Deli Roast Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

Sandwhich slices
Roast chicken *leftover (shredded)
Cheese slices
Rocket leaves
Tomato (sliced)
Mayonaise
Black pepper


Method:

• Squeeze mayonaise onto a slice of bread
• Spread ingredients layer by layer - cheese -> tomato -> chicken -> rocket
  
• Secure layers with drizzle of mayonaise in between layers
• Dash of pepper and squeeze mayonaise over rocket
• Cover with another slice of bread and serve

Peaches and Cream on Puffs

I have a sweet tooth and I totally ♥ western desserts. However I don't make many desserts at home because often, special utensils and appliances are required for precise measuements, cutting, mixing and baking. It will not be practical for me to buy them all until I can have a "permanent" personal kitchen.

Kiddo always requests for "special suppers" nowadays. I wonder if I have pampered him too much. (:

I decided to make him something sweet for a change.


Makes 12

Cream:
4 tablespoons thickened cream
2 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons of caster sugar (5 for brown sugar)

Cream preparation:

• Combine cream, cheese and sugar in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Keep in fridge until usage.

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 can peaches in syrup
1 tablespoon icing sugar


Method:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees celcius.
• Thaw puff pastry in room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Dust icing sugar over thawed pastry evenly.
• Use a sharp knife to cut pastry into 12 (3 columns x 4 rows) even pieces.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray and transfer cut pastries onto tray.
• Bake in oven for 12 minutes.
• Set baked pastries to cool for about 5 minutes.
• Spread a generous dollop of cream on each cooled pastry.
• Place 1 or 2 pieces (as preferred) of peaches atop the cream.
• Repeat process for all pastries.
  
• Serve pastries with hot tea.

**Notes:

• The flavour is incredibly light and not so sweet. For those who prefer it to be sweeter, adjust the sugar content for cream accordingly.
• If desired, pastries can be brushed with egg wash before popping into oven.

Spicy Sausage Pizza with Salami and Peas

This was concocted from a consolidation of the remaining edibles in our fridge. This is what happened when you don't have the time to do grocery shopping and cannot afford the luxury or convenience of local takeouts. Thank goodness we still had cheese and some frozen inventory. I didn't make this though.. leaving the task to my resident sous chef. I admit that I (the resident head chef) occasionally get tired of trying to create tasty food from a constrained inventory. :p


Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 hotdogs (sliced)
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup cheddar (or mozzarella) cheese
4 slices shaved salami (torn roughly)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 tablespoon chilli powder (omit or adjust to preference)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 220 degrees.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray.
• Use knife to create 2cm slits around pastry edges.
• Spread tomato puree on puff pastry.
• Scatter and sprinkle ingredients evenly over puff pastry.

Cooking:
Bake pizza in oven for 13 minutes.

French Onion Soup with Cheesy Garlic Bread

I make use of what I have whenever I cook. I guess it's every homemaker's instinct to make every penny counts. I will never purchase an ingredient if I know that I have only a one-time usage for it or if I don't really know what else I can cook with it besides the one recipe I know. One example is my weekly purchase of bread. I usually buy wholemeal and white sandwich loaves which are value-for-money in terms of versatility and nutritional value. I rarely indulge in fancy French loafs or crusty breads for soups.

The savings may not be much but these days, BUDGET is everything and frugality does help in many ways.


Serves 3

Onion Soup Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
4 large brown onions (sliced)
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking:

• Heat soup pan on medium-high heat.
• Add 1/3 of the onions and sweat until they are slightly softened.
• Repeat the same process for 2 more times. **Do this only if soup pan is small, to ensure even sweating of onions.**
• Continue for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly until the onions are caramelized and browned.
• Add chicken stock and red wine to onions.
• Bring to boil and simmer on low heat for 1/2 hour.

Cheesy Garlic Bread ingredients:
cheddar or mozzarella cheese
garlic (chopped very finely)
bread
parsley

Preparation:

• Grill 1 side of bread for 5 minutes on medium high heat.
• Remove from oven, turn bread over, scatter garlic on top.
• Spread cheese to cover bread.
• Grill fro another 3 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Sprinkle parsley over and grill for another 2 minutes.

Serve onion soup with garlic bread.

**Notes:
I didn't add any sugar when caramelizing the onions because I don't really like to create artificial sweetness for the soup and I think the sugar only acts as a catalyst to speed up the caramelization. I noticed that the onions added natural sweetness to the soup when they had been caramelized perfectly.

Golden Packets - Cheddar Sausage Puffs

These are really good for afternoon or party snacks because they are very easy to make and they are so addictive. My little kiddo wasted no time in demolishing them!



Makes 9

Ingredients
2 frozen puff pastry sheets
1 cup sausage frankfurter (cubed finely)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
canola oil
egg wash (optional)

Preparation:

• Thaw puff pastry in room temperature for 5 minutes.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray.
• Preheat oven at 220 degrees.
• Place first sheet of puff pastry on clean working top.
• Sprinkle cheddar cheese and sausage cubes evenly on it.
• Place the other puff pastry on top, to cover all ingredients.
• Seal all 4 corners by pressing them together using fingertips.
• Use a sharp knife to cut the sealed pastry into 9 portions (3x3 columns and rows)
• Seal the edges of all 9 packets by pressing them together. This is to prevent ingredients from spilling out during baking.
• Transfer the sealed packages onto the baking tray.
• Brush with egg wash. *optional
  

Cooking:
Bake pastries in the oven for 15 minutes and serve warm.

Cheesy Salami Pizza

Domino's Toni Pepperoni on puff pastry is definitely one of my top favourite/comfort food in Australia. While I have tried other pizzas from its menu, I haven't ordered anything else eversince I have tasted its Toni on Puff. Yes, it is THAT sensational... for a junkie like me. I actually have secret cravings for it once in a while.. which makes it logical for me to try to make it at home.

No online ordering or picking up required. Just simple ingredients and easy preparation. Et viola! It's pretty good, really.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 frozen puff pastry sheet
hot shaved salami slices (quartered)
shredded cheddar cheese
tomato pasta sauce (according to preference)
dried chilli flakes (optional)
canola or olive oil

Preparation:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Rub 1 tablespoon of oil evenly onto baking tray.
• Place puff pastry onto tray and use a fork to poke some holes.
• Spread tomato pasta sauce, then add salami slices over surface.
• Sprinkle cheese and chilli flakes over salami evenly.

Cooking:
Pop pastry tray into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

**Optional:

1. Dried chilli flakes
2. Pepperoni to replace salami
3. Mozzarella cheese to replace cheddar
4. Plain tomato puree to replace tomato pasta sauce (I used chunky vegetable pasta sauce for this)