The Recipe Exchange

Sissy Satay Sauce

2012-02-06T23:22:00.001+11:00

This reminds me of living in the Middle East and the most lovely couple that we used to spend time with. She was Indonesian and he was English. Sissy was a non practicing Muslim, however she rarely drank. On the rare occasion that Sissy did have a drink, she was the life of the party often seen dancing on tables. Her husband loved a drink and together they entertained often. Sissy would cook with her housemaid all day long and present the most amazing array of food.
One of my favourite Sissy dishes was her satay sauce served with chicken skewers. I was never smart enough to get the recipe off her, and need to see if I can ask her for it one of these days. In the meantime here is a Sissy inspired Satay Sauce for all occasions.

Sissy inspired Satay Sauce

1 cup (250 ml) coconut cream

1 Tablespoon Thai red Curry Paste

1 cup (150gr) unsalted peanuts rough chopped

1 Tablespoon of either brown or palm sugar

1 Tablespoon Tamarind Paste

Heat half of the coconut cream on medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until the cream has reduced by more than half and has the consistency of custard.

Reduce heat a little and add the curry paste, cook off for about 2 minutes to allow the paste flavours to infuse.

Add the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining coconut cream and continue cooking and stirring for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with lamb, chicken or whatever you like.

TED Talks = Food for thought

2012-01-29T23:58:00.000+11:00

I love TED talks. I have been a fan of them for about 5 years now. They really are food for thought and no matter what subject a particular talk is on, I always walk away better informed with my mind ticking on the ideas.
I hope that you enjoy this one;

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html

Nonna Pia and Tuscan Bread Salad

2012-01-29T20:06:00.000+11:00

While this salad did not come from Nonna Pia (I will share recipes that did soon), it does remind me of my time living in beautiful Firenze (Florence, Italy). I was lucky enough to have spent a year and a half of my life there, living in my boyfriends father's apartment in the old town of Firenze.


I am having some issues with photo formatting, just tilt your head to the left :)

It was such an amazing experience. This was my first trip overseas. I was in awe at one of the world's most beautiful cities, and still am today. The day we landed we were greeted at the airport by my boyfriend's cousin and Nonna. Neither of them spoke English especially not Nonna Pia. All they wanted to do was ask us a million questions and tell us stories, none of which we understood a word of. We piled into the Fiat 500, crammed in the back with our luggage and the two of them in the front constantly talking to us we began to drive towards our apartment. My first experience of Italian roads was overwhelming. The Nonna and cousin were talking and pointing out landmarks all in Italian. The cousin was taking her hands of the wheel to talk then suddenly grabbing the wheel to swerve through the traffic. During the 15 minute car trip Nonna was passing necessities over to us. Olive oil for cooking, Olive oil for dipping - not to be mixed up. Sponges for washing the dishes. Bread to dip in the good Olive oil. Salt, tomatoes. The pile of groceries was building up and my head was absolutely spinning out of control.
We finally arrived at the apartment, it was January and freezing cold. It felt like a scene out of the Flinstones. The building was 400 years old and the terracotta floors were original. The bathroom did not even have a window in it, just a hole straight outside. I was so jet lagged that the floor was coming up at me and I couldn't actually walk in a straight line.
We very soon settled in to what was to become home. In a city of immense beauty and culture my memories are vivid and numerous. During our stay we went over to Nonna's house for lunch once per week. These lunches taught me a lot about Italian food and language.

Tuscan Bread Salad
5-6 Chopped tomatoes (can be any variety; I prefer a mixture)
Ciabatta Bread Roll
2x anchovies
spoonful of capers
fennel seeds
Garlic clove crushed
olive oil
red wine vinegar
basil leaves

Chop the Ciabatta roll into cubes sprinkle with olive oil and fennel seeds and crushed garlic, some S & P. Place in a hot over to make croutons.
Meanwhile chop tomatoes into bite size pieces, also fine chop anchovies and capers. Sprinkle with 1:1 ratio of olive oil and red wine vinegar, about 100ml of each. Mix well and set aside.
When the croutons are done, add them whilst hot to the tomato mixture and mix well.
Add fine chopped basil leaves, season and leave to sit for about 30 mins to allow the croutons to soak up the dressing.
Serve.

5 Minute Frozen Yogurt

2012-01-29T10:46:00.002+11:00

If you haven't yet figured out, I have a serious sweet tooth. I love desserts and yummy sweet foods. I also love fresh herbs and all things aromatic. Whilst I have a sweet tooth I am fairly health conscious and always trying to reduce my sugar and fat intake. This frozen yogurt is so yummy and there are no nasties in there. Great for the kids when they want ice cream, and it only takes a couple of minutes to wizz up.

In a food processor add;

500gm frozen berries or mangoes (you can try any fruit you like)

750gr natural yogurt

1 table spoon of honey (add to your taste)

couple of fine chopped mint leaves

optional you can add lime zest

Wizz for a minute or two, transfer to a plastic container and freeze for about half an hour. (This can be served straight away however will be a little runny)

I like to sprinkle some honey over the top then stir it in just before I freeze the mixture, to lace it with honey.

Serve however you choose, with fresh fruit added or in cones for the kids.

Australian Gourmet Traveller - Brown Sugar Sponge Cake with Caramel Poached Pears

2012-01-29T10:32:00.002+11:00

Gourmet Traveller Image

Australian Gourmet Traveller has long been a favourite foodie magazine of mine. I just love the class that the magazine oozes. I made this recipe last year around Christmas time and it was a big hit. My only error being that my syrup was not reduced for long enough and was a little thin. Overall such a simple recipe and a cake that has wow factor.

Recipe

Serves 10
Cooking Time Prep time 30 mins, cook 1 hr (plus cooling)

Ingredients

12	eggs, at room temperature
160 gm each	brown sugar and caster sugar
Scraped seeds	of 2 vanilla beans
300 gm	plain flour, triple-sieved
¼ tsp	baking powder
120 gm	butter, melted and cooled
700 gm	crème fraîche
100 ml	pouring cream
30 gm	pure icing sugar, sieved, plus extra for dusting
Caramel pears
750 gm	caster sugar
Juice	and thinly peeled rind of 1½ lemons and 1½ oranges
2 each	cinnamon quills and star anise
1	vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
10	small ripe corella pears, peeled, halved, cores removed with a melon baller
120 ml	dessert wine
90 ml	pouring cream
30 gm	butter, coarsely chopped

Method

1	Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk eggs, sugars and half the vanilla seeds on high speed in an electric mixer until mixture is tripled in volume and holds a trail (10-12 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl, sift over flour and baking powder in two batches, gently fold to combine, then fold in butter. Divide among 4 buttered and floured 20cm-diameter cake tins lined with baking paper on the bases and bake, swapping tins halfway through cooking (see note), until cakes are dark golden and centres spring back when gently pressed (15-20 minutes). Cool slightly in tins, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
2	Meanwhile, for caramel pears, combine sugar, rinds, juices, spices, vanilla bean and seeds and 1 litre water in a large saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add pears, cover closely with a round of baking paper, weight with a plate and bring to the simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook until just tender (20-25 minutes). Remove pears from liquid (set aside), then strain cooking liquid into a large deep-sided frying pan and simmer over medium-high heat until mixture turns caramel (25-35 minutes). Add dessert wine, cream and butter (be careful as hot caramel may spit), then stir until combined. Add pears to pan and cook, spooning caramel over pears until glazed (2-3 minutes), then set aside.
3	Whisk crème fraîche, cream, icing sugar and remaining vanilla seeds in a bowl until firm peaks form (2-3 minutes). Refrigerate until required.
4	To serve, place one cake on a serving plate, spread with a third of the crème fraîche mixture. Repeat with remaining cakes and crème fraîche mixture, finishing with a cake. Dust with icing sugar and serve with caramel pears and syrup.

Note If you don’t have four 20cm cake tins, or your oven isn’t large enough to cook all the cakes at once, make and cook half a batch of the cake mixture at a time.

This recipe is from the August 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

My Brown Sugar Sponge Cake with Caramel Pears

Even the Sweedes eat Ikea Meatballs and Lingonberry Jam

2012-01-25T00:04:00.001+11:00

Having long been a fan of visiting Ikea for the furniture shopping. I think this is a by product of having lived in 6 different countries in about ten years. My appreciation the Ikea restaurant however has only developed more recently. Food that cheap cannot possibly taste any good! My prejudgement of the cheap Ikea restaurant was shattered by a Swedish friend, who by the way was known all over town for his home made Sweedish meatballs. One day Franz enthusiastically told me about his shopping trip to Ikea that day with his girlfriend.. It wasn't the furniture that had him animated it was the lunch they had eaten in the Ikea restaurant. I figured then that I had better give it a chance. Cheap and tasty Ikea meatballs are a winner when you're on a budget, or when you are in a superstore in the middle of nowhere and have a shopped up a ravishing hunger. I have now eaten meatballs at Ikea in 3 continents. While the Ikea version wont make you drop dead like I previously believed, a home made plate of meatballs is unbeatable. Though I do usually cheat and use the bought jars of Lingonberry jam.
To the Sweedish, Meatballs with boiled potato and Lingonberry Jam is like what Spaghetti Bolognese is to the Italians or Gazpachio to the Spanish. Every family has their own recipe passed down from their mothers mothers, though essentially it is as follows:

Note: Lingonberries are similar to Cranberries and can be interchanged if necessary.

Sweedish Meatballs with Lingonberry Jam

60gr butter

1 sml onion, very finely chopped

2 teaspoons of allspice

100gr breadcrumbs

150ml milk

1kg minced pork and beef mix

1 lrge beaten egg

S&P

1 Tablespoon plain flour

400ml chicken of beef stock

200gr sour cream

3 Tablespoons rough chopped fresh dill

Lingonberry or Cranberry Sauce

500gr cranberries or lingonberries

finely grated zest of one lemon and juice

150gr caster sugar

*To make cranberry sauce simply put the cranberries in a small heavy based saucepan with 125 ml water, lemon juice and zest. Bring to the boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

*When the berries have started to pop, add the sugar and continue to cook until the sugar has melted.

*Remove from the heat and taste to see if the sauce is as sweet as you want it. Leave it too cool.

*Melt 15gr of the butter and in it saute the onion until soft but not coloured. Add the allspice and cook for a further minute.

*Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until all the milk has been absorbed - about 30 minutes. Mix the onion and soaked breadcrumbs with the meat, eggs and season really well.

*With wet hands, form little balls just larger than Walnuts from the mixture.

*Heat half of the remaining butter with half the oil. Fry the meatballs in batches, making sure that they get good colour on the outside.(Try not to burn the fat, if you do discard before frying the next lot)

*Heat the remaining butter and oil in the pan. Add the flour and cook over a low heat, stirring until the flour is golden.

*Take off the heat and gradually add the stock, stirring well after each addition. Place pan back on the heat stirring constantly whilst bringing the liquid to boil. Add the sour cream

*Turn heat down and add meatballs, cook gently for about 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken, taste for seasoning. Add chopped dill and serve with cranberry sauce and boiled potatoes.

This recipe is from this lovely book

Tandoori Yoghurt Fish with Cucumber and Mint yogurt.

2012-01-20T20:24:00.001+11:00

This is not a new nor is it a particularly original recipe. It however is one of my favorites. I was working as a cook on a private motor yacht in the south of France when I first fell in love with this recipe. Working on a yacht probably sounds like a luxurious life and it does have it's perks but in general, when you are working, it really is hard work. You work long hours and you work hard. Mean while you are cruising around the Mediterranean, pulling into the most glamorous ports, dropping anchor in beautiful secluded bays; but the staff certainly aren't the one's to soak it all up. The guests are rich and more often than not demanding. As most of us would be if we firstly had the money to buy such a life style and secondly had spent that much on the experience.
Producing meals and keeping it varied for guests whom are on board for a couple of weeks straight requires some imagination. Not that this meal is unique and serving it on this particular vegetable base is a bit of a schizophrenic mix. It IS quick and simple to prepare, and I love the flavours.

Tandoori Fish with Cucumber Mint yogurt

Oven Hot - 250 deg Celsius
800gr fish filleted (white meaty fish, or a salmon can work)

2-3 cups of Greek yogurt (natural & unsweetened)

1 teaspoon of tandoori paste or powder

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1-2 lemons (zested then juiced)

1 cucumber grated

hand full of mint finely chopped

hand full of oregano finely chopped

2 fennel bulbs

2 shallotts

3-4 desire potatoes

2 zucchinis chopped

Firstly cut the fish into serving sized portions (sometimes I will cube Salmon and after marination put it onto a skewer stick, otherwise potion sized fillet pieces works)

Prepare the marinade by mixing 1.5 cups of yogurt with garlic and tandoori spice (if marinating for a shorted period you can add salt and lemon juice, if marinating overnight or for a few hours sprinkle salt and lemon just before cooking, the salt and lemon actually cook the fish by curing it when added to a marinade)

Smother the fish in the marinade and leave for a minimum of 1 hour and max of 24 hours.

Grate the cucumber, sprinkle a little salt over it and leave to drain in a strainer (the salt draws the liquid out of the cucumber)

Cut the potatoes into rounds about half a centimeter thick

Thinly slice the shallots and fennel, saving the fronds to serve

Toss these in a baking dish with the lemon zest and oregano, also some olive oil and salt.

Bake in the hot oven for 15 - 20 mins turning a couple of times

Then add the zucchini and bake on a lower heat for another 10-15 mins until all veg cooked. At the same time put the fish in the oven to bake.

Whilst the vegetables are baking, push the excess liquid out of the cucumber. Then mix it with the yogurt and mint adding a little lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve as a stack with potatoes on the bottom, then fish and topped with the cucumber yogurt. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T20:30:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year, 2012 here we go. I move forward into 2012 with a mixed bag of emotions. After such a big year last year, with sooooooo many changes, I thought I would be glad to see the end of 2011 however I am a little sad to move forward. After losing my mother to cancer last year, ringing in the New Year was a sad time as it signified moving forward in this life and starting a New Year without her.
With all this talk of the end of the world and the fact that we are living in the 'new age' right now, I enter this year with a keen sense of all we have is today. 2011 was full of so many rapid twists and turns not only in my private life but in the world in general. We really have no idea what this year will bring and all of the best laid plans can vanish and become insignificant in an instant.
I'm not sure that I believe in New Years resolutions in the way that so many people set unrealistic goals. However having an inner resolve to improve an aspect of life is very much a part of my daily experience of this life. I definitely will be reminding myself to live for the moment. Enjoy and love my life today. Not next week when I get a pay rise, or next year when I have a baby etc...Just being happy with what I have here and now and making the best of ALL of it, including the difficult stuff.

Now that I have had my soap box rave, I will turn to my recipe for today. On this 30 deg Celsius day on the back of a three day Aussie heat wave, I am living in the moment and on a random craving baking a meat pie. As I walked around the supermarket on my way home, I picked up cream on special, minced beef on special and a couple of other things. All the while I was creating the meat pie in my mind. I love tomato and cream, what a knockout combination. So the cream on special served to set the tone for my living in the moment meat pie. The rest of the ingredients were a mixture of what was sitting in the cupboard and growing in my modest herb garden. A nice stodgy meal, when most of us are eating light and cool dinners. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Made up Meat Pie

500gr minced beef

1 brown onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced

2 dried chillies finely chopped

handful of fresh picked Rosemary

small tub of tomato paste about 200ml

200 ml cream

splosh of Worcestershire sauce

1 carrot chopped

1 handful of chopped green beans

2 x Puff pastry sheets

1 egg whisked

Preheat the oven to about 190 deg Celsius.

Saute the onion in a small amount of oil. Add garlic, chilli, rosemary, carrot and beans; fry for another minute or two on low heat.

Add the mince meat and mix well to break up the meat, avoiding clumps.

Add a splosh of Worcestershire sauce, mix well

Add the tomato paste, mix well

Add cream and simmer for a minute or two.

Line a pie dish with paper and pastry (You can blind bake the pastry if you like, I did not bother today)

Pour in the meat mixture in and place the second pastry sheet over the top, cut around the edge and push together at edges with a fork.

Brush with the whisked egg and poke a hole through the middle.

Place in the oven and bake until golden brown.

Ginger Bread House

2011-12-18T00:12:00.002+11:00

Last Friday afternoon my girlfriends and I had a Christmas lunch. This was held at a friends placed and with many toddlers attending I thought I'd nominate myself to make a gingerbread house. I has been watching the Australian Gourmet Traveller instructional video with recipe earlier in the week and decided I'd give it a go. http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/gingerbread.htm

After all it looks so easy in the video.
I decided to make mine an A-frame house to make it easier. It's a good thing that I did this since I messed up the royal icing with my fatal mistake - I did not follow the recipe!!! When I realised that the recipe called for 880gr of icing sugar, I was instantly skeptical (my skepticism was completely unfounded). Then when I had added about 500gr of icing sugar and the lactic acid was building up in my arms and shoulders, I decided that the icing was thick enough....well it wasn't as you can see from the photo the icing looks like snow melted in the summer heat. Quite fitting since I made it on a 30 deg Celsius day. My lesson that I should well and truly have learned by now is. Always follow the recipe, especially when baking and using a reliable recipe source. I like to tweak my recipes all the time, but when baking it is very wise to follow the recipe first time around then look to make changes in small increments. Lesson learned. I was quite embarrassed by my dismal looking house.
The gingerbread baking went well and without a hitch. My 15 year old nephew was a great help and enjoyed the bake off with his Aunty. He also told me that the final result looked homemade with love, a polite was of saying that it was pretty average looking.
Another tip I have after making this recipe is to roll out the gingerbread mixture on baking paper, then bake it on the same paper. Mine was getting stuck to the bench when I was just rolling it out onto the lightly floured surface. I often use this trick to make life easy.

I hope you enjoy making your gingerbread house as much as I did. I plan on making one next week for Christmas Day so that I can get it right and make it a little more beautiful.

Follow the link to the recipe. By the way, I found this gingerbread to have a perfect amount of ginger, definitely not too pungent. http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/gingerbread.htm

Rum Balls

2011-12-04T21:11:00.001+11:00

Another Christmas family favourite. Oh and yes another alcohol filled family recipe. These are not so bad and really are made with just a dash of Sherry, usually. Why they are not called Sherry balls I do not know. I don't have much of a story here except that these are not just a Christmas favourite. They make an appearance at all of our family get togethers, and Rum Balls are always one of the tastiest things on the table. So simple to make you can keep them in the fridge for a few days before serving them. These bite size balls of bliss are easy to eat in a function atmosphere, no need for a plate you can can just pop them into your mouth whole.
With no further a due here is the recipe;

Rum Balls

1 packet of Teddy Bear biscuits (you can use Marie, Malt or even Digestives)

1 cup of desiccated or shredded coconut (some more to coat the balls)

1 Table spoon Cocoa Powder

Splash Vanilla Essence

Splash of Sherry

1 tin of sweetened condensed milk

In food processor of blender crush the biscuits until fine. Then add the coconut and cocoa powder, mix. Then add splash of vanilla and Sherry, mix. Lastly add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Press the mixture down into the bowl with your hand and leave to sit for about 20mins.

Then using a teaspoon to scoops out the mixture, roll small balls and roll in some coconut to finish.

These can be made a few days in advance and stored i a sealed container in the fridge.

So simple and so yummy.

Rosco's (chocolate)Mud Cake - Stolen Recipe

2011-12-01T23:00:00.002+11:00

Do I begin with Rosco or the mud cake? Both are divine creatures and very lovable. Rosco was my flatmate for about eight months and I always look back at my time in that flat as some of the most family like moments of all my years traveling overseas and living in various countries and situations. We shared the flat with another divine creature who's name was quite literally Sweet (Mr. Sweet). There were many people who frequented the place and added their own unique twist to what was already a great place. The apartment was old and quite decrepit, the entire building was due to be gutted and internally rebuilt after our tenancy was up. The floors were uneven, so uneven it resembled a roller coaster. The pipes so ancient that they were made from lead and the entire building shook when a bus went past on the street below. Though it was a real home. We were living deep in the French Alps, snowboarding most days and generally living the dream.
Rosco was Glaswegian (from Glasgow), he had (has) a heart of gold and a humour to match it. His cynicism was brilliantly and continually beset upon all who crossed his path. He was infectious and genuine, but don't think for a second he was going to take shit of anyone.
Rosco was working as a dish pig by night in one of the local restaurants. One night Chef had Rosco make a Chocolate Mud Cake. Rosco came home and shared the recipe with me all the while asking me not to let chef know that he had shared the recipe with me as chef was quite proud of his mud cake and did not want his secret stolen. When I wrote it down that night, I named it Rosco's mud cake. This stolen recipe has now become my favourite mud cake recipe and here I am sharing it with anyone who comes across my blog. Lucky you.

Rosco's Chocolate Mud Cake

Pre heat oven to 150 deg Celsius (300deg F)

200gr dark chocolate

200gr sugar

200gr butter

Melt together over low heat

9 eggs

4 tablespoons of flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

mix with melted ingredients

Pour mixture into a large round cake tin - or you could split it half half into two small round cake tins.

Bake 50 minutes or until just cooked, you still want just a little bit of goo left on the cake tester when you pull it out of the cake.

Sauce

200ml cream

200gr dark chocolate

blob of butter

Melt together in a saucepan and pour over the cake, allow to harden and then repeat making a second batch of sauce.

3 Peaks Challenge Muesli Bars

2011-11-29T22:42:00.000+11:00

Cycling, cycling, cycling. This is one craze that has hit Melbourne and with the price of petrol these days, I am guessing that cycling is here to stay. My partner really is obsessed in road cycling. Personally I love to commute to work, my 35km round trip a few times per week is just lovely. However I think that cross country mountain biking much more fun. I just need to convince my road obsessed boy to get off road.........hmmm not likely to happen in a hurry.
The 3 Peaks Challenge is held annually in Victoria for the road riding fanatics. Starting on top of Falls Creek and covering 3 major climbs - Tawonga Gap, Mount Hotham and then Falls Creek via Omeo. The website describes it as an epic ride and claims that it is comparable to a Tour de France stage. I don't doubt it. Personally I will go and have a spa day while he rides. I will also do my job of ensuring that he has the right nutrition for the day. He claims that the energy bars and gels just make him vomit. Another thing that I don't doubt.
My challenge is to come up with the perfect riding snack. He has a few criteruim (very sad word play on my behalf). It can't be to difficult to chew, digest and must give him the energy he needs. Hence it must be high GI for fast release of energy, full of simple carbs and basically fall apart in his mouth.
I think that Banana bread is the indisputable winner. He tells me that fruit cake is a winner. I have set out to master the 3 Peaks Challenge Muesli bar. After a few batches I am second guessing myself though as they can be a little hard on the jaw since they are packed with dried fruits, nuts and oats. Also the GI may be too low to make them the perfect on the road snack. These might be great breakfast food to give slow release energy throughout the very arduous day. None the less I am still perfecting the recipe with each batch. Here is a taste of what I have come up with so far. Even if they aren't perfect riding food, they are great for school and work lunches.

3 Peaks Challenge Muesli Bars
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup wheatgerm
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
135 gr butter
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup of dried sweetened cranberries
optional 1/2 cup choc bits
you can add any combination of nuts, dried fruits and chocolate, just increase the honey/butter mixture slightly to compensate for the extra dry ingredients

In a large fry pan on medium heat gently toast the rolled oats, coconut, and seeds. Tossing continuously. Once they begin to toast lightly add the sesame seeds and wheatgerm, continue toasting for a few minutes until all ingredients are lightly browned. (Ensure to toss the ingredients every 20 seconds to avoid burning. You can practice your chef style fry pan toss here as it is the most effective way to get even toasting)
Once toasted remove from heat and pan and leave to cool.
In a saucepan add the butter, honey and brown sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves then bring to the boil. Turn to low as soon as the mixture begins to bubble up. Leave it to bubble for another 10-15 minutes.
Then pour the liquid over the toasted dry ingredients, mix well.
Once mixed add the fruits and continue mixing.
Then press into a small lamington tin lined with paper. If you wish to add choc bits put them in the freezer for 1/2 an hour before making the muesli, then sprinkle them over the top right before refrigeration, press them into the mixture.
Refrigerate. Chop into bars.

These are best when eaten cold as then don't hold form as well at room temp. Hence they are not best for the long ride. A work in progress that I will update once I get the recipe perfect. I have about 3.5 months to go.

Haute Savoie and Tartiflette

2011-11-22T22:39:00.000+11:00

Many moons ago I was lucky enough to spend almost five years of my life living in the French Alps. As a child I loved skiing. As a young adult I loved snowboarding. This dream bought me all the way to the Haute Savoie a region in the French Alps right near the Italian and Swiss borders, this place is a slice of heaven.

The local cuisine is heavily infiltrated with Cheese, Potato and some bacon. A few other ingredients, but not many really. Whilst working in a small village deep in the alps in an even smaller and very left of center bar/pizzeria I discovered Tartiflette. I discovered a thing or two else, but I'll save them for further posts.

Today I'll tell you how Siegfred the owner of the bar had once been a champion mono skier. That's right a champion on the mono ski. The mono ski was cool in the haute 80's, well so I have been told. Siegfred had decided to make his bar into a mono ski museum. There were mono skis hanging from the walls and big pictures of him and his mates doing gnarly tricks on the mono skis back in the day. Th place certainly didn't lack character nor did it lack characters.

The menu mostly had pizzas and some hamburgers, but it also had Tartiflette. The menu didn't change periodically and probably still hasn't today.

Tartiflette was always made in an oval ceramic dish for one, we cooked it in the hot pizza over and it was delicious. Made with a stinky French cheese known as Reblechon melted on top. This stuff smells like toe jam, but the flavour is so good. The stinkier the cheese the better in my opinion. Hmm I can taste it already, bacon, onions and potatoes swimming in cream with melted stinky cheese on top. Just perfect for those freezing cold winter nights.

Tartiflette

2 x boiled potatos, peeled and sliced or diced 1cm thick

200gr Bacon sliced or Lardon cubes if you can get them

1/2 - 1 small onion, sliced into rings

splash of dry white wine

200 - 300 ml cream

thickly sliced Reblechon Cheese (or you can simply cut the cheese round in half and place the 2 halves on top)

In a fry pan on med to high heat, sweat the onions adding the bacon. When they are just about done add a healthy slosh of white wine and allow it to reduce.

Throw in the potato slices and toss around a couple of times to mix the ingredients together. Be careful not to break up the potatoes. Then dump the contents of the fry pan into your ceramic dish, filling it to about 1.5cm below the top.

Pour cream over the potato, onion and bacon until the cream reaches just below the top of potato layer (we don't need them to be swimming).

Lay the slices of Reblechon over the top and place in a hot over 350 deg Celsius (or there a bouts) for about 5 minutes of until the cheese is melted and slightly browning and the cream is bubbling.

Serve with salad on the side. Bon Appetite

Soft Drink Is Bad For You

2011-11-20T21:13:00.001+11:00

I am a fairly health conscious person and soft drink rings massive alarm bells to someone like me. I wont even go there on the sugar free drinks made with chemical sweeteners. Apart from the massive sugar levels, natural or fake (they are both bad for you in their own ways), soft drinks also have many other colours and preservatives in them.

The only soft drink that I do lend myself to is lemon squash (I wont breech into Coke territory, that's just too scary). I had a look at the label of a lemon squash bottle; it claims to have 5% lemon juice. Well that's not too bad really. Though the other ingredients are a little alarming.

First came food acid 330 aka Citric Acid - This is basically an acid found in most food sources, especially found in citrus fruits. So why it needs to be added to lemon quash is beyond me. However it is usually produced from corn and during production manufacturers don't always take out the protein which can be hydrolyzed and create MSG (621) causing reactions in MSG sensitive people.

Next Preservative 211 aka Sodium Benzoate - The sodium salt of benzoic acid, sodium benzoate fulfils an antibacterial and antifungal role, and to disguise taste, as of poor-quality food; orange diet soft drinks contain a high amount of it, up to 25mg per 250ml; also in milk and meat products, relishes and condiments, baked goods and lollies, tooth pastes, mouth washes, maple syrup and margarine; used in many oral medications including Actifed, Phenergan and Tylenol; known to causes nettle rash and aggravate asthma. Suspected to be a neurotoxic hazard. YUK

Then there is Colour 104 aka Quinoline Yellow - D&C Yellow No:10. A synthetic 'coal tar' dye, prepared by sulfonating 2-(2-quinolyl) indan-1,3-dione, and the product is essentially sodium salts of a mixture of disulfonates, monosulfonates and trisulfonates of the dione. The calcium and potassium salts may also be permitted. Quinoline Yellow is used to give a yellow to greenish yellow colour. Typical products include ice lollies, scotch eggs, smoked fish; used in lipsticks hair products, colognes; also in a wide range of medications. It may cause asthma, rashes and hyperactivity. Aspirin sensitive people must avoid it.
Banned in Australia, Japan, USA and Norway. (Aparantly this is banned in Australia, however it is listed on the back of a bottle of Lemon Squash purchased at Coles in Melbourne. Interesting)

Lovely Home Made Lemon Sqash

1.25 litres of carbonated natural mineral water

Juice of 2-3 lemons with pulp

50-100ml sugar syrup

4-5 Mint Leaves chopped fine

Firstly to make sugar syrup (this is so simple and only takes a moment). Make as much as you like, basic rule with sugar syrup is 1:1 ratio of water and sugar.

I measured out 100grs castor sugar and added 100ml of water. Swirl or stir gently over very low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Then leave on the heat for just a moment or two longer to ensure the sugar crystals have all dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Voila you have sugar syrup.

Simply open your bottle of mineral water and pour out a large glass. Pour the lemon juice into your bottle (take care here as it can froth up and over the top of the bottle. I usually just do this over a bowl so that I can catch the liquid and pour it back in. Good idea to wash the outside of the bottle before you start).

Then add the sugar syrup to taste. Everyone likes different levels of sweetness. I personally usually add about 40-60ml sugar syrup.

If your bottle is not full pour back in some of the mineral water that you have in the glass. Lastly add the finely chopped mint leaves. Now you have nasty free and absolutley refreshing soft drink full of vitamin C, A and bioflavnoids aka vitamin P.

Serve on Ice.

Plum Pudding and Hard (liquor) Sauce

2011-11-20T18:07:00.001+11:00

Otherwise known as Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce, this is a family recipe that has been passed down through the women of my family for many generations. My great grandmother on my mothers side is from Ireland, so I guess this recipe is too. For as long as I can remember my grandmother has been maker of the Christmas pud. She would usually make it months in advance to allow the flavours to mature.

On Christmas day the family always had a large roast lunch, even if it was 35 degrees Celsius outside. Since my earliest memory my Nana's taste buds were not as sharp as they had once been and the alcohol levels in the sauce increased every year. By the time she was in her 90s the amount of Brandy added to the sauce varied between 3/4 of a bottle to a full bottle. The infamous words of my Nana still ring clear in my mind "There's not enough Brandy, I can't taste the Brandy" as she stirred her sauce continuing to empty the contents of the bottle into the sauce.

Before serving dessert the curtains were closed and the lights turned off. The pudding was always doused in Brandy and set a light before stirring. Someone would spoon the Brandy over the pudding until the flame went out. The pudding was then cut and served with generous servings of hard sauce. At the age of seven it felt like fire burning in my throat but we ate it anyway and by the time dessert was finished there wasn't a sober person in the house, regardless of age.

The Hard sauce is divine when made with a little less Brandy. So please don't let my story of a drunken irresponsible family burning seven year old's throats put you off.

Nana's Plum Pudding

6 large eggs

1 Large cup of breadcrumbs

450gr plain flour (aka 1 pound)

450gr unsalted butter (grated)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 cups brown sugar

2.5 dessert spoons all spice

1 dessert spoon cinnamon

1 dessert spoon nutmeg

200gr mixed peel

200gr raisons

200rg currants

200gr sultanas

200gr glace cherries, halved

60gm shivered almonds

1 - 1.5 cups of dark rum

Large square of double layered calico cloth (approx 75x75cm)

cooking twine

Method

Sieve into a large bowl the flour and baking powder, add the breadcrumbs.

Then rub in the butter, thoroughly.

Then add the brown sugar and rub until the mixture is crumbly.

Add the spices and mix well.

Them add the fruit and mix.

In another bowl. Whisk the eggs and rum well, then add to the dry mixture.

Put the mixture onto the middle of your calico cloth and tie tightly at the top with twine.

In a large saucepan slow boil the pudding for 6 hours, with the lid on.

After 6 hours remove from the water and leave to cool and allow the calico to dry. The pudding can be stored for many months wrapped in the calico cloth in the refrigerator.

Hard Sauce

1/2 cup of whipped cream

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon plain flour

3 tablespoons of icing sugar

dash of pure vanilla essence

slosh of Brandy (or an entire bottle if you dare)

1/2 cup of warm milk

In a saucepan off the heat. Mix sugar, flour, egg and vanilla very well.

Turn the heat on low and add the milk, stir until medium thickness has been reached (until coating a spoon when lifted out of mixture)

Allow to cool.

Once cooled, fold in whipped cream.

Add Brandy last.

Serve over warm plum pudding.

Bourbon Flambe Chorizo and The Potuguese house husband

2011-11-16T23:44:00.002+11:00

After only being in my new job for about six months I had made some really great friendships. As work friendships go people mostly enter into outside of work social activities with a little caution, eventually you end up drinking, eating and forming great friendships. When you work with the right people that is. My lunch two buddies and I planned a Friday night sleep over girls night. We all had our fair share of tough times going on at home so we decided that a girl's night was just the medicine needed. This began with a looooong drive from work out to our host's house. She lives a fair way out of town so the trip was a nice warm up to a great evening that involved a little too much alcohol. Once we arrived in her town we stopped at Woolie's to get chocolate, chips'n'dips and alcohol. We stocked up well with food and grog.
Our lovely host's husband is Portuguese and was in between jobs at the time. He knew we were having a girl's night, however he was welcome to have a drink with the girls so he stayed home. Upon arrival at the house we were greeted with the most amazing spread that included three glasses of champagne with strawberries, a tapas collection and even a glass filled with Swiss cheese slices arranged to resemble a flower. Husband got lots of brownie points with us all. Wow. We were blown away by such a sweet and spontaneous gesture.

The drinks and conversation were flowing as were the constant flow of little tapas dishes. Now I am a big fan of fried Chorizo but when I was asked if I like Bourbon this was not what I has in mind. My answer was actually no. Then they explained that hubby was frying some Chorizo and about to do a bourbon flambe. "Oh I'll have bourbon like that, no worries, I'm just not a fan of bourbon and coke."
After a quick flambe and setting the houses smoke detectors off the Bourbon flambe Chorizo was served and immediately tasted. This is a winner, such an interesting twist on this popular tapas that seems to be on every menu in town these days. I hope that you enjoy trying it. It would even probably go down well with the bourbon drinking hubbies out there who 'don't like all that fancy stuff'.