Easy Lotsa Peasy Fish Pie

Who doesn't LOVE a good Fish Pie?

In Melbourne we are now seeing the gloriousness of Autumn (FINALLY!!) arrive.
That means crunchingly crisp mornings and a desire for comfort food.

Days like this just leave me wanting to cook all day long & then sit around the fire enjoying the final result.
It's easily my favourite time of year.

So yesterday I had a couple of fillets of fresh fish and a large and hungry brood to feed. Pies are always a great way to extend out food and can be a seriously great way to save on your food budget.
Pies are also a great way to introduce fish to people who are little sceptical about eating or cooking fish.

My version involves a LOT of green veg and a LOT of fresh green herbs- both of which our family are very big fans of.

And an all in one pot number- how good?!

EASY LOTSA PEASY FISH PIE:

We are massive fans of green veg at our house. There are regularly fights for the last of the salad or the Brussel sprouts, so I fill out this pie with LOADS of peas and broccoli.
The trick is to not cook it too long so the broccoli is still bright green and has some crunch.

This pie was big enough to feed 6 hungry adults.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 300g firm fish fillet, diced into large chunks
• 50g butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely 
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 500g frozen peas
• 3 heads of broccoli, cut into very small bite size pieces, stem included
• loads of fresh herbs- I used chives and fresh basil (probably a good packed cup of herbs)
• 6 large mashing spuds
• 50g butter
• 3/4 cup milk (maybe more)
• 2 spring onions chopped finely
• 1 cup grated cheese
• S & P

METHOD:

Heat oven to 175C.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil and cook potatoes. 

Once cooked through, drain and add butter. Stir through till melted. Add milk & mash.

Whip the mash with a large stirring spoon to add lots of air and make it super light.

Now add spring onion and cheese and stir through into well combined.

Set aside.

In a large oven-proof pan sauce the onion gently in butter until translucent.

Add garlic and peas and broccoli.

Saute until the peas have defrosted. Add garlic, fish and fresh herbs.

Stir through.

Dust over the flour and stir through for a minute.

Now add the milk and stir until thickened.

Add a generous amount of black pepper and some salt.

Now top with the Mashed Spuds and spread evenly over the top of the pie filling.

You can of course transfer to a pie dish if you like!

Place into preheated oven for 25 minutes or until brown.

Serve piping hot.

this is the song getting the most airplay at our place at the moment.

SO SO GREAT.

A great tune to turn up loud and dance in the kitchen to!

Beef & Plum Sauce Sausage rolls

When it is school holidays we tend to roll out a few easy faves here.
My kids EAT and EAT and EAT.
But I love to do some lunches that feel like a bit of a special treat. Holiday food if you will.

These Beef & Plum sauce sausage rolls are my eldest lads absolute fave thing in all the land.

I have posted a couple of other Sausage roll recipes previously- A Pork & Chorizo one and also a Spinach and Cheese one.
You can find them both by clicking here.

I love making variations on Sausage rolls and when I made these about 6 months ago for the first time my eldest pronounced eagerly that these were his favourite thing ever!

You can make them and see for yourself!

BEEF & PLUM SAUCE SAUSAGE ROLLS:
Really anything wrapped in Puff pastry is going to be delish isn't it?
Well in my world that is true.....
These are no exception. And can be made in large batches and frozen- we never have any left over to do that!
The key here (like anything you make!) is to use the very best ingredients you can.
Homemade Plum sauce will make this even more scrumptious.

What you will need:

• 1kg Organic beef mince
• 1 cup Plum sauce + some extra for dipping
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch knob of Ginger, grated.
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped finely
• 4 sheets of puff pastry
• egg wash
• sesame seeds

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 175C

It is as easy as mooshing the mince with the Plum sauce, chopped coriander, garlic & Ginger.
It will be very smooshy- don't worry.

I slice each puff pastry into two halves and lay the mince mix in a line along one side of the puff, roll over and brush with egg wash.

Slice into desired size and sprinkle with sesame seeds

Lay on some baking paper on an oven tray- repeat until all mix done.

Place into oven and cook for 25mins or until nicely brown.

Let cool and dip into Plum sauce.

Here is his pick of tunes for you to listen to.
My kids love Jazz and my eldest is a Jazz drummer- hence the interest.
This track is from some ace Australian Jazz musicians.
Enjoy!

Chez GG on The Design Files

Helloooooo!

It's been months' since I wrote in this space.
2015 got the better of me for many reasons & in many ways.
I will share more on that another time.
It's safe to say that a little break from here did me the world of good but it's lovely to be back.
I have made some very big and very difficult decisions in order to reclaim myself and to make this year a better one.

I am hoping I *may* have a little more time to write some more here- I have missed writing.

So- thanks for sticking around if you are still here & WELCOME if you are new!
The way things work is that each post varies- some have recipes, some have thoughts and a recipe, some just have thoughts- but ALL have a music video at the end.
Music is interwtined into every little ounce of my being (and now my children's too) and so I feel it is important to share that part of me here too.

I hope 2016 is a better one! I know it is March but I feel as though I am only just feeling as though the changes I have made are starting to have their desired impact for me so it feels like a kind of beginning.
This is a good thing. I missed being able to be me.

In the meantime come over and hang at my place.
Last year the Design Files did a feature on our house and I totally forgot to share it with you here! Sorry about that- how rude!
You can check out the entire feature via this link.

Coffee or Tea?
Milk?
Sugar?
And cake is a given
xx

Today I am sharing a fave Calexico track.
We took our big 3 to see them play live at Hamer Hall last week- it was their Xmas gift that they have been patiently waiting for.
It was so brilliant to see our Music loving kids come away even more excited about playing music. That is why going to live music is so so good.

Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas with Cumin and Jalapeño Sauce

I woke craving Enchiladas yesterday.
When I have a hankering like that it generally becomes dinner.
I'm not good at letting cravings go by unnoticed.
I need to sate them.

When I mentioned it to my kids at the breakfast table they replied with "What are Enchiladas?'
I was kind of gobsmacked.
How was it that all these years have gone by and I haven't made them Enchys?!

As I set about sating my craving by heading out with the kids to get the ingredients, I felt like mixing it up a little.
I didn't really want a tomato based sauce so I made up a sauce that I felt would work.
It worked really well and I am pretty sure that I will be making this again- my kids LOVED it.

I am not one to stick to the rules and this dish shows that- I use recipes and flavours as a base and then let what I have in the pantry or what flavours I crave be my guide from there. Although having said that, there is a time to follow rules in the kitchen, and even I do it sometimes!
I think it is one of the reasons I love cooking so much.
Once you get a few good skills and the knowledge of flavours under your belt you can be free to experiment.
Although I do get into trouble for it here (my Cornish Pasties was one of those......soooo many emails about how they were not actually proper Cornish pasties).
The internet can be a strange strange place.
Let it be known that I never said I was a traditionalist.......And I never said that my way is the only way OR the right way.
It is just my way.
Take it or leave it.
I only know how to be me after all.
And me is what you will get here.
x

Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas with Cumin and Jalapeño sauce.
This recipe uses Black Turtle beans which are a very common ingredient in Mexican food. If you are vegetarian these Enchiladas would be equally delicious just using the Black beans- I have added instructions for the Vego version in the recipe also.
I find them easiest to find in Asian grocery stores- I know this seems a little strange but they are used a bit on Vietnamese cuisine also and so can be found there (usually amongst the lentils etc)

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g Chicken things, sliced finely
• 200g black Turtle beans soaked (or boiled until soft)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cob of corn, charred over gas flame and kernels sliced off
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 heaped tablespoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons sliced jalapeño
• 4 soft tortillas (we used organic Quinoa wraps as that was what I had in the cupboard- they were delicious)
• oil
• 50g butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• S & P
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup grated cheese (or more if you like it super cheesy!)
• 1 cup chicken/vegie stock.
• large bunch fresh coriander, rinsed well and chopped (set stems aside separately, chopped finely)
• lime

METHOD:

Pre-Heat oven to 175C.

Place the Jalapeños and garlic and a few salt flakes into a Mortar and Pestle and grind to a paste.
Set aside one heaped tablespoon of this paste for the sauce- the rest will be used in the chicken & Black bean mix.

In a large saucepan, heat a good glug of oil to medium high and add the onion.
Fry gently til translucent.
Now add the sliced chicken and turn up heat to high (omit this step if making vego version).
Cook till brown.
Add the cumin & jalapeño paste. Stir well. Add the Paprika and Oregano & fresh Coriander stems.
Stir to coat all of the chicken.
Now add the black beans and the corn & finally the stock.
Bring to boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 10- 15 minutes.

While the bean mix is cooking, make the Cumin & Jalapeño sauce by melting butter in a separate saucepan.
Once butter is melted add flour and stir for a minute to cook flour. Add the reserved tablespoon of cumin & jalapeño paste (add a few more slices of jalapeño if you wish- I added lots as we love it spicy!)
Add milk and bring heat to high. Stir the entire time with a whisk, to prevent lumps, until the mix has thickened nicely.

Take a large rectangular oven dish and lay the tortilla flat. Spread some of the chicken bean mix across the middle, roll the sides over and lay so folds are at the bottom (this prevents the enchiladas opening as they cook).

Repeat for all enchiladas.
Now pour over the Cumin & Jalapeño sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Place into oven for 20 minutes or until the top looks deliciously brown and the cheese is gooey and scrumptious!

I served ours with lots of cubed avocadoes, red onion, coriander, sour cream, extra jalapeños, and lime juice and also with a delicious Slaw.
Sooooooo good!

Gingersnap Biscuits

At the end of today I will have two whole weeks holiday.
YEE HAH!!!!
Well it will be holidays in so far as the alarms will be turned off.
What does holidays mean for me?
Well it means having to manage a business while having 5 kids at home.
That bit is hard. And not much of a holiday.
But - the not being woken by alarms is just about my favourite thing ever!
Now THAT is a holiday.

This holidays I am going to get a cooking roster on the go and allocate a day to each of the kids to cook dinner.
Well actually that was Mr Girlfriend's idea. He suggested they all use my recipe cards- WIN.
We'll see how that pans out.....

The other thing I am hoping to do more of is my Ceramics making.  I am hoping that my online store, so that you can purchase my wares, is not too far away. I have another batch of wares in the kiln today.
If you want to have a little peek at the kinds of things that I am making you can look here at my GG Clay adventures.
Watch this space!

I have already had the bigs home for this week- they have an a extra weeks holidays this term and oh boy do they need it. We/They have never been so busy in our whole life.
Taking a breather is oh so necessary.
So during the week there has been a lot of extra baking going on to cater for their ridiculously large appetites.
The lads love a good Choc Chip cookie- who doesn't?
But for me the winning biscuit is a good ol fashioned GINGERSNAP.
I love the tins of thin crunchy ones from Ikea but nothing beats a homemade one with a big chunk of real ginger dolloped in the centre.
I had a hankering yesterday and so it had to be.......

GINGERSNAP BISCUITS:
These are rich and delicious and with the addition of the big chunk of real ginger on top they are the ultimate Ginger biscuit.
Perfect with a large bowl of coffee. These are dangerously easy & delicious.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 170g butter (melted)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup treacle
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon powdered ginger
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 2 tspns baking soda
• chunks of candied ginger
  
  

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 175C.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine well.

Roll in your palm into ping pong size balls.
Place on baking tray and place a chunk of ginger into the centre.
Bake for 12 mins. 

Remove and let sit on tray for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling tray.