Pizza Party

I went over to KC's house for dinner last night. Both of our menfolk are away and she has BabyA so it's much easier for me to travel around than for her to.

I suggested that we make pizza, knowing that KC has a bread maker (for easy dough making) and as pizzas are very simple to throw together and cook.

We managed to coordinate our toppings and ended up with one savoury and one sweet treat!

Savoury: rocket, spinach, herb & garllic feta, salami, olive oil, red onion and pear.
Sweet: nutella, ricotta, dates and pecans.

Chicken and Vegetable Pie

This morning I felt like eating something savoury and warm. A sausage roll sprang to mind... not really that good for me but solid and predictable comfort food.

There are a few places around the office to buy such goodies, and I decided to try Posh Nosh as I remember them as having a selection of pies and sausage rolls. (The last time I felt like a sausage roll I tried a shop that only had sausage rolls or $6 quiches! Not enough choice at snack price...)

Posh Nosh had a few different items to choose from, including cornish pasties, a beef steak pie, chicken and vegetable pies, german sausage rolls and spinach and feta filo triangles.

I asked if there were any particularly recommended and was told that they were all good. That did not particularly help me to make my mind up so I eventually opted for the chicken and vegetable pie (it had vegetables).

The pie was excellent. The pastry was soft with a bit of crisp on the outside, and not soggy at all. The vegetables on offer were corn, onion, celery and carrot, and to be honest I did not much notice how much chicken was in the pie as I was enjoying eating it!

When I got back to the office to eat my pie I realised that it had been wrapped in paper before being put into the paper bag, and I was also given a fork as well as a napkin. One of my colleagues told me it was very civilised! I was doubly impressed with the pie and presentation.

Making your own Mayonnaise

A recipe and some hints and tips on making your own mayonnaise, by local Perth blogger Kristy Leigh.

Image Kristy Leigh

Pumpkin and red onion tart

Yesterday I roasted some butternut pumpkin and red onion. Splashed with olive oil. Approximately 25 minutes at 180C.

This morning I put it into my tart shell. It seemed like a lot for the shell but it kind of fit!

I then dolloped some ricotta over the vegetables, and put fresh thyme leaves on top of that. I mixed up three eggs with sour cream, more ricotta and some nutmeg, then poured that into the gaps.


I baked the whole tart for around 35 minutes at 180C. It may have been longer, I kept checking every five minutes to see if the egg was cooked.

I liked the pastry, it was nice and crisp, although a little bit fragile. I would try it again. I do like the nuttiness of the wholemeal flour.

Pumpkin and red onion tart - Part Pastry

My bridesmaids are coming around for lunch tomorrow, and other commitments make it necessary to prepare lunch today. N is vegetarian, so I thought that a quiche or tart would be something simple to prepare.

Perhaps foolishly, I thought that I would try a new pastry recipe. My staple is usually the Good, simple shortcrust pastry recipe from Belinda Jeffrey's "Mix and Bake". This time around I looked to Maggie Beer from The Cook and The Chef, a favourite program of mine. Each episode Maggie Beer (the Cook) and Simon Bryant (the Chef) would discuss food and cook several recipes around a theme. Simon's recipe tended to be a little complicated and stylish, Maggie's recipes were more rustic and hearty. I remembered a discussion of her sour cream pastry one episode and I adapted the recipe from here.

125g plain wholemeal flour
100g unsalted & chilled butter
60mL sour cream (approx.)


Chop the butter into small cubes. Put flour into processor.
Process flour and gradually add butter until the mix resembles a large breadcrumb consistency.
Add sour cream gradually.

Turn onto a floured bench and bring together with your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Roll and line your tin. Blind bake at 200C for 12 minutes. Remove the weights and bake another 5 minutes.



Notes
- The recipe called for plain flour. I used wholemeal.
- Maggie advises that the pastry will shrink, so line the tin high.
- The amount of sour cream is approximate. Adjust to get the right pastry dough consistency. I have found my dough to be too wet so I chucked it in the freezer to improve it!
- Remember to place the tart shell on a tray when you put it into the oven. It will make it easier to remove it from the oven without cracking the shell.

Assembly will be tomorrow! I have roasted butternut pumpkin and red onion, so it will be a matter of putting it all together and baking.

Nana's Crab Cakes

Earlier this week I saw tasty looking Crab Cakes on the Munch+Nibble blog. They intrigued me by way of being baked in muffin tins!

Quite coincidentally (I promise!) C decided to go crabbing on Tuesday. I love fresh crabs, and he has not disappointed me yet this season and come home with quota! We disagree slightly on the best way to eat them but I have a set of seafood tools my sister gave me a few years ago and they get a good workout!

Tuesday night saw me up to my elbows in fresh crab. Cooked to perfection by C, and I had them with some garlic and vingar. Yum!

Wednesday, still with crab in the refrigerator, C decided that he wanted to make crab cakes. The recipe that we used is my Nana's Fish Cake recipe, with crab used in lieu of fish!! Simple really.

All proportions are approximate, we did not actually measure anything. Except maybe the eggs, they come already measured!

Flesh of four cooked crabs
100g white fish fillet, cut into small pieces
2 rashers of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 onion, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup plain flour
splash of cooking sherry

Fry onion until it is translucent.
Mix together crab, fish, bacon and onion.
Mix in the egg, flour and sherry.
The mixture should be sticky.

Heat oil in frying pan, enough to give a few milimeters coverage.
Drop approximately 1/4 cups of mixture into the oil.
Cook until golden on under side then flip over and cook until other side is golden.
Drain on paper towel.

We served the cakes up with a salad of rocket, feta, lebanese cucumber and cherry tomatoes, and I also had some steamed rice.

Notes
- We have used beer in the past rather than sherry. It still works.
- We used plain flour but are planning to try self-raising next time around.
- All measurements are approximate.
- This is a good recipe to use fish that has suffered from freezer burn!!

Image belongs to Janette Larobina Photography.

chana masala

Another recipe to try, this time from Smitten Kitchen. She calls it chana masala; this is most likely the correct name but it is looks to be a more authentic and exotic version of a simple recipe I have for "Chick Pea Curry".

This recipe looks exciting, it uses fresh tomatoes and dried chick peas (no tins!) and lots and lots of spices.

Baked Beans

I have had some very tasty homemade baked beans in Melbourne this year, and I would like to try and make my own. I am not so keen on the tinned variety, very artificial gravy and bland texture, and would like to make some of my own from dried beans! A lot of the recipes that I have found call for tinned tomatoes - or even beans - so I will see how I go in substituting fresh tomatoes.

The picture is from a recipe for Boston Baked Beans off The Cook and the Chef. Note the use of tinned tomatoes.