What's for tea tonight, honey?

The Aussies like to call dinner as "tea". Why? I dunno.....Maybe an aussie or someone more familiar with the aussie culture can help me explain that. I din't feel like cooking tonight and having had a big salad lunch, I decided to put my sandwich maker into good use and whipped up some toasted sandwiches. I made up 3 varieties. All using different spreads. One with pesto, another with vegemite and the last with just a light spread of butter. Strangely enough, I actually really like the one with vegemite the most.


I can still remember how disgusting the taste of vegemite was when I first tasted it. Over the years, it was always Josh chucking in the bottle of glucky black goog into our shopping trolley ('cos i did not want to hold responsible for finishing that stuff).And to my surprise, each 400g bottle was emptied out faithfully within the span of a couple of months without fail. I have no idea how he did that but it seems like he was and still is consuming a fair bit per week.

It was only recently I decided to give this goog a fair go again just curious to find out again why is this "jam" so popular and to reaffirm to myself that I definitely am not wrong for turning my nose at it. It turned out that I was proven wrong. It's weird taste is starting to appeal to me so much so I actually sometimes feel like a vegemite toast. How strange is that?! Friends who had studied in aussie or being here for a period of time, have u ever felt this way before about vegemite?

Jazz up your stir-fry!!!

While Josh was working late one night, I did not really feel like a proper dinner but still want to have something quick, light and of 'cos full of goodness. I found a pack of filo pastry in my fridge and thought I will make my dinner out of it. Out comes some turkey mince (they are really yummy and most importantly high in protein and low in fat!), all the veggies I have in my fridge and freezer and some curry spices 'cos I felt like it.

Anyways, I chopped, baked and fried and out came this little baby that tasted so yum that I nearly finished all the filo cups and left only the stir fry for Josh to wipe up with lavesh bread.

This dish is really suitable for finger food parties. Everyone will be so impressed by its classy appearance, easy on your budget and it takes you practically no time to make it if you have already done the chopping of the veggies beforehand. The filo cups has a nice crunch to it with the stir fry filling giving it a whole dimension of it. Before you scroll down to the recipe, I just want to say that when it comes to making savoury meals or dishes, I mainly eyeball my ingredients and go by taste (for the stir fry, i mean). So I would just list the ingredients added and it would be up to your own liking to what sort and how much veg and meat you would like to use.



To make the filo cups:

1. Lightly grease your 12 muffin cups tray. And preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
   
2. Remove 6 sheets of filo pastry and cut all of them in half.
3. Hold a half sheet of filo pastry up and lightly spray it with oil (I use rice bran oil for its high smoking point and high content of antioxidant).
   
4. Fold the greased sheet into a square and push it into one of the muffin cups' hole. Repeat the same for the rest.
5. Bake for 15 mins in preheated oven. Remove once the filo cups turn into a shade of golden brown. Leave it in the tray to cool for 5 mins and transfer to wire rack.

Ingredients added to stir fry:

500g turkey mince (I took it out of a prepackaged box)
zucchini, chopped
carrots, chopped
frozen corn
frozen long beans
tomatoes, chopped
Onion, chopped
cumin
curry powder
soya sauce
rice bran oil, to grease pan
Freshly ground pepper

Its really easy cooking this up once everything been chopped up. Its really up to personal choice to whether what sort of meat or veg to use. One thing for sure, just trust your taste buds as you throw this dish together and you will definitely not go wrong. =)
Some ideas......

• stir fry mung bean vermicelli with chicken mince and top with a little sweet chili sauce and chopped coriander on top for an asian twist
• cajun chicken mince
• moroocan orange and lamb stew for a more gourmet and exotic dish
• a mexican chili hot pot if you are looking for something with more of a bite! You might want to only fill the filo cups with the chili only before serving 'cos the heat (temperature) of the chili might soften the cups.
  

As I have said before, its entirely up to your creativity to fill this cups!!! Have fun!!