my artichoke dip

This is an all time favourite to serve for friends on a cold wintry dinner.... its super easy, can be made well ahead of time and is so damn addictive I dare anyone to stop and one dip..... seriously even if you don't like artichokes you will love this.... I have tricked many the vege hater....

1 tin Artichoke in brine
3 cloves garlic
1 cup of whole egg mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan(I cheat with this one and usually buy the already grated)

In your processor whizz up the artichokes and garlic,  add the mayo and cheese give it another whirl, then seriously that my friends is it....

 

Now all you have to do is put it in a cute little pot, bake in the oven at 180 for around 20 mins until its bubbly and warm through.... I serve mine with some crostini, sliced sour dough, anything goes really, its is honestly GOOD!!!

Now when I am usually serving this baby there is normally copious amounts of wine on hand, great friends and lots and lots of laughs.... the best kind of food usually does!

happy cooking

Leonie xx

oh should mention if you have some that does not fit into your cute little container, it is great on some freshly toasted  and buttered (I have a love for lurpak... danish butter OMG heaven!) sour dough, or even tossed through some pasta for a quick and different lunch....

I think you could change this to suit a cob like dip.... add a few more ingredients such as pancetta, baby spinach, sun dried tomatoes... anything would work really, only limit is your pantry.

best potato and leek soup EVER!!!

Oh my I have never made this soup which is odd as potatoes are my absolute favourite food group, you know fried, boiled mashed... you get it... surely I am not alone in this love affair... Well over the last few years we have eaten less and less of these divine little beauties... but today I seemed to have an abundance of them, some lovely leeks, onions, garlic.... well it called for SOUP... oh the chilly season also helped.

now this was super easy and super super yum....

2 cloves garlic
knob butter
2 leeks, sliced in half length ways the chopped
6-10 potatoes...(I had a few and they were not very big, the were washed and skins stayed on) chopped roughly
whole nutmeg ( use a microplane or super fine grater to grate)
500ml chicken stock
2 onions, diced

Melt butter in big saucepan, fry garlic, leeks, onions until softened, add potatoes and stock, and nutmeg bring to the boil then turn down to a gentle simmer, once all cooked, about 20 mins, blend like a crazy lady with your stick blender and enjoy!!!!!

Oh to make this even more delicious, a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese after blending makes this TO DIE FOR!!!!!

I will add pictures later..... its a school night and I am tired!

happy cooking

Leonie xx

Leonie's attempt at eggplant parmigiana

For those that don't know, I am a teacher, I teach children with special needs, I LOVE  my job, it is rewarding, tough, fun, challenging, and at times very painful, physically and mentally. I have been at this job for a long time now, teaching children of such a diverse range of needs, I really love it... seriously I do.... even if I whinge!!!!

Now at the end of a a really tough first term this year, now this is a term where it saw my family move interstate, start new schools and jobs, me move from part-time to fulltime so LOTS of changes........I was EXHAUSTED!!!!

Well to reward myself I travelled to an old stomping ground the Capital of the country.... Canberra a much loved destination.... I met with fabulous friends, drank many, many cocktails, eating wonderful meals and giggling until I cried.... an absolute blast! A weekend of pure mummy indulgence! Well, while in the countries capital we ventured to an exccellent Italian resturant, "Italian and sons", we ate and ate and ate some more, it was fabulous! oh not to mention wonderful champagne and wine!!!

While we were there we shared some wonderful dishes... one of them being eggplant parmigiana..... OMG it was to DIE for! seriously sooooooo good! so I knew in an instant my family were going to be my guinea pigs while I perfected this recipe.... now below is a 'good' recipe my boys and I loved it, but it is still missing something, so I have decided to share but may update if I can discover that missing ingredient.... That all said this is an original recipe...... OMG fall over!!!! all MINE!!!!! hope you like and can make sense of it all....

Ingredients
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 red onions finely diced
2 eggplants, sliced 1/2cm thick
5 cloves garlic
1 finely dice red capsicum
250g ricotta cheese
1 tub mozzarella sliced (if you cannot get a hold of mozzarella 1 tub of bocconcini works just the same)
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 freshly grated nutmeg
fresh basil
1/2 cup red wine

prepare all vegetables, in a thick based pan, I love my LeChasseur red cast iron pot.... I use it at all opportunities!!! splash some olive oil and heat pan, sweat off garlic, capsicum, and onion, until soft, add paste and cook off for 1-2 minutes, add red wine and cook for one minute to cook out alcohol. Add the tomatoes and nutmeg and turn down to a low simmer and leave for about an hour, the sauce will thicken and send a divine smell throughout your house! I promise it smells fantastic!!! now while this is cooking you need to sprinkle each peice of eggplant with salt (not too much!!!!) I then place in a colander put a plate on top to cover then weigh down to extract the water from eggplant.

Leave eggplant for at least 1/2hour. Once suace is thicker, sprinkle with some fresh basil thinly sliced, rince and dry eggplant between paper towels.

Its time to start layering....... start with tomato sauce, eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella then repeat until the dish is full, finishing with tomato and grated parmesan cheese. Bake in an oven at 180 for half an hour, I served it with salad..... Honest to goodness this did turn out great! kids and Hubby loved it and no one knew it was a vege meal!!! SO I challenge all to a Meat free Meal once per week..... ours is generally Mondays!!!

happy cooking xx