Rasberry Cake

Ok, I'll admit that I haven't actually made this yet, BUT, my friend Liz is a fantastic cook and this comes highly recommended from her. I have no doubt it will be wonderful. I'll make it this weekend and pull it down if it's not excellent

200 g softened butter
185 g castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
grated rind of an orange
2 large eggs
1 dessertspoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier
200 g self raising flour
1 packet frozen raspberries (or as many as desired) - 5 minutes from the freezer


Cream the butter and sugar, add vanilla, orange rind and liqueur. Add eggs gradually. Lastly add flour, combining all ingredients on a slow speed.

Place half the mixture into cake tin and spread evenly. Place raspberries over the mixture and then spread remaining mixture over the top.

Bake in a moderate oven (180°) for approximately 40 minutes. Test with a skewer to ensure cake is just cooked.

When cool sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with cream, berry coulis (left over raspberries blended with icing sugar and liqueur or water), and berries if desired.

Home Made Pasta With Harry and Tom

Harry, Tom and I made some home made pasta yesterday. We sampled it tonight and it was absolutely delicious.

Take: 2 boys (best mates, no fighting allowed) and 1 nanny
3 bowls, 3 cups plain flour (ordinary), 3 eggs, 1-2 teas oil, 3 teas water (just to adjust consistency)

Make into playdoughish consistency. Knead, make dinosaurs, shapes, squish through pasta maker into monster's hair, throw into the air and try to catch a few times (what the heck, we'll be boiling it), roll back up into 3 balls, fight over whose ball is the biggest and put into the fridge for an hour or two. Go to park.

Return from park and help nanny feed it through the pasta machine, taking turns nicely. One boy helps feed pasta through the machine while the other one is in charge of keeping the dough nicely floured throughout the process.

Turn feral once mummy arrives and, in the mayhem, forget to take the pasta home.

Nanny, not sure how long it will keep or what it will be like, decides to use and replace.

Chicken breast fillet sliced small
3 slices bacon diced
1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 chilli diced finely
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 handful sliced mushrooms
1 large tablespoon tomato paste
2 large tablespoons ricotta
fresh oregano, parsley

Fry chicken in batches in a little oil. Add mushrooms, bacon, onion, garlic, chilli and fry up. Add the tomato past, herbs, fry a little longer. Add fresh herbs and ricotta.

Throw the pasta into boiling, salted water for about 1 minute (longer if using dried pasta).

Toss the pasta into the sauce (or serve separately if you prefer). Toss lightly, add lots of pepper and serve with extra parsley and maybe some grated parmesan (optional).

Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi

There is talk in our family of pasta. Whether it is a winter-fuelled carb craving or a tendency towards the masochistic, we've been attempting to concoct said pasta from scratch. I've had some pasta successes in the past but for when you're craving something dough-y and just can't wait the requisite 1 hour for the pasta to proof, try out this recipe from Fresh 365 which I made last night (and luckily have enough left over for lunch today):

1 c packed fresh spinach
1 c packed rocket, chopped, plus additional to serve
small handful basil leaves, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 c ricotta
1 c flour, plus additional for rolling
2 eggs, beaten
1 c grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional to serve
1 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t pepper
olive oil, to serve

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add spinach, and turn off heat. Remove spinach after 2 minutes and transfer to colander, to drain, pressing out as much water as possible. Transfer to a cutting board and chop.

In a large bowl, combine spinach, rocket, basil, garlic, ricotta, flour, eggs, cheese, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Mix well, adding an additional 2-3 T flour, if needed. Mixture will be wet, but should be able to form into 1” balls, with floured hands. Roll each ball in a bit of flour, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet (or cutting board). Transfer to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop 1/4 of the gnocchi in the water, and let them sink to the bottom. When they rise to the top (about 2-3 minutes), allow them to cook for 1 minutes more. Remove with a slotted spoon, transferring to a plate. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi, in batches. Serve the gnocchi on a bed of arugula. Drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, to taste.

Belissimo!

Sweet Risotto

Every week or so Angela rings me to ask for this recipe. Tonight she wrote it down but just in case she misplaces it I thought I'd add it to the blog. It's a nice dessert either on its own or with stewed fruit.

3 1/2 cups milk
6 pieces lemon rind (we omit this and add a teaspoon vanilla)
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup aborio or carnaroli rice
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Heat the milk and butter to hot but not boiling. Place the rice, sugar and milk mixture into a shallow heat proof dish and cover tightly with a lid or aluminium foil. Bake the risotto for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and stir for 2 minutes. Remove lemon rind if used. The risotto should be creamy and a little soupy.
To serve, spoon the rice in to bowls. Lovely for breakfas with yoghurt or serve for brunch or dessert with cream. Serves 4 - 6

Cheese Straws

It's my birthday in a few weeks and my friend Jas and I are planning a little soiree to celebrate. Not being the most experienced hostess, I have been trawling the interwebs to find some easy and delicious party food.

This one is taken from one of my favourite cooking blogs Smitten Kitchen:

Cheese Straws
1 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used pink rock salt - mmmm)
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon milk

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter, flour, salt and red pepper in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds.
3. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8- by 10-inch rectangle that is 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife cut the dough into strips and transfer the strips to a lined tray. 
4. Bake the straws on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the ends are barely browned. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.
5. Serve at room temperature. 

In addition to the cheese straws, we're going to be doing potato crostini, samosas (Jas's famous family recipe which she may share some time), fried rice in silver noodle boxes, watermelon salad and an icecream bar!

Saru's flat bread - plus some options

This is a cut down quantity for a small family meal.

1 cup plain flour (we used white but you can use wholemeal or a combo)
1/2 cup of warm water

Add 1/4 cup of the water to the flour and mix with your hand. Gradually add more of the water until you have a soft but non-sticky dough.

Knead for around 3 - 5 minutes (longer if you're making a bigger batch).
Let sit for about 15 - 30 minutes

Take small balls and roll out into almost paper thin discs using a rolling pin and extra flour as necessary.

From here, we deep fried them on 180% but a tad greasy. I prefer them dry fried in a non-stick pan on a med/high heat. The ones Saru did puffed up like pappadoms, mine sort of bubbled weakly but she said they taste the same and that practice makes perfect. It's all in the rolling out.

Options which I haven't actually tried but Saru assures me they also work:

Use a teaspoon of yoghurt instead of some of the water.

For naan bread, add yoghurt, an egg and some butter. Replace the plain flour with SR flour. (of course you'd need a fair bit more) Don't roll out as thinly. Best of luck

Saru's Lentil Curry - with or without a pressure cooker

This morning I sent a message to the universe that I was looking for a cheap, second hand pressure cooker. Hey presto! First garage sale this morning Bill spotted one for $6.00. Now, there's no such thing as a completely free ride in the universe, so I've had to send to WA for a new seal ring, but I'm confident that for a total of $46, by next week I will have my own Namco Pressure Cooker that won't blow my face back (or to the side).

My Nepalese friend Saru and I cooked the following this morning in her pressure cooker:

1 potato, cut into cubes
1 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 piece (about a tablespoon) of ginger, chopped finely
10 curry leaves (roughly crushed)

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a medium pan on a medium/high heat. Add above ingredients and fry off. Add

1/4 teas tumeric
1/2 teas corriander powder
1/2 teas cumin powder
2 tomatoes roughly chopped
2 cups hot tap water
1/2 cup dry beans (we used Tyson Chick Peas) which Saru had soaked for around 4 hours in hot water and looked like around 2 cups softened. Saru says she sometimes just uses canned canneloni beans if she doesn't have much time.

We pressure cooked them for around 20 minutes, starting on a fairly high heat and then a low heat once the pressure built up. Those of you with pressure cookers please refer to your manuals.

Saru said they would probably need a couple of hours simmering in an ordinary pan but why not? If you used canned beans it shouldn't take much more than about 20 minutes.

At the end , we added a tablespoon of tomato paste and a teaspoon or two of Madras Curry Paste (which I think is the key flavour. Adding it at the end is very important too). We also added a can of canneloni beans and salt to taste (about a teaspoon).

We ate it with flat bread we also made which I'll post next.

Vegetable Pie

This one is a hit with even my non-vegetarian boyfriend - his response last night was actually "this is the best pie I have ever eaten!".


I just chuck in whatever veg are leftover in the fridge, last night it was capsicum, sweet potato, onion, broccoli and zucchini. The recipe is a Readers Digest one that I found here.


2 tablespoons butter
2 medium celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 small red capsicum, seeded and coarsely chopped
¾ teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons plain flour
1 cup (250 ml) salt-reduced vegetable stock
1 cup (75 g) broccoli florets
1 cup (100 g) cauliflower florets
6 baby white onions or the bulbs of spring onions
60 g cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
puff pastry


Melt butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onion, carrot, capsicum and thyme. Sauté until vegetables are tender, 10 minutes.

Stir in the flour until thoroughly combined. Stir in stock. Increase heat to medium-high. Add broccoli, cauliflower and spring onion. Bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat. (If making filling ahead, leave it to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Spread the vegetable mixture in a 23 cm glass or ceramic pie plate. Top with cheddar. Cover with pastry. Place the plate on a baking tray.

Bake until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Spicy vegetable stew with dhal

Dhal
3/4 cup (165g) yellow split peas
5 cm piece fresh ginger, grated
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 or 2 red chilli, seeded and chopped (depending on your taste for heat)

3 tomatoes
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds (I used black, just waited for them to pop before adding other spices
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 onion, chopped.
Vegetables of your choice - eggplants, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, pumpkin, potatoes, peas etc.
1 1/2 cups (375 ml( vegetable stock
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves (optional)

To make the dhal, place the split peas in a bowl, cover with water and soak for 2 hours. Drain and wash. Place in a large saucepan with the ginger, garlic, chilli and 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool slightly..this is important..then place in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process to a puree...be VERY CAREFUL to have the lid on tight. I ended up with a yellow volcano and split peas all over the kitchen!

Score a cross int eh base of the tomatoes, soak in boiling water for 2 minutes, then plunge into cold water and peel the skin away from the cross. Remove the seeds and roughly chop. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Cook teh spices over a medium heat for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the onion and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the onion is soft. Stir in the vegetables. Add the dhal puree and stock, mix together well and simmer, covered until the vegetables are cooked. Stir in the coriander leaves if you want, and serve with Indian bread and rice.

Italian beef casserole with polenta dumplings

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 kg steak (your choice of stewing or braising)
1 ½ cups (375ml) beef stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 x 425 g cans tomatoes
2 red capsicums, roasted, peeled and cut into strips (I didn’t peel, but I know you should)
2/3 cup (100g) instant polenta
1/c cup (90g) ready-made pesto – optional

Preheat the oven to slow 150C. Heat the oil in a 4 litre flameproof casserole dish, add the onion and garlic, and cook until onion is soft. Sprinkle with flower over the top and stir well, or rub beef with flour instead. Add the beef, stock, oregano, tomato and capsicum, season and simmer for 15 minutes, then bake, covered for 1 hour 20 minutes.
Place 300ml water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer. Pour in the polenta in a thin stream, season and cook, stirring for 2 minutes or until it thickens and comes away from the side of the pan. Remove and cool.

Shape the cooled polenta into 12 round dumplings, place on top of the casserole and bake, covered for 1 hour, and then uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes. Garnish with the pesto and serve.