Merry Christmas!

Another year has flown past and I have not done as much of anything as I had planned. I am just finalising the menu for Christmas day and thought I would share it here: Breakfast - french toast made using brioche with fresh berries Lunch - lobster with lemon butter, prawns with dipping sauce, charcoal chicken (i hate seafood), salad and my great Aunty Irenes ambrosia salad. Dinner - turkey breast stuffed with cranberries and herbs, pork loin stuffed with apricots and macadamias (both cooked on bbq), roast vegies, apple sauce and gravy. Dessert - if anyone can fit it in - layered coconut, lime and mango mini sorbet bombes. Will try and take photos of the platters before they get devoured. While I am logged in here I also wanted to share Miss Kimmys year 10 formal photo with you all...she looked incredible and is turning into a very bright and level headed young adult.

Happy Easter to everyone!

The kids have gone out with their grandmother and aunty today so Mick and I have the house to ourselves...its very peaceful.

I decided to try out the caramel maple cupcakes in the current issue of Donna Hay and am super impressed with the results! Mine might not be as perfect looking as Donnas but the flavour is first class!

The cupcakes are made by melting together 60ml maple syrup, 160ml milk, 120g brown sugar, 150g butter and 75g white chocolate. Melt this and allow to cool.

In another bowl sift 150g plain flour and 1 teaspoon baking power. Mix in cooled chocolate mix, some vailla essence and 1 egg.

Pour into cupcake papers (mine made 12, but next time I won't fill the papers quite so full, so it will probably make 14 or 15.

Bake at 160degC for 25mins (recipe says 15 but mine were still quite runny at 15 mins).

Allow cupcakes to cool.

To make the wicked icing - melt together 175g brown sugar, 100g butter, pinch salt. Bring to high heat, add 60ml milk and some vanilla. Bring to boil and boil gently for 3 minutes. Stir and keep an eye on it or it will boil over and make a huge mess!

When the mix has boiled for 3 mins turn stove off and mix in 160g sifted icing sugar.

The recipe says you can ice the cakes straight away but i found the icing way too runny for this. Leave icing for about 20 - 30 mins. Mix well then ice your cakes.

Icing will set quite quickly and they look really special.

The top photo is my cakes the bottom is the Donna Hay ones...I am pretty happy with the results!

A couple of cooking dramas

This year has got off to a flying start...11th March already...wow!

I have been on holidays this week with a trip up to the central coast to visit family then some local catch ups with good friends.

My cooking has been a little haphazard this week. Made a creme brulee using the egg yolks I had in the freezer from an earlier pavlova making effort....brulees looked great and the top 3/4 was perfect, but at the bottom was a watery layer...concluded it was a result of the frozen yolks...never had any dramas before.

Also made my friend Gails apple and almond cake but substituted fresh peaches instead of apples...cake baked perfectly but by the time I served it the middle was soft...the moisture from the peaches had made it all gooey...i wasn't too worried...everyone came back for seconds.

We are having left overs tonight...after 2 nights in a row of dinner guests there is bits and pieces of everything left.

One very slack blogger....

Time has flown this year...have done plenty of cooking and bugger all blogging! Apologies.

Today I made the italian beef ragu from the www.taste.com.au website and my kitchen smells incredible.

Also made pasta to go with it...not sure if the texture will be ok...400g flour and 4 eggs and some salt and it was far too dry...added an extra egg yolk and it seemded to be ok but when i put it through the pasta machine it seemed really dry.

I guess I will know tonight when I cook it....fingers crossed!

Cooking slow down

Apologies to all who are following my blog...my cooking has been a little boring lately mainly due to work pressures. Hoping to get back into the swing of things this weekend now that our conference is over for another year.

Port Douglas was lovely but so humid...felt like I sweated bucket loads during the 4 days I was up there. Gorgeous place. Resort was great.

Wild mushroom risotto at Il Pescatore in the Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas was delicious...so was the dark chocolate panna cotta.

Only saw 1 cane toad in the wild...very disappointed at that as I thought they would be everywhere.

The new Tefal pressure cooker

Santa was kind enough to bring me the new Tefal Minute pressure cooker...being unsure about how they work I was surfing the net looking for good pressure cooker recipes. Ended up finding a slow cooker one that sounded delicious. So tonight I made asian spiced chicken wings in my new pressure cooker in 12 minutes.

What a brilliant piece of cooking gear. 2 kgs of chicken wings, cut into wingettes, browned in the pressure cooker first, then a sauce of soy, diced onion, grated ginger, hoisin, tomato sauce and brown sugar poured over the top and cooked on high pressure for 12 mins.

The end result was tender, falling off the bone, very tasty chicken wings. Only thing I would do different next time is add some chilli and some star anise.

Was not sure if the kids would like them, but there is no left overs!

Bring on the next pressure cooker recipe....

Second pasta maker adventure

I decided to venture into the world of ravioli this past weekend...I had a few ideas about fillings but not a lot of confidence in what I had planned. Decided to wing it and it was either going to be a hit or a huge flop.

Made my pasta sheets, made a filling of ricotta, finely diced preserved lemon, egg yolk, salt, pepper and grated parmesan. It took a while to get into the rhythm of making the ravioli but once I got it going it was great. 5 tea bag sized pillows was enough for each adult.

I served them hot and poured over a nut brown butter and fresh mint sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

Delicious but next time I will be more careful with the ravioli...they got a bit sticky and a couple didn't want to come off the plate I had rested them on.

All part of the learning process...

Making pasta using bread machine and manual pasta maker

It was my 40th birthday earlier in the week and Mick kindly bought me an Atlas pasta machine with all the attachments...something I have had my eye on for a long time but didn't want to spend the dollars on one.

So today after visiting the library and spending some time on You tube, I have decided that I am going to make the dough in my breadmaker because I really hate kneeding and the mess it makes.

The recipe I have used is on the packet of italian 00 pasta flour I bought from Woolworths. 500g 00 flour, 5 eggs, 10g salt and 1 tsp olive oil.

It's in the bread maker now and is doing its thing. The dough setting is 1hr and 20 mins so I have also set the kitchen timer for 20mins.

Hopefully at the 20 mins mark I will be able to take the dough out and rest it for an hour or so.

This afternoon I am going to unpack my new toy and make some fettucine. We are going to have it for dinner tonight as carbonara. Carbonara is good because all 4 of us love it!

Also going to make another stromboli to go with it. Made one last night and it was lovely.

Recipe for the stromboli was 350g bakers flour, 200ml water, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp of dried yeast. I put this in the breadmaker on dough setting. When that was done I rolled it into a large slab about 5mm thick. Spread this with roasted capsicum, tasty cheese and diced bacon. Rolled the dough into a log, tucking the ends in. I then let it rise for about an hour, cut some slashes in the top and brushed with olive oil. Baked at about 180degC for 30mins. I then turned the oven off and let the stromboli sit in the oven to keep it warm while dinner was cooking.

Cut into slices and serve warm.

Sensational! And tonight going to do with a garlic and cheese filling.

Will do some photos soon and post too!

Dinner is over and the fettucine carbonara was a massive hit! The sauce was just pan fried bacon, eggs, cream and shallots. The bacon fried off then the cooked pasta added to the pan and coated with the bacon fat, then eggs etc then stirred through and the heat turned off.

The above pasta recipe using the 500g of 00 flour is way too much pasta for 4. There is enough left over for 2 people for lunch tomorrow.

I think next time I will make it using 350g flour and 3 eggs. With a more meaty sauce this would be heaps of pasta.

Beef paprikash

Adapted from the July 2010 BBC Good Food Magazine.

Good slow cooker recipe or just do it in a casserole dish in the oven.

1kg diced beef...chuck or gravy beef, would be nice with lamb chops too.
2 large brown onions, thickly sliced
2 red capsicums, seeded and diced in 2cm pieces
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
400g tin tomatoes
400g sliced mushrooms (use the big field ones if you can get them)

Coat meat in flour, shake excess. Brown in pan with a little oil in small batches. bFry off the spices. Put all ingredients in large casserole dish with lid, or your slow cooker. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For slow cooker, cook on high for 4 hours. For oven cook at 150degC for 2 hours.

Serve with brown rice and sour cream, garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Bowral Farmers Markets, Moss Vale Showground

Yesterday saw an early start (well early for a minus something winters morning). Headed down to the farmers markets at Moss Vale Showground to have a look around and a coffee with Gail.

I was pleased to see so many people about that early in Winter...and was even more pleased to get my big woolen coat out for the first time this winter.

The regular stalls were there like the Robbo Potato man, the thirlmere duck lady, the bread ladies, the live chookie man and his wife and the vegie man who still doesnt put prices on stuff...something that really ticks me off!

Beautiful jewellery stalls now too...one featuring gorgeous photos on pendants and the other some lovely silvery trinkets on necklaces (a bit pricey for a farmers market).

A new addition to the markets is the 1910 Bottling people...using organic in season fruit and preserving the way nanna used to. The rhubarb in organic honey was sheer bliss and Gail bought the pears which she has since made into tarts with goats cheese and by all reports were delicious.

Geoff Janz had his wood fired pizza trailer there selling pizza bases and the oven kits themselves. The warmth from them while chatting to him and his sales guy about the ovens was lovely.

Only bought a couple of things..the beautiful italian rolls from the bread ladies and some dutch creme spuds to make Gary Megihans souffle potatoes. Was going to do them tonight but was drawn to the spicy meatball recipe in this months Delicious magazine and made those instead.

Next month the markets are on the 4th Saturday so they won't clash with the others in the area.

I am keen to get a couple more friends for Miss Prissy but think I might wait until winter is over. The chicken man at the markets had some very healthy looking bantams so we might get some little ladies instead of full size Isa Browns.

Glad its a long weekend...its Sunday afternoon already and I am not feeling like I want to go to work tomorrow. Thank you Queen Elizabeth II for the birthday holiday.

Tomorrow is also my fabulous grandmother, Bettys birthday. I think she will be 84? I going to see her in a couple of weeks. Its too far to go for the day on a public holiday with double demerits and shitty traffic.

More cooking adventures with an 11 year old...

Nick has been busting to help me bake again this week. Its Kims 14th birthday tomorrow so we have done a few nice things.

Cherry blondie cake adapted from the www.taste.com.au website, topped with white chocolate dipped cherries. Recipe as follows

Ingredients
• 100g butter, chopped
• 180g white chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ½ cups plain flour, sifted with 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (175g) frozen pitted cherries
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease an 18cm x 28cm (base) rectangular slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
2. Add sugar, eggs and flours to pan. Stir to combine. Spread into prepared pan. Press cherries into mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges are firm and top golden. Cool in pan. Serve.

Photos to come tomorrow after we have Kims birthday.

Nick and I also made a half and half jam drops and choc chip cookies for school morning teas this week. Simple batch using the basic butter cookie recipe from Food Ideas magazine.

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temperature
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon milk

Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla and egg. Fold in dry ingredients. Mix is too stiff for my mixer so fold with a metal spoon.

At this stage you can add choc bits or sultanas or whatever you like, or roll and make into jam drops.

Walnut size balls take approx 12 mins at 180degC.

Rhubarb and Hazelnut torte

My rhubarb has struggled a little this year...not sure why really. It has had really short thick stalks and massive leaves.

I was out pottering in the garden yesterday and picked the 6 stems that were nice and red and really wanted to try some sort of dessert cake with the rhubarb.

I found a recipe and modified it to suit what I had in the cupboard.

Original recipe used almonds instead of hazelnuts and had about twice the amount of rhubarb which I think would have been too much.

Recipe is as follows:

170g butter
170g ground hazelnuts (buy whole and blitz in your food processor, much nicer than bought ground hazelnuts)
170g caster sugar
170g self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
200g rhubarb, cut into small chunks

Preheat your oven to 160degC and line and grease a 20cm round springform cake tin.

Mix dry ingredients, add butter and eggs. Mix well.

Do not add rhubarb to this mix.

Divide mix in half and spread half the mix into the bottom of your tin. Spread rhubarb evenly over the mix, try and keep it from touching the sides of the tin. Spread second half of mix over the top of the rhubarb. It doesn't have to be perfect...the rustic look is in!

Bake for approx 1 hour.

Cake is quite crispy on the outside and so lush and fruity on the inside. Serve warm with a dollop of cream or custard.

Cooking with Nicholas...our first baking experience

Nicholas has a new found passion for cooking, thanks to Mr Downie, his Year 6 teacher.


We have made no bake slices before but last weekend he wanted to bake something.

I decided on an Oat and choc chip slice because its simple, it keeps well and its not too unhealthy. Nick was keen to make this one to take on his first overnight school excursion to Mogo on the NSW south coast.

The recipe for the slice is as follows:

1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup dessicated coconut
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sultanas
1/2 cup choc bits
125g butter, melted
1 egg

Preheat oven to 180degC. Line a slice tin with baking paper.

Measure dry ingredients into bowl, add egg and butter and mix well.

Spoon into tin and press firmly into tin. This will prevent the slice being too crumbly.

Bake for approx 20 mins or until lovely and golden. Cool and slice. Keeps really well in an air tight container.

Quince paste

I bought some quinces on special at Harris Farm last weekend and had no idea really what I should use them for. I have never cooked with them but do love their flavour.

After spending quite some time looking for recipes on all my favourite foodie websites I settled on a quince paste recipe which I then modified to make less time consuming.

Process went like this....

Peel, core and dice 3 large quinces. Add to a pot with 1/2 cup cold water. Simmer for 30mins or until it goes pink and soft. You may need to add a little more water during this process to prevent sticking or burning. I think I added about an extra 100ml or so.

Next step is to blend the quinces to a smooth paste. I just used my stick blender in the same pot. You could of course pour into a food processor, but why make more washing up for yourself.






Then return to heat, add 3 cups of sugar and simmer on a low heat until the sugar is disolved. This took approx 15 to 20mins.




I cheated on the next bit...recipe said simmer on ultra low heat for 3 hours. I started to do this but the mix was catching on the bottom of the saucepan so I decided to pour into a lined slice tin and bake on about 70 degrees C for 3 hours instead.




Once the mix is a gorgeous deep pinky brown, turn oven off and allow to cool in oven. I refrigerated mine for 24 hours then cut into 4cm squares, wrapped in greaseproof paper and put some in the fridge to use this weekend and some in the freezer for later.

The taste is divine and perfect with a sharp vintage cheddar or a good smelly blue.

The veggie garden update

Things have been a little slow on the gardening front. A broken toe kept me out of work boots for a few weeks and last weekend I finally tidied up my garden and started planting the autumn and winter veggies.

Never really tried growing anything much in winter but this year I have planted broccoli, brussell sprouts, broad beans, sugar snap and snow peas, dwarf beans and some cylindrical beetroots.

Am keen to try some other heritage veggies but am not sure where to go from here...catalogues like Diggers I am guessing will be my best source of the heritage type veggies.

Thinking a green house might be a good investment too...herbs and tomatoes etc in winter would be fabulous.

Sweet zucchini pickles

My 3 black jack zucchinis have produced some whopping fruit this year. The largest weighed in at 3.4kgs. I have used the big ones (minus the spongy core) to make heaps of jars of both these sweet mustard pickles and also some zucchini and ginger chutney.

The pickles are so simple...a little time consuming but the result is beautiful.

For the pickles:

1kg zucchini, finely diced
1 red capsicum, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced.

Mix in non reactive bowl and pour over 1/4 cup salt. Mix salt in and stand veggies for 2 or more hours.

Drain well.

In a non reactive saucepan add:

2 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
2 teaspoons tumeric
2 teaspoons mustard powder

Add the very well drained veggie mix and simmer for 20 mins.

Thicken with 1 tablespoon cornflour mixed with a little vinegar.

Cook for another 5 mins to thicken.

Pour into sterilized jars and store in cool, dark place until ready to use.

Unlike a lot of other pickle type things, this one can be eaten once cooled and is so good.

Home made sweet chilli sauce

I never thought such a beautiful sauce was so simple. I have a crazy amount of yellow banana chillis and had no idea what to do with them...that was until I visited my local library and borrowed the AWW The Complete Cook. What a great book!

This recipe is my adaptation of their sweet chilli sauce recipe and it packs quite a punch!

6 large banana chillis, very finely diced
1 small knob of ginger, very finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 cup white sugar
1 cup white vinegar.

Mix all ingredients, boil at a slow boil for approx 20 mins or until nice and thick.

Pour into sterilized bottle. Store in fridge.

Makes about 1 cup.

You could just about use any type of chilli, just be careful of the heat level in the chilli.

Peach and oat muffins

I made these sweet treats today to use up some rather ripe peaches. Super simple and the result is superb. Perfect hot out of the oven...or as we will be doing this evening, served warm with some ice cream! Yummo!

Recipe is adapted from a blog on Foodgawker.com

Peachy muffins

Makes 12 mid size muffins

Heat oven to 200degC.

Line 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.

In one bowl, mix together:

1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg
1/3 cup veggie oil or melted butter

Mix and allow to stand for 15mins.

In another bowl mix together:

1/2 brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Dice flesh of 3 mid sized peaches (approx 350g)

Mix dry ingredients into the oat mix, then add diced peaches.

Put mix into muffin papers (fill to almost full).

Bake at 200degC for around 20 mins or until lovely and golden.

White chocolate and ginger cookies

Adapted from my great Aunty Idas recipe.

Ingredients

250g butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
200g white chocolate, roughly chopped
50g glace ginger, finely chopped
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour

Process

Cream butter and sugars until very pale. Add condensed milk and vanilla. Mix. Add flour. Mix well. Fold in chocolate and ginger.

Drop teaspoon fulls of mix onto lined baking trays. Bake at 180degC for approx 10 mins. Cookies should be nice and golden.

Cool and store in an air tight container for up to 5 days.

Makes approx 4 dozen cookies.

Kim and Micks birthday cakes 2009

Made fabulous orange and almond cupcakes for Kims birthday and decorated with marshmallow flowers.

Added some coloured smarties to the plate to give it a little bit of life too!




For Micks birthday in November I made my first of the black forest cakes...this one is such a cheaters version using a packet of Arnotts choc ripple biscuits, tin of black cherries and a heap of whipped cream!

It's an update on the old Golliwog/Scalliwag cake that we all loved so much as kids!