In the Den Kitchen – Page 2

In the Den Kitchen–December 2021

To start off December we had leftovers from another cooking of the brisket recipe we first did in October. This time we decided to try the leftovers in tacos. Such a great idea. Brisket is turning out to be a super versatile roast to do leftovers with. I just heated up the meat and shredded it then heated some tortillas. Usual taco fillings and you’re done. Quick and easy and everyone can serve themselves.

Next up this month was Plum Jelly Meatballs. A win, everybody liked them. Added to our book of recipes.

Honey chicken is a favourite in this house so we had to try the Recipe Tin Eats Crispy Honey Chicken. It lives up to it’s name. It stays super crispy.

I love fried rice and this Garlic Chicken Fried Rice was a winner.

Another brisket roast but this time it’s Slow Cooked Honey Soy Beef Brisket. So good. Also great the next night heated up and served in crepes.

Christmas and we were asked to cook a Turducken. This is the recipe we used. Ended up giving it a little bit longer but it was still moist and delicious. No picture for this one as I forgot.

The last new recipe for this year was cooked on New Year’s Eve and was Air Fryer Sticky Chicken Bites. Served with a cheesy potato bake.

Thanks for following along in 2021. I hope you tried something new and I look forward to sharing some new recipes with you all in 2022.

Holiday baking – Shortbread

It’s Christmas time and I thought I’d share some of my favourites to cook during December. Seriously though these are good any time of year.

First on the list is Shortbread. This is the recipe my Mum used and I have a feeling this is the recipe that comes from my Grandmother so it’s a proper Scottish one. I can’t remember if I’ve shared this one before but if I have, oh well, here it is again.

Shortbread

My Mum's shortbread recipe

Electric mixer
Baking trays

185 g plain flour
60 g caster sugar
125 g butter
1 pinch salt

Preheat oven to 160C.
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Set aside.
Add all ingredients into mixer bowl.
Mix until well combined. Mixture should form a smooth ball.
Roll out until desired thickness (between 5mm and 15mm) and cut circles.
Place on tray. Re-roll remain mixture and repeat until all dough is used.
Cook for 20-30 minutes, until lightly golden.
Let sit on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Optional: sprinkle with extra caster sugar once cooked.

Can be mixed in a Thermomix. Add all ingredients, mix speed 4 for 10 seconds or until well combined.
To cook in an air fryer – 180C for about 10 minutes.
To cook in a traditional wooden mould. Flour your mould well. Tip out extra flour. Press dough into mould then turn out onto baking paper. Tap hard to release the dough. You may need to tap a few times.

Biscuits

Scottish

From the Den Kitchen– November 2021

Another quiet recipe month but here you go…

Creamy Chicken & bacon pie filling on the Thermomix recipe community. This is sooo good. Bonus points to as it makes a super yum pasta sauce.

Another Cookidoo recipe – Cider brined pork chops. They were ok. Hubby enjoyed them but he loves pork.

Chicken fajitas. Think these were a big hit with everyone as the whole lot went that night. No leftovers.

Bangers & Mash with Onion Gravy. Not so much. I think I’d just much prefer bangers and mash with onion, no gravy.

One pan chicken alfredo. Hit or miss. Not one the kiddos liked. Neither of the adults were really a fan either.

Back next time with all our December recipes, there will be a few. Lots of sweet treats.

In the Den Kitchen–October 2021

A quiet month on the new recipe front, well meal wise anyway. We were given a bunch of lemons so cooked a few sweet lemony treats too.

The Slow Cooked Beef Brisket with BBQ Sauce from Recipe Tin Eats was so good. Everyone wants it cooked again so that’s a win.

Remaining meals were Thermomix recipes from Cookidoo.

The Asian Chicken Noodle salad was delicious. Not everyone was a fan but I’d happily have it for a light summer meal or lunch. Would work pretty well for a bbq side too.

We usually do either beef or chicken for our go-to Mexican meal but decided to give Beef Fajitas a go for something different. All I can say is we now have a third option for Mexi meals. I think this would work well so look for that in a future post.

The only meal we made with our lemons was Hunter’s Lemon Chicken Rissoles. Really good. Too much basil for some but meh, not my problem. Made quite a few so I had some the next day for lunch and froze some for later.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a real fan of ‘fried’ rice done in the Thermomix but I think Chooky Rice might just change my mind. It does make HEAPS though (well heaps for our family) so there was leftovers.

Onto our lemon recipes……

I made a batch of Lemon Butter. I’ve got a few recipes but as I’m trying to use our new Thermomix more, I tried the one on Cookidoo. Pretty good.

We made Lemonade, which the big has decided is her current favourite drink, so I’ve made 3L. It’s nice on it’s own over ice but really nice with fizzy lemonade or sparkling water. We also tried Mint Lemonade. That was not so much of a hit. I liked it, and I’ve frozen it to see if it makes good ice cubes over summer.

One of the recipes I made for tea called for Lemon Olive Oil, so I made my own using this recipe (minus the thyme).

Finally I cooked up a batch of goodies for lunchboxes – Noughts & Crosses biscuits and Lemon cupcakes with Citrus syrup, These disappeared before I got pictures but the lemon cupcakes are so moist and very lemony. Will be making them again.

What have you been cooking lately?

In the Den Kitchen–September 2021

Wow it’s the end of September already. More recipes for you this month.

Littlest loves potato gems and pommes so I decided to give Pop Pom cottage pie a go. Well she didn’t like the pommes with melted cheese but apart from that she ate the lot.

Creamy Chicken & potato gem pie. Again another recipe to try and tempt the littlest to try something new. Wasn’t a fan and was grumpy that I’d used all the potato gems. The rest of us enjoyed it

Hubby found a Air fryer pork belly recipe on Tik Tok so we tried it. Very yummy.

We actually tried a recipe that wasn’t a hit with anyone – slow cooker braised steak & onion. Don’t know what it was about this but we won’t be having it again.

Chicken & Ham lasagne. So yummy but needed something as it was a bit dry. Maybe some more cheese next time.

This satay chicken stir fry was really yummy. Biggest decided she didn’t like it because it had peanuts on it. She eats peanuts & likes them. Think she was being difficult.

The Thermomix recipes this month where Chicken Teriyaki, Mongolian Lamb, Beef Stroganof, Quiche Lorraine, Meatloaf, Chinese Pork & finally Beef Burgers.

Chicken teriyaki

Everything got the thumbs up, especially the burgers which were called the best burger recipe I’d ever made. It made enough to freeze some AND littlest actually ate one! She helped make them and she’s been told if she makes it she has to try it. Seems to be working well as she’s finding more things she likes so Yay!!

Sweet treat this month was self saucing butterscotch pudding. Very yummy.

Tik Tok recipe trends are a bit of a thing in our house. Can highly recommend trying the air fryer crumpet garlic bread.

In the Den Kitchen–August 2021

And so another month is over and we have a bunch of new recipes to share and a new kitchen toy but more on that later in the post.

Started off with some Asian flavours trying Hoisin pork fillet with stir-fried Chinese greens. Big thumbs up from everyone, including the little who is now more interested in cooking and also trying what she cooks.

Then we moved to flavours of India and a really yummy Chicken Korma. Again loved by all.

Something quick and easy for a friend’s birthday – Creamy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti. He lives alone so he often gets to join our food trying adventures.

More pork with Oven Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes. Awesome now I have my oven fixed and didn’t have to try cooking this in the air fryer. Very yummy.

And another pork recipe to round out the month – Brown Sugar Slow Cooker Pork. This was soooo good but next time we’ll use a different cut of pork so we get more meat.

And a sweet treat for the lunch boxes – Flourless Fudge Brookies

I’ve been wanting to upgrade our Thermomix since the TM6 came out and hubby surprised me with the new one at the beginning of the month (thank you tax return) so the remainder of the new recipes this month are from Thermomix’s Cookidoo recipe website.

I chose a bunch of recipes and the first the kids picked was Meatball Subs (served on homemade Hot Dog Rolls). We also tried Sous Vide steak with Béarnaise Sauce, Sticky Sesame chicken, Chunky bolognaise, Paprika chicken w Paprika sauce, Pork belly w spring onions and homemade honeycomb (so good!)

Until next month, keep cooking!
(and let me know if you try any of these recipes and what you thought of them)

In the Den Kitchen–July 2021

This month, the littlest has been so much more interested in helping cook meals, even if she doesn’t end up eating them. We are implementing the new rule that if she cooks it she has to try it and she might find that she actually likes it!

The first recipe she cooked was old fashioned rissoles. Nice and easy. She wasn’t too sure to start with but ended up demolishing a whole one, so calling that a win.

I had been feeling like a new stir fry recipe for awhile so decided to whip up Hoisin beef stir-fry. I love Hoisin sauce with pork so was interested to see how it would go with beef. Good stuff. Everyone ate it, most of them picked out the veg they don’t like *eye roll*

Biggest wanted in on the cooking action so I thought a super easy, set and forget slow cooker recipe would suit her. Slow cooker chicken chow mein.

Decided to go a little fancy with Crispy, Creamy Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Dijon sauce. OMG don’t try this if you want something quick and easy. Yes it is fiddly but so worth it.

Looking for something super easy to whip up? This one is great when your kids ask if their bestie can stay for tea. It does take about 45 minutes to cook though. Not my Mum’s porcupine meatballs (not the actual name but they aren’t my Mum’s recipe LOL)

Another quick & easy one to whip that is great hot or cold is Easy Savoury Bacon Slice. So good. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like with the corn but it got a big thumbs up especially from the big who wants me to make it again on a school night so she can take it to school cold.

From the Den kitchen–June 2021

Light on the new recipes this month. Have been re-cooking lots of favourites. This month we tried…

Air Fryer Pork bites (different from the last lot). Yummo. I love pork belly done in the air fryer.

Satay chicken So much better than the bottled sauce I usually buy. Added a bit extra peanut butter. Reading through the reviews a lot of people said they add half water, half coconut milk so I’ll try that next time.

Slow cooked Beef Stroganoff. Pretty good. Love being able to just chuck everything in the slow cooker and leave it til it’s time to eat.

and some sweet treats,

White chocolate raspberry muffins

Weet-bix Slice

In the Den Kitchen–May 2021

End of the month and we’ve got some more new recipes for you. Not as many this month as we’ve been focusing on family favourites.

Creamy French Chicken Potato Bake
Sooooooo good. A great winter staple. Chicken, potatoes, creamy. Yum.

Slow cook sizzling Mongolian beef
Personally not really a fan of this one. Not sure why. Hubby loved it.

Air Fry pork belly bites.
Hubby made this one for Mother’s Day tea. Was super yummy. He can’t find the recipe again.

Pork tenderloin with Creamy Mustard Sauce
Another Recipe Tin Eats one. Was good. Might make a few changes to the sauce though as we’re not a fan of the tarragon (to be honest we did use dried not fresh). Going to give it another go using chives & parsley.

Slow cook beef stew
The website name says it all – Damn Delicious. Simple and delicious. One of the best stews I’ve eaten.

Homemade LCMs
Super easy. This one is a thermomix recipe. Miss A made these and was very impressed with her work. We used pink & white marshmallows and stirred through some choc chips (which melted slightly) and 100s and 1000s. Will be adding this one to the lunchbox snacks list.

Creamy French onion chicken pasta bake
This was so good. We took out the mushrooms (cause heathens in my house don’t eat them) and spinach and added carrot, onion, peas & corn. Put it in 2 smaller containers and we had the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Honey garlic chicken tray bake
Another super yum recipe. We added a heap of other veggies to fill it out a bit more.

In the Den Kitchen–April 2021

No where near as many recipes in April, but some yummy ones no the less.

Cheese & Bacon Rissoles

Quick & relatively easy. Super yummy BUT a pain in the rear when it comes to cooking as they just fall apart when you cook them. Will make it again but do some tweaking and report back.

Beef Cannelloni

Made this one without the spinach, cause I’m the only one who eats it. Have had requests for this one again so taking that as a hit.

Chicken Curry

Think this will be our go to. Super easy and yummy. Also the leftovers my delicious pies.

Chicken meatballs with homemade Tzatziki (I do want to try the souvlaki in this recipe too)

Takes me back to my childhood when we’d grab the pita pockets, fill with salad and whatever meatballs Mum had cooked. Leftovers (if there are any) make a delicious lunch. Also decided to make my own tzatziki to spoon over it. Eldest decided it would make a great lunch dip with veggie sticks. *thumbs up* Littlest actually ate these but said she didn’t like them when asked if she’d eat them again.

Butter chicken

I LOVE butter chicken. It’s been years since I made my own from scratch. This one is good and spicy. I only added half the amount of hot spices too. Hubby said it was perfect.

Finally this month we had French Onion Sausages and Cheesy Mash

So good. Everyone enjoyed it and asked for seconds. In the recipe book it goes!