Janelle's Thai Chicken Puddings

3 stalks lemongrass
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 cloves garlic
2 red capsicums, seeded and roughly chopped
50g Thai red curry paste
4 tbsp fish sauce
salt and pepper
400ml coconut milk (premium quality)
1kg chicken mince

Garnish: coconut cream, kaffir lime leaves, red chillies

1. Put lemongrass, garlic and lime leaves into food processor and process until chopped as finely as possible. Add capsicum and process until smooth.

2. Add curry paste, fish sauce, salt and pepper and with the motor running add the coconut milk. Add the chicken mince. If your processor is small, do this in batches.

3. Preheat oven to 180.

4. Spoon filling into oiled mini muffin tins. The mixture shrinks so dome up above the level of the pan.

5. Garnish with a dot of coconut cream, coriander leaf and chilli slices or finely slice kaffir lime leaves and chilli rings.

6. Bake for 7 minutes.

Sue's Prawns with Fetta

500g peeled green king prawns
2 tblsp lemon juice
6 shallots
1 tblsp chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
400g crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons tomato paste
60g butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
185g fetta cheese

1. Sprinkle prawns with lemon juice.
2. Heat oil in a large pan and add chopped shallots and garlic
3. Cook 30 seconds and stir in tomatoes and tomato paste
4. Bring sauce to boil, reduce heat, simmer gently uncovered 15 minutes or until sauce thickens
5. Add prawns and wine to sauce mix and stir until prawns cook
6. Crumble fetta and stir through mix
7. Serve with chopped parsley on top

Serve as entree with toasted bread or as a main with pasta/rice

Brenda's Spicy Diced Lamb

1. Fry diced lamb with 1 teaspoon of cumin powder and 1 teaspoon of garam masala or curry powder.
2. Add two diced tomatoes and stir.
3. Add 1 cup of brown lentils and 2 cups water
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally
5. Add 1 crushed garlic clove and continue to cook until liquid reduces (maybe 30 mins) and turns into a sauce.

Serve with brown rice and steamed bok choy.

Kel Baird's Double Chocolate Cookies

This series of recipes are gifts from my friends at Burnside - SJPC as I prepare for the wedding. The first in this series is a much coveted recipe of Kel B's.

110g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
125g dark chocolate, melted
280g dark chocolate, extra, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until light and creamy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a further 3-4 minutes. Stir through flour, cocoa, bicarb soda and melted chocolate.

Add the extra chopped chocolate and stir to combine. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into rounds.

Place on baking trays lined with non stick baking paper, allowing room to spread.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until slight cracks have formed.

Fragrant spiced beef

500grams lean beef stirfry strips
1 tbsn olive oil
1 tspn crushed garlic
1 onion sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tspn ground coriander
1 tspn ground cumin
1/2 tspn cinnamon
440gram tin tomatoes chopped with their juice
1 tbsn tomato paste

Mix the beef strips with half the oil and all the garlic. Heat a wok or frypan to a high heat and stirfry the beef strips in 2 batches for a couple of minutes til browned. Remove the meat and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil and stirfry the onion and pine nuts for a couple of minutes til browned, then add spices and stirfry for another half minute or so to warm them and release their aromas.

Return the beef strips to the pan along with the chopped tomatoes and juice and the tomato paste. Mix well and allow to heat through for a few minutes till hot, and serve with rice.

(Cous cous would be yummy as well!!)

Mushroom and rosemary pizza

INGREDIENTS
olive oil
2 teaspoons polenta
1 quantity pizza dough
½ cup (130g) basic tomato sauce
1 cup (100g) grated mozzarella cheese
250g button mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup rosemary leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
80g fetta cheese, crumbled

METHOD
Preheat the oven to very hot (240°C). Brush two large rectangular oven trays with a little olive oil, sprinkle with the polenta.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 20cm x 35cm rectangle, place on prepared trays.

Spread basic tomato sauce evenly over dough; top with the mozzarella and mushrooms. Combine the rosemary, garlic, oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Brush over mushrooms.

Bake in a very hot oven for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to moderately hot (200°). Slide pizzas off the trays and directly onto the racks. Top with fetta, bake for a further 5 minutes or until crisp and browned.

Chocolate cherry coconut slice

Makes 24 pieces

Ingredients
Base:
150g butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder

Filling:
3 cups desiccated coconut
395g can NESTLE Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g red glace cherries, chopped
Icing
60g butter, chopped
200g PLAISTOWE Dark Cooking Chocolate

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line an 18cm x 28cm base measurement slice pan.

To make base: Combine butter and sugar in a bowl. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well. Use a metal spoon to press base into pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden.

To make filling: Combine coconut, milk and eggs. Stir in cherries. Spoon over base. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden. Cool.

To make icing: Melt butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth. Pour over coconut filling. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set. Cut into squares to serve.