​These are fabulous, I cannot believe I just found out about this slice. I will make the claim that this is probably my favourite treat, slice, snack, call it what ever you like, they are so good. The combination of biscuits, chocolate, pecans, and coconut, all brought together with sweetened condensed milk, it's brilliant.

The Hello Dolly name is a reference to the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, I however made it because I love Dolly Parton, so Hello Dolly in my house is because of Dolly Parton.

Now this slice is also known as magic cookie bars, Hello Dollies, seven layer bars (you can add 1 cup butterscotch chips in also to give it a seventh ingredient) or coconut dream bars. I like Hello Dolly Bars best.

I add one packet of chocolate chips, but you can add an extra 1/4 cup if you like. I have never added butterscotch chips, as I have never seen them in stores where I live. You can also add a little extra coconut, if you like.

This is quick and easy to make (you really aren't even cooking, melting the butter and crushing some biscuits is as hard as it gets)  and the perfect sweet treat. You really need try these.

Recipe adapted from www.backtomysouthernroots.com/

Makes 20-25 pieces

2 cups crushed graham crackers or digestive biscuits, about 15 digestive biscuits
140g unsalted butter, melted
200g or 1 cup chocolate chips
125g or 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 cup shredded coconut
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 175C/155C fan forced.

Spray with oil and line a 23cm x 23cm square baking tin with baking paper. 

Crush the graham crackers (or digestive biscuits) in a bag or in a food processor, add 2 cups to a bowl. Add the melted butter and mix well.

Pour the biscuit mix into the baking dish and press down with your hand.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

Next, sprinkle the pecans on top.

Finally, sprinkle the coconut on top.

Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over all of the ingredients.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden. I like to take it a bit further and bake it until everything is golden, just start checking from 25 minutes, then bake until you like it.

Allow to cool for one hour before serving. I like to refrigerate it for an hour before slicing, as it stays together better, but you don't have to.

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​

​Recipe adapted from www.taste.com.au/

Serves 4

600g ling fish fillets, cut into 1/2cm slices 
2 teaspoons sunflower or rice bran oil
4 spring onions, finely chopped
150g snow peas, stringed

Marinade:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (shaohsing)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Cooked rice, to serve
​Fresh coriander leaves, to serve
​
Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl, add fish and turn to coat. Stand for 10 minutes.


Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Add drained fish, in batches, (reserving marinade), and stir-fry for 1 minute, place cooked fish on a plate, while you cook remaining fish. Add onion and snow peas to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Return all the fish to the stir fry, add the reserved marinade and simmer for 2-3 minutes until fish is cooked and the sauce is slightly thickened.
​
Serve hot with cooked rice and fresh coriander leaves.

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I love slow cooked meat sauces, they are just so full of flavour. This one is easy to make and tastes so good.

This recipe I love because after a little prep work, I just pop it in the oven and it cooks while I take my kids to sports, while I read a book, while I watch TV, while I'm doing whatever I want.

I recently made it with a combination of chuck steak and beef cheeks, as that is what I had in the freezer and it was delicious. 

Use whatever pasta you love, works beautifully also with fusili, casarece or penne.

Simple, tasty and something you need to try. ​

​Serves 4-6

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pancetta
1.5kg beef chuck steak, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup plain flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled, diced
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
2 x 400g can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef stock
3/4 cup red wine
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
400g tagliatelle or pasta of your choice, I liked Casarecce Siciliane
​
​Preheat the oven to 180/160C fan forced.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook for 3-4 minutes until it is golden and crisp. While the pancetta is cooking, place the beef chuck steak and the flour in a snap lock bag, shake the beef about to ensure the flour coats it all over. Remove the pancetta from the dish with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Shake the excess flour off the chuck steak and add it to the casserole dish, cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat, and set aside.

To the casserole dish add the onion, carrot, parsley, garlic and chilli, sauté for 2-3 minutes or until onions have softened. Add in the tomato paste, stir through for 20 seconds. Add the tomatoes and pancetta, stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef stock and wine. Season with salt and pepper, stir. Return the meat back to the dish, ensuring it is covered by the liquid. Bring it to the boil with the lid on, then put it in your preheated oven to cook for 2.5 hours.

After the 2.5 hours, bring the casserole dish back to the stove top and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Using tongs, remove the meat from the sauce. Shred or chop up the meat, then return the meat to the sauce. Taste for seasoning, continue to simmer over low heat for 15-20 or until your sauce has reduced enough to coat the pasta. Be careful in the last 20 minutes as it can burn if not stirred frequently.

For the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook as per packet directions.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, I add a 1-2 ladles full of the sauce to the pasta, and stir it through, this stops the pasta from sticking together, and flavours the pasta. Then at the table, I put pasta into everyone's bowls, and top it with the luscious rib sauce. 

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​So I already have an apple crumble recipe on my blog, so why add another one, you may ask. Well it was my sons birthday and he asked for apple crumble to be his 'cake' this year. My other apple crumble recipe has nuts in the topping and as my son doesn't like nuts, I figured I'd try another recipe, one that didn't have nuts (I could have just taken the nuts out of the other crumble topping, but as I love trying new things, I just did). 

So here we have this new recipe, and it was so good, I had to include the recipe on my blog, as I know I will want to make this again and again, and really, why can't there be more than one great recipe for any dish, especially if they are different.

Another reason I had to add it is you can't really compare the two as the toppings are completely different. The other one has a traditional crumble feel, this one the crumble topping that reminds me of an ANZAC biscuit, it was crisp and tasty.

My family really enjoyed this, the apples I cooked where they were just cooked and soft, but they still held their shape. If you prefer it softer, and 'jammier' just bake it a little longer. The crumble topping was crisp and flavourful, it really is a delicious crumble.

I found it just a little bit too sweet for me, while my family didn't. If you to find it sweet, you could reduce the sugar in the topping to 1/2-3/4 cup sugar. But I tend to always make a recipe as written first, then adjust the next time I made it. The tartness of the apples can also affect the overall sweetness. My green apples were quite sweet.

Apples, pears, peaches, berries would all work with this crumble topping. Just adjust the sugar with how sweet the fruit is that you are using. I would use less sugar with sweet peaches, for example.

So here is another apple crumble recipe that my family loves, hope yours does to.

​Recipe adapted from www.recipetineats.com/ 

Serves 6-8

Apple Filling:
1kg Granny Smith Apples (green apples), weight before peeling
1 tablespoon plain flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice (or water)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

CrumbleTopping:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
125g unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

To serve:
Vanilla ice cream
​

Preheat oven to 180C/160C
.
Peel apples, then cut into 1.5cm cubes.

Place apple in a bowl. Sprinkle with flour, sugar and cinnamon, then pour over lemon juice. Toss, then spread out evenly in a 1.5 litre baking dish. 

​Place topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix until clumps form, like wet sand. Spread over the apples, crumbling with fingers if required to get that crumbly topping.

​​Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove, cover loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand for 10 minutes before serving (let's the apple filling come together).

​Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

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​This is a great any time of the year, but I think around Christmas it would be perfect. The colour is fabulous, throw in a hot summers day and this drink would be perfect.

I don't mind pulp from the strawberry, just blitz until as smooth as possible, and don't worry about strawberry seeds, they sink to the bottom of your glass, But if you really want to, and you feel like extra washing up, you can pass it through a fine sieve. I definitely do not.

​​Recipe adapted from the Family Circle mini cookbook 'Cocktails & Party Drinks'

Makes 1

1 cup crushed ice
30ml tequila
30ml strawberry liqueur
15ml Cointreau
15ml lime cordial
30ml lemon juice
5 fresh, ripe strawberries, hulled
​

​Prepare the glass. Use a lemon wedge to moisten the edge of a large cocktail glass, then dip the rim in salt until it is evenly coated and place the glass in the refrigerator to chill, until needed.

​Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until the mixture has the consistency of shaved ice.

​Pour into your prepared glass.​

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​When you have an aunt who visits and you offer her a drink and she says I'll have one of the drinks I've seen you post recently, this gets made. 

My favourite person to have a drink or two with, we stop counting after two, I do love having a drink with Jo.

​Recipe adapted from the Family Circle mini cookbook 'Cocktails & Party Drinks'

Makes 1

1 cup crushed ice
30ml tequila
30ml Cointreau or Grand Marnier
30ml orange juice
30ml lime juice
​

Prepare the glass. Use a lemon wedge to moisten the edge of a large cocktail glass, then dip the rim in salt until it is evenly coated and place the glass in the refrigerator to chill, until needed.

​Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until the mixture has the consistency of shaved ice.

Pour into your prepared glass.​

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​​​Recipe adapted from the Family Circle mini cookbook 'Cocktails & Party Drinks'

Makes 1

30ml tequila
30ml peach schnapps
15ml lime juice
15ml sugar syrup
1 fresh, ripe peach, skinned, seeded, roughly chopped

​1 cup crushed ice


​​Prepare the glass. Use a lemon wedge to moisten the edge of a large cocktail glass, then dip the rim in salt until it is evenly coated and place the glass in the refrigerator to chill, until needed.

​Place all the ingredients in a blender, except the ice and blitz until the mixture is smooth. Add the ice and blitz until the mixture has the consistency of shaved ice.

​Pour into your prepared glass.​

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​​So after making brudet yesterday I had a lot of sauce/broth leftover from it. My husband suggested I turn it into a risotto. So I did, and that decision turned out to be a great one.

This risotto was delicious. The brudet broth turned this into a really, really nice risotto. We flaked any leftover fish and added it here also and this risotto was loved by us all. Now we bought fish for one meal, but got to turn it into two meals, no waste, and with the price of fish, that is always a great thing.

So if you chose to try my brudet recipe and you have leftover broth, strain it through a sieve, like I did, and make this recipe, this is a great way to use it up.

You may need to top up your risotto with extra stock or water, in case you don't have enough brudet broth to cook the rice.

This is great risotto and there is no waste to last night's dinner.

​​2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
4-5 cups leftover brudet fish stock
1/2-1 teaspoon vegeta, to taste
Leftover fish from the brudet, bones and skin removed, flaked
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons, chopped parsley, to taste
​Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
​

Heat the brudet stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, saute for 3 minutes, until it is translucent.

​Add rice, stir for about a minute, so it is gets coated with the oil.

Add the wine and cook while stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed.

Add 2 ladles of the hot brudet stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. When the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle or two of stock and repeat the process. 

Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, for 20 to 30 minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. Taste for seasoning, add vegeta if it needs it. If you run out of stock, you can add a ladle of boiling water or extra vegetable stock, until the rice is cooked. 

Stir in the flaked fish with your last ladle of stock. 

Stir through the parsley, taste for seasoning.

Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil before serving. Serve immediately.

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Recipe adapted from Dennis B. Valcich's cookbook 'A Walk Through Croatia'

​Serves 4-6

8 small whole fish or 4 medium fish, cut in half, fish like skorpion fish, cod, grouper, sea perch
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
​4 medium onions, peeled, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
​1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 x 400g can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon vegeta
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
​Extra chopped parsley, for sprinkling
Serve with soft polenta or sliced boiled potatoes
​​
Remove scales from fish and remove guts, get your fishmonger to do this, that way you only clean what they miss, much less mess. Rinse under cold running water.

Take a large, wide, heavy saucepan. Add oil, once heated, add onions, saute for 3 minutes until translucent. Add the parsley, garlic and tomato paste, cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, 1 cup water and vegeta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well to combine. Simmer for 5-6 minutes, add the fish, in one layer, if you can, add an extra 1 cup of water. The sauce does not need to cover the fish, but it does need to cover at least half the fish, as the fish cooks, it releases moisture and collapses a little into the sauce, Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 1 hour, occasionally shaking the pan, do not stir or you will break up the fish. I start checking the brudet around the 30 minute mark, to see if the fish is cooked to my liking. 
​
When you think you have 10 minutes left of cooking time, add in the vinegar, shake the saucepan, simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parsley, just before serving. 

Serve with soft polenta or sliced boiled potatoes.

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​So after making popara yesterday I had a lot of broth leftover from it. Now I could have diluted it a little and made a soup with it, but my husband suggested I turn it into a risotto. So I did, and that decision turned out to be a great one.

This risotto was delicious. The popara broth turned this into a really, really nice risotto. We flaked any leftover fish and added it here also and this risotto was loved by us all. Now we bought fish for one meal, but got to turn it into two meals, no waste, and with the price of fish, that is always a great thing.

The oil from the popara can be used instead of olive oil to fry the onion. I just skim some oil from the top of the popara stock and add it to my risotto pot.

So if you chose to try my popara recipe and you have leftover broth, like I did, this is a great way to use it up.

​2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
5-6 cups leftover popara fish stock
1/2-1 teaspoon vegeta, to taste
Leftover fish from the popara, bones and skin removed, flaked
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons, chopped parsley, to taste
​Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
​

Heat the popara stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, saute for 3 minutes, until it is translucent.

​Add rice, stir for about a minute, so it is gets coated with the oil.

Add the wine and cook while stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed.

Add 2 ladles of the hot popara stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. When the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle or two of stock and repeat the process. 

Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, for 20 to 30 minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. Taste for seasoning, add vegeta if it needs it. If you run out of stock, you can add a ladle of boiling water, until the rice is cooked. 

Stir in the flaked fish with your last ladle of stock. 

Stir through the parsley, taste for seasoning.

Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil before serving. Serve immediately.

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