Prawns with Papaya Salad

Shell prawns. Marinate in lime juice, palm sugar, chilli, rice vinegar for about 2 hours. BBQ (not too hot) for about 3 minutes.

Serve with papaya salad: julienned papaya and carrot, slightly mashed in mortar and pestle with roasted peanuts, lime juice, lots of palm sugar, garlic. Leave to develop for 3 hours before serving.

Result: 5
Preparation: would be dead easy if prawns were pre-shelled.

Pumpkin Soup with Capsicum

Onion, roughly chopped.
Red capsicum, roughly chopped.
Fry onion and capsicum gently in olive oil in saucepan.

Butternut pumpkin, roughly diced. Add pumpkin to pan, then add chicken stock, salt & pepper, water. Add finely chopped fresh basil. Cook for about 10 mins. Puree in food processor. Serve with yoghurt and toasted rye bread.

Result: 4
Preparation: under 30 mins

Lamb and Mushroom Pie (plus dessert)

Lamb - diced lamb leg, marinated in oil, lemon and garlic. Cooked under the grill. (or leftover from previous day).

Pie filling: finely diced onion, diced mushrooms, finely diced cooked lamb, spinach leaves, passata, sour cream, pepper. Cook in frypan, then put in ramekin. Top with puff pastry and bake for 15 mins at 200 degrees fan bake.

Result: 4.5. Could be 5 if lamb was cooked in a tender way.
Preparation: very quick especially if lamb is already cooked.

Dessert: Green apple, apricot, peach, diced, 1 tsp sugar, mixed in ramekin and microwaved for 1 minute. Top with pastry and bake for 15 mins. Serve with vanilla yoghurt.

Result: 5. Dinner party quality.
Preparation: dead easy.

Paprika Chicken Marylands

Chicken marylands, skin removed. Rub with sweet paprika (lots) and salt and place in glass dish.

Spuds, cut into wedges and microwaved in white oven dish.

Bake marylands and spuds on fan grill, 180 degrees, for about 45 mins. Drizzle chicken with lime juice occasionally.

Serve with asparagus, microwaved and charred on grill plate, and grilled haloumi.

Result: 5
Preparation: non-existent

Felafel with Salsa

Felafel, somewhat to Charmaine's recipe. Leave out the cracked wheat and go easy on the wholemeal flour. Cook on BBQ on low heat for 20-30 mins. Make salsa with tomato, red capsicum, cucumber and diced orange, with a little rice vinegar. Serve with rolls crusted up on the BBQ and harissa mayonnaise. Eat outside.

Result: 4
Preparation: easy, soak chickpeas a day in advance.

Mini Pizzas

Not a dinner, for nibbles - good for a bring a plate do.

2 sheets puff pastry, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter.

Mix in a bowl:
1 onion, finely diced
1 small red capsicum, finely diced
50g salami, finely chopped
12 olives, finely chopped

Put pastry circles on tray with baking paper. Spread with passata, sprinkle on topping mix and top with grated mozzarella. Bake at 180 degrees fan bake for about 15 mins.

Result: 5
Preparation: easy - took about an hour.

Lamb Shank Tagine

Soak tagine in water for 24 hours. Lamb shanks, cut in half, browned in non-stick frypan. Heat tagine on a heat diffuser for about 10 mins. Put in a little oil and ghee and gently fry thinly sliced onion and garlic. Spices: saffron, salt, cumin powder, cumin seeds, all pounded in m&p, plus some powdered ginger. Fry momentarily with onion. Cinnamon sticks. Mound lamb shanks on top. 2 chicken stock cubes, little bit of water. Sliced sweet potato stacked around lamb (but this should have gone in a bit later). Sprigs of coriander on top (remove after a while). Cook slowly (but not too slowly - liquid should be simmering) for about 3 hours. About 1/2 hr before completion, add chopped dates and honey. Would be amazing with a leaner lamb such as shoulder.

Serve with cous cous and green veges with mint.

Result: 4 (5 without the chewy bits)
Preparation: not a lot to do, but a long time to cook.

Sausage Rolls

2 x sheets of puff pastry, thawed on the bench

1 grated carrot
1 finely chopped onion
Pork mince + beef mince, about 500g total
splash Worstershire sauce
splash tomato sauce
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
1 egg

Cut pastry sheets in half. Fill and seal. Cut in half. Cook at 200 degrees fan bake for 20 mins. Serve with salad and tomato sauce.

Result: 5. Even Caitlin ate it.
Preparation: quite easy

BBQ Chicken & Cous Cous Salad

Marinate 500g diced chicken thigh for 1/2 hour in: 1 tsp sweet paprika, 2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, ground pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, juice of 1/2 orange. Skewer up and BBQ.

Finely dice red, green and yellow capsicum. Make cous cous. Mix. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Result: 4. Great on a hot day.
Preparation: dead easy.

Zucchini Fritters

1 large zucchini, shredded with mandolin. Mix in a bowl with besan (chickpea) flour, 2 eggs, salt and a bit of cumin. Heat ghee in non-stick pan. Drop large spoonfuls of mixture in and cook like a pancake. Serve with leftover curry and some yoghurt sauce.

Result: 3 (but bonus points for using up the zucchini)
Preparation: surprisingly easy

Cauliflower and Cashew Curry

Based loosely on Charmaine's Sri Lankan Fish Curry (p126) and Vegetable Curry (p142).

Soak cashews (roasted seem to work fine, but raw would be better) in hot water for several hours.

Sliced onions, fenugreek seeds, ginger, lemon rind, curry leaves, crushed garlic, "special curry powder" (from D'Souza's - mostly turmeric), fried on low heat in ghee. Add thin coconut milk and tamarind and simmer cashews for about 30 mins. Add chopped cauliflower and cook until soft (about 10 mins). Add thick coconut milk and heat for 5 mins. Add chopped fish pieces (trevally is good, optional) and cook very gently for a couple of minutes to cook fish through. If sauce is too runny, drain and reduce separately. Serve with rice.

Result: 5
Preparation: dead easy

Eggplant Parmigiana V2

A not-so-vegetarian version ...

Slice eggplant lengthways into 7mm thick slices. Cook in a little olive oil in a very hot non-stick pan until slightly blackened and cooked through. Lay on an oiled oven tray.

Make a tomato sauce with tinned tomatoes, sliced onion, garlic, a splash of cinzano, chicken stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 mins.

Assemble by putting thin slice of ham on top of eggplant and topping with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan. Cook in oven for about 20 mins underneath spuds.

Serve with rosemary potatoes (small cubes, microwaved for 5 mins then cooked in oven dish with olive oil and rosemary on fan grill 180) and green salad.

Result: 4. Yummy with the ham.
Preparation: a lot quicker than the crumbed and fried version!

Steak and Veg

Steak (e.g. scotch fillet) cooked in griddle pan.

Accompany with:
- sweet potato, mashed with sour cream
- asparagus and snow peas, steamed above the sweet potato, then charred a little in the griddle pan (before the meat) and then sauced with a vinaigrette of white wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar.

Result: 4
Preparation: almost non-existent.

Proscuitto, Tomato and Rocket Pasta

Cook fettucine. Halve cherry tomatoes. Wash rocket (lots of it). 4 slices of proscuitto, fried but not too crunchy, with garlic. Cook tomatoes for a couple of minutes. Add drained pasta, olive oil, cap of cinzano, pepper, rocket, and stir to combine and heat through. Serve with parmesan.

Result: 4.5 - and looks great too.
Preparation: ridiculously quick and easy.

Aloo Mattar

Fry onion and garlic in ghee. Add 2 tsp "d'souza's curry powder premium", and chuck in cubed potato, chopped cauliflower, mix around a bit, then add about a cup of water. Cook for about 20 mins, adding frozen peas towards the end. Serve with yoghurt and deep-fried flathead.

Result: 3.5 (or 4.5 for flathead ...)
Preparation: dead easy

Chicken Dalfrezi

Recipe from Charmaine's complete Asian cookbook. Probably would be better with pumpkin and spinach actually put in, and the wet masala mix made with fresh herbs, and the full variety of lentils! Not as fiddly as it looks, and easy with chicken thigh pieces. Great thick sauce.

Result: 4
Preparation: several steps, but mostly easy.

Moroccan Zucchini Roll

Grill zucchini and capsicum slices in griddle. Finely slice some dates. Line souffle dish in circles with zucchini, with some dates in a layer down the bottom. Fill with capsicum. Warm through in the oven. Invert onto plate to serve.

Serve with cous cous, grilled fish (under fan grill in oven) with dukkah and harissa mayonnaise.

Result: 4.5 (zucchini gets 5).
Preparation: Really easy.

Lamb Backstrap with Harissa Yoghurt

Lamb backstrap, little sprinkle of cumin and salt, and rubbed in oil. Sear in hot griddle for about 10 mins, then 10 mins in 180 degree oven, then 5 mins rest. Slice.

Zucchini slices, grilled on hot griddle with spray of olive oil. Make salad with fried onion, cannellini beans and chopped fresh mint and parsley. Dress with red wine vinegar, olive oil and sugar.

Harissa yoghurt: 1 tsp home-made harissa (from Jo's cooking class) mixed with 1/2 cup yoghurt.

Serve with a crusty bread roll.

Result: 5
Preparation: quite quick, but need to allow time for zucchini to cook.

Pork with Cheese

Pork chops, about 1 inch thick. Make a slice in the middle and poke in some cheese - blue cheese or tasty. Bake on fan grill, 190 degrees, for about 20 mins, turning after 10. Serve with fennel and potatoes, and some green veg would have been good too.

Result: 3.5
Preparation: dead easy, and very quick.

Bhindi Do Piaza

Sliced 3 onions and garlic, slowly fried in ghee. 3 tsp coriander seeds, 2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and blitzed in grinder. 1/2 tsp ginger powder, 1/2 tsp nigella seeds, curry leaves. Cook with onion for a bit, then add bhindis (defrosted somewhat). Add 4 tomatoes. Finish with 1 tbsp yoghurt, squeeze lemon.

Serve with pilaf rice and grilled fish, sprinkled with garam masala and lemon juice.

Result: 4
Preparation: quick and easy.

Souvlaki Birthday Lunch

(feeds 14 adults and a couple of kids)

Lamb: from Poh's Kitchen:
2x 2kg legs of lamb, bone taken out, and cut (by the butcher) into a single flattish piece. Marinated for 4 hours in garlic, lemon juice, dried oregano, rosemary and olive oil. Cook on BBQ: 10 mins hot on fatty side, 5 mins on other side, then heat down and about 20 mins more cooking, turning occasionally. Rest for 10 mins. Slice.

Felafel: from page 2 of Charmaine's vegetarian cookbook. Fry in frypan day before and heat on rack in BBQ.

Hommus: 3 x tins chick peas, drained. Whiz in blender with lemon juice, garlic, salt, olive oil (all to taste), 3 tbsp tahini. When almost done, add 3 ice cubes and blend until crushed.

Tzatziki: 1kg Greek (10% fat) yoghurt. 4 lebanese cucumbers, grated and drained. 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 6 cloves crushed garlic. Leave overnight.

Eggplant salad: Cut eggplant into chips. Boil for 5 mins and drain. Marinate in olive oil, white wine vinegar, fresh mint, garlic.

Serve with: shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, sauces, and tabouli, and flat bread.

Follow with fruit, pavlova and galactobureko.

Result: 5 (6 for lamb)
Preparation: a lot easier than previous years.

Simple Indian Fish Curry

Remove skin from fish fillets e.g. blue grenadier. This is easy while it is still slightly frozen. Chop into chunks.

Fry sliced onion and jar garlic in ghee with yellow mustard seeds and a dozen fresh curry leaves, and then 1 tsp "curry powder premium" from D'Souza's. Put fish in, seal slightly, then throw on chopped fresh tomatoes. Add half a little can of coconut milk and a squeeze of lemon. Cook gently for 10 mins. Remove fish and thicken sauce if required by cooking down a bit more.

Serve with rice pilaf (or plain rice).

Result: 5. Curry matches the fish perfectly.
Preparation: Easy - and about 20 mins.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Slice eggplant lengthways into ~7-8mm thick slices. Dip in egg and breadcrumbs and shallow fry in olive oil for about 5 mins each side. It doesn't need to be completely cooked through.

Make a tomato sauce with a finely diced onion, 3 chopped fresh tomatoes, a little passata, sugar, chicken stock and pepper. Cook for about 20 mins.

Assemble: Put a little sauce under each piece of eggplant in an oven dish. Place eggplant on top and top with more sauce and mixed grated tasty cheese and parmesan. Cook in slow (140 degree) oven for about 30 mins, or longer if starting from cold.

Serve with mashed potato and fennel.

Result: 4.5

Preparation: Frying the eggplant can be a bit fiddly. Uses up most of the dishes in the kitchen! Easy to do most of it in advance and baby can help with assembling.

Crepes with Chicken

Make crepes with 1 cup wholemeal, 1 cup white flour, according to Gabriel Gate's recipe. Can do this earlier in the day.

Filling: zucchini and eggplant, finely diced, finely chopped chicken, finely chopped onion, crushed garlic, thinly sliced mushrooms. Fry all up until cooked. Fry off as much liquid as possible. Add salt & pepper and sour cream.

Assemble: 3 crepes per plate. Fold into quarters and put filling in top opening. Grated cheese on top of filling. Heat briefly in oven or microwave.

Result: 4.5.
Preparation: easier than it sounds, and can be mostly done earlier in the day.

Crepe Burritos

Make a batch of crepes following Gabriel Gate's recipe: sift 2 cups plain flour, whisk in 2 eggs and 1 cup milk, then whisk in 1 more cup milk. Put through fine strainer and refrigerate for 20+ mins. May need to whisk in more milk if too thick. Heat 1 tsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in non-stick pan, then whisk into batter. Swirl mixture in pan to thinly cover bottom.

Serve as burritos: chopped leftover roast beef, lettuce, cheese, salsa - diced tomato, capsicum, coriander, red onion, spring onion, lime juice, sugar (made 2 hours before).

Result: 4.5. Crepes make remarkably strong burritos.
Preparation: Not as hard as it sounds, and very quick to cook the thin crepes.

Fish Curry with Tomato

from Charmaine's complete asian cook book, Indian section. Cook down some tomatoes with onion, cumin, turmeric and dried mint, rehydrated.

Done with trevally. Best served with plain rice or pilau cooked.

Result: 4. A great way to cook fish.
Preparation: very quick - in under half an hour.

Pilaf with Panir

From Charmaine's Vegetarian cookbook, page 224 - 'rice with fresh cheese, nuts and vegetables, moghul style'.

Fry up some panir and chopped almonds. Fry onions, garlic, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns, then add cauliflower and peas, then add rice, then water, then cook for 20 mins with lid on, then add panir and almonds and some sultanas. See the recipe for the quantities.

Result: 4.5

Preparation: Quite quick, especially once the panir is under control. The 20 mins cooking requires no attention at all.

Salmon Burritos

Salmon mix: tin of pink salmon mixed with mayonnaise.
Guacamole: make with sour cream and lime juice.

Serve with burritos, shredded lettuce, grated cheese and diced tomatoes.

Result: 4
Preparation: very quick, and no cooking required.

Ratatouille with Paneer

Make a simple ratatouille - eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, onion and tinned tomatoes. Or take one out of the freezer!

Lightly toast some cumin, coriander and turmeric powders. Add the ratatouille. Fry up cubes of paneer and add to sauce.

Serve with brown rice and yoghurt with cucumber.

Result: 3.5.
Preparation: minimal if the ratatouille is premade.

Roast Beef

Start with a whole fillet such as scotch fillet from Liberty Meats in Preston which was $17/kg and 2.1kg.

Take a few cloves of crushed garlic, a sprinkle of salt, fresh pepper and quite a bit of grain mustard. Rub onto the beef and drizzle on olive oil and massage all over. Wrap tightly in Glad Wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Roast in the oven 170 degrees fan grill with the probe to 65 degrees. Turn once. When done take out and cover with foil.

This will cook to medium but there should be a hint of pink and the meat will be juicy. Cook this way to avoid complaints of people who don't like the meat rare.

Result: 5 - absolutely sensational. Must do for a dinner party. Any left overs are great for sandwiches or a dinner of Thai Beef Salad.
Preparation: Only a few minutes effort.

Thai beef salad

Salad of cucumber, red capsicum, tomato, half a red onion very finely sliced, small bunch of coriander and small bunch of mint chopped roughly. Add very thin slices of cold roast beef (the left over roast scotch fillet was excellent!).

Toast a tablespoon of jasmine rice in a dry fry pan until it is brown. Pound in a mortar and pestle to a rough flour, about that of cous cous. Spinkle over the salad.

Add some roughly chopped cashews.

Make a dressing of fresh lime juice, light soy, rice vinegar, fish sauce, fresh chilli and enough sugar to ease the tartness and salt.

Mix well. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

Result: 5!
Preparation: Really easy when there is cold beef on hand.

Asian style baked pork chops

Two thick pork chops, about 2cm thick. Marinate in a tablespoon of light soy, juice of a mandarin, two cap fulls of sherry, teaspoon of honey, half a teaspoon of chilli and a teaspoon of crushed garlic.

Bake in oven on fan grill 180 degrees, with probe set to 75 degrees. Use the rectangular Pyrex dish. Will take about 30 minutes. Turn once.

Serve with white rice and steamed beans, broccoli and bok choy tossed in a few drops of sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Result: 4.5. It is essentially meat and three veg.
Preparation: Really easy simple.

Pan fried Trevally fillets

Trevally fillets from M&C Seafood in Thornbury. They were very cheap at $7/kg so $2.50 for two serves.

Dust in besan flour with a little salt and pepper. Fry in the skillet pan on a low heat in olive oil, turn once. Have the exhaust fan on high!

Serve with a Mediterranean style salad of green beans and tinned mixed beans. A little egg mayonnaise for the fish plus a squeeze of lemon.

Result: 4. A delicious fish, quite a strong fishy taste and some oiliness in the flesh. A very healthy dinner.
Preparation: Non-existent.

Smokey Paprika Chicken and Capsicum with Pasta

300g chicken thighs diced, browned with an onion and garlic clove in olive oil. Add a whole red capsicum cut in thin strips. Add two teaspoons of smokey paprika and a little salt and pepper. Stir everything together. Add 2 ice cubes of chicken stock then cover with lid and cook on very low heat for 45 minutes. Add some green beans towards the end of the cooking with the lid on.

Add about a tablespoon of pasata to help thicken and finish for about 15 minutes with the lid off to reduce liquid if needed.

Accompany with with savoy cabbage that had been browned in a dry non-stick pan, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Serve alongside small pasta.

Result: 4, a very good everyday meal and quite easy.

Beef Do Piaza

Take Charmaine's recipe for Lamb Do Piaza and do with chuck steak instead. Black cumin seeds are also known as kalonji and are essential. Serve with steamed veges, rice, yoghurt and Indian bread.

Result: 5. A sensational mild curry who those who don't mind onions.
Preparation: somewhat involved, with two stages of onions including in the blender.

Quick Pork and Cabbage stir-fry

Pork mince, sliced onion - fry until onion is soft.
Add chopped savoy cabbage, eggplant in sticks, sliced mushrooms and stirfry until all cooked, adding some sesame oil. Finish with chopped fresh coriander, light soy and kecap manis. Serve with rice.

Result: 4
Preparation: quick and easy. Apart from rice, done in under 20 mins.

Pork Chops and Ratatouille

Pork Chops - 2cm thick. Egg and crumb. Cook in small queen cookware frypan, olive oil, low heat, lid on for about 15 mins.

Make ratatouille from zucchini, capsicum, eggplant, mushrooms, onion, garlic and tomato. Basically fry up the lot and add tomato. Cook for 30 mins.

Result: 4
Preparation: quick and easy.

Chicken Drummettes

1 kg chicken drummettes (18 or so)

Marinate in: dry sherry, kecap manis, light soy, white pepper, for about an hour, turning occasionally. Keep marinade to use as sauce for stir-fry.

Bake chicken in baking tray at 180 on fan grill on shelf 6 for 35 mins. Serve with brown rice and stir-fried veges.

Result: 4
Preparation: dead easy.
Bonus points: "Like childcare" - baby may actually eat, perhaps.

Also works really well without marinating for an hour. 30 mins is probably enough (was a bit dry at 35 mins). Went very well with white rice and stir-fry of green beans, broccoli, garlic and cashews. 1kg is too much - 15 drummettes is ample.

Satay Vegetables

Slice into sticks:
- carrot
- eggplant
- zucchini
- sweet potato
- capsicum

Fry eggplant and zucchini in a little oil in wok to cook through. Add a little chicken stock to moisten and some sherry. Take out. Cook sliced onion and crushed garlic, and put eggplant and zucchini back in. In the meantime boil carrot and sweet potato in a saucepan and drain and add in. Finally add capsicum and then satay sauce to heat through. Serve with rice.

Result: 4 - pretty good for a simple vege dinner
Preparation: very quick and easy

Asian Roast Chicken

Butterfly a small (no. 10 or 11) chicken and squash flat. Rub with salt then paper towel to clean inside and out.

Make marinade of dry sherry, light soy, lime juice, dark soy, (a little) kecup manis and sesame oil with a small amount of white pepper, five spice and chilli powder. Place chicken in the marinade for a few hours, coating it occasionally.

Roast in oven on tray shelf 7, fan grill at 180 with probe in the breast set to 82 degrees.

Serve with rice and vegtables (greens, red capsicum and cashews stir fried and braised in the left over marinade).

Make a sauce by tipping a tablespoon of smoking oil over shredded spring onion and garlic in a Pyrex bowel, add light soy.

Result: 5

Lasagna

Make meat sauce: Fry up 250g pork mince, 250 beef mince, finely diced onion, 1/2 finely diced red capsicum, 5 mushrooms finely diced. Add 1 cup red wine, tin tomatoes, splosh passata, whole garlic clove, bay leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 mins (or longer if you have time).

Bechamel sauce: 1 tbsp butter, melted, and 1 tbsp plain flour cooked in. Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in microwave and whisk into butter off the heat. Cook on low heat about 10 mins, stirring, until thickened. Add 100g grated mozzarella cheese, 1 tbsp parmesan and pinch freshly grated nutmeg. Add extra milk if too thick.

Layer in lasagna dish with Barilla lasagne d'uovo which cooks in oven at 20 mins at 200 degrees. Top with more mozzarella and parmesan. Cook for about 25 mins.

Result: 5. How lasagna should be made. No annoying veges!
Preparation: Surprisingly quick and easy. Can be done in about an hour.

Chicken and Mushroom Wontons

Recipe from Ken Hom book (Wonton Soup), with chicken

Mix 250g chicken mince, 4 diced mushrooms, 2 finely chopped spring onions, white pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil, dry sherry, chopped thai basil and an egg white. Refrigerate for 20 mins.

Melt large block of chicken stock with extra water. Add soy sauce and sesame oil.

Take wonton wrappers (from Vietnamese grocer) and fill and seal. This quantity makes about 30. Boil separate saucepan of water. Lightly cook some green vegetable, then lift out, drain and add to soup. Then cook wontons in batches if necessary in boiling water, for about 1-2 minutes, and then add to soup for further 2 mins of cooking.

Garnish with thai basil and spring onion.

Result: 5
Preparation: a little bit messy, but remarkably straightforward, and ready in an hour.

Agnolotti with avocado, and eggplant

Make eggplant in advance (Franca's recipe): Cut eggplant into chips. Boil in salted water for 5 mins. Drain and cool. Marinate in olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic (sliced not crushed), hot chilli, oregano and basil or mint (preferably all fresh).

Chicken and mushroom agnolotti from Preston market (takes about 20 mins to cook). Sour cream sauce with onion and mushrooms, with sliced avocado and parsley added towards the end. Serve with parmesan.

Result: 4
Preparation: quick and easy.

One-Pot Sausage Stew

Slice and cook in frypan a couple of sausages. Add chopped onion, zucchini and eggplant and fry till well browned. Add tin of tomatoes, passata, sugar. Cook for about 20 mins. Add a bit more water and some risoni pasta and cook about 10 mins more.

Result: 3.5
Preparation: very easy, and minimal washing up.

Quick Chicken Saag

Chicken thigh fillets, sliced. Finely sliced onion. Finely diced eggplant. Lightly fry 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp tumeric in ghee. Add chicken, onion and eggplant and cook. Add chopped english spinach leaves, 2 cubes chicken stock, salt & sugar. Cook to soften spinach and cook chicken through. Add finely chopped parsley. Add yoghurt and garam masala and heat through. Serve with rice and julienned cucumber.

Result: 4.5
Preparation: really easy, apart from the fine dicing.

Hot & sour fish

Dory fillets, floured in cornflour, shallow fried in a little oil and removed. Clean the wok. Stir-fry vegetables e.g. carrot, celery, onion, brussels sprouts, garlic. Put fish back in, then tip over sauce of chicken stock, sherry, soy, black vinegar, chilli, cornflour. Add boy choy at end. Sprinkle over spring onion and coriander. Serve with rice.

Result: 4
Preparation: bit harder than usual stir-fry, but still under 1/2 hour.

Lamb Shanks

2 x lamb shanks, frenched.

Carrot, onion, 2 celery sticks, red capsicum, all finely diced. Brown floured lamb shanks in large saucepan and remove. Fry vegetables in olive oil until coloured. Add lamb back in. Add cup of chicken stock, tin of tomatoes, few tbsp passata, sugar, salt, pepper and chilli, 2 bay leaves. Cook on very low heat for about 2 1/2 hours. Can be reheated in a casserole dish in the oven.

Serve with large diced potato, microwaved for 8 mins and baked crispy with olive oil and salt.

Result: 5
Preparation: really, really easy. Takes time to cook but minimal work required.

Sausage and Potatoes

Spicy pork sausage, sliced and cooked. Tin of tomatoes, passata, onion, potatoes (waxy spuds) chopped up and cooked in sauce, zucchini (last 15 mins), green beans (last 5 mins), bit of sugar. Cook for about 30 mins. Serve with small pasta.

Result: 4
Preparation: dead easy

Pumpkin & Chicken stirfry

Thinly slice pumpkin and microwave for 4 mins.
Sliced onion, ginger, red capsicum, bok choy, mushrooms. Sliced chicken thigh.

Fry an omelette first. Then fry onion, ginger, capsicum, mushrooms and chicken. Add bok choy and egg and pumpkin later. Sauce with kecap manis, sweet chilli, light soy, oyster, white pepper.

Serve with rice.

Result: 3.5
Preparation: quick and easy.

Instant Bean Burritos

Slice onion, zucchini and capsicum and stir-fry. Add tin of beans (mexe-beans are good, kidney would be ok too) and tomato passata, chicken stock cube, cumin and ancho chilli. Cook till heated through. Serve with burritos and grated cheese.

Result: 5 for lunch. Really hits the spot.
Preparation: ready in 10 mins!

Tandoori Chicken

Night before: put into snap-lock bag 3 chicken thighs, cut in half, with yoghurt, cumin, coriander, kashmiri chilli, saffron, turmeric, salt, garlic, ginger. Refrigerate.

Prepare oven: rack above oven rack at position 4 (from top), above veges. Cook chicken directly on rack on fan-grill 220 degrees for about 15 mins, turning once.

Serve with cucumber raita and rice or Indian bread.

Result: 5
Preparation: surprisingly quick and easy.

Pork Burritos

Sliced pork fillet, marinated in lime juice and smoky tabasco for about 15 mins.

Finely sliced halved onion and capsicum. Fry up in hot pan. Add pork fillet once onion and capsicum cooked. Don't overcook the pork.

Guacamole with avocado and yoghurt.

Mexe-beans (old El Paso), cooked in microwave then drained.

Serve with shredded lettuce, grated cheese, chopped tomato, burritos.

Result: 4
Preparation: quick and easy. Minimal washing up.

Home-made baked beans, with antipasto

Beans: lightly fry grated onion, add tin cannellini beans, passata, chicken stock and sugar. Cook for about 10 mins.

Rice: in rice cooker, put rice, passata, chicken stock and peas. Check it as it might be ready early.

Serve with: olives, cheese, grilled zucchini and eggplant and vine leaves.

Result: 3.5 (beans were great)
Preparation: quick and easy

Sausages and Brown Lentils

Lamb & rosemary sausages, cut into pieces, browned. Finely chopped onion, browned. Lentils brought to boil and then rinsed, then added to onion. Chicken stock and water. Bay leaf, grind of salt and pepper. Cook all for about 45 mins.

Serve with steamed veges and brussels sprouts sauteed in butter and garlic.

Result: 4
Preparation: very easy and minimal supervision required, and low mess.

Lamb, Chickpea and Plum Korma

From Poh's Kitchen ...

Ingredients
serves 4

* 40ml ghee
* 4 green cardamom
* 4 cloves
* 3 black cardamom
* 2 bay leaves
* 2.5cm cinnamon stick
* 1 cup sliced onion
* 1 tbs ginger paste
* 1 tsp garlic paste
* 1 tbs roasted cumin seeds, powdered
* 1 tbs roasted coriander seeds, powdered
* 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (mild, vibrantly red powder from large red chillies)
* ½ cup yoghurt
* 1kg diced forequarter of lamb (or 4 lamb shanks)
* 2 cups plums, stones removed
* Salt to taste
* ½ cup cooked chickpea
* 1 tbs keora water (water of the pandams plain)


Method

1. Heat the ghee, add whole spices and then the onion; when golden brown, add ginger and garlic pastes and sautè for one minute. Mix the powdered spices with the yoghurt and add this to the onion mix. After three minutes on high heat add the meat and brown till the oil separates from the spice blend. Stir in the plums, salt and one cup of water. Cook covered on low heat till the meat is almost tender. Add the chickpeas, a little more water if required and continue cooking until the meat is soft. Flavour with keora water and rest for half an hour before serving.

Notes:
- make sure plums are firm
- use less than 1 cup water, maybe 1/2 cup
- we didn't use the keora water
- the chickpeas were amazing so we added more
- wasn't really done after 1 1/2 hours, but very nice after 2 1/2
- the lamb forequarter (curry lamb from Halal butcher) was very fatty. Would be better for health to go half/half or 30/70 with some diced lamb leg.

Result: 5 for super amazing flavour (but -10 for saturated fat content!)
Preparation: a while to set up, but very easy once the pot's on.

3 Moroccan Vegetable dishes

All from Cooking Moroccan book ...

Spiced carrots. Quick and easy preparation.
Mezghaldi of onions with eggplant. Takes a while to cook the onions.
Preserved lemon and tomato salad. Quick and easy, though tomatoes need to be skinned.

Result: 4.5. A great combination.

BBQ Chicken Skewers

follow recipe from "Cooking Moroccan" book for spiced grilled chicken, but with chicken thighs instead of whole chicken, and thread onto skewers. Basically just marinate in cayenne pepper, cumin, smoky paprika, black pepper, salt, garlic, saffron, lemon juice and olive oil. Cook on the BBQ.

Result: 5. Best BBQ chicken skewers ever.
Preparation: dead easy, marinate ahead of time.

"Paella", somewhat ...

Follow recipe from AWW "Cook" book for Paella, but ignore whatever you like ... probably best to have at least one of the meat components (we had chorizo).

To make up for missing ingredients, add vegetables - zucchini and carrot. Would be better with capsicum rather than without, and with sweet paprika rather than kashmiri chilli. And also probably better without 3/4 of a cup of chardonnay which wasn't in the recipe and didn't really help. Still, Caitlin ate 3 peas so there must be something good about it.

Result: 3, with potential for more ...
Preparation: easy and not too much attention required, but takes about 50 mins all up.

Pork Sausage and Capsicum Stew

From Cam's Greek cooking course:
- 4 Pork, Chilli and Garlic sausages from High St butcher, sliced in 3cm lengths
- 2 green capsicum, sliced
- tin tomatoes

Lightly fry the sausage in a saucepan. Add the other ingredients and cook with lid on for about 20 mins until sausage is cooked. Serve with risoni pasta.

Result: 4.5
Preparation: about 5 mins, then eat 20 mins after that.

Salmon Cutlets with Penang Curry Sauce

1x400g salmon cutlet. Clean after rubbing rock salt on it. Put on a plate in the wok with spring onion and fresh kaffir lime leaves under and on top. Steam gently for 20 mins.

In separate small frypan, make sauce. Fry coriander root and onion in coconut cream. Add curry paste (1/3 tin of penang). Add coconut milk and chicken stock. Add 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 tsp lime juice. Cook for a bit to cook the onion. Chuck in some green beans, cook gently for 2 mins.

Pour sauce over fish. Serve with rice, coriander and spring onion. Fish serves 2. Could also add extra veges on the side like bok choy.

Result: 5
Preparation: really quick and easy, and low mess.

Can also be done with green curry, and better if salmon is cooked for 15 mins not 20. Result: 5.5.

Tomato & Cannellini Bean stew

Fry up: sliced onion, crushed garlic and cubes of eggplant. Add cinzano, chicken stock, water and salt. Add chopped tomatoes, passata and drained tin of cannellini beans. Cook for about 10 mins. Serve with buttered bread.

Result: 5 for lunch
Preparation: very quick and easy

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Make a basic tomato sauce.

Wash and chop spinach. Mix in bowl with fresh ricotta, grated cheese, 1 egg, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs.

Cook 4 lasagne sheets (lasagna that needs pre-cooking) for about 5 mins. Run under cold water. Put some tomato sauce on base of oven dish. Form 4 logs from ricotta mixture and wrap with lasagne sheets. Top with more tomato sauce and some parmesan cheese. Cook at 160 degrees fan bake for about 30 mins.

Result: 4.5. Yum and good presentation too. Excellent to prepare ahead.
Preparation: lasagna is a bit fiddly, but otherwise it's very easy, especially if the sauce is used for something else too.

Lamb Chops with Salsa

Lamb chops, fan grill in oven 190 degrees for 20 mins (for quite well done, try 15 mins next time). Also cook corn in oven at same time.

Make a salsa with red and green capsicum, spring onion, coriander, cucumber and tomato. Sauced with vinegar and sugar and lime juice and tabasco.

Serve with burritos and jar of salsa dip.

Result: 3 - a bit random ...
Preparation: quick and easy.

Shallot Omelette and Veges

Lightly fry chopped shallots in wok. Mix in bowl with eggs, add a little water and beat lightly. Cook omelette in wok and remove.

Veges - green beans and brussels sprouts, chopped. Stir fry for a bit then add bok choy and some water and steam with wok lid on. Remove.

Make sauce: soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken stock, sugar, sherry, sesame oil. Cook in wok till it boils. Only need a little bit of sauce.

Serve with rice and pour sauce over.

Result: 3.5
Preparation: dead easy and very fast.

Rice noodles with Pork Mince and eggplant

Homemade rice noodles - see previous recipe for Poh's noodles. Cut into strips.

Pork mince browned with garlic and sherry, remove from wok.
Stir fry eggplant, red capsicum and mushrooms and spring onion. Add chilli flakes, cumin seeds and five spice and white pepper, chicken stock. Add pork back in. Then remove all.
Fry noodles lightly for a minute or so. Add rest of stuff back in and add bok choy and a small splash of dark soy.
Top with spring onions.

Result: 4.5
Preparation: quick and easy, if noodles done earlier in day.

Pasta with Chicken, Sausage and Grilled Veges

Start with some chopped cooked chicken. Sliced onion, chorizo sausage chopped, mushrooms, fried up. Grill in electric grill zucchini, eggplant and red capsicum. Add to fried stuff with cinzano, chicken stock and pepper. Later add passata, sour cream and fresh basil. Serve with pasta.

Result: 3.5
Preparation: easy, about 40 mins.

Mexican Chicken Sandwiches

Chicken thighs, cut into small pieces and pan-fried until cooked in a little canola oil.

Serve in a roll with shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, grated cheese, mashed avocado, sour cream and tomato salsa.

Result: 4
Preparation: really easy and quick, and keeps well.

Lamb Kofta and Egg Tagine

see page 85 of 'cooking moroccan'. Basically make lamb koftas with lamb mince and herbs, and pan fry, then make a spicy tomato sauce, add koftas, then crack in a couple of eggs and slowly cook. Serve with veges and cous cous.

Result: 5

Preparation: somewhat time consuming between the koftas and the sauce.

Poh's Homemade Rice Noodles with Pork

Rice noodles (from Poh's Kitchen):
1 cup rice flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1/2 tsp salt
350ml water

Whisk till combined. Cook briefly in small saucepan on low heat until slightly thickened. Pour into container (9 inch springform works well). Have water simmering in wok. Place dish on trivet and steam for 7-10 mins. Cool (out of fridge) and cut into squares or slices.

Stir-fry noodles with roast pork, bok choy, capsicum and spring onion.

Result: 4 (would be 5 but too much grease!!)
Preparation: probably easier than dealing with fresh rice noodles.

Lamb Backstrap with Fattoush

Lamb backstraps from Halal Butcher
Rub in Dukkah

Pan-fry in non-stick frypan or griddle for a few minutes, put on a little oil, then transfer to oven on 200 degrees to finish cooking.

Serve with simple fattoush (lettuce & tomato salad with broken up bread bits), and home-made hommus.

Result: 5 for lamb, meal 4

Preparation: easy.

Indian Fried Fish

Flathead fillets (from market)
Mix besan (chickpea flour), small bit of cumin, coriander and kashmiri chilli powders.

Dip flathead fillets in besan. Shallow-fry in canola oil with a little ghee. Add salt before serving.

Serve with rice and veges, or better with spicy mayonnaise or raita.

Result: 4 (5 for the fish)

Preparation: very quick because no egg etc required.

Quick Lentil Soup

Sweat a finely chopped onion and finely chopped carrot (and celery if you have it) in a large saucepan. Dice a potato and dice a few tomatoes. Add to saucepan with red lentils, water and chicken stock. Bring to boil and cook for about 25 mins. Serve with buttered bread.

Result: 3.5

Preparation: easy to do after work

Lamb & Date Tagine

Tagine: Lamb shoulder, diced, recipe for lamb & date tagine in "cooking moroccan".
Can cook beforehand on stovetop and reheat in oven. Add a little cous cous before serving if too runny.

Haloumi veges

Cous cous, cooked with chicken stock, and topped with caramelized onion, cumin, cinnamon, fresh mint & coriander, currants, dried apricots, figs, toasted almonds, preserved lemon.

Result: 5

Preparation: not so quick, but easy, lots of ingredients.

Avocado pasta

Simple cream sauce (better with cream than sour cream) of onion, mushrooms, cinzano, chicken stock. Add avocado slices and mush around a bit. Serve with pasta and lots of parmesan.

Result: 3

Preparation: very quick

Tofu and Dumplings

Make some fried rice with whatever is lying around, at a minimum onion, ham and peas.

Steam frozen dumplings in tupperware steamer in wok for about 12 mins.

Steam 'Yenson's Firm Tofu' with sliced ginger and spring onion and a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil in top of tupperware steamer.

Serve in pretty bowls with black vinegar and soy sauce.

Result: 4.5

Preparation: quick and easy, especially if rice is made ahead.

Tuna Mornay

Fry up onion, spring onion and mushrooms. Add tuna and corn and baby spinach leaves. Separately make a white sauce. Add to tuna mixture and add cheese. Serve with pasta.

Result: 3.5

Preparation: white sauce takes a bit of time, but otherwise quick and easy.

Beef with Oyster Sauce

Beef strips fried in very hot oil with garlic and chilli, remove.
Turn wok down, then stir-fry onion, mushrooms, green beans, then add water and steam. Thrown in 4 bok choy, sliced. Reduce heat further. Turn until bok choy wilting. Put beef back in and some cashews. Add oyster sauce and kecap manis. Add chives and thai basil at the end. Serve with rice.

Result: 5

Preparation: super quick and easy.

Sticky Date Pudding

from Womens Weekly 'Cook' book.

Result: 5

Preparation: very quick to prepare. All done in the blender. In the oven in under 10 mins. Cook in 9-inch springform tin for 50 mins on 160 fan bake. Need only half the sauce.

Lamb Chops with Veges

Make scalloped potatoes by thinly slicing spuds and cooking in microwave for 5 mins, then layering in oven dish with hot milk, thinly sliced onions and nutmeg. Top with stacks of mozzarella. Bake for about 45 mins.

Make a ratatouille from eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, onion and tomato pieces, chucked in oven dish with a bit of oil.

Pan-fry lamb chops.

Result: 5 (mostly for the spuds, but also for the vegetable content).
Preparation: need to do spuds and veges in advance, but otherwise pretty quick.

Beef Satay Stirfry

Beef strips
Onion
Capsicum
Eggplant
Zucchini

Fry beef strips in smoking hot wok with crushed garlic and oil for about 30 seconds. Remove. Stir-fry vegetables in very hot wok, then steam slightly in wok. Throw beef back in with half a jar of satay sauce. Splash of lime juice. Serve with rice.

Result: 5
Preparation: very quick and easy.

Pork Mince Stir-Fry

Pork mince
Onion
Spring onion
Zucchini
Bok choy
Ginger
Fresh coriander

Brown mince & onion, add rest of ingredients. Sauce with sweet chilli, lime juice and kecap manis. Thicken with cornflour. Serve with rice.

Result: 4
Preparation: no time at all.

Hawker Noodles

Hokkien noodles
Chopped cooked chicken (or leftover BBQ chook)
Cubed potato, cooked.
Chopped tomato.
Sliced onion.
Spring onion.
Lettuce & lime to garnish.

Fry onion & noodles until hot. Add other ingredients and sauces - tomato, sweet chilli and soy. Cook an egg through it (optional). Top with lettuce & lime.

Result: 4.5
Preparation: about 15 mins with pre-cooked chicken.

Asparagus Risotto

Risotto rice, sauteed with finely chopped onion and bacon. Slowly add wine and hot chicken stock over about 20 mins, constantly stirring, until cooked. Add asparagus and chopped spinach in last 5 mins. Season with salt & pepper, cream and parmesan.

Result: 4

Preparation: easy and quick, but requires constant attention.

Combination Leftovers Soup

1 block Cam's chicken stock
Spring onion, sliced, including green bit
End bit of coriander, washed
1 star anise

Boil all of these together for about 20 mins to infuse. Remove star anise and coriander.

Add in:
- chopped leftover chicken
- chopped leftover lamb
- green beans
- celery

and add near the end,
- bok choy
- red capsicum

Season with soy sauce and sesame oil. Serve over cooked rice noodles and top with chopped coriander.

Result: 3.5

Preparation: easy, and uses up leftover cold meat.

Quick chicken curry

Chicken thighs, diced.
Onion, sliced.
Zucchini, in pieces.
Capsicum, sliced.
Tin of tomatoes.
Spices - coriander, cumin, turmeric (powdered).

Fry up then add in tomatoes. Serve with yoghurt + cucumber, chutney and pappadums.

Result: 3.5

Preparation: quick and easy.

Corned Beef Hash

Leftover corned beef (home-made or sliced), chopped
Onion, finely chopped
Zucchini, chopped into thin sticks
Red capsicum, chopped into thin sticks
Fry all of these up together

Then mix in
Potatoes, chopped, boiled and mashed
Salt & Pepper
One egg

Drop large spoonfuls of mixture into hot non-stick pan with canola oil. Fry until crispy. May be a bit hard to flip but doesn't really matter. Serve with egg mayonnaise.

Result: 4 (4.5 for taste, -0.5 for presentation)

Preparation: very quick and easy, and uses up leftovers

Tofu with Bean Sauce

Firm tofu, cubed.
Eggplant, in thin strips.
Onion, finely sliced.
Spinach (or other vegetable).

Stirfry the lot. Sauce with soy bean paste (Chinese style), light soy, sugar, and thicken sauce with cornflour. Serve with rice or noodles.

Result: 3

Preparation: very quick