Wednesday, November 01, 2006

my favourite shortcuts in the kitchen

every time i am asked for a recipe for something I get a reply back along the lines of...you should write a book! so to start with, here are my current favourite 'it's 5.00 and i don't know what's for dinner' ideas.....

- use flatbread/turkish bread instead of lasagne sheets. stays nice and soft, no hard bits and easy to cut to fit the shape of the dish.
- easy snacks....same turkish bread cut into triangles. spray with cooking spray and sprinkle liberally with garlic salt. bake for 5 -10 minutes till golden. serve with some kind of dip (easy one: half and half mayonaiise and lite sourcream with teaspoon of seed mustard)
- best ever tomato sauce for pasta: slosh olive oil in pan. add two tins of chopped tomatoes, some pitted olives, fresh herbs (chopped) or shake of dried ones, couple of bay leaves. bring to boil, stirring. Add tablespoon or so of tomato paste. simmer till thick. pour over pasta. yum.
- best ever spuds.....spray oven dish with cooking spray. layer in sliced potato, sliced kumara (sweet potato), finely sliced leek, sliced granny smith apple. put a bit of olive oil over the top. season. cover and microwave for about 20 minutes. flash under grill to crisp. more next week