Hello!
How good are these longer, warmer days? In Tasmania, spring still means some very cold mornings but I’m feeling hopeful and staying busy (mostly attempting to bring as many daffodils inside as possible).
Smoothies are back on for breakfast (strawberry + peanut butter! Blueberry and green tea!) as are slow cooker baked beans — one of my favourite recipes of the year, which happens to be… offline.
But not anymore! In this edition you’ll find the recipe, thanks to Katrina Meynink for letting me republish it.
Plus other delicious things I’ve loved this month, including a creamy one-pot orzo with Italian sausage and supermarket chocolate bikkies with salted caramel.
Slow cooker baked beans
Every time I make this recipe I feel a bit more prepared for the week.
I set it up on Saturday night so we can wake up to a hot breakfast on Sunday that’s ready whenever. We eat it with lots of buttered toast and coffee and the rest becomes future breakfasts, baked bean and cheese toasties, and chuck-it-in-a-container work lunches (so good with crumbled feta and steamed broccoli).
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
7 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground (I am lazy and use ground cumin)
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 chipotle chilli in adobo, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
3 tablespoons tomato paste
200g (1 cup) dried cannellini beans (or other white bean), washed thoroughly
750ml (3 cups) vegetable or chicken stock
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
Method
Set the slow cooker to the sauté function. Add the oil and, when hot, add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, cumin, bay leaves and cinnamon and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the chipotle in adobo, the brown sugar, the vinegar and tomato paste. Cook for another minute before adding the beans and stirring to coat. Pour over the stock and tomatoes, close the lid and set the heat to low. Cook for 10 hours, or overnight.
You want the beans to be pliable and the liquid to have reduced to a thick and rich sauce. Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon before serving.
This is an edited extract from Slow Victories by Katrina Meynink published by Hardie Grant Books.
Bake a tray of cinnamon apples 🍏
I’m getting back in the habit of roasting some veggies on Sunday afternoon for the week ahead. Lately I’ve been adding a tray of Joy the Baker’s roasted apples with cinnamon and butter, which makes the house smell great.
It’s simple to make and tastes a lot like apple-pie filling, so a nice treat for breakfast on top of muesli or yoghurt. Or eat it while it’s still warm with mascarpone or ice cream.
Creamy sausage orzo with baby spinach
I saw this orzo on Instagram and it was just the thing I needed after a big day of house hunting, doing the market shop and hanging out with friends in the sun. It’s a creamy one-pot meal that’s comforting and easy (my favourite).
I used a pack of sausages for this (around half a kilo) and some extra orzo (closer to 1.5 cups) because I didn’t want to have an awkward amount left over. Adding the optional baby spinach takes the pressure off making a salad or other greens. We will definitely be having this again and again.
Crunchy oven-baked chicken nuggies
Nuggets for dinner = fun. I love Heidi Sze’s baked chicken nugget recipe, which I commissioned with kids in mind, I just happen to love them too.
I made the homemade breadcrumbs (there are lots of failed sourdoughs around here) and am keen to try it with panko when I need to speed things up. The nuggets are coated in breadcrumbs mixed with garlic powder, which is fast becoming a hero ingredient of 2022 (I love this one!).
We’ve been eating them with dijon mustard and tomato sauce and fighting over leftovers. Speaking of, leftovers would be great in a chicken burger.
Miniature treats & more
I’m going through a phase of buying myself miniature treats. Like this Ritter chocolate sampler and a jam advent calendar.
Sarah Copeland’s Every Day is Saturday is a fave cookbook from a few years ago (the braised short rib is another go-to slow cooker meal). She has an excellent newsletter (I get the free version), where she’s chronicling her recent move to Hungary with recipes too.
For a supermarket chocolate biscuit fix, I’m a fan of these salted caramel bikkies. The only downside: there’s only six in a box and they’re 🤑. But they’re a nice pick me up when you’re doing an after-work shop and they’re on sale.
A very cute and roomy lunch bag, just in case you too need a new one after years of WFH.
This apple recipe was exactly what I needed! Thank you!
I'll be trying the beans and the orzo! Thank you!