​Our Eating Around the World Adventure has taken us to Italy.

My dad loves fritule, they are probably his favourite sweet treat. My daughter has also inherited a love for fritule, or doughnuts or fritters, or any fried dough really. Now we have a Croatian background, not Italian, but fritule are eaten where my dad was born. So although I found this recipe in an Italian cookbook, I will one day make the traditional recipe from a Croatian cookbook.

So when I was flicking through a cookbook I found this recipe and instantly knew I had to try it. Now what I loved the most, is that it was a really quick recipe, I can make these in under 15 minutes. Normally fritule are made with yeast which needs time to prove, but these are not traditionally made as the recipe uses baking powder instead of yeast. And another thing I loved, it is made with ingredients I always have in my house.

We loved these fritule, they were absolutely delicious, they were soft and fluffy and everything a fritula should be. Now I will provide the recipe with the addition of sultanas, which I would add for my dad, but for my family, I omit the sultanas, as we don't like them.

Now I hate using the word scant in a recipe, but this recipe does use it when incorporating the baking powder. In cooking, scant refers to an amount that's just barely reaching; in other words, not packed. When a recipe calls for a scant cup or scant teaspoon of something, don't fill the measuring cup or spoon to the top. Instead, use slightly less than the required amount.

I don't actually core my apple, I just peel the apple, then grate the apple around the core into the bowl, then just discard the core. 

So here is a recipe I know I will be making again and again.

​Recipe adapted from Paola Bacchia's cookbook Italian Street Food

Makes about 15

1 egg
1/4 cup (60ml) full cream milk
125g plain flour
1 scant teaspoon baking powder
50g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sultana, soaked in 60ml brandy for 15 minutes (optional)
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cored
Zest of 1/2 large orange
zest of 1/2 large lemon
Sunflower oil, for frying
​Icing sugar, for dusting
​

Place the egg and milk in a small bowl and whisk with a fork. 

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Mix the egg and milk into the flour and stir until homogenous.
​

If adding sultanas, drain and squeeze the sultanas and grate the apple. Add these to the dough along with the orange and lemon zest and stir well to combine-the mixture should be thick but pourable.
​

Heat 4-5cm oil in a heavy based saucepan (or use a deep fryer) to 170C or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil sizzles in 5 seconds. (I like to fry these over low-medium heat, to ensure the outsides don't burn before the insides cook).

Using two metal tablespoons dipped in hot oil, pick up a ball of mixture with one spoon, and push it into the hot oil with the other spoon. The balls should be as big as a large cherry, I like smaller fritule rather than larger, and they do puff up while frying to apricot size. Don't worry if you get little trails of dough and your balls aren't perfect. Cook 3-4 at a time, depending on the size of your pan, for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown all over and cooked through. Drain on paper towels and break open one fritula to check if it is cooked through. If it isn't reduce the temperature of your oil slightly and wait a minute or two and continue frying the remainder.

Once the fritule have cooled slightly, dust with icing sugar and serve warm. They are best eaten the day they are made.

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​And now my husband has me eating weeds. They are grown in the garden, not just picked off my lawn, but still they're weeds. 

Then on our Eating Around the World Adventure we headed to Switzerland and in this tiny little cookbook I found there was this Easter Salad recipe and it was made with dandelion leaves. So I thought, why not try it, it is growing in our garden. Well I'm glad I did as it is one of my favourite salads of all time, I love it.

Why is it called Easter salad, because in Switzerland at Easter, when the winter snows mostly have disappeared, the tiny dandelion shoots spring up and these are harvested eagerly for spring salad. Why I call it Easter salad, every year I colour eggs for Easter and this salad is the perfect way to use up those eggs. But as I live in Australia and I have dandelions growing all year round, I make this when ever I feel like it.

This can be served as a side dish, but I love it as a meal, the bacon and egg make it a complete meal for me.

Try and use young dandelion leaves, as the older they are, the more bitter they are, but I don't even mind the bitter ones.

Croutons would also be a lovely addition to this salad, will definitely add them next time.

So next time you see a dandelion, don't just think weed or wish, now think, weed, wish or salad.

​Recipe adapted from Jacqueline Martinet's cookbook A Little Swiss Cookbook

Serves 4

200g young dandelion leaves
1 small onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled, halved or quartered
2 bacon rashers, diced
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon French Mustard
Salt and Pepper, to taste


Wash the dandelion leaves very carefully in several waters. Drain in a sieve or salad spinner.

Add sunflower oil to a frying pan, add bacon and cook stirring until the bacon is crisp. Place in a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Allow to cool.​

In a large salad bowl, mix the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, and blend in the oil to make a vinaigrette dressing.

​Add the onion or spring onions and the garlic. Roughly chop the dandelion leaves and put into the bowl, but toss them in the dressing at the last minute before serving or they will become soggy.

Once the dandelion has been tossed​ in the dressing arrange the eggs and bacon on top of the dandelion leaves.

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​It's recipe like this that excites my family about our Eating Around the World Adventure. This baked mash potato bake we discovered on our eating adventure through Switzerland. This is delicious. Every bite is just the perfect bite, delicious mash with butter, eggs, cream, onion and bacon.

Now you can serve this as a side dish to a barbecue, and it would be great, but it can also be a meal in itself if you are wanting a simple meal, just make a simple green salad and dinner is done.

For perfect mash I love to use a ricer, it makes sure your mash is lump free.

Either finely chop the onion or grate it.

You can also prepare this earlier, keep it refrigerated and just place it in the oven when needed, then bake it until it is heated through, the potatoes have browned and the bacon is crisp.

Here is a great side dish that your family and friends will love.

​Recipe adapted from Nika Standen Hazelton's cookbook The Swiss Cookbook

Serves 4-5

900g potatoes
55g butter, softened
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons minced onion
225g bacon, cut into 1cm strips


Place whole potatoes in cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through. I test them by piercing them with a skewer. Peel, and while still hot, push them through a ricer into a large bowl.

Mix in the butter. Whisk together the eggs and cream and mix it into the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and mix thoroughly.

Place in a buttered 8 cup baking dish. Smooth the top with a knife or spatula.

Preheat oven to 190C/170C fan forced.

Stick the bacon strips into the potatoes to resemble the quills of a porcupine. 

Bake in a preheated until the potatoes are browned and bacon crisp, about 30 minutes.

​Serve with a mixed green salad.

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Here I give you one absolutely delicious dinner idea. These short ribs are so tender they just fall apart, and the sauce, it is so flavourful, each bite is just amazing. This is one luscious dinner.

And can I tell you this is one of the easiest meals you will ever make. After about 15-20 minutes of prepping and cooking, you just put it in the oven for 2 hours and you just get on with your day. While dinner is cooking, you can take your kids to sports, you could read a book, you can have a bath, you could do whatever you like, you have two hours. I was cooking this and my husband called me on the phone and asked what I'm doing, I said I'm making dinner, well I was, but at that moment, I was actually watching TV with my kids

When I first started cooking this, my husband questioned the ingredients, saying it didn't seem there was enough ingredients to make this a delicious meal, but can I tell you, the depth of flavour achieved from these few ingredients in the slow cooking process is unbelieveable. 

Short Ribs are one of my favourite cuts of meat, I cook with them all the time. They need slow cooking to become fall apart tender and recipes like this make an 'affordable' cut of meat, taste like something you would buy in a restaurant.

Now in the original recipe, the short ribs were cut into serving portions before cooking, (you cut the ribs between the bones to achieve this) and each short rib was serve whole over a bed of mashed potato. I chose to shred the meat (it falls apart when you shred it with two forks), as I prefer to serve it this way. Sometimes I don't feel like a whole piece of meat, this way you can take as much as you like, rather than have a whole piece of meat. But if you were having a dinner party, this is an easy dish to plate up when the pieces are serve whole and you know how many portions you will have.

Also I served it over a bed of mash as I had potatoes I needed to use up, and it was delicious, but this would also be delicious served over soft polenta or some fresh homemade pasta, like tagliatelle.

The wine I use, is always the wine I drink. It doesn't need to be expensive, but you do have to like the flavour of it.

The original recipe said to cook the short ribs for 3 hours at 160C/140 fan forced, I chose to speed this up a bit by following my Short Rib Ragu recipe and bake it at 180/160C fan forced for 2 hours, I didn't have 3 hours to wait, and it turned out perfect.

Now after you bake it for two hours, you may need to reduce the sauce. I just place it over a low heat, while I shred the meat, it takes about 20-30 minutes, this is up to you how you like the sauce, I like it a little thinner, just thick enough to coat pasta for instance, but you cook it how you like it. If you aren't shredding the meat, you can remove the meat, reduce the sauce, then just return the meat to the sauce to heat up again, just before serving.

The original recipe also said to strain the sauce after it is baked, I didn't see the point in that, I quite liked having the carrot on the plate, so you do it how you like it.

So if you want to make something delicious, that is easy and restaurant quality, you need to try this. ​

​Recipe adapted from www.recipetineats.com 

5 - 6 beef short ribs , around 1.8kg
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, chopped 
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) dry red wine 
2 cups (500ml) beef stock, low sodium
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
​

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

Season beef all over with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof pot over high heat. Add half the ribs and brown aggressively all over (5 - 7 min in total). Remove and repeat with remaining ribs, then remove.

Turn the heat down to low-medium. Add the onion and garlic into the same pot and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the carrot and celery, cook for 5 minutes, until carrot has softened.

Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

Add wine, stock, thyme and bay leaves. Stir to combine.

Return the beef into the liquid, arranging them so they are submerged. 

Cover with lid, bring to the boil and transfer to oven for 2 hours, or until the meat can easily be pried apart with forks. 

If serving the meat whole, remove beef carefully, keeping the meat on the bone. Cover to keep warm. Bring the sauce to a simmer and stir to reduce/thicken the sauce, add water to thin, if needed, season with salt and pepper, if needed. Return the meat to the sauce to reheat. Place beef over a bed of mash or polenta, spoon over sauce. Serve.

If serving the meat shredded, after the 2 hours, bring the casserole dish back to the stove top and simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes, do this while you are shredding or chopping up the meat, discard the bones, then return the meat to the sauce. Taste for seasoning, serve the sauce over a bed of mash, polenta or pasta.

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Christmas Sandwich Cookies: These are the perfect biscuit. They taste great, look amazing and are easy to make. Make them in any shape you like, fill them with any jam you love or fill them with nutella, lemon curd or dulce de leche. These will be made in my house for many, many years to come.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: These are by far the best cookies I have ever had. They are so chocolatey, any chocolate lover will not stop at one. The salt added balances the sweetness, and when you eat them the saltiness comes through and you get this cross between salty and sweet. These are loved by everyone who has had one. ​

Peruvian Alfajores: While visiting Peru in my families food journey I came across these Peruvian Alfajores. These biscuits are buttery and flaky and absolutely delicious with their dulce de leche filling. They aren't too sweet, which for me makes them the perfect sandwich cookies. I love these biscuits.

Gingerbread Men: Who doesn't love Gingerbread. My daughter certainly loves Gingerbread, if I bake gingerbread, it is because she has requested it and we don't wait for Christmas.
This is my favourite gingerbread recipe. Gingerbread is both fun and easy to make. Now I say men, but we do any shape we like. And as for the icing, just have fun.

Choc Chip and M&M Cookies: If you like chocolate in your chocolate chip cookies, then these are the cookies for you. These are absolutely full of choc chips and m&m's.
They are soft to bite into, which I love, but the ends have a crunch also, which I love. These are a perfect sweet treat.

Monte Carlos: One of my all time favourite biscuits. I absolutely love these. Very easy to make and the perfect sweet treat.

Polka Dot Cookies: I loved making these biscuits with my kids. This is a very simple, cute biscuit recipe to make. Whenever the kids want to bake, these come out. These truly bring a smile to my kids faces.

Almond Bread: The most addictive biscuit on the planet, just try stopping at one. These are delicious and great to have in the house when unexpected guests arrive. I don't know anyone that doesn't love these biscuits.

Chocolate Strawberries: Here is the simplest treat you can ever make for your family and friends. They look amazing. Both adults and kids love these, and they are not that bad for you, I think, anyway.
They are great at parties. They are great after dinner, as a light dessert. They are great as an after school snack. They are great as a cake decoration. They are simply put just great.

Chocolate Rum Truffles: When I make a mud cake, I usually cut off the top of the cake to make it level before icing it. These truffles are my favourite thing to make with that left over chocolate cake. This is simple and delicious.

Crunchy Chocolate Truffles: These crunchy chocolate truffles are so quick and easy to make, and my kids love them. 

Rocky Road: This is probably the easiest sweet treat you could make. And the flavour combinations can be anything you like.
You want a crunch element, a chewy element, but you can add whatever you like, you can add a salty nut, a different nut, jelly lollies, truly whatever you like. Rocky Road is like creating your own chocolate bar.

Apple, Berry and Rhubarb Crumble: One of my families absolute favourite desserts is a crumble and this one is delicious. 

Plum Crumbles: When plums are in season, these individual plum crumbles are delicious and so easy to make. They are fast to prepare and just perfect. My family love these.

Banana Crumb Muffins: This muffin is light and fluffy, with a surprise crunch from the crumble topping. You get a lovely cinnamon flavour from it, and it also has a 'caramelly' flavour from the brown sugar. What is great also is how easy they are to make, you need one bowl and a fork. So easy.

Chocolate Cupcakes: Two of my three kids are born in winter. Trying to soften butter in winter is a nightmare. So I searched for a recipe where butter could be melted to make cupcakes, and I found this recipe.
This is the only chocolate cupcake recipe I make. I have made it for years and am happy with them every time, I no longer even think to try another recipe. They are very quick and easy to make.

Appelbeignets: My family call these Apple Doughnuts. These are delicious, especially when hot, and the batter is crisp. So simple to make, so quick to make. While the oil is heating up, you prepare the apples and batter, cook for three minutes and you're done.

Churros: My daughter is a doughnut fanatic, she truly loves doughnuts. All doughnuts, all shapes and sizes. She had been asking for me to make churros for some time, I kept avoiding it as I thought it will be difficult. Well I was wrong, these are so easy to make, and I mean really easy, I'm talking, in 10-15 minutes you have a batter ready for frying, in 30 minutes, you are already eating churros.

Cinnamon Doughnut Puffs: As I mentioned my daughter loves doughnuts, so while relaxing in front of the TV one day, these came up on one of the food channels, so I knew I had to make these for her. You could not find an easier recipe to make, a few simple ingredients, mixed together in minutes, baked in 12 minutes and you have doughnuts.

Lemon and Coconut Brownies: I love lemon based desserts, I find them very refreshing. So when I saw this recipe, and I had all the ingredients at home, I simply had to make it.
I loved them, they were nice and moist, perfectly lemony and the coconut made them slightly chewy. This is a very nice brownie I will make again and again.

Berry and Apple Slice: This slice is delicious, it is jam packed full of fresh fruit. This is an absolute family favourite in our house.

Madarica: This to me is by far the greatest slice ever to be made. No slice comes close, for me, to perfection as the madarica does. The layering of biscuit and chocolate custard, topped with chocolate, simply amazing. This is a very traditional Croatian slice. This is a must at any festive Croatian occasion. Not an easy slice to make, but if you follow the recipe it will work.

Passionfruit Cheesecake Slice: ​When I was growing up, I don't know a party I went to that my mother was not asked to bring this cheesecake to, and it is still requested today after 30 years of making it. Nowadays when I make it, it is still loved by anyone that tries it. This cheesecake is creamy, yet light and has a lovely flavour.

Chocolate Brownies: My favourite chocolate brownie recipe. Easy to make and something I make quite often when I'm asked to bring a dessert to a party.

Berry Custard Slice: Not many desserts surprise me, but this one did. Why, because I didn't expect the custard to taste like custard the way that it did. I guess with baking I was expecting it to be firmer, but it wasn't, it remained creamy and luscious as custard is, yet it sliced so beautifully and kept its shape, I was truly amazed. This is definitely a recipe anyone who loves berries and custard should try. The custard here is just beautiful with the berries.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake: After trying many, many recipes I have found my favourite cookies and cream cheesecake recipe. This one is creamy, it is light, it is tasty. I'm pretty sure I won't be looking to find anymore cookies and cream cheesecake recipes, this is it, this one I am happy with.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Slice: This recipe is the easiest caramel slice I've ever made and it is the perfect little sweet treat. 

Wagon Wheel Slice: This is one very popular slice. My family and friends love this and it's ridiculously easy to make.

Choc Vanilla Slice: If I think of a dessert that was my mum's and that everyone loved, this is it. She was asked to make this at every party we went to. It is still one of the best slices I have ever made.

Lemon Meringue Slice: I love lemons in desserts. I love the burst of flavour you get from lemons. 
This slice is lovely, it is fresh, it is full of flavour. This is a dessert I can make with ingredients I have in my pantry. 

​Pho Ga (Vietnamese) simply translates as Chicken Soup.

Before I made this soup we had a few days of eating rich, comforting meals, so I was on the search for something lighter for dinner and I came across this soup. It seemed easy, all the flavours going into it I liked, so I thought I'd try it.

Now originally it is a slow cooker recipe, but I just made it on the stove top. But if you wanted to make it in the slow cooker, use a 5 litre (20 cup) slow cooker and add the ingredients from the first step and cook, covered, on low, for 8 hours.

We love this. The broth was delicious and when you add all the sides to it, absolutely delicious.

Now I don't add the Thai basil leaves, as I don't like the flavour they add, but you add it if you like it. I also don't seed the long red chilli, as I like a little heat in the soup, but you do what you like.

So if you are looking for something simple to make for dinner, that is light, but full of flavour, you need to try this.

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'The Slow Cooking Collection'

Serves 4

1.2kg whole chicken
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
5cm piece fresh ginger, sliced thinly
2 litres (8 cups) water
2 whole star anise
3 green onions, cut into 5cm lengths
2 cinnamon sticks
10cm stalk fresh lemon grass, bruised
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
200g rice stick noodles
2 cups (160g) bean sprouts
1/2 cup small fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup small fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh thai basil leaves
1 fresh long red chilli, seeded, sliced thinly lengthways
​1 green onion, extra, sliced thinly
​1 lime extra, for serving
​

Place chicken, onion, ginger, the water, star anise, green onion, cinnamon, lemongrass and coriander seeds in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low, bring to a slow simmer and simmer, covered, for 2 hours.
 
Carefully remove the chicken from the saucepan, then shred meat coarsely using two forks; discard skin and bones.
​
Add fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to the stock mixture in the saucepan; stir to combine. Strain the stock through a fine sieve into a another saucepan; discard solids.
​
Place noodles in a medium heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 15 minutes or until tender; drain.
​
Divide noodles and shredded chicken among soup bowls. Ladle hot soup over noodles. Serve topped with sprouts, herbs, chilli and extra green onion. Serve with an lime cheek.

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​Our Eating Around the World Adventure took us to Switzerland. Now on this adventure where we try different foods from different countries, I have learnt that food crosses borders. Swiss food like most other countries is influenced by it's neighbours Germany, France and Italy. This recipe is obviously Italian influenced.

This pizza is delicious. This pizza is easy to make. 

The dough is so good. It is a no knead dough, which is fabulous. All you have to do is cook a potato, then mix the dough ingredients together, spread it into a baking dish, let it rise for 1 hour, spread on the topping and bake. And you're done. And the flavour is amazing. The dough is the fluffiest, softest dough/bread you will ever eat. It is amazing.

Make sure your milk and water a warm, not hot, as hot water can kill the yeast.

The sauce is delicious to, and very easy to make. And as you spread the sauce on the unbaked dough, as it bakes, it seeps into the dough to create this soft pizza.

This was one of my greatest recipe finds and I know this recipe will be made again and again for my family.

Recipe adapted from Manuela Darling Ganseer's cookbook Winter in the Alps

Serves 4-5

Dough:
250g potatoes
1 teaspoon dried yeast
200ml warm milk
200ml warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
400g plain flour

Tomato Sauce:
15g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small spanish onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 fresh sage leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 fresh bay leaf
75g tomato paste
300g tin Italian peeled tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste

50g grated Gruyere cheese
50g grated Emmental cheese
​

For the dough: Boil the potatoes in their skins until just done. Pierce it with a skewer to test if cooked. When cooked, cut the potatoes in half. Place the potato cut side down in a ricer, place the ricer over a large mixing bowl and push the potato through the ricer. The flesh goes through the ricer into the bowl and the peel remains in the ricer, just remove the peel and discard.

Add the remaining dough ingredients to the bowl and mix well with a spoon to combine. The dough will be quite wet, with a consistency similar to thick yoghurt.
​
Lightly oil a 30cm x 20cm oven tray with a tall side (at least 2-3cm high sides) with extra virgin olive oil. Make sure you rub the oil all over the tray, to ensure the dough doesn't stick to the tray once baked.

Pour the dough into the tray and, with oiled hands, spread the dough to the edges of the pan. Let the dough stand in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it begins to rise.
​
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan forced.
​
In the meantime, make the sauce. Heat the butter and oil in a medium sized saucepan and saute the onion until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes more, until it darkens in colour, but be careful not to burn it. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, breaking up the tomatoes as they soften with cooking. Remove from heat, discard the rosemary stalk and bay leaf.
​
Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza base and top with cheeses. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the dough is cooked. The base will rise with baking and the sauce will seep into it to create a soft pizza.

​​Serve immediately with a green salad.

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​This should be titled chicken and/or eggplant parmigiana. As it can be only chicken parmigiana or only eggplant parmigiana or it can be both.

This is a family favourite, we all love it. Some of us prefer eggplant, some of us prefer chicken. I make both and everybody is happy.

This is in all honesty is usually a leftovers dish for me. On a non busy day when there is no after school training I make a double batch of the chicken and eggplant, you don't need to double the sauce, one batch is usually enough. Then I crumb the chicken and eggplant on the non busy day, pan fry it until cooked all the way through and we eat this with the sauce and a side salad.

​Then with the leftovers, the next day, when I'm busy and have after school training, I get home, preheat the oven, while it is heating, I assemble everything for baking the parmigiana. Then just bake it until it is hot, the cheese is bubbling and dinner is done. Now naturally the crumbs won't be as crispy as when you freshly make it, but it is still delicious.
​
​This is a dish that once you've made it, you don't even need a recipe. You crumb the chicken or eggplant, you make a simple tomato sauce and you top it with cheese (whatever cheese you like to eat, that melts), I don't really measure anything anymore. 

Always have extra breadcrumbs on hand, in case you need it.

This recipe can be halved, doubled, tripled, make as many or as little as you like.

This is a popular and classic dish for a reason, it's simple, it's delicious and everybody loves it.

Serves 6-8

1 large eggplant
6 chicken thigh fillets
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup milk
½ cup finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Tomato Basil Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 x 400g can tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Topping:
500g Cheese-mozzarella, havarti, any cheese you love to eat, that melts
Sprinkle of fresh basil or dried oregano (optional)
​
​Cut eggplants into ½-1cm thick slices. If your eggplants have dark black seeds in them, place slices on wire racks over oven trays; sprinkle with salt. Stand for 30 minutes, rinse under cold water; drain. Pat eggplant slices dry with absorbent paper. If the eggplant does not have dark seeds, I skip this step. 
​​
If your chicken thighs have thick bits, butterfly them open with a knife so they are the same thickness all round. Season with salt and pepper.
​
Coat eggplant slices in flour, dip in combined eggs and milk, then coat in combined cheese and breadcrumbs. Repeat with chicken thigh fillets.
​​
Tomato Basil Sauce: Heat oil in a medium pan; add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add undrained crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in basil. 
​​
Shallow fry eggplant slices, in batches, over medium heat, in hot oil 2-3 minutes each side or until browned on both sides and crisp; drain on absorbent paper. Now shallow fry chicken thighs, in batches, over low-medium heat, in hot oil 4-5 minutes each side or until browned on both sides and crisp; drain on absorbent paper.

​Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and melted, and the eggplant and chicken is completely cooked through.

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Tagliata for Two: I love this one as it is so quick and easy to make. My family love this one to. The flavours are lovely and you can get dinner on the table quickly. This is a great midweek meal as it is takes little effort and doesn't take long to cook.

Burger Night at our House: We just had this yesterday. Our favourite burgers are always home made. I make the patties, I set up all the sides and sauces, the bread rolls are sliced and everyone just makes their own favourite burgers at the table. Everyone is happy and it's like take away food, but better.

Simple Steak Sandwich: Like the burger we love a good steak sandwich. After a few tries, I have found my families favourite steak sandwich recipe. This is loved as much as the burger. Steak sandwiches and burgers allow kids to eat with their hands, it's fun, they get to make it how they like it and it gives a take away feel, but you are actually eating something tasty and home made.

Beef and Mushroom Pie: Who doesn't love pie. This pie is made with a delicious beef and mushroom stew filling. The pastry is my favourite savoury pie pastry and it is so easy to make. I sometimes make one large pie, or I make smaller individual ones. 

Roast Chicken Salad and Chive Mayonnaise: This salad is delicious. Everything works together so beautifully-the chicken-the egg-the salad-the mayonnaise.
This is very easy to make, a great midweek dinner as it really is so easy, while the chicken is baking, you just prepare the other things.

Braised Chicken Marylands with Wine and Tomatoes: This is probably one of my favourite dinners of all time. It is so easy to make, hardly any preparation (I love the simplicity of this dish), it is such a great weeknight meal. This smells amazing while it is cooking, and it tastes amazing once it was done. This absolutely simple recipe is delicious. My kids were placing pieces of bread into the sauce and allowing the bread to get soaked in the sauce and enjoying every single bite.

Chicken, Mushroom and Bacon Pie: This is one of my favourite pies. The filling is so easy to make and is absolutely delicious. The pastry is easy to make also, I mean really easy. This is my kids favourite pie, this gets requested all the time. Quite often I just make one large pie, but if I'm in the mood I make individual ones.

Chicken or Eggplant Parmigiana: Who doesn't love Chicken Parmigiana. It's crumbed chicken with a tomatoes sauce and melted cheese, what's not to love. Why eggplant, not just chicken, because I love eggplant, and if I'm already crumbing chicken I like to throw in an eggplant for me. This is a family favourite in our house. In the introduction this dish is what I  mean when I say it may take a few tries to get kids to eat certain foods. My kids always told me they hate eggplant. But now they are eating my eggplant and loving it.  This is a cheap and easy midweek meal.

Duck Breasts with Red Wine Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans: My oh my how my family love this. This is what I cook when I don't feel like cooking. This is so quick and easy to make, and tastes so good, my family absolutely love this.
We all love duck breasts in our house and teamed with this red wine sauce and mashed potato and some green beans or asparagus or broccolini, it's all just delicious.

Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki: The best thing about my Eating Around the World Adventure is the discovery of new foods I would never have ever tried, if I hadn't started this journey. This is delicious, the flavour combination here is truly amazing, the chicken with the tzatziki, with the salad, all wrapped up in the best pita bread I have ever had, this is one great dish. This is actually my second gyros recipe on my blog, the other has a Lemon Chicken marinade instead, but as I loved them both so much, I had to add them both. 

Woodman's Chicken: This dish was delicious, I mean really delicious. The aromas that waft through the house promise something special and you hope it will taste as good as it smells, and this one certainly does. It is really, really easy to make. I served it with a green salad, some broccolini, some roasted mushrooms (as we had extra) and some roasted truss tomatoes. You need some crusty Italian style bread or a crisp baguette, to soak up the sauce, it's fabulous.

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder: This is probably my favourite roast lamb recipe. The meat is so soft and so tasty. I serve it with homemade pita bread and an assortment of dips, tzatziki, eggplant dip, Bean Skordalia and a Capsicum and Feta dip. This was one of those meals where you just watch your family eating your food and the fact they loved it so much, brought joy to my heart.

Lamb Racks with Breadcrumbs, Parsley and Lemon: This dish is really, really nice. My family love it, we all love the crumbs, and the lamb was so soft and moist, it was beautiful. This is definitely something I would cook again and again, as watching my family eat this brought a smile to my face. When I cook and the food is loved by my family, I do get quite excited.

Slow Cooked Lamb Shank and Bean Ragu: This is a great recipe. The meat is soft, falling off the bone, delicious. The sauce is rich and delicious. The polenta a perfect accompaniment. 
Another reason why it's a great recipe is because it's oven baked. Why, I love oven bake stews is that once you do the initial prep work, you place it in the oven and you don't have to do anything else. Well here after one hour you just remove the lid and turn the shanks over, but that's it. 

Spaghetti Bolognese: Let me start by saying I have never really liked spaghetti bolognese, but my kids love it. They would continuously ask for me to make it, and I would dread making it as I never found a way to cook it where I to would like it. It was either too watery, tasteless, just ordinary. Something was always missing for me. Then I came across this recipe that said to slow cook the sauce for 2 hours, and I gave it a try. It was delicious. When you slow cook the sauce for such a long time, the flavours develop and you get a lovely flavoured sauce. You know it is ready when the oils start to surface on the top of the sauce.

Lasagne: This is one really good Lasagne. My family absolutely love it, I love it. My family and friends love it. I use the bolognese sauce that is pictured above and then just turn it into a lasagne. This is great for parties, it is one of those rustic dishes that can feed a lot of people. 

Spaghetti Puttanesca: This is probably my most repeated recipe and one my family requests regularly. This is what I cook when I'm too tired to cook, or when I don't want to go and do groceries so I have nothing to cook with but what I can find in my pantry. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make a quick, flavousome, satisfying meal. If you don't have parmesan cheese but have some bread in the house, I sometimes blitz that up in a food procesor, fry the crumbs in some olive oil, season with a little salt and sprinkle on the pasta instead of the parmesan. Adds crunch and it is delicious.

Short Rib Ragu: Another oven baked sauce. This is my new favourite pasta sauce, I have a lot of favourites. I never thought that beef spare ribs could taste this good and make a sauce that is so rich, yet so tasty, every mouthful was amazing. After a bit of initial preparation, you get to put the sauce into the oven and forget about it for 2 hours. It is so simple. The final thirty minutes to an hour requires you to bring it to the stove top to reduce it into the luscious sauce it will become.

Spaghetti with Clams: Sometimes I get asked what I would consider is my signature dish, now with everything I have cooked I always find that a difficult question, but if I had to choose just one dish, it would be this one. This is a dish I can probably make blindfolded as I have made it so many times and it is so easy to make.
I started cooking this dish many years ago, and it is a hit with all my family and friends. My mother when coming over tells me to cook this all the time. My mother in law asked for the recipe-it was a proud day for me that day. It is so so simple, yet such a great dish. 

Spaghetti Marinara: This one I'm a bit proud of as I made this recipe up. After trying a few recipes, and not liking what we ate, I decided to try and combine a few ideas and this recipe came about. This is as easy as the spaghetti with clams above, just with extra seafood. My family love this and everyone gets to indulge in their favourite seafood.

Creamy Bacon Fettuccine: I had to include a creamy pasta dish, as I love those to. This is by far my favourite creamy pasta dish. This is my kids favourite pasta dish. It is so easy to make, by the time the pasta is cooked the sauce is done. It is a cheap dish to make, just a few ingredients and you get this delicious meal to serve to your family and friends.

Seafood Paella: I have been making this for over 20 years now. This is a really easy recipe and the flavours are so good. The rice is delicious, and the seafood needs to be just cooked and it is perfect. Just have everything ready before you start cooking, and you will have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. Once you've done the prep work, the cooking part is easy.

Pork Campagnola: Every now and then I get surprised by a dinner I prepare. I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. The meat was super tender and the flavours all worked so well together, my family loved this. This recipe can be made in about 30 minutes if you are organised. It is a perfect mid week meal, when you are tired or busy, but need to feed yourself and your family, it is fast and easy to prepare.

Pork Schnitzel with Lemon and Parsley: Schnitzels, everyone I know has made or had schnitzels. My mum made them when I was growing up, most mum's I knew made them. 
I don't like plain packaged breadcrumbs, I'm always disappointed with the end result (unless they are panko breadcrumbs, they're great). So when watching TV one day I saw a TV chef use fresh breadcrumbs (say 2 day old bread) and I have never gone back. What a difference it makes. The end result is so nice, it is just so worth the extra effort. And by adding a few additional ingredients to the crumbs, you have a simply gorgeous dinner.

Stuffed Peppers-Punjene Paprike: these capsicums are my families version of comfort food. It is a recipe that I got from my mum and now I am happy to share it with the rest of the world. Although it seems like a complicated dish, I found it far easier to make than I expected. It's another baked dish, I really do love oven baked dishes, they make life so much easier.

Roast Pork Belly with Sauerkraut: This a dish my mother has been making us for years, we absolutely love the combination of pork and sauerkraut.
This I love as after a little prep work, it cooks itself and leaves you free to do other things. Simple, delicious, and something you should try soon. Quick tip with crackling, if by chance it isn't perfect, every oven is different, just put it under the grill for a few minutes and watch it go nuts, just keep an eye on it as it will burn quick.

Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary: Okay, so here is an easy recipe for you all. I absolutely love this one. This roast pork is so full of flavour, very moist and is one of the easiest dinners you will ever prepare.There is a bit of a trend in my recipes, I love easy recipes. This teamed with some roast potatoes that or a simple green salad, easy dinner and everyone is happy.

Sarma: Here is one that is not easy, but it is well worth the effort. This is the recipe that my mum uses and now I do to. This is very popular at our family parties. This makes a lot, if by chance you are making this just for your family, sarme freeze well, so a little effort on a quiet day, means you have meals in the freezer for busy days.

Fish and Chips: ​ Fish and chips is so easy to make. This recipe produces fish batter that is crisp, but not ridiculously thick. The tartare sauce is my favourite one ever, much better than a store bought one. And the chips are lovely.

Chilli Crab: This is so easy to make, it is simple and fresh. It is an extremely messy dish to eat, but you just don't care as it is that good, and you cannot resist licking your fingers. My 12 year old has loved this from the first time he ever tried it, he was probably 6 or 7. If I ask him what he feels like for dinner, he requests this all the time. Simple, tasty, truly a recipe one needs to try.

Fish Tacos: These Fish Tacos are delicious, they are beyond delicious, they are amazing.
They have spice, they have crunch, they look so pretty, they are a flavour bomb, seriously they are so good. My kids could not stop eating them, they were truly excited by these tacos. But beware, they are really spicy.

Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce: From super spicy tacos to this dish, which is delicately beautiful. The John Dory, it melts in your mouth, it is delicate and every bite is delicious​.
This is a great recipe for novice cooks, it is simple and impressive.

Whole Baked Ocean Trout with Fennel and Pomegranate: This is my Christmas fish dish. I have made this a few times now and I find it amazing. All the flavours work so beautifully together. And it looks spectacular on the Christmas table.

​Prawn Bisque: This soup is so delicious, it is delicate, it is full of flavour, it is just so good. It is so easy to make, my youngest when he was 10 made this. 

Cream of Asparagus Soup: My family are all foodies, everyone likes trying new things and suggest things they'd like to eat. This one came from my husband as he saw I had asparagus in the freezer one day. It took me by surprise how something so simple could taste so great. This is a family favourite and every year it is made during aspargus season, repeatedly.

Smoked Ham, Tomato and Butter Bean Soup: My family are soup addicts, they love soup. Whether it is a clear chicken broth or thick hearty soups like this one, they just love them. If I say we are having soup for dinner, I know everyone is excited. This soup is an entire meal, you don't need anything else. Served with some crusty Italian bread, it is comfort food for us.

Chicken Wonton Soup: I love trying new recipes, cooking things I have never done before, it makes cooking exciting for me. My family love this soup. I combined two recipes to make this one. The wontons are delicious and the soup is delicate and lovely. 

Seafood Laksa Lemak: This recipe gets everybody in my house excited. Laksa night is special. This recipe is an easy one as I use a laksa paste, and I have no problem with that. If it helps me get dinner on the table quickly, I will use it. Even though this is a soup, it is actually a meal with all the sides you add to it. This is loved and requested all the time by my family.

Pea and Ham Soup: If it is cold and wet outside, you need a thick, hearty, delicious soup to warm you up. This is a great recipe here, this one is a winner. 
This soup ticks all the boxes, it is so tasty with so little effort. You just place the ingredients in a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil, simmer for about 2 hours and all you have to do is stir it every now and then.

Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings: Croatians and their soups, it's an addiction. This is something you will find in every Croatian house regularly, I mean for some people it is every single day, summer, autumn, winter and spring, good old Chicken Soup, it is the start to every meal. We have this type of soup at least 3-4 times a week in my house. Here I have included a recipe for semolina dumplings, but you can use store bought soup pastas in any shape you like. Also if you prefer, change the meat to beef (use beef spare ribs or veal shanks) or lamb (I like to use either lamb shanks or lamb shoulder) and you have a different soup. 

Lentil Soup: A recipe that came from my mum. I love family recipes, I love that when I make this my kids now love this to. This again is simple and is a meal when served with some crusty bread.

Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks: Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks are delicious. It is the softest meat you will ever try. By gently pressing your knife through the meat, it glides through like cutting butter.
The sauce is rich and needs to be served over a bed of mashed potato. This is great comfort food, perfect on a cold winters day.

Easy Baked Goulash: As soon as this goulash goes into the oven the house has the most delicious aroma going through it. I honestly hoped it would taste as good as it smelt, and it did. This goulash was delicious, every single bite was so good. The meat was soft and tender, the potatoes cooked, but kept there shape, and it was different to my normal stews, this had a very small amount of tomatoes in it, this makes for a completely different stew, it was delicious. I like to put this in the oven before I head off to football training, then when I get home, dinner is done.

Guatemalan Chicken and Tomatillo Stew: This was the first Guatemalan dish I made when our eating around the world adventure took us to Guatemala.
In Guatemala it is called Jocon de Pollo, and it's delicious. The flavours are so good it is like nothing I ever had before. My 12 year old requests this all the time. It is firmly a family favourite.

Beetroot and Feta with Herb and Pistachio Dressing: I make this salad for parties all the time. It is so pretty and everybody loves it. This is a salad you need to try, it looks great and tastes amazing and would be perfect at your next barbecue.

Muffin Pan Potato Gratins: This is a great idea when you are making a roast and you want to serve something different to roast potatoes. They look great, they taste great. It is also great if cooking for one or two people or ten, you make as many as you need. This link is for the potatoes on the left. The centre ones are without cream and the right ones I just added cheese. The recipes can all be found in my sides and salads section.

Crunchy Potato Balls: This is something that gets my kids excited. They absolutely love these crunchy potato balls.
This recipe came about as I needed to use up leftover mashed potato (I hate waste). These are so good with the light and fluffy insides, and the crispy fried breadcrumbs on the outside. A great side to many dishes. Next time you have leftover mashed potato, give this a go (I make extra mash, just so I can make these).

Fried Rice: This recipe was given to me by my mother, this is our families favourite fried rice recipe. My mum has been making this for years, I'm talking at least 30 years now, and when she does make it, her six grandchildren all go crazy for it. And this is requested all the time for parties, it's a real crowd pleaser.

Salt and Pepper Breadsticks: These are great, they are quick to make and great to eat.
They are perfect when you don't have bread in the house, and you don't want to go to the shop.
My family love it with hearty soups but they are also great with antipasti or just as a snack.
If you have never made bread, this is a great way to start.

Green Salad: My family love a green salad most days of the week. Most of the time it is with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and salt. This salad is my party version, as it has a few additional ingredients.

I love the dressing in this salad. I love the creaminess the avocado brings to it. We had it with a barbecue the other day and it was lovely.

Potato Gratin: In my house creamy potatoes are always welcomed and loved. The simplicity of this dish is what makes it even more special for me. This is a great dish to serve at parties, it is a real crowd pleasing dish, serves large quantities and really, who can resist a potato bake.
This is my families favourite potato bake and honestly I will not try another version as this is firstly simple, and secondly, tasty.

Josip's Spinach: This spinach is named after my husband. His mother taught him how to make it and he has been making it this way for years, it is our families favourite way to eat English Spinach. Although I know how to make it, I find it always tastes better when he makes it-it means less work for me, as we usually have it with BBQ fish, so I get a night off cooking when he makes it, as he does the BBQ also.

Pommes Anna: Pommes Anna is one of my families favourite ways to eat potatoes. I put it straight from the oven onto the table and we just pick at it piece by piece until it is all gone. The top and sides are crispy, whilst the centre is soft and creamy. This I make instead of the traditional roast potatoes.

Pita Bread: ​This is probably my favourite discovery so far in our Eating Around the World adventure. This Pita Bread is something we love, making this brings a little excitement into our house. This bread is tasty and goes with just about every thing. Super easy, super tasty and you will never not have bread in the house again.

Greek Salad: There are so many different versions of the Greek Salad, this is my favourite.
What I do, that I love, is I crumble up the feta, instead of cube it. The end result is a little messy, but the feta mixes with the dressing this way and you can't help but dip bread into the dressing as it is amazingly delicious. This is a regular party salad for me.

Spinach and Pear Salad: I love this salad. I love this salad a lot. To me this salad is perfect. The flavours are amazing. The pears, the spinach, the dressing and everything else, perfect. This salad is something you really need to make. Make it for your next party, barbecue, dinner and watch your guests fall in love with this salad.

My Dad's Kale Salad-Lastovsko Zelje: Just like my husband has his spinach recipe from his mum, I have my cavalo nero (or kale) salad from my dad. Ever since I was a little girl my dad has made this salad. Usually it is made with my uncle's home grown cavalo nero, but as they live 4 hours away, I now just grow my own cavalo nero. Kale is a good substitute and is more readily available. i can eat this all the time, I absolutely love it.

Potato Gnocchi: My family loves gnocchi, just not the packet ones, so I have been trying out recipes for a while now. I came across this recipe, and have stopped looking for other recipes. They are brilliant, they turn out perfectly every time. 
It is a very simple recipe, by far the easiest way I have found to make gnocchi. I like to get the kids to help out, when they do, they aren't perfectly shaped but no one in my house cares if they are not perfectly shaped, but they all love the flavour and texture. 
The recipe can easily be doubled. Serve with your favourite sauce.

Coleslaw: Growing up my mother made a cabbage salad (coleslaw) all the time, but it was always dressed with oil and vinegar, never with mayonnaise (I have a mayonnaise free recipe on my website also, if you prefer). I had tried store bought coleslaw, but I always found them too sweet. This one with the addition of vinegar, I found perfect. This is great at a barbecue or with pulled pork burgers.

Chef's Salad: the first time I had a chef's salad was in a restaurant. it was delicious, the flavour combination was just divine, every bite was delicious. It had sweetness from the pumpkin, sourness from vinaigrette, the goats cheese, a lovely addition, it was the perfect salad. It was so good I had to try and make it home. 
So I googled the bar, found the menu, and this is what it read
CHEF'S SALAD
ROASTED BEETS & PUMPKIN, CHERRY TOMATOES, GOATS CHEESE. SEASON LEAVES W/ A HONEY MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE
So from this I have come up with this recipe. This to me can be added as a side to a barbecue or it is a meal in itself. And anyone that has never put roasted pumpkin in a salad before, you need to try it, it is just so good.

​This is another recipe from one of my aunts (Teta Marica). I really love the flavours of this dish.

Now I have put this dish in the lunch category, as it is lovely served hot with a salad on the side, but it could just as easily be served as a side dish to a barbecue. I like these types of pasta dishes at parties, as they are not too heavy, and you get bursts of different flavours.

The original recipe says to use tagliatelle, but any pasta can be substituted, and each pasta changes how you serve it. The tagliatelle would be served hot and eaten right away. The elbow pasta or orrechiette I have used was served as a side at room temperature. I prefer to eat it warm, rather than cold. 

If you are going to use it as a salad, add a little extra virgin olive oil to it just before serving to add extra flavour and make it glossy.

Seasoning is important to this dish, if you get it right the pasta is delicious, if you don't, it could be bland and boring. 

So an easy lunch idea or a pasta salad to take to a barbecue, either way this pasta is delicious and needs to be tried.

​Serves 8

400g tagliatelle (or any pasta you like)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 bacon rashers, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 250g punnets cherry tomatoes, halved
300g piece firm feta cheese, chopped
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
​
Add the pasta to a large pan of boiling salted water, boil, uncovered, until just tender, drain.

While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, bacon and garlic, cook, stirring, until onions are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, cook, stirring, until tomatoes are just softened.

Turn off the heat, add the pasta, cheese, olives and basil, mix it well. Taste for seasoning. Serve garnished with fresh basil leaves.

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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella