Cannellini Beans with Spinach and Cherry Tomatoes

Sorry, it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but this blog is called the Half Assed Cook so I'm living up to my reputation.  

This dish is something I cook regularly because it is yummy, easy and really good for you.

Ingredients

1 x 400g can of cannelinni beans, thoroughly rinsed
1 x medium sized onion, slided
1 x small clove garlic, finely chopped
1 x punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 150g bag spinach
lemon
salt & pepper

Method

Saute onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until translucent, not brown.  

Add in cherry tomatoes and cook over low heat until tomatoes start to soften.

Add cannellini beans to pan.  

Add in the whole bag of spinach. Depending on the size of your pan you may need to add a bit at a time.  Stir through gently until all spinach has wilted.

Finish off with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper.


We eat this as a side dish,  usually served with a nice steak.  If you're not into eating animals, it makes a great veggo dish on it's own.

Roasted Blue Cheese-Stuffed Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto

Fresh figs are one of my favourite things to eat, so I get really excited when fig season comes around.  The recipe I am going to share with you is one I have adapted from a recipe I saw in a magazine.











Ingredients
8 fresh figs

8 slices prosciutto *

80g blue cheese **

1 bag rocket
Balsamic Glaze ***
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 240°C

Make a cross cut in the top of each fig to about half way down.  Pinch the bottom of the fig with the thumb and finger on each of your hands to make the top pop out.

Wrap each fig in the slice of prosciutto (it should stick to itself) and then place a small chunk of the blue cheese on top of each fig.  Bake for approx 5-8 minutes until the cheese has almost melted.

In a bowl, mix the rocket with a good squirt of the balsamic glaze, olive oil and season with the salt & pepper.

Place the rocket onto a nice platter and place the cooked figs on top. Add another little squirt of the balsamic glaze for presentation.

* Go to a deli and get a really nice fresh finely sliced prosciutto.  I used one from the supermarket and it was much too thick and dry.

** I used Whitestone Windsor Blue which is sold in Woollies.  It's a really creamy mild blue cheese.  If you don't like blue cheese, you can substitute it for a goats cheese or maybe a persian fetta.

The Best Ever Moist Banana Bread

So many times I have found myself with bananas that have gotten a bit too ripe to eat.  I hate to waste them, so I usually just peel them and pop them in the freezer in a zip lock bag to use later in a banana bread.


This recipe was passed on to me from my lovely friend Jayne Robertson.  I've included a couple of optional ingredients that weren't in the original recipe, but I thought might add a little something extra.












Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

½ cup softened unsalted butter

1½ cups caster sugar

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbs sour cream

6 small / 4 large ripe bananas (completely thawed if previously frozen)

¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C

Sieve together flour, bicarb and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.  

In another bowl cream the butter, sugar and salt.  

Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix well. 

Add dry ingredients and mix again.

Mash bananas and stir into mixture.

Pour mixture into a greased (and lined if not non-stick) loaf tin and bake for a around 1-1¼ hours.  (Test if it’s cooked by placing a skewer into the bread – if it comes out clean, it’s done).

Allow to cool for 30 minutes before placing onto a serving plate.

Scones

There’s nothing like the smell of home baking and who doesn’t like a homemade scone? 
I'm sharing with you two of my favourite scone recipes.  The first one a lemonade scone recipe I was passed on by a friend years ago and I use it time and time again. The second recipe is my mum's pumpkin scone recipe.  Don't be put off by the word 'pumpkin' they are really delicious and worth a try.

Lemonade Scones

One of the easiest recipes you'll find. Topped with jam and cream they’ll keep coming back for more!

Ingredients

4 cups self-raising flour, sifted

pinch of salt

300 ml cream

300 ml lemonade or soda water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well. Pour the cream and lemonade or soda water into the dry ingredients and mix together to form a soft dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured bench, dust lightly with flour and gently roll out into a rectangle. Cut into approximately 12 pieces and lift each onto the baking tray.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool inside a clean tea towel to help keep their freshness.
5. Serve your favourite jam and whipped cream. Makes about 12 scones.

Pumpkin Scones

Growing up my mum used to make us these pumpkin scones for breakfast.  We’d eat them hot with loads of butter.  OK not that healthy, but no worse than most other breakfast options kids have these days.

Ingredients

1/4 pumpkin (approx - enough to make 1 cup mashed pumpkin)

2 tbs butter

2-2 1/2 cups self raising flour

2 tsp sugar (omit if using a sweet pumpkin)

1 pinch ground nutmeg

Milk for glazing

Grated cheese (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Boil the pumpkin until tender.  Drain and add the butter to the hot pumpkin in the saucepan and mash together. Allow to cool.
3. Add the sugar and nutmeg, then sift in the flour and mix.  ** Some pumpkins have more moisture content than others, so if the mixture seems too stiff, you can add a little milk and if the mixture seems to wet, then add a little extra flour.  If you've never made scones before, try making the lemonade scones first so you know what texture scone dough should have.
4. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured bench, dust lightly with flour and kneed for about a minute then gently roll out into a rectangle. Cut into approximately 12 pieces (any shape you like) and lift each onto the baking tray. 
5. Brush the top of each scone with a little bit of milk and you can add a little bit of grated cheese as well if you like.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Serve hot with lashings of ‘real’ salted butter.

An Exception…

I know this blog is called the ‘Half-Assed Cook’, and that’s how I would describe myself 95% of the time, but on occasion I have reason to put in some effort. Last Friday was one of those days. 

One of my best friends, Rekella, is having a baby soon and I wanted to make something really special for her baby shower on Saturday.  I had seen these really cute baby cupcakes and thought I’d how hard can it be? I'll give them a go. 

Considering the only experience I had with using fondant icing was a 2 hour cake decorating course last year, I’m pretty happy with the results, even if it did take me the whole day to decorate 22 cupcakes.

I’m not going to bother putting up the instructions because if you’re following this blog, you’re probably not the type to be arsed actually making them.  I just wanted to share the pictures because I’m really proud of how they turned out.

If you really do want to know how to make these, let me know, or you can get full instructions for these and many other great cakes in Planet Cake: A Beginners Guide http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Planet-Cake-Paris-Cutler/9781741963182

Coconut Fish With Cucumber Salad

This is a recipe from Bill Granger that I love.  Not only is it delicious, but it's really easy to make.

Ingredients
250ml (1 cup) fish or chicken stock)
1 x 400ml ( 1 1/3 cups) tin coconut milk *
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
1 small red chilli, split lengthways
4 x 175g (6oz) firm white fish fillets such as snapper or barramundi, skin removed
1 tablespoon lime juice
Extra kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced, to garnish

Place the stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves, lemon grass and chilli in a large pot over a medium to high heat.  Boil for 10 minutes, then lower the heat and bring to a simmer.  Add the fish and poach for 2 – 3 minutes, or until the fish starts to flake when lightly pressed with the edge of a fork  Remove the fish from the pan, cover and set aside.  Reduce the sauce for another 5 minutes over high heat until thickened slightly.  Strain and stir in 1 tablespoon lime juice.  Pour over the fish.  Any leftover poaching liquid can be served in small soup bowls as a delicious accompaniment.  Garnish with extra lime leaves and serve with steamed rice, the cucumber salad.

Cucumber Salad
2 large chillies, seeded and finely sliced on the diagonal
30 g (1/2 cup) picked coriander leaves
3 red Asian shallots or ½ small red onion, finely sliced
5 g (1/4 cup) mint leaves
20 snow peas, blanched and finely sliced
2 Lebanese (small) cucumbers, cut in half lengthways and sliced on the diagonal
Dressing below

Place all the ingredients except dressing in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate until serving.  Toss through dressing just before serving.

Dressing **
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 small red chilli, finely chopped (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.

* If you can, use Mae Ploy coconut milk from an asian grocers.  It's much thicker and nicer.

** The half assed option is to use a ready made dressing.  Vietnamese dipping sauce (for spring rolls) is fantastic to use in asian salads.

About The Half Assed Cook

I love food and I love cooking, but if I’m honest I’m a quite a lazy cook.  I have shelves of great cookbooks but many of them never get used because the long and complicated instructions scare the hell out of me.

I thought I would start this blog to share with you recipes I have found that are not only delicious, but require minimum effort.  These recipes all use fresh, healthy ingredients and come from my extensive collection of cookbooks and also from friends and family.

Happy cooking