• Mark Schwarzer’s Kase Spezle

(a German homemade pasta with fried onions and cheese, melted under the grill).

1 cup of all-purpose flower

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup of water(my choice) or milk

2 table spoons olive oil

2 red onions

grated cheese

In a large bowl, mix the flower, salt, eggs and water/milk together. The dough should be smooth and thick. Let the dough sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

Dice the red onions and place them in a saucepan together with the olive oil. Fry the onions on a low heat until lightly browned. At the same time;

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, then reduce to a simmer. To form the Spaetzle, hold a large holed colander or slotted spoon over the simmering water and push the dough through the holes with a spatula or spoon. Do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the spaetzle floats to the surface, stirring gently to prevent sticking. Dump the spaetzle into a colander and give it a quick rinse with cool water.

In a deep dish, layer the Spaetzle and add the grated cheese and fried onions. Once the dish is full, place the remainder of the onions and spread the grated cheese all over the top.

Place in a pre heated oven under the grill until melted and slightly browned.

• Summer chicken by David Honeyman

4 chicken thigh skin on.

500ml Fresh orange juice

500g fruit chutney

500g mayonnaise

Set oven to 180 degrees

Simply bake chicken until skin is crispy

Combine Juice, chutney and mayonnaise. pour sauce over chicken and continue to bake until sauce thickens.

Serve on a bed of baby spinach with freshly steamed rice.

Olga’s Vegetable Soup by James Windsor

A recipe by Olga Petri, a 75 year old Tuscan grandmother. It’s the one recipe packed with vegetables and protein that my kids will eat every time.

Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, peeled and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch parsley, washed and chopped, thick stems discarded
2 or 3 cabbage leaves, chopped
1 bunch chard, washed and chopped (in Australia I use silverbeet or spinach)
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 to 4 cups cooked white beans, such as cannellini, with their liquid if possible – canned beans are fastest

How to make it

1 Put about a third of the olive oil in the bottom of a deep pot over medium heat. Add half each of the chopped onions, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften (about 10 minutes). Add half of the remaining oil and repeat the process, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Add the last of the oil with the parsley, cabbage, and chard, and cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is softened but not browned. Adjust the heat as necessary.

2 Add the tomato paste and stir. Partially mash the beans, leaving some of them more or less whole; add them to the pot, along with any bean-cooking liquid and enough water to make the whole mixture stewy but not too watery.

3 Keep cooking, tasting, and seasoning as necessary, until all the vegetables are very tender and the soup is hot.

Serve hot or warm.

Time: 1 hour / Servings: 8

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can follow the method and change the vegetables to accommodate what you have on hand. We get vegetables delivered every week from Aussie Farmers, and it’s a great way to go through the fridge and clear out what you haven’t used.

• Barbequed Bacon Wrapped Prawns by Con

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water

2 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Dash of cayenne pepper

24 large/jumbo prawns, shelled and deveined

12 bacon slices, cut in halves

Method

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and saute until soft and transparent. Stir in the ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, dry mustard and pepper. Stirring continuously, simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately stir the prawns into the sauce, covering them completely. Let them stand for 15 minutes. Heat the grill and grease the rack. Remove the prawns from the sauce. Wrap each prawn in a piece of bacon and secure with a wooden pick, or thread 4 bacon-wrapped prawns onto a skewer. Place on the greased rack, on high heat, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn them and cook the remaining side until the bacon is crisp. Reheat the sauce and serve separately as a dipping sauce.

This recipe makes 6 main-dish servings or 12 appetiser servings.

Korean Beef (Chap Chae) with Bean Thread Noodles by Kim Terakes

500 g Beef-Rump, Sirloin or Topside fat removed, thinly sliced

1 tsp Cornflour

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Chilli Sauce

2 clove(s) Garlic minced

1 tbsp Grated Ginger

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

100 g Bean Thread Noodles

2 tbsp Neutral Oil

2 clove(s) Garlic minced

1 Birds Eye Chilli seeds removed, very finely sliced

6 Button Mushrooms halved or quartered

1/2 Carrot(s) cut into very thin diagonal slices

1 small Onion(s) sliced

2 Bok Choy quartered

3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Rice Vinegar

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Sesame Oil

Directions

1 Marinate the beef in the cornflour, sesame oil, chilli sauce, garlic, ginger and soy for 2-4 hours, covered in the fridge.

2 Soak the noodles in very hot water until soft (about one minute) then rinse under cold water, and drain.

3 Heat one tablespoon of oil on the flat grill of your barbecue or in a wok and sear the meat quickly. Remove the meat and reserve in a bowl.

4 Add the remaining oil to a wok or large frying pan and add the vegetables, cooking for one minute.

5 Add the noodles and cook for one minute more before adding the beef, soy, sugar, vinegar and sesame oil.

• This pizza dough recipe will make you king of the kids.

EFFORT – LOW
TIME – Time 15 minutes
OUTCOME – 3 pizza bases

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

375ml (1 1/2 cups) warm water
* 2 tsp (7g/1 sachet) dried yeast
* Pinch of caster sugar
* 600g (4 cups) plain flour
* 1 tsp salt
* 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil, plus extra for brushing

WHAT TO DO

Mix the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl.
The yeast will do it’s thing in about 5 minutes – TIP gets foamy.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a big bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Add the yeast mixture and oil.
4 Mix with your hands.
5. Brush a bowl lightly with oil.
6. On a table top with loads of flour, knead until smooth and elastic.
7. Place in the prepared bowl and turn to coat in oil.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside it will start to rise in 30 minutes

TIPS:

You can freeze this, separate into 1 pizza amount, wrap in plastic and bung it in the freezer.

Cooking, invest in a pizza stone for $10 – it guarantees a crisp base.

Be sure to heat the stone up before you put the pizza on it.

TOPPINGS / ESSENTIALS:

Tomato paste

Grated cheese: cheddar, you can get by on,. be a satr and add more: , mozarell, parmessan.

NOW go for it, simple is best

OR…

Pizzas

Buy pizza bases or use Lebanese bread

Top the pizza base with tomato paste

Add whatever you like, (use old vegies, grate then apply)

TIP: Check your local pizza shop menu for inspiration (theres bound to be one in your letter box)

Add loads of cheese

Best cooked on a pizza stone (you can buy one for around $10 – lasts for life)

Bake in oven for 20 minutes

Meatballs (also works for sausages) by Dave

Any grade of mince

Grate 1 x carrot and 1 x zuchinni: then mix with mince

1 spoon of either molasses or maple syrup

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Get the kids to grate and mix. Dad, you cook on a fry pan to your liking.

Serve as a sandwich, make a sausage roll by baking the sausage (already cooked) in filo pastry for 20 min, or eat plain

Add dips like tommy sauce or healthy options such as hummus

• Bolognaise sauce by Sam, Dave’s son

Use the above mince meatball recipe(add gared garlic, onion and capsicum)

Add 1 tin of tomatoes then cook

Add tommy sauce toisweeten

Serve with pasta of your choice. Add garlic bread on the side

• Lasagna by Ella, Dave’s daughter

Use mince from above

Grab a box of lasagna sheets from supermarket

Layer the sheets in a greased baking dish

Alternatively add, mince and sheets until you get to the top

Grate cheese (you can use cheddar, Parmesan or pizza cheese) in between the layers

Bake for 40 min on 180 Celsius

TIP: For added Italian flavour add smoked pork rashes, bacon or pork mince in with the mince recipe above

Pancakes (savory ; don’t add sugar or sweet : add sugar) by Eric

3 eggs

250 grams plain flour

0.5 litres of milk: add milk gradually

TIP: rest mixture for 15 minutes to allow the gluten to buld up; makes ‘em damn good!

Spray pan with canola oil to stop burning ( has the goodness of omega 3 and is cholestorel free)

SAVOURY: add grated whatever you like, layer and stack for ideal presentation

SWEET: add sugar, jam etc..

TIP: Save pancakes in the fridge for up to 4 days. use for roll-ups in kids lunches

Vegie patties by Sean

Mix grated vegies in a bowl

Add 1 egg to bind mixture

Roll in bread crumbs

TIP: if mixture is too runny add extra vegies or breadcrumbs

Fry to your liking

Use tommy sauce, soy or sweet Thai chilli as dipping sauces

• Schnitzels by Schultz

Kids love the breadcrumbs, so have them to the coating per below:

Buy schnitzel meat cuts from butcher or supermarket (or you can buy breaded cuts but then you leave the kids nothing to do).

2 eggs (beat in a bowl)

1 plate of plain flour

1 plate of bread crumbs

Dip meat in flour, then flour then coat with crumbs (must be done in that order)

Fry on a high heat

• Crepe & Maple syrup by Australia’s favourite chef, Iain Hewitson

My daughter adores crepes with maple syrup and she loves cracking the eggs and whisking the batter. (She would have them every day for breakfast if she could.)

105 gm plain flour
2 eggs
300 ml milk
a good pinch of salt
a good pinch of sugar
30 gm unsalted butter
maple syrup

1. Put the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs in. Mix with a wooden spoon and add the milk, little by little, continually whisking. Then add the salt and sugar. If possible, set aside for 30 mins.

2. Melt the butter and whisk into the batter. Then pour small amounts of the batter to just cover the base of a small greased omelette or crepe pan and cook until golden brown on both sides.

3. Fold each crepe into 4 and drizzle with maple syrup.

• James Tomkins’ prefers Pocket pasta…it is in the fresh food section of the super market, for his three girls

• Scott Cam, outdoor handy man, keeps it basic with Lamb cutlets, chips and gravy

Related posts

• dadsclub.com.au/snack attack and lunchbox ideas
• dadsclub.com.au/fast simple recipes for all the dads you’re expected to be
• dadsclub.com.au/recipes for blokes and kids
• 1-on-1-with australia’s  favourite chef ain Hewitson
• Recipes for dads with pregnant partners
• Cooking utensils for kids

 Email This Article