Recipe 53: Corn Fritters

These fritters definitely have a pikelet type of quality when they are finished cooking. Love them with a bit of vinegar and salt. The husband prefers them with sweet chilli sauce.

Recipe 53: Sweetcorn Fritters

3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
1 egg
1 can of creamed corn (approximately 440g)
Oil (for frying)

Method 

1. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and papper to taste into a bowl.
2. Add egg, mixing to combine. 
3. Stir in sweetcorn.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan, drop tablespoonsful of corn mixture into pan. When bubbles start forming on the top (much like pikelets), the fritter is ready to turn over.
5. Place cooked fritters on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
6. Serve hot. This recipe generally makes between 10-15 fritters, depending on the size.

A nice Surprise

It's quite simple really, all you want as a new parent is to be able to sleep into 8am. Prior to our son, my husband and I enjoyed beautiful breakfasts at lovely cafe's, late night suppers in the city and tapas, whenever we could get the chance.



This recipe is not mine, but nor is it really a recipe. But I tell you, when my husband made this for me on Sunday not only did it look amazing, but it tasted great too! So, cudos to him and it's in my recipe list.

Recipe 52: Easy Breakfast

Serves 4
200g smoked salmon
1 Avocado 
500g gourmet yoghurt
4 eggs
4 pieces of toast

Method 

1. Poach the egg
2. Whilst the egg is poaching, pop the toast into the toaster
3. Cut open the avocado, scoop out the flesh and chop into segments  (Approx 12 slices)
4. Place avocado segments on each serving plate, beside 50g smoked salmon
5. In a small bowl, add yoghurt. Then place on the serving plate for effect.
6. Get poached egg from pan, allowing the water to drip away then place on serving plate beside the salmon
7. Butter toast and place on serving plates. Voila! Flash breakfast is done!

So simple, but glamourous and it made me feel like a queen!

Sucker for a taste of Spain

There are so many places in the world where I would settle down to live but if it was just based on food- the top 4 places: France, Italy, Mexico and of course, Spain.

Two days ago I happened to stumble upon the General Trader in sale mode (well, that's what I tell my husband anyway!) and found a $20 paella pan. No excuse now, Paella for dinner!

The interesting thing about a Paella pan is that you have to "break it in", by doing this you basically have to get a steelo, scrub the bejebus out of it and then heat it up on the stove, letting the pan go black. Cool it down a bit and then using a paper towel with some oil on it you then rub it into the pan. Heat it up again, with a new paper towel wipe it and repeat the oiling and wiping until there is no more black residue showing on your paper towels. Your paella pan is now ready!
(NB: once you have completed your cooking, wash up the pan, then to dry, heat the paella pan, oil and wipe again. If you just dry it with a tea towel, the paella pan will rust)

Recipe 51: Chicken Paella

Serves 4 – 6
Variety of colourful fresh vegetables of your choice; broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, red capsicum, mushrooms, sweet potato, corn
¼ cup olive oil
500g chicken thighs (or breast meat), cut into strips
50g mild Salami, cut into strips *optional*
1 large onion, chopped
1 capsicum, cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons smoked paprika 
1½ cups short grain rice
3 – 4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp saffron threads, (soak for 10 minutes in 1 tbs hot water)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 – 3 chillies 

Method 

1. Heat oil and fry chicken until cooked, put cooked chicken in a bowl and set aside. 
2. Add slightly more oil to the paella pan and aauté onion, capsicum & garlic until tender
3. Add tomatoes & paprika, cook until tomato is pulpy.
4. Add rice; stir until well combined with tomato mixture.
5. Add stock a little at a time and allow to absorb
6. Stir in saffron, pepper, tomato paste, chillies, chicken and salami strips (if using), if needed add more stock so its nice and moist
7. Arrange vegetables decoratively on top
8. Heat at 180c until rice is light and fluffy & vegetables are cooked through. (around 20 mins)
9. Serve with green or tossed salad.

The great thing about this was just as I was taking it out of the oven, two of our friends popped around for a couple of beers. The paella went down a treat and my husband enjoyed the leftovers the next day with a bit of toasted bread and a smattering of cheese.

Technique: Creating your own self raising flour

Ah... Learning so much from this years resolution- not only in cooking itself, but also techniques that I never even knew existed. It's just about May and granted I am 14 recipes behind, but I am content in reaching recipe 50! Truthfully I thought I would have given up by now.

So this morning when I was making Recipe 50: the Banana scones, I failed to check the pantry to see whether I had all the ingredients. Go figure, all out of self-raising flour.

Self Raising Flour- Home made

For 1 cup self-raising flour:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Please note that this is in addition to any baking powder already in the recipe.

The Result- worked like a charm!

Recipe 50: Banana Scones

Wow, 50 recipes down. I have a few more to add into the Blog, which will knock off the fourteen I am behind at the moment. On the plus side, only 144 more to go to make my 2011 resolution!

I shouldn't watch James Reeson's TV programme "Alive and Cooking" I just want to try all of his recipes, as 1) they look yum and 2) the ingredients he uses are ones generally found in the pantry.

Recipe 50: Banana Scones

(Makes approx. 10)
3 cups self raising flour
½ cup caster sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 mashed ripe bananas
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. 
2. In a separate bowl, mash the banana, stir through the milk and vanilla essence. 
3. Combine both mixtures with a wooden spoon. 
4. Fold through the flour and lightly mix into a dough.
5. Cut into scones. Bake in a preheated oven at 210C for 10-12 minutes.

This is the FIRST time ever that I have made scones that tasted good- Let alone rose and didn't become rock hard! Thanks James!

Recipe 48 & 49 : Banana Nut Cupcakes with Nut Icing

My turn to cook for mothers group and a feeling of dread, but at the same time excitement wells up inside. Excitement as I can cook a new recipe and dread because its a new recipe and who knows if it is going to come out ok!
The result - if I hadn't needed to get my little boy up right when they were almost ready they would have turned out wonderful! In the end the cupcakes were a toasted brown and slightly dry... due to being in the oven just a bit too long.

Recipe 48: Banana Nut Cupcakes

3 Eggs
1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Caster sugar
1/2 cup Milk
1 1/2 cups Self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp smooth Peanut butter
1 Banana mashed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160c. Line a 12 cupcake pan with cupcake papers. In a bowl, lightly beat eggs, add butter and sugar, then mix until light and fluffy.
2. Add Milk, flour, peanut butter and banana and stir to combine. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and creamy. Add the banana and stir through the mix.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the cake papers. Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool fully before icing.

Recipe 49: Nut Icing

1 cup Icing sugar1 cup Butter, room temperature
2 tbsp Crunchy unsalted peanut butter
1 tbsp Golden Syrup

Method

1. Combine half the icing sugar, butter and peanut butter and mix with a wooden spoon.
2. Add remaining Icing sugar, butter and peanut butter and beat with the spoon until light and fluffy.
3. Ice the cupcakes and then drizzle golden syrup onto the cupcakes.

Recipe 46 and 47 - Meat loaf with an Onion and Mushroom gravy

Recipe 46: Meatloaf

1 kg mince
1 large brown onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon each of: smoked paprika, ginger
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1/2cup fresh basil and parsley
2 eggs
Good splash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Chop carrots, celery, onion and garlic.
2. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together in large bowl, be sure to "massage" everything together.
3. Place in terrine mold and bake at 220c for around 50 minutes.

Recipe 47: Onion and Mushroom Gravy

2 brown onion finely sliced
4 mushrooms diced
2 cloves of chopped garlic
splash of sherry
juice from the meatloaf pan
2 tbsp corn flour

Method

1. Fry onion, mushrooms and garlic together till they start to colour. 
2. Add sherry and boil furiously till almost dry, then add the pan juices (water and/or stock can also be used,) 
3. Bring to boil and stir in corn flour (mixed with cold water,) till required consistency is achieved. 

Recipe 45: Roasts - a winter treat

So it isn't winter yet, in fact its barely autumn. But I just cannot help myself when it comes to making roasts. Generally because A) it's easy and B) they taste nice.
This recipe is addition to Recipe 44- Baby Beets, basically what was served with the beets and other roasted veges.

NB: With roasting any piece of meat the general rule is 1kg = 1 hour of cooking. After the allotted time for your meat, then check to see if it is cooked and if not, just pop it in the oven for a few more minutes (e.g. 30 mins or so).

Recipe 45- Roast leg of Lamb

1kg leg of lamb
bunch of fresh rosemary
Olive oil
Seas salt and black pepper
3 tsp crushed garlic or a bulb of garlic broken into cloves.

Method

1. Preheat oven to as hot as it will go.*
2. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray (if using crushed garlic just use the sprigs of rosemary on the bottom).
3. Rub the olive oil  all over the lamb and season with salt and pepper. If using crushed garlic also rub it in as well.
4. Place the lamb on top of the rosemary on the tray and then put the rest of the sprigs of rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. 
5. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven, changing the temperature of the oven to 170c. Then cook for an hour**

* The reason behind having the oven as hot as possible then decreasing the heat when the lamb is in, is to seal the meat first and then cook it slowly. This is so you have nice moist meat.

**The lamb is done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.

One step forward ten steps back

What gets me about this blog, is my total incapability to keep on top! I am not joking, this week I must have tried at least 5-6 different recipes, yet have run out of time to post them up here. Now I am only up to Recipe 44 and if I am to be "tracking along nicely" I should be up to Recipe 52. Oh dear!

Luckily enough, I have found some of the recipes I have done in the last couple of weeks and managed even to find some of the photo's I have taken of them- so YAY me! Recipes with pictures.

This recipe is from last night, as I had neighbours over for dinner. I may add the actual roast lamb itself as another recipe at another time (as I have always grown up with roasts and stupidly think that everyone knows how to make one), but today its Roasted Baby Beets as I had tonnes in my vege patch and had no idea how to cook them!

 

Recipe 44: Roasted Baby Beets

Baby Beets (or normal Beetroot)
1 tsp crushed garlic
4 sprigs of rosemary
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220c. Whilst this is heating Clean the beets washing off excess soil. 
2. Put the beets into a large pot and add enough water to cover them. Season with salt and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until just tender, then drain and place in a bowl of cooler water.
3. Using a potato peeler or knife, peel the outer skin off the beets when cool enough to handle- however you do want them warm to the touch for the next step.
4. In a bowl add garlic, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Place your beets and gently stir them around so all beets get a covering of the marinade. Leave for 5 minutes in the marinade so they absorb the sweetness.
5. After 5 minutes, place the beets on a greased roasting tray and roast for half an hour, or until the beets have a glazed dark look about them.
6. Serve with other roasted vegetables

A little bit Tarty.

Every morning at 9am I tune in for a bit of James Reeson. He is funny and his recipes are quick and after the pecan pie- quite frankly, yummy!
This week I tried the strawberry tart. Quite delish, even if I say so myself!

Recipe 43: Strawberry Tart

2 punnets strawberries
Crème patissiere
3 tsp gelatine
2 tbsp hot water
2 tbsp honey
Chocolate buttons

Method

1. Roll the pastry until it will fit your 25 cm tart case and trim to fit, bake at 190°c for 10-15 minutes (if it rises too much just push it down.)
2. Melt the chocolate buttons over a double boiler then using a pastry brush “paint” the cooked pastry shell until the entire base is covered.
3. Spread the crème pat over the pastry base then cover with halved strawberries
4. Melt together the gelatine, hot water and honey to a smooth consistency, allow to cool a little then “paint” all over the strawberries and pastry.
5. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Recipe 41: Pecan Pie and Recipe 42: Maple cream

I do enjoy entertaining. a couple of days ago we had our friends over and decided I would give a pecan pie love the show Alive and Cooking, staring James Reeson. He shows some of the most amazing food and so quick and seems easy as well. So have decided I would try one of his recipes and was surprised as to how yummy it was!

Recipe 41: Pecan Pie

Short crust pastry


Pecan Filling:

1 cup (215 grams) dark brown sugar

2/3 cup (160 ml) Golden Syrup

1 tablespoon rum or bourbon

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/4 cup (60 ml) cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 - 2 cups (150 - 200 grams) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.
2. Gently transfer to a 23 cm pie pan. Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the blind baking material and pop in the oven for another minute. Take the pastry out of the oven and cool.
3. Make the Pecan Filling: In a large saucepan, heat the brown sugar, Golden Syrup, rum (or bourbon), and butter until boiling, stirring constantly. 
4. Remove from heat and let cool until tepid. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. 
5. When the boiled syrup has cooled, beat in the eggs, salt, and cream.  
6. On the pastry crust evenly distribute the chopped pecans over the bottom.  Then pour the filling evenly over the nuts. Bake for about 25-45 minutes or until the filling is just set (a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. (If you find the edges of the pie crust are over browning during baking, cover with foil.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 
7. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipping cream. 

Recipe 42: Maple cream

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

METHOD

1. Place the heavy whipping cream and maple syrup in bowl of your electric mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form.