"The Claytons Blog"

Never arrive empty handed

2012-01-20T10:25:00.000+11:00

On a bit of a spur of the moment a new friend rang and invited the children over for a play. Master Three and my friend's Mister Two have been firm friends at playgroup, sharing a love of Thomas the Tank Engine. Naturally Master Six and Miss Eight were keen to go for a play-date and make friends with little Misters Eight and Ten. New toys, new house to explore, new friends, what more could you want?

I scrabbled around checking pantry and fridge for ingredients, what could I whip up and take along that would be ready quickly? Yes, you know it, MUFFINS. The quick peruse had left me with an idea of what I could make, so I opened Taste.com.au and voila! I'd keyed in 'white chocolate, blackberries' which were two ingredients that were plentiful. I didn't even bother entering the word 'muffins', but had the option of creating white chocolate and berry tartlets, white chocolate mousse and pistachio millefeuille, rosewater panna cotta with poached berries AND the perfect choice for moi White Chocolate and Blackberry Muffins. We could be out the door within 45 minutes, getting the children ready to go while the muffins bake. I now share the simple recipe as I made it, with you:

White Chocolate and Blackberry Muffins

300g (2 metric cups) plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
110g (1/2 metric cup) raw caster sugar
125g white chocolate bits
2 eggs
250ml buttermilk*
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
100g butter
150g frozen blackberries (don't thaw beforehand)

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12 x 1/2 cup capacity muffin pan.

Pop the butter into a large microwave-proof jug (I use Pyrex) and melt gently, set aside for a moment, don't worry about any not quite melted bits of butter, it should continue to melt as it sits.

Pop the flour, baking powder, sugar and choc bits into a mixing bowl and stir until well combined.

Whisk the eggs in with the butter (it shouldn't be so hot as to risk cooking the eggs) and then add the buttermilk and vanilla bean paste and whisk once more until all combined.

Drop the frozen berries into the flour mixture and pour over the wet ingredients. Stir it all together until just combined and spoon into the prepared muffin holes.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (mine took the full 30) or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a middle muffin comes out clean.

Stand for a few minutes in the tray before turning the muffins out onto a wire rack.

Serve warm...ideally
Makes 12 muffins

*I felt this mixture was a little too dry and think I would increase the amount of buttermilk in future by just a tablespoon or two.

I am not someone who would ever want to sit down with a block of white chocolate and just chow down. I mean, even if I am in an indulgent mood, I just don't fancy white chocolate. I have found however that it can have it's place, when combined with a tart fruit, and this combination is a perfect example.

Just quietly, I think my children ate more than their fair share of these muffins! They were supposed to be a 'gift' but I wonder how giving it is if you hand over a dozen muffins and then your three children each eat two??? Oh well, I will defend myself by saying it's the thought that counts.

Now, a bit of a negative here. Because the mixture was quite thick, it ended up being overworked because if I see a dry patch of flour I have to get rid of it. I was aware it was being overworked, but it couldn't be helped. This is why I think it just needs to be a bit wetter - and I was using over sized eggs too. Anyway, the end result was that the muffins weren't as fluffy as they should have been, thankfully not rubbery, but I've made better muffins, so absolutely some extra buttermilk would be the way to go. Mind you, the children or my friend were either oblivious or too polite to agree with my assessment that they could have been a little fluffier. Goes to show, even an imperfect home-baked good is eagerly enjoyed.

Will it be cardboard for breakfast?

2012-01-18T10:23:00.001+11:00

Sometimes I want to make a recipe just because I am curious to know what it would taste like. While I usually choose a recipe based on the fact it sounds delicious, today I have a recipe that I can't imagine the flavours of because many ingredients are unfamiliar to me. I want to give it a go BECAUSE of this though. Now that I think about it, I do somewhat have an expectation of the taste, and it's not all that positive in truth! A few of the ingredients look like Rice Bubbles and even when I was a little girl, I thought they tasted of nothing much at all. So, the recipe itself is just a measure and stir job. Perfect as it's a breakfast. Made in quantities that mean it could be made ahead of time and simply stored in an airtight container.

Here are the ingredients I am using (noting that a couple of them are my inclusions):

The unfamiliar ingredients here are the puffed amaranth, puffed millet, millet rice flakes and LSA.

The recipe is gluten-free. As far as I know, none of the family have a gluten intolerance, but that doesn't mean we HAVE to eat gluten does it? I had hoped that in making this recipe, it wouldn't end up tasting like an apology for a recipe using gluten - like the first gluten-free breads that I heard were not worth trying. I saw the recipe on Good Chef Bad Chef, the premise of which is that the 'bad chef' cooks unhealthy food and the 'good chef' make healthier options. I still dislike the idea that some food is 'bad', but that doesn't mean I can't choose the healthier options sometimes. In fact, the recipe Adrian 'Bad Chef' Richardson (a chef I am a huge fan of - his restaurant is La Luna Bistro in Carlton North) DID look OTT even to me. It was a 'big breakfast with oatcakes' and the 'garnish' included;

2 blood Sausage

2 pork sausage

6 Eggs

200 gms thick cut Bacon

4 field Mushroom

2 cooked Nicola Potato

1 large ox heart Tomato

2 red onions

all cooked in goose fat! Perhaps a dish to share.

Anyway, the recipe I chose this time was a muesli, here's my take:

Light and Puffy Muesli

Metric cup measures are 250ml, Australian tablespoons are 20ml.

1 cup puffed amaranth (or puffed quinoa)

1 ½ cups puffed millet

2 cups organic millet rice flakes

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)

1 tbsp LSA (linseed [aka flaxseed], sunflower seed and almonds ground up together)

generous ¼ cup chopped walnuts or your favourite nut

1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple

1 tbsp goji berries

1 tbsp dried cranberries

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Serve with your preferred options, such as almond milk, low fat milk, rice milk, fresh fruit, goat milk, yoghurt etc.

Makes about 350g which sounds like nothing, but it IS 'light and puffy'! The volume measure this makes is about a liter. Clearly though, the quantity of ingredients I bought was enough to make far more. I will store the LSA in the freezer, and make this muesli a few more times I think.

This is really good. I admit, freely, that the two puffed ingredients do have a touch of Rice Bubble about them, but because of the other ingredients that light addition really works. My children can find the goji berries a little tart on their own, this was the main reason for the addition of the pineapple, but I liked the extra sweetness too. I had mine with low fat milk and passionfruit yoghurt. I am curious to experiment with the alternatives to cow milk too - this seems like the perfect cereal to do this with.

I read about the ingredients to see if there was any point using them apart from the gluten-free reasoning. Things like 'essential nutrients', 'micro-nutrients', 'high quality protein', Omega 3 fatty acids, and of course flavour - surely still the most important reason.

So for everyday eating, when you don't feel like a 'big breakfast' this might make a great substitute. It's somehow both light and filling, I know nuts seem to leave a feeling of fullness, but I can't help feeling those light as a feather ingredients may be giving me a satisfied filling? Don't know, don't care, but it's working for me. And so, to answer my title question, 'Will it be cardboard for breakfast?' No! Great change for breakfast, not cardboardy at all, I really do think this was a worthwhile experiment. Thanks to the author of the recipe Janella Purcell who's views on food I may not always agree with, but she certainly knows her way around a health food shop!

A spot of camping

2012-01-16T09:52:00.000+11:00

For the first time ever, we took our children camping. Friends of ours have a lovely property near Korumburra. It was perfect as I could still have a shower and sleep in a bed while the children slept in the tent with Daddy. They had a ball playing with the puppy, patting the chickens, caring for the ponies, helping build the fire, find the perfect marshmallow sticks - oh and toasting sticks, which you know need 'three prongs not two or four!'. I think my children are learning to be pedantic like their Mummy! They listened hard for signs the local giant earthworms were about, to no avail sadly.

'Chook-chook', well what other name would she have? This darling old chicken, hung around us ready and waiting to take a bit of crust or salad whenever we needed her - she gave the puppy a run for her money!
At night the kidlets tried to name the different frogs we could hear croaking, spot koalas (no success) or possums (multiple successes) in the trees. The weather was perfect. On our last day we took a ride on the tourist train. This was a special highlight for Master Three who's a huge train fan like his Pa. What has this to do with cooking? Not a lot. But I have a recipe without images. The only photo I took of food was of a platter of ice cream toppings which the children insisted was too beautiful NOT to photograph:

Is camping supposed to be about 'roughing it' or 'indulging it'? Our three were happy to go with a little from column 'A' and plenty from column 'B'!

I wasn't in 'food blogger' mode, but today, I am thinking that this recipe should be recorded. The friends we were visiting only made one request, that was to cook a pork dish I had cooked a decade earlier! Initially I was completely blank as to which recipe this was. My friend assured me that it was delicious and that she never eats pork, but if I made this recipe, she would love it. After much investigating, I found the recipe she spoke of. It helped that The Lovely Man remembered the dish too (pork is his favourite meat). So, I bring you the recipe so memorable to apparently everyone but me, but upon tasting, I am sure I will be making it again soon.

Making breakfast; the three-pronged stick was an essential for perfect toast.
Before I start, I will mention, this calls for a bottled sauce. I find the best flavour is found in Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce). It is very salty (so please, avoid adding salt to the recipe if you try it) but it is by far, the best version of this sauce in my opinion.

Cha Siu Pork

2 fillets of pork (weight will be around 600g or 700g)
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 tsp microplaned ginger
3 cloves garlic microplaned
1 x 20ml tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 x 20ml tbsp soy sauce (salt-reduced soy works well here if you have it)
1/4 cup char siu sauce

Trim the pork fillets of all the sinew and slice finely.

Combine all the other ingredients (except the oil) either in a snap-lock bag that will fit the pork or a shallow dish.

Add the pork to the marinade and leave for about half an hour.

Remove the pork from the marinade.

Heat a wok or BBQ plate to very hot, add the oil and fry the pork (in batches if in a wok) and cook until just cooked and brown.

Serve with a crispy salad or steamed greens.

Serves 6

In theory, leftovers are delicious in a flatbread with some cucumber and finely sliced spring onion. I wrote this in my notes, so I am not sure if we have ever HAD leftovers to give this a go.

It goes without saying for me, that the recipe needs to be made with sweet female pork. I am pretty confident that my friend has the same dislike of boar-taint that I do, and that is why she thinks she wont eat pork. She's eaten this recipe made by me - someone who only uses female pork, so she just thinks it's the recipe not the meat that is working for her. The aromatic, sweet and salty marinade certainly helps, it's yummy, and the only reason I stopped making it is because I keep finding new recipes to try. If you don't like or eat pork, or can't be confident you can find female pork, you could use chicken thigh fillets for this recipe.

Finding out just how much work it would be to care for a pony.

The children got to see the view from the front of the train, and find out that it's a very wobbly place to be - oh and loud thanks to the train horn being 'right there'!

Somewhat of a rest day today for the children. The Lovely Man is back at work, as am I washing a heap of clothing and an Esky. Everything we took smells of smoke which has lost it's charm for me. Still, the memories will override that in no time I'm sure. If nothing else, perhaps I will now remember this pork recipe.

Main meal salad

2012-01-13T19:54:00.001+11:00

I haven't been cooking meals that are 10g of fat or less lately. That will happen again come school time. That doesn't mean that I am over-indulging any longer either. I am looking at lower fat recipes, the kind of food I would like to think is the way I can enjoy food most of my life. Tonight's recipe is perfect Friday night fodder. The Australian Women's Weekly has brought out a lot of mini-cookbooks and this book is titled Summer Salads, it's not a new one. It's not strictly low fat, but ranges from super-low fat: with it's Green Papaya Salad at 7g of fat, Char-Grilled Beef Salad for just 8.7g of fat or Roasted Pumpkin, Sesame and Rocket Salad at 7.2g of fat. The higher fat, more indulgent salads like: Mediterranean Chicken Salad coming in at 60.1g of fat or (topping them all) the Avocado Caesar Salad's 75.2g of fat are perhaps now best saved for special occasions. The vast majority though, are sensible, something I am sure Goldilocks would approve of, 'not to low fat, not too high fat'. So it is with the recipe tonight at 18.4g of fat:

Sesame Chicken Salad

150g snow peas, trimmed (or failing that, sugar snaps)
100g snow pea sprouts, cut in half
400g shredded cooked chicken*
2 cups bean shoots**
2-4 trimmed celery stalks (200g worth) sliced thinly
4 spring onions, sliced thinly
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
For the dressing
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
pinch salt flakes
2 tbsp flavourless oil (I used light olive, recipe suggests peanut)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp kecap manis
1 tbsp lime juice

Blanch the snow peas by pouring boiling water over them, draining the water away and then plunging the peas into iced water. Leave the peas in the cold water for 2 minutes before draining them. Slice the peas and put them in a large bowl.

Add to the peas the snow pea sprouts, chicken, bean shoots (or capsicum in my case - see ** note), celery and spring onions. Toss it all about.

Pour about half the dressing over the salad and toss together. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle over the sesame seeds, and take the remaining dressing to the table for people to help themselves.

For the dressing: Whisk together all the ingredients.

Serves 4-5

*Recipe suggests using a bought BBQ chicken. Rather than that, I poached my own skinless chicken breast fillets in a broth of spring onions, chilli, lime zest, five spice and white pepper.
**I completely forgot the bean shoots when I went shopping, so used an orange capsicum which I sliced up.

Ready for the table.

With the sweet soy (kecap manis), five-spice and sesame oil, along with the crunchy raw veg, this is a huge tempter for the kidlets. It's their favourite sort of meal really. Add to this the pleasure they get from being able to spoon on their own extra dressing, and you are sure to see this meal disappear in no time flat. We didn't have anything at all with this meal. It means you leave the table feeling satisfied without that 'augh I've eaten' feeling. Is it a Japanese tradition that you should leave the table feeling as if you've eaten to about 75% fullness? This is that kind of meal I think....well unless you tuck in all by yourself - which would be easy!

Some of our snow peas had quite large peas within. I found it easier with these, to pod these peas before chopping (after blanching) - when I tried to slice them with the larger peas within, the peas just went flying all over the place!

Using ingredients like celery and snow pea sprouts (above) makes the meal FEEL like it's doing me good. It helps that the flavours are spot on too of course.

Having used only half the dressing initially, it leaves me free to ease up on the amount of fat I have in this dish. Even if I drizzle another half a teaspoon over, I suspect it keeps the amount of oil to nearer to 10g of fat, while I still feel like this is a 'normal' rather than 'diet' dinner. This food makes me smile a most contented, self-satisfied grin. Yum.

Now this is what I call leftovers! Toad in the Hole

2012-01-11T05:37:00.000+11:00

What a great name! Toad in the Hole.

I wonder where that name came from? Maybe because the sausages look like toads sticking their head out of a pond or something but either way it's a great name, a great British dish. Again, something I have never made.

An interesting concept really, a Yorkshire batter that you place browned sausages, of your choice, I am not going to be regimented here, and bake in the oven and then eat with gravy.

Does it sound appealing? It may, it may not but you know curiosity always gets the better of me and since I am on that, if I have never made it cook it theme I did.

I think the motivation came from watching Nigella reruns over the Christmas break, I can't remember but before I knew it I was looking for sausages in the freezer that I could use. I had some beef ones that my husband one at lawn bowls so I thought - yeah, why not.

I did use Nigellas' Yorkshire batter recipe, which is Sophie Grigsons' method, and that means making the batter "backwards. No, you don't need to be a contortionist it just means whipping the eggs and milk and then adding the flour rather than flour first.

Then I just "freestyled" how I would make my toads but used Nigellas' recipe as the basis!

Here is how!

Toad in the Hole

Batter

350mls milk
4 eggs
punch salt
250 grams plain flour
20mls Vegetable oil

Toads

6 sausages of your preference (lamb, beef, pork or chicken) or even a combination
1 large onion cut into thin slices

Method

Preheat oven to 220c and using a 20 x 30cm roasting tin add the vegetable oil and place in the oven to get hot. Really hot.

Now make the batter.

In a mix master add the egg, salt and milk and using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium speed for several minutes until it is well combined and has a lot of air in it. Then add the flour and whisk again until your batter is smooth.

Set aside.

Now to the toads

Slice the onions and place in a pan on medium heat with a little oil just to soften. Meanwhile, take your sausages out of their casing and make smaller sausages out of them. So, with my six I now had 12.

Place them in the pan with the onions and brown on both sides just for a minute or 2.

Now be quick.....take the hot roasting pan out of the oven, place the onions and sausages into the roasting tin, spread evenly and then pour the batter over the sausages.

Return the tin back into the oven and watch the magic happen!

It will take around 30-40 minutes.

It will puff up, and that's why I do use Nigella/Sophie's way as it never seems to fail.

Mine took 30 minutes to be lovely dark crispy and divine!

Take out of the oven, cut into serving size slabs, nothing delicate about it, and pour gravy over it, lots of it. You need it. Some greens if you wish, or just the toad, in it's hole.

This really is a got to recipe and I did wonder if you could use other types of meat other than sausages but then, why fiddle with it.

Leftovers, now there is a wonderful thing. We did have them and all I did was place it back into a 180c oven for 10-15 minutes covered with foil. It was crisp and even more delicious the next day.

What is Risotto all about?

2012-01-08T07:19:00.001+11:00

Lately, I have been cooking things that I have NEVER had. Not sure why really. Maybe because, you should always try something once, maybe because of peer pressure but with Risotto, it was all about understanding what the fuss was all about.

I just didn't get it, why do people rave over "mushy rice" (yes I know it's not suppose to be that) , well it can be in some parts of Italy but you know what I mean.

A bowl of what ostensibly is just rice, with some other things thrown in.

Now I could say fried rice is like that and I enjoy eating that, and, to be honest, that was why I actually took the step to make it and see, if I really did like it.

Recently my husband had risotto at a restaurant and whilst he liked it, admitted it was quite filling.

A group of fellow foodies were discussing risotto online and that further made me make it because of how many loved it. A couple of dissenters, and to be honest it's where I sat, but until you make it how do you know?

So many ways to make risotto and is there a wrong or right way?

What happens if I was left with a pile of mush?

I turned to a person who I think has such a great attitude to cooking and that is Jo Seagar, a New Zealand cook/chef/writer. Just love her no nonsense and easy approach to all things cooking and baking.

I was given a signed copy of her latest book Italia.

Jo writes about risotto "Every Italian has a strong view on risotto and a what a perfect risotto should be like. Some make theirs so the grains of rice have a slight crunch, others prefer very soft and soupy. They are all correct and you just make it how it tastes best to you."

That was all the inspiration I needed. So it is a matter of personal preference and not some hard and fast rule.

On that basis I used her basic risotto recipe and went from there.......

I used Arborio rice.

Risotto - for 1 serving

500mls stock
100grams of rice

That's it! as I was making for 2 I doubled it.

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
a knob of Butter
Pinch salt
1 onion
Garlic to your preference but say 2 cloves finely chopped
250mls wine

Method

As Jo says and I have to agree, your risotto is only as good as the stock that you have. Now normally, I have home made stock but not today, just had some chicken consomme. I like it but never as good as home made.

Anyway, heat the stock in a pot, you need this to be hot and simmering as you add it to the rice.

In another pan (can you believe they actually make a risotto pan)? I just used a large frying pan.

Place the olive oil and butter in the frying pan and allow to heat a little.

Add the onion and garlic and salt and cook until onion is soft but not brown.

Now add your rice and coat with the oil, butter, onion and garlic mixture. This is called the tostatura phase.

Add the wine and allow it to completely absorb before adding the stock.

Now slowly add, a ladle at a time the stock, stirring and allowing the stock to be absorbed before adding the next.

It should take around 25 minutes.

Start testing the rice at 20 minutes, because you want it how you want it.

To add ingredients to your basic risotto follow this simple rule. Hard ingredients such as mushrooms, bacon etc add early on so that the flavour is absorbed into the rice.

Delicate items add once you have a risotto texture you are happy with.

Once perfect, take it off the heat and allow to cool for a minute or two before adding and butter or Parmesan cheese.

That's it! Serve.

In mine I had onion, garlic, bacon, peas, corn.

I wasn't able to get photos through each step but next time I will.

So the verdict?

I liked it....I can't say I loved it though.

Lesson learned, use less salt. That was my error no one else.

I like how I cooked the rice, for me a little crunch and not mushy.

Would I have this as a staple in my house, probably not but I would think to make it again when I felt the urge. I certainly no longer "hate" it and I now "get" it.

Really with this basic recipe you just add and you are only limited by your imagination and I think that's I will make it again, the hunt for the perfect risotto additions to make it amazing.

Thanks Jo for stepping me through the process, for making it simple and for allowing me to move out of my comfort zone and make something I never have before!

Chicken was the meal, but the chick peas starred

2012-01-07T00:02:00.000+11:00

Chicken by Ian Thorpe - I'd never have guessed I'd have a cookbook by one of Australia's most celebrated swimmers. Actually, I ended up veering a fair way off the path of his recipe, but I am certainly inspired by a recipe in Ian Thorpe Cook for your Life. Hard to resist a roast chicken recipe in all it's variations. Using Page 114 of the book as my inspiration, this is what I made for our special Friday night meal.

Couscous Stuffed Spiced Roast Chicken

1 x 1.8kg chicken
1 brown onion
240g/ 1/2 metric cup couscous
zest from 1/2 small lemon
1/2 tsp microplaned ginger
salt flakes to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon flaked almonds, toasted

1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
125ml verjuice or white wine
Optional: 1 tin of chickpeas and two chunkily diced tomatoes to serve.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Remove the fatty flap from back end of the chicken before washing and drying the chicken well.

Slice the onion into 1/2 cm rounds and lay them on a roasting tray, covering enough of the tray to be a base for the chicken later.

Combine the couscous, lemon, ginger, salt, pepper olive oil and 250ml boiling water into a bowl, stir it about, cover and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous up, add the coriander and almonds and set aside.

In a small bowl bowl, stir together the paprika, cinnamon, cumin and coriander.

Put a teaspoon of the spice mixture into the couscous and stir it in well.

Stuff the chicken with the couscous mixture and use a toothpick to seal the cavity. Truss the chicken with string, ensuring the wings are tucked in next to the breast.

Place the chicken breast down on the 'trivet' of onions. Sprinkle a few teaspoons worth of the spice mixture over the uppermost side of the chicken, sprinkle over salt flakes to taste. Pour the verjuice into the roasting tray around the chicken.

Bake the chicken for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven, very carefully turn the chicken over*, sprinkling the remaining spice mixture over the breast side of the chicken before returning for another 45 minutes cooking.

*I find the easiest way to turn a chicken is to use a wooden fork at the cavity end, and a small wooden spoon at the neck end, turning the chicken feet up and over, rather than turning like a rotisserie.

The onion imprints are hidden below the blanket of spices.

Take the chicken from the oven, check to see that it's cooked, and if ready set aside to rest for 10 minutes. (Optional) Remove the onion from the tray with a slotted spoon. Roughly chop the onions and add them to a previously drained and rinsed tin of chickpeas, two tomatoes that you've cut into chunks, a pinch of salt maybe a squeeze of lemon and a handful of chopped coriander.

Chop the chicken into pieces to serve with a simple salad (we had baby cos, cucumber and capsicum), the onion and chickpea salad if using and of course the stuffing.

Serves 6

The spices look darker in the image than they were in reality. Shocking shot in all, the plate looks dirty - if you can tell considering it's out of focus - clearly (or UNclearly) I am out of practice with blogging about my cooking. Anyway, the chicken was delicious. I think, if Ian Thorpe was served this for tea, he might still recognise this meal by the spice blend. I really enjoyed the salad I made to use up the onions (I hate to waste), the combination was a winner. The chicken was moist, though I should have taken more care to cover the sides of the chicken with the spices. Having said that, I note that the image in the cookbook shows that chicken was equally patchy on the sides.

Very enjoyable meal, I love spices when they are unapologetic like this. But once again, the star here, if I do say so, was that simple addition of salad on the side. Yay for me!

Salad days

2012-01-05T15:45:00.010+11:00

The epic cooking event for Master Six yesterday included a couple of salads. My children make a lot of salads, but usually they are more free stylin', which suits children as they are always proud of their own creations. Being constrained (somewhat) by a recipe is quite a different way of cooking. I figure however, as Master Six can read, he should have a go now and then at doing exactly that.

Pasta and Egg Salad

250g spiral pasta (I'm still contented with the high fibre version)
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1/2 small red capsicum
1/2 small yellow capsicum
4 spring onions, finely chopped
small handful parsley leaves, chopped
2/3 cup mayonnaise (we went with half 'real' mayo and half low fat)
3 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste, originally it was 1 tbsp, but the extra worked for us)
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
5 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters and each quarter cut into 3

Cook pasta just short of suggested cooking time on packet by about a minute, throw in a cup of cold water, and drain immediately. Set aside to cool.

Combine pasta, celery, red and yellow capsicum, spring onions and parsley in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl combine the mayonnaise, mustard, juice, salt and pepper together, whisking well*.

Pour over the pasta and stir together gently.

Finally add the chopped egg, and stir again, gently, until it's all combined.

Serves 6
Ideal with leftover Christmas ham or turkey or perfect as a barbie side.

*Have to be honest here, if it were me, making it, I'd just toss the lot into a bowl (aside from the eggs) and mix it all together, but whisking is too much fun for a child to miss out!

It looks like an enormous amount of mayo, but it all gets sucked into the pasta.

I like that this recipe gives me a hit of pasta at a 'normal' quantity. Half a packet (between the five of us) is reasonable, certainly much better than the whole packet I used to serve.

Celery is not the most popular vegetable in this house, but there are just some dishes that you feel it really does work - like fried rice. This is one such dish, nobody minds that there is celery in it, the crunch, and the flavour are perfect fits here.

This was one of two salads we enjoyed this night, the other being a leafier, lighter dish. Master Six did a fine job of sticking to the recipe while being aware to taste and adjust in need. His only alteration to the original Taste.com.au version was to decide there should be an egg for each person (so 5 instead of 4) and, after tasting, thinking the dressing needed more lemon juice..that's my boy!

Having enough salad leftover for Daddy to take to work the next day, you could just see Master Six's eyes light up as his father eagerly packed his lunchbox with pasta. It's these moments you know, the ones that don't immediately seem significant but if you look closer you can see something special has just happened. I think that will be one of 'those' memories for our Beautiful Boy.

What to do with egg whites XVIII

2012-01-04T19:10:00.000+11:00

Master Six has enjoyed a day of 'cooking' all our meals today. Starting from his cereal and sliced banana through to avocado on toast for lunch, and a couple of salads for tea he's been very productive. I can tell you with absolute certainty however, this recipe was his favourite of the day!

Annabel Langbein in The free range cook has this delightful recipe for a cake that is light and oven free. Perfect for a six year old to make with minimal help from his mother.

Strawberry Cloud Cake

For the base
150g plain sweet biscuits (we used Butternut Snaps)
50g desiccated coconut
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
100g butter, softened
For the filling
2 egg whites, at room temperature
250g sugar
250g (1 punnet) ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Line the base of a 26cm spring-form tin with baking paper.

You could easily break the biscuits with a rolling pin and stir through the butter, but Master Six is just such a BOY - he loves a bit of machinery noise in the kitchen.

Put the biscuits, coconut and cinnamon into a food processor bowl and mix until it's a fine rubble. Add the melted butter and mix about for another moment until all well combined.

Pour the biscuit mixture into the lined tin and press down until it's all even. Pop into the freezer until ready to top with the filling.

Base smoothed out and ready for the freezer. The few larger white bits you can see are shredded coconut as we didn't have quite enough desiccated coconut left.

Put all the filling ingredients; egg whites, sugar, strawberries, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste, into the bowl of a free standing mixer.

Switch on the mixer to low and gradually turn it up to full power.

Leave it to mix for anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes depending on the power of your machine. You will know when the mixture is ready as there wont be a grainy feeling if you rub the egg whites between your fingers (the sugar needs to dissolve). Ours took about 3 minutes.

Checking the mixture for smoothness, Master Six tells me it feels silky - perfect.

Pour and scrape the marshmallowy mixture onto the biscuit base and smooth over.

Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, though overnight or at least a full day is probably safest.

Remove from freezer and tin, top with strawberries and serve immediately. Once cut, ensure any remaining cake is returned to freezer if it's not all to be eaten in the one sitting. It will keep for a month in a sealed container.

Makes 10 - 12 slices

While a contrast of textures is welcomed, the frozen biscuit base was a step too far against the super light and delicate filling.

A delicious dessert certainly, though very sweet (perfect for children). I was glad we'd macerated the strawberries for the top in vino cotto. What didn't work for us was the base. At least, having it on a footed cake stand made things impossible to cut. There is no waiting around for the base to soften as the filling is already softening. Perhaps it would be better served as separate components. A frozen strawberry mousse with a biscuit to dip in perhaps? We each found that it was easiest to eat the filling first, and then tuck into the base with our fingers - our cake spoons couldn't cut through.

Well done to Master Six. The issues we had with this sweet were nothing to do with how he worked in the kitchen. He was very proud of himself as well he should be I think, a lot of steps, a lot of tasks and all done with a bit of natural ability...says a proud Mum!

Brushetta, bruschetta, let's call the whole thing off - or let's eat

2012-01-03T12:00:00.000+11:00

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I am not managing my brand new KitchenAid as well as I expected I would. I thought I might try a recipe from the KitchenAid website specifically made using their machine to ensure correct results. While I did end up with a pretty yummy dish at the end of things, I struggled a bit with the blender itself. I'm going to blame, in part, the instructions provided by the site. For instance, the website instructs 'Select the symbol for blending on the pad, process quickly to chop.'. I had my instruction booklet to hand, so looked to it to work out which symbol was the 'blending' option. My choices however were 'stir', 'chop', 'mix', 'puree', 'liquefy', 'crush ice' and 'pulse', not a single 'blend' option there. No worries, I went with the 'chop' option simply because that word was at least used in the line! Things were still looking OK, so when I came to the step to 'puree for 6 seconds or until desired texture'. Using the puree option, I did indeed end up with a puree in the centre, while the edges (thankfully) were still chunky. The smoothness of the ingredients nearest the blades would be a desired thing for certain dishes, but it wasn't what I was looking for here.

I suspect these different method options are next to useless really. It's a blender and it will blend. I think that this recipe, which, overall like, will be made in my food processor next time! When I tried to transfer the mixture to a bowl I managed somehow to remove the goblet from the base, so it was kinda fortunate that the bottom of the mixture was rather gluey!!

One final curiosity for me of the website was that the recipe was making a 'brushetta' when I always thought it was a 'bruschetta' and called for 'cannonellini' beans rather than 'cannellini'. Yes I know, I'm starting to sound anal and pedantic now, so enough said. Besides with a few tweaks I think this will be a delicious largely pantry standby recipe, though this would mean you have fresh oregano in your garden. Here's my idea then:

White Bean Tuna Bruschetta

2 spring onions, roughly chopped
finely microplaned zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon
2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves roughly chopped
400g tin cannellini beans, drained
185g tin tuna in oil, drained lightly
1 dessertspoon mayonnaise
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
to serve
Crusty bread, griddled or toasted rubbed with a cut garlic cloves
1 ripe tomato, finely sliced
extra virgin olive oil

Put the spring onions, lemon zest and oregano leaves in a blender goblet (or food processor bowl) and whizz about for a moment to chop.

Add half the lemon juice, drained beans and olive oil. Blend or process for just a second or two, stop and scrap down the sides.

Put the tuna, mayonnaise and salt and pepper to your taste in with the beans and once again whizz about for just a few seconds. Scrape down the sides, taste and add the extra juice if you think it needs it.

Spread some of the bean and tuna mixture onto the griddled bread, lay a few slices of the tomato and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil before serving.

Makes 1 1/2 cups
Could also be used as a dip - particularly if you blend this to a smoother consistency deliberately or accidentally (!)

I've cut back on the mayonnaise by about half, and, in fact, I think I would now only use the mayo if I wanted it as a dip, but for a bruschetta topping, I think the mayo could be omitted entirely. I personally felt that the juice of a whole lemon worked better than just half, best then, just to taste and adjust to your liking of course.

The bottom line is that this tastes delicious I think, aside from the original version having too much mayonnaise, and not struggling with the blender I'd be thrilled. Master Six, who's SO not a fan of tinned fish could enjoy this mixture happily as the beans (and probably mayo) diluted the fishiness sufficiently.

I really like recipes like this, the quick family friendly, pantry option. Relatively healthy too, a good thing as we gradually glide our way back to sensible eating.

Hot weather treat

2012-01-02T12:03:00.000+11:00

Here's an easy idea that's quick to make (though takes time to freeze) and can be done with the 'help' of children if you so desire. A recipe from Delicious Magazine via Taste.com.au that is a healthy treat, and perfect for stinking hot days like today here in Melbourne. 3 ingredients too. Ticking all of my favourite boxes!

Frosty Watermelon Wedges

1/2 small watermelon still on it's rind
160g (1/2 metric cup) jam (recipe suggests strawberry, I used blackberry)
200g desiccated coconut

Cut the watermelon into wedges into thicknesses of about 2cm each. I did this by just cutting along the centre of the watermelon and then having Miss Eight cutting each half into wedges from there.

The thickness of the wedges isn't a big issue, smaller or larger - or indeed smaller AND larger is fine!
Warm the jam in the microwave for about 30 seconds, I had to do an extra 10 seconds in my glass bowl.

Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.

Using a pastry brush, spread the jam over the flesh of the watermelon.

Absolutely the most popular job without doubt was the painting of the jam onto the watermelon.
Dunk each of the edges into the desiccated coconut so that it looks all snowy white.

This step is a little more of a challenge than you might first think. Trying to hold onto the rind so as not to leave fingerprints in the coconutty jam can cause fits of cute laughter!

Leave on the lined baking sheet and place into the freezer for about an hour (or more if that works for you - my children found waiting an hour quite long enough for their first serve).

Serve directly from the freezer and makes about 14 wedges

Ready for the freezer, and the hardest step of all............waiting...and waiting...and in my case hearing 'are the Frosty Watermelons ready yet?'!

Sending the children outside (in the shade) to eat these is a good idea just quietly. Obviously you can use whichever jam you like here, I wasn't avoiding strawberry jam, I simply didn't have any. Blackberry jam worked just fine for us because we LIKE it, I was imagining that plum jam would be delicious too. Fun to make, delicious and refreshing to eat, if only I owned a blast freezer so that we'd need only wait minutes!!

Take it off the bone...

2012-01-01T23:52:00.000+11:00

...and put it on a stick, and my family are happy. Chicken that is. I made a couple of different versions of chicken satay for us to enjoy as part of our New Year's Eve barbie. A barbie, even if only a gas powered version, makes things taste even better than they might anyway. No idea how this happens, but it does, and for that I am grateful. Grateful too, that with these currently sweltering conditions, it means we can leave the cooking to the outside - even if we then sneak back into the air conditioning to eat!

The very colourful first recipe I made comes from Ian Thorpe (yes really) who has a cookbook titled Cook for your life. Sounded to me as if it would be just my kind of cooking. I am particularly keen to try the Cool Thai Curry Soup which is made using coconut juice and is not only served cold, but is a raw recipe. I may not find anyone in my family willing to try a cold raw soup with me though - I'll get back to you on that one. This recipe was using chicken tenderloins, but I always feel thigh meat is best for such recipes. I know, I know the fat, but the meat from the thighs has lots of nutrients which I am sure are good for me, so for an indulgent meal (party time) I had to go with the most flavoursome version. So, apart from the cut of chicken, the only other alteration I made to this recipe was to cut back on the black pepper. I halved it to ensure the children would still enjoy it.

Chicken Thigh Skewers

2 tsp black peppercorns
12 coriander roots, well cleaned and chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tsp salt flakes
2 tsp castor sugar
6 x 20ml tbsp flavourless oil
2 x 20ml tbsp ground turmeric
1 kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of excess fat
coriander leaves and lemon to serve

Combine the peppercorns, coriander roots, garlic, salt and sugar in a generously proportioned mortar. Pound all the ingredients together well until you have a coarse paste with bits of black peppercorns still visible.

Cut each thigh fillet into four and place in a bowl, pour over the oil, sprinkle over the turmeric and add the coriander paste. Stir it all together well, cover and refrigerate until required. A couple of hours will do here.

If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for at least half an hour.

Thread about three pieces of thigh onto each skewer, having the skewer run the length of each piece of chicken.

Cook on a preheated barbecue for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve garnished with roughly chopped coriander and wedges of lemon.

Serves 6

I really appreciate the combination of black pepper and coriander root. One of my most favourite Thai pastes is using these two ingredients, and this dish was reminiscent of those flavours. Thais used black peppercorns for eons before they were introduced to chillies, so it's a very Thai flavour.

The second recipe comes from a generic book titled Chicken Meals, that's as much as I'll say about the bargain bin book as I messed around with it significantly feeling, as I went along, there wasn't enough flavour for me.

Spicy Satay Skewers

1kg chicken thigh fillets
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, microplaned
1 tbsp microplaned ginger
2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Cut each thigh fillet into four strips and place into a bowl.

Pour over the lemon juice and fish sauce and add the garlic and ginger. Stir it all together and leave to marinate for an hour or so.

Meanwhile, if using bamboo skewers, soak them in cold water.

Thread the chicken onto the skewers by folding each piece over onto itself two or three times. Put about 4 pieces of chicken onto each skewer.

Lightly oil a barbecue plate before adding the skewers and cook for about 12 minutes or until cooked through.

Sprinkle over sesame seeds before serving with satay sauce*.

Serves 6

*I followed the book recipe for satay sauce, but was completely unimpressed. I had to add a lot to it, so have no idea in the end really what went into it. I'm therefor not going to bother mentioning the sauce, delicious as it ended up being, simply because I really couldn't confidently record it!

These skewers were delicious and very tender, the sesame seeds were the figurative icing on the cake too. Our family rules for any form of satay is that there must be cucumber, tomato and pineapple on hand, today was no exception. I am glad the satay sauce ended up being delicious, but I wont bother with that version again, I have tried many other ones which were immediately to my taste without having to faff about adding extra of 'this and that' to get it right. The great thing about both of these recipes though, is that the chicken is delicious just as it is - or with a squeeze of citrus - and obviously that would make them significantly lower fat in the normal run of things, and the 'normal run of things' returns for me in just one more day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tasty Chicken WIngs

2011-12-31T03:06:00.004+11:00

I had never really eaten chicken wings. I always thought that there was nothing on them and therefore a waste of money.

Ok, I admit now I was wrong. I love chicken wings, there is far more meat on them than I realised and with this wonderful tasting marinade come sauce on them fantastic.

I have made these several times now but each time forget to photograph them until there is nothing but bare bones left in a bowl and then I realise that this recipe would be a good one to blog. I will do it next time and sure enough, I forget again.

At least I can now say I have made up for that, although it came close to me eating and forgetting. Lets face it the finished product isn't placed delicately on a plate and photographed properly, it was simply a point and shot before the hungry hoards ate the last 2 wings!

These are also good during the week, if you can be organised in the morning as the marinade really is a 5 minute job, and then allow them to marinade whilst you are at work and then simply pop into the oven and 45 minutes later done!

I serve mine with rice and vegetables.

Again, this recipe is from Taste.

I should also admit to being lazy and I don't top the wings and make around with them at all, no harm seems to occur and no one is injured during the course of making these. Better I think but if you want to tip the wings go for it. I also don't cut them in half. I leave the wings as the good Lord intended, whole but again up to you!

Chicken Wings

8 chicken wings

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or sake
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

Tip the wings and cut in half, if you so desire but I didn't.

Place the wings into a ceramic dish. Wish clearly, this dish isn't but they did end up in one!

Place all the other ingredients together and mix well.

Pour over the wings and ensure that wings are well covered. See they are now in a ceramic dish!

Cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge for several hours or overnight if you can.

Once marinated, remove plastic wrap, and place them into a 200C oven.

And cook for 45 minutes. Take out and serve.

I bake them in a disposable aluminium tray which makes washing up non existent! Great for during the week.

I love the black and burnished pieces and to be honest there isn't much meat on those pieces.

Use your fingers, it's much more fun just have paper towel nearby so clean your fingers and your mouth. Serve with rice or whatever you like!

Cheers to our cricket star

2011-12-29T22:45:00.000+11:00

The vast majority of the time the kidlets are water drinkers, when it's not water, it's milk. When we want to do something special in the kitchen then, it can be as simple as a 'fancy' drink - with anything other than cow juice or H2O considered exactly this.

Miss Eight and Master Six both enjoy 'Milo in2cricket' so when the opportunity arose for Miss Eight and one parent (given his love for cricket The Lovely Man was always going to be said parent) to attend day 2 of this year's Boxing Day Test, including going onto the hallowed turf of the MCG during lunch for a spot of skills practice we were all thrilled, even Master Six....once he got over those pangs of envy!

The usual garb for our mini cricketers is the green and gold, but, for this huge event featuring only the girls from Milo in2cricket, they got to wear some magenta gear:

It may or may not be Miss Eight sitting with her back to us in this image - The Lovely Man was a little confused as to who was who under the hats!

In honour then, of this momentous occasion, I thought a celebratory drink would be in order, a drink of similarly spectacular colouration. What good fortune then, that we still have copious amounts of last summer's blackberries in the freezer! Perfect for me to make some sort of Blackberry Lemonade.

Joy of joys too, I was, apparently a very good girl this past year, as, while I might have secretly wished it, Father Christmas saw fit to gift me a beautiful cream Kitchenaid Blender in spite of me not telling a soul! That man in red sure is magic!

Blackberry Lemon Drop

300ml water
260gm sugar (enough sugar to bring the water level mark up to 600ml)
250ml lemon juice
300g blackberries (ideally frozen)
1 x 250ml cups worth of ice cubes
250ml chilled water

Put the water into a microwave safe 1 litre capacity jug, I use Pyrex. Add enough sugar to bring the liquid level up to 600ml, which should be about 260gm of sugar give or take.

Pop the jug in the microwave and zap for 2 minutes, remove from heat and whisk about until the sugar is completely dissolved. Keep in mind microwave power can vary, this is enough for my water to heat without boiling - very important NOT to boil the water here as if the sugar hasn't dissolved it will crystallise.

Pour the sugar syrup into a blender and add the lemon juice and blackberries.

Using the best option for your particular blender, mix the ingredients until everything is combined. Add the ice cubes and blend until the crunching noise stops.

Pour the drink through a fine sieve and use a silicone spatula to assist the liquid ingredients to pass through into a jug.

Return the blender goblet to it's machine, and add the final cup of water. Give it a quick buzz to remove the last of the juice, and pour this through the sieve too. Transfer the lemonade to the fridge until ready to serve over lots of ice and with some extra frozen blueberries if you have them.

Makes about 1.2 litres of drink
I was going to call this drink a lemonade, but it was texturally just too thick to feel very lemonade-like. It was however gorgeously smooth, not cloyingly sweet, and still very refreshing.

This isn't a fizzy drink, though you could dilute it with some sparkling water to make it that way. In fact, for my drink I did exactly that - a way to indulge without having quite as much sugar as the children. I admit, I preferred it neat - the great handful of ice was just enough to dilute.

The children enjoyed the fact this drink had a head on it like beer or a 'spider', the froth making it just that much more fun - and the similarity of the froth to Miss Eight's special uniform didn't go unnoticed either.

The 'healthier' version of the drink, having the addition of some sparkling water. It still tastes delicious, but it's truly not as good as the original.
So we held our glasses up to Miss Eight, for the chance to stand where so many of our most celebrated sport heroes have stood before and push an over-sized cricket ball around the 'G' using an equally over-sized cricket bat! What an honour!

Rum and Raisin Recipes

2011-12-28T15:03:00.001+11:00

Following on from Coby's alliteration I have one myself and all thanks to Christmas!

2 very simple, very quick and rich "nibbles".

As if we don't already eat enough over the Christmas/New Year break either one of these will send your blood sugar over the edge. So please just have one piece of each don't gorge yourself, use restraint.

But oh so tasty!

The first are rum and raisin balls. Requested by my niece as part of the dessert table at our Christmas lunch. These are quick and simple and I added coconut (well the recipe said to).

I am also generous with the rum, not too generous but you know there is rum in them.

This recipe is courtesy of Taste. It really is a terrific go to website. I always weigh ingredients but the link actually has cup measurements too if you prefer. I don't.

The recipe made 50 for me and I actually made double that 100 of these wonderful rum balls. Wasn't just for my niece but for a couple of gifts and a "what do I take to a Christmas Eve gathering" solution.

Took no more than 15 minutes, assuming you have a chocolate cake made, to make but I would suggest to wear gloves as it makes the rolling so much easier.

I made my own chocolate cake because I could so that added another hour but it really isn't a hard job to do.

Rum and Raisin Balls

50g chopped raisins
60ml dark rum
65g desiccated coconut
300g chocolate cake crumbs
60ml sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate sprinkles, to coat

Place the raisins and 20 mls of the rum into a small pan and over low heat allow to simmer. Turn the heat off and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

In a bowl, place the remaining rum, coconut, cake crumbs, and sweetened condensed milk. Then add the raisin and rum mixture.

Using your hands (hence the gloves suggestion) smoosh it all together. Smooshing is a technical term I like to use!

Take teaspoonfuls of the smooshed mixture and roll into the chocolate sprinkles and place on a tray. Once all complete, place into the fridge and allow to set.

Out of neccesity, well not really, I had some left over sweetened condensed milk and I had remembered that both my niece and sister had raved about a rum and raisin fudge they had tasted. So I called them and got the recipe.

Not the best penmanship but when you are balancing a phone and trying to cook at the same time it isn't easy. It is a mixture of cup measurements and weight, I can cope, just.

I didn't have enough for one lot so I ended up making 1.5 times the recipe, just because. This makes a lot regardless and I would recommend a bigger tin than I used so that it is thinner but it is so smooth and delicious.

Soak the raisins in the rum and leave for 1 hour.

Add all the other ingredients in a pan and over low heat melt them together.

Then add the rum and raisin mixture to it and mix.

Pour into a tray (I used a disposable tray which I greased and added baking paper)

Place into the fridge and allow to set for at least 4 hours but overnight is better. Using a sharp knife cut into bite size pieces. Makes a lot!

Tinsel time's Two Top Tipples!

2011-12-26T09:19:00.001+11:00

Ahh, it's that time of year, please forgive the alliteration, but I am just feeling SO happy and festive. We had such a lovely Christmas day, and now, that the Boxing Day Test is about to start, we can relax, enjoy big turkey or ham sandwiches and smile. I didn't cook much in the way of new food for the big day, though I did tweak my gravy by following a method half Nigella and half Jamie. That was delicious and I can't wait to add gravy to my sangers! I thought I might feature the two stars of the 'drinks bar' for Christmas, and no doubt for the next week. One boozy, one mock, both delicious. Both recipes are from Nigella Christmas and are easier than pie to make either served individually or in vats! Today, I am tending toward a splosh of this and splish of that, adding more of what I fancy to suit me....Boxing Day that means easing up on the hard stuff! Here though, are the original quantities:

Poinsettia

750ml (1 bottle) Prosecco, well chilled
125ml (1/2 metric cup) Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, chilled
500ml cranberry juice, well chilled

Pour the Prosecco, Grand Marnier and cranberry juice into a 1.5litre pitcher.

As required, pour into champagne flutes.

Makes about 8 glasses

Xmas Xinger (the only time you'll catch me using an 'X' for Christmas!)

1.5 litres pure pomegranate juice, well chilled
750ml ginger ale, well chilled
lots of ice

Pour the pomegranate juice over lots of ice in a large pitcher or punch bowl.

Glug the ginger ale over.

Makes 10 glasses
To make individual serves just put a handful of ice into an old-fashioned/lowball glass and pour in 150ml of pomegranate juice and 75ml of ginger ale.

Both these drinks taste delicious and look so very festive. The mocktail still somehow tastes kinda boozy, so designated drivers, teetotallers or just those of us practicing moderation can still feel like we're celebrating. The poinsettia is delicious as is, though I decided after two, that I would add some extra juice to mine to ensure I could last out the day!

These drinks will feature strongly at New Year's I feel.

Hoping everyone is enjoying a relaxing, festive season as my beloved family and I are.

Hevz's Brownies

2011-12-21T05:16:00.075+11:00

This readers is a brownie to end all brownies. There isn't one person who doesn't like it and even when they ask "just a small piece" they come back asking for me. Why?

It is interesting. It's simple, it is both sqiudgyish (for those who like there brownies so) and has crunchie pieces (again for those who like those) so I guess it has appeal across all brownie devotees.

The recipe was originally found in a children and kids recipe book by a internet friend and she shared it on a forum I belong to and then one after the other, people tried it and were head over heels in love with it.

I was a late baker for the recipe, mainly because I can't eat chocolate but in the end, even I relented and I am so glad I did.

You can use the "base" recipe and then start adding other items for different variations, like craisins or walnuts or both at the same time.

Recently, I made 8x the recipe for a fundraiser where I work and I even got emails from people saying how much they loved it and begging for the recipe. It's no secret, it's easy, it uses a melt and mix method which I think is one of the keys to it's success.

Easy to double the recipe and you can freeze brownies too - not that I have ever frozen these ones but, in general, you can freeze them, if you had to.

Using an aluminium throw away tray also makes it a breeze and again easy for transportation. You can use a cake tin but really why bother?

Because of who first introduced so many people on the forum to this recipe we all call them Hevz Brownies and rightly so.

Enjoy making these.

Hevz Brownies - makes 12 large pieces

200grams butter chopped
100grams cocoa powder - I used dutch cocoa
4 large eggs
450 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100grams self raising flour
150grams white chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate couverture as I wanted deep deep chocolate taste)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C fan forced

Grease and line a shallow baking tin about 23cm square or what I used a an oblong aluminium foil tray which is 28cm x 24cm. All it means is that they won't be as high but it really doesn't matter.

In a large saucepan melt the butter, take it off the heat and then sift the cocoa butter into the butter and mix using a small whisk. Set aside.

Using your mix master bowl add the eggs and the sugar and with your whisk attachment whip these for at least 5 minutes. The more air the better.

Add the chocolate to the butter and cocoa and also add the vanilla and stir a little.

Add the egg mixture to the chocolate and butter (or do it the other way, it is very forgiving) and mix well.

Then add the sifter flour and mix gently, don't over mix it.

Our into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes until it is crisp on the top and soft in the middle.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so and then slice into pieces.

You could dust it with icing sugar but there really isn't any need.

It is sweet and indulgent just as a brownie should be. Bake this, share this and watch the reactions on the people's faces - priceless.

Seriously quick Strawberry Santa Hats

2011-12-19T11:48:00.000+11:00

Ideally I would have taken a bit more care with these, but I decided in the spur of the moment to make them for the children's lunchboxes that day. I know most parents prepare lunchboxes the evening before, or even the week before and then freeze, but I like to do it in the morning so everything's as fresh as possible. I think my children are more likely to eat and enjoy their food this way.

Now if I am making something in the morning, I really need it to be quick. This took less than 10 minutes. It was barely more effort than preparing a normal lunchbox. I got the idea from a little book titled Christmas Cooking for Kids, and then just did it my way.

I always keep my dried coconuts in the freezer, it has a tendency to turn rancid, so flaked, shredded and desiccated all sit happily in the freezer. This turns out to be a boon for this form of recipe so I would highly recommend sticking the coconut in the freezer if you feel like making this recipe, though it will work anyway.

Strawberry Santa Hats

12 white mini marshmallows
100g white chocolate
24 strawberries
1 tsp light olive oil, or other flavourless vegetable oil
1/4 cup (ideally frozen) desiccated coconut

Cut the mini marshmallows in half and set aside.

Put the coconut into a small bowl.

Break the white chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave safe bowl (I use Pyrex). Put it in the microwave at 50% for 1 minute. Zap, give the chocolate a stir, and then return for 1 more minute at 50% before stirring again. Add the teaspoon of oil and stir this through*.

Meanwhile, line a tray with baking paper and cut the calyx off leaving a nice flat base on the strawberry.

Dip the flat bases of the strawberries first into the white chocolate, allowing the chocolate to coat about 1cm of the edge of each strawberry.

Dunk the strawberry into the cold desiccated coconut. Place the strawberry onto the lined tray. Continue with remaining strawberries. The cold coconut will help the chocolate to set almost instantly.

Using a small spoon, dollop a teeny bit of the white chocolate onto the tip of the chocolate and then adhere one of the cut marshmallows to the tip. Proceed with the other strawberries in the same way.

Store in the fridge until ready to serve or place carefully into lunchbox container to be enjoyed at recess!

Makes 24 hats
*The oil ensures the chocolate doesn't seize when the moist strawberries are dunked in it.

I have to say, I really didn't think these would be to MY taste, I am no fan of white chocolate. I have to say though, the combination of strawberry and white chocolate with the coconut is a real winner. The bases of the strawberries doesn't get much of a coating of chocolate because they're wet, so there isn't too much white chocolate. Even in my haste to prepare these, they look rather cute and impressive, but with a bit of time and effort I am sure they'd look even more adorable.

Christmas Treat

2011-12-15T21:09:00.000+11:00

Well it's very frantic of course. Here's a very easy little recipe I've been giving away this Christmas (I just adore this time of year in spite of the manic ways of it) to teachers and neighbours. The idea came from Taste.com.au, I simplified an already easy recipe because, yes, I am THAT lazy.

Chocolate Marshmallow Truffles

200g good quality dark chocolate (though for children go for milk chocolate)
80ml (1/3 metric cup) thickened cream
scant 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (a little orange liqueur would work beautifully here too)
1 metric cup measure of mini marshmallows
1/4 metric cup festive sprinkles

Break up the chocolate and put it in a microwave safe bowl such as a generously proportioned Pyrex bowl. Add the cream and vanilla bean paste, along with the marshmallows.

Microwave on 50% for 1 minute, remove from microwave, give it a good stir about with a silicone spatula.

Return to microwave and zap once more at 50% once again for another minute.

Remove from the microwave and stir now until it all melds almost completely together. If you are left with one or two slightly un-melted bits of marshmallow, don't worry about it. As long as it's all mostly melted together after about two minutes of stirring you're home and hosed. You don't want to overheat your mixture.

Pop this in the fridge and leave for about an hour to firm up.

Put the sprinkles into a small bowl, line a baking sheet with some cling wrap or baking paper.

Scoop out about 2 tsp worth of mixture and roll it in your hands to form a ball. Place the ball onto the lined paper and make the next ball the same way. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Then dunk each ball into the sprinkles.*

Return to the fridge until ready to serve or give away as gifts.

Makes about 20 - 25 little treats

*You may prefer to roll and dunk as you go, I think I find that *I* simply end up more covered in sprinkles thanks to the chocolate sticking to me, so I prefer to keep each stage separate.

Cute and very delicious, I have made these without any vanilla and, as you'd expect from just chocolate, cream and marshmallow they are still good.

I am sorry if this post seems a bit to the point and without personality. MY life isn't really so hectic, but our three children? I seem to have something on involving them every day. We have, however made our very first ever (chocolate) Gingerbread house. I took a photo of it before I let the children at it with lollies:

I'd like to say the number on the house is my lucky number or something, but I really thought a 7 was the only 'interesting' number I was capable of doing with a piping bag! So it's not bad right? For a first attempt? The recipe was, and I am surprised to say it, not really up to Taste.com.au's usual standard, a few significant errors, but The Lovely Man's skills in technical drawing saved the day! I added musk flavoured lollies to the windows which made a gorgeous effect I couldn't capture in the photo.

Then, the children were let at it and, wow, can you recognise it?

My children have chosen to ignore that old adage of 'less is more'! It is, as the days go by, slowly being 'deconstructed' as passers by have their way. The inside is half filled with wrapped lollies too. The joy of Christmas excesses!

If I don't drop in before, I wish all a MERRY and SAFE CHRISTMAS and a healthy and happy NEW YEAR!

Welcome back to my Kitchen, Nigella

2011-11-09T21:01:00.000+11:00

I'm taking a break from my 'regime' of low-fat food. The next two months I need to be realistic and recognise that, what with my birthday and Christmas there are going to be indulgences. This doesn't mean that I am giving up and returning to old habits, it simply means that I am going to allow myself to loosen the grip on weight loss, and expect to, at best, sit at my current weight, or more realistically, perhaps gain a little.

I am continuing with my exercise, and my breakfasts and lunches will be the usual. Evening meals however, I am turning my hand to some 'normal' recipes and seeing if I can make them and just tweak them a little to perhaps make them slightly lower fat than they were initially. I'm still willing to try out some low-fat meals, but they'll be interspersed with recipes like this, that I will, hopefully, serve myself a sensible portion of!

Welcome back Nigella Lawson! Oh, I know, trust me I know, that my favourite cookbook author has low-fat recipes. But I have felt restricted, and as mentioned recently, perhaps a little uninspired because I haven't been able to turn to Nigella as I used to. Without a doubt, I could see my enjoyment of cooking tonight, when I whipped up a recipe from Kitchen Recipes from the heart of the home. A slight reduction in the quantities of oil, along with a couple of need-based alterations (cut of lamb due to affordability and almonds over pine-nuts because I had them to hand) were the only changes I made. I cooked with a song in my heart, I served with a smile and I heartily enjoyed what felt like an indulgent meal without guilt, but with loads of pleasure.

This is a recipe for four, and we are five, so I made no changes as three of the five are youngsters and I DO need to work on portion control even now. Leftovers of the salad will be a welcome change from my usual salad too.

Indian-rubbed lamb chops with butternut, rocket and almond salad

for the lamb
1 tsp ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I eased up here for the children's sake to a 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp salt flakes
4-6 lamb leg chops (I had 5, one per person, there is enough rub for a sixth chop however)
1 x 15ml tbsp garlic oil (half amount specified)

for the butternut, rocket and almond salad
approx 1kg butternut pumpkin
1 tsp salt flakes
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp olive oil (half original quantity)
50g sultanas
60 ml boiling water (I just shove a little bowlful in the microwave and zap it for a minute then spoon out the required amount)
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g rocket
50g almonds, toasted and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven 200C.

Cut the butternut pumpkin into 1.5cm slices and then cut each of these slices into four pieces. You're not removing the skins here, the pumpkin will be quite edible, skin and all - all that fibre without trying!

Put the pumpkin into a bowl and sprinkle over the salt, spices and tablespoon of the regular, not extra virgin, olive oil. Toss it all about. Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper and then spread the spiced pumpkin over it. Hold onto the spicy bowl at this stage.

Bake the pumpkin for about 30 minutes, or until it's tender, golden and perhaps even a little charred in spots.

Meanwhile pop the sultanas into the bowl with the leftover spices, add the boiling water, swish it about and leave the sultanas to steep and plump up a little. When this mixture has cooled, stir in the vinegar and the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Put most of the rocket onto a platter and then the pumpkin pieces on top of this, sprinkle the remaining rocket over it all, followed by the nuts and sultanas with their dressing.

Meanwhile, back at the lamb chops....

Mix together all the spices and the salt. Set aside until required.

Lay the lamb chops snugly in a dish and sprinkle half the rub over the lamb, press it in.

Turn the chops over and sprinkle over the remaining mixture, again pressing it in. Set aside the lamb until ready to cook (no need to 'marinate' them, but I felt a few minutes sitting with the mix wouldn't do any harm).

Heat a large frying pan on medium-high, add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the chops.

Cook for about 2 or 3 minutes for each side, depending on how you like your meat, and the thickness. Usually I just work on the moment I see the little blood droplets forming, I turn them over and do them for another 2 the second side, though with the rub, it is harder to do this.

Serves 4-6, we have a generous amount of delicious salad left over which will, with Nigella's suggested spritz of lime make a delicious lunch.

I have, in my home a person who grew up with a strong dislike of pumpkin in any form. Suffice it to say, he'd only had it overcooked and watery or baked until dry as a child. To see him going back for seconds - and NOT cutting the skin off, is such a pleasure. Naturally the children were particularly keen on the nuts and sultanas in this, but the pumpkin too, was well received. This means they first scoffed down the rocket, at least the two boys did. This is their way of 'getting rid of' the stuff they are the least keen on. Miss Eight is currently growing rocket at school and claims the product I bought is not nearly as peppery as that which she is growing! So there you go.

What I (still) love about Nigella's recipes is the way that they come out tasting as if there was so much work that went into them, and perhaps a lot of time too, but in reality, you can almost feel guilty for how easy it was! I didn't miss those extra two spoonsful of oil, so this is a success all around. Feel happy, still feel healthy and importantly for me, I feel like I had fun in the kitchen, and for an everyday meal, that has been a rare treat.

Foolproof macroons - really???

2011-10-30T06:32:00.003+11:00

Let me say from the beginning - these taste fabulous....really really fabulous but do they look exactly like the picture in the recipe book - no, close but not really. But do they taste like macaroons and have that egg shell structure and gooey, delectable centre - oh yes!

Does it matter that I don't have that completely smooth top that macaroons have - to the purists probably but to me, as a home cook will I lose sleep - not really.

Will I make them again - definitely. Will I strive to get it smoother - most likely. But at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, these are macaroons.

I have made them before and achieved a good result but this is a different recipe. I think there are more techniques and recipes for macaroons than I can count on both hands and that's ok and that's what cooking to me is all about trying different things, seeing what happens - the joy of discovery.

This recipe comes from a new book in my possession called Tea at Beas which is a collection of recipes used at Bea's at Bloomsbury.

A lovely book, some great recipes and this macaroon one spoke to me especially the foolproof bit. The mystique surrounding making macaroons and how it can send some bakers into a puddle of tears is amazing. It's only a macaroon and so long as it is edible that's good enough for me - for now!

For me in the end it's all about the taste, the mouth feel, when you bite into that oh so fragile shell and then savour the inner softness and getting the "feet" or pied as it is known is more important to me than a smooth top but hey, that's just my excuse for not doing it I guess!

This recipe uses Swiss meringue and I rather like that, and only 3 egg whites to 300grams of almond meal, which is where I think is the major difference why the texture was not what I had hoped but as I have said already, several times, they taste great!

So to the recipe

Ingredients

Macaroon Paste

300 grams ground almonds
300 grams icing sugar
1/2 vanilla pod (I used a whole one as I wanted an intense vanilla flavour)
3 egg whites

Swiss Meringue

300 grams aster sugar plus 2 tablespoons
100mls water
3 egg whites

Filling

Buttercream
Lemon Curd
Caramel

Method

Paste

Put the ground almonds, icing sugar and vanilla in a food processor and whiz until super fine.

Now is this where it all went "wrong" did I make it fine enough? Also it was very humid and that can make a difference but I stress does it matter?

Place this into a mixing bowl and add the egg whites

and fold until you get a paste.

What I didn't do as my other books say is Macaronnage the paste where you fold it and turn the paste upside down and onto the side of the bowl 15 times (see how complicated it can get?). It also says that if you end up with a rough surface on your macaroons that is a likely reason (that and not having the almond meal superfine)

But it didn't say in the recipe to do this specific Macaronnage it just says to fold and fold I did.

Set aside while you make the Swiss Meringue

Put the 300 grams of sugar and water into a saucepan and stir till combined and then bring to the boil until it reaches 110C (thread stage - always use a sugar thermometer)

Just as the sugar is almost to temperature whisk the egg whites and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in a mix master until you get stiff peaks.

Then once the boiling sugar is correct slowly and I mean slowly add the boiling sugar mixture to the egg whites beating at high speed the whole time until stiff peaks.

Take a third of this mixture and beat into the paste mixture,

then take the next third and gently fold it in and then take the final third and fold that in.

Place into a piping bag and either use a round tip or do what I did and just cut the bottom off the bag.

Now I drew circles on the baking paper so I could get the right size (remembering to turn the paper over first so you don't get pen or pencil on the macaroon paste). and place the paper onto a baking tray.

I did 2 different styles....one the traditional way by placing the tip of the bag in the centre of the drawn circle and squeezing it getting the shape you see at the top of this post or as circles of macaroon just to get a different shape and design.

This amount of mixture made 60 macaroons which were approx 4cm wide.

Now tap the tray hard twice onto the bench and allow to sit for 30-45 minutes, it's this step that gets you the feet.

You can see here that the mixture looks too grainy and I pushed down the tip that I created too.

Once they have sat, heat the oven to 135C (fan forced) and cook for just 10-12 minutes, this is almost half the time of the other macaroon recipe I blogged so that is interesting.

They are cooked when the macaroons look dull and dry and the feet have formed. Tick, tick and tick (I got all that)

See the feet? and they haven't changed much colour either which was interesting and concerning all at the same time but I ate one not long out of the oven and they had the textural elements expected of a macaroon.

Allow to cool and then take them off the baking paper.

Carefully fill the macaroons with whatever you fancy, ganache, buttercream

I did the last 3. I had a can of caramel in the cupboard, I had just made 8 jars of lemon curd and I whipped up some buttercream using raspberry juice for flavouring and pink food colouring.

Of the 3 my husband preferred the raspberry one and I liked the caramel one, but it's all personal preference.

Are they foolproof - probably but I need to make them smaller and somehow get them smoother on top, like a real macaroon.

Am I disappointed with the result - no way - they tasted divine and that dear readers, for me, is all that matters.

My progress as at the 27th of October 2011

2011-10-27T14:34:00.000+11:00

It's such a roller-coaster ride this healthy way of life for me. I mentioned in my previous post that I was struggling to find recipes worth blogging about. If I'm not excited by a recipe, I can hardly be bothered to cook it, let alone photograph or sit down and 'talk' about it. Truthfully, while I do occasionally find a recipe that surprises me in the end - which of course is too late, in terms of blogging as I don't think an empty plate really tells much - a healthy recipe is just never going to feel as much fun to cook for me as something delicious and decadent. From day to day, I am simply not as excited in the kitchen as I used to be. I feel as if I have exhausted the best bits of my low-fat or healthy cookbooks. Perhaps it's just my current state of mind.

Oh, and speaking of 'state of mind', perhaps someone can explain to me what went on in my head this morning. I am trying a different breakfast cereal right now, and I am finding that it doesn't keep me feeling sated until lunchtime (you're right, I wont be buying it again). About 10.00am, I feel an emptiness in my belly that makes me want a snack. Not a problem, I would eat fruit, but I do prefer not to. The thing is, that hunger is not the issue. I ignored the hungry feeling, and got on with doing my yoga, I then went onto some resistance work, lo and behold, by 10.45am the hunger had completely vanished! How could this be? If anything, shouldn't doing exercises make me want food more? Don't get me wrong, I am in no way, shape or form complaining, but I am extremely curious as to how or why this happened. After all, if I can beat a hunger pang on cue, imagine the power I could wield in 'those moments' when I feel myself craving something less than healthy!

I've had my final 'Go For Your Life' Diabetes Prevention meeting. Happily I managed to 'star' by having lost the most weight within not just our group, but for all of my facilitator 'G''s groups ever! Oh, though no complacency, that could also doom me to be the one to fall furthest off the wagon, and put it all back on and then some! I've had ups and downs, but the pleasure has been that there have been far more downs....positive downs that is, weight LOSS, cms lost, less cravings. Ensuring even when I slip up, the fact remains I am still healthier than I was this time last year. Now the work really begins. I haven't reached my goal and there are no more meetings. My birthday and Christmas loom large. I am sure though, if keep on with the way I am going, I may well put on a little around my birthday, and then Christmas but overall I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing.

The facts speak for themselves, my stats are as follows, as at our final meeting:

Fibre Score (estimates if diet is low or high fibre - 6 low fibre eating 35 high fibre eating) went from 29 (being high side of medium range) to 35 (highest fibre eating).

Fat Score (estimates if I diet contains too much fat with 9 being highest fat and 65 lowest fat) went from 35 (relatively high fat) to 59 being significantly lower fat.

Waist Measurement has gone from 127cm {50inches} (and that was after I'd already been working on my weight for a few months) to 94cm {37.4inches}, a loss of 33cm {12.99inches} if my calculations are correct. Much work yet you can see, but a huge improvement non-the-less.

Weight I don't want to continue to focus on my weight, simply because it can become a bit obsessive for me. Having said that, it has been a useful tool for me to see how I am progressing. A start weight (again, not my highest weight, just the weight at the time of starting the programme) was 123kg {271.16pounds} and my weight at the end of the programme? 92kg {202pounds}!

I'm now out in the real world of exercise too. Having bitten the bullet and bought two pairs of bathers, I am using them to do aqua-aerobics and deep water running. I cannot believe I have managed to achieve my ultimate goal of being in the public eye and working out - all-be-it underwater! I still have to get to the water in my bathers right?

A plus of this has been I have dared to take my children to the local public swimming pool and get in with them. This is a huge thing for me. I've only been in the pool with the children in the privacy of our backyard. The local pool with it's waterfalls, bubbles, gentle incline and other fun is such a hoot for Master Three, Master Six and Miss Eight that I couldn't help but 'brave' this hurdle. I saw of course, that there were all shapes and sizes there, and I certainly didn't stand out - and the smiles on my children's faces would be worth it even if I was to feel uncomfortable.

The challenges continue, ahh, portion sizes, but it's SO worth it, and my gosh, far, far better than the alternative....now, if I can just find some more recipes that really inspire me....

Halloween baking

2011-10-25T14:24:00.000+11:00

Non of the food I've been making lately is interesting. It's more difficult for me to find many interesting and easy recipes in my newer style of cooking. I think I am feeling a bit uninspired by my healthy cooking for blogging right now unfortunatly. Anyway, that's for another time..............today I have something to blog about, perhaps not surprisingly this is not low-fat cooking! This is Halloween treat time. A delicious little biscuit that is VERY ugly, but equally delicious. The recipe comes from Foodista and I very bravely - at least in my mind - tackled the unfamiliar world of American measures. I did write down, for my own reference, the metric equivilants, but as they are, as yet officially untested, I will give you what I used for now, only slightly altered from original recipe.

Oooh tempting!????? Maybe, kinda sorta? Not? BOO!

Witches Fingers

(American cup measures)

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon almond essence

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 tsp salt flakes, crushed up

2 2/3 cups plain flour - I used '00'

1 teaspoon baking powder

Flaked almonds (approximately 3/4 cup)

Raspberry or blackberry jam

Put the butter, sugar, egg, almond essence, vanilla bean paste and salt into a large mixing bowl (I used my free-standing mixer). Beat this all together until the mixture is well combined, and slightly more pale in appearance. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and with the mixer on a low speed, add the flour mixture in, spoon by spoon until it's all added. When it's all just combined, cover the bowl and put it into the fridge for at least half an hour, or more if that helps.

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Spoon slightly heaped dessertspoons of mixture onto a piece of baking paper. Roll into a thin* length.

Transfer each finger to a lined baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between them. Press a flaked almond onto one end of each finger, then set about making the fingers look more lifelike. A few wrinkles below the fingernails and then about half way down for the knuckle, and perhaps squeezing in slightly on the sides of each finger.

Bake for about 14 minutes, or until there is a hint of golden brown on each finger.

Transfer carefully to a cooling rack, remove the almond 'nail' while the biscuits are still warm, dollop the smallest amount of jam in the spot before returning the nail and pushing down gently. Leave to cool completely.

The raw fingers ready for the oven, and in the background, finished fingers, and fingers waiting for their 'bloody' (jam) addition.

Makes about 50 fingers

*My first cookies were very fat fingers, so I learnt to roll them far thinner than I wanted for the finished product. A fat pencil is probably what you need to gauge your fingers to.

Even my Fat Witche's Fingers look pretty UNtempting in the most delightful Halloweenish way! It doesn't really matter if you haven't any artistic skills - clearly I don't - you will still have a fun end result.

Thanks to Foodista, in particular Sheri Wetherell for this fun, delicious and ghastly recipe!

Caramel Apple Teacake

2011-10-23T15:13:00.000+11:00

I can't believe it has been almost 4 weeks since I blogged! Time does fly!

I have been baking and cooking but recipes that I have blogged before with some variations - as my fellow blogger on here Coby would say - not worthy of some photos and words and certainly not to blog about!

What brings me back to posting a recipe is that in my vegetable box this week from Aussie Farmer Direct was this recipe.

They have some good recipes on their newsletter - The Weekly Harvest,and I have kept some to do for a later time but this weeks one I wanted to try as soon as possible.

The reason was I had 3 Pink Lady Apples in my box so why not!

Normally I wouldn't use Pink Lady Apples to do this I would Granny Smiths but I ordered them and there they were, so why not.

Super easy and tasty and a lovely afternoon tea treat - or morning tea or dessert.

So if you have 10 minutes to make the batter and cut some apple slices and can wait a further 30 minutes for it to bake then you have dessert!

The caramel comes from the use of brown sugar instead of white sugar and I like it. I think you could use dark muscovado sugar to give it an even deeper caramel flavour.

Caramel Apple Teacake

75grams soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup milk
2-3 apples that have been peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
25 grams extra melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C and if fan forced reduce to 160-170C.

Grease a 23cm round tin and line the base.

In a mix master bowl add the brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla and whip until light and fluffy.

Then sift the flour and add to the bowl as well as the milk.

Mix well using a spatula.

Place the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Add the slices of apple in whatever pattern you like.

Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked. Take out of the oven and cool for 5 minutes before taking out of the tin. I do this by having to cake coolers and flipping over, talking the tin off and then flipping it back the way it should be.

Melt the butter and mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Brush the hot cake with the butter and then sprinkle the sugar cinnamon mixture on it.

That's it - all done. I served it with whipped cream laden with vanilla and icing sugar.

I would prefer granny smith apples for this than pink ladys but no harm done just a little chewier.

A quick and tasty teacake. Enjoy!

Baked Beans....Oh Baked Beans!

2011-09-25T11:29:00.001+10:00

I love baked beans but over the years have found either my pallette has matured or the manufacturers of baked beans have changed the taste - to the point where I found them far too sweet and almost fake.

Recently I did find a supermarket branded organic baked bean which for the time became our new favourite - but not now.

The recipes I had read to make your own baked beans seemed to take forever and you needed to be well organised. And although I am organised - sometimes you just want baked beans for dinner or lunch or in my case this morning for breakfast.

I was so pleased to have found this recipe from Taste called D.I.Y Bake Beans that cleverly uses canned cannellini beans - brilliant.

The use of bacon (which is you want/need a vegetarian option just omit)and the addition of smoked paprika is fantastic. Oh yes and I added a secret ingredient - more on that later.

My admission is I had made these last week for a quick and healthy dinner but didn't take photos in case they tasted bad but it was such a hit I have been looking for another excuse to make them again. Sunday breakfast was the excuse.

These are quick and very easy to make, sure, not as quick as opening a can and heating up the insides of the tin but really, the time it take is nothing no more than 15 minutes. You only need to chop up 2 things and that's it.

In our case I made them then went and had a shower and got ready for the day and then we sat down and had a late breakfast (well late for us 9.30am)

I feel that I will be on some sort of crusade to convince more and more people that home made baked beans are the only way to go and once tried you will never go back to the canned variety. Will I succeed? Don't know, but if even one person who reads this tries them and then converts then I will say I am happy.

D.I.Y Baked Beans

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely diced
3 rashers of rindless bacon (I had 4 in the packet so used all of them)
250mls of tomato passata or sugo
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 heaped teaspoon paprika (recipe states 1 teaspoon but I liked it smokey but you choose)
Parsley - optional (I didn't use it)
My secret ingredient

In a medium sized pan heat the olive oil and place the onion.

and the bacon in the pan and cook for around 5 minutes until the onion is soft and the bacon is browning.

Then add the passata/sugo, golden syrup, water and smoked paprika

Stir into the bacon and onion and simmer and allow to thicken. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

Once thickened add the drained and rinsed beans to the pan.

Cook for a further 3 minutes and then I add my secret ingredient.....

3 generous squirts of tomato ketchup, now you could use tomato paste and some brown sugar but this, for me is the bomb, it just does something to the beans. Add it if you want, but if you don't and you aren't happy with them then try them again with this - it really does makes a difference.

Cook for another minute or 2.

Toast some bread - we had some lovely wholemeal bread from the Italian bakery not far from us and place onto the bread.

Now some people prefer their bread on the side - and if you do - go for it! I like mine on the toast and I was ever so tempted to have a fried egg on top as well......but I resisted.

15 minutes of very simple work gets you these delicious baked beans.

Try them.

Same Same but different.....

2011-09-18T12:43:00.002+10:00

In Australia we would call these pikelets but in the UK they are called drop scones!

Crazy eh?

A scone to me looks like this:-

So I had always wondered what the difference is in a dropped scone. It doesn't look like this that's for sure.

Pikelets are made with flour and egg and sugar but always have an acetic acid e.g soured milk (by adding either vinegar or lemon juice to the milk) and they have a small amount of melted butter.

The method of cooking is exactly the same as pikelets but the taste is well, more like a pancake than a pikelet. It doesn't have the tang that the sour milk brings.

I am not complaining mind you - I rather enjoyed them this morning for breakfast and they are quicker and easier to make than pikelets, less ingredients, less steps - so not all bad on a Sunday.

They seem to cook quicker than a pikelet too but maybe that's just me.

Regardless - I did make drop scones today - the name still makes me laugh - how they got their name I don't know, but according to Wikipedia they are a small pancake (yep I agree with that) and are made with flour, eggs milk or buttermilk and bi carb of soda or cream of tartar. Now this is where my recipe from Mary Berry differs. Her recipe uses baking powder which seems to be a mix of bi carb soda and cream of tartar anyway...so I feel I have stayed true to the history of a dropped scone.

Where did pikelet get it's name from?

A quick search on Wikipedia again says

Pikelet, an alternative name for a crumpet
Pikelet, a type of pancake found in Australia and New Zealand
Pikelet, stage name of Australian musician Evelyn Morris

Now I never knew about the stage name for Evelyn Morris or that in parts of England they call a crumpet a pikelet. This is getting all rather confusing isn't it?

Anyway back to the Dropped Scones....mini pancakes....small flapjacks...whatever you would like to call them here is the recipe from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes

Dropped Scones

175g self raising flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
40g caster sugar
1 large egg
approx 200 mls milk

Place the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl.

Mix and then make a well in the centre and place the egg and half of the milk.

Mix using a wire whisk and it will look like this, then add the remaining milk.

Now mix it until it is a smooth thick batter.

Heat your non stick frying pan, use high heat at first put turn it down otherwise it will burn these - Mary suggest you grease it I don't because otherwise it is harder to get a perfectly smooth brown surface on the dropped scone. You can if you want but I don't.

Drop (clue is in the name) a tablespoon of batter into the pan leaving room for them to spread.

Wait for them to bubble on the top side.

And then turn them over. and cook for another 15-30 seconds.

These really only take minutes to cook. Place on a plate and cover with a tea towel or some aluminium foil, whilst you prepare the remaining dropped scones. This recipe makes 20.

Serve with butter and maple syrup or whatever your little heart desires.

They taste like pancakes - thick pancakes, like the ones you get in the US - they are nice but they are not pikelets, as I know them.

I would make them again - for sure but on the basis I wanted small pancakes, not pikelets or a scone!

Dinner for 1

2011-09-03T05:00:00.000+10:00

I can't remember the last time I made an evening meal just for me. We're a family of five, so that is what usually happens day to day. Sometimes The Lovely Man will be away, so I'll make something easy for the children and I. Just me though? It's been donkey's ages. When The Lovely Man was heading directly to the footy from work this Friday night I grabbed the opportunity to make something that I felt like. Treated the kidlets to tinned spaghetti and white bread toast with butter, and made myself a beautiful piece of steamed (in paper) fish. Honestly, it's a special thing, low fat of course, but somehow cooking for myself, making exactly what I want, feels rather decadent and indulgent.

I may be doing well with low fat, but I still like a generous portion for myself, so a whole bunch of baby bok choi was going to be needed, and not one, but two little portions of local red snapper. I made this recipe for the whole family once, ages ago, chilli-heat toned down, and have loved it so much that now and then I make a version for a special lunch. I used to serve it with steamed rice, and, probably if this meal were for all of us, I would have tonight too, but, just for me, so, no, not a single grain of rice.

I like to ask my fishmonger to fillet the fish for me, I can do it, but I do such a botched job of it, that I feel wasteful - no second chances right? This would seem on the surface to be delicate, but it's not for the fainthearted when I use Tabasco or hot chilli sauce in place of the sweet chilli sauce original suggested. Plus I used a whole lime, just for me.

Baked Red Snapper with Steamed Bok Choi

2 fillets red snapper, each about 170g
1 spring onion, sliced
1 small lime
1 teeny clove garlic, microplaned
ginger, microplaned to make 1 tsp worth
1 tsp sweet chilli or Tabasco sauce (sometimes I like it full-on)
2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce
2 tsp mirin

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Place a piece of foil, about 50cm long on your workbench, then place a piece of baking paper of similar size on top of the foil. Pop one fillet of fish on the centre of the baking paper. Sprinkle over about half the spring onion.

Remove all the skin and pith from the lime (and seeds should there be any aught be removed too), slice it finely and then place two slices onto the fish.

Top this with the other fish fillet, the remaining spring onion and another few slices of lime - all of them if you're up to it.

Combine the garlic, ginger, chilli sauce, soy sauce and mirin and pour over the fish. Wrap the baking paper up first before pulling the foil around the paper to ensure it's sealed. Place the package onto a baking sheet.

A smarter cook than I am, would have seen that it would remain prettier with the sauce below the lime and spring onion, without much altering flavours - NEXT time I will.
Put the wrapped fish into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the bok choi in half, and wash well, ideally using a little salt to ensure there are no bugs lurking within.

Steam the bok choi (or as an alternative give it 3 minutes in the microwave) until it's hot and just wilted.

Place the bok choi on a plate, and carefully unwrap the fish, pour the juices over the bok choi and then gently transfer the fish to the top of the greens.

Serves 1 or 2 if you included a little mound of rice on the side.

Surely this meal did me good? I felt satisfied and healthy once I finished, and I DID finish. The zing of the lime and the heat of the chilli work so wonderfully with the delicate fish, which, because of the short cooking time, remains true to itself within once cooked. Can't get enough bok choi and that sauce.

Caramel popcorn

2011-09-02T05:00:00.009+10:00

Thursday night I often head into the kitchen for a bit of light cooking. Nothing strenuous, and often, not all that healthy. Something fun, a way to celebrate the weekend is nearly upon us. A treat for the lunchboxes is often what I end up making. A cheap and cheerful option is what I stumbled upon, when I searched 'snacks' over at Taste.com.au. The family enjoys popcorn in many different ways, and the Lolly gobble bliss bomb is our favourite commercial way to enjoy it. Alas this is not something that can head into a 'Nut Free Zone' school, so I couldn't try my hand at something similar this night. Caramel Popcorn though? No worries mate! I'd have to ensure I rationed a small portion to the lovely man who made all sorts of flattering comments (about the aromas from the kitchen, not about me) as I hummed along merrily whipping up this quick and easy treat.

Caramel Popcorn

metric cup measures
2 tbsp flavourless oil (I used light olive oil)
1/2 cup popping corn
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 cup caster sugar
100g butter, chopped (whoops I forgot to chop, mine went in whole)
pinch salt flakes - optional

A few pantry staples can create something decadent and delicious in next to no time. I was rather chuffed my golden syrup developed a miniscus as it sat....k, back on topic, sorry..

Lay out two baking sheets and cover them with baking paper, making the paper slightly longer than the sheets. Have one large heat proof bowl on standby.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan that has a lid, and when the oil is hot add the popcorn. If you're not sure when the oil is hot enough, add one or two corn kernels and if they spin slowly the oil is hot enough to add the lot.

Wait for it....popcorn just dropped in, and all's calm, but not for long.....

'And they're off!' true to it's word, the popcorn's flying.

Clamp the lid on the popcorn, and shuggle and shake the pan about, taking care to hold onto the lid as you do. I usually use oven mitts so I can hold the handle and the lid all at once. When the corn stops popping, transfer it to the large bowl, taking care as best you can, to leave the few unpopped pieces of corn in the pan.

To make the caramel, put the honey, golden syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan, and heat it all gently, stirring well without letting it come to the boil. Continue to do this until the sugar has dissolved. Once you are confident the sugar has dissolved bring the mixture to the boil, and don't stir it again or it will crystallise.

Starting with golden syrup and honey (even a pale one) makes the caramel start off rather golden in appearance.

Let it bubble away for about 5 minutes or until the caramel has turned a much deeper, darker golden colour - for what it's worth, you can also smell when it's done, if you're familiar with such things.

Ready to remove from the heat, the caramel is darker now, but easier to tell I think, is simply by the caramel aroma that is wafting at this point.
Working quickly, but ever so carefully (no kidlets around you here) pour the caramel over the popcorn, using a silicon spatula if you have it, to scrape every last delicious bit of hot syrup onto the popped corn.

Still being careful, stir it all about, attempting to get as much of the corn coated in the caramel as you can. At this stage, if you're using it, sprinkle on the salt flakes, I added perhaps a half teaspoon's worth, just for that unexpected saltiness here and there.

Transfer this caramel popcorn to the two waiting lined sheets, spreading the popcorn out as you do to allow it cool quicker.

When it's completely cool, break it into pieces, and store in an airtight container until you want to eat it...which could be immediately I admit. Breaking it is rather a fun activity in and of itself; it's a challenge to see if you can pick up one whole piece as a sheet, I couldn't, though I did manage to pick up some smaller ones, and thought the children, if they were awake, would have had fun decided what the shapes were, much as we do with clouds. Anyway, they break with a very satisfying 'crack'!

Makes 12 cups
The added salt isn't in the original recipe, it's delicious without I'm sure.

Too late in the night now to have the children taste test, let's just say, I am quietly confident this will be a success though.....if the reaction of The Lovely Man is anything to go by. Oh, and I am not made of stone, I did have a small sample myself - OH LORTY - it be fortunate I am eating healthier now because I recon I could polish off a fair whack of this popcorn all by myself if I decided to.

To quote my cooking-hero Nigella 'Your dentist will so NOT approve.'.

I'll try to get some photos in natural light tomorrow, or at least today when this post is scheduled to appear to give a more acurate appearance....and with apologies to Anne Sofie, here the popcorn is in the natural light of day:

Call me a bad mother, but I did let the children have a taste of this after breakfast (and before brushing teeth) this morning. Their little faces lit up! It looks much more wholesome and less decadent once it's sitting in a lunchbox compartment next to fruit, yoghurt and a salad sandwich:

Warm salad from the barbie

2011-09-01T05:00:00.073+10:00

I haven't found a quality balsamic that I can afford. Whenever a recipe calls for balsamic, I turn to my vino cotto. It's a gorgeous combination of sweet and sour, so it stands in well for aged balsamic and it much more affordable. When I found a recipe titled Balsamic Chicken and White Bean Salad then I am sure you can guess the one tweak I had to make. It's a lower fat recipe starting out at 13.20g of fat per serve. I subbed the thigh fillets for breast fillets though which I feel confident dropped the fat content to down below or at worst, just on 10g of fat per serve. Crank up the barbie! The weather has been perfect day after day for those meaty aromas to drift from one backyard to the next. It's nearly the end of winter, and this warm salad was just what we needed.

Vino Cotto Chicken and White Bean Salad

700g skinless chicken breast fillets
2 garlic cloves, microplaned
freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (I used a capsicum version)
2 tbsp vino cotto
salt flakes
olive oil cooking spray
400g cannellini beans, drained
250g grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup crumbled low fat fetta cheese
100g rocket leaves (doubled from the original recipe)
lemon wedges to serve

Cut the chicken breast fillets horizontally into thinner pieces.

Combine the garlic, black pepper, mustard and vino cotto in a non-reactive dish and stir well.

The vino cotto has a beautiful syrupy consistency.
Add the chicken, and toss about to coat in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate until required. Give it at least 20 minutes, but a few hours would be fab.

Preheat a bbq (or frying pan if you prefer) and spray each fillet lightly with the olive oil spray, sprinkle over a little pinch of salt flakes and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes a side, or until cooked through, and nicely coloured. Set the chicken aside to rest.

The aroma of barbecued chicken can't be beaten.

Combine the beans, tomatoes, most of the feta and half of the rocket in a large bowl.

Slice the chicken and add it to the salad ingredients toss again once more, adding any of the chicken juices. Put the other half of the rocket onto a serving platter, pour the salad evenly over the leaves. Sprinkle over the remaining feta before serving.

Serves 4 - 6

A little bit of fetta gives such a lift to tomatoes, such a delicious pairing. This low-fat fetta, from South Cape is a smooth and creamy Danish style fetta that our family really likes - it's a cheese that doesn't 'feel' any worse for the reduced fat nature of the product. This sort of food, the type that you put in the centre of the family table brings the biggest smile to my face, to be able to use the barbeque for it, only widens the grin...not to mention what eating the meal does for me!

Beetroot meets chick pea

2011-08-31T05:00:00.053+10:00

After making corn chips - kinda - it seemed to make sense to prep a dip for the children. After all the relish was a bit hot, they would only dip a teeny corner of the chips into that 'salsa'. They really like hummus in it's various forms, I usually make a corn version when it's solely for the little tackers, but remembered reading (somewhere - taste maybe?) about a beetroot one. I had some lovely little homegrown beetroots that I thought I could use. The original recipe was using tinned ones, but as I couldn't remember it verbatim anyway, I thought I might as well just fly by the seat of my pants, and see if I could work something out. This is what I did:

Baked Beetroot Hummus

6 small beetroots
1 tin chickpeas
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp lemon juice (or to taste)
salt flakes to taste
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 180C,

Wrap the beetroots (unpeeled at this point) in foil, and bake in the oven for about 40 or 50 minutes, or until done. They're done when you can easily pierce them with a skewer - and just do this through the foil. If the skewer enters without resistance they're done. Unwrap them slightly and leave until cool enough to handle.

Drain the chickpeas, but reserve the liquid for now. Put the chick peas in a food processor.

When the beetroots are cool enough to handle, simply pull the skin and any tougher 'tails' or tops away too.

Put the beetroot into the processor with the chickpeas. Process it all together, stopping to scrape down the sides if you need to.

Add the tahini, cumin, lemon juice, salt and extra virgin olive oil. Mix it all together again well. If the mixture is still too dry at this stage, add just a tablespoonful of the reserved chick pea liquid. Process again. I didn't add any extra chick pea juices, my beetroots were quite juicy, but this may be necessary.

Taste and adjust the seasoning as you like, salt or lemon juice.

Transfer the dip to a bowl, and if not serving immediately, press some cling wrap directly onto the dip to stop oxidation.

Makes about 500ml of dip
Great for the children's lunchboxes with vegetable crudites, breads or even as a side dish. This was y first try of a recipe of this type, but I'm very pleased with it. I suspect it would still work with tinned beetroot, but perhaps more lemon juice would be needed to offset that sweetness. I worked on roughly equal quantities of beetroot to chickpeas.

Such a pretty colour. I entertained the idea of adding some yoghurt to it, I didn't but, there is some leftovers, so I might yet give that a go too.

I adore beetroot, but have only ever found bought beetroot dips to be cloyingly sweet. This one is much less so, though still have that earthy sweetness that comes naturally from the vegetable. Still, we quite enjoy the contrast of a bit of salty (if low fat) feta cheese. The happy part for me is that I managed to keep this quite low fat, so I too, can indulge.

Corn chips - not exactly

2011-08-30T05:00:00.052+10:00

Sometimes I try a recipe and it's not quite what I'd hoped or expected. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a failure. I was attempting a recipe to have something to finish off the last bit of relish I made earlier in the week. I liked the idea of a bit of a nibbly, and found what seemed like child's play in a recipe to make corn chips. What I ended up with was more Corn-Chip-Crackers as some of the mixture just wasn't rolled thin enough to end up with that corn chippiness that you'd expect if you were familiar with the commercial product (as we are). It was a fine line too, if it was too thin, then it was just too easily damaged.

The thing was, they looked good, and, while not being a 'real' corn chip, they tasted quite moreish, and all of us kept having just one more. From a health standpoint, aside from my generous sprinkling of salt flakes, these are a healthier junk food. Surely better than the crispy things in packets, and absolutely more filling.

Corn-Chip-Crackers

1 metric cup 'polenta' (corn or maize meal)
2/3 metric cup plain flour
1/2 tsp free-flowing salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 metric cup light olive oil
1 tsp (or more to taste) salt flakes

Preheat oven to 200C.

Combine the polenta, flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients together well before adding the oil and a half a metric cup of tap-cold water.

Stir the wet and dry ingredients together. Halve the mixture and transfer each half evenly onto two sheets of baking paper. Cover each with another sheet of baking paper and roll out to 1mm thickness, forming it pretty much into rectangles.

Remove the top sheet of baking paper, sprinkle over the salt flakes, return the baking paper, and gently roll once more to press the salt flakes into the dough.

Press shapes into the dough using a knife through the paper. Don't cut right through the paper, but you are trying to imprint the shapes to make them easier to cut later. I did diamonds and triangles for mine.

Remove the top layer of paper, spray with olive oil spray, and then bake in the oven for 5 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Mine took about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven, and while they are still hot, if you see any spots that the cut isn't too clear, best to use a knife to cut through now - easier than once they cool.

Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, before breaking them into their shapes and leaving to cool completely on a rack.

Makes between 80 and 100 corn-chip-crackers, depending on shape and size
Serve with salsa, cheese and a nice cold drink.

A realistic sub for commercial corn chips they ain't, but they're just right for a salty nibbly to dip (apart from the really thin edges, they will hold most dips well) or just to munch on while playing a board game or romping about in the backyard on a lazy sunny Sunday.

With thanks to Taste.com.au for the recipe.

Cream Horns

2011-08-29T04:13:00.002+10:00

Really, I am struggling to say this is a recipe.

A recipe is something that has ingredients, a method and well this only has one item in it and it's the star of the show - puff pastry.

But as for ingredients - well not really.

I guess you could call it a technique, something to impress your friends and family with, show off your skill and yet I will cal it a recipe none the less.

I love these but have NEVER made them - oh yes I had the silver cones that I needed (what good baker wouldn't?) and yet I had never used them - too afraid that this was hard and complicated and I could or wouldn't do it.

Several weeks ago a member of a UK forum who lives in New Zealand and I have had the pleasure of meeting whilst I was there on holiday made these and I was blown away by the simplicity....so I had to be brave and try them.

This is what you need to do.......

Cream Horn

Will make 10-12

2 sheets puff pastry thawed
small amount of milk or egg to glaze

Umm that's it!

Preheat the oven to 220C normal or 200C fan forced.

Place the puff pastry onto a board (I left the plastic on the bottom of each piece so it didn't stick to the board. I know in some countries puff is in a block you will need to roll it out.

Whilst it is defrosting get your metal cones (why do they only come in a pack of 4 when you can get 12 out of the recipe?) Sigh.

Anyway...lightly grease the cones.

And then brush the pastry with a little milk or egg glaze....

Cut the pastry with a very sharp knife quickly....don't drag it otherwise they won't puff up - use a rocking action from end to end. The strips should be around 1.5cm wide.

Now here is where the fun begins.

Lay a strip of pastry on the board and then place the point of the cone at the end.....

Slowly roll it and it will naturally take the shape - it may slip a bit but that's ok just push it down. Once complete it will look like this....

It may take more than one strip so just add another and continue till the top of the cone....making sure you just overlap the pastry.

Continue until you have used up all the pastry or run out of cones.

Place onto a tray with baking paper on it and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.....

Allow to cool for just a minute or two and then slip them off the cones....if you wait much longer they stick (trust me I know)

Then place a wire rack to become cold.

And now the fun bit....what to do with them.

Today I decided I would play and so I melted some chocolate....

Grab a small paintbrush and paint the inside of each horn.

See what it looks like inside.....

Let it set...I also painted the outside end - just because.

Then cut up some strawberries into a small dice...

Whip the cream until stiff....

Place into a piping bag.....

Pop some diced strawberries into the bottom of the cone and then pipe the cream in.

Place on a pretty plate and add a couple more strawberries.

Oh an dust with icing sugar because they always look nice!

It's simple, but it looks amazing, tasty oh yes this is what it looked liked when I cut into it with my spoon....

Taste - delicious, choices for filling endless.

I am sure you could do a savoury version of these - bacon at the bottom and some sort of savoury filling!!!

Lambs Shanks in a Pressure Cooker

2011-08-28T05:59:00.074+10:00

This really is a recipe where I wish you could scratch and smell the photo so that you could truly understand how wonderful this meal was and as always, when done in a pressure cooker in under 60 minutes including prep.

Now you maybe wondering IF these are lamb shanks where the bone is?

Good question.

The meat fell off the bone - does that give any indication how tender it was? And the gravy was even more flavourful by leaving it for a day before we ate it. I love doing that.

The recipe comes from my favourite pressure cooker book called - The pressure Cooker Recipe Book by Suzanne Gibbs. Love this book. And this recipe, from my perspective is really a base where you can do with it what you will.

Just by the list of ingredients you can tell it will be lovely and whilst we still have some cool winter nights before spring pops up, it really is one to try.

The recipe called for 6 french trimmed lambs shanks - umm no - didn't use then, I had 4 untrimmed and since it fell off the bone anyway I really don't see why you should go to the expense of buy french trimmed or spending the time doing it yourself. Totally up to you, but not in my world.

I shall give you the recipe as is but as always, show where I may have changed it just a little bit.

Braised Lamb Shanks

Ingredients

2 tomatoes
6 lamb shanks French trimmed (I used 4 not French trimmed)
1/4 cup plain flour seasoned with a good pinch of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 carrots thickly sliced (I used 2 huge carrots that I chunked)
1 clove garlic peeled (I used 2)
1 tablespoon of fresh oregano
grated rind of lemon
3/4 cup of red wine
1/4 cup of beef stock (I used consomme)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon plain flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water (this is to thicken the gravy and it needs it - although you could make a roux as well as add that)

Method

Now if you really want to peel the tomatoes but I didn't I just cut them into quarters. You could use canned tomatoes I suppose.

Wipe the lamb shanks with paper towel.

Dust them with the seasoned flour.

Heat half the oil in your pressure cooker and on medium heat brown the lambs shanks a couple at a time, turning until well browned. Now I have to admit, I had the flame up too high and so I had some burnt flour in the my pressure cooker instead of some lovely nutty brown flour so after I finished, I wiped the pot out and used fresh oil. Just a tip.

As each shank is brown set aside while you brown the others.

Once complete, add the remaining oil with the onions, carrot and garlic.

Fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add the tomatoes, oregano and lemon rind, wine and stock. Bring to the boil and stir and then return the lamb shank back into the pot a, season.

Close the lid and bring up to pressure. Once reached reduced the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes.

Release the pressure using the natural release method (in other words just wait for it to come down in pressure by itself, doesn't take too long maybe 15 minutes).

Then remove the lid and take out the lambs shanks, but in my case the meat just fell off back into the pot. That's okay, just take all the meat off and then put back onto a low heat use the flour and water paste and stir it in until it reaches your desired viscosity (I love that word).

Serve with mash potatoes and peas and corn or beans or what ever your heart desires.

Think Paris a quaint little restaurant which you have just found, the chef, if he knows and is smart will have a recipe just like this ready for you to try.

Glass of great French wine, a baguette and this dish - heaven!

And yes it is ok to mop up the gravy with the bread.

Saturday lunch

2011-08-27T15:08:00.000+10:00

When kilojoules count, it's interesting to note what flavours or recipes I really miss. Top of my list, I note, is a good old roast chook. It's what I most miss cooking, and it's what I desire to eat when the choice to step away from the rules is upon me. Doesn't need to be fancy either, plain and simple is fine by me.

Lunchtime Saturday. This is what I decide to cook. I was going to roast a chicken and we were going to have it with some fresh bread rolls. It was already late morning before I decided, so it had to be a quick cook. I did avoid the skin - mostly - save for a wing, a special and most delicious indulgence, that I have no regrets about. I am not beating myself up over this. I am doing well with my goals and can see myself reaching my next goal before Christmas. No, if I am going to really enjoy something delicious and special, there mustn't be any regrets or the moment will have been wasted. I savoured this scrumptious meal and delighted in the pleasure the simplicity and sheer yumminess of it all gave the whole family.

Citrus and Herb Roasted Chicken

1 x 1.8kg chicken
1 clove garlic
1 lemon
1 lime
2 tsp dried mixed herbs*
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt flakes
black pepper (freshly ground)
bread rolls, mayonnaise and mixed leaves to serve

Preheat oven to 210C. Line a roasting tray with some baking paper.

Rinse chicken well, remove the fatty attachment next to the cavity.

Dry chicken inside and out well with paper towel. Fold wings back toward the spine to keep them contained.

Place the chicken on the lined tray.

Cut the garlic clove in half and cut the lemon and lime in half, rub the cut sides of the garlic all over the skin of the chicken before slipping one half of the garlic under the skin near the spine and the other in the cavity. Squeeze and smoosh one half of the lemon and then one half of the lime over the chicken and put the remnants into the cavity also. Save the other half of each citrus for later.

Sprinkle the dried herbs all over the chicken, front and back, ending up with the chicken breast side down on the roasting tray.

Drizzle over 1 tsp of the extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put the chicken in the oven, and leave to roast for 40 minutes.

Bottoms up, the first half of the roasting is breast-meat down to help things stay moist and juicy.

Once the first time is up, pull the chicken from the oven, and carefully turn it over to lay on it's back. I find this easier if flipped with the neck end down, rather than rolling it over side ways.

Squeeze over the saved lemon and lime halves, drizzle another teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and finally sprinkle this side with the salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.

Breast up now, the bottom has become golden, but the top still needs some work.

Pop the chicken back into the oven, and roast for another 30 minutes. When the time has elapsed, baste the chicken with the juices and return it to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven, check for doneness (it should be done, but best to make sure) and then leave to rest for a good 10 minutes, though 20 is better, in a warm place. I don't cover it, as this can flabby up the skin. The chicken will still be perfectly hot after this time.

Serve 'rustically' in the centre of the table, I don't even take it from the tray. Cut into pieces, give everyone some bread and let them build their own sandwich. A little of the chickeny juices stirred into a mayo - even a bought one - is a wonderful thing, and perfect for spreading onto a side of your roll.

Serves 6 - 8
*I've made my own dried herb mix, after I was gifted a mix that I've since not been able to find. It's a mix of thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, sage and fennel seeds that I crush - the point of difference and the one addition I can never seem to find.

Having a well-earned rest before serving.
I enjoyed this thoroughly. I never took a roast chicken for granted, as I only learnt how easy it is to do with my introduction to Nigella. Having the opportunity to be away from it for a while though, seems to have made the pleasure that much more of a 'moment'. Truly worthy of savouring.

My token piece of chicken skin, and even then it was just for the photo. Still, plenty of other family members ready to snaffle up the crunchy skin.

I had decided I could either have the skin on my bread roll, or enjoy a chicken wing - the wing seemed like the better deal, so I went with it. I came away not feeling at all deprived, the sandwich was delicious, the citrusy juices are just lovely and zingy, the flesh is moist and juicy and it all just went perfectly in my multi-grain roll. And yes, the rest of the family went with white bread. No worries!

Happy Days. Was Miss Eight's first day playing netball this morning, and after lunch we all went to the park for a bike ride, kick of the footy and clamber over the equipment......Master Three has zonked on the couch and The Lovely Man has taken Master Five and Miss Eight to watch a 'safe' (?) installment of Star Wars. It's one of those perfect days really........now I can read or I can iron..........

Fajitas, low fat

2011-08-26T05:00:00.009+10:00

I thought that some Beef Fajitas might be a delicious way to utilise that yummy relish I made yesterday. A lower fat version (of course?!), but this turned out really delicious, and pretty good value too. The beef used is skirt steak, a cut that seems to still be relatively underused, so it's quite cheap to buy, a bit of trimming of the 'silver's is required, but that's not difficult. The addition of lots of lovely fresh vegetables makes this healthier and more tempting I think.

I tried out some surprisingly delicious wraps for this too. I often find that the commercial flatbreads called wraps are dry, tasteless and crumbly, even the white versions, try a wholemeal version and it's cardboard. Today the Wattle Valley brand of 'wholegrain' soft wraps was a breath of fresh air. I'd certainly buy this product again, they are true to their word, they are soft, and the flavour is great - even The Lovely Man, more of a white bread guy, enjoyed them.

Beef Fajitas

800g skirt steak, trimmed well of obvious fat
1 red capsicum, seeds and membrane removed, sliced
1 yellow capsicum, seeds and membrane removed, sliced
2 red onions, sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
pinch salt flakes
wholegrain wraps to serve (about 2 per person)
shredded lettuce to serve
tomato salsa (or relish) to serve
100g reduced fat tasty cheese to serve
sliced tomatoes (optional) to serve

for the marinade

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp brown sugar

Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, and add the trimmed skirt steak. Marinate for about a half an hour.

I had more than 800g of steak to allow for trimming, but still ended up with extra, there was still enough marinade for the three pieces of skirt.

Heat a heavy duty non stick frying pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle some salt flakes on the steaks. Cook the steaks for 2 minutes a side, then remove and rest.

Add the capsicum, onion, cumin and oregano to the pan, along with any leftover marinade (I smooshed the vegetables around in the marinade before adding them to the pan).

Stir the vegetables about until they soften slightly, adding a splash of water if things look to be getting close to scorching. Taste, and add a little salt if needed. Turn off the heat.

Slice the steaks into thin pieces, and transfer to a serving bowl, pour over any meat juices that may have collected.

Place all the fillings on the table, and allow everyone to help themselves. You can heat the wraps in a microwave if you like - happily this particular item I am now so fond of, was fine just as it was from the packet.

Serves 6-8
I added some boiled corn on the cob seeing as we were already eating with our fingers.
Chicken would absolutely work in place of the beef here if preferred. My tastebuds suggest thigh fillets, the 'food nerd' in me thinks breast fillets would work, though I've not tried it.

There would have been a time, I think I could have eaten four of these, mainly because they're yummy. Today, I filled up with two - oh, plus a couple of sneaky extra pieces of meat. The marinade is quite zesty as you'd imagine with the lime juice, but the brown sugar offsets it just enough. Of course the addition of cumin made it perfection for me. Lots of leftovers too.

I did intend to add coriander leaves to this, I washed them and all, but left them in the salad spinner. I think it was Jamie Oliver who once talked about the addition of herbs to recipes to have a strong link to healthy eating. I guess I missed the mark tonight on that one! The recipe is pretty true to the original, it's from The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Recipe Book. This one made The Lovely Man smile a big, contented man smile!

Tomato Chilli Relish

2011-08-25T05:00:00.008+10:00

A fresh home-made relish is a wonderful thing. I made a relish to accompany some lentil burgers, and it happily made more than I needed for the one meal. It's a little spicy from the addition of a traditional Thai sweet-chilli sauce, so the children could only use a small amount - so there'll be some for serving with salad lunches or chicken sandwiches I think.

The recipe comes from The Australian Women's Weekly cookbook Cheap and Cheerful, but I didn't have quite enough fresh tomato, so this is my variation. Originally it was simply 300g of medium tomatoes, and no passata. I also went with a medium-large, rather than small onion, as The Lovely Man does have a 'thing' for onions.

Tomato Chilli Relish

250g tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
125ml (1/2 metric cup) tomato passata
80ml (1/3 metric cup) sweet chilli sauce
40ml (2 x 20ml tbsp) malt vinegar
pinch salt

Cook up the tomatoes, onion and garlic (stirring frequently) over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to collapse.

Once the tomatoes have collapsed pour in the tomato passata, sweet chilli sauce and malt vinegar. Bring to the boil, and reduce heat to a simmer, cook until sauce has reduced and thickened - about 10 to 15 minutes should do it. Leave to cool, and ideally make this the day before you need it, the flavours will continue to improve.

Makes about 350ml
Will keep for about a week in the fridge

This is so yummy, I could have eaten it with a spoon and perhaps just some crusty bread alongside. Very easy, but far better than the commercial product. No reason you couldn't heat it up further with an addition of some fresh chilli or even some dry chilli flakes. For our family, this heat is just right - The Lovely Man prefers a warmth from chilli rather than a scalding!

Now my mind is ticking over with everything I could have this relish on or with!

A recipe not destined for the blogging world

2011-08-24T05:00:00.001+10:00

I hadn't any intention of blogging about this recipe, it was a pulled-together-from-things-in-the-pantry-fridge-freezer kinda meal. The sort that fills us up, but isn't worth remembering. When we sat down to eat it (well even when I taste tested at the stove in fact) I realised this was yummy enough for me to want to remember this for the future. You see this blog is really my own personal recipe book, so forgive me please if I blog about what may seem a rather uninspiring recipe please, but I just can't tolerate the idea that I might forget how to make this simple, but rather delicious culture-clash of a recipe.

Pork and Mushroom Noodle Soup

2 litres water
1 red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 mushroom stock cubes
1 chicken stock cube
1 tsp Tuscan herb mix (fennel seed predominant)
1 cup already sliced dried shiitake mushrooms
250g thin egg noodles
1 x 20ml tbsp dark or mushroom (not sweet) soy sauce
1 fillet of pork, well trimmed and sliced finely
1/2 Chinese cabbage shredded

Splash about a 125ml (1/2 cup) of the water into a pot, and bring to the boil. Drop in the onions, celery and stock cubes, toss about until the vegetables soften slightly and raw onion aromas have dissipated.

Add the herb mix and mushrooms, then pour in the rest of the water. Bring to the boil, and simmer gently, for about 10 minutes, or until mushrooms have reconstituted.

Put the noodles into the broth, and cook them until nearly tender (about 5 minutes).

Add the dark soy pork fillet and cabbage, poach the pork gently until just cooked and still tender.

Taste and adjust the seasoning - I found it fine just as it is.

Serve immediately, in generously proportioned bowls. Enough for 6-8

I don't even have a piccie - unless I take one of the leftovers sitting in the fridge. It's not much to look at anyway, it was just a warming, comforting bowl of noodles really. Provided the pork is well trimmed this must be pretty low fat too. The combination of pork and cabbage isn't new, I suspect it's far less common however to put soy and shiitake mushrooms with a Tuscan herb mix, but you know, it does work - mad perhaps but I'm not complaining.

Contentment? That is we right now.

Chickpeas

2011-08-23T05:00:00.058+10:00

Sometimes now, I read a recipe and think it sounds really delicious - pity about the fat content. I am becoming more confident in transforming recipes to lower fat versions thanks to successes. This recipe, a simple side dish is a perfect example. Look it's not an unhealthy recipe to start out with, and I am not trying to demonise fats like olive oil, I just need to keep working on low fat right now until I get to a healthier me. When I get there I can see about maintenance and add a bit of fat here and there - that will be trial and error, but for now, the less fat the better.

So many things appealed about this dish. The use of chickpeas, the spices, the fact it's to be served at room temperature when I am also cooking a frittata, also good at warm/room temp. Plus it uses spinach, but I had some gorgeous home-grown (thanks Mum) baby silverbeet that I personally felt would work even better. It included white bread, but I was going to go out on a proverbial limb and try it with a soy-linseed bread. Here it is, my version of:

Chickpeas with Silverbeet

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 bunch baby silverbeet or spinach
extra virgin olive oil cooking spray
2 garlic cloves, sliced finely
3 slices soy-linseed bread, cut into dice
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
250ml (1 metric cup) chicken stock
salt flakes to taste
coriander leaves to garnish (optional)

Ideally prepare the chickpeas the night before, by soaking them in cold water. If you haven't done this, then just toss them into a large pot with a lot of cold water, bring to the boil, and simmer until they are tender - 45 minutes to an hour, topping up the water with more hot water if you need to and skimming any scum that rises to the surface. Cook until they're tender. Of course you could otherwise use a couple of tins of chickpeas instead....

Bring a medium frying pan of water to the boil, add a little salt. Meanwhile remove the stems from the silverbeet and slice. Shred the silverbeet leaves, keep the stems and leaves apart.

Add the stems of silverbeet to the water, and cook for about 2 minutes, add the leaves and cook until tender. My little leaves took just another 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water, drain again. Spinach will work with similar times.

Dry the pan, and return it to a low heat, spray it lightly with the olive oil spray, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the diced bread, and the spices, cook it for about a minute, stirring all the time, when the spices have become aromatic, add the stock, stir it all about, until the stock is warmed through.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor, and whizz about until you have a paste. Taste and add enough salt that it will nearly be too salty as it's got to cover the chickpeas, plus it will be eaten at room temperature - of course you can season again later in need.

Drain the chickpeas now, and pour over the spices bread paste. Stir in the silverbeet. Taste and adjust again if you think it needs it.

Serve as a side dish, sprinkled with coriander leaves, it's pretty moreish and I kept tasting just one more!

Serves 6 as a side

Don't let looks put you off, it's the flavour that's really quite wonderful. I concede that it would have been even better with a final drizzle of olive oil, but perhaps that's just the old me thinking this. The Lovely Man and I agree that there's a period of adjustment with this style of eating, but our bodies are reaping the rewards. In spite of not doing anything different from a fitness point of view, The Lovely Man has lost almost 4 kilos and several belt buckle notches. He's very pleased. I am secretly hoping that with the weightloss with come more keenness to get some exercise in his routine.

There you go. I managed it. Spanish food shines with the olive oil used, but it is possible to serve up something pretty flavoursome with far less oil. This was a great side with the frittata (recipe for another day).

Breakfast for the poorly

2011-08-22T08:27:00.003+10:00

Having a liquid breakfast is not a regular event at our place. Right now though, two of our three have come down with a bug that's been making its way around the school. One of the worst parts about it is the children have lost their appetites due to sore throats. Getting them to have a 'meal' is made easier then if they can sip it, easier still if that drink seems to sooth the soreness as it goes down. It's a relief to see them have something that will surely help keep their strength up.

This first drink is, without doubt their favourite, and it fills them up quite well. Very easy, provided you have something like a blender or a good food processor.

Banana Malt Smoothie

1 large, frozen banana (you can chop it if you want, I don't bother)
2 x 20ml tbsp malt powder (I used Horlicks)
180ml (3/4 metric cup) vanilla yoghurt
60ml (1/4 metric cup) milk
4 ice cubes
30ml (1 1/2 x 20ml tbsp) honey

Put the still frozen banana, malt powder, vanilla yoghurt, milk and ice cubes into your blender or food processor. Start the machine up, give everything a chance to blend well and stop bouncing about (the frozen things tend to cause this) and then, open the chute and drizzle the honey in as everything mixes together.

Pour into serving glasses and serve immediately.

Serves 2-3 little ones

This second recipe is less sweet, so you could add a teaspoon of honey - Master Three is not sick, but he wants very much to have some of these breakfast drinks and the extra sweetness suits him.

Banana Berry Breakfast Brew

80ml (1/3 metric cup) berry yoghurt (I use strawberry)
2 x 20ml tbsp wheat germ
1 large frozen banana (chopped a little if you like)
250ml (1 metric cup) unsweetened pineapple juice
6 frozen blackberries (or other frozen berry of choice)
1/2 tsp dark agave syrup or 1 tsp honey or more to taste (optional)

Using a food processor or blender, mix up the yoghurt, wheat germ, banana, pineapple juice and blackberries until smooth, drizzle in the agave or honey if using.

Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Serves 1 adult or 2-3 smaller serves for children

Both the above recipes are ideas (not exact) from Taste.com.au which has a great range of breakfast drinks, but these two, with my little tweaks to suit us, are the faves.

These drinks are delicious, they'd do me as a special breakfast now and then. The two older children like both drinks, but as mentioned our littlest tacker prefers the first because it's sweeter - the agave syrup is great because it mixes in after the fact (a little stirred into Master Three's glass) where the honey you really need to add as it's blending.

It's so quiet! I can hear Master Three playing a little game all by himself, but usually at this time of day, the house would be abuzz with Monday morning preparations. It's a glorious morning too - the sun is shining so brightly I had to pull the curtains across Master Five's bedroom window as it's just too much for his aching little self to take right now. We should be on our way to school, smiling and chatting in the sunlight. Instead, Miss Eight is reading, coughing and sniffling and Master Five-Nearly-Six who's been asleep has just come out to tell me his whole face is sore, my poor beautiful boy. I'm off to put the kettle on for some hot lemon and honey drinks now.....

....Which reminded me. Yesterday The Lovely Man made the romantic gesture of organising Gold Class tickets to see Jane Eyre - how romantic is THAT? Our anniversary is a couple of weeks away, but it's in the middle of our most hectic month with so many other things on, so he organised this ahead of time. He'd asked my parents to look after the children. He's a gorgeous man! And if you're wondering why the hot lemon and honey reminded me, it's the drink itself. My mother told me the children wouldn't drink their honey and lemon. I forgot that my Mum always was heavy on the lemon and light on the honey! SOUR is the way she likes it, that's what I grew up with, I remember it well. I'll go and make some sweeter versions now for my sweet things.

Easing up on the fat

2011-08-21T05:00:00.071+10:00

Do you ever surprise yourself with a recipe? I made a recipe that was initially relatively high in fat for me these days: 25.8g of fat and 5.5g of saturated fat. I liked the idea of it though, so I thought I might turn my hand to making it a lower fat version of itself. I have no idea what the fat content ended up being, but I feel confident it's below 10g of fat per serve. The first ingredient in the original recipe was 2 tablespoons of oil, plus it used semi-dried tomatoes, and as it didn't stipulate otherwise one must assume in oil. So I omitted the 2 tablespoons of oil, and instead added a single teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. I selected semi-dried tomatoes that were only 3% fat - or as they like to say '97% fat free'. The recipe, a 'spag bol' uses turkey mince. Good.

It's become my way that once a week I make a special effort to cook a particularly 'family friendly' meal, while still trying to adhere to my low-fat ethos. This often means dipping something in egg before putting crumbs on it or making some form of chip-like serve. This night it's pasta. Using wholemeal pasta can often still put a dampner on the meal, but the high fibre stuff really looks and tastes like the regular product, so we had that. Here then is my healthied up bol.

Turkey Bolognaise

500ml (2 metric cups) salt-reduced chicken stock
1 large brown onion, chopped
1 medium eggplant, cut into dice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow (or red) capsicum, cut into chunky squares
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
500g lean turkey mince
1/4 metric cup tomato paste
400g can chopped tomatoes
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper taste
pinch of sugar (optional)
1/2 metric cup chopped basil leaves
500g packet high fibre spiral pasta (or your preferred shape)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve

Splash a half a cup of the chicken stock into a pan and bring to a simmer. Add the onions and swish about for a few minutes, until the raw smell has gone.

Add the eggplant to the onions, and continue cooking, adding a little more stock if the eggplant sucks it all up. Continue to cook until the eggplant is nearly done (about three minutes or so), it will start to collapse.

.

Put the garlic and capsicum in the pan, stir them about until the stock has gone, then transfer to a plate.

Return the pan to the heat, add the extra virgin olive oil and the turkey mince. Cook the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until it's turned from pink to brown.

Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute or so.

Pop a big pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

Return the vegetables to the pan, add the semi-dried tomatoes, tinned diced tomatoes and another cup of stock. Add salt, pepper and sugar (if using) to taste. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and let it bubble away for 20 minutes or so, adding the remaining stock if you think it's reducing too quickly, a little at a time. I used the full 500ml of stock by the end of things, and ended up with a lovely thick and chunky sauce.

Just before you are ready to serve, add the basil leaves and stir them through until they just wilt.

Serve with a side salad and a grating of Parmesan cheese if desired.

Serves 6-8

I had been cooking regular 'high fat' cooking for so many years, I still feel like a newbie to this lower fat idea. This is why, when I taste a dish like this, and think it tastes really yummy, I am refreshingly surprised. How can something with so little added fat have so much flavour when 'fat IS flavour'? How lovely.

I don't disguise or hide ingredients, so I was upfront with The Lovely Man about this having eggplant in it. He's not a fan you see. He had complete faith in me, so he knew this wouldn't be a problem - and it wasn't. He found it delicious and was pleased there were plenty of leftovers for lunches. Master Three downed this in super-quick time, of all the children, I think he enjoyed it the most.

Banana Passionfruit Yoghurt Muffins

2011-08-20T05:00:00.093+10:00

So here's what I did. I prepped the dry ingredients the night before...two ingredients - not hard! I grabbed an egg out of the fridge, I got the measuring cups out, and pulled a couple of frozen bananas out of the freezer, and stashed them in the fridge before I went to bed.

Got up at 6.40am (and how lovely it is that it's light outside again at this time of day) and turned on the oven, by 7.00am there were muffins baking in the oven and the family woke to that wonderfully intoxicating cooking banana aroma.

This is a seriously easy recipe - yes muffins are already easy, but this is simple even for a muffin. I'm back trawling about on taste.com.au and these muffins seemed a popular option with readers of the site. I'd had this recipe saved over at the website for a long time, so it was good to finally be giving it a go. Better late than never. It's a slight alteration from the original.

Banana Passionfruit Muffins

260g (1 3/4 metric cups) self-raising flour
75g raw castor sugar
250ml (1 metric cup) low fat passionfruit yoghurt
1 egg
160ml (2/3 metric cup) light olive oil
2 large bananas*

Preheat an oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Combine the self-raising flour and castor sugar in a bowl, stir them about to combine.

Mix together the yoghurt, egg, light olive oil and squishy bananas, stir them all together well.

Make a well in the midst of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Give them a stir until just combined.

Fill each muffin case 3/4 full and then pop them in the oven, bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until they are golden and a skewer inserted in the centre of one, comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins

*You want your bananas really close to the edge! Black skinned is best, the ones I pulled from the freezer defrosted to a gungy gooey glug of banana - perfect.
If I'd had a passionfruit in my bowl, I would have added that too.

You're in for a very moist and fruity muffin here. I adore the combination of banana and passionfruit. These are very 'scoffable'. I wouldn't mind being woken up with those aromas either quite frankly. If you 'd like to check out the original recipe, it's here.

The simple things in life are often the best? Recon so! Easy, variable, yummy.

Paprika and maple chicken escalopes with pear...

2011-08-19T05:00:00.123+10:00

...just 8.5g of fat per serve and 1.5g of it is saturated fat. I have a family of sweet things who like to eat sweet things, so I knew that this diabetes friendly dish would be a winner. Easy? If you know me, you know it is!

Just a few ingredients are needed for this recipe, but what a great combination.

Paprika and Maple Chicken Escalopes with Pear

60ml (3 x 20ml tbsp/ 1/4 metric cup) maple syrup
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or microplaned
2 tsp sweet paprika
500g (2-3 skinless chicken breast fillets)
extra virgin olive oil spray
1 large Packham pear
1 x 20ml tbsp white balsamic condiment
1 x 20ml tbsp wholegrain mustard
150g baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Combine the maple syrup, rosemary, garlic and sweet paprika in a bowl, whisk together to combine.

Cut the chicken breast fillets across horizontally into two or three pieces each. Put the pieces of chicken into the marinade and leave for five minutes or a few hours, whatever works for you.

When ready to continue, drain the marinade away from the fillets and reserve.

Put a non-stick pan onto a medium-high heat and spray the chicken on one side with the olive oil spray cook the chicken in batches until golden and cooked through on both sides. Place the cooked chicken on a plate covered with foil while you cook the remaining pieces.

Meanwhile, slice the pear into 1cm thick pieces horizontally, scrape away any seeds.

Put the pear into the pan, and cook for a few minutes, turning now and then, until tender and just cooked through. Splash in a tablespoon or so of water as the pear cooks which will assist the cooking of the pear and deglaze the pan. Transfer the pear to a plate.

Add the reserved marinade, white balsamic and mustard, cook for a minute before adding the spinach. Allow the spinach to wilt down in the sauce. Taste and add a little salt if needed (it didn't for me) before serving.

Going.....

Going.....

Not quite gone, but just wilted enough.......

Serve the chicken, pear and spinach on a plate, with any more sauce drizzled over.

Serves 4-5

To serve with this meal, I cooked off some sweet potato, carrot and a small amount of potato which I mashed up with some nutmeg and a little salt and pepper.

I messed ever so slightly with the recipe. The spinach was not supposed to be cooked, but it's winter, and quite frankly, the children eat more spinach when it's wilted compared to when it's raw. I used half as much spinach again as originally stipulated for this reason.

This could easily end up too sweet, but if you taste it before serving you can adjust the seasoning. Having said that, some people just aren't keen on 'sweet savoury' - my father for one, so I don't know that he'd be keen on this. Play for the audience in front of you though, my lot thought this was fabulous. The decision to add a mash which itself is naturally sweet gave me the flexibility to add just a jot more balsamic. Yum.

For anyone curious, the healthy eating and exercise is doing well. After my knee injury, I realised that one issue was too much aeorobic work, and not enough weight training. Because I'd let the weight work and yoga slip I'd left myself open to be more easily injured. The arthritis is a fact of life, but if I can strengthen the muscles around my knees then it should be less of an issue for me. I am a scant 300g away from my next weight goal. I am not focusing on the weight any longer, I'm working more on the self-compassion side of things. I am realistic though, I 'get' that the best guide of how I am doing in my health is still weightloss. I know that the excess weight is a danger to me. Happily now the health risk seems to be reducing almost day by day.

Recipe comments, well worth a read

2011-08-18T05:00:00.138+10:00

I really appreciate the Recipe Comments and Reviews over at Taste.com.au. It can help guide me to what to expect or what I might like to change. Sometimes I read the comments as a challenge, if a person bags the recipe, IS it the recipe or was it in actuallity the fault of the cook writing the review? So much is about personal preference, ovens, and ability. The great thing is, the more people comment, the more it is likely that we'll find a comment from someone similar to us.

I came across a slice recipe with 179 reviews. Generally positive, but certainly not all:

"......but it is definitely not worthy of five stars. In fact, it is rather mediocre. It is slightly dry, and fails to induce a 'wow factor'. "

and

"I'm calling a spade a spade on this one - it was pretty gross. My husband and I didn't like the taste. It tasted like those health 'meal replacement' slices you buy the healthfood stores. I won't be making this again."

I don't even know what a meal replacement bar tastes like, but it doesn't sound good! Out of the 179 reviews there is a scant handful of negative comments, though quite a few people found imperfections in the recipe. One person who described the recipe as 'ho hum' wondered about the combination of sultanas and chocolate. The one nearly constant issue for people was the dry and crumbly texture of the finished product. Those who didn't have that problem had tended to follow other comment suggestions including adding milk or another egg or golden syrup.

There were also a surprising (to me) number of people saying they replaced the sultanas with another ingredient because they dislike sultanas. I know some people don't but was really quite stunned at the number of people who omitted them. Not in our house!

If there was one thing that didn't shock me, it was the number of people who said adding MORE chocolate was a good idea - NO - adding lots of chocolate will make something yummy? You're pulling my leg! Anyway, I thought I might give the recipe a go. For a change though, I wasn't going to go with the original recipe, but rather the amended recipe. Now, while I couldn't follow every suggestion (after all some comments contradict others) I did take a few of the repeat comments on board, so the changes I made were:

Changed the plain flour for wholemeal flour.
Added a tablespoonful of golden syrup (which is up there with adding chocolate for no surprises).
Slightly increased the amount of butter (by about 25g).
Replaced the rolled oats with quick cooking oats.
Used two rather than a single egg.
Firmly stood my ground and left the sultanas right where they should be.
An extra alteration I made, not suggested, was simply due to necesity, I used shredded rather than desicated coconut as it was to hand.
Finally, I don't generally sift, and I didn't here - you can if you like, I think in a recipe like this, there's no point personally.

Here's looking at you! One of the more popular suggestions was the addition of an extra egg. I liked this idea, as my Nana was famous for making 'the best' sponges, and she told me her secret was an extra egg.
(Tweaked) Choc Chip and Oat Slice

150g butter
1 generous 20ml tbsp golden syrup
75g (1/2 metric cup) self-raising flour
70g (1/2 metric cup) wholemeal plain flour
90g (1 metric cup) quick cook oats
70g (2/3 metric cup) shredded coconut
140g (2/3 metric cup) brown sugar
130g (2/3 metric cup) sultanas
95g (1/2 metric cup) choc bits (I went with milk chocolate today)
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 180C.

Melt butter gently, brush a slab pan (base measure approx 17cm x 27cm) lightly with butter - enough to help the baking paper stick when you line it.

Add the golden syrup to the butter, stir well to combine, and set aside for a moment to cool a little.

In a large bowl combine the self-raising flour, wholemeal plain flour, quick cooking oats, shredded coconut, brown sugar, sultanas and choc bits. Stir well to combine, taking care to break up the brown sugar if it has any lumps.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the combined butter and golden syrup and the eggs. Stir it all together well.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, spreading it and smoothing it down as best you can with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting into slices.

Makes about 20 squares (I got 26). Will keep four about 4 days.

I could have done so much more, suggestions include adding: vanilla, goji berries, milk, pitted dates, walnuts, macadamia nuts, cranberries, honey, dried apricots, white chocolate, fructose (in place of the sugar), chocolate icing, oatbran, pecans, coffee powder, less sugar, less fruit, oil in place of butter, tinned apple in place of the egg, dried fruit medly....and so it goes on! Not sure how much you need to change the recipe before you are reviewing one recipe, but you have made a completely different recipe!?

What I can say is, that this particular incarnation was very easy to make, it uses things you are likely to have in the pantry, it smells wonderful baking, it looks a little plain, but it gets 100% thumbs up from the family - including The Lovely Man who isn't averse to taking a little something sweet with him to have with (one of) his morning coffees. Does it deserve the rave reviews in this version? It's not what I would call a 'best ever'. Would I make it again like this? Probably, because of the ease with which it comes together. The fact that I don't revisit many recipes is more to do with the plethora of new recipes yet to be experienced than any fault of previous recipes. The end product is certainly more slice than muesli bar, thanks to the extra egg and butter. These aren't crunchy, nor especially chewy (probably would be more so using rolled oats over quick cook) but I think the children like it because it's easier to eat. It's a 'cakey slice', and a delicious one by all accounts. They certainly like having little chunks of sultanas and chocolate, and the coconut shreds too.

So thanks to all the reviewers, may you all continue to voice your opinions, positive or (constructively) negative, it's all helpful thank you. Now, given the changes I made - should I leave a review??

Peanut butter makes an appearance

2011-08-17T05:00:00.002+10:00

I have my focus on a healthier diet these days, but there are some ingredients I just don't like to think that I'll never enjoy again. Peanut butter is one such item. I really like peanut butter, it's delicious and while it was never an every day option for me, I certainly would be loath to imagine never having it again. When I came across a recipe that used peanut butter in it, that ended up as only 10.5g of fat per serve I knew it was for me. I messed around with the recipe a little, if only because there was some sort of misprint in the recipe and it didn't make a lot of sense to me - so the book shall remain nameless. My alterations would end up doing little to adversely effect the fat content, I suspect.

Not to be confused with rice wine or seasoned rice vinegar (used for sushi rice) this clear coloured rice vinegar is much closer to a western-style vinegar, though still not quite as astringent. It's what I used in this recipe.
Chicken with Satay-style Coleslaw

The chicken here is not satay, but the dressing nods to the sauces that usually accompany the flavoursome meats on sticks.

4 chicken breast fillets (skinless)
1 litre salt reduced chicken stock
1 lime
1 tsp fish sauce (or soy sauce)
60g (1/4 metric cup) crunchy peanut butter (smooth would work if it's your preference)
3 x 15ml tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp grated ginger
450g dry coleslaw mix*
1 bunch coriander leaves
to serve; wedges of tomato, cucumber relish** and a small cos lettuce, shredded

Put the chicken breast fillets, stock, 1/2 of the lime and fish sauce into a large pan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer gently until chicken is almost cooked (time will depend on the size of the breast fillets, but check after about 10 minutes). Turn off the heat, but leave the chicken in the stock while you get on with the other steps.

The stock the chicken is cooked in has a lovely flavour - it's not needed in the recipe (unless the dressing needs thinning) but it's perfect for making a quick lunch by throwing in some sliced veg or a packet of udon. Save it in the freezer.

Whisk together the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce and ginger, add a squeeze of lime. Taste and adjust the seasoning in need. The dressing should be (apart from the chunks of peanut) the consistency of pouring cream, if it looks a little thick, use a drop or two of the poaching stock to thin it out.

Toss together the coleslaw mix and coriander leaves in a large bowl.

Cut with a knife, or shred the chicken breast fillets apart with your hands. Put the chicken in with the cabbage mix and pour over the dressing. Toss it all together well.

Pop some of the shredded lettuce on each plate and top with some of the cucumber relish and tomato wedges, put a generous mound of the coleslaw on each plate and serve.

Serves 6-8

*I chose one that had drumhead cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, celery, corn and spring onions, then I added another mini tin of sweetcorn, that I drained as the total amount of coleslaw was a little under.

**For the relish, simply peel some of the skin from a telegraph cucumber away, cut the cucumber into chunks and toss with a squeeze of lime and half a teaspoon of lime juice, add a half teaspoon of sweet chilli sauce or more to taste.

It felt a bit special to be having a dish using peanut butter. I certainly have a real appreciation for it now as it is a rare treat. I really like the crunch of the nuts in this, which is why I prefer the crunchy version I suppose. The dressing is not a heavy coating, but there is enough flavour there that you know what you are getting. We have leftovers enough for three meals, adding the extra vegetables to make more serves has surely made the total fat content less. The chicken was, by the time it was shredded, just a bit above room temperature. I am not a fan of completely cold chicken it has to be said, but like this, where the flesh is still soft and yielding, it's succulent and wonderful.

A bit of chilli in this would have been great, but because there was already ginger in the dressing and chilli with the cucumber, I omitted it for the sake of the children. They hoed into this eagerly - and ate most of the relish as well. Using a packet of coleslaw mix is a wonderful cheat option. It's my busy night tonight, so while the chicken was poaching and cooling a little, I was helping with homework - normally of course cutting a little cabbage wouldn't be a bother.

I left the table feeling as if I'd ingulged healthily if that makes sense? That our meal brought a smile to my face is a good thing, that there is still peanut butter on the shelf, the same container that has been there for months now, is amazing, but I am glad it's there, ready and waiting.......

Midweek, midwinter's soup

2011-08-16T05:00:00.077+10:00

Alright, in truth, we are just a couple of short weeks away from the end of winter, we're not in midwinter, but it was cold tonight so please, humour me. I don't blog about every meal I make, even if it might seem so sometimes. A lot of the time, I think a recipe is just so everyday or run of the mill that everyone will have been there done that - even me. The recipe I made most recently feels a bit like that, and yet, it's not for me. I am still getting used to the soup I make that is hearty and delicious, yet I've not sweated the onions, leeks or celery in any oil. It's got that 'I've been bubbling along all day' feel about it, in spite of it being made in the afternoon after collecting the children from school, and in fact even after their homework is done, it's quite a quick soup for the aromas that end up wafting through the kitchen. This would easily have less than 5g of fat per serve.

Beef, Mushroom and Vegetable Soup

60g pearl barley
750ml (3 metric cups) beef stock*
750ml (3 metric cups) salt reduced chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
200g Swiss Brown mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 leek, cut in half lengthways, cleaned and finely sliced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
250g lean rump steak, sliced thinly*
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste (optional)
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Put the pearl barley into a pot with the beef and chicken stock, bring to the boil, skim off any scum and then add the dried herbs.

Simmer for about 10 minutes and then add the vegetables (mushrooms, carrot, leek, celery and onion) and cook for another 5 minutes. Use this time to slice the beef if you haven't already.

Stir the beef into the soup, grind in some black pepper (you can taste and add salt here too if you think it needs it - I've yet to add salt for this soup though) and bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and continue to simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

When the meat and vegetables are tender, stir through the parsley just before serving.

Serves 6 very generously, especially if you're adding some crusty bread at the table

*I have ended up adding a further cup of stock as this is quite a thick soup, too thick for my liking - but a cup of water would work instead, or of course, you could keep it thick, which some of the family seem to like equally well, it's all personal preference.
*To make it easier to slice the steak, it can be put in the freezer for half an hour to firm up if time permits.

Unlikely to win any beauty contests, but if we stop being superficial for just a moment, we can find the beauty in aromas, comfort, and best of all, flavours.
A side note, unrelated to the soup: I've cut back a lot on my bread, because I am so fond of bread with butter or other fattening toppings. I eat a lot more salad than can fit into a couple of slices too. Yesterday though I was able to pick up two loaves of Laurent Bakery breads (a sourdough and a batard) for the price of one loaf. I shocked myself by discovering that a beautifully flavoured bread like this, can stand up to being eaten with the merest hint of a spread with Nuttelex lite spread, though with this soup, I added nothing other than a good dunking in the broth.

The idea for this soup didn't start out as a low-fat option. It came from ideas to utilise the delicious broth here which I learnt from Tessa Kiros. I found this combination of chicken and beef bones made the most wonderfully balanced soup, and I couldn't get enough of it. Now, I haven't made the broth for a while, but still wanted to have this soup I make which could be so low fat I would feel extra virtuous eating it. Using the packaged stocks isn't the same, I'll grant you, but for a midweek meal on a cold day, it's orright! I find beef stock on it's own just a bit OTT in flavour, and to use all chicken stock while adding beef just wouldn't 'feel' right. Of course the pearl barley is filling, but it tastes great too - old fashioned sure, but delicious as well. I'm just so pleased with this simple concoction I just had to share.

A cake for teacher

2011-08-15T05:00:00.003+10:00

'Mummy, it's Miss W's (teacher in training) last day tomorrow and Miss F said it might be nice if all the children said "thank you". I really thought it would be a good idea to take in a cake.' Sunday, late afternoon Master Five presents this to me. Coulda been worse, he might have waited until Monday morning, but I did have other things I'd planned to do this afternoon, true, none of them pressing, and in fact, some of them fun. I guess I'd just have to turn my attention to the fun of baking instead. After all the ironing's not going anywhere, and my book will wait for me too.

I was so touched with Master Five's idea, I couldn't turn him down. My beautiful boy is so thoughtful, even if belatedly so! Now I could turn to a reliable and trusted recipe, but then, I'd not have anything to blog about. I had it in my head to make a cake using pineapple from the pantry. The recipe from Taste, that would give a lovely caramel top to the cake looked like fun. I only messed with it a little, including adding the remaining pineapple to the cake batter and including the glace cherries. Cakes like this may be old fashioned, but deliciousness never goes out of style, and I do like myself a bit of kitsch cooking.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

440g can pineapple thins in natural juice, drained
glace cherries (optional)
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
Caramel topping
75g butter, melted
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm round (base) cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper.

Make topping by whisking the butter with the sugar together in a bowl until combined. and then pour this mixture into the prepared pan.

Pat pineapple dry. Arrange some of the pineapple slices over caramel, pressing the pineapple down into caramel. Place halves of the cherries cut side up into the pineapple holes and any larger areas left once no more full slices of pineapple will fit.

Chop any leftover pieces of pineapple into smallish chunks.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Stopping to scrape down sides once or twice in need.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add flours, pineapple chunks and milk. Stir to combine. Spoon mixture over caramel and pineapple. Smooth top as best you can.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean (cover loosely with foil if you become concerned the top is browning too much as it cooks). Stand in pan for 30 minutes to half an hour to give the caramel a chance to set before turning out to cool.

Serves 10-12

Doesn't this look gorgeously homely and tempting? I have every confidence this will be a winner for Miss W. and any of her workmates should she care to share! Master Five was thrilled that Mummy had managed to come up with the goods, so could go to bed confident he'd be able to show this teacher that she'd be missed.

I wouldn't be a teacher for quids. It's a difficult job, if rewarding, and of course, certainly in our public system the teachers don't get paid enough. I can only hope that the moments when the children say 'thanks' in their way - either with cake or just a smile - is enough to make it all worthwhile. Goodness knows I appreciate everything the teachers at my children's school do. Now my biggest job is keeping the hungry hordes away from this freshly baked item so that it can arrive at school in the morning in one piece!

Footnote: The cake went down a treat with the teachers.....sadly the teacher it was made for left *last week* (Master Five was mortified to find this out), but it was very much appreciated by the teachers still at the school anyway. A request for the recipe from one teacher, a 'thank you' card from another teacher and comments to the effect of 'memories of my childhood' from yet another. It's really lovely that a simple cake can bring so much happiness isn't it?

A quick sausage and pasta recipe

2011-08-14T05:00:00.122+10:00

It's amazing how this new style of living my life is pervading my regular thought processes. I'd made up my mind to give the family a break from these daily healthy low fat meals. I'd decided I was going to make a pasta dish, and thought that meatballs would make their eyes light up. Better yet, it was going to be a quick and easy dish, as I'd found a simple recipe using sausages (a rarity in our home these days). I've used sausages in pasta dishes like this before, so was confident that, in spite of some very negative comments under the recipe my family would love it. The fact that the meat would be baked in the oven was the first sign that even now, I am quite happy not to completely let go of this new (for me) style of cooking. Then, the pasta - a high fibre pasta. There was a tablespoon of oil used in the recipe, but I figured there was enough fat in the snags that we'd be fine without it. Oh, and the packaged stock - salt reduced. The old me would have fried the meatballs in oil, used regular pasta and regular stock. So, this now, is the way things are, even a more indulgent meal is less indulgent than what would have been one of our everyday meals! Good.

After my recent issues with a pork dish, I was steering clear of the suggested pork sausage for the recipe, I went with a safer 'Cornish' beef sausage, as these snags have vegetables added it's even that littlest bit healthier again. The recipe will only be as good as the snags you choose to use, which is perhaps where the naysayers of this recipe went wrong. The original recipe is designed with super-ease in mind, but there's nothing stopping anyone playing around with it, and making it their own. Here's how I went:

Quick Pasta and Meatballs

1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves, picked from stems
500g-600g sausages of your choice (Cornish-style beef ones today for me)
500ml tomato passata
250ml salt-reduced chicken stock
Salt flakes to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch brown sugar
400g high-fibre short pasta (I used 'corkscrews' - not selling the stuff, but this is a great option if the family are not convinced the full-on wholemeal pasta. I note that this very recipe also appears on pasta brand's website)
Parmesan to serve
Leafy greens to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Pop a large pot of water on to boil.

Select the delicate smaller and baby basil leaves and set them aside for serving. Keep the larger leaves about 2 dozen leaves - a loose cup's worth I guess for cooking the sauce.

Cut down the length of each sausage and peel the 'skin' away as you remove the meat from the casings*.

Roll each sausage into balls about 2 to 3cm wide.

Put the sausages in a single layer, spread over the baking tray. Pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. Mine took 20 minutes and I bumped up the heat up to 200C for the final 5 minutes to get a bit of colour.

While the meatballs are in the oven, put the passata, chicken stock, large basil leaves, salt, black pepper and sugar into a large pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer over a medium heat to give the flavours a chance to meld together slightly.

When the meatballs are ready, drain away the excess fat and add the meatballs to the sauce. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes (or until the pasta is ready) on a gentle heat. Taste and adjust seasoning in need.

In the mean time, when the large pot of water comes to the boil, add some salt and the pasta, and cook according to packet directions. When it's cooked drain the pasta, not worrying about a little bit of the water sticking, and put the pasta into the sauce. Turn it all about together gently and serve immediately.

Put a couple of spoonsful of pasta, sauce and meatballs onto each plate, sprinkle over the reserved small basil leaves and pop some salad leaves to the side if you like. Offer up Parmesan for diners to help themselves.

Serves 6

*You can just squeeze the meat out of the sausages, but I find I end up with a bit of meat left within by that method.

If you are serving children who you think might balk at the sight of leafy bits in the sauce, you could cut the basil up, or omit it, but my children didn't care one bit.

I am not deluded. I know this is not health food - it is, after all sausages. The way I figure it though, it's still far healthier than it might have been. I wouldn't have bothered baking, I wouldn't have worried about draining, I would have served the pasta, alone without leafage. I am pleased to say, my serving portion is now easily a quarter of what it would have been in the past.

What you don't want to do with this recipe is use regular sausages. You know, the ones that taste so good with white bread and tomato sauce at a sausage sizzle? That kind of sausage meat wouldn't be too tempting here, it needs to be a meaty snag. I noted one commentor talk about this recipe not being fit for human consumption. I can only imagine that either they forgot they didn't like tomatoes, or they used really dodgy sausages, as this is a very simple recipe, and you should surely know what it will taste like, provided you know your sausages are yummy to start with.

For the original recipe, look here.

More muffins

2011-08-13T05:00:00.094+10:00

There's nothing like a bit of kismet; for me this is finding a recipe that not just includes all the ingredients I have to hand, but uses ingredients I need to use up. Better yet, this recipe for muffins is discovered just as the last of the previous batch of muffins has been finished. One of three fruit bowls has an orange that is starting to look a little squishy around the edges. This isn't included in the recipe I discoverd, yet I knew a way it could play its part. The children are keen on dried fruit right now, and I found a little lost bag of raisins to use - but they needed a little hydration (enter the orange above). Some of the Pink Lady (organic) apples are feeling a little soft and looking tired. I have a little bit of very past it's use-by date buttermilk (14th of July! Under refrigeration buttermilk lasts for ages) which is still fine, but wont last forever. See what happens when I can't spend as much time as I want in the kitchen? Things just fall apart!

These apples are past their best for eating straight from the fruit bowl, but brown bits trimmed and a little bit of heat and sweet batter should breath new life into them.

This recipe then is adapted from the Apple and Raisin Muffins over at Taste.com.au.

Apple and Raisin Muffins

85g (1/2 metric cup) raisins
Juice from 1 orange
Splash water
300g (2 metric cups) self-raising flour
150g (2/3 metric cup) caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
250mls (1 metric cup) buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
80mls (1/3 metric cup*) light olive oil (or other flavourless oil)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 small Pink Lady apples (about 300g weighed before removing

Put the raisins in a microwave safe bowl with the orange juice, and a little water if needed to cover the fruit and zap until hot (about a minute was enough for me). As an alternative you could heat them gently on the stove. Set aside to steep.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with papers.

Combine the self-raising flour, caster sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and whisk about to combine well.

In a 500ml capacity measuring jug combine the buttermilk, eggs, olive oil and vanilla bean paste. Whisk these all together well until combined.

Dice the apples finely and stir into the raisin and orange juice mixture as you do (I had to swap to a larger bowl to do this), to help prevent the apples browning. When all the apples are diced, drain the orange juice away from the fruit (and you may be fortunate enough to have a volunteer to drink this liquid as I did).

Stir the apples and rainsins into the flour mixture before pouring in the liquid ingredients. Stir it all together until just combined.

Scoop* or spoon the mixture into the lined trays to about 3/4 full.

bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Makes 12 and may be eaten warm or at room temperature.

*I set the measuring cup aside after pouring the oil into the buttermilk, and used it to scoop out 1/3 cup amounts of mixture into the lined pans. The mixture comes out easily this way and it's the perfect amount for the 12 holes.

Apples in baked goods is one of my most favourite things, and, even though I'll probably only have a mouthful of one of these to taste, I feel so wonderful having the aromas of apple, cinnamon and vanilla wafting through the air still. Surely these are 'comfort aromas'! It's working on me, that's for sure.

These were very popular with the family, Miss Eight described them as 'delectable and fruity-sweet', Master Five liked them enough to be too busy eating to comment, and Master Three didn't see why he had to stop at two muffins. The Lovely Man, currently suffering through a cold told me he enjoyed his, in spite of (I am sure) being pretty much unable to taste a thing!

All's well that ends well

2011-08-12T05:00:00.107+10:00

I've made a yummy meal tonight with only 11g of fat per serve (2g of that saturated), and it's using pork - and therin was my problem. Lovely free-range pork, but it was supposed to be female pork and it wasn't. This meant that, as soon as the meat hit the pan, I could smell the boar-taint and that ruins it for me. Makes me feel ill, that stench. Not that the rest of the family notices. All they could smell was the sweetness of the hoisin and the aromatic ginger and garlic, I'm afraid for me the the odour of 'boy pig' overpowers all the lovely aromas. Frustrated I am (Yoda's talking on the TV in the background as I type) because this meat came from my parent's trusted butcher who claims to only sell female pork.

I think I shall have to go back to one of the Vietnamese butcher shops where I've never ever had a concern about their pork. They look at you quizzically if you ask if their pork is female as if that's the only kind of meat there is. I really wish I couldn't notice the smell, my sensitivity to it seems to have become worse as I age. I can though, fresh pork and bacon, but sometimes even in more spiced products too when the heat hits them (say a sliced meat on a pizza). Anyway, this was dinner, so I had little choice but to finish what I started. And, aside from my 'issues' with the meat, this was a worthwhile recipe that the whole family tucked into enthusiastically. I don't wish to tar the recipe proper with an ingredient letting me down. In spite of there being nothing in the way of starchy ingredient, it was quite filling....or perhaps that is just me adjusting to this new way of eating?

Hoisin Pork Salad

80ml hoisin sauce (I only like Lee Kum Kee)
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tbsp light olive oil
1 tbsp microplaned ginger
2 cloves garlic, microplaned
1 pork fillet
2 tbsp sesame seeds
200g snow peas, sliced thinly lengthways
1/2 Chinese cabbage (wombok), shredded
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
handful bean shoots, tails removed (optional)
60 ml (1/4 metric cup) water

Pork should ideally be marinated for 3 hours.

Put the hoisin, rice wine, olive oil, ginger and garlic in a small dish, stir it all together well. Add the pork, turn it over in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Close to the time you are ready to eat, remove the pork from the fridge, set it aside and get on with the vegetables.

Blanch the sliced snow peas in boiling water for about 30 seconds, drain them and run cold water over them, drain again and set aside.

Toast the sesame seeds in a pan until they are golden - and don't do what I did and forget about them while tailing the bean shoots or it will be a kitchen disaster.

{Sniff. sniff} 'What's that toasty smell?' It's never a good idea to turn your back on the stove when you're toasting sesame seeds.
Combine the snow peas with the Chinese cabbage, capsicum, spring onions and bean shoots (if using).

Remove the pork from the marinade, reserving the marinade for later. Put a non-stick pan onto a medium heat, add the pork fillet and cook each side for about 4 minutes or so, until the pork is done to your liking (I like a hint of pinkish blush). Roll the pork in the toasted sesame seeds and set it aside to rest.

Combine the marinade with the water in a small pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Carve the pork (I chose thinly rather than thickly as suggested in the original recipe - do what suits you).

Place some salad leaves on each plate, put some sliced pork on each plate. Scrape up any leftover sesame seeds and add them to the dressing, before pouring some dressing over each serving.

Serves 4 (plus 1 for us)

The relief for me is that the pongy pork, once rested, lost much of it's odour, helped along by the dressing. True, male pork is still not as sweet as female pork, but if you're like the rest of my family, and can't tell the difference, it wont bother you either way. Aside from all that, this is a very delicious meal. Low fat pork recipes are pretty hard to find, and yummy ones are even rarer - this doesn't feel very 'diet', in spite of it being a salad. The pork firstly but the dressing especially make it taste rather indulgent.

This recipe is from Taste.com.au our favourite online recipe source, there are only minor alterations in the method of this recipe, plus I added the bean shoots.

No fuss, no nonsense muffins

2011-08-11T05:00:00.093+10:00

For a sweet lunchbox treat this week I wanted to make something that would help, somehow, to insulate from some of the cold winds around right now. Something that would fill the 'hole' properly. Could I find a recipe to do this, but still make me feel like I've not served up completely empty kilojoules to my family? Could I add the ingredient of the moment, dried fruit? With a muffin I could! A proper muffin, something not masquerading as a cupcake, not even a 'cuppin', no a simple muffin. After locating what looked like almost the perfect recipe then, it was hardly any effort for me to bake up a batch that everyone, from The Lovely Man through to Master Three would feel pleased to pack or discover in their boxes.

Honey, Carrot and Currant Muffins

145g (1 metric cup) wholemeal self-raising flour
150g (1 metric cup) plain self-raising flour
50g (1/3 metric cup) plain flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
110g (1/2 metric cup - firmly packed) light brown sugar
3 medium carrots grated coarsely - box grater is what I used - to make up 2 metric cups grated carrot)
50g (1/3 metric cup) currants
250ml (1 metric cup) buttermilk
2 eggs
80ml (1/3 metric cup) flavourless oil - I used light olive oil
60ml honey

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Combine the flours and spices in a large bowl. Stir them about to combine well.

Add the brown sugar, carrots and currants to the dry ingredients, and mix them together.

Put the buttermilk into a jug with the eggs, measure out the oil, and then, either pour the oil directly into the buttermilk, before measuring the honey in the same container, or if using a different sized container, pour the oil first into that, before adding it to the buttermilk to ensure the honey comes out easily. Add the honey to the other wet ingredients.

Whisk the buttermilk mixture together well before pouring over the dry ingredients.

Stir everything together until just combined, being careful now, not to overwork the mixture now.

Scoop the muffin batter into the lined tins so that they are each filled to three-quarters full.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly from one of the muffins. I took mine out at about 23 minutes along.

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins.

Aromatically tempting, my nose told me these were absolutely edible for all their slightly dour appearance might try to put someone off. The honey you choose to add will make a bit of difference to the final result. I used an organic Australian rainforest blend which is quite mild, rather than my current other two choices of leatherwood or red gum honeys - they'd be yummy too, so maybe next time.

With one day this week only getting to a top of 15C (59F) I think, even if these muffins aren't warm when eaten, they will still help to warm up the hearts of whoever tucks into one.

With thanks to Taste.com.au for the original idea for the recipe.

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

2011-08-10T05:07:00.000+10:00

Isn't the colour just wonderful?

I haven't made this for 10 maybe 15 years, could be even more but this week I ordered a pumpkin from Aussie Farmers Direct and apart from making pumpkin soup which seemed fairly obvious I thought this would be fun.

The recipe is old, in fact it is in ounces, so I had to switch my scales over to the "old weigh" get it? Old way (weigh?)....sorry. I will give you the recipe as I have it in imperial....just makes it that little more authentic.

This is a simple yet tasty recipe and whilst it does take a little while to cook the wait is well worth it.

I can't really remember where I got the recipe from, maybe an old neighbour???? I know it wasn't my mums but to be honest I don't know but wherever it came from thank you!

It will freeze and that's where this one is headed to my fathers freezer in fact, as he loves fruit cake, he is dubious about the addition of a vegetable to "his" fruit cake but he is converted........now.

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

Ingredients

1/4lb of softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of cold mashed pumpkin
1 cup of mixed dried fruit or sultanas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of self raising flour

First cook your pumpkin.

I always microwave mine and it take about 9 minutes, allow to cool and then mash with a fork.

Preheat your oven to 325F or 160C fan forced, grease a 8" square tin.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Then add the eggs.

Then add the pumpkin.

It may not look too good at this stage but fear not.

Then add the flour and mixed fruit and vanilla.

Beat for just a couple of minutes and it will look like this.

Pour into the prepared tin, level off and bake for 90 minutes.

If it is browning too much on the top just cover with aluminium foil (I needed to). Take out of the oven and allow to cool.

Nothing too hard about it and it really is just something a little different. The colour is amazing!

Another way to use a pumpkin!

Granola with a twist

2011-08-09T05:00:00.118+10:00

I stopped to think about just what a wonderfully sharing community the food blogging world is. I am sure there are other 'hobby' blogging communities who are too, but I can only speak of what I know. The sharing of recipes, hints and ideas is just wonderful. Not for us the 'secret recipe' - unless it's letting the cat out of the bag! No, we're all about spreading the love! It's wonderful, and I appreciate it. Coming from a family who haven't a lot of family recipes down on paper, I really learn so much from everyone else as if they were my extended family.

I was having a bit of a cruise around the Internet. I came across a local (Melbourne) blog called Where's the beef? A couple of foodies of the vegetarian persuasion who like a good meal out as much as creating masterpieces at home. There are tons of fabulous reviews of restaurants near and wide, and a heap of links to other blogger's reviews too. I may be a strict omnivore, but I still found these reviews entertaining, informative and often mouth-watering! The range of recipes at this website is huge, and so it was that I came across a granola recipe from Cindy at (Where's the beef?) that I couldn't wait to attempt. Toasty Tahini Granola is the breakfast temptation, and the original recipe comes from It Ain't Meat, Babe (vegan recipe-o-rama). See how word travels? Because we all share? So now I am passing it on. What is kinda cool is the way the recipe morphs a little with each retelling, starting off with American cups, converting to Australian metric cups (I presume) and now also weight measures makes things different, plus ingredient alterations perhaps through preference or need. A little like the whisper game I remember playing as a child, where the story alters a little with each telling - hopefully though, while we all put our own spin on things, the final product tastes as good in the first bowl as the last!

Here then, is MY 'whisper' of:

Tahini Granola

270g (3 metric cups) rolled oats
30g (1/4 metric cup) coarsely chopped walnuts
45g (1/4 metric cup) coarsely chopped natural almonds
35g shredded or 45g dessicated (1/2 metric cup) coconut (I'd prefer shredded but only had dessicated to hand)
55g (1/3 metric cup) pepitas (linseeds/flaxseeds are used in original recipes but I hadn't any in my pantry)
1 x 20ml tbsp ground cinnamon (mine was a little heaped too as I'm a fan)
80ml (1/3 metric cup) tahini*
40ml (2 x 20ml metric tbsp) light olive oil
60ml (3 x 20ml tbsp/ 1/4 metric cup) maple syrup

Preheat oven to 180C.

Line a large shallow baking sheet with baking paper and set aside.

Combine the rolled oats, walnuts, almonds, coconut, pepitas and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In a heatproof jug combine the tahini, oil and maple syrup. Give it all a quick zap in the microwave to help mix it all together. Alternatively you could warm it all together gently on the stovetop over a gentle heat...OR if the weather is warm, you may not need to the wet ingredients first at all.

Mix the dry ingredients well together and then pour over the wet ingredients.

How well you mix in the wet and dry ingredients would be up to personal preference. How clumpy you like your granola. The consensus seem to be that, like Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs a clumpy granola is near to Utopia, so try to leave a bit of clumpage ideally.

Spread the granola onto your lined tray and pop it into the oven. Give it 30-40 minutes, stirring it every ten minutes, paying particular care to pull in the mixture from the edges to the middle as, at least in my oven, that is the spot the action happens quickest (granola darkens most around the perimeter).

The granola is done when it's darkened to a lovely golden brown. It wont come out all that crispy, but will crisp-up as it cools on the tray. Leave to cool completely before transferring to an air-tight container where it should keep for a fortnight or so....theoretically.

Makes about 600g
*Cindy had mentioned she might even like to add a little more tahini than originally suggested, so I follower her lead and upped it ever-so slightly from the original 1/4 cup - which would, one would think be up from the original 1/4 American cup anyway! See how things evolve?

You 'should' wait for it to cool of course, but you know, all the senses can be sated if you give yourself a spoonful of still hot granola because as the cold milk hits the granola, you get a wonderful HISSSS!

The variations are endless of course. I might try sesame-ing it up further next time by adding some sesame seeds too. But what a brilliant idea it is to use TAHINI! Positively inspired thank you Jennifer! This is delicious granola, and of course, it's a fraction of the price of bought granolas, regardless of being of the hessian weave, organic variety or the plain label versions. It's a cinch to make up a batch, and the rewards are many. Not least of which is that rather wonderful sense of self-satisfaction that always buoys me so! Cindy and Jennifer, thank YOU both for paying it forward!

Women's Institute Victoria Sponge - The Journey continues

2011-08-08T03:06:00.056+10:00

This is such a British recipe.

Not made here in Australia all lot if at all and yet a recipe most British people know off by heart and always have on hand and have as many variations as there for say.........a butter cake.

This is the kind of afternoon tea cake that would be in an English home, next to the fine china or when visitors arrived and I see this recipe as a rite of passage for any English baker.

But I am not English and I haven't grown up with this recipe so it isn't one that comes to me easily.

In fact, I made this sponge twice because the first time I didn't read the recipe right and added double the fat as I should have!

Sigh......my and a high density sponge cake had similar disastrous results and so since then I have stayed away from this type of cake.

The other interesting thing is that it uses "Stork" margarine, but we can't that here in Australia so I had to use this:

Not sure if this was the right thing but it was the closest I could get.

The other thing that gets me with this recipe is that it only has 5 ingredients and even then I can't seem to get it right. Or did I? Maybe I am being too harsh where I have this unrealistic view if what it should look like?

Anyway, I think it's is better that I share all my baking good and not so successful with you because it just shows there are some things I can't bake as well as others. Well, in my eyes I can't bake this as well.

The recipe I used was from the the Women's Institute, the equivalent of the CWA here in Australia and my assumption was that it was fool proof, well tested and would succeed.

I am probably being far too harsh on my results but it isn't the Victoria Sponges I have seen British bakers make, I don't think so or as I said, I just have an unrealistic expectation.

I definitely think it comes down to the whipping of the butter and sugar and then the folding of the flour into the egg and butter mixture.

I am probably far too heavy handed than I should be, still.....I had a go.....a saying my father often says.

Here is the recipe....please try it....maybe you can make a better one than I can....well I am sure you can,

Victoria Sponge

Ingredients

87 grams soft butter
88 grams of margarine (In the original recipe it has it as 175 and use half of each - that's where I went wrong)
175 grams caster sugar
3 eggs beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
175 grams of self raising flour

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C or 160 C fan forced and grease 2 x 8" round cake tins.

Place the butter, margarine and sugar in a mix master bowl and beat until light, pale and fluffy.

Is this where I went wrong?

Gradually add the beaten eggs a little at a time and beat in well after each addition.

Then take off the mix master and using a metal spoon fold in the self raising flour gently so as not to lose the air (Ummm...not sure I had that much air in it)

Place the batter evenly into the tins, level and put a dent in the middle to aid even rising.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and it springs back when touched (mine did this).

Leave in the tin for 5 minutes.

Then turn out onto a tea towel and allow to cool.

Spread raspberry jam and double cream in the middle of one and place the other on top and sprinkle with castor sugar or icing sugar.

You could also put a curd of your liking in the middle too.

Is it high enough? Is it light enough? I don't know. I am less than impressed with my attempt and I need to work out what I am doing wrong so I can make the Victoria Sponge that is right.