Snickerdoodle bars

Batter 
115g butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup brown flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 

Sprinkling 
1/8 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 8-by-8-inch baking tray.

Melt butter. Cool slightly; add egg, sugar, vanilla, and beat until smooth. Add flour, oats and cream of tartar until just combined; pour into tray.

Combine the sprinkling sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the batter.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Cool in tray for at least 15 min before slicing.

Curry pumpkin soup with chicken skewers

Pumpkin soup:
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled & chopped
1 apple, peeled & chopped
100g shallots (or a small onion), chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 litre chicken broth
1 can coconut milk, or else a good few shakes of coconut milk powder
black pepper

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
5 skewers
peanut oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons chilli jam or sweet chilli sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Fry shallots, garlic and carrots in butter, add pumpkin and apple together with paprika, curry, and ginger. Add chicken broth and simmer for 20 min. Add coconut milk, puree and season to taste.

Cut chicken into 1cm cubes and thread onto skewers. Fry in peanut oil, and deglaze in soy sauce. Brush over with chilli jam/sweet chilli sauce and coat with sesame seeds.

Serve soup in bowls, and place two chicken skewers over each bowl. Serve.

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What do the food critics say? Is there any more? Well, except for Lukan, but he did eat one bowl willingly. If you count "three spoonfuls of soup for one piece of cheese" as "willingly".
What does the cook say? The peeling and chopping is a bit of a pain, but it's otherwise easy and fancy looking enough to serve at a dinner party. I used a Thai marinade for the chicken though (coconut milk, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, fish sauce, fresh & ground coriander, cumin) and grilled the skewers instead of frying them. I also think less coconut milk for the soup is better - enough so you can taste it, but not so much out drowns out the more subtle ginger.

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Adapted from a recipe book at the house we stayed in on the Canary Islands.

Celeriac & walnut gratin

1 large celeriac
2 tbsp walnut oil
300ml vegetable stock
handful chopped walnuts
100g blue cheese (or any tasty cheese)

Heat oven to 190C. Peel, quarter and very thinly slice the celeriac. Toss in the walnut oil, salt and pepper, and spread over a gratin dish. Pour over the stock and bake for 40-45 mins, then sprinkle with the walnuts, crumble over the cheese, then cook for 15 mins until crisp and golden.

Source

Celeriac oven chips

Celeriac
curry powder
oil
salt

Peel the celeriac, slicing off the top and bottom and removing the tough skin. Cut into thumb-thick slices and then into fat chips.

Bring a very large saucepan of salted water to the boil, throw in the chips and blanch (boil rapidly, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes). Drain the chips and throw back into the saucepan. Add oil, curry powder and sea salt. Toss until well coated.

Spread the chips over a large heavy baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between them. Cook for 30-35 minutes at 230C.

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What do the food critics say? The adults liked it, the kids not so much.
What does the cook say? Good way to use up celeriac, should you ever end up with one.

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Source

Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Marsala Sauce

2 pork tenderloins (filet mignon)
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Oil a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange tenderloins in pan, and brown the meat. Turn to brown evenly. Transfer meat to prepared baking dish, and coat generously with mustard.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn, and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until desired doneness.

Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in the same pan used to cook the pork. Cook shallots in butter until soft. Stir in Marsala, mustard, and cream, and cook until volume of liquid is reduced by half.

Slice pork, and place on a serving dish. Spoon sauce over meat, and serve.

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What do the food critics say? Yum yum (although no sauce for the kids).
What does the cook say? Easy peesy. The original recipe says to rub the mustard on the meat before browning it... but that just resulted in the mustard burning to the bottom of our frying pan and the meat not browning. 

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Source

Gugelhupf (German chocolate cake)

2 cups yoghurt
4 cups sugar
1 ½ cups oil
4 eggs
6 cups flour
Baking powder
1 packet vanilla sugar (or about 1 tsp vanilla essence)
½ cup chocolate, grated (or melted)
1 tsp cocoa
Icing sugar, to serve

(1 cup = 125ml)

Mix yoghut, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients, pour into cake tin (traditionally a ring), bake at 180°C for around 30- 45 minutes.

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What do the food critics say? The kids ate it, and they don't always eat chocolate cake.
What does the cook say? I have eaten but not made this - it looks easy though.

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Source

Grandma's yummy chicken

750 g chicken fillets, sliced in 2 lengthwise (to make the thickest part less thick)
3T olive oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs
mix of dried or fresh herbs - parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme... whatever you have
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Mix oil with garlic in a small bowl.

Mix breadcrumbs with herbs and parmesan on a plate.

Dip chicken in oil, then in breadcrumb mix to coat both sides, then place on baking tray.

Cook 8-10 min at 200C, then turn and cook for a further 3-5 min.

Serve.

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What do the food critics say? We're having grandma's yummy chicken tonight? Yay!!!!
What does the cook say? Easy peesy crowd pleaser, young and old alike.

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Source: my mum

Chinese chicken wings

12 chicken wings (or legs)
1 tsp sesame seeds

Marinade:
2T soy sauce
1T peanut oil
1T sherry
2T honey
1T lemon juice
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger

Remove tips from wings, pat dry. Mix marinade ingredients, marinade with wings in fridge for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove chicken from marinade, place in single layer in greased ovenproof dish, bake 30-35min (or grill or BBQ), basting with remaining marinade.

Toast sesame seeds, sprinkle over chicken for last 5 min of baking.

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What do the food critics say? The kids gobbled it up and chewed on the bones.
What does the cook say? Easy.Tasty.

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Source: McCormick (via my aunt)

Blue cheese dip

1 cup blue cheese
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 1/4 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic, crushed

Mix everything together.

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What do the food critics say? I made it for our house warming party - I'm pretty sure it was all eaten.
What does the cook say? Easy party dip.

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Source: somewhere on the internet

Baked artichoke dip

1 can/bottle artichokes
1 box silken tofu OR 1 large tub ricotta
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2/3 cup yoghurt

Blend tofu/ricotta, artichokes, garlic, then mix in remaining ingredients.

Bake at 180C for 45 min. Serve with extra parmesan on top.

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What do the food critics say? Yum!
What does the cook say? Easy and good... but note that if you substitute the ricotta for cottage cheese, it's very, very salty. I haven't tried with tofu.

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Source: somewhere on the internet

Quick pizza dough

250g plain flour (or a mix of whatever flour you like)
10g yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
6T oil
1/2 tsp salt (I don't add this)

Mix everything together, use immediately.

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What do the food critics say? Lukan prefers it over store bought pizza base; Téo not so much (but he eats it)
What does the cook say? I like not using store-bought base (no salt, less plastic waste, i can add in wholemeal flour)... but even though it's easy, it adds a good 20min to the pizza-making process by the time you make it then roll it out.

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Source: my neighbour

Olive-capsicum tapenade

4 red capsicums, chopped
2T olive oil
50g olives, pitted
2 cloves crushed garlic
4T balsamic vinegar

Fry the capsicums until soft. Blend everything. Adjust vinegar to taste.

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What do the food critics say? Yum, as long as you like olives
What does the cook say? Easy party dip.

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Source: my neighbour

Peanut beef stir fry

Sauce:
1 large onion, sliced
1T grated ginger
peanut butter
garlic, crushed
1.5T sherry
2T soy sauce
1 pinch sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock

Meat:
Beef cut in strips
2 eggwhites
1.5T cornstarch

Stir fry onions and ginger; combine remaining sauce ingredients, add to pan and boil for a bit. Add beef, cook, push to the side, add rest of cornstarch mixture, allow to thicken, then recombine everything and serve.

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What do the food critics say? It was a while ago I made this, but I remember it being good.
What does the cook say? Easy.

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Source: somewhere on the internet. Sorry I didn't write down exact amounts for everything!

Chinese chicken stir fry

Marinade:
2 tsp cornstarch
2T sherry
1T lemon juice
1T soy sauce
1T grated ginger
1 clove crushed garlic
chili

The rest:
chicken
1T sesame oil
1T oil
mushrooms
capsicum
onion
2T toasted sesame seeds

Mix together marinade ingredients, add chicken, marinate.

Slice the vegetables, then stir fry until cooked (but still crispy). Add chicken and marinade, stir fry until chicken is cooked (not too long). Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.

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What do the food critics say? It was a while ago I made this, but I remember it being good.
What does the cook say? Easy.

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Source: somewhere on the internets

Spaghetti squash with mushroom marinara sauce

Mushroom marinara sauce:
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup - 1 cup wine
Crushed tomatoes (canned, bottled, homegrown & cooked)
12 oz sliced mushrooms
olive oil
2T sugar - just enough to counter the acidity
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 pinch cinnamon
red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)
freshly ground pepper

Cook garlic and onion in 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy, non-reactive pot. Stir until aromatic but not brown.

In a separate pan, cook mushrooms in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in batches until browned. Add to onions as you cook them.

Add fresh basil, oregano, tomatoes, cinnamon, pepper, red wine, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil then turn down and simmer about ½ hour. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash.

How to cook spaghetti squash:

Split squash lengthwise in half and scrape out seeds. Rub olive oil on both sides of the squash and lay cut side down on baking dish. Cook at 375 F/200C for about 30 minutes until cooked but not mushy.

Serve with marinara or any other sauce, or simply toss with olive oil, fresh herbs, fresh tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.

TIP: Pick out a yellow spaghetti squash, the yellower the better. If they are white or really pale they will have no flavour.

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What do the food critics say? The adults like it, the kids not so much... but then, they don't like any tomato sauce that I make anyway. The spaghetti squash has a different texture than pasta, but it's really not bad. 
What does the cook say? Easy, something different.

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Source (and a bit from here)

Couscous salad

Couscous
Quinoa (optional)
Spring onions or Spanish onions
Kalamata olives
Red capsicum
Feta cheese
Chick peas
Red chili (optional)
Mint
Olive oil
Cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar

For the quantities... well, as you like really. As a guide, I use about 1 can chickpeas, one large capsicum, one block feta, a couple of spring onions, and a handful of mint per 2 cups couscous.

Method
Prepare the couscous and quinoa according to instructions, chop up the onions, capsicum, olives, cheese, chili and mint, mix everything, add oil and vinegar to taste. Don't be shy with the vinegar - I'm always surprised at how much I need to add to get the taste right.

I've also made it without any oil - this is good too. We find it salty enough with the olives and feta, but you might like a bit more.

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What do the food critics say? YUM!
What does the cook say? My standard salad for BBQs, I even sometimes serve it as a complete meal. OK, I quite often serve it as a complete meal.

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Source: copied from something we had in Canada years ago, at the cafe in which the wife of T's fairy-godfather-to-be worked.