A belated Monday Menu

A busy couple of days with a child health nurse visit and yesterday a trip to hospital for blood samples. Leaving at 8am for a 9am appointment we still didn't get home until 11.45am!
The girls are so brave, the blood sampling is quite an ordeal, the initial needle prick in their heel then 5 minutes of squeezing blood into vials, doesn't make for happy babies even with a sucrose bribe. So at least they sleep all the way home.

The girls are growing well Maggie is 3340g and Elisabeth 3850g. Rob is keeping me so well fed, I am afraid that I do view food at the moment as fuel, but I still enjoy good tasty fuel!

M: Chilli con carne with baked potatoes and pumpkin.
T: Spaghetti alla puttanesca.
W: Pumpkin risotto.
T: Sausages, eggs and salad.
F: Beef curry.
S: Beef curry (always better on day 2).
S: Salmon cakes.

What was in the menu at your place?

P.s. still working on that birth story.

Monday Menu

What a lovely weekend, the weather was gorgeous, and we finally did our spring cleaning.

Our menu culminated with our lunch yesterday with friends-

Monday: Potato, carrot and pea frittata.
Tuesday: Broccoli, peas, beans, asparagus and bacon.
Wednesday: Pasta with bacon, cream, peas and parmesan.
Thursday: Broad bean risotto.
Friday: BBQ sausages and bread.
Saturday: Steak and silver beet.
Sunday: We served our friends marinated ocean trout with Pigeonhole rye and molasses bread with yoghurt cheese, marinated olives and soy roasted almonds. The main course was a slow roasted lamb shoulder, carrots, parsnips, peas and broad beans (from our garden) and steamed pink eye potatoes. Lemon and almond tart.

After all the cleaning and getting ready I was pretty tired, I fell asleep at about 7.30 on the window seat!
Hope you had a good weekend.

Monday's Menu megamix

I'm back. The cold is all but forgotten (except for the occasional annoying cough).

To be honest I can't remember a lot of what we ate the week before last, but looking at my collage, we enjoyed a spring vegetable risotto (peas and broad beans courtesy of our garden), an omelette, roasted lamb shanks and root vegetables on couscous with minty yoghurt, and home made lamb souvlaki the next day with the left over lamb, hummus and more minty yoghurt. We also headed out for lunch one day for roast duck, pan fried beans with pork and dumplings. They were good.

During the week I had off we enjoyed:

Monday: Steak with pumpkin, asparagus and mini radishes from our garden.
Tuesday: Mushroom, bacon and pumpkin risotto.
Wednesday: Chicken wings with sausages, sage and onion.
Thursday: Frittata with pumpkin, asparagus (from our friend's garden, it was so sweet) and walnuts.
Friday: Penne with cream, peas and bacon.
Saturday: A birthday dinner in northern Tasmania for Rob's father. We started with dips and bread, Rob made Nigella's marinated ocean trout (she uses salmon) with capers and gherkins. We moved onto roast beef fillet with Cafe de Paris butter, new pink eye potatoes, steamed carrots and parsnips, fresh broad beans and peas (the last four veggies from our garden) and a green salad. The birthday cake was a chocolate roulade with cream and raspberries.
Sunday: After snacking all day we ate a simple salad of rocket, pumpkin and pine nuts.


Rob sent me some gorgeous photos he took of the spring grass at the hut, with the dogs wrestling in the foreground. If I can I'll load up a movie made of the images...but in the mean time here is my favourite.

Monday's Menu

Thank you for all your lovely congratulatory messages on my last post. We chose to keep the sex a surprise (Friday's scan was the big 18-20 week morphology scan), well I did, Rob did peek, but couldn't really tell!

Unlike some of my Monday Menu posts from earlier this year when I felt ill just looking at some of the food, I am now enjoying most foods (just not spicy food or too much of any one thing).

Monday: Pumpkin, bacon and pea risotto with toasted walnuts and crispy sage.
Tuesday: Home grown broccoli frittata with a side of cheesy cauliflowers (again from our garden).
Wednesday: Creamy bacon, pea and pecorino penne.
Thursday: Nigella's one pan sage and onion chicken and sausage, with steamed new pink eye potatoes. We used chicken wings instead of a jointed chicken, which we love.
Friday: Egg and bacon pie- used Annabel Langbein's recipe but with puff pastry not shortcrust.
Saturday: Lemon, thyme and chilli chicken wings cooked on the Weber along with BBQ'd asparagus.
Sunday: Oxtail stew with rice and peas.

And those pancakes- a special request for the show day holiday, Rob's American style pancakes with buttered pecan ice cream, whipped cream, maple syrup (the real stuff a friend bought back from Canada) and toasted pecans.

What's been on the menu at your place this past week?

Monday's Menu

Loving daylight savings, but I struggled this morning to wake up.

This weeks Monday's Menu collage looks a little bare.

Monday: Mushroom, asparagus and bacon risotto.
Tuesday: Broccoli and potato frittata (our own broccoli) with a side of wilted silver beet.
Wednesday: I ate so many left overs for lunch I just snacked on some nuts for dinner. Rob, having been to the gym tucked into a big plate of you guessed it, cooked greens from the garden.
Thursday: We had dinner at my parents, my mother had made lasagne.
Friday: Rib eye steak with baked potatoes and asparagus.
Saturday: Beef curry with chickpeas, lentils, silver beet and carrots, with pappadums.
Sunday: Curry take two, with added steamed pumpkin and little waxy potatoes.

The curry is a winner, and I'm pretty sure we'll have it for dinner tonight, if not tomorrow night. I may sound like I'm sick of silver beet, but we're not. Harvesting greens just prior to eating them has totally changed my appreciation of them. They taste so much better. I know everyone tells you that, but it's true. Try it.

What's been on the menu at your place?

Monday's Menu {Rob's baked ziti}

Silver beet is still featuring quite regularly at our dinner table at the moment. Rob snuck it into four of our meals this past week. I don't mind really. It feels so right to be eating vegetables from your own garden.

So this weeks menu:

Monday: Pea, speck and mint risotto
Tuesday: Steamed greens from the garden (silver beet, cabbage tops and purple sprouting broccoli)
Wednesday: Pasta puttanesca
Thursday: Scrambled eggs and wilted silver beet on rye toast
Friday: Tomato sugo, cacciatore salami, anchovies, olives, bocconcini and silver beet thin crust pizza
Saturday: Rob's baked ziti
Sunday: Slow roasted lamb shoulder, with potatoes and minted peas

I had a few Instagram requests for the ziti recipe, which I have shared below. In true Rob style he tinkered with the recipe, but I think when it comes to baked ziti anything goes!

Rob's baked ziti

Based on Antonio Carluccio's Ziti al forno alla Napoletana and Nigella's Rigatoni Al Forno (from Feast). Basically it was a Bolognese sauce, with cooked pasta (should be ziti but I couldn't find it so substituted penne), a béchamel sauce, mozzarella and a layer of silver beet.

Would easily feed 8 (greedy) people or 10 (more self controlled) people!

For the meat sauce:
1 onion
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
50g unsmoked streaky bacon or pancetta - Rob substituted thinly sliced Cacciatore salami.
50 g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
700g pork and veal mince
700mL bottle of tomato passata
2 tablespoons tomato puree
250ml red wine
2 bay leaves

For the béchamel
85g butter
50g plain flour
500ml milk
Salt or stock granules to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg

1 x 500g pack penne pasta
Couple of handfuls of fresh silver beet (or you could have used spinach), washed and drained.
Grated parmesan
Sliced mozzarella

Finely chop the peeled onions, peeled garlic, peeled carrots, the bacon or pancetta or salami and the celery.  Heat the butter and oil in a large pan and fry the onions, garlic and celery until softened, then add the chopped carrots.  Add the mince and fork it through until it browns in the pan as much as possible. Pour in the tomato passata, puree, red wine, and bay. Stir well and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, partially cover and let cook gently for 2 hours, (well ours probably only cooked for an hour but it was good, you just want it to be nice and thick).

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour and stir and cook together to make a roux. Take off the heat briefly, and whisk in the milk – just using a hand whisk – then put back on the heat and, stirring all the time, let the sauce come to boil and bubble away for a few minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Season with salt and pepper (or you could use some crumbled stock cube or bouillon concentrate). Turn down the heat slightly and cook until slightly thickened. After turning off the heat stir some freshly grated nutmeg through the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/fan oven 180˚C/gas 6 and put the water on for the pasta. When the water comes to the boil, add salt and cook the pasta until its al dente (don't overcook it here as it will keep cooking in the oven). Drain the pasta.

Layer the meat sauce in a buttered roasting pan, then the cooked pasta, followed by a layer of silver beet, top with the béchamel and layer the mozzarella and grated parmesan over the top.

Cook for 30- 40 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden.

Now I'm really hungry and glad that this is sitting in our fridge waiting for us to reheat for dinner tonight.

Monday's Menu

A lovely quiet weekend. Saturday was sunny and warmish, so we opened up all the doors of the hut and headed into my flower garden to weed. The garden is coming along, but I'll save that for a Friday flowers post!

On Sunday we headed to Cygnet for breakfast at the Red Velvet Lounge (I had a half breakfast while Rob had the works, including black pudding). Then we wandered around the market (which didn't seem to have as many produce stalls this time), but we still found a bargain $2 Tupperware container (it looked brand new!), a long black linen dress for me at the second hand clothes store behind Lotus Eaters, and a cute vase made from a Grolsch beer bottle.

We had to collect plants and go shopping for one of Rob's 2nd year prac classes - Supermarket Systematics; he gets the students to classify fruits and vegetables into their families to introduce them to taxonomy.

Then after a nap on the window seat we cleaned the hut.

On the menu at the hut this week:

Monday: Asparagus, pea, silver beet and bacon risotto.
Tuesday: The power was out so we headed to the local pub, I had crumbed scallops and chips and Rob had a steak and chips.
Wednesday: Free range scrambled eggs on wilted silver beet on sourdough toast.
Thursday: Cheese and more sourdough bread.
Friday: We had beef, Guinness and potato pies for lunch and Jackman and McRoss so just snacked.
Saturday: Brined and barbecued chicken on salad.
Sunday: After our big breakfasts we didn't feel like lunch or dinner!

What's been on the menu at your place this last week?

A belated Monday's Menu

Just catching up with the blog posts.

A brief Monday's Menu post

Monday: Stir fry rice with lots of fluffy omelette on top.
Tuesday: Pea, bacon and mint risotto.
Wednesday: Limonata pasta with Meredith's Goat cheese and roasted red peppers.
Thursday: We went to a screening of a Plant genetics documentary (our life is so exciting!) so I scoffed a cottage pie at the cafe at the back of the State cinema before hand. No photo though.
Friday: We headed out for soup at Jackman & McRoss, tomato, lentil, and bratwurst. It was so good. For dinner we had steak with potatoes and silverbeet from our garden.
Saturday: A vegetable soup for lunch and baked cheesey potatoes for dinner.
Sunday: Beef shin cooked in red wine with rice.

Monday's Menu

Hello again. Life is a little slow at the moment. But that's ok.
The days are noticeably longer now which we love.

Menu wise this week:

Monday: My mother made us a batch of Hungarian meat soup (a broth made from simmering marrow bones and vegetables) sounds a bit odd, but with some ramen noodles it was delicious, and I was taken back to when I was little and ate it at my Grandmother's house.
Tuesday: Mushroom and orange risotto. One of our favourites.
Wednesday: Pasta and meatballs.
Thursday: More soup.
Friday: We headed out for lunch of dumpling soup at Shoe Box, and a home-made wagon wheel from Raspberry Fool. For dinner Rob made beer battered flathead and served it with a rocket and fennel salad.
Saturday: Maggie Beer's Orange and soy chicken wings. These were really good. Will be on the menu again. Served again with fennel and rocket.
Sunday: Roasted vegetables on rocket.

What have you been eating at your place?

Monday's Menu {roasted pumpkin soup}

We had a very quiet hut weekend, just the way we like it. We slept in, walked the dogs around the block, Rob made another 3 vegetable garden beds. I baked some lemon cupcakes to take to my mother's Tupperware party, and got away without having to host a party!  We baked Nigella's Schnecken on Sunday for a late brunch. They were seriously sweet, sticky and nutty. Perfect with a cup of tea, but we couldn't eat again until dinner.

Our menu was pretty simple this week a lot of comfort food.
Monday: Chicken and roast vegetable risotto. (Using up the leftovers from the roast chicken dinner the day before)
Tuesday and Wednesday; We had chicken and vegetable soup both nights, (our roast chicken was economical indeed feeding us for 4 dinners and a lunch).
Thursday: Vegetable and chorizo frittata.
Friday: Spaghetti and meatballs (recipe for the meatballs here).
Saturday: I'd been out to an afternoon tea, so wasn't very hungry, so we had baked potatoes.
Sunday: Roasted pumpkin and sweet potato soup - a few of my Instagram followers requested the recipe, so scroll down below if you'd like to read it.

Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet potato soup with potato and speck garnish.

I hesitate to call this a recipe. But it was very tasty. Amounts are approximate and fed just the two of us.

1 sweet potato

1 decent sized wedge of pumpkin

4 potatoes (we used Dutch creams)

Olive oil

1 onion

200g speck (or bacon)

vegetable stock (we cheated and used Marigold Swiss Vegetable bouillon powder and boiling water)

Parsley

Peel and slice the sweet potato and pumpkin into even chunks.

Scrub the potatoes clean. Place the pumpkin and sweet potato on a tray, drizzle with a little oil, place the potatoes on a tray to bake (without oil).

Bake in a 200degC oven until soft.

(We did this the day before, and so popped them in the fridge once they had cooled. But you could just keep going).

Sweat the chopped onion in some more oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat, once softened add the pumpkin and sweet potato, and top up with vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning, and adjust if necessary.

Meanwhile heat a little oil in a fry pan and fry the chopped up speck or bacon til cooked and crispy, add the cubed baked potato (with skin on) and fry until nicely browned.

Use a stick blender to blend the soup, ours was still a bit chunky, but if you'd prefer a smooth soup blitz to your heart's desire!

Pour into bowls, top with the potato and speck and some chopped parsley and pepper.

Enjoy.

A belated Monday's Menu

We're making the most of the late summer/early autumn produce at the moment.
I didn't mention that we visited a friend on Friday evening and she begged us to take tomatoes, pears, quinces, plums, prunes, zucchinis and grapes. We were happy to oblige.
Our basil plants are still going strong.

Monday: Pasta carbonara. A favourite recipe in our home.
Tuesday: Steak on the Weber with silverbeet, beans, leeks and mash.
Wednesday: Fresh super sweet corn (from another friend's garden) and tomato and meatball soup.
Thursday: Pesto risotto with Meredith's goat cheese (if you haven't tried that cheese, please do, you'll thank me).
Friday: Pan-fried tomatoes, zucchini, speck, onions with basil and parsley.
Saturday: Nigella's aromatic lamb shank stew (an old favourite recipe of ours that we hadn't cooked in years)
Sunday: Fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, a piece of Asiago cheese and Pigeon Hole rye bread (can you tell we visited Bottega Rotolo the day before?)

The sushi was a lunch date during the week from our favourite sushi shop R. Takagi.

Monday's Menu, quickly

Hello, we had a quiet weekend again. I've been a bit distracted this weekend so just a quick post.
Culinary highlights this week included a tomato and vegetable soup with fresh pesto (the basil is still out of control) and a mushroom risotto with sage, orange and hazelnuts.
What's been on the menu at your place?

Monday's Menu

It’s granola season at the hut. I struggle with eating breakfast during the week, I get bored easily, and I was so over porridge. I’d eat a mouthful and then not so subtly put the bowl down for Claudia to finish off (she loved me!) So last weekend I baked up a batch of Nigella’s granola (from Feast). What’s not to love about roasted Almonds, seeds, honey, and raisins? I made another batch yesterday but added some flaked coconut, pumpkin seeds and golden raisins as well. During the week we served it with strawberries, mango and rhubarb. Now I can't wait for breakfast.

As mentioned on Friday we took delivery of a box of goodies from Mount Gnomon farm. So pork dominated the menu all weekend. We’re not complaining though. Rob slow roasted the shoulder for three hours in the Weber on Saturday. Then yesterday we blasted it in our oven under the maxi-grill, that thing is wicked, I could see the skin blister! That crackling, I have to say, was perfectly cooked, shattering as you bit into it. It was then warmed up again in the Weber sitting on some sliced fennel, baby carrots and bay leaves, and served it with roast potatoes, the pork was deliciously juicy. Oh dear I’d better stop otherwise I might start drooling on the keyboard.

Finally, as it rained most of Saturday we were happily stuck inside, after lunch I fell asleep on the window seat with Claudia as a foot warmer, for several hours!

I thought I’d better do something worthwhile, so I measured out and chopped the dried fruit for two Christmas cakes (sultanas, currants, raisins, dried apricots and prunes).


Maybe the menu might have to be a little healthier this week (looking at what you eat all week is a bit of an eye opener) maybe even some salads and green vegetables! 

Top row: Scrambled eggs on Pigeon Hole sourdough toast, Granola with Greek yoghurt and strawberries, Italian sausages on mash with peas (an excuse to eat relish), creamy mushroom, bacon and pea fettuccine, spring vegetable risotto.

Middle row: Mount Gnomon bacon and egg roll, Sweet Envy jam doughnut and pecan sticky bun, Mount Gnomon chorizo, tomato and lentil risotto, dried fruit soaking in brandy for Christmas cakes, the roast pork shoulder (from guess who).

Bottom row: The pork served with roasted fennel and carrots, a pear poached in red wine, cinnamon, vanilla and thyme, our granola fresh out of the oven, this morning with rhubarb, gin and tonic season has started.

Monday’s Menu

The weather really dictated what we felt like eating this week.

Monday was a stunning spring day so we opted for a spring risotto of peas, broad beans, asparagus and the essential scattering of mint.

Tuesday saw us home a little later than intended so we had pasta with Rob’s “Aristos” sauce (find whatever’s in the fridge and pantry and make something up!), which was tomato-based with sliced chorizo and green beans.

Despite the soft rain that started falling as soon as we got home on Wednesday evening Rob dressed up in polar fleece and a beanie (my personal BBQ gnome!) and cooked up some sliced fennel, red onion, eggplant, asparagus and zucchini, we served it with some couscous, a tomato sauce and feta.

The rainy grey weather continued so we felt like comfort food, Shepherd’s pie (although it was beef mince so I guess it should be Cottage pie) did the trick! Which meant that at the end of the week we could just reheat the pie and serve it with some spinach!

Saturday of course was the AFL Grand Final Day, and we always pretend to be avid followers of the game just to eat the football food. After picking up vegetables, bread and meat at Salamanca we dropped into Jackman & McRoss, and saw they had a special “footy” pizza. We took it home to warm up for lunch, covered in sliced beef, caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes and cheese. It was delicious, and sadly we ate too much of it! That night after the big game was over, Rob cooked the frankfurters on the BBQ, with some onions in beer! They didn’t taste too bad in squishy white buns with mustard and of course tomato sauce!

For lunch on Sunday I made some guacamole with enough Tabasco sauce to make my lips tingle (no fresh chilies in the house) to eat with corn chips in the sun. Making the most of our extra hour of light in the evening, Rob cooked rib-eye steaks and baked potatoes in the BBQ (are we picking up on a recurring theme yet), and a piece of pork belly for dinner tonight. I think the Weber is going to get a serious workout over the next 6 months!

What has been on the menu at your place this week?