Winter is definitely the time for comfort food, especially when much of Victoria is in Stage 4 Lockdown. During this time, I have taken great comfort in enjoying our little kitchen, cooking home meals and trying new recipes. It’s been nice to slow things down and appreciate the comforts of home more.
I have teamed up with Panasonic Australia this month to test out their brand new, family size 3-in-1 Combination Microwave (NN-CD58JS) and come up with some easy, delicious recipes which you can try at home. This couldn’t have come at a better time since having a baby a few weeks ago. I’ve really had to master the ability to eat and cook one handed when handling a fussy bubs. This microwave has been an absolute dream and has made preparation in the kitchen so much easier, especially when I am time poor.
This isn’t your average microwave. It can also grill, bake, steam, roast and re-heat making it the perfect all-round kitchen accessory for busy Aussie families and households. Whether you want to cook up a cake, a pizza,a family roast chicken or a sumptuous grilled fish, this microwave is so versatile with all kind of recipes and cusines. We don’t have the largest kitchen, so the microwave’s slim line design is perfect and doesn’t feel like it takes up too much space on the kitchen bench. I especially love the Junior Menu which creates tasty treats from pureed fruits and vegetables for babies to junior pasta bakes and vegetable fries, to replace less healthy alternatives.
I absolutely love that I can cook things on the convection setting which means whipping up all your oven favourites in no time. You can also pre heat the microwave on this setting just like you would do with a standard oven.
One of my favourite recipes for winter comfort food at the moment is this gooey cheesy pull apart loaf studded with plenty of garlic and bacon. It’s perfect for the family to enjoy for a starter or can easily be prepared in advance for entertaining. You can use most kind of bread loaves for this recipe, but I suggest using a denser loaf like a sourdough or pana di casa. Make sure you get all the ingredients into the cracks to really infuse the flavours equally through the loaf.
- 1 white sourdough or pane di casa crusty loaf
- 1 cup grated mozarella cheese
- 100g butter, melted
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 125g bacon, finely chopped
- Place the butter in a small heatproof bowl and melt in the Panasonic Combination Microwave for 45 - 60 then add the garlic and parsley and stir to combine.
- Preheat the Panasonic Combination Microwave on Convection 180 C with enamel tray.
- Cut the sourdough in a criss cross pattern. Make sure you don’t cut right through the bread and ensure an inch is left at the base of the bread .
- Open up bread cracks with your fingers. Drizzle a teaspoon of melted butter mixture into each bread crack, then push a small a pinch of cheese and bacon into each crack. Brush the loaf with the remaining butter mixture.
- Cover the loaf with foil and place on top of enamel tray. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey. Unwrap the bread and bake for another 5 or so minutes to make it slightly brown and crusty.
- To reheat, microvave on 1 - 2 minutes to melt the cheese again.
For more information about this microwave and more recipe inspiration visit .panasonic.com/au/consumer/household/microwave-ovens/convection-grill-microwaves/nn-cd58js.html.
Find me on: Web
