Gingerbread and Champagne Marshmallows
Every year the residents of the street
that I live on get together, put up some christmas lights and catch
up on the year parts or in the case of new people to the street,
meet everyone else. We all bought a plate or two. Given how my
marshmallows went over at my housewarming earlier in the year and
that the neighbors that I did invite liked them I thought I’d make
some more. Something a bit more festive than last time though;
gingerbread and champagne.
They both went down quite well amongst the people in the street with no real clear favorite. The champagne flavour was quite subtle but there nonetheless and the gingerbread tasted just like you’d expect, just more fluffy in texture.
They both went down quite well amongst the people in the street with no real clear favorite. The champagne flavour was quite subtle but there nonetheless and the gingerbread tasted just like you’d expect, just more fluffy in texture.
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Real Men Make Their Own Quiche
Food maxims are great aren’t they?
Okay, may be not but I couldn’t think of anything else to call this
except Zucchini and Fennel Quiche and that’s hardly original either
so take it or leave it.
Originally I was going to make this for lunch but when I realised it was already midday it turned into a dinner instead and I’m sorry it’s another zucchini recipe but they’re in season.
Originally I was going to make this for lunch but when I realised it was already midday it turned into a dinner instead and I’m sorry it’s another zucchini recipe but they’re in season.
Spanish Goat and Asparagus Risotto
Today I picked up a side of goat, like
a side of lamb it’s all the edible bits down one side of a goat,
all 7.5kg of it for $30 from Woolworth’s of all places.
If you haven’t had goat before it’s very similar to lamb in both how you cook it and how it tastes although it’s a lot leaner and sweeter meat than lamb, cheaper too. The recipe I made with one of the steaks is a quick marinade with a spanish twist to it with some lemon. It only needs an hour in the fridge too. I wanted to make a pilaf to go with this but I only had arborio rice so a quick risotto it was. I’ve made that here before so I won’t go into it again today and obviously, if you can’t find goat, just use lamb.
If you haven’t had goat before it’s very similar to lamb in both how you cook it and how it tastes although it’s a lot leaner and sweeter meat than lamb, cheaper too. The recipe I made with one of the steaks is a quick marinade with a spanish twist to it with some lemon. It only needs an hour in the fridge too. I wanted to make a pilaf to go with this but I only had arborio rice so a quick risotto it was. I’ve made that here before so I won’t go into it again today and obviously, if you can’t find goat, just use lamb.
Pasta Salad with Broad Beans, Pancetta and Fetta
Without a
fridge for a day or two I had to think of some things that I
could make pretty easily and since it was a hot day I wanted
something cold. Typical, you want cold food the day you can’t chill
anything.
I ended up with a pasta salad, a quick trip to The Deli for some pancetta and everything was go. Straight forward and only taking 15 minutes I had dinner. Coming into summer it’s great the next day for a picnic once the flavours have mingled even more.
I ended up with a pasta salad, a quick trip to The Deli for some pancetta and everything was go. Straight forward and only taking 15 minutes I had dinner. Coming into summer it’s great the next day for a picnic once the flavours have mingled even more.
My fridge went on a diet
11 Nov 2008 10:07 AM Cooked in:
Only Just On
Topic
So I finally sold
my old fridge. At the time of purchase it fit perfectly in my
brand new apartment’s fridge cavity. However, when I moved into a
turn of the century terrace house in Newtown the kitchen was not
only on the small side, the fridge cavity was built for something
more akin to an old ice box than any modern piece of refrigeration
equipment and as such, it had to sit in the dining room, just
outside the kitchen.
The original cost $2400 and the new one cost $2100. I sold the old one for $1800, so that means I paid $600 to loose 60 cm of my fridges waistline and move it to the other side of a 10 cm thick wall. Am I mad? Perhaps. Perfectionist? Definitley. Just to give you an idea on what I’m talking about here’s a picture of each of them side by side.
The original cost $2400 and the new one cost $2100. I sold the old one for $1800, so that means I paid $600 to loose 60 cm of my fridges waistline and move it to the other side of a 10 cm thick wall. Am I mad? Perhaps. Perfectionist? Definitley. Just to give you an idea on what I’m talking about here’s a picture of each of them side by side.
versus 
Bacon and Egg Slice
This is a pretty simple dinner or a
great picnic lunch since it can be left overnight to go cold and
tastes just as nice; it travels pretty well too. I had it straight
from the oven with some of Donna Hay’s Caramelized Onion.
My mum used to make this with puff pastry and no spinach. Puff pastry would have been nice for the flaky top but the short-crust I used still worked.
My mum used to make this with puff pastry and no spinach. Puff pastry would have been nice for the flaky top but the short-crust I used still worked.
Mango and Black Pepper Ice Creams
Now that’s a taste sensation if ever
I’ve had one. This mango ice cream, since it’s made with not much
more than fresh mango is better than any you’ll find at the
supermarket but that’s got nothing on the black pepper ice
cream.
Yeah, black pepper. Ice cream. It’s strangely sweet too, even if it leaves your lips tingling. Give it a go, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the subtle fruitiness that pepper actually has. Of course, you can always tone down the amount of pepper in the recipe, or if you want, sift out the powder and just use the larger cracked pieces, I didn’t and as such the ice cream looks decidedly chocolate.
Yeah, black pepper. Ice cream. It’s strangely sweet too, even if it leaves your lips tingling. Give it a go, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the subtle fruitiness that pepper actually has. Of course, you can always tone down the amount of pepper in the recipe, or if you want, sift out the powder and just use the larger cracked pieces, I didn’t and as such the ice cream looks decidedly chocolate.
Duck Confit with Crisp Beetroot Salad
Again with the duck but hey, it’s my
blog so here’s another duck recipe. Duck confit it one of those
classic french dishes that’s rich as all get out and tasty as hell.
It can get a little expensive in restaurants and markets but it’s
relatively cheap to make at home costing not much more than the
duck really but if you can stretch to a couple of tins of duck fat
then it’ll be all the much better. Making the confit will take
overnight so if you don’t have the time buy some confit duck legs
but the flavour will be so much better if you made it yourself, of
course. I’ve got a cheat way of making it too so you need less duck
fat and the cleanup is straight forward.
The salad to go along side this is easy too and involves no more than whisking a dressing together and grating the beetroot on a mandolin.
The salad to go along side this is easy too and involves no more than whisking a dressing together and grating the beetroot on a mandolin.
Duck Confit with Crisp Beetroot
Salad
Brioche Pudding with Dried Figs
To follow up the
four hour roast beef that I made for the dinner with my friends
on Tuesday I figured I’d go for something quick and easy for me
that I could pretty much make ahead of time. The brioche can be cut
and buttered and left covered until it’s time to go in the oven,
the custard can be too. It only takes 10 minutes to make the toffy
which you’ll have while you wait for the pudding to cool slightly
anyway.
This was meant to just have cherries in it but I forgot to get them that day so I rummaged around the the cupboard and cheated a little with a packet of Whisk & Pin dried fruit compote that was mostly figs which I love so hey, figs it was! They worked really well if I do say so myself.
This was meant to just have cherries in it but I forgot to get them that day so I rummaged around the the cupboard and cheated a little with a packet of Whisk & Pin dried fruit compote that was mostly figs which I love so hey, figs it was! They worked really well if I do say so myself.
Brioche Pudding with Dried
Figs
4 Hour Roast Beef with Red Wine Sauce
Yesterday I cooked for some good
friends of mine and since I’m not working right now I had the time
for slow roast beef. In all honesty, dinner didn’t quite pull
together as planned for a number of reasons but mostly because I’d
had a fair bit of red wine by the end of the roasting time. Have
you ever tried to make pasta drunk? It took all day to get rid of
the flour from the kitchen today. Still, it was tasty.
It’s a fairly straight forward recipe and really takes no time at all tocook prepare, especially if you buy pre-made pasta.
The red wine sauce needs thickening after cooking which I didn’t
do, I’ve also reduced the quantity of liquid in the recipe below to
aide that. Please don’t forget or skip the pancetta, it made what
would otherwise be a pretty plain sauce.
It’s a fairly straight forward recipe and really takes no time at all to
4 Hour Roast Beef Rump in Red Wine
Sauce