Potato and Blue Cheese Frittata

I am usually not a huge fan of frittatas, because it seems to me to be just like having an omlette, and something that should be eaten at breakfast. But this Potato and Blue Cheese Frittata sounded like it might be promising. The finished product was lovely, with the salty blue cheese giving it heaps of flavour. I ended up serving the frittata with a little salad as well, but some steamed vegetables would have been great too.

Blood Orange Granita

Being the middle of winter and getting some of the coldest nights we have had so far at the moment (4 degrees, which might not be cold to some but it is in Perth!), an icy granita might seem like a strange dessert to make. But we have got a 5 year old blood orange tree in our back garden, and this year it has an abundance of fruit! The oranges are starting to fall off, so rather than waste them we decided to pick some off yesterday. We got a huge bagful, and there are still so many left on there!

So, needing to find something to do with all these oranges, I decided to give the Blood Orange Granita a go. They are pretty juicy oranges, although the redness hasn't developed as much as it should, so the end product isn't as red as the Donna Hay version. It did taste lovely fantastic though - very zingy, and I am definitely planning on doing it again! And will also be trying it with other citrus fruits, and any other suitable flavours. Roll on summer!

Baked Pumpkin and Sage Risotto

The Baked Pumpkin and Sage Risotto we had for dinner tonight was cooked by my husband Steve. It doesn't look too much like the picture in the cook book, there are missing sage leaves - we have a few herbs growing in the garden, and the sage looks a little bit sorry for itself, not many leaves and the ones that it does have are teeny tiny! There were enough to cook in the dish, but not to garnish it with. The dish was lovely in the end, although we did need to alter the cooking time slightly, which may have been because of the shape of the dish we used. But the end result still turned out great and the kids loved it!

Grilled Feta Greek Salad

This Grilled Feta Greek Salad was very tasty. Unfortunately the cheese didn't brown as it should have, I was cooking it in the pan with the greek patties i served with the salad, so it doesn't look as good as the Donna Hay version, but it tasted pretty nice! The feta cheese had a different texture once it was grilled, taking on the same texture as grilled haloumi. It was salty and delicious! The salad dressing was lovely too. It was a shame I burned the roof of my mouth on piece of pizza at lunch today, and had trouble eating my dinner because of it!

Pea and Ham Soup

So the start of a new month, and I think I am quite happy with the number of dishes I cooked in the first month. This recipe was actually made in June but I hadn't got round to posting it yet!

This pea and ham soup was so quick and easy to make, and its something that can be made really quickly on a cold winters day. The mint made it taste really fresh, and the use of the crispy proscuitto gave it an extra salty kick. It also has a lovely vibrant colour (the photo doesn't do it justice - it looked a different colour in real life, honest!!!) because it doesn't need to be cooked for a long time like most soups.

Coconut French Toast

This Coconut French Toast is like French toast on steroids! The outside is nice and crisp and the coconut gives it an unexpected flavour. The melted chocolate gives an extra little kick as well. The thick cut bread means that it stays nice and soft on the inside. Delicious for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea! Sort of like donuts with a difference! I will definitely be making this one again!

Bacon and Lentil Soup

We went out for lunch and then a movie yesterday (without kids!), so by the time we got home it was time to make a start on dinner. I had bought a nice big loaf of wide tin bread the day before, so I decided to make the bacon and lentil soup. It was so easy and fast to make - hardly any chopping, and only 20 minutes to simmer, so we still managed to get dinner on at normal time. The lentils in the soup make it very filling and substantial enough for dinner.