Tangy Italian Salad

We were having an Italian themed lunch day at work today. Here is the salad I took in, I made it up as I went along. I called it Tangy Italian Salad.


Salad Ingredients:

2 x 200g Greek feta cheese
1 pck of two chorizo sausages
1 large bunch of fresh parsley
1 large jar of sun dried tomato strips (well drained)
1 jar of roasted sweet red peppers (well drained)
1 jar of kalamata olives (pitted and drained)

Dressing Ingredients:

1 lemon juiced and 1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tble spoon of apple cider vinegar
1 tble spoon of olive oil
1 x 12 g tube of Gourmet Garden Oregano paste
1 x 12 g tube of Gourmet Garden Basil paste
1 x 12 g tube of Gourmet Garden Garlic paste
Pinch of sea salt flakes, good grinding of black pepper
1 large tsp of sesame seeds

Method:

Dice sausages and fry off in a non stick pan. Drain well on paper towel, set aside to cool. Dice feta in to smallish cubes. Add diced feta, cooled sausage, sun dried tomato strips, chopped roasted peppers, kalamata olives and chopped parsley to salad bowl. Toss lightly.Whisk all of the salad dressing ingredients in a jug and pour over the salad. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for the flavours to merge overnight.

Enjoy XxXxX Joey

Birthday Cupcakes

Here are the cupcakes that I made for my daughters birthday party's this year. We had so much fun making them. They are almost to pretty to eat.

Our First Home Grown Pineapple

Two years ago we bought a pineapple from the Supermarket. We ate the pineapple and saved the top to plant in our garden so the kids could watch it grow. As it was our first time growing a pineapple we weren't sure if the plant would produce a fruit. Finally after 2 years we have just harvested a big, juicy 3 kg pineapple. It smelt so sweet and was absolutely delicious. Home grown produce tastes so much better than store bought. It's such a great feeling knowing that you have eaten something that you have grown from scratch.

Corned Beef studded with Cloves, basted with Orange Juice, Seeded Mustard, Brown Sugar and Honey.

This is a family favourite that I'm sure you will all enjoy. A jazzed up version of Corned Beef.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg of Corned Beef

Pickling spices; Mustard, Bay leaf, Pepper Corns (Red and Black), Dill Seeds, and All Spice.

1 Large Brown Onion

1 Large Carrot

1 Stick of Celery

1 small fresh bunch of parsley

1/2 a cup of Brown Malt Vinegar

1/4 of a cup of Brown Sugar

Ingredients for Basting Glaze:

The juice and rind of 1 freshly squeezed Orange

1 tble spoon of Seeded Mustard

1/4 cup of Honey

1/2 cup of Brown Sugar

40, Whole Cloves to stud the fatty top layer of Corned Beef

Method:

Rinse the Corned Beef under the cold tap of the kitchen sink.

Place the Corned Beef in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add the pickling spices, brown malt vinegar, brown sugar, roughly chopped brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped carrot, celery and parsley to the pot.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 hour.

Drain Corned Beef; score the fatty top of the Corned Beef into small diamond shapes. Prick each diamond in the middle with a small sharp knife and stud with a clove.

Place the Corned Beef into a large roasting tin lined with non stick baking paper( Fatty/Clove side up). Mix the basting ingredients together until combined. Pour the glaze over the Corned Beef and cover with foil. Bake in a 160/ 180 deg oven, (basting every 20 mins) for 40 mins to 1 hour. Take the foil of for the last 20 mins so that the top fat layer renders and goes all sticky.

Take from the oven, carefully remove all the cloves. Let sit for 10 minutes to rest.

Serve with boiled new potatoes, honey sesame carrots, green beans and white sauce.

I also use the reduced basting Orange Sauce to spoon over the meat to serve.

Even those who don’t enjoy Corned Beef, really love it this way.

Enjoy !

XxXxX Joey