Slow Cooked Baked Beans

I'm loving my slow cooker at the moment. It's just so handy to get everything prepped in the morning so that come 5pm when the kids are ratty dinner's already made. And of course you get delicious cooking smells wafting through the house all day making it feel warm and cosy even when it's not.

The last time I made beans in the slow cooker we we having people over for brunch. I set them to go before I went to bed thinking how much time we would save in the morning if they were already done. What I didn't count on was being sick with gastro that night and honestly the smell of those beans while I was lying in bed trying not to throw up was almost enough to turn me off baked beans for life! Luckily I got over that.

The only problem this time was that some of the beans were still crunchy! After soaking overnight then 8 hours of cooking, how is that even possible? Anyway, next time I would soak and then par-cook the beans to guarantee tenderness. I have noted this in the recipe below.

The verdict? Packed with flavour and absolutely delicious. The perfect winter dinner or anytime brunch. We will definitely be making these again!

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

1 ham hock

375g dried four bean mix (or just cannelini beans)

500g mushrooms

2 onions

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tbs worcestershire sauce

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tins tomatoes

The night before, place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water. 

The next morning, drain the beans and rinse them well. Place them in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to the boil. Boil uncovered for 15-20 minutes, scooping off any scum that rises to the surface. Drain and set aside. 

Finely dice the onions and chop the mushrooms into pieces roughly the same size as the beans. Place the onions, mushrooms and all remaining ingredients into the slow cooker along with 1 cup water. Stir to combine. Place the ham hock into the middle and squish it down so it's about half covered with the bean mix. Cover and turn the slow cooker on to auto. Leave for 8 hours.

Serve with toast and a little fresh parsley. Serves 8-10.

TWD BWJ - Semolina Bread

I really love making bread. I love the way the dough feels, the aroma when it bakes and of course nothing beats eating it warm from the oven. Making this bread was also a reminder that I need to read recipes properly because I didn't realise until I started that each step took 2 hours. Oops!

This bread was new to me because it contains semolina which I've never used before. The result was a slightly dense but incredibly flavourful loaf. I didn't love it straight from the oven and thought it was a little too salty. But it was wonderful toasted the next day and I think it would make fabulous garlic bread.

I have no idea if I slashed the top the way I was supposed to. Was it just me or were the directions a little confusing?

We ate most of the loaf toasted with some slow-cooked baked beans (recipe to come!) and it was the perfect accompaniment to soak up all the sauce.

Our hosts this week are Renee of The Way to My Family's Heart and Anna of Keep it Luce. They will post the recipe today so make sure you check it out!

Meatless Monday - Peanut Sesame Noodles

I just realised most of my vegetarian meals contain chickpeas. We go through a lot of chickpeas in this house! So it's definitely time to try something different.

I've always loved satay but hubby hasn't been keen. So when he mentioned he'd like to try one I jumped at the chance to try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I've had my eye on for ages!

The original recipe called for plain tofu but that gives me the heebies so I used a marinated Thai style tofu instead. Sweet chilli tofu nuggets would also be a great choice. The fresh vegetables were lovely and crunchy and honestly, I could have just eaten them with a bowl of the sauce to dip into and been a very happy girl.

Fresh, creamy, crunchy and absolutely delicious!!!

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup boiling water

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbs ginger, grated

1/2 ts chilli paste

2 ts honey

1 tbs sesame oil

1 green capsicum

1 medium carrot

1 cup firm tofu, plain or marinated

2 packs hokien noodles

3 tbs toasted sesame seeds

1 lime

Place the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chilli, sesame oil and honey in a large jug. Pour over the boiling water and whisk to combine. Slice the capsicum and carrot into thin batons. Fry the tofu until it is crispy and golden then slice into small cubes.

Cook the noodles in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes then drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the noodles to the pot and add the sauce and chopped veges. Stir well to combine and add a little of the reserved cooking water if it looks a bit gluggy (I needed about 1/2 cup).

Serve topped with sesame seeds and a squeeze of lime.

Serves 4 as a main or 6-8 as an entree.

Crepes for Bastille Day and a blogiversary!

Happy Bastille Day! And happy blogiversary to me!

It's been 4 years and 285 posts since I started this little blog. I had zero clue about what I was doing or where I wanted to go with this, all I knew was that I loved to bake and wanted to share that with my little corner of the interwebs. You can find my first post here. Read it and cringe along with me!

I definitely lost my blogging mojo after the boys were born but now that they are a little older I have a bit more time and am committed to posting at least twice a week and broadening my food horizons. To all my lovely readers and followers, thank you for sticking with me!

In honour of Bastille Day today we made crepes for breakfast served my favourite way, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. Delicious!

Crepes

From The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook, ACP 1970 p180

1/3 cup plain flour

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 tbs oil or melted butter

Place the flour in a large bowl along with the eggs, salt, oil and 2 tbs of the milk. Whisk until smooth then add in the remaining milk and beat well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place a heavy bottomed frypan over medium heat. Grease with a small amount of butter. Pour about 1/8 cup of batter into the pan, tilting to cover evenly. Cook for about a minute, or until the top is dry. Flip and cook on the other side for 10-20 seconds. Turn out onto a plate and repeat until all the batter is used. Makes approx 10-12.

Sausage and Bean Casserole

This was a really delicious dinner so I hope you can look past the horrible photo! We are having a run of very cold weather at the moment and as a result we're all looking for comfort food. This casserole is an easy weeknight meal and with sausages, beans and rice it fit the bill perfectly.

I feel a little ridiculous putting my copyright info on a such a bad photo but I recently discovered that not one but two lowlifes had stolen virtually every post and photo from my blog. It's taken a little while but both blogs and the other sites where they had used my stolen content seem to have all been taken down. I actually feel quite violated by the whole experience.  Anyone else had this problem? How do you protect your work online?

Anyway. You can see that comfort food is most definitely required.

Make this!

Sausage and Bean Casserole

6 sausages of your choice

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 large carrots, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin diced tomatoes

1 tin five bean mix (or any beans)

1 heaped ts hot english mustard

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 dozen shakes of worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 / 160 degrees celsius fan forced. In a large fry pan fry off the sausages until mostly cooked. Remove and place into a 3 litre casserole dish and once cool enough to handle, slice into 2cm rounds.

In the same frypan add the onion, garlic and carrot and cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes, beans, water, mustard, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce. Stir until well combined. Bring to the boil, season to taste and then add to the sausages. Mix well to combine then cover and place in the oven for approx 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Serve with rice or crusty bread for a hearty winter meal.