The Hangry Chef

Traditional lasagna, its a labour of love but its delicious and my idea of comfort food. You can make it easier by buying the pasta sheets (please buy fresh and not dried as it makes all the difference), you can make the sauce a day in advance and buy pre-grated cheese. Anything to make life simpler is fine by me! If you're inspired you can make the pasta from scratch - I didn't do it this time, because I made this after a full day of work and couldn't be bothered! You will need... Sauce 600gr beef mince 3 400gr tins of whole peeled Italian tomatoes 1/2 brown onion 2 cloves garlic 2 tsp dried oregano 2-3 large bayleaves 2 tbs olive oil 1 cup red wine 100gr tomato paste salt & pepper 1/2 tsp white sugar Bechamel 80gr butter 5 tbs plain flour 1Lt milk 1/2 cup grated parmesan salt 6 fresh pasta sheets 1/2 cup parmesan, extra 1 cup grated mozzarella *I added some grilled eggplant for some sneaky veg, you could add some grilled zucchini or someth...

Caesar salad is definitely my go-to salad if I'm out for a light lunch. I love it with some grilled chicken, and its only good if its put together the traditional way- I've seen it served with whole lettuce leaves and  slices  of sourdough bread. NO. The lettuce needs to be chopped, it needs crisp squares of bacon and proper croutons. The egg can be coddled, poached or boiled, but if it has a hard yolk I like it added at the end as a garnish and not mixed through because that chalky yolk through my salad does nothing for me. As you can see I'm quite particular about my caesars and to be honest I was a little apprehensive when I embarked on this journey of making a vegan caesar dressing. The Thug Kitchen Cookbook  is vegan so the recipe is basically just lettuce and croutons with this dressing, and while I went to the effort of making the vegan dressing my husband wasn't going to be content with a bowl of lettuce and toasted bread so I did the boiled eggs, parmesa...

For all the non-Catholics out there, yesterday marked the beginning of Lent. I won't go into the religious details, but it means that every Friday, from now until Easter, we abstain from meat and opt for seafood or fish as a protein alternative (staunch Catholics do this every day during Lent, not just Fridays!). So I thought that this would be a great excuse to reshare some of my all-time favourite seafood recipes! These recipes are great for any type of meal; healthy breakfasts, lunchbox fillers, easy weeknight dinners or for Sunday lunch sessions with friends or family. River Cottage Mussels #1 is River Cottage Mussels with bacon, greek onion and cider. The bacon in this recipe breaks the seafood rule so... Just pretend you can find something as equally as delicious as bacon to replace it with... You can throw in some garlic, celery, carrot and capsicum instead if you like. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to avoid alcohol during lent also, but this recipe is too...

There are a million and one ways to do satay, it all depends on how you like it! This recipe is a quick satay that doesn't need so many ingredients! I have another satay recipe for if you have some extra time and want something with really 'WOW' flavours -  http://elisethehangrychef.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/chicken-satay-with-rice.html but this recipe is for when you're on the go and need something yummy quick! You will need... (4 serves) 1 large chicken breast 1/4 small red cabbage 1 carrot 1 large handful of snow peas 1/4 head of broccoli 1/2 red capsicum 200gr soba or udon noodles (I use the organic brand by Hakubaku - check out the website there are some awesome recipes on there!) 1 Tbs peanut oil For the marinade/sauce 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter (use crunchy if you want) 1 clove garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp fish sauce 1 tsp tamari paste (substitue for 2 tsp of soy sauce if you can't get any) 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp honey 1 red chilli, deseed...

I've got a hankering for Japanese food at the moment- I think after all the hamachi and seared tuna I ate while I was away I'm having withdrawals. I was looking up restaurants in Sydney we can go to this weekend so I can get my fix ( Cho Cho San , UME and Sake are the top contenders) and realised I've never posted a simple sushi recipe. Shame on me! Most of us wouldn't attempt sushi for fear of it being too difficult, or too time consuming, but I'm here to tell you it's quite simple. You can use whatever ingredients you like, and if you're planning on putting on lunch for family or friends it's really special and you can make platters food look amazing with minimal effort. This recipe is for norimaki, which are sheets of dried seaweed filled with rice and assorted fillings such as seafood and vegetables. You don't have to stick to this type of sushi, you can cook the rice as instructed in the method and use it to make nigiri, which is a littl...

I have adapted this recipe from several different poached chicken salad recipes over the years. I like to utilise the poaching liquid with all its flavour and coconutty goodness as part of the salad dressing. Image Taken From Karenmartini.com This recipe is great for family-style eating on a warm spring or summers day, and goes beautifully by itself or along side other Vietnamese dishes such as Banh Xeo (Viet Crepes), Stir Fry , or grilled fish or other  seafood dishes . You will need... For the poached chicken 2 cups coconut milk 1/2 cup chicken stock 1 lemongrass stem, bruised 2 kaffir lime leaves 2 tbs fish sauce 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp white pepper 300gr chicken breast or thigh, trimmed For the salad 1 small packet of vermicelli rice noodles 1 Tbs sesame oil 1 bunch of fresh vietnamese mint, washed 1 bunch of fresh coriander, washed 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely grated 1 large red chilli, thinly sliced 1 large green chilli, thinly sliced (optional) 150gr...

http://www.thugkitchen.com/cookbook Ok, so after the U.S eat-a-thon I've decided to be healthy again. Don't stress, I have plenty of occasions coming up that call for unhealthy eating (birthdays, parties, Anzac day, weekends in general), but for now I'll be cooking stuff out of my latest cookbook. Everyone's been going nuts about Thug Kitchen. For those of you who don't know, Thug Kitchen started out as a blog with recipes for healthy eating. It's far from your cookie-cutter, stay at home mum or hipster urban farmer posting about kale and quinoa- it's a crass and hilariously offensive take on healthy eating. I will be trying some recipes from the Thug Kitchen cookbook over the coming months, and as I normally do, I will alter them to suit myself, my ingredient preferences and availability. If you're not afraid of a little (or a lot) of swearing, check out the hilarious trailer for the Thug Kitchen Cookbook   *WARNING* language used may be offen...

Hi guys, Sorry I've been notably absent for a few months! Last year I had a pretty hectic end of year, which included some pretty crazy surgery (all fixed up now!) and a 5 week trip to the U.S. I won't go on too much about our trip OS,  I will say that we ate our way across the continent and I have not only gotten a whole heap of inspiration but I've also gained about 3 kilos... Which I should probably lose if I want to ever get back into my size 10 jeans. I'll just give you a few of the foodie highlights of the trip; 1. We came full circle on our trip, starting with In & Out Burger when we first landed in L.A, we also ended the trip with the same burgers at the same restaurant.  http://www.in-n-out.com 2. I am now ruined for life after eating dinner at Eleven Madison Park (3 michelin stars), I will never be able to top this exquisite meal, but I will always cherish the memories of the playful and delicious take on American cuisine. http://elevenmadiso...