CHRISTMAS TOMATO FRITTATA

Some years ago we were spending Christmas at a holiday house on the NSW south coast and our son decided to bring his girlfriend.  That was no problem until it came to cooking Christmas lunch – she was a vegetarian……….  Vegetarian Christmas recipes were few and far between in those days and I ended up serving her a stuffed eggplant.  I just wish I’d found this recipe as it’s much more colorful and I suspect she would have enjoyed it more.  Especially as the power went out due to a bushfire in the area and we ended up cooking the entire meal on the bbq – it was a very Australian Christmas.

GARLIC MUSTARD RACK OF LAMB

In Mum’s time lamb was a cheap and tasty meat to use, but with the cost of racks of lamb at what they are today if you’re going to cook them you might just as well push the boat out and add a great topping. I don’t think you can go wrong with this mustard, garlic and soy sauce combo spread on top.

CHEESE SPREAD

Every time I pick my granddaughters up from school and take their lunch boxes out their school bags I’m astonished at how magnificent lunchboxes are these days.  When I was at school my lunch was a sandwich wrapped in lunch wrap and piece of fruit which Mum into a brown paper bag.  Unsurprisingly squashed sandwiches and squashed fruit were often the result.  Mum was also inventive with sandwich fillings, banana and sultanas, vegemite and celery, cheese and beetroot and sometimes a homemade cheese spread.  Not sure that this is the recipe she used as she wouldn’t have put sherry in her kids sandwiches, but it might be tasty for bigger kids lunches at work or uni or as a dip.

DIANE-STYLE BEEF CASSEROLE

I think the idea of pre-making a large batch of beef casserole, freezing it in batches and then jazzing it up when needed is a great one.  This Diane-style version would be a quick way to make a tasty dish when you don’t have much time or energy left after a busy day.

beef-casseroles-diane-style-compile

MUSHROOM, SPINACH & FETA QUICHE

This is another no-pastry quiche which Mum collected from the New Idea.  I’m not sure what the difference between a quiche without pastry and a frittata is.  I suspect it’s just  the country it’s made in – Quiche, Australia – Frittata, Italy.  What do you think?

Mushroom Spinach & Feta Quiche