Cranberry & White chocolate cookies

1/2C Butter (113gms)

1/2 brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 & 1/2 C flour
1/2tsp Baking soda
1 C dried cranberries
1 C white chocolate drops/buttons/chips
1.Preheat overn to 190C
2.Cream butter & Sugars
3.Add egg and vanilla essence and beat well
4.Sift Baking Soda & Flour over top and then add in the cranberries and chocolate & mix till combined
5.Drop balls of dough onto the pan (I just used a small icecream scoop as the dough is quite soft)

6.Bake for 8-10mins, when they are still quite light means they will be soft and chewy and YUM!

MMMM beef and redwine casserole

1. 1KG gravy beef - diced into 1.5cm cubes
2. Flour to dust beef in
3. 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4. 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
5. 2 carrots - thickly sliced (4mm)
6. 2 small potatoes - diced
7. 1 butter nut - diced
8. 2 onions - sliced
9. 1/2bottle red wine 
10. 300 ml beef stock
11. a few splashes or worcestor sauce
12. Rosemary stalk, bay leaf, thyme stalks & a few sage leaves
13. The marveous S&P to taste
14. A dash of HP sauce if you like it slightly sweeter

Dust the beef in flour, salt and pepper and then brown off in batches, add the onion to brown.

 

Add the wine to deglaze the pan and stir, add the tomato paste, beef stock and all the remaining ingredients.

 

Bring up to the Boil and then turn down the heat and leave for 3-4 hours, taste at the end and add more seasoning, will need a bit of salt and pepper and I also added a little bit of HP sauce to sweeten it up...i ate it after 2 cos im naughty and hungry, and it was super yummy!

 

I served it with Garlic bread and it was serious AMAZE!!

 

.

Its Pesto time!

With summer finally here - Basil is starting to flourish! I am very very proud of this Pesto recipe - I load it full of garlic so you may want to go a little easier on the garlic if your not super keen!

1C Basil Leaves - Packed Cup
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
60gms Pine Nuts
2-4 Cloves of Crushed Garlic (Make to taste, I use 2 very large gloves of 4 if they are smaller)
1 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you may want normal olive oil depending on taste preference)
50gms Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

Blend first 4 Ingredients until chopped finely (I like mine more like a paste to spread on bread)
Pour oil in gradually while blender is on
when combined add Parmesan and blend until you have desired consistency.
Add salt and pepper to taste - I wouldnt suggest putting too much salt in as the Parmesan is already quite salty.

I love this spread on top of Sliced Ciabatta, which has been chucked on the grill to lightly toast..Always great with a few slices of tomato on top!

Coconut and Jam Muffins

This was kinda an experiment but turned out surpringly well!

1.5C Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

1/2 White Sugar

100gms Butter

1Dspn Golder Syrup

1 Egg

1/2 C Milk

Cocunut

Jam



Preheat over to 190 degrees

Melt butter and Golden Syrup together - I just did this in the microwave

Sift flour, Baking Powder and Sugar together in a bowl

Add Butter and GS mix

Fold together to lightly mix

put 1 Dspn of batter in each muffin cup and then add 1tsp of Jam in the centre - try not to let this touch the edges, top with another Dspn of batter. Sprinkly Cocnut on top.

Bake for 15-20mins, watch until muffin springs back when touched.

Mini Pikelets - Easy peasy! Serve with Jam and Mascarpone

I made Pikelets this morning and thought I should post up my recipe!
1C Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
2 Tbsp Caster Sugar
3/4 C Milk
1 Egg

Heat non stick frypan to a medium heat
Sift Dry Ingredients
Seperately whisk together Milk and Egg
Mix all together
Drop teaspoon size amounts onto fry pan - as soon as bubbles appear, flip them over. About 40secs each side.

I have served mine with a Mascarpone & Jam - Mix 1C Mascarpone with 1/4 C Caster Sugar and 1tsp Vanilla essence, spread on piklets and top with Jam - YUM!

Most Dangerour choc cake ever! As found on zm!

The Most Dangerous Cake In The World
http://www.zmonline.com/WhosOn/MorningCrew/Highlights/Detail.aspx?id=10287#
Hey Guys, they talked about this on the radio so i HAD to try it and oh my gosh - all in the microwave in less than 5 mins a gorgeous moist choccie cake!
With easy to find cupboard ingredients! Naughty!


INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Mmmmm melting Moments

Another of the boyfriends favs that his dad used to make him.
It took me quite a bit of trial and error to work this one out. And to find a decent recipe to base it off.
A friend who own a cafe had the same troubles...but luckily while we were chatting over wines I shared my experiences and we swapped my melting moments for her lolly cake ;-)
I initially used a hand mixer for all of this recipe but it was a nightmare - I always ended up covered in flour/IS/CF, So I now have the Boyfriends late grandmothers rather old but very effective Kenwood Mixer - this made the whole process basically mess free!
Ingredients:
200gms Butter
3/4 C Icing Sugar
1C Cornflour
1C Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
Method:
Preheat over to 180 Deg Celcius.
Cream the butter and Icing Sugar
Add Cornflour - Half cup at a time - this will look a little like breadcrumbs to begin with, just keep going and it will all come together
Add Flour and Baking Powder - Half cup at a time again
This will make a Light dough.
Roll into small balls - about a teaspoon at a time
Squash VERY lightly with a fork, not to squash as much as to put the lovely fork imprint.
Place in the oven for about 10/15 minutes - but keep watching as you dont want these to brown - let them go only slightly golden - still quite pale, nearly looks uncooked.
Pull out and let cool
ICE ONLY WHEN COOL...with the below
Mix 100gms Butter (Softened)
2C Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
Mix all together for a thick butter icing.
Sandwich the icing between 2 biscuits
YUM!

Muffin Monster...3 Yummy muffin recipes!

Banana Choc Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs
• 2 Banana-Mashed
• 1/4 C Oil
• 1 C Milk
• 3/4 C Brown Sugar
• 2 & 1/2 C Flour
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 C Choc chips

Preheat oven to 200 C

Beat first 5 Ingredients together

Mix in flour, BP & Choc chips - Dont over mix (general rule with muffins)

Place into Muffin pans/Cups normally 3/4 fill.

Bakes for 10-15 mins Until golden and risen.

Crunchy Lemon Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 C Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 75g Butter-Melted in bowl
• 1 C Milk
• 1 Egg
• Grated rind of 2 Lemons
• 1/4 C Lemon Juice
• 1/4 C Sugar

Preheat oven to 200 C

Place Flour, BP & Sugar in bowl and mix

Mix Milk, Butter, Egg and Lemon Rind together

Add wet mixture to the dry and lightly mix (Once again be careful only to wet dry ingredients and dont over mix)

Add into muffin pan, only fix max 3/4 as you will want the syrup to catch on the sides.

Bake for 10 mins or until golden.

Once out of the over and still hot pour mixed lemon juice and sugar (Syrup) over each muffin (I use a pastry brush to try and distribute evenly)

Leave for 5mins then taken muffins out of pan for easy removal, otherwise it gets sticky!

Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 C Bran
• 1/2 C Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 C Golden Syrup
• 1 Egg
• 1 C Milk

Preheat over to 200 C

Sift Flour, BP & BS into bowl, Add Bran and mix together

Warm golden syrup and add milk and egg and mix

Combine both mixtures (you know the rule)

Place in Muffin pan to about 3/4 C Full.

Bake for 10-15 mins

Potato Ricer

My latest Purchase!
Just read about these in the cuisine mag (all about mmm potatoes)
A few tips that came from the mag:

1. Potatoes should be in large pieces not cut into smaller pieces (I used to do this to speed up cooking time but always had gluey mash and wondered why)...this is due tot he moisture that then gets into the potato, also leave to drain for quite a while.
2. Do not over mash the potatoes, using a masher we can over mash due to squashing time and time again, using a potato ricer it is only pushed through once resulting in a perfect consistency.

This ricer came with 2 sizes so I can get perfect consistenct for the occasion!

I will update on my progress with it...Mash for dinner tonight!

Cheese Rollups

Yummm! I found this yum recipe which is super easy and great to freese for snacks!

Ingredients
1 Packet of Onion Soup
1 Can of Evaporate Milk
2 Finely Diced Onions (more or less depending on taste)
500gms Cheese ( I added a little bit of parmesan into the mix)
Salt & Pepper

2 Loaves of Bread - Crusts removed

1. Blend first 5 Ingredients in a food processor or blender until it resembles a think spread
2. Spread over the bread and roll up
3. Either place in over or Freeze (I did this in snaplock bags or 6 rollups for snacks)
4. These can be removed from the freezer and chucked in the oven.

Raspberry Slice Recipe

My boyfriend has been asking me for ages to make him raspberry slice like the one he buys and I finally found a recipe that seems to match!
Recipe is completely stolen for this link:
http://www.haroldthecat.net.nz/ben.run/2005/05/raspberry-slice-recipe/
Ingredients
200g butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
Raspberry jam
Icing sugar
Raspberry essence (flavour)
Red food colouring.

Making the base

Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix
Add flour baking powder and mix
Smooth into a lined pan (30 cm x 20 cm)
Bake 180 C for 25 minutes

Assembly

After base has cooled slice into two layers
Spread raspberry jam thickly on the bottom layer
Put top layer back on top
Ice with pink raspberry icing - Mix 2 C Icing Sugar, Drops of raspberry essence to taste, Red Food Colouring and 1-2Tbsp Water to desired consistency.

Easy Tasy Chicken Nachos

These were a last minute meal based of the recent foodtown magazine recipe for nachos.

Ingredients
1 Pack of CC's (My fav cos they are always cheesy)
500g Chicken (I used seasoned breasts)
1 Tsp Chilli
2 Cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 Can of mexican tomato puree (not needed but I used to make more sauce, could use normal puree and season with mexican spices)
1 Jar Salsa
2-3 Spring Onions
1 Avocado
Mozzarella Cheese Mmmmm

1. Cut chicken into thin slices and place in a frying pan with heated olive oil
2. Add Garlic and Chilli
3. Fry until Cooked
4. Place Corn Chips on a serving dish
5. Mix Salsa and Puree together and then add cooked Chicken to the puree and mix.
6. Spoon Chicken mix over the Chips (be quite generous)
7. Sprinkly Spring Onions and arrange the Avocado on top.
8. Sprinkle with lots of mozzerella and either microwave or grill until cheese is melted and sauce is warm.

YUMMY!