain flour
Pinch salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
180g butter, grated or cut into small cubes
3 tbsp water
2 cups icing sugar
Lemon juice
1 tspn butter
Food colouring
Hundreds and thousands/sprinkles or cachous for decoration

Spooky Halloween Cookies (Biscuits) Method

To make the cookies, sift the flour, sugar and salt together onto a clean bench. Add the grated butter and lightly rub the flour and butter together between your finger tips and thumb tips (you don’t want it to be completely combined at this stage, it should be quite messy).

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the water. Using a butter knife ‘cut’ the water into the flour so that it is partially combined. If it looks too crumbly, add another tablespoon of water and cut the water into the mixture again.
Quickly knead the mixture a couple of times to bring all ingredients together (just a few times – don’t over work the pastry). Wrap pastry in cling wrap and then refrigerate for 30 mins to an hour. You could also put the pastry in the freezer if you want to make it in advance; it will last a couple of weeks (just make sure it is well wrapped in cling wrap).

Roll the pastry out onto a well floured board to 1/2cm thick, then cut out spooky halloween shapes (you can buy Halloween shape cutters from any good home wares or cooking supply shop, sometimes even supermarkets stock them).

Place the shapes on a greased baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 220° for approximately 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly on the tray, then transfer to a wire tray to cool completely before icing.

To Decorate Spooky Pumpkin Halloween Cookies

Halve the plain icing and tint one bowl with orange (a few drops of red, and a few drops of yellow) food colouring and the other with green (a few drops of blue, and a few drops of yellow) food colouring. If you want to be really fancy, purchase flat strips of black licorice and cut into shapes to make spooky eyes and a mouth.

Spread the orange food colouring over the surface of the biscuit with a little green for the stalk of the pumpkin. Cut out a spooky looking mouth and diamond eyes and place on top of the icing. Allow icing to set.

To Decorate Spooky Witch Halloween Cookies

Halve the icing and tint one bowl with purple (a few drops of red, and a few drops of blue) food colouring and the other with green (a few drops of blue, and a few drops of yellow) food colouring.

Spread the purple icing over the witches dress and hat, and the green icing over the witches face. Cut out strips of licorice for eyes, mouth and hair and place on the cookie. Allow icing to set.

To Decorate Ghost Halloween Cookies

Reserve a very small amount of icing and tint with blue food colouring. Spread the cookies with white icing and allow to set. Place the blue tinted icing in a small sandwich/plastic bag and snip off one corner of the bag to form a very small nozzle. Pipe blue eyes on the ghosts (over the white icing) and allow to set.

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Quick & Easy Lebanese Style Garlic Dip Recipe

Clair — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:51:36 +0000

This is a great easy dip recipe, that goes really well with hot or cold veggies (raw carrot, steamed broccoli/cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, raw celery sticks, baby radishes etc), and can be made in minutes.

Quick & Easy Lebanese Style Garlic Dip Recipe Ingredients

1 small tub plain natural/greek style yoghurt
1/2 clove garlic, very finely chopped or pressed through a garlic press
1 tsp finely chopped mint
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Juice 1/4 small lemon
Olive oil and paprika to garnish

Quick & Easy Lebanese Style Garlic Dip Recipe Method

Mix yoghurt, garlic, mint, parsley, paprika, cumin and lemon juice together until smooth. Pour into a small serving dish or ramekin, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika, and serve with chopped hot or cold vegetables.

Quick & Easy Orange Cupcake Recipe

Clair — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:43:34 +0000

This has got to be the quickest, easiest cupcake recipe ever! Use a food processor or large blender and you can literally have these cupcakes in the oven in 5 minutes, perfect if you want to play the domestic god/goddess, without the hassle.

I have made these cupcakes for birthdays, baby showers and Easter celebrations (with different cupcake decorations), and they always go down a treat. See below for cupcake decorating ideas. The below recipe will make approximately 12-15 standard size cupcakes, however the recipe doubles/triples quite well.

Quick & Easy Orange Cupcake Recipe Ingredients

1 large orange, zested and juiced
125g butter, softened
120g caster sugar
225g self raising flour
2 large eggs

Quick & Easy Orange Cupcake Recipe Method

Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases/liners (you can order some lovely cupcake cases for many different types of occasions from cake decorating suppliers).

Place butter, eggs, sugar, flour, orange juice and zest into a food processor. Process together for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases/liners, they should be two thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until golden, rotating the tin once during cooking. When tested with a skewer, the skewer should come out clean.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Quick & Easy Orange Icing Recipe Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp butter
1 small orange, zested and juiced

Quick & Easy Orange Icing Recipe Method

Sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl. Add the butter and the orange zest, and ‘smoosh’ the butter and zest into the icing sugar with the back of a spoon (doesn’t need to be perfect). Add the orange juice, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition, until the icing is a spreadable consistency (you may not need all of the orange juice). Spread icing onto cooled cupcakes and allow a few minutes to dry.

Cupcake Decoration Ideas

Easter Cupcakes

Ice the cupcakes as per instructions above and then place a small fluffy chicken (available from most craft suppliers and newsagencies) on top. Alternatively decorate the cupcakes with small pastel coloured chocolate easter eggs.

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Make the icing as per above, leaving out the orange zest. Tint the icing with a few drops of food colouring; baby blue, soft pink, mint green and baby yellow all look lovely. Top each cupcake with a small edible silver ball (called dragees in America and cachous in Australia) and place on an attractive platter.

Wedding Party Cupcakes

Make the icing as per above, leaving out the orange zest. Tint the icing with a few drops of food colouring in the theme colours of the wedding (very pale pink/yellow looks great). Arrange the cupcakes on a two or three tiered cake board (you can hire or purchase these from cake decorating suppliers), then decorate with a few fresh flower buds in between each cupcake and a larger posy in the centre of the top tier.

Man Proof Macaroni Cheese With Pumpkin Recipe

Clair — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:01:05 +0000

This was a recipe I emailed to PS when I was going to be working late, and he wanted something easy to cook (that the child would actually eat!). It is completely man-proof and 100% tested on mine!

And yes, if you are wondering, the child did actually eat it; there was even that rare child approval that every parent craves at meal times… “it’s okay I suppose” (he had seconds!).

So send this on to your man and give him a crack in the kitchen!

Man Proof Macaroni Cheese With Pumpkin Ingredients

1/2 butternut pumpkin (or other pumpkin, like jap or blue)
2 twigs of fresh rosemary (if you have some)
1/2 packet of pasta twists
3 large spoonfuls butter
3 large spoonfuls plain flour
600mL milk
Piece of cheddar cheese (approx size of a set of cards), grated
Piece of parmesan cheese (approx size of a matchbox), grated
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground/grated nutmeg
Handful fresh or bought breadcrumbs

Man Proof Macaroni Cheese With Pumpkin Method (the actual email)

“Sure love, here you go – make sure you read it all before you start

Preheat oven to 190 deg. Remove skin and cut pumpkin (use the whole one in the fridge) into small pieces and toss with olive oil and chopped rosemary in a plastic bag. Place pumpkin on tray (all of the trays are in the oven) and roast, turning frequently until well browned, then remove from oven.

When the pumpkin is halfway done roasting, bring a med saucepan of salted (1 heaped tsp) water to the boil then cook the pasta (use the whole remaining packet of twists in the cupboard – they are in the basket) and while the pasta is cooking make white sauce (see below). You want to cook the pasta so that it is almost done (cos when you put it in the oven it will cook a little bit more). When the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it back in the saucepan with the lid on to keep warm.

In small saucepan heat 3 large spoonfuls of butter until bubbling. Add 3 large spoonfuls of plain flour and stir until all of the butter has been absorbed by the flour (if it looks too runny just add a little bit more flour, it should sort of come together a bit). Stir the butter and flour mixture for 2 minutes over the heat (this cooks out the flour).

Add approx 500-700mL of milk to butter/flour mixture, a little at a time, whisking really well after each addition. Probably best to take the saucepan off the heat to do this. At first only add a little of the milk at a time and whisk it really quickly into the butter/flour to stop developing any lumps. Once it starts to look like thick cream, you can add a bit more of the milk. You should end up with a smooth mixture that is the consistency of runny cream.

Return to the heat and bring to the boil, whisking all the time (don’t be tempted to walk away cos it will get lumps) until the sauce thickens (should take a few minutes to thicken properly). Add grated (big holes) cheddar cheese (probably use all of the last bit of it in the fridge) and grated (small holes) parmo (use the last of the used block) to the sauce off the heat a little at a time to melt the cheese into the mixture. Add plenty of salt and pepper and about 1/2 tsp of nutmeg and stir thoroughly. Add the sauce to the pasta in the med saucepan and stir thoroughly.

In the large pyrex dish pour 1/2 pasta/sauce mix into the bottom, then top with roasted pumpkin and cover with remaining 1/2 pasta/sauce. Sprinkle the top with additional parmo (small holes) and breadcrumbs, then bake approx 15 mins until top is golden and bubbling. Serve with big salad (there is also corn if you fancy it).”

Spinach Pie (Greek Spanakopita) Recipe

Clair — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:20:31 +0000

This is a great, nutritious meal, full of healthy, leafy greens.

Spinach Pie (Greek Spanakopita) Ingredients

1 large bunch fresh spinach (in Australia you may find it sold under the name Silverbeet)
1/2 brown onion, finely diced, OR, 3 green shallots, finely chopped
5 eggs, lightly beaten
100g Danish fetta, crumbled
100g Cheddar cheese (it is best to use a sharp cheddar for this recipe), finely grated
Salt and pepper
Filo pastry (approximately 12-16 sheets)
3 tbsp butter, melted

Spinach Pie (Greek Spanakopita) Method

Remove the filo pastry from the fridge/freezer approximately 2 hours prior to starting the recipe.

Rinse and dry the spinach to remove the dirt, then cut the leaves off the thick white stem (discard the stem). Finely shred the spinach and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped onion or shallots, fetta and cheddar cheeses, add salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Brush a 20cm x 15 cm x 6 cm baking dish (I use a pyrex dish for this recipe) with a little of the melted butter. Remove the filo pastry from the packet, and place one sheet on the bench. Brush with the butter and place another sheet on top. Repeat this process for the next 4-6 sheets or so, until you can no longer see through the pastry. Place the pastry in the dish and trim the excess (the pastry should line the base and sides of the dish). Pour the spinach mixture into the pastry case, smooth the top of the mixture, then fold the excess pastry over the filling (it won’t entirely encase the filling). Brush the top of the pastry with melted butter.

Place another sheet of filo on the bench. Brush with the butter and place another sheet on top. Repeat this process for the next 4-6 sheets or so, until you can no longer see through the pastry. Cut the pastry to the same size as the baking dish, and place on top to form a lid. Brush top with melted butter.

Cut the pie into serving sizes (you need to do this before baking, or you will crack all of the filo pastry), and then place in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until filo has browned and the filling has set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Tip: When working with filo pastry, keep a damp cloth on hand to cover the remaining pastry while you work so that it doesn’t dry out.

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Kid Friendly Roast Chicken (& Gravy) Recipe

Clair — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:25:51 +0000

A well roasted chicken is one of the most simple, easy and spectacular dinners you can make. It only takes a little bit of preparation, and then dinner cooks itself, so don’t be put off by the ‘roast’ word. Purchasing a whole chicken is much cheaper per kilo than any of the individual cuts (breast, thigh etc), and generally there is leftovers for sandwiches the next day, which makes this perfect for people on a budget. Kids typically love chicken, particularly the drum sticks, as they can use their hands to eat, so roast chicken really is a kid friendly meal.

Roast Chicken Ingredients

1 x 1.8kg chicken (preferably fresh and free range)
Butter
Salt
Fresh sprigs of thyme (if you don’t have any you can leave this out)
1 lemon

Roast Chicken Method

If you can’t find a fresh free range chicken, then the next best option is a frozen free range chicken. If you purchase a frozen chicken, ensure that you defrost the bird, covered, in the fridge on a plate with plenty of paper towel (or better yet a defrosting tray to lift the chicken off the plate and ensure that it doesn’t sit in its liquid) until it is completely defrosted (this can take up to 2 days). Never cook an un-defrosted chicken as this could expose you to the risk of salmonella.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Prepare a baking dish by lining it with foil. If you have a trivet or oven proof rack, lightly spray it with vegetable oil, then place inside the baking dish to lift the chicken off the base of the baking dish; this will allow air flow underneath the chicken to ensure much more even cooking.

Remove the chicken from its wrapping, remove any giblets from the cavity (if any) and thoroughly wipe with paper towel, inside the cavity and all over the skin, to dry the chicken (you need to ensure that the skin is as dry as possible to ensure a crisp roast).

Cut the lemon in half and place half the lemon and a couple of sprigs of thyme inside the cavity. Take a few knobs of butter and smear liberally across the skin and inside the cavity. Sprinkle the skin with sea salt. Using kitchen twine or skewers, secure the legs and wings of the chicken so that the cavity is closed and the legs and wings are held tight against the bird.

Place the chicken in the baking dish, and bake in the preheated oven for 1 to 1.5 hours, until cooked. To tell if the chicken is cooked or not, simply insert a skewer or small sharp knife into the thickest part of the thigh of the chicken. If the juices that run out are clear, then the chicken is cooked. If they are red, or slightly pink, then continue cooking, checking every 10 minutes or so until the juices run clear.

Remove the baking tray from the oven, and cover the chicken with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes, then carve and serve with roast potatoes, steamed vegies and gravy (please do not serve gravox, or any other ‘instant’ gravy, this will definitely spoil your roast chicken, and it only takes a few minutes to make your own while the chicken is resting).

Gravy Ingredients

Juices from bottom of chicken baking tray (approx 1/2 cup)
Plain flour
Chicken stock and/or white wine, or a mixture of both (approximately 300-400ml)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Gravy Method

To make the worlds best gravy, simply pour the juices from the bottom of the chicken baking tray into a small saucepan. Allow to come to the boil, then add 1-2 tablespoons of plain flour and whisk into the juices. The flour should absorb all of the juices and form a paste. Cook the flour paste over a low-medium heat for a few minutes, whisking frequently to cook out the ‘raw’ flour flavour.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add a splash of wine (or stock if you aren’t using wine), then whisk rapidly to remove any lumps. At this stage, the heat will reduce any liquid added and the paste will remain pretty much the same. Add stock in a steady drizzle, whisking constantly until the paste becomes smooth and quite liquid. Return the saucepan to the heat and whisk over a low-medium heat until the gravy boils and thickens slightly. Remove from the heat, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Top 5 Quick & Easy Winter Soups: No 1 Minestrone Soup Recipe

Clair — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:20:37 +0000

Minestrone soup is the perfectly balanced meal; full of flavour, healthy, nutritious and absolutely delicious.

Minestrone Soup Recipe Ingredients

150g speck, chopped into lardons (you could use bacon if you don’t have any speck)
1 large brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Olive oil
1 stick celery, diced
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 black zucchini, diced
1 x 400g can tomatoes
1 x 400g can beans (borlotti or cannelini etc), drained and rinsed
3 cups beef stock
1/3 cup small pasta (twists, macaroni, risoni etc)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Handful fresh basil leaves, chopped

Minestrone Soup Recipe Method

Heat olive oil in a stockpot or large deep saucepan and saute onion, garlic and bacon until lightly golden. Add celery, potato, carrot, zucchini, tomatoes, beans and beef stock and stir thoroughly. Bring to the boil & simmer approximately 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. If you have an old end piece of parmesan, you could add this while simmering to enhance the flavour. Add the pasta and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until the pasta is al dente. Sprinkle with Parmesan and basil and serve with crusty bread.

NB. Ensure that all the vegetables are chopped into (roughly) the same size dice as this will ensure even cooking.

Quick & Easy Dinner Ideas Series: Mexican Recipe for Burritos, Tacos and Enchiladas

Clair — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:29:21 +0000

This is a very easy authentic Mexican beef or chicken dinner recipe that you can use to fill burritos, tacos and enchiladas. Mexican food is great for a group, because you can lay the table with all the ingredients and then get everyone to help themselves.

Mexican Burrito, Taco and Enchilada Ingredients

500g topside beef mince, or chicken breast, cut into strips
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed through a garlic press
1 x 400g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 800g can chopped tomatoes
1-2 small red chillis, finely chopped (to taste, leave this out if you don’t like chilli or have small children)
12 soft tortillas (for burritos or enchiladas) or taco shells

Mexican (Burrito, Taco and Enchilada) Seasoning Ingredients

1 tsp chilli powder or dried chilli flakes
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin or cumin seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mexican (Burrito, Taco and Enchilada) Seasoning Method

Mix the chilli powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, garlic powder and salt together in a small bowl until combined to create the Mexican seasoning mix.

Method

Heat a large frypan over high heat, add a glug of olive oil and fry the mince or chicken until golden brown but not cooked through, then remove from the pan and rest on a plate. Turn the heat down low, add a little more olive oil and gently saute the garlic until slightly golden. Add all of the seasoning mix, and continue to cook, stirring, until the herbs and spices start to release their aroma.

Add the tinned tomato (including juice), red kidney beans, chopped chilli (if using) and mince (if you are using chicken leave it out at this stage), bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. If you are using chicken, add it back in once the liquid has evaporated and allow to simmer for a further few minutes until the chicken is warm and just cooked through.

Mexican Burrito Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place a few spoonfuls of mince down the centre of a tortilla, and fold both sides over to form a ‘tube’ shape and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper (seam side down). Repeat with remaining tortillas (you may need a few baking trays). Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in the oven until bubbling and golden. Serve with salsa and other condiments.

Mexican Taco & Enchilada Method

Heat the tacos or tortillas as per instructions on the pack. Serve meat warm with taco shells or tortillas and salsa and other condiments.

Mexican Salsa Ingredients

1/2 red (Spanish) onion, very finely chopped
1 large bunch coriander (cilantro), chopped
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped into dice
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lime

Mexican Salsa Method

Place chopped onion in a small bowl and cover with the lime juice and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. Mix the coriander, tomato, onion (including lime juice) gently together in a large bowl. Add a glug of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Stir through, then serve immediately.

Mexican Condiments

Sour cream
1/2 an iceberg lettuce, finely sliced
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped into dice
2 large ripe avocados, sliced into small wedges
200g cheddar cheese, grated

Top 5 Quick & Easy Winter Soups: No 2 Lamb Shank Soup Recipe

Clair — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:19:25 +0000

This is my family’s recipe and has been handed down over a couple of generations (I got this recipe from my mother, and she got it from her mother, and I’m sure she probably got it from her mother). This soup is great, because you simply put everything in the pot first thing in the morning, then leave it to simmer on low and enjoy a wonderful dinner at the end of the day. This is not really cooking, this is food that cooks itself!

Lamb Shank Soup Recipe Ingredients

2 large lamb shanks, trimmed to remove as much fat as possible
2/3 cup pearl barley
2/3 cup dried beans (you could use lima, borlotti, cannellini, haricot beans etc)
2-3 carrots, chopped into rounds
2-3 onions, diced
1-2 parsnips, chopped into round
2 beef stock cubes
1 tsp salt
Water
1 cup small pasta (such as twists, macaroni, risoni etc)

Lamb Shank Soup Recipe Method

Put all ingredients (except pasta) in a large stockpot or deep saucepan and fill with enough water to just cover all ingredients. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to very low and simmer until the beans are tender (it is easier to make this at the start of the day and just let it simmer all day). You will need to check it a couple of times and top up the water if it is starting to look too dry.

Once ready to serve, remove the shanks from the pot. Turn the heat up on the soup, add the pasta and an additional cup of water and simmer the soup until the pasta is cooked. While the pasta is cooking, shred the meat from the shanks. Once the pasta is cooked, remove from the heat, return the meat to the pot and serve.