Recipes - The Super Club

When I was a kid, I begged my parents to let me make a double-decker sandwich every day and every now and then they even let me do it.  I've always been fascinated by the double-decker sandwich, it just seems so incredibly decadent! The club sandwich is probably the most well know layered sandwich and my SUPER club just adds an extra amount of indulgence! 

Ingredients

1 small chicken breast or 3-4 chicken tenderloins

2 rashers short cut bacon

6 green prawns, peeled and deveined

1 egg

1/2 avocado, sliced

1 tbs aioli

1 tomato, sliced

15g lettuce

2 slices jarlsberg cheese

2 slices white bread

1 slice wholemeal bread

1 tsp butter

Step 1 - Drizzle a little olive oil in a grill pan and heat over medium-high heat.  Place chicken, bacon and prawns in the pan.  Cook prawns for 20-30 seconds each side, bacon for 1 minute each side and chicken for 2-3 minutes each side depending on thickness, until cooked through.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Step 2 - Place butter in a small teflon pan and heat over medium-low.  When butter has melted, gently crack egg into pan.  Hold the egg as close to the pan as possible and open the shell slowly and gently.  Cook for 1 minute, then carefully and gently flip the egg and cook on the other side for a further 30 seconds.

Step 3 - Spread each piece of white bread with 1/2 tbs of aioli.  Place one piece on a serving plate and top with lettuce, bacon and prawns.  Place wholemeal bread on top of prawns and layer tomato, cheese, avocado and chicken.  Place white slice, aioli side down to close sandwich.  Pop the egg on top and serve immediately.  

Recipes - The Thanksgiving

This one of my all time favourite sandwich fillings.  If I find out I have guests coming for lunch an hour before they arrive (or I completely forget they're coming and remember an hour before their arrival), I race to the shops, grab these five ingredients, and put out a plate of Thanksgiving Sandwiches.  

Ingredients (for 1)

1 x soft white bread roll

100g shaved roast turkey breast

40g King Island Dairy Camembert, thickly sliced

2 tbs cranberry sauce

15g rocket

Step 1 - Halve bread roll, spread cranberry sauce over top and set aside.

Step 2 - Distribute rocket over base of roll, top with turkey and finally camembert.  Place cranberry covered top on roll.

Recipes - Spaghetti w Beef and Lentils

A few of my friends have asked me to post some 'single serve' recipes for people who want to cook delicious dinners for one.  This is one of my favourite recipes to cook when I am home alone (mind you, I usually make a double serve a have it for lunch the next day). By the way, I use the words 'single serve' lightly.

Ingredients

1 x thick cut beef rib steak on the bone (or similar)

1 small clove garlic, chopped finely

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 capsicum, sliced thinly

50g tinned lentils, drained and rinsed

20g rocket

100g spaghetti

salt and pepper, to season

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200°C.  

Step 2 - Cook spaghetti.

Step 3 - Heat a little oil in a frying pan.  When hot, seal beef for 30 seconds on each side.  When sealed, scatter capsicum around beef and place pan in oven for 15 minutes*, turning beef halfway through.

Step 4 - Remove pan from oven and return to stove top.  Remove beef and set aside to rest on a plate.  Heat pan over high heat and add a little more oil.

Step 5 - When pan is hot, add garlic and toss with capsicums, cooking until garlic is fragrant.  Add lentils, tomatoes and cooked spaghetti, season well with salt and pepper and combine.

Step 6 - Remove from heat and mix rocket through pasta. Serve spaghetti in a bowl with beef on top.   

Notes:

*Beef cooking times will vary depending on cut of beef, thickness of cut and your preference as to how you like your beef cooked. 

This meal should only take 15 minutes to cook, 20 minutes at the most, it's all about time management.  Put the water onto boil for the pasta and while it is heating, chop the capsicum and seal the beef.  When the beef is in the oven, throw the pasta into the boiling water then chop garlic, slice tomatoes, drain lentils.  That way, you'll have everything ready when the beef comes out of the oven.  

Recipes - Best Ever Omelette

Want the lightest, fluffiest, tastiest omelette?  Look no further! This is how omelettes are supposed to be and while it does seem a little more complicated than your average egg breakfast it should only take about 10-15 mins from starting prep to plating up.  

Ingredients

3 eggs

1/4 cup tasty cheese, grated

filling ingredients (see below for filling ideas)

Step 1 - Heat a little oil in a 25cm frying pan and cook filling ingredients. Remove from pan and set aside.

Step 2 - Separate eggs, putting the whites in a very clean glass bowl and yolks in a small bowl.  Gently beat yolks with a fork and set aside.

Step 3 - Beat whites on medium speed until soft peaks form.  Gently fold yolks through whites with a spatula.

Step 4 - Wipe out pan with paper towel, spray well with olive oil and heat on medium.  Also, turn grill on to medium heat.

Step 5 - Pour egg mixture into frying pan and use spatula to smooth into an even layer.  After 1-2 minutes, run spatula around sides of omelette and gently lift to see if bottom is cooked.  When bottom is a light golden colour, move the pan to under the grill to cook the top.

Step 6 - When top is golden, sprinkle with cheese and return to grill until cheese is melted and golden.

Step 7 - Remove pan from grill, spread filling over half the omelette and fold the other side over the top.  transfer to plate.  Serve on its own, with toast and/or a side salad.

Ideas for fillings:

Meat - bacon, ham, prosciutto, chorizo, smoked salmon

Vegetables - onion, mushrooms, capsicum, spinach, zucchini, tomato

Cheese - ricotta, feta, haloumi 

For this omelette I used

• 50g ham
• 6 button mushrooms
• 1/4 spanish onion
• 20g baby spinach 

Recipes - Hobz biz-zejt

Hobz biz-zejt literally translates to Bread with Oil.  It is a traditional Maltese lunch, similar to the ploughman's lunch that originated in the UK and is more construction than cooking.  The mere thought of this dish sends me back to my ten year old self, sitting in my grandmothers kitchen with my sister and my cousins, fighting over the best tomatoes (straight from the vine) and the best cuts of bread (fresh from the oven).  Top quality ingredients are essential for this dish.

Ingredients

olive oil

sourdough bread

ripe tomatoes. halved

tomato paste

tuna

salt and pepper, to season

Optional

anchovies

olives

capers/caperberries 

Step 1 - Place tuna, tomatos, tomato paste and optional ingredients on a plate.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Step 2 - Rip off pieces of bread, dip in oil, rub with tomato then use to scoop other ingredients.  Enjoy.