Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs plain flour
• 600 ml milk
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pepper 

Directions:

1. Melt butter and stir in flour
2. Continue stirring and gradually pour in milk
3. Season with nutmeg and pepper
4. Continue stirring until sauce has boiled and is smooth and thick

Beef and carrot ragout

This recipe is from Taste.com.au.  My 3 year old LOVED this, so it will now be a regular recipe of ours.


Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 1kg gravy beef, cut into 5cm cubes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 large brown onions, cut into wedges
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 cup low sodium tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup Salt Skip Beef Stock
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 3 large carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
• cooked pappardelle pasta, to serve

Directions:

1. Place flour in a snap-lock bag. Season with pepper. Add beef and shake bag to lightly coat beef in flour, shaking off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until browned. Spoon into slow cooker. Repeat with oil and remaining beef.
   
2. Reduce frying pan heat to medium. Add remaining oil and onion to pan. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in wine. Bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until wine has reduced by half. Add stock, thyme and carrots. Bring to the boil. Spoon sauce over beef and stir to combine.
   
3. Cover and cook on HIGH for up to 4 hours or LOW for 6 hours. Season with pepper. Spoon over pasta and serve.

Lamb Shank with Lentils, Sweet Potato & Spinach

This recipe is from Coles.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 450 g lamb shanks
• 1 small brown onion, roughly chopped
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 5 cups water
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 300 g whole green lentils, rinsed
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 50 g baby spinach

 Directions:

1. Place a large heavy based saucepan over high heat and add fennel seeds. Once aromatic, transfer seeds to bowl and return pan to the heat.
2. Add the oil to the pan. Season lamb with pepper and once oil is very hot, brown lamb on all sides and remove from pan. Add half the onion, reduce heat to medium and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft. Season with pepper. Add rosemary and cook for a further minute.
3. Return lamb and any juices to the pan and add water. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, covered, for about 1 hour or until lamb is tender and can be pulled easily from the bone. Skim any foam during cooking.
4. Remove lamb from pan and set aside until cool enough to handle. Pull meat from bone and tear into bite size pieces. Reserve. Strain stock into a bowl and discard solids. Add water as needed to give you about 4 cups of stock.
5. Wipe pan clean and return to medium high heat.
6. Add the remaining oil and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and paprika and cook for a further minute. Add lentils, torn lamb and lamb stock and cook, covered, at a gentle simmer for about 40 minutes until lentils are tender but still have a bite.
7. Add sweet potato and season with pepper. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes or until sweet potato and lentils are tender.
8. Fold in spinach and serve immediately.

Bread.

Ingredients:

• 275ml water
• 100ml milk
• 45g butter
• 30g honey
• 150g wholemeal flour
• 450g plain flour
• 1 tsp yeast
  

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the bread maker. Cook on basic setting for a medium crust.

Artisan Bread

This recipe has been adapted from The Italian Dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon granulated fast acting (instant) yeast
• 2 cups wholemeal flour
• 4 1/2 cups plain flour
  

Directions:

1. Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 38 degrees C. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours.


2. Add yeast to the water in a bowl or a plastic container.


3. Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring the flour by scooping it and levelling it off with a knife. Mix with a wooden spoon - do not knead. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes. The dough should be wet and loose.


4. Allow to rise. Cover with a lid or cling wrap (not airtight). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on top), about two hours. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature. So, it's best to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours before shaping a loaf.


5. Shape your loaf. Place a piece of baking paper on a baking tray. Sprinkle the surface of your dough in the container with flour. Pull up and cut off about a piece of dough about the size of a grapefruit. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball as you go, so that you have a smooth, tight top. Place the dough onto the baking paper.


6. Let the loaf rise for about 30 - 40 minutes (it does not need to be covered).
   


7. Preheat a baking stone on the middle rack in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 230 degrees C. Place an empty rimmed baking pan on a rack below the baking stone. This pan is for holding water for steam in the baking step. (If you don't have a baking stone, you can use a baking tray, but you will not get the crisp crust on the bottom.)


8. Dust the loaf with a little flour and slash the top with a knife just before baking. This slashing is necessary to release some of the trapped gas, which can deform your bread. You need a very sharp knife or a razor blade - you don't want the blade to drag across the dough and pull it.


9. Bake. Set a cup of water next to your oven. Slide the bread (including the baking paper) right onto the hot baking stone. Quickly pour the water right into the pan underneath the baking stone and close the oven door. This creates the necessary steam to make a nice crisp crust on the bread. Bake at 230 C for about 30 - 35 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf. Make sure the crust is a deep golden brown.


10. Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator, covered but not airtight, and use for up to 14 days.

Apple Pancakes

This recipe is from Taste.com.au, but I have altered it to be low sodium.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt Skip Potassium Bicarbonate
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, grated
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 25g butter, melted

Directions:

1. Whisk milk, egg and vanilla together in a jug. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in centre. Add milk mixture. Whisk until just combined.
2. Stir in cinnamon, apple and sugar.
3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush pan with butter. Using 1/4 cup mixture per pancake, cook 2 pancakes for 3 to 4 minutes or until bubbles appear on surface. Turn and cook for 3 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Repeat with remaining mixture, brushing pan with butter between batches. Serve.

Slow Cooked Lamb and Pumpkin Soup

This recipe is from Taste.com.au, but I have altered it to be low sodium.

This was a quick, easy, delicious soup to make. Next time I might try adding some diced carrots and/or potato as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp Moroccan spice mix (I used the Pureblends brand)
  
• 6 (about 1.5kg) lamb shanks
• 500g Butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 1cm pieces
• 500ml (2 cups) salt skip chicken stock
• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 250ml (1 cup) passata (tomato pasta sauce)
• 1 x 400g can no added salt chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 200g (1 cup) basmati rice
• Greek-style natural yoghurt, to serve

Directions:

1. Place spice mix on a plate. Add the lamb shanks and toss to lightly coat.
2. Add the lamb, pumpkin, stock, water and passata to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until the lamb falls off the bone. Use tongs to remove bones and discard.
3. Add the chickpeas and rice. Cook for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.
4. Ladle among serving bowls and top with the coriander. Serve with yoghurt.