Layered Mexican Beef Casserole

	Grease a baking dish.
	In a large frypan brown 1kg beef with sliced onion, garlic, green capsicum and jalapeno (if using) until the beef is no longer pink; drain any fat then return to pan and add in seasoning, kidney beans and cumin.
	Bring the  beef mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally, then season with salt and lots of black pepper.
	Arrange 3 corn tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish, cutting as needed to cover bottom of the dish.
	Spread 1/4 cup salsa sauce over the tortillas in the baking dish.
	Cover the sauce with 1/3 of the cooked beef mixture, then shredded cheese.
	Repeat the layers twice but omitting the final cheese layer on top.
	Drizzle any remaining salsa on top.
	Cover bake in a 180c oven for 25 minutes.
	Uncover and sprinkle with more cheese (any amount desired) then return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
	Let stand 10-15 minutes before slicing.
	Top with sour cream and/or tomatoes, green onions and crushed tortilla chips if desired.

Southern Fried Chicken

I have found this is a really easy way to make tasty chicken.

Start with chicken pieces

Coat in butter milk

Dredge in some flour mixed with seasonings of your choice, I used cayenne pepper, slat, cajun spice mix.

Now shallow fry until golden and crispy

Remove from oil and place in a low oven until ready.

Beef Hotpot

Take 1 kilo of diced beef and brown
Dice 2 onions and saute
Dice 2 green capsicum sauté
Slice 3 carrots

Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish and add 2 cups of beef stock

Cover with a layer of thinly sliced potato

Place a lid on the casserole and oven bake at 180c for 1.5 hours

Remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes

Eggplant Casserole

Start by slicing the eggplant thinly spray with olive oil and brown in oven.

In a saucepan cut 2 brown onions into slices add a little olive oil
Top with 8 tomatoes cut into quarters
Sprinkle with diced basil and sliced garlic
Simmer for 30-40 minutes

Heat the oven and butter a casserole dish

Layer the eggplant with the tomato sauce in alternating layers

Top with cheese and brown

Pork Ribs

Take some ribs cut into individual ribs.

Marinate in:

Ketchup
Honey
Soy Sauce
Chilli sauce
Liquid smoke
Marinate for at least 12 hours

To cook wrap in foil, place in a roasting pan on a trivet with water beneath. Cook for 2 hours on 180c.

Vegetable Bake

One of the nicest things for vegetarians and non vegetarians is a nice baked selection of baked vegetables.
Cut into 2cm pieces the following vegetables
1 kumara
1 butternut squash
4 potatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper generously and liberally sprinkle with olive oil
Oven bake at 180c for at least 1 hour
Add diced fetta about 20mins before serving.
Serve with mushroom and baby spinach wilted in a little olive oil

The Top Ten

In this mornings Sydney Morning Herald "Jill Dupleix nominates 10 dishes to take you through life. "If you can cook these recipes well, you can cook anything,'' "

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/the-10-recipes-everyone-should-know-20120709-21qqo.html#ixzz20BEzj6to

Her list is as follows, 

Ma po beancurd

Minestrone soup

A great roast chicken

Creamy potato gratin

The classic omelet

Tarte tartin

Salt and pepper squid

Osso buco

Molten chocolate pudding

The perfect risotto

For each dish she says what you can learn from cooking it and of course gives the recipe.

My list would include:

Roasting a chicken

Roasting a piece of beef

The perfect scrambled eggs

A quality risotto

Cooking a steak to a nominated level of doneness

Baking a sponge cake

Making dhal

Making a curry paste from scratch

Ribs

Baked potato