Red Velvet Soup ~ A Hearty Fall Dish!

Many places are entering fall and approaching Winter, so here's a creamy and delicious soup recipe that will warm you up from your head to your toes! Behold, the red velvet soup! It's perfect as a starter or a main meal and barely needs any preparation! Keep scrolling for the instructions!

Ingredients:
- 1 large potato
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 beetroot
- 500mL of stock (can be chicken, beef or vegetable. You could use water but stock will bring more flavour!)
- 500mL of milk

Method:
- Peel off the skin of all the vegetables. Then dice them into 2-3cm cubes.
- If you have a hand blender, place all your veggies and garlic into a large saucepan, add around half the stock and blend it up. If you don't, use a normal blender and then transfer it to a saucepan. If you want a smooth consistency, blend for longer!
- Once all the veggies are blended up, bring the ingredients to a slight simmer and add the rest of your stock. Continue to let the soup simmer (not boil, otherwise it will burn!). It should still be quite thick.
- After the soup has been simmering for a while (~5min), add the milk in and stir. The soup should become very creamy and luscious.
- Continue to simmer for another 10min and season well (you'll need a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of sugar, however the beetroot and onions should provide plenty of sweetness!).

Serve with garlic bread and croutons!

Rossini Cocktail! All about class!

Have you got important guests coming over and you want to impress them with a classy, easy and sexy cocktail? Look no further! One of my favourite recipes, it's simple, elegant and so so delicious. It's the cousin of Bellini - it's the one and only, Rossini!

Recipe makes 4:
- 1 punnet of strawberries
- 3-4 teaspoons of sugar
- Prosecco sparkling wine
- wedge of lime

Blitz the strawberries, sugar and the juice of a wedge of lime in a liquidiser (or blender) until it's a liquid consistency.

For each glass:
Add a quarter of the strawberry mix into a shaker filled with ice, then add around 125ml of Prosecco. Use a long spoon and gently fold the mixture together (you want to keep the bubbles in there!).

Serving in a flute (champagne) glass, add a touch of Prosecco before adding the contents of the shaker (strain out the ice). Top it up with a bit more Prosecco and there you have it!

It's a drink that will surely impress anyone, even that cranky boss! :)

Meatball Sliders!

These babies are easy to make, and super tasty when you take a bite out of them! They're perfect party food, lunch or dinner! So scroll down for the recipe! Go on!

Ingredients for meatballs:

- 500g beef mince (feel free to use 250g, adjust other measurements accordingly)

- 2 teaspoons sugar

- Half to 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of pepper

- 1 egg

- Drizzle of sesame oil (or any type of olive oil is good too)

Other ingredients:

- 2 cloves of garlic

- Lettuce

- Olive oil

- Bread ( I've used dinner rolls, they can work with french sticks or whatever you have).

- Tomato Sauce

- Butter

Method:

1.Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl.

2. To cook the meatballs, put a pan on a high heat and add some olive oil. Then add 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic (I like to use a garlic crusher/press) to the pan.

3. Add the meatballs (use your hands to form balls from the mince) to the pan. At this point, turn the heat down a little bit so your meatballs and garlic don't burn. 

4. Keep an eye on them and constantly turn them or 'wiggle' the pan for a few minutes. 

5. They're ready if the meat has turned brown on the inside (cut one open and have a look). There should be a nice crust around the meat on the outside.

To assemble the slider:

- Toast your bread and when they're nice and hot, spread some butter over it.

- Place the lettuce on the bottom and then your meatballs.

- Add a squeeze of tomato sauce for that extra sweetness. 

Tip:

- Be really careful to not burn your meatballs or overcook them. They will feel tougher when they're about done (compared to when they were raw). 

So, if you want to be the life of the party, remember to bring these bad boys! If you're an adult, it also goes well with a nice glass of Rum and Coke - so check out that recipe here (http://foodforlooks.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/cocktail-time-rum-and-coke-also-known.html)!

Cocktail time: Rum and Coke (also known as Cuba Libre)!

It's been a busy few months but here's a drink (for the adults of course!) to keep us all motoring through the week! It's so simple that it barely requires any effort - or ingredients!

4 things you'll need:
- Rum (gold rum is preferred, white rum is fine too, personally, Barcardi is a household favourite brand)
- Coca Cola (Coke)
- 1 lime
- Ice

Yes it's that easy. All you need to do is grab a tall glass, fill it up with ice. Squeeze in half the lime, add 2 parts of coke and 1 part of rum. Give it a bit of a stir and then add the rest of the lime (cut it into wedges) as a garnish.

So go give yourself a little treat - this one is always a favourite amongst parties as well!

Pan-fried Leather Jacket! (Turn this dish into Fish & Chips too!)

Firstly, extremely sorry for the lack of posts! It's been a couple busy months! But I'm back and I've got quite a few beauties up my sleeve to share with you all!

Secondly, when I say leather jacket, I mean the fish! It's got a beautiful texture and the meat is just de-lish! Keep scrolling for the recipe!

Ingredients:
- Leather jacket fish (skinned and cleaned of course, your local fish monger should be able to do that)
- Olive oil
- 2 Cloves of garlic
- 3 lime leaves
- 1 small chilli (optional, but provides a nice kick to the dish!)
- Pinch of salt
- Wedge of lemon as a garnish

Method:
1. Add a generous swish of oil and the crushed cloves of garlic to your pan and when the pan becomes hot (not too hot that it would burn the fish straight away), add the fish. Be careful not to burn your garlic!
2. Add the lime leaves and turn the fish over. Add a pinch of salt. Look for a nice crisped outer layer and for the fish to be cooked through (cooked fish will be white coloured, raw would be slightly transparent).
3. When cooked, serve straight away with a wedge of lemon.

There you have it! And if you want to turn this dish into a 'Fish & Chips' meal, click on this link (http://foodforlooks.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/diy-hot-chips.html) for a recipe on how to make homemade hot chips!

Perfect for lunch, dinner, and best served with a mojito too, adults only though!! (http://foodforlooks.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/fresh-funky-mojito.html)

Fresh, Funky Mojito!

It's been a while but I'm back with my take on the classic cocktail! It's perfect for the hot sunny afternoon (and we've been getting quite a few in Australia!).

Ingredients:

- A good bunch of fresh mint leaves 

- Wedges of lime

- White Rum (I use Bacardi Superior)

- Soda Water/Lemonade (If you use soda water, add a couple tsp of caster sugar)

Method:

- Squeeze a couple wedges of lime into your glass. 

- Clap with the mint leaves in your palms to bruise them and release the aroma. Place them into the glass. 

- Fill half the glass with ice then add a shot of rum (if you like yours stronger, then add 2 shots)

- Add roughly 1-2 shots of lemonade/soda water. 

- Give it a stir and top up with more ice, a sprig of mint and a wedge of lemon as as garnish.

Drink responsibly!