Family Food Friday…..Winter Warmers

………So we have been indulging in some lovely winter comfort food to warm us up inside. I thought i might share some of our favourite winter warmer recipes with you to kick off my new weekly ‘Friday Family Food' series….i hope you find something you think your own family might enjoy!

Many of the recipes are from when i was a kid, tweaked a little now for my own family but still old fashioned Australian favourites i guess….but i'm making no apologies for that as i love this type of food and enjoy making them from scratch rather than a packet. They are all easy and take little time to prepare…..just right for busy parents trying to get dinner on the table!

Here are 6 of my favourites……

Devilled Sausages are just wonderful comfort food…served with mashed potato and some vegies this recipe takes me back to my childhood dinner table….if you have to have sausages….use this recipe!

Porcupine Balls …… i posted about this recipe just recently but had to include them in this list as they are just such a good standby for a night when you need a really quick prep meal that even the younger ones will eat!

Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding …… i just had to include our favourite winter dessert in this list…again so easy to make but so delicious served with some Quick Microwave Egg Custard or ice-cream!

Baked Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni ……who doesn't love a little baked pasta with spinach from the garden and some soft ricotta smothered in a yummy tomato sauce and finished with a melted cheese top…mmmmmm…they'll be coming back for more!
My tip to save time on this recipe is to use the fresh lasagne sheets and roll them with the filling rather than trying to fill those fiddly dry cannelloni shells (i really detest those suckers!)!!

Beef Stew & Rosemary Dumplings is the final recipe i wanted to share as part of this Winter Favourites list. My Mum passed this recipe on to me and i remember having it often as a child. Over the years i have modified it to suit and haven't used the actual recipe for many years….it's one of those ones you cook with love…but i shall do my best to try and write out a semblence of a recipe for you to follow!!!

Stew
1kg Chuck (or any stewing) Steak cubed
2-3 Tblsp plain flour
1 large onion diced roughly
Any root vegetables of your choice cut into chunks ( i tend to use potato, sweet potato and carrot)
Half cup peas
1 tin chopped tomatoes (or equivalent fresh if you have them)
1 tin salt reduced tomato soup (if you don't like using tin soup you can easily swap for a few tbsp tomato sauce or puree mixed with a cup of water….this is one of the few recipes i use a tin with because it seems to be the magic ingredient that encourages kids to eat the stew…and for me getting the meat and vegies into them outweighs the tin thing!)
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp mixed herbs (or your favourites)
Salt and pepper to taste
1tsp beef stock powder

Roll cubed steak in flour and brown in frypan with onion. Put into slowcooker or casserole dish with all other ingredients and cook for and hour and half in a medium heat oven or 6-8 hours (depending on meat cut) in slowcooker on low setting. If you want to thicken it a little more do so before adding the dumplings…just add a tbsp of flour to a little water to make a slurry and mix through the casserole.
When the stew has been in the oven for an hour (or nearly done in the slowcooker) uncover and add your dumplings onto the top of the stew…you don't need to push them down just sit on top…cook until golden brown and the meat and vegetables are tender (the dumplings won't get a brown crust in the slowcooker but they will be lovely and soft!).
Enjoy….let me know if you have any problems with the recipe…i tried to remember everything i do although i usually just guess amounts for the dumplings depending on how many i want to make…you can't go to wrong with dumplings!

Rosemary Dumplings

1 & 1/2 cups SR Flour
60 g butter/marg  softened
1/2 cup milk (may need more)
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary chopped(or dried is fine too)
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Rub flour and butter with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs…add rosemary and cheese and enough milk to get a wet dough. Form into rough balls to place on top of the stew.

Back tomorrow with the Weekly Kid's Co-Op linky!

Warm Wishes…