Tuna Veg Patties with Herbs

It had been a few months since I opened a large tin of tuna and made a meal out of it -but when I did recently, I wondered if I should bother putting it here on the blog? Do I assume that most people know how to make a basic tuna pattie? I thought about simple recipes and food inspiration in general.. and realised I'm interested in basic, intermediate and advanced meal idea's.. depending on the situation and occasion. This one is basic and maybe you have a large tin of tuna in the pantry or you might be wanting an economical meal idea? These tuna patties are hard to resist straight from the pan...just eaten with your fingers! Have them with salad or in a sandwich or roll. They're great even cold the next day or.. if entertaining, make mini-rissole shapes and serve them as finger food with toothpicks.

Tuna Veg Patties with Herbs

-425gm tin of tuna (drained & flaked)

-2 large potatoes, boiled until tender, mashed & cooled

-3 eggs

-1/2 cup breadcrumbs

-3/4 cup of corn kernels

-1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

-2 tablespoons of fresh herbs like parsley, basil, dill or coriander (whatever you have on hand)

-3 spring onions, chopped

-1/2 cup chopped capsicum

-1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini (or grated)

-Salt & Pepper to taste

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-Place all ingredients in a large bowl, season and mix together well (I think clean hands does this job well but otherwise you can use a utensil).

-Form into 12 patties, cover and refrigerate for half an hour.

-Cook patties in a medium-hot pan sprayed with rice bran oil or use some peanut oil.

-Set aside and serve immediately or cover with foil and keep warm in an oven.

-Serve with tomato sauce or chilli mayo (made using sweet chilli sauce & whole egg mayo).

Our Aussie Farmer's Butcher/Baker Monday delivery was...

The "Glick's" bagels are lovely!

Chunky Pesto Pasta with Sausages & Cherry Tomatoes

This week for the first time ever I ordered some groceries online and had them delivered to my door. It was actually in the office of 96three that I first came to know of a company that supports local produce & Aussie farmer. They offer a butcher/baker/green grocer delivery service to your door. My butcher/baker days are Monday and Thursday and my green grocer delivers on Wednesdays. Today as I was saying goodbye to my girl at the door (on her way to school), we both noticed some 'produce' on the porch in fridge bags with freezer blocks. I wasn't expecting it to be there that early! I'm looking forward especially to the fresh fruit and veg we'll get on Wednesday. For a long while now I've been disappointed in the quality of fresh food that supermarkets offer. Sometimes fruit shops aren't any better or they charge too much or require a "special trip" in the car during business hours ie. no 7pm "forgot the potatoes" dash! Supermarkets are usually most convenient as far as hours & locations go, but they often disappoint me in the green-grocer department.

The Aussie Farmers website (where I lodged my orders) also have a recipe section if you're seeking inspiration. It was there that I found a whole category devoted to sausages. Hence, I was inspired to make my own version of a basil pesto pasta sausage dish! So next time you're in the fridge section at the supermarket, near the "dips".. consider buying one of the chunky pesto dips (it doesn't have to be basil pesto) and use it with sausages in a pasta meal... it's more special than it sounds!

Chunky Pesto Pasta with Sausages & Cherry Tomatoes

-500grams pasta (I used good quality spirals that look like they have a bit of flour dusted over them - they have more texture and will hold the sauce better than a smooth surfaced pasta)

-1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (I used sweet 'choc' cherry tomatoes, brown in colour)

-8 sausages, good quality. (I tried 'Coles' brand beef & caramelised onion last week)

-1 x 150gm tub of 'Chunky Pesto' dip (generally cashews, garlic & parmesan cheese are listed in the ingredients, there are several brands available)
-1 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled up and sliced thinly into a 'chiffonade'

-1 cup milk (I used skim)

-2 to 3 cups cups reserved pasta water (ie. don't tip it all down the sink when the pasta is cooked)

-1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese & a little more to garnish

-1 teaspoon of powdered chicken stock

-Salt/Pepper to taste

-Optional: 5 medium sized button mushrooms thinly sliced (I included them)

-Garlic oil: Use 1 clove of garlic, crushed and 1 tablespoon of oil mixed together with a tiny pinch of salt

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-Boil pasta until 'aldente' ie. until it still has a little 'bite' to it. Drain, run under cool water in a colander and set aside.. occasionally toss a fork through it to keep the pasta from sticking together. A quick spray of oil sometimes helps.

-Spray a non-stick pan and fry sausages until brown. Let rest 5 minutes and slice diagonally and set aside, covered.

-Wipe pan out. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pan when it's quite hot so they can brown quickly and have a slight 'char'. If you're adding mushrooms, add those after 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt to the pan and quickly move tomatoes and mushrooms around the pan. These take no more than 3 to 5 minutes to do. You don't want mushy tomatoes, but you need a bit of colour. Set aside in a small dish and cover.

-Wipe pan out and add tub of pesto pasta, heat through for about a minute and add reserved pasta water and half the fresh basil.. stirring quickly on a medium-high heat.. sauce should be bubbling a little and of even consistency.. ie. no large lumps or anything.

-Add teaspoon of powdered chicken stock to the sauce.

-Add sliced sausages, heat through and then add pasta, keep stirring and heat through for 3 to 5 minutes on a lower flame. Add 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and stir.

-To make this sauce creamier/richer you can stir through a dollop of cream towards the end or use evaporated skim milk instead of a cup of ordinary milk.

-To finish off, stir through remainder of the fresh basil & the prepared garlic oil.

-Serve in pasta bowls topped with prepared cherry tomatoes (&/or mushrooms too), a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and some pepper

Monday's "butcher/baker" delivery

Here we are trying out some bread (multigrain and rye sourdough), free range eggs, a 12pk of bottled spring water, chicken breasts, porterhouse steaks and premium beef mince. Wednesday I'll be getting a box of fruit and veg.. and Thursday (butcher/baker again) we're getting a couple of salmon fillets, 2 litre's of skim milk and a packet of their gourmet sausages & some $2 spaghetti made in Tamworth! Free delivery too. Aussie Farmer's Direct. - if anyone's interested.

"Frequent Flyer" cards, discounts and 'free' stuff...

Years ago I was a member of a blah-blah- UFS? dispensary.. meaning.. it was like a pharmacy membership. I remember it cost me $5 a year and it meant that most items within the store were discounted. Not having a car back then and having moved from the area I found myself going to other pharmacies and I had 'frequent flyer' cards with them instead. That's what I call all 'loyalty' program cards anyway. If I buy a coffee from Donut King, I'll usually mumble (quite audibly) .. "Do I know where my frequent flyer card is now?".. and I'll scramble through the 50+ cards I have in two wallets in my handbag.

Today I found myself in another blah-blah-dispensary which is now called "Community Care Chemist" and it dawned on me that I should join again. The pharmacies operate in three different locations within my home town and most items in the chemist come with a 20% discount for members (at all 3 pharmacies). For $10 (the cost has doubled in the last 10 years) our family has membership until the end of December 2010.

We needed two bottles of sunscreen for starters (one pump spray for the teen to take with her to school and a 500ml 'QUADBLOCK' broad spectrum pump-bottle for the family) and I bought a pack of quality paper dinner napkins (nativity scene) for my inlaws - which were posted to them on our way home. Savings today: $11.62.

I don't know about anyone else but I love a lot of the gifts you can buy in pharmacies..and you can usually land some 'unique'-ish bargains. These days you can find some lovely handbags and in winter, scarves & gloves.. and always hats whatever the season. I love the knick-knack thingy's.. like shiny chrome rooster statues with 'God bless this house and all who enter it" or round, rimmed white platters in the shape of a fish, keyrings with 'glass art' that contain mirrors and photoframes when you open the mini-clasp. Wire-art, funky photo frames and conversation pieces for office desks... it's a browsing haven for me.

Christmas is coming as we know... but I also need more 'Natural Glamour' (I think it's called) which is like a face powder/bronzer that I wear. It's around $40 and I need two pots a year. A 20% discount on my "Natural Glow" (as I still call it).. will be great.. I'll take that thank you muchly! Though this may sound like a paid advertisement.. it isn't, I promise. I was just wondering if anyone else was part of any chemist loyalty program?

Once upon a time I used to collect loyalty points on another chemist card and my rewards there were regular member-only newsletters and I'd earn vouchers (with a use-by date) like $5 off something. The biggest rewards I ever received were $20 vouchers which I'd always use to update my $25 pair of sunglasses.

Next thing I'd like to mention refers to the photograph above which I've borrowed from the website I'm about to mention. If anyone wants a free (-ish) Westfield shopping centre voucher.. I can help you get one (simply by passing on the following information) but you, yourself just need to do a liiiitle bit of work to qualify for one. Have you ever heard of the website WOMOW? It stands for "Word of Mouth on the Web". Ordinary people like you and I post opinions/reviews of businesses you've used. For example I have reviewed nail salons and bakeries and other service providers. It's up to you how much or little you write in your reviews, but there is a "star" rating system also.

Anyway if you haven't heard of it and think it might sound like a scam I can testify to the credibility of the site. This year they had a promotion where if you posted a specified number of reviews for businesses that haven't been reviewed or rated before.. then you received a $20 Westfield gift card. I rated/reviewed within days of the promotion ending and they mailed me the gift card!

The promotion this time will allow you to earn more than $20, you basically get $1 for each review and they'd like half the reviews to be for previously unrated/not-reviewed businesses (ie. like the local places you offer your custom). I'm going to send invites to some of the folks in my address book. If you join and start rating, I'll get $1 for each review you do too.

You don't need to recommend friends/family to the website if you don't want to.. it's just a way of increasing the $ value of your Westfield voucher. So, if only you yourself review twenty small, local businesses for example (no big companies this time), then you'll get a $20 Westfield card if you do it before November 22nd...and if at least half of those businesses have not been rated before. Spouses can join aswell because two Westfield cards can be sent to one address, but no more.

The promotion I entered earlier in the year required that ALL businesses be new and with hubby's help I was able to quite easily write down a list of places I'd visited and where I'd received some sort of 'service'. It wasn't as tricky as I thought once I started remembering all the places I'd spent money! You can't rate clothes stores however. Look to the website for some inspiration on businesses you can rate.

You might be thinking "Not my bag ( or thing)?" That's ok.. I just wanted to put the word out because last time I participated in a WOMOW promotion, it was so close to the deadline, there was no point in sending out emails I thought. I received my $20 Westfield card as I said, but others could have too.. had I passed on the email earlier instead of procrastinating about it.

Even if you don't want /don't have the time to register and give your opinion about businesses that you've used (like hairdressers or even a doctors surgery for example) --then you can just visit the site at your leisure and consider looking-up businesses before you try them? You might be interested to read other people's opinions about services they've received in your local area.

This pre-Christmas promotion has been extended. I had no idea it began on October 19, I must have overlooked the original email. I decided to blog about this because if you think you'd like to join this site and I haven't emailed you already (via the WOMOW site) --could you give me your email address (send it to the gmail address on the sidebar if you don't know my real email address). I'll send you an 'invitation' where you can join WOMOW and start reviewing. I hope all of this made sense?

P.S. You don't have to enter your friends email addresses onto their website. If you decide to go ahead and do the promotion and try and get friends/family on board, click on the link that says "use my email program" (words to this effect) and it will give you a 'letter' you can copy/paste onto an email yourself. ie. You choose who you send the email to without WOMOW ever having access to anyone's addresses. It think it's great they have given the public this option because not everyone wants their email address passed on.

Garlicky Couscous Tabouli with Fetta

Down our neck of the woods we've been having some warm weather.. so a new take on a traditional Mediterranean salad was more "the go" for recipe of the week than the risotto I'd originally planned & almost posted. It was a last minute change-of-plan, so on our way home from a dinner 'event' last night we stopped at the supermarket for spring onions -the only ingredient missing at home for the tabouli. Well.. they didn't have any did they? I went to 96three this morning with a rough draft of how I imagined my recipe would be and Guryel and I spoke about it on air.. as well as other things like his Mum's homemade dolmades (which he forgot to bring to work for me to try) and the world record for the longest California roll (apparantly just over 100 metres actually).

This delicious salad has less parsley than traditional recipes and uses couscous instead of burghul. It also has the advantage of being quicker to prepare than traditional tabouli. Try not to deviate from the 'little' tomatoes in the recipe. Mini-truss roma's or truss cherry tomatoes are pretty much 'the real deal' when it comes to flavour and you need their lovely sweetness to balance out the acidity of the lemon and saltiness of the fetta. I deseeded mine with a teaspoon and little 'scoop' motion into the kitchen sink.. too easy!

Garlicky Couscous Tabouli with Fetta

-1.5 cups instant couscous made to packet or box directions
-3 spring onions, chopped (discarding the first and last 5cm off the top and bottom of each
-2 flat teaspoons dried mint leaves
-8 mini-roma or cherry truss tomatoes, halved, then deseeded & chopped
-Juice from 3/4 of a lemon
-2 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic
-1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
-60 grams of fetta crumbled
-pinch of salt & cracked black pepper to taste
-1 tablespoon of olive oil
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-Make couscous to packet directions, fluff with a fork and set aside
-Add spring onions, parsley, tomatoes, mint, salt & pepper & stir well
-Mix finely chopped (or crushed) garlic with lemon juice and olive oil to make dressing
-Pour dressing over couscous mixture and stir well
-Let sit for half an hour before serving
-Crumble fetta over salad when serving in a bowl - or if plating-up individual servings, add fetta then.



We really enjoyed the couscous salad with Old English pork sausages in bread rolls and even just sliced bread (when the rolls were gone). Serve the salad alongside any pan-seared or grilled meat for dinner.. or on its own for lunch or with chopped chicken or flaked tuna mixed through!

Raspberry, Coconut & White Chocolate Friand Cake

This recipe was inspired by not having a friand pan and also wanting to make a moist cake, similar to the cupcakes we bought at 'Toast to the Coast' over the weekend. Unfortunately there was no real stand out "lunch food" at the food & wine event. Choices included inferior, franchise paella that I'd tried several times before, a sausage sizzle (I've had too much sausage meat lately) & 'gourmet pies' I'd already tasted before too. So there was nothing exciting for lunch and subsequently on our way home I tried the new, limited time only Subway Chicken Tikka Sub. Tasty and spicy! We did buy some interesting cupcakes at the market which were moist and somewhat more remarkable, including one made with almond meal like this recipe. So here is a moist cake recipe you might want to make into friands if you have the right pan or just use a round tin like I did. It's quite rich.. so consider it a "sometimes food".

Raspberry, Coconut & White Chocolate Friand Cake

-200 gram block of white cooking chocolate, chopped (half for cake mix, half for thin-ganache)
-1. 5 cups of almond meal
-6 egg whites (lightly whisked)
-140 grams of butter (melted)
-1/2 cup plain flour
-100 grams frozen or fresh raspberries
-2 cups shredded coconut (lightly toasted under grill or in oven)
-1/2 cup thickened cream
-1/2 cup icing sugar
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-Preheat oven to 200deg celcius (180deg if fan forced oven)
-Line (with baking paper) and lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin
-Crush raspberries with a potato masher in a large bowl
-Add melted butter, almond meal, flour, icing sugar, egg whites & half the chopped white chocolate (being 100grams)
-Mix together well with a wooden spoon & pour mixture into tin
-Put round cake tin on a lined baking tray and bake for 20 to 30 min's until cake is cooked (careful not to burnt the top)

MAKE GANACHE
-In a small saucepan, bring to boil half a cup of thickened cream
-Add remaining 100grams of chopped chocolate, take off heat and stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely. Allow to cool before using it on cake

-When cake is baked, allow that to cool also then spread a thin layer of the ganache over the top and sides.
-Sprinkle over toasted shredded coconut and serve.

White chocolate ganache cooling.

Cake, upside down (before being flipped over to cool further)

I probably over-toasted my coconut, hence it looks a bit like shredded carrot. The flavour was ok though.. but it was close to being burnt!

Michael Jackson - This Is It (movie review)

When news of "This Is It" the movie came to light, I was curious about it and wondered how it came into being.

Media murmurings had me believing the following:
Michael Jackson, harassed & tired.. agrees (reluctantly) to do a number of shows as his way of bowing out of performing live ever again. It sounded like a public relations exercise to improve Michael's public profile. He agree's to a 50 date concert tour. Word is, Michael isn't up to performing, he isn't ready and he isn't well enough to fulfill his commitments. Word is, concerts are cancelled. Fans are disappointed.

As it happens, there probably wasn't much truth to what I'd heard or read. My impressions of a passionless, flakey-Michael Jackson weren't in all likeliness, factual. Michael did have to reschedule some of his concerts due to Madonna performing at the same London venue within days of his opening, but no concerts were cancelled.

This was a statement from Michael's people:
'Kenny (Ortega.. show director/choreographer) and Michael are, at the same time, both creative pioneers and perfectionists. This show has grown in size and scope, thereby, necessitating more lead time for manufacture of the set, programming the content for the massive video elements, and, most importantly, more time for full production and dress rehearsals. As much as we agonised over this change in the original schedule, we are sure the fans will understand when they experience the level of entertainment Michael Jackson intends to deliver while also ensuring the safety of the musicians, cast and crew and the crisp execution of the production".

After watching Michael and Kenny working togther on the big screen, I can confirm their statement to be an understatement. On 'You Tube' anyone can catch Michael in concert.. but when you compare that to 'This'.. I say there would have been little comparison. And that's without viewing the polished, full-costumed "spectacular" it would have been. "This Is It" (the movie) is more than just concert rehearsal footage. Each Michael Jackson song was a planned production and a show unto itself. I'm not talking about the standard big screens and wind machine's. Watch "This Is It" and see for yourself the incomprehensible attention to detail, every beat, every note, every dance step, hand gesture, sound effect, pause, costume, light beam, artist, smile and bead of sweat was delivered with love as corny as that sounds. Intended for the fans.. intended to take the fans places. Michael was creatively involved in every part of the process. Without trying to sound cliched.. or stating the obvious, he had a vision. This was no tired 'has-been' being dragged by management to deliver creative damage control.

When I read that tickets were sold for prices between 50 and 75 English pounds.. I was amazed. That had to be the bargain of the the century.. considering what you'd be getting for your money. And of course what fans received.. as we know.. tragically, was a refund. Music giant, Sony paid for the rehearsal footage and today, I'm grateful. And I wouldn't have even called myself a Michael Jackson fan. I don't own any of his CD's yet and it was my friends and family that had the odd bits of Michael Jackson merchandise when I was growing up. My best friend was an only child so my parents reasoned that her parents could afford an album like Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall".. so I'd listen to it at her house. I read that 20 million copies were sold.

When the credits rolled I was in it for the long haul because I was told by a friend to stay to the very end.. because there was more.. and there was.. so thank you Sue! Not only that, I kept reading "Written by Michael Jackson, Written by Michael Jackson, Written by Michael Jackson". I wasn't aware that he wrote and composed so many of his songs. Wanna be startin' somethin', Billy Jean, Don't stop 'til you get enough, Beat It, The Way You Make Me Feel.. and on it goes. There are many songs he also co-wrote or composed.. and he wrote songs for other people too.

So I left the movie theatre (only 3 of us stayed 'til the very end).. I was the last to leave..and I went straight to the ladies room, shut myself in a cubicle and I'll admit.. I allowed the tears to flow properly! Once the lights come back on, it does hit home that he's really gone and what's left is his music and memory and the fact that many of us came to like him more post-humously.

Point's of note/interest:

*Kenny Ortega (Michael's creative partner & director, not only for This Is It, but other concert tours) said that Michael was the architect and they were all just the builders. That sums it up well. I was impressed with how congenial, professional and respectful Kenny was towards Michael. Talk about an exemplary example of a human being serving another. He apparantly served Michael well for years. Even Elizabeth Taylor (Michael's friend) sang Kenny's praises on Twitter. Kenny has worked in film & music for years.. with so many stars including Gene Kelly & Barbra Streisand.

*Michael talking to the dancers:.."This is an adventure, a great adventure, we want to take them places they've never been before, we want to show them talent like they've never seen before. We're a family, just know that".

*Michael used his hands and arms a lot when dancing and he made a reference to flight attendants using their hands when going through the regulation safety demonstration. Michael (big smile on his face) said "I love that.. I love it when they do that". (He was one of the few)!

*From what I've seen Michael never actually grabs his crotch when dancing, it's as if his thumb is hooked onto his pants.. while the rest of his hand just hangs there while he does the pelvic thrust dance moves.. which makes it look like he's grabbing his crotch, but he isn't.

*Michael wore a pair of bright orange jeans during rehearsals...not exclusively, but it's attire that stars tend to get away with!

*Michael quote:
"That's why I write these kinds of songs. It gives some sense of awareness, an awakening and hope to people. I feel so blessed that I can give the world that. It's all for love. L.O.V.E."

*You Tube user pameclarkson has a whole Michael Jackson concert in 17 parts on her channel. Live from Munich. 1998. HIStory.
This Is It. Official movie trailer.



This Is It. Premiere (L.A.)


I wonder if this was one of the aerialist's in Michael's show?


Quick preview of rehearsals for 'They Don't Care About Us'



Preview of rehearsals for 'Smooth Criminal'




Hold for applause. Fade out :( ...Or is that really possible?