Osca Thai basil Pesto

Recipe #57: Chopped Pesto... (ok I cheated and used Osca)

We picked up basil from the Asian supermarket on the way home for 99c but I think we picked up thai basil instead of normal basil as the smell reminded all of us of Chilli Basil Beef not Italian food. It still worked but maybe thats why mum's tastes different Jamie's but it also could be that she adds parsley.

The recipe says chopped pesto but everyone was so hungry, Osca the tiny food processor was much more efficient then me with a knife. Here is what went in Osca:

- One and a half garlic cloves (Jamies says one but Tristan LOVES garlic so how can I not add a little more?)
- A bunch of Basil (leaves, tiny flowers and thin stalks only)
- A handful of pine nuts
- A couple of hunks of parmesan
- S&P
- Juice of half a lemon
- Olive oil
How to: Wizz until it becomes a fragrant green paste.

We had the pesto over gnocci (store bought but good... would of loved to make gnocci from scratch but I didn't trust myself among the starving family) and my favourite tomato salad.

[The picture is of me eating the leftovers for lunch at my desk. I didn't have time to take a quick snap before we devoured our plates.]

My tomato salad doesn't really have mesurements but here is what I do; Thickly slice a few ripe tomatoes and overlap on a serving dish. Slice half moons of red onion and even spread over the tomatoes. Next sprinkle a pinch of dried oregano (fresh is better if you have it) and some S&P. You can't eat it naked so dress it with some delicious green extra virgin olive oil and a splash of a combination of white wine and balsamic vinegar. I love the colours of this salad.

I always think with a heavy rich dish like Pesto Gnocci you need a refreshing finish and this tomato salad gives you that crisp clean you are craving -dont forget the crusty bread to mop up the pesto and dressing. mmm Enjoy! and always Eat, Love and Laugh.

Lesson number 1 learnt. Tick.

Recipe # 35 and 36. Last Night we had Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Sauce served over hot pasta and Mediterranean Chopped Salad.

Crème Fraiche. The dictionary meaning should be 'Devouring Delicious-ness'... although you do pay for the DD.

First I deseeded and chopped the (home grown) chilli, then the bacon and mushrooms. I heated the oil in a pan and forgot about it until it started smoking.

I added the bacon and gave the kitchen a oil shower of oil and bacon fat.... mmm mum loves me :) While the bacon was frying I had put the water on to start boiling for the hot pasta. I started chopping the Mediterranean Chopped Salad. Again I started with a home grown chilli which I deseeded and chopped along with tomatoes, onion, olives, lettuce and some wilted home grown basil. I made the dressing in a jar and DID NOT pour it over the salad yet as I have learnt my lesson with 'Soggy Salad'.


I added the tube pasta to the water and put the timer on so I wouldn't forget about it like I had forgotten about the oil. Next the mushrooms, chilli and fresh thyme was added to the now crispy bacon. Stirred until the mushrooms were coated in the bacon juices and then 4 tablespoons of Devouring Delicious Crème fraiche was added till bubbling.


Pasta is done and drained and poured into the pan of bubbling creamy bacon stirred through and seasoned with salt and pepper. Served straight away and sprinkled with some parmesan cheese.

Pasta and crème fraiche... Do I need to say anymore??


Salad was nice but the wilted basil made it bitter. Will leave it out or add fresh oregano next time.

Congrats Veronica and Shadi!

Recipe # 33: Cracking Burgers.
Hamburgers for dinner last night, obviously not made with ham... why do they get the name hamburgers?? If anyone out there in the endless void who actually reads this knows, please share this bit of trivia.
Cracking Burgers starts with Jamie asking you to bash 12 Jacob cream crackers in a tea towel and add them to 500g's of beef mince in a mixing bowl. We didn't have any crackers like Jamie uses (Auzzie version is sayo's) so I used store bought bread crumbs. My opinion is if your going to use store bought crackers you may as well use store bought crumbs. If your using fresh breadcrumbs on the other hand that is completely different.
Next went in 2 heaped teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Mmm I love the colour of Dijon mustard when it’s heaped out on a spoon. It almost looks gold.


Pepper and salt was next, along with fresh chopped parsley. You’re meant to add an egg next but I did a typical Danielle and read the recipe once over and thought I new better then Jamie and forgot to add the egg. I think this was why they were a little dry and didn't stick together well.

I shaped the mince into 4 patties and put them in the fridge while I watched my backed up TV of MKR. (p.s. SO pumped that Shadi and Veronica won!!!)


We had salad fillers such as avo, baby spinach, truss tomatoes, cucumber and gherkins to go with the burgers which were being served with hot Tommy mustard, tomato sauce and focaccia bread instead of burger buns as that was all we had at home.
I oiled the patties with Mum's trusty garlic spray oil (Love it!) and placed them on a hot griddle pan. No idea how long I cooked them for but I cooked them until they were cooked through and the cheese was melted on top. We had frozen wedges with our burgers -left over’s from my 21st that were still in the freezer :) probably not the healthiest choice but it was easy and quick since the grand finale of MKR was on TV last night and nothing was getting in the way of me watching that :)


A delicious meal in all.

Definately the "Bring a Salad" salad.

Recipe #26 and 27: Trout with mustard & oats and Evolution Potato Salad.


The potato salad is a revelation! Delicious!
    (The trick is to dress it while to potatoes are still warm.)
Firstly peel your potatoes and then boil them in salted boiling water for 10-15 min until cooked through. Mean while mix extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, salt natural yoghurt and fresh chive in a jar. Shake!
     While the potatoes are cooking start on the trout. Now I’m not a fish eater and always avoided fish when possible so I am very proud that I not only ate the fish but also cooked it. And you know what!? I’d do it again it was so nice.
     Preheat grill to as high as it goes. Rub a baking tray with olive oil and place washed trough fillets skin side down on the tray. Rub each fillet with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and season with some S&P. In a bowl add one handful of oats for each fillet and drizzle them with olive oil. Pat the oats down on top of the fish and drizzle with more olive oil. I got sick of this patting fish and touching the smelly stuff so I used spray oil and it worked perfectly!
     Put your baking tray under the grill for about 10min or until cooked through and golden on top. By this time your potatoes should be cooked and drained. While still hot dress the hot potatoes with dressing in a bowl.


Serve with a salad (Jamie suggests watercress but we tried this last night and none of us ate the watercress… ew it tasted like someone has spilt their perfume over it.) and enjoy! The only let down was that there was tiny bones in the fish. One of the reasons why as to child I hated fish.

Oops i did it again...

Dinner tonight was Griddled lamb chops with chunky salsa, best new potato's and salad with yoghurt dressing. Recipe's #21,22, and 23.


    Lets start with the chops. Jamie asks you to cut your tomatoes in half, deseed your chilli and pepper, cut your chilli in half and your pepper in quarters. Sounds easy enough don't you think... well not to me. I deseeded the chilli's and diced them. Next thing Jamie asks is to put your fingers in your mouth after chopping the chilli's... no wait. Thats just me who does that.
    Drizzle lamb with olive oil and season. Place upright on a hot griddle pan and add veggies cut side down. Cook for 4-5 min turning in between.
   Meanwhile the potatoes should be boiling as they take 15 min. While everything is left cooking, Chop salad. Warning: Do not try hold cucumber and knife in same hand and unwrap cucumber with the other hand. You will cut your self on very sharp knife. Make dressing (yoghurt, white wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt in a jam jar.) 
    Once the potato's are cooked and the lamb is also cooked and the veggies are tender and juicy turn everything off. Add butter, petter salt and chopped min to the potatoes and serve. Chop basil, the cooked pepper, tomato and chilli (eh! one step ahead of you Jamie)  into a chunky salsa and add a dash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt. Warning: Do not try and pick up the salsa with your fingers and move it to a bowl. This will burn your finger and make them sting for hours after.


Serve chops with salsa on top and potatoes in a bowl for people to serve them selves. Salad is great after as a refreshing finish. It was yum! Mum even liked the dressing better then hers... but I have to disagree. Nothing can beat Mum's dressing.

Soggy salad

Recipe #5 & 6- Steak, carrots and salad. Strange combination I have to admit. It started with thoughts like 'I can't be bothered to cook' but also 'I'm not going to get this done unless I keep cooking' so I was tied. Mum didn't feel like curry, or rice, or noodles, or pasta so the option I was left with was potatoes. And the only problem with potatoes was that we didn't have the right ones for the 'best new potatoes' and the 'baked French potatoes' took too long to cook as I had to be at basketball in an hour.

Carrots it was. Baked in a foil bag with garlic, bacon, butter, honey (was meant to use marmalade but...yuk) and rosemary. Assumption stabbed me in the back again. I didn’t read the recipe and thought carrots are quick cooking vegetable. No no no. Bake for 50 min... so that left me 10 min the eat, digest and drive to basketball. Fail!

The 'Everyday chopped green salad' was chopped, dressed and ready to go. The carrots were in the oven and I was out the door.

Home from basketball and ravenous. Mum warned me that the 'Everyday chopped green salad' was a soggy mush. The only thing that kept its crunch in the salad was the celery. It tasted nice enough …as good as soggy salad tastes. The carrots however were delicious! I award my self 5 stars for the carrots and -5 for the salad. Just thinking of it makes me feels ill.

Ew I have to stop there on that note.

Bring a Salad

Recipe #2 (& #3)- Rice Salad. BBQ at Chloe's house sitting house last Friday and it was a 'Bring a Salad' do. I'm a sucker for them! Last time I made a couscous salad that had too much chilli and not enough of anything else but couscous. Plus I have this problem of over catering so there was a lot of this too much chilli too much couscous salad. I have dissed that recipe as a bad day and will never make it again. This time I felt confident with my salad choice. Jamie's Rice Salad.

First things first was to cook the rice so it could cool. The rice for the salad is a mixture of long grain and wild rice. I mixed the both of the rice together assuming that it all takes the same amount of time to cook. Wrong. The wild rice takes longer as Mum came in and told me about 30 seconds too late. (At this point I could hear Tris's voice in my head saying "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups") Two words to describe how my rice turned out trying to cook it Jamie's way instead of in the trusty rice cooker. Burnt Pan.

The rest of the goodies for the rice were chopped and ready to go, this included fresh chilli's. Tip #1: Never think that you've washed your hands enough after chopping chilli. I learnt this the hard way last Friday. How you ask? I kept burning my fingers while cooking the rice and would put them straight in my mouth. It felt like I’d transferred the heat burn from the rice pan to my fingers and then into my mouth. I felt like I could have breathed fire!

The salad was then dressed (with Jamie's Lemon jar dressing) but I was still not. After I threw on a pair of shorts and top, packed my bag and got out the door mum had me back inside cleaning the stove top that to my eyes was clean but to hers it was not.

Finally at the party an hour late with a glass of bubbly in my hand.... couldn't get any better! -ok maybe if I had a pina colada in a coconut :)