Strawberry Summer Cake

This is the most delicious thing I have tasted in quite a while. I had a couple of punnets of strawberries in the fridge that were about to turn and needed some way of using them up - along comes Smitten Kitchen to save the day.

Strawberry Summer Cake actually tastes like summer - even though we're in the depths of winter I actually felt warmer after eating this.

Home made crumpets

I didn't make these outside too cold on a frosty winter morning!

Recipe here :)

Morning muesli

I served this to Chris and Bill on their annual pilgramage to Ballina. It was a winner along with home made crumpets.

Soak overnight:

1 cup rolled oats, 200ml milk and 50ml apple juice.

In the morning, add
1 green apple, peeled, cored and grated
1 banana, sliced
1 cup fresh berries (eg: strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries)
¼ cup dried apricots and ¼ cup dried dates, roughly chopped
1/4 cup ground hazelnuts (or macadamia)and 1/4 slivered almonds

Serve with:
extra berries and yoghurt for serving

Morgana's Mustard Chicken Pie

My thanks to Morgana who sent me this recipe. The pastry is wonderful and a lovely warm winter dish.

Mustard Chicken Pie

Ingredients
Pastry
1 ½ cups plain flour
60 gram butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg lightly beaten

Pie filling
30 grams butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 leeks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons of seeded mustard
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme, chopped
750 grams chicken thigh fillets, chopped approximately 2-3cm cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon of corn flour
2 tablespoons of water

Preparation
Pastry
Sift flour in a bowl, rub in butter, add cream, mix to a firm ball. Knead lightly on floured surface until smooth (or make in a processor). Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling
Melt butter in pan, add garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in leeks, carrot, mustard and thyme and cook for about 2 minutes (I’ve found the carrot can stay a bit raw when cooking this pie, so perhaps microwave your chopped carrot for about 1 minute before adding). Add chicken and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally – you don’t want to overcook the chicken at this point because it goes into the oven soon. Site in peas and sour cream, then add corn flour blended in the water stir. Let the mixture come to a boil/simmer to thicken.

Assembly
Spoon the filling into a 20 cm pie dish. Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface until just over 20cm. Cover the pie filling and pinch the edges. Brush with egg. Cut a couple of small slits in the pastry.

Bake the pie in a moderate oven for approximately 45 minutes or until pastry is browned.

Serves 6

When family fun goes wrong - Ben O'Donoghue's Lamb Kofta

When Tony and I decided to take Chris and Bill on a trip to Springbrook, little did they know that they would get drenched walking under a waterfall, get eaten alive by mosquitoes, or have frozen kofta wraps, which Tony now calls Kofta Ice Blocks.

The top tip for these is to make sure you thaw them before travel, or at least don't pack them in too much ice before the picnic.

Kofta mix:

* 500gm lean lamb mince
* 1 large red onion grated or finely chopped
* 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
* 2 tbsp sweet marjoram, chopped
* 1 egg
* salt and pepper
* 8 whole meal flat breads
* 1 tub of hummus (store bought)
* 1 recipe of Tzatziki - I used bought but I have included the recipe below if you wanted to make it yourself
* 1 recipe of Quinoa Tabouli - I used regular tabouli and some salad greens, but this one could be good to use up all that Quinoa you may have bought on a whim.
* 1 recipe of Harissa - I didn't use the Harissa, but you could spice up the dish this way.

Method:

Combine the mince with the onion, ground coriander, sweet marjoram and egg. Season well and mix thoroughly with clean hands.

Make large egg size balls and throw from palm to palm to make nice firm balls. Then shape them onto metal shish skewers or into long sausage shapes and cook them either under the grill or over the BBQ until well done.

To make the Koftas, spread the center of the flat bread with a generous amount of hummus and then top with the cooked lamb kofta. Top with one or two tablespoons of Tzatziki and your salad and Tabouli. Season with salt and pepper, then lashings of Harissa for a hotter taste.

Fold over the bottom edge to stop all the ingredients from falling out of the bottom and then fold over one edge of the flat bread to encase the filling and continue to roll firmly.

Extra recipes:
Tzatziki:

* 250gm unsweetened Greek yoghurt
* 1 cup of chopped cucumber
* 1 clove of chopped garlic
* 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander or mint
* Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients together and season to taste. Refrigerate until required.
Quinoa Salad:

* 2 cups black Quinoa
* 3 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup curly parsley, Washed and roughly chopped
* 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, Washed and roughly chopped
* 1 cup of basil leaves, washed and roughly chopped
* 2 ripe vine tomatoes, chopped
* Juice of 1 large lemon
* 50ml extra virgin olive oil
* Salt
* Freshly ground black pepper

Wash and boil the Quinoa until soft, drain and refresh under cold water, then allow to drain well.

Mix the garlic, parsley, basil in bowl, and then add the chopped tomatoes.

Add the drained Quinoa and lemon juice, and combine. Season with salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil.
Harissa:

* ½ tsp cumin seeds
* 1 tsp sea salt
* 1 large garlic clove, peeled
* 5 long red chillies, stems removed and roughly chopped
* 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
* 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Place the cumin seeds and sea salt in a mortar and pound to combine. Add the garlic and pound to a paste. Add the chopped chilies and continue pounding.

Pour in the white wine vinegar, followed by the olive oil, and pound until combined.

This sauce is best used straight away and can be made as and when it’s needed. It will keep for up to 1 week if stored in an airtight container. When re-using, allow the sauce to come back to room temperature.

Moussaka from George's mother

As most of you know, I am on the "Masterchef" journey. This recipe was demonstrated by George Calombaris's mother. I have changed things slightly because I didn't have all the ingredients, it was yummy for a warm winter evening!

Vegetables
3 eggplants, sliced 5mm thick (if you don't like eggplant, try any other combination of vegetables, like zucchini.) George's mother left stripes of skin on her eggplants to make sure the people eating knew what they were, but we found the skin a bit tough so would leave it off next time. If you use eggplant, remember to slice, sprinkle liberally with salt, leave to sweat for 1/2 hour, then pat dry.
4 large potatoes, sliced 5mm thick

Tomato Sauce
500g mince
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
2 cinnamon quills (we used a sprinkle of ground)
250g crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cups water
Olive oil, for frying


Bechamel
60g butter
60g plain flour
600ml milk, warmed
100g keflagraviera (we used parmasen) cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
Extra cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C.

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or saucepan, add mince and cook until browned and meat breaks up. Add onion and sauté until softened. Add garlic, oregano, lemon thyme, rosemary and cinnamon and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and water, bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for ½ hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour oil into a frying pan approximately 1cm deep, place over a high heat and shallow fry potatoes for 3-4 minutes on each side or until tender. Drain on paper towel.

5. Pat dry eggplant (or vegetable) and pan fry on each side until golden yet still firm. Drain on paper towel.

6. For béchamel, melt butter in a heavy based saucepan. Add flour, stir over a low heat for 2 minutes.

7. Slowly add warm milk, stirring continuously until thick. Add extra milk if sauce is to thick.

8. Whisk in cheese and an egg yolk, season to taste.

9.. To assemble, oil casserole dish and layer as follows. Meat sauce, potato, sauce, potato, sauce, eggplant, sauce, potato, eggplant and remaining sauce. Cover with béchamel and grate extra cheese over.

10. Bake for 45 minutes until browned and béchamel has set. Serve.

Death By Chocolate

Ever since my friend Carla baked me a Chanel shaped birthday cake with the buttery-est most delectable icing I have ever tasted, I've had baked goods on the brain. So instead of going to yoga this morning, which would have been a far better option for my waistline, I instead scoured the internet for the perfect cookie / brownie / cake mutation that would satisfy my cravings. And boy did I find it.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups plain

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greaseproof paper.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe made enough to fill two tupperware containers so I'm taking one lot in to work tomorrow - otherwise I'm guaranteed to eat the lot myself, and nobody wants that.

Cx

(Image from Cupcakes and Cashmere, recipe from here)