Best Ever Chunky Chips ( Wedges)

Best Ever Chunky Chips ( Wedges) 

Portion:1 potato p/p Time: 6+ minutes Cost: 30-50¢ p/potato 

Delicious ♦ Healthy ♦ No oil ♦ Not deep fried ♦ 

BEST EVER CHUNKY CHIPS ( WEDGES ) 

 These are seriously good - Easy peasy & healthy too!

I usually work on this proportion: 1 potato per person - so it's easy to for me decide how many spuds to slice up. If there are any left overs they are delicious the next day with breakfast - a sort of chunky hash brown. My husband loves them with (soft yolk) easy-over eggs. 

I always buy WASHED POTATOES - life is too damn short to peel potatoes and, too be honest, I just can't be bothered with that unnecessary chore any more! Besides, chunky chips are nicer with the skin on. 

1. Scrub the potatoes lightly but thoroughly - even washed potatoes need a good clean. No need to dry them properly.

 2. Hold the potato lengthways - You want to cut the potato into nice long wedges.

 3. Cut the potato in half

 3.a End up with this - ready to cut into wedges.

 4.a  Cut the potato half into 3 chunky wedges - Use your judgement on this. If the potato is smaller cut it into 2 - if larger cut into more.
But remember you are making chunky chips so you want a decent size.

 4.b Here are the 3 wedges from the one half. Repeat this process until you have the desired amount of chips required for your family. 

5. Put raw wedges into a microwave safe container

I keep the Chinese takeaway ones for this - they are just the right size.
Sprinkle 2-3 handfuls of water over the wedges - literally. Run the tap and scoop the water in your hand - that way you won't get too much. You don't want soggy wedges...

5. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes - check the wedges with a fork. They should be just tender - the fork should go into the wedge easily. They are now cooked - but not finished off yet.  

TIP***Before you put wedges into the microwave to cook put a fry pan on to heat up - medium -hot heat level same as for steak - but it needs to be well preheated so will take a good five minutes.

I cook these wedges alongside the Perfect Steak and an egg. 

An all time favourite treat for my husband, he really loves this for dinner! 

BROWNING THE WEDGES

Simply spray the pan with a non stick coating
I use Dots Cooking Spray  then once the pan is hot place the wedges in to brown them on each side. 
These take about a minute on each side and they end up like mini roasted potatoes - in the form of easy to eat, finger-licking, delicious wedges! Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Mmm...wedges - what would you serve with them..?  

Mediterranean Macaroni Cheese: cooked in 10 minutes, serves 4

Mediterranean Macaroni Cheese 

Serves: 4     Cooking Time: 10 minutes     Cost: $10

All Ingredients available from Fruit World Whangaparaoa

Ingredients:

1 packet of Penne Pasta 

200g diced Butcher Jacks Cooked Polish Sausage
1 teaspoon of dried Italian Herbs 

1 diced onion see Rose's Easy Az diced onions

3 diced tomatoes 

1 70 gm pack of black olives  

1 cup grated Tasty Cheese

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese

Seasoning - salt and pepper to taste.  

Method: 

Put jug onto boil for pasta. Put large saucepan on the stove over Low heat. Chop onions, tomatoes, olives, sausage and grate the cheese. Place onion, salt and pepper in heated saucepan, fry gently for 2 minutes stirring twice. Add sausage, tomatoes, olives, Italian herbs, cook for 2 minutes stirring regularly to stop the mixture from sticking to pan. Tip mixture out onto a plate. Mediterranean Mixture done!

Place pot back onto stove, pour in boiling water, turn up heat and add pasta. Add a pinch of salt and cook pasta for about 5-6 minutes - check by eating one, it needs to be firm but not hard to the bite. Pasta Done!

Drain pasta, put back to saucepan and then add the Mediterranean mixture - gently toss through the pasta. Add Tasty cheese and some of the Parmesan ( keep back 1/2 to sprinkle on top later) gently stir through and serve onto plates or in bowls.
Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese onto portions for an intense flavour hit. Easy and so tasty! 

All Ingredients available from Fruit World Whangaparaoa

Porky Tails - How make three Pork chops stretch to 2 meals.

Pork Chops ( 2 meals from 1 pork pack)

Serves: 3 twice  Cooking Time: 1 hour  Cost: $10 pack of pork

Getting the most bang for your buck is an old saying that has never been more applicable in these tough economic times. Getting two meals out of three pork chops is a pretty good start!

Easy, simple idea - I cut the tails off the chops to create 1x chop and 1x pork finger out of each chop. When served no one even notices the tails are missing. Now you can have 2 meals out of them.

Method: See below for Recipes 

1. Pack of three chops: I got this pack from The Mad Butcher: Silverdale, Great value, best quality meat, check them out!





2. Single pork chop - Mmmm, looks good already. I love pork!
Look at the chop as having 2 parts - the chop and the tail...

3. Cut the tail off the chop 

3.b You will end up with this - 1 chop and 1 tail ( finger)

4.a This is a really large chop - yes it is in the pack. The easiest way to   deal with this sized chop is to gently pull, ease, the chop side to separate it from the finger side. See pics below

4.b You can see the natural division between chop and large tail   

4.c Cut along that divide and you will be left with a chop and a large tail. I cut the tail into two smaller pieces. 

 5. These are the four tails ( pork fingers ) which make a different meal option for another time. 

5. a Stack them onto a small tray to go for another meal. 

** TIP:  You can wash and reuse Butcher trays, dry them well, and stack them in my cupboard. These trays save me buying freezer containers. They are fantastic for freezing home-made hamburger patties because they keep them flat while freezing. Once frozen you can stack patties into a bread bag for easy storage.

5.a Place a bag over the tray of Pork Fingers and place into the freezer. 

6. Now you have the Pork Chops - and they still look delicious! In fact you can sometimes pay extra for gourmet 'trimmed' style pork chops...

How these got that way can be your little secret - no one need know unless you tell them. 

Hard to believe that these two photos (5.a , 6 ) came from the one tray of pork chops in photo 1 - talk about getting good bang for your buck !!

7. I used to fry pork chops, but one day I had some stock left over so I slow cooked them in the fry pan in stock liquid - best pork chops we ever had. I haven't fried pork chops since. 

Slow cooked pork chops are absolutely delicious and amazingly easy. You just need an awesome cooking liquid to cook them in - easy az!

see my recipe below 

Recipe: Slow cooked Pork Chops 

Ingredients: 

Pork chops ( I use this recipe and method for Pork Fingers too 

Stock (cooking liquid) You can use your imagination here - what ever you put into the stock will add flavour to the pork chops. Here is my usual stock recipe for pork; 

Stock Recipe for Pork: 

2 cups boiling water, 

1 pkt cup-a-soup ( usually chicken, but vegetable works well too)

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon marmalade ( any kind will do or Apricot jam makes a good substitute) 

1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce - for a bit of heat. Add some real chilli - or not - to suit your own taste.

1 teaspoon soy sauce 

season with pepper and a small pinch of salt - not too much as there are salty ingredients in there already.

Method:   

Stir all the ingredients together for the stock mixture in jug. Place pork chops in a deep fry pan ( it has to be able to contain the stock) Pour stock over chops and cook on medium until stock starts to bubble. Turn down to low setting and gently simmer for about an hour - turn chops regularly to allow both sides to absorb the delicious stock. As the level of water goes down you can add more boiling water ** Maintain at least a half inch of surface liquid in the pan while cooking - DO NOT LET PAN DRY OUT -  or the chops will stick fast!

Optional: 

Scrub a few potatoes and kumera, cut them in half and place cut side down into the stock and cook beside the chops. They will absorb the stock and taste amazing. Serve them with the pork, my husband loves to mash the potatoes and kumera into the stock gravy on the plate. Delicious!

Best Bang-er for your buck...and the secret to cooking sausages perfectly..!

You can't grow up in New Zealand without having eaten a few bangers / snarlers / sausages over the years. I've had everything from Cheerios to Bratwurst, Sizzlers to Salami. And, I've washed most of them down with a generous helping of Watties Tomato sauce.
Watties Tomato Sauce is the greatest Kiwi Classic & Sausage hero ever created. And, yes... I am most definitely a "Watties Kid"

This week Sam's Butcher Shop in Silverdale surprised me, yet again, with the best pork sausage my husband and I have ever eaten. I got a pack of 4 sausages for $5 and they were absolutely delicious.

Cooking Your Banger to Perfection... with no splitting!

The secret: well, there isn't one really...low and slow is the key and all there is to it.

Method:

• Put fry pan on lowest setting on stove top and pre heat for at least 5 - 7 minutes. 
• Use dot spray just to coat the pan surface.
• Place sausages in the pan - don't touch or turn them for 4 minutes - that is crucial and the key to getting a gorgeous brown saussy. 
• Turn once after 4 minutes and leave alone for another 4 minutes - ahha, it starts to make sense.
• Do this every side and you will end up with deliciously browned sausages your family will love.
• Leave pan on, remove sausages and wrap in foil to rest for a few minutes. 
• Place 1/4 cup of boiling water in the hot pan - it will boil and froth up releasing all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan, scrap the pan with a spatula to add the process. 
• Stir in a knob of butter/ marg and you will have an easy delicious instant sauce.

Serve with mashed potatoes or chips to sop up that delicious sauce..it's too good to waste. Of course, you can always slap on a bit of the classic Watties Red Stuff...   

Rose's Easiest Pasta Meal Ever! serves 4-6 for $5

Rose's Easiest Pasta Meal Ever! 

Serves: 4          Cooking Time: 7 minutes        Cost: $5


Cheap as Chips... Ever hear that expression? Well, I would say this meal fits it perfectly. Not only is is cheap, (just 2 ingredients),  but it is plate-licking delicious and best of all - it takes about 7 minutes from pot to table. Oh, another bonus - it's all done in one pot. Yahoo, less dishes!!

Here we go:

Ingredients: 2 -3 ingredients - honestly, it couldn't be easier!

1 x packet of Homebrand Pasta: I use Spirals or Penne as they hold the sauce better. Cost = $0.99

1 x tub of Country Goodness dip: there are 3 flavours but my favourite is Green Onion. Cost = $3.00

 ** Optional Extra**1 x Spring Onion to sprinkle over the top for added flavour and appearance. A Spring Onion bunch can cost anywhere from $1 - $2.70 but all that is needed for this dish is one or two leaves so cost is minimum.

Method:

• Fill and boil electric jug - It makes sense; It is quicker and takes less power to boil water in the jug.
• Pour boiling water into a medium sized saucepan and add pasta. 
• Bring to boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes. Check texture of the pasta. Don't overcook it!
• Cook pasta  Al dente - easy way to check is to try a piece. You should be able to bite through, slight resistance in the centre when the pasta is chewed. Cooked so as to be firm, but not hard.
• Drain pasta and return it to the stove. Turn heat right down to lowest setting. Just enough to keep hot.
• Take foil off tub of dip and stir with a fork to loosen it up. Add to pasta and work it through to create a creamy pasta and sauce mixture.
• Serve and Garnish each serving with chopped spring onion.

Simply yet delicious, this meal can be cooked and served in the time it takes to order and collect a takeaway - and it can be done for $5. I really hope you will give this one a go - it is sooo delicious and kids love it too!