Vegetarian Mexican Loaded Potato Skins

8 Baked potatoes, cooled, halved and hallowed out (safe the rest for another meal)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup corn crenels
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 red capsicum, cubed
1 cup grated Mexican cheese blend and more for topping
2 tablespoons salsa
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 175C.

Prepare the potatoes and set aside on a lined baking tray.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Spoon bean mix into potato skins and top with additional cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes, then move to top rack and grill for approximately 5 minutes or until crispy and melty on top.

Serve with block olives, salsa and guacamole.

Shredded Potato Bake

6-8 medium potatoes, par boiled, cooked and grated (about 8 cups)
1 onion, grated

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups milk
2-3 cups shredded cheese
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 175C.

Get the potatoes and onion grated and place in a large bowl as you’ll need the space to stir.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter, add salt, pepper flour and a little of the milk. Stir to create a paste then gradually add the remaining milk while stirring to prevent lumps. Once the milk mixture is warm, stir in the grated cheese until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Grease a large pie dish or other sixes casserole dish that will hold the amount of potatoes you’ve prepared. Set aside.

Stir the milk and cheese sauce into the grated potatoes and onion. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish allowing it to heap up with mounds and spikes.

Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes or until heated through and crusty on top.

Camembert and Rosemary Stiffed Mushrooms

1 tablespoon olive oil
24 small white mushrooms
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon mixed herbs
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
3/4 Camembert cheese round
Salt and pepper

Wash the mushrooms and destem them keeping the stems.

Chop the stems and cook with hot oil in frying pan for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix well with breadcrumbs, herbs, and cheese. Mixture will be thick.

Preheat oven to 175C.

Stuf each mushroom cap with stem and cheese mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, then grill for 5 so the tops get toasty.

Note- It would be fun to play with this recipe by substituting chopped nuts for 1/2 the breadcrumbs, my mixing the herb flavour base, or substituting cream cheese and Parmesan cheese instead of the Camembert.

Mount St Hellens Potatoes

6-8 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mixed herbs
Salt&pepper
Seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 175C.

Spoon mashed potatoes into a pie plate or other dish with sides, shaping into a mountain with a hallow centre.

In a medium bowl, mix cheese, sour cream, herbs, salt and pepper.

Spoon cheese mix into the centre well of the mashed potatoes and gently cover with some of the potatoes.

Sprinkle seasoning salt over the top of you potato volcano and then bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are slightly browned and cheese “lava” is melty.

Note~ The potatoes look a bit “dirty” as I mixed cooked carrots and corn in the mashed potatoes.

Seven Layer Bean Dip

1 can refried beans
1 can chilli
1 can corn
1 container sour cream
1 jar salsa
1 jar sliced black olives
Shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat oven to 175°C

In a medium sized casserole dish layer all ingredients in order.

Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with chips, tortillas or salad.

Chow Chow

1/2 cabbage
2 red peppers
2 brown onions
1 ear of corn, cooked and cut from cob
1/2 bunch celery
2 carrots
1 head cauliflower
4 tomatoes
1 cucumber

1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mixed spice
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 tablespoons horse radish
1/2 cup sweet Bavarian mustard
Approximately 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Water, just enough to be visible at top of veg.

Finely chop all veggies, put in a large sealable container, douse with a good amount of salt and refrigerate overnight.

Thoroughly rinse veggies, put in a large pot, add remaining ingredients and simmer until cabbage is softened and fluid has reduced by about half (approximately 2 hours).

Cool, place in jars and either freeze or can. It can be stored up to one month in the refrigerator. Enjoy! 😁

Chow Chow can be eaten as a relish on hot dogs, burgers, meat, or fish. It can also be used to add flavour to things such as cornbread, eggs, fritters, etc. use your imagination.

Garlic Eggplant Dip

1 medium eggplant
3 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt&pepper

Roast eggplant on stovetop until skin is crackly and flaking off and flesh is soft.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and spoon out the flesh into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Serve with vegetables and crackers. It would be delicious as a sandwich spread too.

Crumbed Eggplant

Bowl 1:
1 cup almond milk

Bowl 2:
1 cup flour
Salt and pepper

Bowl 3:
2 eggs
1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce

Bowl 4:
6 cups crushed cornflakes
1 1/2 tablespoons Seasoning salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 large eggplant, cut into 5mm(1/4 inch) slices

Position roasting rack at top of oven. Preheat fan forced oven to 225°C.

Using a fork, dip the eggplant into the milk, then the flour mix, then the egg wash, and finally into the cornflakes mix being sure to coat both sides as you go. Set covered eggplant slice on plate while coating the rest.

Bake in oven rack for 10 minutes. Flip and bake for another 5 minutes or until toasty and crispy.

Serve hot.

Zucchini Slice

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups zucchini (375g)
5 eggs
1 large onion
90g ham or bacon pieces (optional)
1/2 cup oil
1 cup SR flour (160g)
1 cup grated cheese (100g)
salt, pepper, mixed herbs (to taste)

Method:
Preheat your oven to 170C (350F).

Grate coarsely (or chop) zucchini, onion and cheese.  Add chopped ham, if adding, and all remaining ingredients.  Spray shallow dish with ‘pure and simple’.  Tip in mixture.

Put into oven and cook for about 30 ^__ 40 minutes or until brown all over and firm.

Good hot or cold.

*I don’t measure zucchini ^__ I just use 3 medium sized ones. A trick I learned from my daughter is to grate the zucchini separately and squeeze the water out, otherwise it can turn out too wet and it takes a lot longer to cook.  If I use bacon pieces (and I don’t always) I buy them already done and grated cheese in the packet.  I don’t measure the cheese, just pour a heap in ^__ probably more like 2 cups.  I also add a tin of drained mixed veggies. ~ Veronica

We met Veronica and Dave through their grandchildren when we first came to Australia.  The kids all love the beach and now we get together every school holidays and sometimes in between.  What Americans call bars, Australians call slice.  Whatever it’s called, I love this recipe.  Most recently I made it with leftover roast asparagus and carrots chopped and cottage cheese that needed to get used.  I left out the oil as there was plenty on the roast veggies.  It was so yummy.  It’s a good recipe to play with, is good hot or cold and perfect for lunches.  The best part is that James actually eats it.  There’s not many things I can say that about. ~ Karla

 

Kris’ Fancy Green Bean Casserole

Here’s an instructional of what I do in this ever changing recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cans undrained green beans (2 cans makes a small, very un-green bean casserole casserole, 3 cans makes a normal sized “gourmet” green bean casserole)
• AT LEAST 1 pound decent quality cooked and chunked bacon (SAVE THE GREASE)
• 1 cup turkey or chicken stock (the best I’ve ever done was with burned/blackened/reduced turkey stock from a thanksgiving turkey done in an electric roaster, the boxed stuff just isn’t the same)
• 1/2 medium-large onion (I like yellow spanish), sliced or thick chopped
• 1 washed and roasted poblano pepper: use tongs or a fork stabbed into it’s core to hold the pepper over a gas burner on high, toasting to taste, as one would a gigantic green marshmallow (blistered/blackened is fine). Remove seeds and sliver (you can leave the seeds or substitute a few serrano peppers for a bit of a kick)
• 12oz fresh mushrooms, washed, bottoms of stems sliced off and cut into chunks
• 1 jar premium small artichokes in water (yes, it’s important to use the premium ones) drained and cut into 1/4s (or 1/2s if they’re very small)
• 1/2 cup roasted pine nuts: spread pine nuts into single layer on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes at 350° until golden brown (it’s very easy to over brown if you’re not standing there watching, yum to yuck in seconds once they get to browning)
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 can milk (use empty soup can)
• 1 6oz package French’s Fried Onions (the white cheddar version is WAY Better!)
• 6oz fine shredded Itialian 5 cheese blend (Kraft’s is mozzarella, provolone, asiago, parmesan, & romano)

Method:
Get the oven pre-heating. Fry up the bacon, cut into chunks, and SAVE THE GREASE. Pour green beans (with liquid), 1/2-all of the bacon grease (depends on how greasy the bacon is) and turkey stock into a large pot and put on low to medium-low heat (the longer you take warming, the more flavor the stock and grease impart). Get soup and milk warming on low in a separate pot (you can add some cheese if you like). Stir both pots occasionally. Prep the onion and poblano and add to the beans once they’re hot. When the onions are cooked, prep and add mushrooms. When the mushrooms are cooked, drain the liquid. Add artichokes, pine nuts, heated soup and bacon. Homogenize. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with fried onions, then the cheese blend. (I like using a large enough casserole dish that the casserole ends up around an inch & 1/2 deep) 

Bake at 350° until cheese is golden brown

~Kris