Jo-Anne's no-fuss Oven Baked Risotto

This is quick to make and great for when you get home close to dinner and have lots of other things to do.

1 cup Arborio rice
2 cups stock
3 cups of veggies
1 cup white wine
1 onion
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Grated parmesan - optional
Chopped parsley - optional
1⁄4 cup cream- optional

Method

1. Dice onion and cook till soft;
2. Put onion, rice, stock, wine and vegies in a covered dish;
3. Put in the oven for 40 – 50 mins on moderate oven (375 F);
4. Stir once while cooking and check if you need more stock. This depends on veggies used;
5. Stir in parmesan, cream and parsley when cooked.

Vegies can include – pumpkin, sweet potato, chick peas, peas, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus – basically any thing you think the kids will eat.

Margaret's magic meal in minutes

First course: Hawaiian Ham Steaks with Rice and Steamed Veges Second course: Apricot Sponge and Ice Cream

The fastest dinner ever: Serve a hot two course dinner in 15 minutes flat! Serves 4

• 4 ham steaks
• 1 can sliced pineapple in juice
• 1 1/2 cups long grain rice
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups frozen peas or beans
• 1 vanilla cake mix, egg, milk
• 1 large can apricots in juice (drained)

Method

1. Do not take off your coat. Go straight into the kitchen
2. Turn on oven to 200 C
3. Put rice and water in saucepan with tight lid, place uncovered on hotplate on high. When it starts to very slightly bubble, put lid on, turn down to minimum setting.
4. Place ham steaks on an oven slide with one pineapple ring on top of each steak. Put in oven
5. Put frozen veges in steamer on medium not high
6. Drain apricots. Keep the juice to pour over pudding later
7. Place apricots in a large cake tin or casserole. Put them in the oven to warm up
8. Make up the cake mix, usually add 1 egg and 3/4 cup milk
9. Pour mix evenly over the hot fruit
10. Place in oven under the ham steaks. Will take 20 mins to cook.
11. Take your coat off
12. Have a drink while you set the table
13. Dinner will now be ready. It is ready when the rice looks like honey comb, the ham steaks are hot and the veges are steamed. This should all happen at once
14. Leave the pudding in the oven to finish cooking while you eat first course
15. Serve pudding with juice and icecream

There are variations of this: Cook frozen chips or couscous or noodles instead of rice. Serve with sweet and sour sauce and stir fry or steamed veges.

Margaret's magic meal-in-minutes

Beef Casserole

5 mins preparation, takes 2 hrs to cook Serves 4 (double quantities for 8).

• 500g diced beef, eg Round steak
• 2 tblspns Gravox
• 1 onion in chunks
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1 big carrot in chunks
• Mixed herbs or a Bay leaf
• Black pepper

For the gourmet version add these:

• 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
• Cup mushrooms in chunks (optional)

Method:

1. Put the diced meat and Gravox in a medium size freezer bag seal it and shake vigorously to coat all the meat.
2. Put veges in bottom of large casserole
3. Place meat on top of veges
4. Cover with all the other ingredients. Add some water to make sure the meat is covered. Now this is tricky: Smear some margarine around the inside of the casserole lid where it meets the top of the casserole. This will prevent the lid from sticking if the gravy boils too high.
5. Place in oven 180 Celsius for two hours. Check it every 30 mins and see if it is drying out or if the meat is nice and tender.
6. After one hour, put 4 medium size washed potatoes in oven on a baking tray. They will take one hour to cook.

This is a good one to put in the oven not long after lunch, so dinner is magically ready despite small people and other considerations.

Serve with potatoes or rice or noodles or crusty bread and either steamed veges, such as peas, or a green salad.

[Ed: Stay tuned next issue for Margaret's fastest dinner ever: Serve a hot two course dinner in 15 minutes flat!]

Chocolate (Mud) Muffins (Mmmmm!)

(These are super yummy with melted chocolate on the top. ENJOY!)

• 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 150g butter/5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp white vinegar (I often use less butter. 100g seems to work too)

Method:

1. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa and water together until combined.
2. Add butter/oil, vinegar, vanilla essence and mix until combined.
3. Place scoops of mixture in small sized muffin tray and cook on 180 degrees for 15-20mins approx.

Traditional Potato Salad

(Great for warm summer evenings)

• 600-900 g new potatoes in their skins, scrubbed (I use little chats cut in half)
• 6 tbsp thick mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp French dressing
• 1-2 tbsp sour cream or plain (natural) yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 level tbsp snipped chives or shallots mixed
• lettuce for garnish
• shallot tassels to garnish

Method:

1. Cook potatoes in water for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and allow to cool a little.
2. Whisk together mayonnaise, French dressing, sour cream and garlic.
3. Add mayonnaise mixture and chives/shallots to potatoes while still hot and mix well. Leave until cold.
4. Arrange lettuce leaves in a bowl and spoon salad on top. Garnish with shallots.

Cherub's Couscous

(One for the kids, also from Annabel Karmel's book)

• 250 ml unsalted chicken stock
• 100 g couscous
• 15 g unsalted butter
• 25 g peeled and chopped onion
• 50 g zucchini, washed and diced
• 2 tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and chopped (yeah right)
• 50 g cooked chicken, diced

Method:

1. Bring chicken stock to boil and pour over couscous. Stir with fork and set aside for 6 minutes so it can absorb the stock.
2. Melt butter in saucepan and saute onion for 2 minutes.
3. Add zucchini and saute for about 4 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.
5. Fluff up the couscous and add the veges and chicken.

Fruit Smoothies

(for children 2-3 years. Taken from Annabel Karmel's Super Foods for Babies and Children)

Smoothie #1

• 75 g blueberries
• 1 banana, small
• 100 ml apple juice, unsweetened

Smoothie #2

• 1 large orange, squeezed
• 1 ripe peach
• 1/2 small banana

Method:

1. Just blend it all together very sweet!

Banana Cake

(We always have overripe bananas in our house)

• 2-3 overripe Bananas (mashed)
• 1 3/4 cups Plain Flour
• 1 tspn Baking Powder
• 1 tspn Bicarb Soda
• 2 Eggs, whisked
• 4 tblspn Cream
• 1/2 cup Golden Syrup / Castor Sugar (I like using Golden Syrup)
• 125 gm Butter (melted)

Method:

1. Grease tin and line with greaseproof paper (muffin trays work well too for mini banana cakes to take to school or work)
2. Sift dry ingredients
3. Mix Butter and Golden Syrup, then add Cream, Mashed Banana and whisked Egg
4. Fold mixture into dry ingredients
5. Bake in moderate oven (180 C) for about 40 minutes (less if making mini cakes)
6. Allow to cool in tin and then turn out onto rack

Fudgy Wudgy Chocolate Cookies

• 125 gm Butter, chopped
• 1 tspn Vanilla Essence
• 1 1/4 cups Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Plain Flour
• 1/4 cup Self-raising Flour
• 1 tspn Bicarb soda
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup Macadamias, chopped
• 1/2 cup Raisins, chopped
• 1/2 cup Choc Bits
• 1/2 cup Dark Choc Melts, halved

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C
2. Beat Butter, Essence, Sugar and Egg in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth
3. Stir in sifted dry ingredients
4. Drop slightly rounded tablespoons of mixture about 5cm apart onto greased oven trays
5. Bake in moderate oven for about 10 minutes (or 12 minutes for firmer biscuit)
6. Transfer carefully to wire racks to cool 7.

Suitable to freeze. Makes about 24.

Easy Scones

• 2 cups Self Raising Flour, sifted
• 2 tblspns Icing Sugar, sifted
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup Water

Method:

1. Mix ingredients together
2. Pat out to about 2 _ cm thick
3. Cut into 12 squares, place on greased oven tray
4. Brush top with Milk
5. Bake in hot oven (250 C) for 12-15 minutes, until slightly brown on top

Tip: try not to handle dough too much. Care factor should be close to zero