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 Yay kids school exams are finally over.  I think I am more relieved than they are.  It has been a very stressful last month, well for me anyway.
Potatoes, bacon, mushrooms and eggs is Jacobs ultimate study food and what he has eaten just about every day for the past few weeks.  Sometimes there are tomatoes in there as well.  He makes it himself.
He peels, chops then parboils his potatoes before frying them in the pan that he has already cooked his bacon and mushrooms in and then finally cracking the eggs on top to finish.  By the looks of things I think there is some chopped fresh thyme sprinkled in there too.  This is heaven food for him.

This sandwich is Chris's ultimate.  A ton of sliced salami, peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, avocado and lettuce.  Actually it's pretty good, the peppers and the salami are a wonderful combo.

broad bean dip

This dip is made with frozen broad beans bought from the frozen section of the super market.  Not always that easy to come by as they are not always there year round, but they should be there as they are in season now.
They are actually a very good product, probably like frozen peas but unfortunately I  have a very unhealthy aversion too, due to childhood trauma of force feeding.

Anyway the recipe is as follows

• 250g of frozen broad beans or 1/2 a packet
• 10-15 mints leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and squirt of juice
• pince of salt and pepper
• a chunk of feta cheese, probably a large tablespoon
• drizzle of good olive oil

This is what they look when the come out of the frozen packet, quite disgusting really.

Pour on some boiling water and leave for at least 5-10 minutes.  I find there is no need to boil them in a pot.  Drain off the water and them pop them out of their pods.  Look how beautifully devine they are now that they have shed their grey green skin.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz until you get the desired consistency.
You could just smash them all together too for a more chunky look.
Serve on toasted bread or as lily does something she dips her carrots into for school lunch.

prawn pot stickers

Lily loves dumplings so when I came across this recipe here at Rasa Malaysia, I decided to give it a go.
Just simply ingredients which were all in the house.
She used  square wonton wrappers but I prefer the round ones and I just used sweet chillie sauce as the dipping sauce and of course I didn't fold them like hers either.

Don't over fill them or it makes it difficult when it comes to the folding and sealing.
I folded them over in half using a bit of water as glue and then pleating them until sealed.
Put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
I also cooked them differently as I wanted pot stickers with the crunchy bottom.

When you are ready to cook them put the dumplings (frozen) in a frypan on a high heat along with 1/2 cup water and a dash of plain oil.  Put a lid on it and bring to the boil.  Once the water has evaporated take off the lid and turn the heat down to low.  The dumpling will come off the bottom of the pan once it has got some goldeness to it.  Don't be tempted to play around with them or you will get a big mess.
They probably take about 10 minutes.

raspberry and white chocolate muffins

I made these muffins during the week as Lily was complaining there was nothing to take for school lunches.  I used the 'Chelsea sugar website recipe' which is actually pretty good.  Got eaten by all (except Finn) in no time.  I didn't have self raising flour so I just added 2 teaspoons of baking powder to the flour.

camembert with caramelised onions

Haven't had camembert for years, probably back in the 90s.  It was 1/2 price at New World so decided to give it a go.  I was not disappointed. It went nicely with the caramelised onions that I made.

goat cheese, beetroot and caper crostini

The combination of chevre (goat cheese) and sweet beetroot relish is absolutely sublime.  Add some deep fried capers, lemon zest and Colonna olive oil and you are in heaven as far as I am concerned

Start off by making the beetroot relish.
You will need 1 medium to large beetroot.  Peel and grate.  Heat up a fry pan and add the beetroot with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cold water.  Bring it to the boil and then add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Let it simmer away for about 20 minutes uncovered until the liquid reduces down.  You can add more sugar and vinegar to your taste.  You can make it tart and sweet and syrupy. Just play around with it.  I love it.  It also goes really well with BBQ meat.

Next up are the deep fried capers.  I use the large cheap capers when I deep fry them.  Drain a handful and put on paper towel to dry them so they don't sputter in the oil.  I use my wok, but any pan with oil will do.  Heat the oil to medium heat add the capers and cook to your liking.  I like them with a light crunch on the outside but still have some texture in the middle.   Again cook to your liking and put on paper towel to soak up some of the oil when done.
Deep fried capers match amazing well with fish and seafood, especially raw fish.

Slice your bagette or whatever bread you have and bake in the oven to make your crostini.  I don't add oil to the bread as I don't like it.  A gentle rub of raw garlic is magic though.  I forgot to do that.
I spread the goat cheese on the crostini and then grilled for a couple of minutes just to soften it.  Then on goes the beetroot relish a few capers, lemon zest some black pepper and a few drops of Colonna olive oil.
A delightful fresh vegetarian option.

brown rice fried rice

 Fried rice is such a simple meal to make and makes use of whatever vegetables you have left in your fridge.
William my nephew who is a cyclist, inspired me to add some spinach when I was reading his blog 'Yarns of a kiwi cyclist'. He adds it to his bacon and egg fried rice.

I decided to use brown rice as I thought it would go well with the spinach.

Left over vegetables that needed using in my fridge were

• 1 courgette diced
• 1 orange pepper diced
• spinach sliced up ( you can use a lot as it cooks down to nothing)
• beansprouts - a big handful

I also added 

• 1 chicken breast cut into pieces - any protein would be good or a combination
• 1 brown onion - finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped ginger
• sprinkling of finely chopped basil, as there was some on the bench
• tamari soy sauce
• sweet chile sauce
• 7 peppers, pepper

First off add 1 cup of brown rice in large pot of boiling water and boil until cooked.  I often will put some rice on in the morning so when I want to make the fried for lunch or dinner it is already to go when you want to prepare the fried rice.

 Next fry off the chicken in the wok or fry pan with some oil and then put aside.

Then cook the onion, courgette, garlic and ginger in the wok until softened and cooked down and a little browned, takes about 10 minutes followed by the spinach and beansprouts,  They only take a minute to wilt away.

Finally add the rice and chicken and the soy sauce to your liking.

I add a blob of sweet chile on the top with the basil and some 7 peppers, pepper.

This is always a good meal as it stores well in the fridge ready for a re heat whenever you are hungry.

sushi

I love sushi and I go through patches where I make it all the time and then nothing for months, I guess that is like anything though.
Well, I am going through a sushi making phase once again and this time I attempted to make inside outside rolls.  Not too bad for my first attempt, still far from perfect.  I think the photo makes them look better than they were.  They are filled with tuna mixed with kewpie mayonnaise, avocado, red pepper and cucumber.

proscuitto and rock melon

Beautiful combination.  NZ rock melons are perfect this time of year....

quick easy noodles

This is what Lily had for her afternoon snack yesterday.  She used to eat them all the time until they became overkill and then didn't like them.  But a long enough time has gone past and she likes them again.
I add some dried egg noodles to boiling water until just cooked.
Fry a sliced onion and garlic in a wok until soft, add a grated carrot the cooked noodles and some sticky sweet soy sauce and there you have it.  Much better for you than the 2 minute noodle variety.