Corned Beef with Parsley White Sauce

I grew up with my dad making corned beef served with carrots, cabbage and rice. Making this made me think back to my childhood : )

Corned Beef
Ingredients
1.5kg silverside
1 onion
6 cloves
2 carrots (chopped into chunks)
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
8 chat potatoes (halved)

Parsley White Sauce
Ingredients
50g butter
1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)
1 heaped teaspoon hot English mustard (or 2 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard)

1. Rinse silverside and pat dry. Place it in a large pot and add enough water to cover the meat.

2. Boil for around 5mins (you will see the impurities float up to the top). Drain the meat (making sure you clean the pot before returning the meat back into it)

Stud the onion like so...

3. Add water to the pot, again enough to cover the meat, then add the studded onion, carrots garlic, bay leaves, the black peppercorns, vinegar and brown sugar. Bring it to the boil, then turn the flame down to a gentle simmer for around 1.5-2 hours.
20mins before you serve I'd add the potatoes just to finish off.

For the sauce:
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and stir constantly. Cook for around 1 min. Slowly pour in the milk, still stirring constantly. Add the the mustard and parsley and mix it all till its well combined and set aside.

I wanted some vegies on the side so I strained off some of the corned beef stock into a separate saucepan.

Bring it to a boil and add some dutch carrots and cook for 2mins

Bung in some asparagus and cook for a further 3mins

And there you have it...my corned beef with a parsley white sauce

Ham and Pinapple Pizza Muffin (by Donna Hay)

Here's a child friendly recipe worth trying. Ham and Pineapple pizza muffins by Donna Hay. A very easy one to put together and I'm sure most kids would enjoy these.


Pizza Muffin
Ingredients
3 cups (450g) self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups (180g) grated cheddar
150g ham, chopped
1/3 cup (150g) chopped pineapple, drained
1/3 cup (160ml) vegetable oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 eggs1 cup (250ml) milk

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Place the flour, baking powder, 1 cup (120g) cheese, ham and pineapple in a bowl and mix to combine.

2. Place the oil, tomato paste, egg and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine.

3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

4. Spoon into 12 x ½ cup-capacity (125ml) muffin tins and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Makes 12 (I actually made about 18)

Orange and Fennel Salad

This is such a classic salad, but one I have never made or even tasted before. Till now. I was at the local fruit and veg store and because oranges and fennel are in season, they were both really cheap with the naval oranges going at 99cents/kg and the fennel 3 bulbs for 69cents, I thought what the hey lets give it a go.

Make sure your fennel is sliced really really thin. I used my trusty old V-Slicer, yes I am a total sucker for those kitchen/household gadgets that supposedly cut down your preperation/cooking time or household chores. The worst buy was my carpet sweeper purchase....sigh.....what was I thinking.....that's why I have a vacuum cleaner. My best buy would have to be the magic bullet. Best for pureeing baby food....I digress.....

So back to the salad. I tried a thin slice of the fennel and was not impressed. It was way too strong for my liking and I could not imagine eating this salad. I was already preparing myself to hate it and wondering what I would do with it all. And I knew I had to make it because I'd already bought the 2 main ingredients. You know what? I really enjoyed it. That dressing...yum! It was fresh, it was light, it was just so surprising to me because I had convinced myself I would detest it, but I didn't! Yay! Once you combine it all and eat it as a whole, the fennel is much milder in taste. This would be perfect with a BBQ'd steak : )

Orange and Fennel Salad
Ingredients
75g rocket
2 oranges (peeled and segmented)
1 fennel bulb (sliced very thinly)
For the dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Method
1. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together.

2. Place the rocket and fennel in a large bowl and toss them. Scatter the segmented oranges over it and then drizzle the dressing over the top.