Super Moist Lemon Cake

When we first moved into our house, one of the first things we planted in our garden was a lemon tree, a small plant, barely a metre high.  Fast forward eight years and one of the 'stand outs' in our backyard is an impressive tree, over nine feet high, currently covered in fruit.  While I am constantly squeezing half of one into a mug of warm water to start off my day, using them in every day cooking and giving away bag after bag, I’m always happy to find a citrus recipe that takes advantage of our abundance of fruit.

Yesterday afternoon, I made an old favourite - a delicious super-moist cake, a Karen Martini recipe, scribbled down one night while watching Better Homes And Gardens.  I’ve written out the recipe for you all below to enjoy…

Lemon Cake

4 eggs
340g caster sugar
pinch salt
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
180g plain flour (sifted)
100g almond meal

½ tbs baking powder

160ml cream

100g melted butter

Beat eggs, caster sugar, salt and lemon zest in mixer until pale and creamy (about 3 minutes).  Add flour, almond meal, baking powder and cream and whisk until smooth (about 1 minute).  Pour in melted butter (warm not hot) and lemon juice and mix.  Pour into a springform pan and bake 165°C (fan-forced oven) for about 50 minutes.  Cool for 30 minutes.

Ice with cream cheese frosting.  The cake itself is already fairly sweet so a dusting of icing sugar would probably finish it off nicely too, especially if it were going to be eaten soon after the cooling time which I definitely recommend...

The sweet Royal Doulton side plate above was a beautiful find at an antique shop on our most recent holiday to Denmark.  
I just love it and am so happy Paul insisted I go for browse in that shop while he took the girls for a walk.

Raspberry And Coconut Loaf

A long time has passed since I’ve shared a recipe here, mainly due to a long time having passed since I’ve tried anything new really.  Today I decided to whip up this Raspberry And Coconut Loaf for afternoon tea and thought I'd share the recipe with you all.  While the large quantity of sugar isn't exactly to my liking, I figured one piece couldn't hurt and so after we all devoured a slice each fresh from the oven, I froze the other half of this loaf for another time when the urge for something sweet hits...

Raspberry And Coconut Loaf

1 ¾ cups desiccated coconut

1 ½ cups coconut milk

1 cup caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 ⅔ cups self-raising flour

1 cup frozen raspberries

icing sugar, to serve

Combine coconut and coconut milk in a large bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 170°C. Line base and sides of a 7cm-deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.  Using a metal spoon, stir sugar, egg and vanilla into coconut mixture. Sift flour over coconut mixture. Gently stir until combined. Fold in raspberries.  Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and slice. Serve toasted, if desired.

Photography by Steve Brown for Taste

Satisfying A Sweet Tooth

While I love pesto and parmesan and lots of other delicious savoury tastes, I definitely have a fondness for sweet treats.  Once, if not twice during the week, I bake something sweet to 'have on hand'.  However, last week, for different reasons, our pantry was looking rather bare on the 'sweet front' and on a few afternoons, I found myself making a piece of fairy bread just to satisfy my cravings...

So, on the weekend, I decided to make a batch of biscuit dough that I could freeze and then easily bake at a moment's notice.... I made a batch of nutty chocolate chip dough using a Stephanie Alexander recipe my sister-in-law had shared at one of our Cooking Clubs.  I love the nut and chocolate combination and I love that I can pop a batch of these into the oven with little effort and be able to enjoy that freshly baked biscuit goodness...

Here's the recipe...


Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Makes 30-36

125g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

120g roasted nuts, chopped (I’ve tried both pecans and hazelnuts)

170g bittersweet chocolate, chopped

110g softened unsalted butter

⅓ cup castor sugar

⅓ cup brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

Sift flour, salt and bicarb soda into a large bowl.  Add chocolate and nuts (I roasted ours slightly on a baking tray in a moderate oven for ten minutes before finely chopping them in a mini food processor).  In an electric mixer cream butter, castor sugar and brown sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add egg, then fold in chocolate mixture.  Form into 2 logs about 3cm in diameter and wrap tightly in plastic film.  Chill for 1 hour before baking.

Preheat oven to 175°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.  Unwrap logs and cut into 1.5cm thick slices.  Place on baking tray, allowing room for spreading and bake for 12 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Logs of biscuit dough can be frozen (the suggestion in this recipe is to slip each log inside an empty cardboard tube from a roll of kitchen paper to prevent them freezing with one side flattened).  Thaw at room temperature before slicing and baking.  

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins – A Must Try Recipe

I’ve been on the hunt for some time now for the perfect muffin recipe – one that produces muffins which are light and fluffy (as opposed to tough or crumbly) and that uses simple ‘on-hand’ ingredients.  Having shared a delicious raspberry and white chocolate muffin with Grace and Sophie last week at our favourite café, I was determined to replicate it back at home.  After much ‘Googling’, flicking through recipe books and with a new technique for lining my muffin tins, I think I’ve found it.  I made a few batches of these last week and they’ve had the nod of approval from all those who have tasted them. 

This time, I steered clear of ‘cupcake case style liners’ which in my experience have turned greasy and caused my muffins to stick.  Instead, following my café muffin, I cut five inch squares of baking paper which I pressed into the muffin tins with a small glass and then put the batter directly into (that is, no greasing).  I was also careful to use the minimum number of strokes to combine the ingredients and I learnt (after one batch of ‘purple’ muffins) to fold through the berries at the last minute with just one or two folds of the spatula.

So, here is my winning recipe…

White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

2 cups self raising flour

¾ cup caster sugar

¾ cup white chocolate bits (I used the large ‘melts’ and quartered them)

1 ½ cups raspberries (can be frozen)

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup milk (I used reduced fat and it was fine)

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced) and line 12 muffin pans.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Whisk eggs, oil and milk together and pour onto the dry ingredients  (if you find the mixture a bit stiff, add a splash more milk and oil).  Using a wooden spoon or spatula, gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined (too much mixing may result in tough muffins).  Fold berries through VERY carefully.  Spoon the mixture among the paper cases and bake for 25 minutes or until golden on top and springy to touch. Turn out of the muffin pan and serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar.

Edited on 4th August 2012: This post was featured in the July 2012 edition of The Post Of The Month Club

A New Simple Soup

One of the things I enjoy most about the cooler winter months is being able to cook lots of delicious soups to warm our bellies. More often than not at this time of year, we have soup on a Sunday night for tea with something simple alongside like a toasted sandwich. Last weekend I tried out a new recipe from ‘Frost Bite’ and it was a winner here. If you like tomato based soups like minestrone, than this one’s for you. Here’s the recipe:


Tomato, Zucchini & Basil Soup

Serves 4

olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 x 400g tin Roma tomatoes, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 medium-sized courgettes (I used 2 small zucchini instead), sliced
large handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
3 cups vegetable stock
sea salt & pepper


Heat oil in a large saucepan over low heat and add onion and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes until the onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Cover with lid and simmer for 20-25 minutes of until the vegetables are tender. Puree or blend.

I've been cooking up a storm here this week in our kitchen.  However most of it has been in the form of baby purees for Sophie which should now last me for many weeks ahead.  Grace and I did manage to make a muesli slice though which we've been enjoying the last few days for afternoon tea.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead.  It's the Foundation Day long weekend here in Perth.  In our household we'll hopefully be resting, relaxing and (fingers crossed) catching up on sleep.  Do you have any special plans?  I'd love to hear what you'll be up to...

Lemon Butter Biscuits

I’m not a huge fan of packet biscuits.  I’ll eat them but I’m one of those odd people who isn’t keen on Tim Tams and even the Easter eggs we still have in our fridge have not tempted me.  I do however crave something sweet with my cups of tea in the morning and afternoon and with less time to bake these days, I’ve been finding myself opening packets of biscuits hidden at the top of our pantry more than I’d like.  Last night it was a Mint Slice with my mug of Milo.

It is for this reason that I love a new recipe I came across recently in a book I borrowed from the library called 'Frost Bite' by Susan Austin.  With these biscuits, you can prepare a whole batch up to the baking step and then ‘flash freeze’ the balls of biscuit dough all ready for one of those moments when you are craving something sweet or have an unexpected visitor.  The beauty of these biscuits is you just place them on your baking tray still frozen and ten minutes later, they’re ready to enjoy.  Here’s the recipe…

Lemon Butter Biscuits

Makes 35-40

125g butter

½ cup caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

zest of 2 lemons, finely grated

zest of 1 orange, finely grated

1 cup plain flour

⅓ cup cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

flaked almonds

Melt butter in a saucepan and continue to cook for a few minutes until the butter becomes light brown in colour.  Don’t walk away from the stove as it quickly goes from yellow to brown to burnt.  Cool butter (make sure it’s still a liquid, not solid) then add sugar, egg and zests and mix well.  Sift flours and baking powder together then add to the mixture and stir until all flour is incorporated.  Use your hands to shape the dough into balls and flatten slightly.  Place on a tray lined with baking powder.  If the mixture is too soft to handle, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to harden slightly.  Press a piece of almond into the top of each biscuit.

At this point, either ‘flash freeze’ on a tray lined with baking paper and then transfer to a freezer bag or container or bake immediately. 

These can be cooked from frozen on a tray lined with baking paper in a 180°C oven for 10-12 minutes.

Easy Peasy Meals & Giveaway Winners

Lately, we've been tweaking our night time routine a bit in order to get Sophie down earlier, to make bath time quicker and to give Paul and I some quiet adult time before we turn in for the evening.  Our new routine leaves us with two options - we eat at the earlier time of six or wait until around seven thirty.  Whichever way we go means I need either a meal I can prepare earlier in the day and simply heat up or a meal I can whip up in under twenty minutes.

So, I've been flicking through my recipe books, trying to find ideas which fit these categories.  Tonight we're having Fettuccine Carbonara - a recipe which with a tiny bit or preparation can literally be cooked in the time it takes the pasta to boil and for which I usually have most ingredients.  Here is the recipe I use, adapted from several different ones over the years...

Fettuccine Carbonara 

(Serves 2)

  

200g pasta (I never measure this, I just grab the amount of pasta I see fit for two serves)

3 rashers bacon (shortcut bacon)

1 egg yolk (at room temperature)

1 egg (at room temperature)

¼ cup cream (single pouring cream)

⅓ cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp minced garlic (or 1 clove crushed)

125g chopped button mushrooms (optional)

parsley (handful finely chopped)

salt (a generous pinch) and freshly ground pepper

Cook fettuccine in a large pot of boiling salted water.  Meanwhile, fry bacon, garlic and mushrooms with a drop of olive oil.  Whisk egg, egg yolk, cream, ¾ of the parmesan, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  When cooked, drain pasta quickly and return to pot. Over very low heat, add bacon, parsley and egg mixture.  Toss through quickly to heat. Remove as soon as the sauce begins thickening and serve immediately with remaining parmesan and cracked pepper.

  

I'd love to hear which meals you would suggest for either the 'make it earlier' or 'whip up in twenty minutes' category if you'd like to leave a comment and share your ideas below.

Also, I finally got around to drawing my giveaway today.  Thank you to everyone who entered.  The winners are:

A cross-stitch pattern from Sewing Seed... Jane of Planet Baby

The cute mushroom mobile from The Quirky Bird... Michelle of Jarrah Jungle

My patchwork squares of pretty fabric... Bron of Maxabella Loves 

A clothbound version of The Secret Garden...  Megan of Silver Threads Of Happiness  

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead.  I'm off to the '3 in 1 Market' at the Claremont Showgrounds tomorrow morning.  Hopefully I'll have some nice finds to share with you all on Monday...

Jamie Vs Nigella

I've decided it's time to add to my cookbook collection. For someone who enjoys cooking and baking as much as I do, I don't really have many recipe books as I tend to refer mostly to pages I've torn out of magazines or to recipes which friends and family members have passed on. Two of my favourite celebrity chefs are Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver so I'm trying to decide which one of their books to buy first.

I've always liked Jamie Oliver, mainly because he seems so very down to earth when I watch his shows. Anyone who tells you to 'bash the crap out of it' when making pesto and then refers to such a creation as 'the viagra of the cooking world' couldn't really get any more unpretentious if he tried. I liked him even more after reading his wife Jools’ book 'Minus Nine To One’. ‘Jamie's 30 Minute Meals' appeals to my lack of available time to spend in the kitchen and I found myself scribbling down lots of recipes as I watched his show of the same name.

 

As for Nigella, she just seems so classy and elegant to me. If I could cook such indulgent comfort foods as she does and still look as glamorous, I'd be very happy. I've really enjoyed her latest television series 'Nigella Kitchen' where I found myself not only admiring the delicious dishes she whipped up, but also her tastefully decorated kitchen.  I loved that this series focused on 'recipes to beat the clock at the end of the day', as well as 'leisurely recipes to unwind with over relaxing weekends'.  However, I'm also drawn to the title of one of her other cookbooks 'Nigella Express'.

So I’m turning to you all for your opinions. Do you own any of Jamie or Nigella’s cookbooks? Which are your favourites? Is there a title you think would best suit my needs for simple, home cooked meals with relatively easy to source ingredients?

Image #1 from Shoot Factory

Image #2 from Food Network

Cooking Club: Favourite Dishes

Saturday night just gone was our latest Cooking Club. This time our theme was 'Favourite Things To Cook' and we had a range of delicious food to try.

To set the table, I stuck to white and an aqua blue. Some graph paper material I had bought a while back off Etsy made the perfect table runner and went well with some placemats I already had. My centrepiece was a fern which usually lives in our laundry and on either side, I had two little juice bottles which I'd covered with paper and ribbon to hold some simple flowers from our garden.

My spot prize this month was a butterfly cookie cutter, a ready made 'hot chocolate spoon', a bar of stainless steel soap (for removing cooking odours from your hands) and some recipe cards (which I printed off and made up after finding them available on The Pretty Blog).



Our menu this time consisted of the following...

• Chicken Breasts with Sage Butter & Prosciutto
• Spinach Salad
• Red Prawn and Mango Curry
• Homemade Pizza (of Little Caeser’s fame)
• Chocolate Mousse
• Caramel Dumplings
• Chocolate Mudhoney Pizza
• Lemon and Pistachio Slice



Our next catch-up won't be until mid November, after bub has arrived and I've settled into life with a newborn. At this stage, we're going to do a Pot Luck theme again as it was good to have a range of dishes to make up our night's menu.

For those who are interested, here's the Nigella Lawson curry recipe which I'm hoping to make tomorrow night for tea...


Red Prawn and Mango Curry

Serves 2-4

1 x 15ml tbs wok oil
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1½ x 15ml tbs red Thai curry paste
200ml coconut milk
250ml chicken stock (made from concentrate)
2 tsp fish sauce
1 x 350g pkt butternut and sweet potato cubes
200g king prawns
1 tsp lime juice
150g mango cubes, diced
3-4 x 15ml tbs chopped fresh coriander


Heat the wok oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan and fry the sliced spring onion for a minute, then add the curry paste. Whisk in the coconut milk, chicken stock and fish sauce and bring to the boil. Tip in the butternut squash and sweet potato cubes and simmer, partially covered for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain the prawns under running water to remove excess ice and tumble them into the pan. Let the sauce come back to the boil. When it does, add the lime juice and diced mango and cook for another minute or so until the prawns are cooked through. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander as you serve over plain rice or wide rice noodles, or even both.


NB. If you don't have access to the ready-peeled cubed pumpkin and potato, this recipe suggests alternating them for some drained chickpeas and some pineapple.

New Slice Recipe

Today has been one of those great days where I've accomplished lots and had a balance of chores as well as fun with Grace. I was all set to have an unsettled day after coming home last night from the movies to find Grace still awake as she was adamant that Mummy had to put her to bed and not Daddy (we've had this issue since she was sick last week). However, today she woke up fresh and had been absolutely perfect. With no particular plans, we managed to do a few loads of washing, headed to our favourite cafe for a cup of tea and a babycino, enjoyed the glorious sunny day here in Perth today at the park, had an obstetrician appointment (all going well, will give you all a 'bump update' next week) and enjoyed our lunch outside.

Grace is now down for her nap and before I get stuck into sewing some more of her quilt, I'm just enjoying a cuppa and a piece of a new slice I tried the other day while I browse for some inspiration for a few parties I have coming up. I thought I'd share the yummy recipe with you all. As with most baked goodies, it tastes best not long after it's come out of the oven, but is still fine the day after too...



White Chocolate And Cranberry Squares

150g butter
185g white chocolate
2 eggs
100g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
150g plain flour
pinch salt
zest of 1 lemon
75g dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 180°C (I set my fan-forced oven to 160°C) and grease a 10" square cake tin. Melt butter and half of the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until frothy. Stir in butter/chocolate mixture. Add sifted flour, salt, remaining chocolate which has been coarsely chopped, lemon zest and cranberries. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is set. Cool in tin for 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.

The cute little dish in the photo above is my latest thrift find. I bought it at the quirky cafe/giftshop we stopped at in Bridgetown where it was amongst a collection of antique crockery.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead...

Cooking Club: Teatime Treats

On Saturday afternoon, we had our 'Teatime Treats' Cooking Club get together and I think this theme would have to be one of my favourites we've had so far. Dishes could be either sweet or savoury as long as they were something suitable for a morning or afternoon tea.



To decorate the table, I used a more 'Nanna-looking' white embroidered tablecloth and added some touches of pink and mauve with a bunch of pink ranunculi and two small jars of Geraldton Wax (which I snipped from the bushes growing beside the road at the end of the street). A piece of pretty pink floral fabric leftover from Grace's quilt made the perfect placemat for the centre of the table. I really didn't want to use my boring old white and silver crockery so I borrowed some pretty teacups, saucers and side-plates from my Mum and sister to put together with my own and ended up with a mix of different patterns, all within the same colour palette. I tried to research the correct way of setting the table for an afternoon tea - some references placed the cup and saucer on top of the side plate, others described what I did.



As a small party favour for each guest, I bought some cute floral paper bags from Etsy shop Jade L'il Craft which I filled with a selection of different tea bags. The spot prize for this month was a cookbook filled with scrumptious looking chocolate recipes.





Our menu consisted of:

- Chicken and Asparagus Sausage Rolls
- Arancini
- Lemon Cake
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Ginger Fluff Sponge
- Spicy Apple Teacake
- Chocolate Chip Cookies

Next month, we are going to have a potluck theme of 'Something I Enjoy Cooking' so I'm hoping we'll have a range of things like soup, mains, dessert, cake and so on.


For anyone who would like to try it out, here is the recipe for the Lemon Cake which was so moist and tasty...


Lemon Cake

5 eggs
250g castor sugar
250g melted butter
250g flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 lemons (juice and zest)
250g icing sugar
100g melted butter (for icing)

Beat eggs and sugar and then slowly add melted butter. Add sifted flour and baking powder and mix. Cook for approximately 10 mins at 180°C (my friend said she used her biggest slice tin which is about double the size of a normal one). For the topping, mix icing sugar, melted butter and the lemon juice and zest. Prick the cake with a fork and pour over topping mix while still hot and allow to soak through.

Cooking Club: Winter Warmers

On Saturday night, my friends and I had our latest Cooking Club dinner. This time, we had a full table of six (seven including six week old baby Lucas). Our theme was 'Winter Warmers' and we all came away with a collection of delicious recipes perfect for the current cold nights. I remembered to take photos although they all have a golden glow to them as I couldn't suss out the lighting and camera settings.



To decorate the table, I used a piece of grey and white striped fabric as a runner (I had actually bought this fabric for our nursery). I didn't use any fresh flowers this time but instead placed a pot of parsley in the centre of the table and made some origami flowers using some pretty double sided gift wrap I bought from Kikki K. One roll provided plenty of paper for five of these flowers as well as enough to wrap my 'spot prize'. I actually had fun putting these together one night in front of the television. You can find the tutorial for making these cute flowers here. I followed the instructions exactly only I didn't use glue but instead tried double sided tape which I think is definitely a better option. It's funny because this week after my dinner party, I was flicking through the latest Real Living magazine and actually spotted these exact origami flowers which had been made into a ball.



To break away from my usual white and silver edged Maxwell and Williams crockery, I borrowed my friend's pretty Marie Claire side plates which fit in perfectly. I also made some labels for each dish using a printable Martha Stewart template you can find here (there are also other colour options you can choose from).



My traditional spot prize for one of my guests this time was the parsley plant, a handy measuring glass from Wheel and Barrow and a jar of vanilla bean paste.

As for the yummy dishes we shared, our menu consisted of:

- Zucchini and Prosciutto Soup
- Spiced Pumpkin and Coconut Soup
- Chicken and Mushroom Pie
- Sweet Potato and Pancetta Risotto
- Crumbed Scotch Fillet
- Moroccan Beef
- Chocolate Orange Croissant Bread and Butter Pudding



I've shared the two soup recipes below, but if anyone is interested in the other recipes, let me know and I'll do another post.

For our next theme in August, we are going to break away from dinner recipes and have an afternoon tea instead with 'Teatime Treats' of cakes, biscuits and slices. I'm looking forward to decorating the table prettily and have already got a few ideas floating around in my head.

Here's those soup recipes for anyone who would like to try them out...


Spiced Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

1 tbsp red curry paste
1kg pumpkin, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1½ cups coconut milk
1 large red chilli, seeded and finely sliced

Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook for one minute. Add the pumpkin and stock, cover and cook until the pumpkin is tender. Place the pumpkin mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan. Add the coconut milk and heat through. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the chilli to serve.



Zucchini and Prosciutto Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g prosciutto, chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves
3 zucchini, grated
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
feta cheese, crumbled (to serve)

Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the oil, onion, garlic, prosciutto and thyme and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add the zucchini, stock, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10-15minutes or until the zucchini is cooked. Use a hand held blender to partially blend the soup, leaving some texture. Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled feta.

Delicious Potato and Leek Soup

Image above via Ooh, Look... Food and Craft

I love making Potato and Leek soup, not only because it is hearty and warming (perfect for wintery nights), it’s super simple to make. I have always used a very basic recipe but when the June issue of Real Living magazine came out a few weeks ago, I decided to give their version a try.

The use of celery, garlic and vegetable stock (as opposed to chicken) appears to make a difference. However the definite magic ingredient for me was fresh thyme leaves. Fortunately this is one of the plants in my herb garden that has taken off so I had plenty to add to the pot.

If you’re after a delicious soup to try one wintery evening, be sure to give this one a go. I’ve written out the recipe below for those of you who don’t have the magazine. On the subject of cooking winter dishes, this coming Saturday is our next Cooking Club and our theme is ‘Winter Warmers’. I promise I will make it my priority this time to take photos and will be sure to share with you all any yummy recipes I gather. Stay tuned…


Potato and Leek Soup

50g butter
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped roughly
3 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 garlic clove, minced
1.2kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1L vegetable stock
2 cups water
sea salt
cracked black pepper
¾ cup cream, plus extra to drizzle

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks, celery and thyme. Cook for 10 mins until leeks and celery are tender but not coloured. Add garlic and cook for a further 2 mins.

Add potatoes, stock and water to saucepan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Increase heat to high and boil for about 15 to 20 mins until potatoes are very tender. Skim any scum that rises to surface and discard.

Use blender or food processor to puree soup in batches until smooth. Return blended soup to saucepan. Over medium heat, add cream and stir. Gently heat through.

Drizzle with extra cream and cracked black pepper to serve.

(Serves 4)

Cooking Club: Easy Weeknight Meals

Image via Gingerella

Just over a week ago was our second Cooking Club dinner with a theme of ‘Easy Weeknight Meals’. Once again, I forgot to take photos. I know I promised after forgetting to take pics at our last one that I’d remember this time, but after busily preparing not only my own dish for the evening but also decorating the dining room, it was easy to do once again. Third time lucky at our June one I promise!!

I was a little disappointed the week before our get together as I had two cancellations. One of our girls had her baby four weeks early so she was of course excused. Another forgot to okay the date and organise a babysitter. I had visions of my only recently established Cooking Club falling apart. However, after Saturday night I was reassured. A table of five was fine and with Krystie (and bub) hopefully joining us again next month, our group will be perfect. I’ve decided that six is easier to set the table for, gives you a good number of new dishes to taste and means that we can all take part in the one conversation around the table. I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking of trying something similar to stick to a group of around six.

Our last dinner saw us enjoy:

- Roast Vegetable Pasta
- Thai Chicken Patties
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Chicken Pilaff
- Garlic Roast Lamb Cutlets

This was followed by my Apple Crumble for dessert and some after-dinner mints which I wrapped in small packages and placed on everyone’s side plate.

Once again, we had a ‘spot prize’ which this time was a goodie bag of handy gadgets (a julienne peeler, a teabag ‘squeezer’ and a palette knife) plus two mini cookbooks.

Here is the recipe for one of the yummy recipes from the night which my sister-in-law made:


Garlic Roast Lamb Cutlets

12 cloves garlic, peeled
6 x 170g King Edward or roasting potatoes, sliced
4 small zucchinis, halved lengthwise
1 tbsp rosemary leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper
8 double lamb cutlets trimmed
1½ cups chopped mint leaves
1½ tbsp seeded mustard
2½ tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place the garlic, potatoes, zucchinis, rosemary, oil, salt and pepper in a baking dish, toss to combine and roast for 25 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, heat a frying pan over high heat and brown the lamb on all sides. To make the mustard mint sauce, place the mint, mustard and honey in a bowl and mix to combine. Place the lamb of top of the vegetables. Brush with some of the mint sauce and roast for a further 8-10 minutes or until the lamb is golden and the potatoes are soft. To serve, place the lamb and vegetables on serving plates and top with the remaining mint sauce.

(Serves 4)

An Afternoon Snack

Today I wanted to share a recipe I tried out yesterday afternoon with you all. I found it over at Jade's blog and thought it sounded like a healthier teatime treat to indulge in. It was very easy to make and according to Jade, can also be frozen. I did find that the slice was quite soft when I initially took it out of the oven but it firmed up once cool (a bit like Anzac biscuits). Here's Jade's recipe...


Muesli Slice

125g butter
⅓ cup sugar
2 tbspn honey
1 cup rolled oats
½ desiccated coconut
½ cup dried apricots
½ cup sultanas
½ cup self raising flour

Stir butter, sugar and honey in a large saucepan over medium heat, without boiling until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Press the mixture firmly into a 20x30cm pan. Bake for approx 20 minutes in a medium oven. If you take it out of the oven and it seems too crumbly pop back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so.


Do you have any similar 'healthy' recipes for morning or afternoon tea snacks?

Donna Hay's Chicken Nicoise Salad

It's been a little while since I've shared a new recipe with you all so today I thought I'd post one I've been making a fair bit recently. It's from a Donna Hay magazine and was given to me by my sister-in-law. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to take a photo on the numerous times I've made this dish as it's always been gobbled up very quickly but take my word for it, served with some fresh bread, this is a great salad for a quick, light meal that can be prepared ahead.


Chicken Nicoise Salad

2L chicken stock
4 chicken breasts
250g green beans (sliced lengthways)
⅓ cup kalamata olives (pitted)
150g baby Roma tomatoes (halved)
70g rocket (I also add some baby spinach)
4 hard boiled eggs (halved or quartered)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
⅓ cup olive oil

Combine the garlic, lemon juice, mustard and oil and set aside. Heat the stock on high and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and add the chicken for 14 mins. Add beans for another few minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the beans tender. Cool chicken and shred. Put in a bowl with remaining ingredients and drizzle over dressing.

(Serves 4)

Image above from Donna Hay website

Ginger Fluff Sponge

I haven't posted any recipes in a little while so today I thought I'd share one for a sponge cake I baked earlier in the week when I felt like something sweet to enjoy with my cuppa. It's a recipe from an old cookbook of Mum's (from memory I think it was a Boy Scouts cookbook) for a Ginger Fluff Sponge and it smells delicious while you're mixing together all the ingredients...


Ginger Fluff Sponge

4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ cup cornflour
2 dessertspoons Self Raising flour
1 tsp cocoa
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 dessertspoon golden syrup
1 dessertspoon butter


Beat whites of eggs stiffly, add sugar, beat well, add yolks. Sift dry ingredients four times before adding (fold through). Finally add butter, melted with the syrup. Bake 15 - 20 minutes in moderate oven in 8" round tins.

I put my cake together with jam and whipped cream (I beat together a few drops of vanilla and 2 tbs icing sugar with 300ml thickened cream) and dusted the top with icing sugar.

Morning Tea Recipes

Hope you’ve all had a lovely week. We’ve had a pretty quiet one and this afternoon we’re off to our friends’ wedding which will be fun.

As promised, here is the recipe for the Powder Puffs I made at my Pink Ribbon Morning Tea Fundraiser last weekend. A few people also asked for the Jelly Cheesecake recipe so I’ve included that too. I’ve added a few tips under each one to explain some things I do when making these. Let me know how you go if you give either of these recipes a try and if you have any questions, or if anything in these recipes isn't clear, please ask.

Powder Puffs
(Makes what you see above plus a few extra)

I chose to make this recipe for my morning tea as it is one which can be made the day before an event. In fact these are much better served the next day when they’ve had time to soften. For a morning tea, I would usually make these the afternoon or night before.

2 eggs
½ cup sugar
½ cup cornflour + 2 extra rounded soup spoons
2 tbsp plain flour
½ tsp cream tartar
¼ tsp carb soda

Preheat oven to 200°C. Beat egg whites and sugar well together (nice glossy peaks). Add beaten egg yolks, then dry ingredients which have been sifted 2 or 3 times. Cover baking tray with baking paper, spray lightly with oil and drop teaspoons of mixture two inches apart. Bake 5-10 minutes (I found 6 mins was good) in fairly warm oven. Put together with whipped cream two or three hours before needed and dust both sides with icing sugar.

Tips:

When dropping the batter onto the tray, I use a teaspoon of mixture (not too overloaded) and hold the spoon upright to let the batter drop off to make nice round circles.

When these come out of the oven, they will appear pretty hard and perhaps a bit crisp. This is normal. When they are cool, pair them up as best you can in similar sizes and fill them with cream (I whip 300ml of thickened cream together with some vanilla essence and 2 tablespoons of icing sugar).

When placing these on your platter, lightly dust it with icing sugar first to stop the powder puffs sticking.

Put in the fridge – after several hours, they will soften up. Take out of the fridge for a little while before serving.

Jelly Cheesecake

As with the powder puffs, this recipe is a great ‘prepare ahead’ one which can be done the day or two before an event.

Jelly:
1 pkt raspberry jelly (you could use an alternative flavour)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

Biscuit Base:
6 oz butter (melted)
Marie biscuits (I used a packet less 6 biscuits)

Filling:
1 tin condensed milk
½ cup boiling water
1 tbsp gelatine
125 g cream cheese
juice of 2 lemons

Crush biscuits. Add melted butter. Press into lamington tin (25x30cm) - I line the tin and I use the bottom of a glass to press in the mixture nice and firmly. Beat cheese. Add condensed milk, then juice. Dissolve gelatine in boiling water. Add to mixture. Beat well for 10 minutes. Spread over base. Allow to slightly firm before continuing with jelly. Make jelly with boiling water and then add cold water. Leave to sit for a bit (but don’t let it set) before pouring over the filling. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Cut into squares when firm.


Tips:

There is nothing too difficult about this recipe except, it’s important to let the cheesecake layer slightly set before you pour over the jelly. When pouring over the jelly, I use a jug and pour it over the back of a large metal spoon very slowly. This stops the jelly from making a hole in your cheesecake layer.

For my morning tea, I piped some of the cream I’d whipped for the powder puffs above on top.

To serve, I cut the cheesecake into nice even squares (I trimmed off the edges to make my squares neater).

New Chicken Salad

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. Sorry for my unintended break from my blog. Daily life seems to have caught up with me and the Blogging Your Way course I’m currently participating in has stolen a bit of my already limited blogging time too.

Over the weekend, especially after watching Junior Masterchef last night, I’ve had a real desire to try out some new recipes. However, I’ve had one slight problem – since I had a virus a few weeks ago, my sense of taste seems to have disappeared! Despite feeling perfectly healthy, everything I eat tastes pretty much the same and for someone like me who enjoys cooking, this is really disheartening.

I took myself off to the doctor on the weekend and she gave me a course of antibiotics to try and get me back on track but in the meantime, I can barely tell the difference between a piece of chocolate and a salad sandwich. Even my beloved cups of tea are unsatisfying so I’m crossing everything that my taste returns soon.

Anyway, before my dilemma, I tried out a new Bill Granger recipe which was delicious so I thought I’d share it with you all. It was from his book 'Feed Me Now' and was a great way to use up some leftover cooked chicken.

Salad of Seared Chicken and Rice
(Serves 4)

300g basmati rice
2 x 180g boneless chicken breasts, skinned
1 tbs curry powder
5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
200g green beans, topped, tailed and halved
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 celery stick, cut into batons
60g sultanas
4 tbspn lime juice
handful coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and very finely diced (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbs fried sliced Asian shallots (optional)


Cook the rice in boiling slated water until cooked. Rinse under cold water, drain well and the tip into a large bowl.

Slice the chicken into strips, place in bowl with curry powder and 2 tbs olive oil. Toss well to combine. Heat a frying pan over high heat and add chicken and cook, stirring, for about 5 mins or until cooked through. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile blanch the beans in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for a minute or so until slightly crisp. Rinse under cold water and drain.

Add the beans to the rice with the spring onions, celery, sultanas, remaining olive oil, lime juice, coriander, chilli and salt. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and toss slightly.

Spoon the salad onto a warm platter or individual serving bowls and top with shallots, if using.


I followed Bill Granger’s note to adapt this recipe and used some shredded cooked chicken instead and simply mixed 3 tbsp olive oil, the curry powder and the juice (I used lemon) to pour over as a dressing.

Images sources: #1 #2

Carrot Cake Recipe

Hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday. I haven't shared any recipes in a while so today I thought I'd do just that.

The other day I decided to make a carrot cake using a new recipe my Aunty had shared with me. It was only once it had been in the oven for several minutes that I discovered I'd used self raising flour instead of plain flour - oops!

Luckily, once I'd trimmed off the excess cake which had 'grown' over and above the edge of the cake tin, it didn't make a difference at all to the taste or appearance. Here is the recipe for anyone who'd like to give it a go...


Carrot Cake

Cake:

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup cooking oil
1⅓ cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
1⅓ tsp bicarb soda
1⅓ tsp cinnamon
1⅓ tsp baking powder
2 cups grated carrot
½ cup walnuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla


Cream Cheese Frosting:

125g cream cheese
1 tsp butter
2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
2 tsp lemon juice

Grease a square 20cm cake tin (I actually used a slice tin) and preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Beat eggs and sugar until frothy. Add oil, stir in sifted dry ingredients and lastly fold in carrot and vanilla. Bake for approx. 1 hour (I found the time to be slightly less). When cool ice with cream cheese icing and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top.

Also, before it's too late, head over to my friend Janette's store at My Sweet Prints where there are still a few hours left of her amazing sale. She has some truly wonderful prints at 40% off...