DOGGY-BAG IT!

Doggy-Bag It does a wedding!!!! ☺

2010-11-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

It is true, this is the most pitiful food blog ever! haha, I haven't blogged about eating out in ages! I guess my brain has been otherwise engaged of late, Here is what I have been up to:
I like taking photos....I like learning about photography techniques so that I can hone my skills. And I like the process of editing a photograph.
So when my friend asked me to photograph her wedding, I said 'yes' 'cause it was AGES away.
Funny how quickly the weeks melt away, huh... ☺
All too soon the wedding was a fortnight away and I was aware that I had ablsolutely NO knowledge of midday outdoor photography, which is what I would be doing. Another photographer friend gave me a crash course of all his wisdom, but on the day of the wedding- faced with the reality that the moment had ACTUALLY arrived- I realized I needed to stick to the stuff I knew how to do, and I chucked out of my mind the crash course info, in its entirity.
Because of this, some of the indoor service shots were poorly lit and of a greenish hue.
But just as we stepped out onto the beach for the bridal party shots, God in His mercy, rolled in the great soft box we tech-speak-gifted photogs call cloud cover. And I was thankful.
She was a stunning and effervescent bride, which made the groom's job really rather easy, (and mine also). The bridal party were a lot of fun.

Here are some pics from the day:

World's Best....

2010-08-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

World’s Best.....

Many years ago I began the world’s largest collection of cookbooks. Thankfully *Goggle (*names has been changed to protect something from whoknowswhat) saved me from going down that path. Goggle is great. I use it to discover most of my dishes and then I print them off and file all the crowd-pleasers into my own folder for future use.

How do you get a great recipe? Well, you can do what I often do and type the following in front of the recipe you are seeking on Goggle: ‘World’s Best.......’

Don’t snicker. If you are going to go to the trouble of cooking; spending all that money on ingredients, using all those utensils, dirtying all those dishes....the result needs to be worth it. Do I hear an Amen? You don’t want to go and break your back and your piggybank for an only so-so dish. I want to be rewarded with a triumph, a crowd pleaser.

So Goggling ‘world’s best’ is often a good starting point. Now of course, there is the occasional issue of a recipe-giver being a little too self-complimentary, and just imagining they have a recipe worthy of the title. Thus it is helpful that most recipe-sharing sites implement a user-rating system and I research THAT as my guide to the authenticity of the World’s Best title.
And through this means I have found World’s Best Brownie
(which I have not cooked yet), World’s Second Best Brownie and World’s Best Choc Chip Cookies, both of which I make all the time and have shared with you. Today I bring you World’s Best Banana Cake!

World's Best Banana Cake

Ingredients:

125g salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 rounded cup very ripe, mashed banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs ( Yes, I added one extra egg to the world's best banana cake recipe; trust me on this Sometimes I even add 2! *gasp*)
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon buttermilk ( I used plain milk)
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius fan-forced. If you don't have a fan-forced oven, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease the side and base of a 22cm diameter round cake pan. Line base of the pan with non-stick baking paper.

Place butter, sugar, banana, vanilla and eggs in a food processor.
Process for about 2 minutes.
Scrape down sides of processor.
Add buttermilk and pulse to combine.
Sift flour, and bicarb of soda together into a large bowl.
Add flour mixture to food processor and process until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer or knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Leave cake to cool on a wire rack. Spread cooled cake with cream cheese icing. Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Icing

90g cream cheese, softened
45g butter, softened
1 2/3 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add lemon juice and beat to combine. Spread icing over top and sides of cooled cake.

Kettle Grill

2010-08-03T17:34:00.001-07:00

Solo Girl decided to have a cookout for her pre- birthday sleepover. We had dusted off the kettle grill last weekend and used it for grilling sausages and making S’mores.

This is something we used to do regularly when we were country folk, but somehow the kettle grill has just sat around gathering dust , leaves and rainwater since we became cityfolk.

Well, after the fun of sitting around the grill last weekend, Solo Girl then and there decided she wanted her friends to enjoy the same bonding experience.

I kept the menu simple. Its winter here and gets dark and horribly cold so early. We did sausages and I made a pile of traffic-light kebabs.

Most kids love kebabs and these were the best I have ever made.

Traffic Light Kebabs
*Chicken thigh fillet (I prefer thigh over breast as it is rich and moist), chopped into cubes
*Red, Green, and Yellow capsicum (sweet pepper) chopped into squares that are the same size as the chicken cubes.

I marinated the chicken in a thrown-together ‘Asian flavours Marinade ( this is a very mild version due to me not knowing how well the young visitors would receive stronger flavours. Feel free substitute fresh herbs in place of the dried for more authentic flavour! Also I would normally add a dash of red wine, but didn’t have any on hand.)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger ( I had none and just used powdered ginger)
• Generous dash of garlic salt ( I am classy like that)
• 2 teaspoons five-spice powder

You know, I always overlooked and passed over the five-spice powder in my pantry….until I saw a part of Poh’s Kitchen at the gym last week. She explained it; made me understand it. Do you know that 5-spice uses the following 5 tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty to bring balance to a dish? The 5 spice ingredients can vary but are typically made from fennel, cloves, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon. You only need a little bit, but yes! New favourite ingredient!
I marinated the chicken for about an hour (probably a ½ hour longer than the experts recommend)……ahhhh well.
So thread several cubes of chicken onto the skewers before adding a piece of capsicum…..continue pattern, making up the traffic light formation.
Grill till just tender.

S’mores ( Named thus because you always need ‘some more’) I nearly didn't put up these pics , 'cause they are so grainy due to ISO 1600, DUE to taken at 7:00pm outside (that is poor quality camera-speak; never mind me.) But they show so well, the facial expressions of bliss that a S'more eater wears, so they simply MUST be included.)

There is just something special about making S’mores together. A great memory-making experience! Toasting the marshmallows; (ie: charring the first couple to a crisp, dropping the next two into the fire, then finally getting the hang of it!) squishing them between two choc-covered wheat biscuits ; and then being unable to speak due to gooey, melted deliciousness clogging up every space in your mouth. Looking around at each other and doing the S’more moan ‘mmmmm, dursss irrrsss sshhhhooooo yrrrummmmyyyyy !’
Ahhhhhhhhh…….
S’mores ......

you will need:
Large marshmallows
Choc- wheaten biscuits

Method:

BBQ marshmallows on a skewer till nicely toasted yet not charred, then sandwich between two choc wheaten biscuits till the chocolate melts. Mmm mmmm!

And finally: Tip from the top: Choc Chip Cookie Twist

I have always yearned to have access to the variety of choc chip flavours that you can buy in the States. Caramel chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips…... Oh man!

So I felt a little bit of a dimwit when it only just clicked that I can sort of do peanut butter chips. The solution: * drumroll*..............Reece’s Pieces!

We get them in a couple of stores locally. I tried it out yesterday, chucked a cupful into a double batch of my favorite choc chip cookie recipe, along with a cup of milk choc chips. Try it. No need to thank me!

Terry's Pizza- a gift from me to you

2010-07-26T04:04:00.001-07:00

I want to do justice to this next eating experience (which occurred a couple weeks ago). But illness and otherlies have got in the way. I don’t know if even now I can come close to properly hyping the taste experience that is….. *drum rolls of some significance*….. Terry’s Pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terry’s is an institution in my li’l hometown of Gunnedah, a pretty town 45 minutes west of the country music capital Tamworth.
When we lived in Gunnedah for two years, we got Terry’s every Sunday night after church, when the kids were asleep, (so all the more for us). It was my comfort food of choice!
Terry’s story, as I remember him telling me, goes something like this. Terry if I got any of it wrong; sorry!
Terry and his family left Blacktown in Sydney to travel around part of Australia. When they arrived in Gunnedah, they realized it was the epicentre of the universe; just sort of halted their trip and never left! I kid you not.

Terry hadn’t made pizza before, but on a whim he decided he wanted to open a pizzeria….So, as you do, he went to his local bookstore (Angus and Robertson, I think) and purchased a pizza cookbook. And the rest as they say…….; well, let's just say, all we Gunnedah-ians are eternally grateful for Terry’s whim.

I asked Terry what his secret to the world’s best pizza was, many years ago,. It is true, no other pizza tastes anything like it.
His answer was simple: quality ingredients and simplicity.
I think there is more to it than that. Terry’s pizzas don’t have a tonne of cheese, and there is none on the top. The cheese is underneath, so it doesn’t overwhelm and dull all the other toppings. This also prevents the crust from going soggy. Each ingredient stands out equally as the ‘hero of the dish’ (chortle), and the pizza crust is thick and crunchy without grease. Oh man, I am workin’ up an appetite just writing this!!!!
The service is fantastic. Most of the times I have gone in, Terry himself has served me, with a quick grin and genuine modesty at my raving. He is always up for a yarn (Aussie-speak for conversation), even though the orders are coming at him thick and fast and the phone is ringing away like a boiling kettle.
So………If a large body of water of oceanic proportions happens to be in the way of you and a Terry’s pizza, you are excused for not making the effort.
As for the Aussies among us, no excuses. Hitch up the nearest roo, give it a swift (yet-RSPCA-approved) kick up the flank, and hop along to Terry’s.
One of our friends was such a Terry’s fan, he invited all his university friends from Newcastle to his parents property and had a massive Terry’s pizza for his 21 birthday CAKE!!!! Now that is a fan! That is dedication. That, is what a Terry’s pizza will do to you.

The dish that gained me 4kg in as many weeks.

2010-07-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

I kid you not. This is a seriously fattening dish, though at the time.....during the month I was gorging on it, I never really thought about that.

And for me to gain 4 kg in 4 weeks is quite a feat I have to say. I run 8 km a day! That is a lot of burnt calories right there.
So how did I undertake this dubious achievement?
Well, my diet is a little limited, well, as far as I am concerned it is. I have to avoid sugar pretty much entirely, and have no carbs at dinner for the same reason. But I am a girl who likes to eat. I like a big plate of food. And seeing as I also cook a separate meal for my own family, I pretty much find a simple dish that I love, and then make it every day till I lose interest.

I made stir fry for half a year, then moved on to veggies in a satay sauce. Soooooo over both those dishes now!
And then I fell in love with cheese sauce. Veggies in cheese sauce.

I ended up doing fozen green beens as the veggies most of the time. Why?

1. I am lazy.
2. They are cheap.
3. They are filling.

Anyways the veggies are not what this post is about. What gained me the weight was the sauce.
Here is that recipe, which I made off the top of my head using the foundation of a basic white sauce.

CHEESE SAUCE
5 tbsp butter
5 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 milk
1/2 cream (heck, get creative, sometimes I made this baby on straight cream!)
3 cups grated cheese of choice ( I use 2 3/4 cups tasty cheese and make up the rest in parmesan.)

*Heat oven to 200 (celcius)
*Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir over lowish heat for at least four minutes to lose the floury taste. The flour should resemble breadcrumbs.
*Pour in the milk and cream, the salt and pepper. Stir regularly over heat till the sauce thickens. *Add more milk or cream to preference of thickness. I like thick.
*Throw all but 1/2 cup of cheese into the sauce and remove from heat. Stir through until melted and combined.
*Add cooked drained vegies to the pan and stir through. Pour out into greased pie dish. (do not soak saucepan.

While you are waiting for your dinner to cook, take your pointer finger and scrape that saucepan clean.
*Sprinkle over the remainder of the cheese and put in the oven. Keep in about 15 or till brown on top.
*Eat while squeeing with delight and thanking me from the bottom of your hearts.

Serves 1. Yup, I ate the entire thing all by myself. (To gain the desired weight, eat daily. :) I have to say, I now only eat this dish but once a month. :)

The Italian Kitchen

2010-06-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

What a night! Two friends and I dined at The Italian Kitchen in Kaleen last night. It all started out so quietly, but in the end there was so much going on, I actually left the restaurant without paying for my meal! Add to the mix that we were served by the BEST WAITER in Kaleen and that we feasted on succulent dishes plated up Masterchef style.
How awesome to find a fantastic Italian restaurant that is close by, not halfway across the city. Yes, I am aware that everything in Canberra is apparently only a 20 minute drive away, but if we can shorten that drive by 15 minutes, we are happy AND our carbon footprint is minimal-er.
I will have to go and check the place out in daylight, ‘cause the owners wanted to know if I had seen the chickens outside. The chicken sculptures under the tree outside looked great, but sadly they didn’t come out in photos, given that it was night time.
The Italian Kitchen feels modern but is still cozy. The décor leaves you in no doubt what type of cuisine you will be eating.

Make sure you check out the artwork done by one of the owners. Pretty talented!
We made CANBERRA’S BEST WAITER wait for ages to take our order, as we had hoped a fourth friendwould be joining us.

But finally we gave in made our choices.We ordered the selection of breads. I especially liked the sundried tomato bread.

We all chose to have an entrée as a main. I had the Eggplant, King Prawn and Scallop Stack in a Lemon and Sage butter sauce. It was wonderful. Thick slices of eggplant, not overcooked or greasy, just meaty and tender. The seafood was cooked to perfection and I could not get enough of that sauce! I licked my fingers several times and may have done the same to the plate except that I was dining with ladies! (In keeping with tradition, my favourite dish was the one I photographed least well, all a little blurry, but you get the idea. I guess I need to get over the social awkwardness of photogrpahing food, and just take my time. I am learning)

I sampled my friend’s Chargrilled Vegetable Stack with Feta cheese and Bocconcini served with homemade pesto and a yoghurt sauce. It was fresh and rich, and the feta remained firm.

My other friend ordered the Fried Goat’s Cheese served with Yoghurt and Char grilled Vegetables. The fried goat’s cheese was just how I love it. Big on crunch and then yielding that creamy explosion of pungent goat’s cheese. Bliss.

AUSTRALIA’S BEST WAITER had been attentive all evening. After my dish and generous samples of the others, I felt full. I hadn’t seen dessert on the menu, and actually forgot about it. But to his credit, the BEST WAITER EVER felt it was in our best interest to look at the dessert menu. He pointed out which desserts that would be the most photogenic. I am grateful to him for his desert suggestions as they were awesome!
I cannot find the dessert menu online:
But here is the Chocolate Mousse. Isn’t it pretty? Rich and smooth.

And here is the Lime Tart. It was yummy and not overly sweet.

INTERNATIONAL WAITER OF THE YEAR also highly recommended another dessert: something like ‘banana wrapped in crushed nuts’. But my fellow diners were full, as they are ladies. I nearly suggested we get a trio of desserts and that I would pay for two of the deserts, but as I have to date not paid a cent for the dinner at all, I am glad I didn’t.
How come I did not pay for my meal? Well, my friend paid for the entire meal with her credit card and at that precise moment, I was so caught up in taking photos and being shown artwork that I totally missed the part where I handed the cash for my meal to her! The shame!
Get to The Italian Kitchen (Gwydir Square in Kaleen)….all the staff are fabulously friendly and helpful! Next time I go I will be doing the risotto, pasta, pizza thing.

Chicken Palava

2010-06-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

Chicken Palava isn’t actually from the part of Africa I lived in.....but I still rate it as extreme comfort food, as it conjures up fond memories for me. The African Cookbook by Dorinda Hafner (which I was given soon after we came back to Oz, and over which I pored during my languishing homesick lows) features a stunning palava, or as I like to call it- a ground nut stew. Ground-nut stew sounds so much more exotic than peanutbutter stew, wouldn’t you say?
Palava is one of the dishes I loved at a restaurant (the Happy Feeling Cafe) that we discovered in Newtown when my parents lived in Sydney. The Happy Feeling Cafe served a wide range of West African dishes, some of which bear resemblance to coastal Kenyan dishes. Its decor and the live music (well, ok, just the owner singing) took me to my happy place.
So I saw this chicken palava recipe and, after momentarily giving in to all the warm fuzzies, I thought ’Oh yes! This is one to make.’
Isn’t palava a great word? As an Aussie I guess it should have me harking back to the idea of pavlova, but no, I immediately thought ‘pilau’. I served this palava over rice. But over a lovely mound of ugali it would have been perfection. Watch this space for some Kenyan cuisine.
It was well-received even though I forgot to put in the key vegetable that makes it African, that being spinach (kale, if you can get it!). I was so tempted to add lime to this dish, with the thai influence kicking in.....but I stayed true, and after eating it, I am glad I did. It would not have been the chicken palava, if the lime had been in there. Maybe one day the world will be ready for West African/Thai infusion but not yet, my sweets, not yet.
If there were any leftovers, I would photograph it again, having seen a much-less- lazy palava maker’s efforts on the web and being inspired. I probably should let you see the link, but hey, I want you to read my stuff, not their stuff....haha!

Sleepover Staples

2010-06-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Know what the first thing I always ask my kids is after they have been to a friend’s place for a sleepover?
“What did you eat there?’
Is that strange? Or am I not alone in being a nosey parker? Don’t you wonder what people serve up for dinner in their homes, even if it is only for their kids’ friends? It fascinates me. Truly it does.
I think my over-interest all stems from several years ago, when Boy 1’s best friend used to come over a lot..... and he never touched anything I served. I kid you not! He would just say , “Oh, I am really too full. Sorry.” OR he would take whatever I served him, and then later I would find his fully untouched meal congealed on the plate in a corner somewhere. Then, the little wretch would sneak down to the corner store and buy coke and chips to sustain him till he got back to his own home and the food to which he was accustomed. Poor Boy 1 never ‘fessed up to this, because he thought I would be devastated. I certainly wanted to know what it was I was getting wrong! So when Boy 1would go to this child’s house, I would always ask what he ate there. What were they eating that was so different?
Pancakes and bacon? Really? OK, let’s try that; again! I would carefully make delicate fluffy pancakes and crispy bacon for breakfast for our visitor, but still he wouldn’t eat it. Turns out I discovered later, he was used to the shake-it bottle pancakes, which are quite a bit sweeter than homemade.....but still it left me feeling like a sleepover failure!
Back to the here and now: I still make my poor kids spell out every meal they had, blow by blow before even enquiring if they had a great time away. Some of the regular fare they tell me about is hot chips, McDonalds, chicken nuggets, stir fry, takeaway pizza, sausages and veggies....... and now that we live in posh Canberra, sometimes they have been taken out for dinner!!!!!
Over time, I have ~~worked out the easiest and cheapest food to impress~~ honed sleepover cuisine into a fine art, weeded out the duds, and kept whatever has been raved over.
What do we serve our sleepover victims?
Well, traditionally I chuck a ‘Make your own pizza’ night. While the bread maker makes the dough (I use this pizza dough recipe), I chop up the general range of kid friendly ingredients (shredded bacon, mozzarella, LOTS of pineapple, chorizo sausage (Primo brand), Italian sausage, cabanossi ( again Primo), mushrooms (I usually eat these as no one in our family will go near them), sliced red onion, and green capsicum) Then I set them out buffet style. There is no-one on God’s green earth who doesn’t enjoy creating their own pizza.

Here is how it goes down for my kids, toppings-wise:
Boy 1 does a massive Meatlover’s with BBQ sauce and all the meat and some cheese, onion and a little capsicum.
Boy 2 makes a calzone- which I can’t really tell you is inside as it is not visible !

Solo Girl does a classic Hawaiian pizza (but uses bacon instead of ham. Um, does that negate what I said about it being the classic version?)
Boy 3 loves, loves, loves to make his own pizza. He smears the tomato sauce on, then some cheese and finally a generous topping of pineapple pieces !

Note: when we do our own pizza nights when we are on our own, everyone still makes their own smaller ones, but I make 2 or 3 to share. Generally a Meatlovers, then a Hodgepodge (a Taylor special using all the meats, some veggies, baby spinach and precooked potato wedges on BBA sauce), and our very favourite Tandoori Chicken Pizza. So yummy!

For the extra nosey parkers (like myself)
My other sleepover staples are:
Breakfast: Pancakes (duh!) or homemade bacon and egg (mc) muffins.
Lunch: chicken schnitzel burger or a regular burger to get some veggies into them.
Movie Snacks: large batch of choc chips cookies, large batch of brownies, homemade caramel popcorn, and of course chocolate. Just to totally negate the veggies!
What do you cook for sleepover food? I’d love to know.

PS. Flatatta- a lesson learned
I loved the picture I saw of the Frittata Bites with Spinach, Sausage, and Feta

and decided I must make the dish...... - note to self- What I MUST do is actually read the recipe thoroughly first! I baked the mix in a pan twice the size the recipe called for, and by the time I realized; it was too late and the damage was done. Not so photogenic my flatatta, but it went like hotcakes, which surprised me! I really underestimated my children in thinking that the spinach would turn them off, but not a bit. And they didn’t even seem to realize that they don’t like feta cheese. Every last crumb went down the hatch. I am certainly going to do it again. In the right pan. Haha.

Frittata Bites with Spinach, Sausage, and Feta
Ingredients
 Nonstick vegetable oil spray
 12-ounces baby spinach
 1 tablespoon olive oil
 1 cup chopped onion
 8 ounces mild Italian sausages, casings removed, sausage broken into 1-inch pieces
 8 large eggs
 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 41/2 ounces)
 Fresh Italian parsley leaves
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add Swiss chard and cook just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain. Finely chop chard, then place in kitchen towel and squeeze dry. Set chard aside.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to skillet and sauté until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add sausage and sauté until brown and cooked through, breaking up with fork, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Whisk eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Add chard and cooled sausage mixture, then feta; stir to blend. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.
Bake frittata until set in center, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer baking dish to rack and cool frittata 15 to 20 minutes. Place platter atop dish with frittata. Using oven mitts, hold baking dish and platter firmly together and invert frittata onto platter; place another platter atop frittata and invert again so that frittata is right side up. Cut frittata into 20 pieces. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Place frittata pieces on rimmed baking sheet. Cover and chill. Rewarm in 325°F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.
Transfer frittata pieces to platter. Garnish each piece with parsley; serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 16 small squares.

Rebecca's South Indian 'Korma'

2010-06-11T02:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend Rebecca came over and we did something very Middle Eastern, something I haven’t done in years. While we visited, we cooked a meal to divvy up and have as dinner that night for our families. In Kenya, especially when we lived up North near the Somali border, I noticed that the women often got together to do their tiresome domestic tasks; and this always managed to transform the tedius into a social exercise. The ladies went to the well together to draw the day’s water, and I remember how the laughter (and gossip) rang out in loud, sometimes almost-bawdy peals.
Back to OUR ~~tedious task at hand~~ dinner which we would be cooking with tender loving care for our beloved families.

Rebecca has spent time over in the Middle East, and she loves cooking exotic food, just as much as I love eating it. She had in mind a dish from Southern India that is a family favourite and staple. I provided some of the ingredients also and we began to cook.

South Indian Korma (these measurements are based on memory, as we were really just chucking it all in! So, especially in regards to the powdered spices, do it according to taste.)

Ingredients:
2 kilos chicken thighs

2 tbsp chicken stock powder

2 tbsp korma powder (or curry powder if you cannot access an Indian spice store)

2 tbsp cumin
3 large onions
A large bunch parsley
1 large bunch coriander
7 garlic cloves
1 large chunk ginger
2 cans coconut cream
6 tomatoes
oil

Chop up the herbs, onion, garlic and ginger; then sautée these in oil till soft. Scrape this all out of the pan and set aside.

Chop the chicken into large cubes. Stir/rub the curry, chicken stock powder and cumin into the chicken well, before frying the chicken cubes in oil till browned. Add the onion mixture, two cans coconut cream, 2 canfuls of water, and chopped tomatoes (each tomato chopped into 8 pieces). Stir over highish heat till it starts to boil, then simmer over a lower heat for 45 minutes !

This is just so yummy. We were so engrossed in our task, that both of us were totally oblivious to the fact that our sons had decided to break their morning tea into great big crumbs and do a Hansel and Gretel all through the house (note to self, next time give them vanilla cookies instead of Oreos)

Next fortnight we are going to do a tagine.

Ruchi- South Indian Cuisine

2010-06-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, Jane and Sarah from our small group ventured out for dinner with me at Ruchi on Jane’s recommendation. Why 'ventured'? I still feel a little self-conscious taking photographs of every dish that arrives at my table, so I can only imagine it might be a little disconcerting for my dinner companions.
The word Ruchi means ‘taste’ and Ruchi, the restaurant is the only restaurant in Canberra to offer the gentle yet rich, distinctive flavours of South India. I planned to be the first one to arrive but ended up being the last to slide into my chair, even though I was 5 minutes early.
While I love (love, love) looking at menus, sometimes a great deal of choice boggles my tiny mind. Ruchi’s full and varied menu did that to me, even though I had already seen it on the internet beforehand. Hence I went with one of Jane’s recommendations, choosing a dish she enjoyed on a previous visit.

My Vegetable Bhaji entree was yummy. Anything deepfried in chickpea batter floats my boat, so I knew I was onto a winner. Mine was the biggest entree by far (surprise!) 2 onion, 2 potato and 2 eggplant bhaji. My favourite was the meaty eggplant bhaji. They all were crunchy with moist soft insides. The accompanying green coconut relish was mild and delicious. I wanted more.

Sarah had thePaneer Tikka Masala for entree(the girl loves her cheese). 4 generous pieces came with two tangy sauces that carried some heat.

Jane’s Vegetable Samosas were tasty, full of well spiced potato and peas, but I really love my meat samosas!

Did I mention that I had a refreshing mango lassi? Cannot eat Indian without it.....it really cuts through the heat of the curry.

My main, Chicken Palak, was the hottest dish of the night, though it was still mild. The chicken pieces were generous and there was plenty of fragrant spinach sauce to sop up with our various breads. (those being a plain Naan, garlic Naan, and a plain Paratha.

Jane’s main, the Chicken Kerala was divine. Big tender hunks of chicken in a cream sauce that had a real nutty (cashew?) taste to it. If you like your food salty, this dish is for you. I sure do! Mmmm mmm.

Sarah ordered an unusual daal–like main, Vegetable Kootu. It was unique in that the lentils were cooked together with vegetables and grated coconut . It was fresh and certainly not overcooked. You could see the separate peas; it had a smoky quality.

It was a very tasty dinner all up. Ruchi is located in Oatley Cct, Belconnen. It's modest prices and mild filling dishes make it a great place for families and groups to check out and a great take away option.

Butterfinger Blondies

2010-06-05T03:22:00.000-07:00

My double ear infection felt more like a triple ear infection this lastweek, and I could barely taste or smell ANYTHING ( if *I* was smelling at all stale or too per-fumey, sorry, and you should have said something.)
So I went nowhere, and cooked even less.
I am back to nearly 100% now, and this week I have a dinner at Italian and Sons, as well as a morning cooking middle Eastern food with a friend, to look forward to.
Hence all I got for ya today is the fantabulous Butterfinger Brownie I promised the kids for afternoon tea on Thursday. I couldn't NOT make them. You cant' mess with a promise where a Butterfinger is concerned; three infected ears or not.
Butterfingers are my second favourite candy bar in the universe....after Reece's Pieces (feel free to write my preferences down, haha).
How do I describe such goodness?......Well, think of wafer-thin orange flakes of sweet crunch peanutbutter candy (a bit like peanut brittle) compressed and covered in chocolate.
Oh my stars, I need one right now!
If you are wanting a big nutty taste like peanut M&Ms or like Reece's Peanutbutter Cups, then Butterfingers are not going to deliver. I actually only just now realized they contain nuts, that is how subtle the flavour is. Being an American candy, Butterfingers are only available in some IGA stores (definitely the one in Palmerston, and the one in Dickson usually, for the Canberrans) and at the Lolly Shop in Gold Creek, ACT. If you cannot get a hold of any, I think the closest substitute would be a Crunchie bar.

I am assuming everyone knows what a blondie is. A Blondie is often said to be a Brownie without Chocolate, because like brownies, blondies are also dense and chewy and divine- usually made with brown sugar.

Here without further ado here is the recipe as I found it at Recipe Girl

BUTTERFINGER BLONDIES
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup butter, softened
2¼ cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1½ tsp vanilla extract
4 regular-sized butterfinger candy bars, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13×9-inch baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and brown sugar.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.
5. Stir in flour mixture and 1 cup of crushed butterfingers.
6. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining crushed butterfinger bars over top of batter.
7. Bake 30- 35 minutes, or until the bars are a bit firm to the touch. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Servings: 12

BUTTERFINGER BLONDIES
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup butter, softened
2¼ cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1½ tsp vanilla extract
4 regular-sized butterfinger candy bars, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13×9-inch baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and brown sugar.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.
5. Stir in flour mixture and 1 cup of crushed butterfingers.
6. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining crushed butterfinger bars over top of batter.
7. Bake 30- 35 minutes, or until the bars are a bit firm to the touch. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

My verdict? Rich, buttery and chewy, though wonderfully crunchy round the edges, and so very more-ish. I wish I had bought 5 Butterfinger bars though; nah, make that 6. 5 for the recipe and 1 for me (for naughty day, of course)

Trilogy of Random Recipes

2010-05-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

I bake a lot of muffins. On our days off, the five year old and I bake yummy afternoon teas for the other kids to inhale when they get home from school. And muffins is what we always fall back on when there is no inspiration and even less moolah. Here is why:

1. They are really easy to make.
2. They are quick to mix; no appliances are needed and bake so fast- they only take twenty or so minutes to bake.
3. We ALWAYS have the basic ingredients just sitting in the pantry begging to be used, and then you can just chuck in whatever else you want to fancy your muffins up.
4. They don't contain nearly as much sugar or butter as cookies or cake.

I pretty much have my 4 regular muffin variations: banana-choc chip; cinnamon; cinnamon streusel; and jam centers. Bit boring, but it pleases the masses.
My heart jumped when I saw a recipe for 'Brown Sugar Muffins' yesterday. Hot Diggity! What more could one desire with a mug of chai!
So today, one day from payday, with nary a dollar to my name- it was a perfect time to try this baby out.
I only did 2 things different; no 3! I doubled the recipe, I omitted the nuts AND I added a dash of cinnamon. Cinnamon and brown sugar are friends....

Brown Sugar Muffins (fromTaste and Tell)

Makes 16 muffins

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup nuts, chopped coarsely

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease or line 16 muffin cups.Combine all ingredients until mixed. Fill prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until done.

I loved these muffins. In fact for the sake of research I 'had' to eat a chunk rather than my usual crumb..... scrump-diddly-licious! It looked like a wholemeal muffin, which I guess must give it some extra 'health status' cred. This may be why the middle two said it was only 'ok......' and they would have' liked something sweeter'. On the other hand the oldest ate 5 without drawing breath and then declared them to the best thing' I have ever made (though THIS statement by THIS child this has to come with THIS disclaimer: He says that about pretty much everything I plate up for him, bless his heart.

The Five year old loved his muffin too which is actually saying something.
Only real change I would do? I would have sprinkled raw sugar on top before baking them if I'd had any; I like that rustic look.

Next recipe! The Five Year old has found a YouTube video of a young girl baking Anzac Biscuits. I get in a heap of trouble from the father-in-law because I am forever calling them Anzac Cookies, which is apparantly highly un-Australian. :)

Anzac Biscuits are extremely Australian. The Anzacs were the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and these were the biscuits that worried mothers and wives traditionally sent their men during World War 1. So a lot of sentimental value and history to these. Anyways, the Five Year Old watches this Anzac biscuit making video a lot and he has been longing to make these cookies. So on Saturday, it happened.

After pre-reading an Anzac Biscuit recipe, I was horrified to discover that I have actually never ever made Anzacs. Never. Not once. That is pretty nearly like never having sung Waltzing Mathilda for us Aussies!
I have made oatmeal cookies a plenty, but Anzacs are different.

They have no eggs for one thing! Who knew? And they are such a fun recipe to make with kids because a totally cool scientific process takes place in the middle. Check the recipe out here! Or watch the video, making it as you go, like the 5 year old made me do......took ages with all the pausing to carry out her instructions! But so yummy!

Anzac Biscuits (from Taste.com)

Ingredients :
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (85g) desiccated coconut
3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Sift the flour into a large bowl.

Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Put the butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water in a small saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until melted. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls.

Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
Press with a fork to flatten slightly.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools completely.

Last for today, I want to share my favourite chicken fajita recipe. I make it every time visitors come over for Tex-Mexican (alongside a regular burrito buffet and home-made guacomole and salsa, and arroz con frijole negroes.....) Of course when I serve Tex-Mexican and it is just us, we only have tortillas with mince, cheese and salad. What? The preamble to my blog informs you that I am a lazy cook!

This dish has a lovely sweet, yet sour and salty tang. So very moreish. This Sunday, Tracey and I were rostered on Night Church Dinner together so we decided to do a Mexican theme. I made my chicken fajita recipe BUT I won't ever make it the night before again.
It needs to be made fjust a little before you eat it and served up fresh. Reheated chiken has a nasty taste to it I discovered. *shudder*

Chicken for Fajitas (from Jessie Gather)

marinade:

juice from 3-4 limes
8 T olive oil6 cloves garlic,minced
2 T worcestershire sauce
1 T brown sugar
jalapeno (optional. i don't use it), minced
huge handful cilantro, rinsed and minced
1 T saltpepper

2 pounds chicken breasts or tenderloins, pounded to uniform thickness if you care to
1 large onion (vidalia or red is good), sliced thinly into rings
2 red peppers,
2 yellow peppers, sliced

in bowl, mix up the marinade. take out half, and divide the half you reserve into two large bowls. put the chicken in the other half of the marinade and let sit for 20 min or so. When you cook the chicken, throw this used marinade out. Drizzle a few extra tablespoons of olive oil over the onions and peppers.

Turn on your grill. let it get good and hot. spray a cookie sheet with oil, place the veggies on it and grill them until they are limp and carmelizing.

(This last time I actually panfried my onions, they were fine! You might have to do this in 2 batches, since if you crowd them in, they cook much slower. When the veggies are done, put them in one of the bowls with the reserved marinade. stir it around. Let it soak in.

Cook the chicken, 3-4 minutes per side. When done, slice into strips and put them into the other bowl with the reserved marinade. Stir it around. Serve in your favourite Tex-Mexican way!

Fekerte's Ethiopian Cuisine

2010-05-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Last night the Hairless Wonder and I went to my Happy Place. And I was so very HAPPY.
If there wasn't a mortgage and the education of 4 children in the equation....I would pretty much live at Fekerte's. Her food is THAT good. As it is I only get to go there maybe 4 times a year,( ALWAYS for my birthday) interspersed with visits to her stall at the Bus Depot Markets to get my fix.

When I first met Ferkerte she didn't have the restaurant. It was 1994, we had just moved to Canberra, and I discovered her like an oasis (in a desert of no African cuisine of any sort) at the Bus Depot Markets.

Fekerte also very kindly catered my sister Robyn's 21st with a scrumptious buffet.

Well, life chugged along; we moved away for 14 years, and when came back in 2008, I was concerned that Fekerte would be gone. But no! She is in Dickson, and has grown Ferkerte's into a thriving restaurant, serving up a fresh twist on traditional Ethiopian deliciousness at least 4 days a week. And I have to mention that she recognized me after all that time too!

Let me explain Ethiopian food to you in case you have been living under a culinary rock.

There are a wide range of stews flavoured with a magical blend of Ethiopian spices (most stew are either a 'wat' which is rich and spicy, or a mild alicha which is subtle yet superbly spiced).

Then there is 'enjera', the sublime bread which undergirds every Ethiopian dinner. Describing enjera is a little like describing a platypus.
Enjera are soft and pliabe like an enormous pancake, spongy and porous like a crumpet; and have a tang like sourdough bread. They are large enough to cover a platter. Traditionally they are laid over a communal platter and various wats and alichas are plopped all over. With your right hand you tear off a piece of enjera and use it to scoop up your stew. Oh my! And don't forget to eat all the soaked up bits where the stews were resting. My 5 year old specifically requested enjera for his birthday. All the kids love it and rate it as a favourite food. (hence we did not tell them where we were going last night)
Ethiopian cuisine tastes all the better because you don't have the metalic taste from a fork in your mouth.
I have tried several times to replicate both the stews and the enjera....without success. I can make yummy stews, but they don't taste like Ethiopian stews. And on several brave occasions I have tried to make enjera; the results were disastrous and the house stunk for days, as there is a fermentation process, which I obviously get wrong.

Ok, to the meal!

The Hairless Wonder was inexcusably late, so I went ahead and ordered for the two of us.

We feasted on:

Meat Samosas. $7.90 for two. These parcels of spiced mince and shallots are fragrant and only a little 'burny' as my kids describe anything with chilli. They came with a green dipping sauce which I think was a blend of shallots, coriander, chilli and oil. Divine!
And Cauliflour Fritters. $8.90 for three. I could eat these all day. Cauliflour finely diced, fresh herbs and chickpea flour....deepfried.....sweet mother! It was accompanied by a delicate yoghurt dipping sauce.

For the main we got our usual. I highly recommend the Traditional Platters at $29.90 for 2 people. The platter offer a range of dishes served traditionally on a platter for 2 to share. There are 3 options in this range. One highlights a famous beef wat, the second a reknowned chicken wat and the third option is a combo of vegetarian dishes.
We went for the 2nd option, as usual! My favourite of all Fekerte's is her speciality as far as I am concerned and I have never tasted it quite like hers in any other Ethiopian restaurant. Her Lega Tibs which has wine-soaked chunks of lamb fried with onions and rosemary. So yummy, and a generous serve of it comes with the Traditional platter options.

Let it be known, I got served the best Lemon Lime and Bitters I have ever had last night. The whole dinner was impeccable, and the restaurant was chock full and had all the staff working hard.
We never usually have dessert or Ethiopian coffee but we did last night for the sake of 'research'.
I went for the Semolina Cake in Cinnamon Syrup ($8.90) served with crushed pistachio garnish and icecream. It was so dense, and that more-ish semolina taste enhanced by the sweet cinnamon enticed me into devouring the whole thing! Me! Non-sugar girl! Arggghhh!
H-W was sick and had nothing, which let the team down a little I thought, as I had been keen to taste and photograph the Mamusha. Oh well, next time.

The coffee ($3) is an organic Ethiopian blend; pan roasted, ground and brewed. It was served in a tiny cup and packed a punch. Delicious but I should not have had one so late, when I barely ever drink coffee. I kept waking up all night!!!!

Go and check out my Happy Place if you are in the ACT! Better yet, take me along to 'guide' you through the menu. It would be my pleasure.

I leave you with the image of a previous dinner. Mmm!

Pork Roast Sandwich

2010-05-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago when I still watched Oprah sporadically, probably my favourite episode was when her best friend Gayle scoured the land for America's Best Sandwich. She sourced such a variety of sandwiches from restaurants spread across the wallet-draining spectrum.

A really good sandwich is something to celebrate. I still remember my first BLT, made by my friend Andrea Pollard's mother on her birthday. And how it always made my day to open my paper bag lunch at school and find a hamburger sandwich with ketchup. Mmm Mmm! Then there was my 'dainty sandwich' phase with thinly sliced cumber and pepper. And Aunty Anne (not a 'real' Aunty) introduced me to the stinky-breath combo that probably was my childhood favourite: raw onion and mayo.

Oh man, I could go on and on about pleasant sandwich encounters, but I will desist.

Back to Oprah and HER Sandwiches. I cannot recall if it was the same America's Best Sandwich show or a follow-up the next day, but Oprah featured a Sandwich Showdown where 3 chefs each had a viewer assist them in a sandwich-making competition. Our very own Aussie Curtis Stone was one of the chefs; sadly he did not win.

The winning sandwich was chef Tyler Florence's Ron-Trey (named for her husband and son) Entrée Pork Roast Sandwich. And what the judge said about this sandwich stayed stuck in my mind... 'the blue team did what every perfect sandwich—and, indeed, every dish—should do. It had something tangy, it had something spicy, it had something rich but something sweet and something tart with the cranberries. It was very comforting. It was satisfying."
So THAT there is our secret equation, folks. Thank me later!

I made the Ron-Trey Entrée Pork Roast Sandwich last year for our small group, and everyone went back for seconds; some for thirds.
Today for some reason, with all the kids home sick, I made it again on impulse!

Here is how it goes! (The full recipe without my meanders is down the very bottom. )

This recipe feeds 4 so feel free to double....I do.

All up, you need:

4 large crusty bread rolls
4 slices Taleggio cheese (It is a mild semi soft cheese. I couldn't find it, so I used Havarti; Google a suitable substitute if you don't have it on hand!)
1 clove garlic
1 pound boneless pork shoulder (I used an approx 2.5 kg pork shoulder roast)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/2 sliced onion
4 sprigs of thyme
1/2 cup hard apple cider
1/2 cup apple juice
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

For the Cranberry-Onion Jam
1/2 onion , sliced
3 Tbsp. dried cranberries
2 sprigs thyme
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. apple juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the Sweet Potato Chips Fried with Garlic and Sage
1 head of garlic
1 bunch of sage
2 large sweet potatoes
2 quarts vegetable oil for deep frying
Sea salt

Begin with the shoulder of pork. You are supposed to cut the roast into 1-inch-thick slices and tie with kitchen twine into circular shapes. For some reason I didn't read this nugget of information!!!! Hence I worked with a massive slab of pork. You are also supposed to cook the pork in a pressure cooker. Who has a pressure cooker these days? My Mom used to, I guess back in the 80's. I don't have one, so I put the pork shoulder in my trusty slow cooker. You need to let a slab the size I used, slow cook for at least 7 hours so it is fall-apart tender. I cut out the browning stage of the recipe, simply threw in all the ingredients (up to the balsmic vinegar) and turned that baby on!

Much later, with the rich aroma of cider-soaked pork assailing our nostrils, we made
Cranberry-Onion Jam.

Chopped up the onion and cranberies.
Caramelized the onions in oil.
Added the cranberries and sage. Added the wet ingredients, brought to a boil and then simmered on a lower heat at least 10 minutes till the sauce thickened and the elements were really soft. I added extra apple juice and reduced the jam two more times, and it was still nice and tart.

Next the chips. I did not slice the chips thinly (as you can see above), nor did I use sweet potato. I sliced up regular potatoes sideways. I was also a little skeptical of the sage and garlic infused oil actually working.
But it did! I chucked the head of garlic and the bunch of sage into the saucepan of oil. Heated it on high until the sage started to really cook, and then removed them both. And the oil definitely smelt of sage, and maybe a little of garlic.

Solo Girl and I then started slipping the potato slices in and turning them till crisp.

These chips were yummy, but I recommend following the recipe to the T, regarding the thin slicing. Our chips would have had that extra crunch if WE had.

So once all the componenets were ready, it was assembly time.
I sliced the pork up into hamburger-sized chunks seeing as I hadn't read the recipe......

We cut open the buns, rubbed garlic on the bottom inside of each and laid slices of cheese on the top inside. Under the grill they went till crisp and the cheese was melted.

Added a hunk of pork on each bun, topped with the cranberry-onion jam, followed by the cheese-laden bun lid. Adorned each plate with the chips. Feast!!!

Solo Girl plated artistically.

Full recipe directions to follow after the PS!

PS: They may have taken nearly a whole hour to make, not including baking time, (learning to go through the process of reading and carrying out a recipe by yourself can take time) but Solo Girl's banana chocolate chip muffins were certainly worth the wait. They were truly sweet enough to be cupcakes I think.

Ron-Trey Entrée Pork Roast Sandwich

Directions: Begin with the pot roast. Cut into 1-inch-thick slices and tie with kitchen twine into circular shapes. Season the pork in hot oil in the base of a pressure cooker. Add the onion, bay leaf and thyme. Brown for 1 minute, then add juice, cider and balsamic. Cover with lid, lock it and pressure cook for 20 minutes until tender.Cut buns in half. Lay slices of cheese on the top halves and brown under the broiler until crispy and cheese has melted. Toast the bottom halves, then rub with a garlic clove.To assemble, lay a slice of the pot roast on the base. Top with Cranberry-Onion Jam and garnish with a fried sage leaf.

Directions For the Cranberry-Onion Jam

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add a 2-count of olive oil. Add onions and caramelize—about 4 to 5 minutes. Add cranberries, then thyme and balsamic and juice. Simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture is creamy and the onions and cranberries have just started to fall apart. Season with salt and pepper.

Directions For the Sweet Potato Chips Fried with Garlic and Sage

Take a large pot and set over medium heat. Add garlic and sage and bring the oil up to 375°. As the oil heats up, the sage and garlic will infuse the oil. Remove garlic and sage and set aside. Using a mandolin or vegetable peeler, shave thin chips out of the sweet potato. Rinse in cold water, drain and fry in oil until crispy. Drain and season with sea salt.

Choc Chip Cookie a' la Tweak!

2010-05-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

(or as Boy 2 christened them: Boy 2's Miracle Cookies)

Boy 2's sole reason for baking cookies this morning was so he could have cookie dough to scoff. That probably explains why he only baked one tray and left the rest for me to deal with!

He had already trudged down to the local IGA to fetch eggs, choc chips and sugar, so when he discovered halfway in that we were 1/4 cup short of butter, he did not embrace the thought of another shopping venture.
I personally didn't either so I suggested he fill the fat-gap with peanutbutter.

Boy 2 did, and the result left my tastebuds doing the dance of "more please!'
His other tweak I only discovered later: to leave 3/4 of the required choc chips out. We only had 1 cup of chocolate chips in the first place and he kept 1/2 cup out, I am guessing, so he could scoff those on the side. But this allowed the rather subtle peanutbutter flavour to come a little more to the fore.

Below is the original recipe with Boy 2's tweaks in brackets. :)

Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened (3/4 cup butter and 1/4 peanutbutter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups choc chips (1/2 a cup of choc chips)
1 cup chopped nuts (we never put nuts in!!!)

Directions :

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. (190C)
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in morsels and nuts.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Materchef's Black Forest Cake (or if you cook it my way: Michelle's Snap Crackle Pop Cake)

2010-05-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

(disclaimer-I was superbly bummed that for this cake, I did not have my sweet lens, as it would have compensated for the indoor night-time lighting)

I nearly backed out of doing this Masterchef cake at the last minute. It all looked too hard AND expensive: asking for a ton of fresh cherries which are hard to find this season and so very dear!

How did we come to be creating the Masterchef Black Forest Cake at all? Well its Shannon's fault. The other day I asked our friend Shannon what kind of birthday cake he wanted me to make him for our small group dinner the next week. Of course I expected the usual 'anything chocolate'. But one comes to realized that you should never expect the usual with Shannon. His reply was more along the lines of: 'I have a vision. In this vision there are layers and there is creamy stuff inside.'

Solo Girl and I looked at each other and thought the same thing....the BlackForest Cake from the elimination challenge a couple weeks ago fit the bill entirely! Layers....check. Creamy stuff.....check. And the judges were looking for the satisfying crunch of a wellmade hazelnut praline mousse in a couple of the layers. So I assured Shannon we would bake him a extra special Snap Crackle Pop Cake.

And of course I barely gave it another thought till Monday night when I raced out to get the ingredients. After a cursory read through the recipe, I quickly some mental alterations to the recipe. First was the fresh cherries. Out they went and I instead bought two massive and perfectly respectable jars of cherries.

And after learning the Masterchef chocolate sponge would need a dreaded sugar thermometer, I sat down and Googled 'Easiest Chocolate sponge cake'. Well, wouldn't you?
I made all the components of the cake the night before.

These components were:

*the cakes use THIS recipe if you aren't wanting to do the hard yards!
*the marscapone cream
*the the hazelnut praline mousse
*the cherry glaze
*the candied cherries
*the cherry compote

1. The cakes turned out fantastically, probably not super spongey, but light and delicious. I got ahead of myself and siced them into 5 layers instead of 6 before checking the recipe, which actually required 6 layers...........

2. The marscapone cream was fantastic. I have never used it before. It is like the thickest cream you can imagine. Mixed with a little vanilla bean paste and icing sugar, it tasted divine!

3. The hazelnut praline mousse.....I am so proud of myself for making this. I made the hazelnut praline which was a feat in itself. I still cannot believe that sugar melts when placed dry in a saucepan over low heat. Once it was cooled I processed it till crumbled andthen thought that was it. I didn't read what else was required until a half hour before our visitors came!!!!! The chocolate custard came together perfectly though and the the finished product was to die!!!!!!!

4. The cherry processes. Did I already say that I decided not to put in real cherries? :) Well, after the cherry compote didn't thicken, I decided to combine the 3 cherry processes into one single uncomplicated process. I made a simple yet delicious cherry syrup using equal measurements of the cherry juice and plain sugar ( I had run out of caster sugar by this time!). Brought it to the boil and then let it simmer for a minute. Then I poured that glossy sticky syrup all over the entire amount of cherries (squeezed slightly to rid them of excess juice) required in the recipe.
Below is a collage of the layers as the recipe stated they be made.
You will find the recipe after!

Please make this Black Forest cake at least once in your lifetime. It is EXTREMELY edible, though you will require a small posse to help you get through the whole cake, and ingesting two pieces in rapid succession may make render you unable to stand up straight for a full day. Oh and I actually preferred it after it had been in the fridge overnight, absorbing all the flavours into the cake!

Ingredients:
For the chocolate sponge:
7 eggs
250g caster sugar
200g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the candied cherries:
1/2cup semi-candied pitted cherries, ¼ cup juice reserved
1/4cup caster sugar

For the cherry compote:
1/3 cup caster sugar
600g pitted fresh cherries, halved
1 tbs brandy

For the cherry sugar syrup:
90g caster sugar
¼ cup cherry juice

For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse:
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup hazelnuts, toasted lightly and skinned
300g chopped dark chocolate
3 egg yolks
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the mascarpone cream:
500g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbs icing sugar

For the dark chocolate ganache (which is absolutely divine, don't miss this part even if only for the finger-slurping bowl it will provide you afterwards. So good!) :
150ml cream
200g chopped dark chocolate
shaved chocolate
fresh cherries

Method:
1. For the chocolate sponge, preheat oven to 160°C fan forced. Grease and line 2 x 20cm springform cake pans.
2. Add eggs and sugar to a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, and set over a saucepan of simmering water over very low heat. Whisk the mixture until 37°C. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat with an electric mixer on a medium-low speed for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has cooled and thickened to a mousse-like consistency. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together twice. Using a large metal spoon, fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture in 3 batches until combined, adding the vanilla extract with the first dry batch.
3. Pour the mixture into the lined cake pans and smooth surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until sponge springs back when lightly touched. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks. Place in the blast chiller for 10-15 minutes until cake has cooled completely.
4. For the candied cherries, preheat oven to 120°C. Place cherries on a lined baking tray. Lightly dust with the sugar and place in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Remove and cool. Coat with remaining sugar. Set aside.
5. For the cherry compote, add the sugar to a non-stick saucepan and place over medium heat. Once the sugar begins to dissolve add the cherries and cook until they start to release their juices. Add the brandy and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Strain, reserving liquor.
6. For the cherry syrup, heat 170ml water and the sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved cherry juice and compote liquor. Allow to cool.
7. For the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse, line a baking sheet. In a dry heavy-based saucepan, cook sugar over medium heat, stirring, until melted. Once melted, cook without stirring, swirling pan, until lightly golden. Add hazelnuts, stirring until well coated. Immediately pour mixture onto the baking sheet and cool completely, in blast chiller for 5 minutes. Break praline into pieces. Place into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
8. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the egg yolks in a small heatproof bowl. Heat 250ml of the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir through half of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan over low heat and stir until thickened. Strain into a clean bowl. Stir the melted chocolate into the hot custard. Add the vanilla and allow to cool. Whisk the remaining cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture with the praline, until just combined. Set aside.
9. For the mascarpone cream, beat the mascarpone, vanilla and sugar in a bowl until smooth and slightly thicker in volume.
10. For the chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside. Bring the cream to just below boiling point in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, then add the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool until thick but still pouring consistency.
11. To assemble the cake, slice both cakes into thirds. Place the base of 1 cake onto a serving plate and brush with some of the cherry syrup. Spread over half of the chocolate praline mousse.
12. Place the next layer of cake onto a board, and brush with cherry syrup. Spread over half of the mascarpone cream. Divide the cherries into two parts for two separate layers. Place cherries around the border of the cake, 5mm from its edge and scatter remaining in the middle. Carefully remove layer from the board and place on top of the first layer. Repeat each layering process on the board (you will have 1 spare slice of cake), starting with the praline mousse and ending with the cherries on the mascarpone cream.
13. Place the final layer of the cake on a wire rack sitting over a baking tray. Evenly pour the ganache over the cake, ensuring it is completely coated. When the ganache has set, place on top of the layered cake. Decorate with shaved chocolate, fresh cherries and candied cherries.

Celebration of Wool- Kingston Bus Depot Markets

2010-05-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

The Bus Depot Markets in Kingston invited Doggy-Bag It to come and check out their Celebration of Wool event on May 16. As I read the accompanying article which touched on Australia's long history with wool, a bucket load of my earliest memories flooded back.
Funnily enough, my strongest childhood images of visits back to Australia have nothing much to do with food(well, let's not not count the McDonald's thick shakes we simply HAD to have the very second we stepped off the plane) .

What lingers in my mind are huge family get-togethers; catching up on four years worth of birthday gifts; trundling along at a snail's pace across our vast land in an old caravan; and the wonderful fun we had staying on farms along the way. There were massive orchards as well as sheep and cattle stations, and maybe a couple of grain farms also. Seeing these farms operate up-close gave rise to a swell of patriotic pride in our farming community and the hard slog they do.

My visit to the wool on Sunday show somehow reawakened that same emotion in me , something that 3 years of city life has dulled.

It always happens ....whenever I see a thing of exquisite beauty, I yearn for the skills to recreate it. So before going to the Celebration of Wool, I steeled myself to be confronted with stunning peices of knitwear and to just appreciate it and celebrate the artists' skills and gifts, with no destructive non-knitter's envy.
Ummm, once I was there it was total steel-mind FAIL. Destructive non-knitter's envy abounded!!!!

The place was packed, let me tell you; seething with people. The weather was perfect for it. My friend Tracey and I were focused on our mission;we only stopped for a pint of apple and lemon juice and that was the only food our bellies saw the entire time. (Oh, do the sample chilli toasted cashews count? They were scrumptious.)

But now, I want to introduce you to a few of the wool artists I met:

JanetteMcGuffog is an acrylic and textile artist who only in the past few months has begun creating wearable art. Imagine what she will be creating in another year!!!! She uses a combination of felt/silk/ merino wool to put her artwork onto scarves. I cannot even begin to imagine the processes Janette uses. Her work is stunning...these photos do not do it justice...

Jane Slicer Smith's swing coats, cardigans and sweaters hung in a rich range of colors. Her label is Signatur Handknits. Jane has an eye for brilliant color combinations. She sells a large range of customized knitting kits, and her book Swing Swagger Drape-Knit the Colors of Australia is just out and you can order it online.

adele designs displayed unusual scarves, bold chunks of color in hues that made me all of a sudden want a great steaming mug of hot chocolate (always with the food thoughts!!!). The scarves are created entirely from recycled wool and silk. A percentage of all proceeds goes to breast cancer research. Five minutes with Adele left me moved and inspired. She is currently fighting her own battle with breast cancer and though there are some grim days, her gifts and her beautiful spirit shine as bright as her smile.

The bold colors and varied textures of Gill's hand-dyed yarns lured us in. Such delicious colors.....looked like a candy shop!

The Spinners and Weavers group meet regularly for social spinning and weaving days. Jenny related how 35 years ago she started spinning using coarse wool straight from the sheep's back. She still can't get over how much easier it was when 3 years ago she began to spin silk/cashmere. 'Its like spinning fairy floss,' she reckons.

Claire Patterson has some stunning garments and was extremely busy while we were in her space. She is based in Sydney.

I was blown away by Kathy Geurts' handcrafted jewellery ( Wool? As jewellery? Oh yes!! just look) and objets d'art. What kind of mind comes up with woolen jewellery? We hung around her place for ages at her stall; we even ran the shop for 5 while she ducked out for a coffee! :)

It was a great morning, I really wanted to include pictures of everyone, but there were just so many amazing stalls. Next time I will be much more organized ahead of time, so that I don't accidentally leave my WALLET at home!!!

Raspberry Tart

2010-05-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

I am not afraid to say it....I backed out. I backed fully out of the Caramel Parfait Glace with Salted Peanut Caramel and Milk Chocolate Mousse I promised I'd do this weekend. As soon as I looked the recipe over last night, and read the words 'sugar thermometer', I knew it wasn't going to happen for me. This blogger is much too ~~lazy~~ inexperienced to be fiddling around with the likes of a sugar thermometer!

Accordingly, Solo Girl and I settled on a back-up recipe; one that we salivated over from the moment we saw it. The Raspberry Tart they made in a Masterchef Masterclass few weeks ago

The Raspberry Tart was surprisingly easy to make and assemble, although every time a new appliance had to be pulled out and dirtied, I found myself grumbling a little under my breath. ( I am a one-pot cook at heart)

Vanilla Bean Paste was a revelation. So THAT is how fancy schmancy icecream gets the black fleck through it.

We didn't have a loose-based pie dish. I was chuffed to pick one up this morning for $12. 95 at Whisk Kitchenware....is that good?

I changed 2 things in the recipe.

1. The pastry dough still wasn't pliable after the refridgeration, so we chucked it back into the food processor with another 1/4 cup of unsalted butter. I felt it was bland and needed salt, so I added some.

2. I also used a full 600ml of cream and then just tipped 2 tsp of the vanilla bean paste into the mix instead of 1 1/2 tsp.

So here is the Masterchef Masterclass Recipe without the changes I made above:

Raspberry Tart (made by primarily by Solo Girl)
Ingredients
450ml thickened cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

¼ cup icing sugar, plus extra, to serve

3-4 punnets fresh raspberries
Sweet shortcrust pastry

2¼ cups plain flour

1/4 cup icing sugar

125g unsalted butter, softened

2 x 59g eggs

Serves 8

Method
1. For sweet shortcrust pastry, combine flour and icing sugar in food processor, process to combine. Add butter and process to fine crumbly texture. Add eggs and process until pastry comes together. Knead lightly on floured surface until base is smooth, pat the top to flatten slightly then wrap in baking paper and refrigerate 20 minutes or until firm enough to roll out.

2. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced).

3. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface, use pastry to line base and side of 3cm deep, 24cm loose-based tart tin. Trim off any excess pastry, prick the base all over with a fork, then refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4. Place sheet of baking paper over the pastry and three-quarters fill with raw rice or beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes or until edges are light golden. Remove paper and rice and bake further 10 minutes or until base is dry and pastry golden. Set aside to cool in tin. Transfer pastry case to serving plate.

Whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar together until thick.

Spoon whipped cream into pastry case, then spread evenly. Scatter with raspberries and sprinkle with icing sugar.

It is to die! Probably totally wrong for the season (the cost of four punnets of the raspberries could have supplied a large African village with a year's food) but I don't care. Frozen (fully defrosted) raspberries probably would have done just as nicely, in hindsight.

A New Signature Dish

2010-05-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

It was in the very first week of this season’s Masterchef that they aired a challenge that raised my hackles. It is the only thing in the series that really irritated me (well, besides that lurking, persistent niggle in the bowels of my mind that queries whether the entire thing is rigged). The challenge where the contestants had to re-create a favourite dish from their childhood. We saw some of the contestants stay true to the original recipe made with love by their parent, grandparents etc; using ingredients like store-bought mayo and canned seafood to keep intact the flavours that took them back to the past and made these dishes their childhood favourite. But these poor sods didn’t stand a chance against the contestants whose Mummies regularly plated up a 55-dish feasts for dinny-dins.
And what do you know? Surprise, surprise, the contestants from the humble home-cooking origins were penalized for it. For their honest re-creation! I was outraged! And somewhere throughout this travesty, I came to a crucial decision.
I HAVE to come up with a better signature dish. A dish that imprints itself into the heart and soul of my offspring.
Why?
For the sake of my childrens’ future furtherment in the Masterchef competition. Duh! I do not want any child of mine marginalized in the Masterchef kitchen because their Mama’s signature dish contained less than 5 ingredients, 3 of which came from a tin or worse still- a packet.
Over the years, I have gone through several signature dishes I would churn out quite regularly: my Middle Eastern lamb tagine; my Mexican buffet….my marinated lamb pieces and assorted condiments in pita. But of when I think of my meals that the KIDS really adore and regularly request, none of THOSE dishes are anything special; none of them would stand a culinary chance in Masterchef’s ‘walk down memory lane’ segment.
I thought briefly of glamming up one of my old signature dishes, but you know what? Seeing as there is a wealth of new dishes to choose from already in the current Masterchef, and seeing as I got the previous season’s Masterchef cookbook for Mother’s Day….I owe it to myself, (and my children’s future Masterchef success) to experiment with a new recipe.. To see this as a chance for personal epicurean advancement……
So this Saturday, Only Daughter and I will give Caramel Parfait Glace With Salted Peanut Caramel and Milk Chocolate Mousse a red hot go. *gulp*
The Masterchef contestant had 1 hour and 45 minutes to do this dish. We are going to time ourselves from whoa to go, but not race. And we will document our culinary adventure accurately, even if it is an epic fail-ure.

(If only I could learn to make injera, so this could be my signature dish! Nothing like Ethiopian food)

Food Court Fiasco- a Spanner in the Works

2010-05-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had high aspirations of keeping a classy food blog, complete with succulent photos of whatever latest exotic delicacies I have been tasting on your behalf….
Brimful of enthusiasm for another food adventure, I took Boy 2 out for afternoon tea…..In my mind I was envisaging a late lunch….seared scallops, prawns perhaps, followed by a rich creamy dessert.
At the time, I didn’t pick up on Boy 2’s initial comment ‘ Afternoon tea? Yay! McCafe has these great mini caramel slices!’ : a comment which foreshadowed the course our adventure would take.
I gently informed Boy 2 that we all have times in life where we have to sacrifice for the greater ~~blog post~~ good. And this, for him, was one of those times.
C’mon now, I am running a classy show here! *snort*
So Boy 2 sacrificed; although as we drove through Belconnen, he made comments like,“Well if we don’t find somewhere soon, there is always Café Injoy. They have a really good caramal slice.’
Or ‘Dunno if I ever told you Mum, but McDonald’s McCafe sells excellent caramel slice. Really cheap too!’
He even uttered the horrifying, ‘Maybe you could blog about a trip to McDonalds?’
*gasp*

None of the 6 cafes we checked out had food that we both agreed on. And we are the two easiest-pleased people in our family. Just that kind of indecisive day. It was a little frustrating.
The last café on our ‘check out’ list was Jamaica Blue, whose address placed it in Belconnen Westfield.
Note to self: when on a food blog trip with Boy 2, NEVER take a detour through a food court.
As we crossed the food court to find Jamaica Blue , Boy 2 (now ravenous) spied sushi from Sushi Sushi , and any remaining flicker of interest in assisting Momma in her pursuit of high end cuisine sputtered and went out.
So it was we ended up at Jamaica Blue (Boy 2 with a box of sushi tucked snugly under his arm)ordering a Strawberry milkshake, a latte (my first ever (I was keen to photograph some nice latte art.) , and scones with jam (I know it is strange, but Boy 2 is not partial to cream!)

Once seated, I reached for my friend’s camera to get ready to take some shots . It didn't work..Then I remembered where the memory stick was…..at home still plugged into the computer…..Arrrgggghhh!

I was done! We took the food to go…

By the time we arrived home our status quo was:
1 disillusioned food blogger
1 reasonably satisfied Boy 2
minus 1 sloppy takeaway scone: devoured whole in the car trip, along with the shake.
1 latte: tepid. Whatever latte art that HAD existed looked now more like ‘preschool art’, all smudged and distorted by a plastic lid and all the sloshing around in a car.
1 plate of sushi-which was looking better by the moment!

Prawn roll

Tempura prawn roll

Squid inari. Inari is the only tofu product I like. I love it.

And seaweed Inari

Jamaica Blue is a busy little café next to the cinemas at Belconnen. Sushi Sushi is directly opposite in the food court!

I had to add this photo. Boy 3 who has grown up seeing me take pictures, composed his own food pic after I had gone. He had me come out and capture it. :)

LOOK!!!!

Doggy-Bag It has been invited to cover A Celebration of Wool at the Old Bus Depot Markets. this even will showcase Austalian wool products from around the country. Wool art, winter ranges of knitwear both traditional and uber contemporary will be on display. Come out if you are a local, grab an unique item for winter and support our wool industry!

Event information:

What: A Celebration of Wool
Where: Old Bus Depot Markets, Wentworth Ave Kingston
When: Sunday 16 May
Time: 10am – 4.00pm
Cost: FREE entry
Web: http://www.obdm.com.au/

Hall Markets or In Which Cupcakes Catch Me Unawares

2010-05-03T04:02:00.000-07:00

Hall Markets was definitely Plan B today. We were only there last month, and I kind of had my heart set on the Collector Village Pumpkin Festival- mainly ‘cause I wanted to learn stuff like ‘101 ways to cook your winter pumpkin’. Another big draw card was getting to taste both the Pomegranate flavoured ice-cream from The Chameleon Ice Creamery and to eat quail (BBQed) for the first time.
But once I realized the driving time alone would not fit into the space I had free, I pouted for a millisecond before I remembered, ‘oh well, I can get some Kettle Corn at Hall Markets!’
Once we got a park (Hall Markets is chock full all day and the parking system they have set up is a well oiled machine!) I was on the look out for food, as this is a blog about food. The fact that Boy 3 turns 5 next Sunday meant I was also unofficially seeking out some birthday delights. Solo Girl came along, barefoot I might add! HER goal, of course, was to coax me into buying a puppy. *sigh* There is a great deal of coaxing in my life.

I didn’t realize how big the Hall Markets are….we must have only gone around one loop last time. There is a whole ‘nother section up the back. This time we blazed a trail that direction. Nearly immediately we stumbled upon Boy 3’s first present. Check out these awesome bird call whistles! There are ones that are just little warbling birds, there is an owl caller, a duck caller, a chook caller and others that I cannot recall. 2 for $6 or 4 for $10. We got an assortment of 4 for Boy 3; just up his alley! The people with the whistles also sell fantastic bubble maker machines.

We steered clear of the crusty breads ….My tastebuds craved something exotic .

The Dutch Pancakes wooed us, but they weren’t actually served with the ripe juicy strawberries that are in the advertisement on their cart. Plus I make pretty darned good pancakes myself.

We skirted round the steak and sausage sandwich stalls, past the sourdoughs, and then ……we struck pure gold. A Moment on Your Lips appeared like a mirage.

There is just something rapturous about cupcakes done well. I am a savoury person for the most part, with only a couple of things that really tempt me to sugar (those being Kettle corn, cheesecake and bannofee pie) but now I have to add cupcakes to the list; cupcakes done- well that isl. On 2 different occasions I’ve decided that making cupcakes is going to be my big new thing; but I have realized I am much better at tasting than making them.

Perfect cupcakes take skill. For one thing, a cupcake (done-well) needs to be firm. Firm enough to withstand vigorous decorating. Although these cupcakes looked delicate, they were firm and rich and buttery.

I love love LOVE the lacy black cupcake holder thingy…(technical term there) Don’t you? They come in 14 different flavours. I think you can see the lime and coconut type below in the green cases. I would have gone for the more unusual flavours that the cupcake crafter Emily made: pine coconut, rocky road, lemon meringue (I want one of those right NOW!!) But I am not supposed to eat sugar, so I bought practically for the chilblains: the 3 vanillas that were left (they were going like hotcakes) and 1 sticky date pudding cupcake that Only girl chose for herself.

After we got them home and I sampled (just a sliver) from each flavour, I was kicking myself for not getting one of each. What kind of self respecting food blogger am I to waste the moolah on 3 of the same flavour? It is a steep learning curve for me……..
( Emily and her CUPCAKES are at Hall Markets the first Sunday of each month! Her website is under construction, but she does outside orders. I did not ask her if I could put her email details here so I won't but if you want to contact her, let me know)

Facebook Fairytale

2010-04-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Arrrgghhh! No camera in the foreseeable future...... I was mid-photoshoot (more about that in a moment!) when the camera DIED! So this week and maybe the next (and so on, and maybe so on.....) I will just be bringing you a story !
Haha! Lucky you!
The initial plan was show you what I eat several nights a week, but as I began to write,I decided to mix it up a little.

The www. : instant access to information and people in just countless ways. My favourite way of connecting to people via the internet has to be Facebook....
Corny? A little I guess, but having grown up in Kenya and with most of my childhood friends important people now spread across the globe, I have slowly lost contact with nearly everybody (ok, EVERYBODY!) I knew before I was 19.
But through Facebook, I am now back in regular contact with a couple dozen of my old friends. Nothing in depth. A little comment on a status here, a brief reminisce there. It isn't about clinging to the past, but about knowing how those people who were such a big part of my childhood are going as adults.

As an aside; last year I became fb friends with an old uni pal, on what just happened to be the very same week he was coming to the Canberra Show with some of his students.....and just like that, less than a week later, we were having our very own 17 year reunion!
Bless Facebook!

But I digress....there is the story I want to tell you. This past month, I have been having my very own Facebook Fairytale!

Here are the main characters:
Me: a girl who loves to muck around with a Nikon D60 in her spare time- Canberra, Australia
Troy: a boy who was 3 years ahead of me in high school -USA
Shauna: tutu designer, also Troy's nephew's fiancee'-USA

Troy sent me and maybe all of his friends a link to Shauna's business Milah's Tutu Closet. I accordingly became a fan, and wrote her a message something to the effect of "Those tutus are so gorgeous. They would be awesome photo props for a shoot."

No sooner had the words left my 'comment ' button, than I recieved a friend request, from Shauna (but sent from networking Troy!)
I remember chuckling a little to myself, thinking 'ah, he senses a sell!' And with another click of a button, Shauna and I became 'friends'. For several days, I would comment on her daily status and she would comment on my photo albums.
I messaged Shauna that I would be ordering a few tutus in the near future and all was good.

And the likely path would have been suchly:
1. I would have bought the tutus
2. I would have set the tutus aside,stored all frothy and fairylike in a special box so as not to squash them, for that photoshoot op that would probably never happen..... do I lack confidence...um....GUILTY!

But then...
THEN one day I got a message from Shauna that changed everything..... She wrote: 'What is your mailing address. I think I am going to ship you some tutus! On the house! If you get some photos taken of them do you mind if I use them for my website?? Just a thought! '

I freaked right out!!!! No-one has ever, EVER given me free stuff. I tried to talk the girl out of it...but she would not back down, and when I emailed Troy to get him to do something about her stubborn refusal of my business, he backed her decision.

So it came about that I got a package of 4 (not the 2 I was expecting, but 4) of the most beautiful tutus ever. Tutus with ribbons that tie in a delicious bow at the back....Tutus made uniquely, with little bits of tulle woven around the ribbon in such a way thatf they froth up and sit perfectly around a child's waist, sit in a way that the ones from a dept store never would. My inner child fell in love with these tutus.

And then I did the only thing I could....I got on fb and called out for little girls to shoot tutus in.

The fallout? From Shauna's generosity?

-Photots! Shauna now has a wide range of photos of cherubs wearing tutus from Milah's Tutu Closet . .
-A name! I was forced to create a name for my photography to put copyright on the pictures. I came up with the Swahili word Kazuri which means 'small and beautiful'. Kazuri pics.... :) It sounds right to me.
-Experience! I got invaluable experience photographing and working with children other than my own.
-Confidence! I did 3 photoshoots in one week, and I had to learn to improvise and be creative and cope with lighting disasters. And I was happy with a lot of the photos. I actually said outloud to someone...." I think that after today's photos, I might now call myself a photographer."
-A logo on its way! Another fb friend (a second cousin I have met only once, and then for less than 10 minutes) messaged me to ask if her new graphic design company could design a logo for my business to help get their name out!!! I have a business? Woohoo!
-Paying work! I have recieved several offers of photo jobs that otherwise would never have been sent my way!
Want to see some of the tutus? Thought you might!

do you have a cool Facebook story?

Sudanese Welcome Feast

2010-04-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call on Monday inviting us to a Sudanese feast….and also requesting the use of our church hall for that same function…….talk about last minute! So all week I have been super excited about being able to share some photos and descriptions of true home style food from Sudan with you guy. And then……my camera died on the eve of the feast. When I realized it was not going to come good, ~~I threw a 3 point hissy and then assumed the foetal for a full hour, till someone else needed to use the bathroom~~ , I put the catastrophe into perspective, in the light of how some people have it these days and decided to make the best of it. So the pics will remain small this week, and we will all just need to put on our imagination caps!

Sadly, the party venue didn’t work out and it all had to take place in the couple’s tiny home…but nonetheless I took the 4 year old along with me, to get his first true taste of African hospitality!
Please note: if you are the type of person who gets irritated at being put in the waiting bay at a McDonald’s drive thru, the African hospitality experience is not for you. Waiting is a big part of the process, the EXPERIENCE. This is sloooooowwwww slow food. In Kenya, we would go to a home for dinner, only to find that the main course was still tethered to a post outside, alive and well. I am talking slow food, people.
The party had begun at 4, and it was to welcome back my friend and her baby daughter after spending the best part of a year being nurtured in Sydney by extended family. This is a very common thing within a Sudanese family when the first child is born. The village mentality kicks in.
When we (we being: myself , the 4 yr old and 2 half-charged inferior, ancient point-and- shoots) got there at 4:45, the women had just finished their tea, and the men were having theirs made before their eyes…..I really wanted to watch and photograph it, but I felt a little intrusive. I did see that there was a tray of glass cups; each had only a mound of sugar at the bottom. I assumed the lady serving, would be pouring hot tea over that sugar.
The main living room was occupied by the menfolk…and all the ladies and little ‘uns were out back in the dining room. A large mattress hastily placed on the floor made up for the lack of seats….everyone was horrified that I sank down onto the mattress rather than try to oust one of them from their seats! HUH? And I sat there with a cheerful ‘I –have-no-idea-what –you- are-saying-or-laughing-about-but-I-will-pretend-I-do’ smile plastered on my face for ages. They all knew each other and my hostess was run off her feet. Half an hour in, once everyone realized we had Kenya in common (most Sudanese people in Australia have spent more than half their lives in Kenya) there were some sweet conversations.

I got my tea nearly an hour into the party. And it turned out to be chai, the very best chai I have had since I have being back in Australia…..not quite as strong in colour, but the exact same taste as the chai I used to queue up for at my boarding school in Kenya. ! No spices, just hot sweet milky chai with a thin film on top from the milk having boiled. When I got to the bottom of my glass (all too soon) I realized that it had been made on powdered milk. Mmmmmmm good. somehow, I made the pic of the chai into a video...it only goes for like 2 seconds, it is wobbly, but take a look and gnash your teeth that youdidn't get some.... :)

Oh so many children there were in that dining room, all of us waiting! Beautiful children all swarming around us hungrily for the next 3 hours , during which time the great metal tubs of food sat on the table and mocked our hungry bellies.
The mattress was a Godsend. The 4 year old organized some somersault competitions on it, just before he started teaching some of his new friends his hand-clapping games followed by him initiating a lively round of Chinese whispers. All the fun petered out after a while though; the kids started hitting and biting; the chatting stopped and we all sat in silence for a bit, then we began to set each other off in bouts of yawning. My hostess, who had stayed up the entire night before, cooking, was worried about me waiting so long,( I left 3 kidlets at home, see) She said that soon the others would pray and we would eat.

I assumed ‘pray’ would simply be a quick-yet-heartfelt ‘grace’ over the food, but, nay, the reality was an hour-long prayer meeting which involved singing and much discussion and demonstrating of church choir dance moves and uniforms!
But finally, FINALLY!!!! …..it was food time. The men and older ladies went first and they certainly did not hold back . I was more than a little disappointed to watch the one plate piled high with pastries ( that looked like rustic samosas), disappear well before us women even got a look in!!!!
I was practically frothing at the mouth to see what lay inside the huge metal tubs. And it was worth the wait…..

We feasted on:
Sudanese injera (which I have to say I like far less than the Ethiopian or Somali injera….not as fluffy.)

There was a fragrant stew; tender cubes of beef smothered in rich tomato sauce full of garlic, and cumin .

Another beef stew ( background) which tasted of the same spices, but dry and cooked with potatoes and carrot.
To my palate (palate, palate, palate! )both those stews tasted exactly like Somali food doeswhen cooked by a non-Somali. Ummm maybe only .5% of you will have any idea what I mean….haha, sorry! They were delicious.

There was a green stew (foreground) also….and I cannot lie; the texture was like eating a bowl of slime….. it turned out to be lamb ( fall-apart-in-your-mouth-lamb, mind!) in okra sauce!. The texture was nasty, but the flavour! Mmmm, I am a big okra fan! Never had it all dissolved like this, although I DID lick my plate.

Desert was icing-sugar-dusted rounds that looked like shortbread; they were EXTREMELY sweet and had the 4 yr old besotted. I had a nibbled and could have sworn there may even hav been a little shredded wheat in there! Delicious! Pah! Curse the sugarfree-life!

Coming Soon: dinner at the CIT (Canberra Institute of Technology) training restaurant. Cannot wait to try it out!

Feeding Friend-zy-Starlight Yellow Cake-simple fluffy yet moist-ish cake!

2010-04-23T02:59:00.000-07:00

This is the afternoon tea treat I baked for the kid’s friends the other day, along with the brownies.... though for some reason it was not as moist as it usually is on this occasion (note to self, stick to measuring the butter next time, can’t skimp on le buerre.)

It is one recipe that takes me back to when the older kids were young, and life was pretty intense yet so simple at the same time. It comes from the dog-eared, disintegrating Betty Crocker cookbook my Mom got for me on a trip to the States, I think. The recipe is printed on the only page in the cake section that hasn’t come loose and fallen out completely. Starlight Yellow Cake. It does have a yellowish buttery tinge; maybe the lack of butter is why this particular effort was more a creamy hue than yellow .

When we lived in a little country town in NSW, I had the kids all get involved in the local show (like a fair, if you are a North American). So they all entered the baking competition. 3 year old Kara and 6 year old Zac shared a batch of Starlight Yellow Cake batter (hmmm, was that cheating?) and made 6 cupcakes each out of it. The fact that in their category, Kara’s batch won 1st prize and Zac’s won 2nd, was due in part to the unfortunate incident on the way in to the judging when Zac’s nose and two of his cupcakes hit the dirt literally......ah, memory lane!

Again like most of what I do, this is a very simple recipe (well, it is if you have a Mix master, or electric beater)...everything gets thrown in together.

So here are our ingredients:

· 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 1/2 cups sugar
· 1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
· 1 1/4 cups milk
· 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
· 1 tsp. salt
· 1 tsp. vanilla extract
· 3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 180C (or 160 if fan forced or 350 F )
2. Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan, 13 X 9 X 2 inches, 2 round pans 9 X 1 1/2 inches, or 3 round pans, 8 X 1 1/2 inches with shortening and lightly flour.* (I actually use grease proof paper as I use a 9x13 cake pan and that never usually comes out whole for me with the grease proof!)
3. (my favorite part….look how simple!) Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.
4. (this you will find tedious with some kind of electrical assistance) Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally; pour into pan(s).
5. Bake rectangle 35 to 40 minutes, 9-inch rounds 25 to 30 minutes, 8-inch rounds 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.
6. Cool rectangle in pan on wire rack; cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack.
7. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

9. Frost as desired. ( I Myself, chucked in a half cup butter, nearly a full pack of no frills icing sugar, a capful of vanilla, and then added just enough milk droplets to make a creamy consistency while it got beat up in the Mix Master. No food coloring cause I wanted the fairy sprinkles to be the ‘hero’. lol!

Feeding Friend-zy: where I get off my bum and cook for friends: Lazy Brownie

2010-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

I made a batch of brownies last night ready for having four of the kids' friends over today.

I always thought brownies were a cake or cookie recipe gone 'wrong' but then tasted so amazing, that people kept making them..... didn't you? But no, it would appear ( I Google-researched it) that they were actually specially created for a ladies' fair in Chicago where the organizers wanted a snack that ladies could eat more simply than a piece of cake and that they could hold in their hands.
So the truth may not be so romantic as some chef accidentally discovering pure culinary gold, but we all love to eat brownies! I have eaten lots of good brownie, but didn't have a hard and fast recipe that never let me down.

That all changed when I started baking for youth group. Then I knew it was time....time to seek a legend to claim as my own. Cause what is the point of reinventing the wheel?

I did my research and learned that The Barefoot Contessa's brownie recipe is pretty much the unofficial world's best (please do not quote me on that) judging by all the raving comments of those who had tried it and ADORED it! I was desperate to try the recipe but it was late at night and I didn't have all the ingredients in my pantry....so I looked for the world's second best brownie and found it at: Kitchen Illiterate and since I made it the first time, I haven't strayed from it. No going back for me...though I have adapted it a little. Click on the link if you want the pure unadulterated recipe.....

As my blog states in its title, I am a lazy cook; I cut corners. This recipe is a forgiving and hardy one, and never lets me down, even though I skip through all of the delicate ( I read 'tedious') steps of its creation. And I double the recipe, cause if I am going to go to all that trouble, I want to not have to do it again for a loooong time! So if you do SIMPLE and BIG, we are going to get along!

Here is what we have to work with

I am a no frills gal. i bake a lot and haven't got the extra moolah to waste on pretty packaging, though there are exceptions. Whooops! Forgot the eggs, you'll need a bunch of those!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, very soft
2 1/2 cups. sugar

1 1/2 cups. plus 4 T. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. or a bit more of cinnamon

4 cold large eggs

1 cup. all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups. chocolate chips (i just chuck in whatever I have, that is near enough really)

1. Heat the oven to 325F (180 C for OZ cooks or 160 with fan forced oven)

2. Grease your baking dish.

3. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl, stir well.

4. Stir in the vanilla extract and the cinnamon.

5. Stir in the eggs vigorously. Once the batter is smooth, shiny, and creamy looking (ummm, mine often isn't as I have skipped the steps that melt the sugar totally, I like the brownie to have a little crunch. If you really want a glossy batter refer to the above link.) This is what mine looks like.....

6. Add in the flour. Add in the chocolate chips, and spread the batter into the pan.

7. Bake the brownies for about 40 minutes, depending on your oven, until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.

8. I always cut the brownies before they are fully cool as they are easier to cut then! :)

Serve hot with icecream or cold with tastebuds!

2010-04-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Usually when I go to the bus depot markets, it is because I have a craving for Fekerte’s and can’t afford to go to her actual restaurant at that particular point in time....so everything else is a bit of a blur, 'cause my tastebuds drag me past any other temptations on their mission to get stuck into some injera bu wat.

Today was different; I promised the tastebuds that I will be taking them to Fekerte’s restaurant SOON for ‘research’, so today we would ‘look but not touch’ The injera, that is. Also I decided to ration myself to $20 of treats to bring home.

As soon as I passed the homemade drinks man, my mouth started watering and I was thirsty....

.....but I browsed a little first.

Saw some tasty looking food stalls....

I had gone early morning, so I knew I would not be getting any main meals....my original aim was actually just to get baklava....I had been craving it, but a day and a half into Naughty Day I wasn’t craving a whole lot of anything (read: full and overindulged belly...)

Baklava stall

Saw Fekerte’s .............mmmmmmmmmmm.....thankfully she was only setting everything up so I didn’t give in.

Then I came back past the juice man and got a glass of Apple & Lemon juice $4.

Sweet Mother! Tart, fresh, dominated by the lemon, mellowed and sweetened by the apple which lingered on my palate... (lol, I really think I want to say palate a lot on this blog. Palate, palate, palate!!!) I went away wondering if he sells by the gallon..

I decided to wander around and take some more pics before buying my baklava and heading home. As I did, someone asked me to sample their goods. It was ....the Classic Kettle Cornpeople!!!!

Someone at work first introduced me to kettle corn. It was that good, I went to Hall markets as soon as it was on again specially to get some....now the whole family is addicted and I didn’t get enough bags last time!

When I asked to take some pics, they kindly decided to show me the kettle corn- making process.
The kettle is massive (yes it IS cooked in a kettle) and has oil in the bottom.

The corn and sugar (and I am assuming the salt) mix is poured into the hot kettle. Once the popcorn starts popping, it gets a bit hairy! Check out the protective gear! There was random popcorn popping out as there is no lid on the kettle!

Then the man got real busy, stirring frantically as the popcorn exploded en masse.

The enormous kettle was then tipped over sideways (it is attached to a tipping apparatus thingy...aren't I awesome with technical terms?) into a great metal container to cool.

Kettle corn seems to have been something that originated in America, but these guys have brought it to Oz. Classic Kettle Corn’s catch line is ‘ slightly salty, slightly sweet’. It is a little reminiscent of caramel corn but lighter and that awesome salty touch brings out the sweetness. While I was there one girl was telling us how her boyfriend sticks his choc top (choc coated ice-cream cone you get at the movies for overseas readers) into his popcorn, so the popcorn had that sweet and salty flavour.
Sweet and salty just go together. They belong together. Buy some! The Classic Kettle Corn guys are at Hall Markets first Sunday of the month, I think, or Bus Depot Markets at Kingston on Sundays.

So this brought my quota to $14, so i realized that I would not be getting a $13 box of baklava goodies this time.... and I bought a loaf of Dom's Woodfired Spelt, the softest bread Dom had on offer, to please my children, even though i really wanted one of the crusty flavoured breads. The spelt was indeed soft and tasty but next time I will go for crusty! The way I like it!

It was nice toasted....Kara's lunch:

Next time I go, it will be for the baklava.....and it will be soon.

Mecca Bah

2010-04-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

( I have to prewarn you that the lighting in the restaurant we were at was criminal for photography....The falalfel photos did NOT turn out....so sad about that. And most of the photos, have a hand holding a lit-up mobile phone in desperate attempt to direct some sort of lighting towards the food.)

A learning curve is always good, especially if it happens early in the piece I think. As per usual I get more than my fair share of the ‘how not to’s and the ‘so that is why you don’t do that’ experiences. And here is what I learned from my first food blogging dinner out!
Note to self: Saturday nights are BAD nights to go out for food blogging! Can you tell I never go out? Yes, we picked a Saturday night to go to Manuka to eat! Without a booking. Hehe. The plan was to stroll around and soak up the atmosphere as we looked for the place that ‘felt’ right.

Tracey and I strolled… well, actually, stop right there. You couldn’t call what I was doing ‘strolling’. This jeans and shorts girl wore a dress! And ‘because it was such a long dress, I wore my super high heels so I wouldn’t trip on the dress. So off course now I was tottering around trying not to trip on my HEELS. The heels hurt, so there was no gracefulness and my handbag is actually a backpack so there was really no delicate way to hold it. The upside of the backpack was that it was big enough to hide my lower-than-usual-neckline so I clutched it gratefully around my bosoms. Picture Nanny Mcphee on a big night out, if you will. Poor Tracey.

(here is the rotten dress, and the rottener shoes, before they caused me pain)

I had left my list of possibilities behind, so we worked off my memory. Ginseng, Legend or Saffron. In the end we ditched them all and went with Mecca Bah due to its ambience. But alas…FULLY BOOKED!
‘Book the next sitting and come back’ the waiter said. So we did.
We decided to go to Verve, which is right on one of the corners of Manuka and have a snack while we waited. That place was packed! Hopping with a lot of big groups. Once this little recluse acclimatised to all the noise, I could feel that it was a friendly vibe. We were quickly watered and fed. The maître d’ was a little preoccupied, but meh!; I would have been too.

Trio of House Made dips served with grilled pita $12.90
The dish was good and filling. It was not the best Turkish bread I have had, tasting a little like packet mix, but it was toasted and drizzled with olive oil and looked pretty! Needed salt, and there was a lot more bread than dip to scoop up into it. This girl likes a whole lotta dip!
The dips were mild, not in the least bit garlicky or salty (note that I need salt AND garlic, on pretty much anything savoury.). Both the carrot and the beetroot dips were sweetish and used freshly grated vegetables, not pureed. The capsicum dip was slightly more tangy and spicy and was my pick of the three.
So back we tottered to the Mecca Bah, where we were ushered straight in without even checking our names. The first thing I asked the waiter who took our drink orders was what the dish the restaurant was most noted for was. He was a little startled but quickly came up with an enthusiastic ‘Well chef’s lamb pizza is the probably our most popular dish’
I was rather disappointed on two counts:
1. On the way, I had told Tracey that the one thing I knew I wasn’t going to eat was pizza because I have it a lot and I make a great pizza! (if I say so ma-self!)
2. I adore all Middle Eastern cuisine having grown up on it…...well, NEARLY all. I do NOT like the pides (pizzas) or the tabbhouli….’cause what is it with all that parsley?
But, this was for research, so I decided I had to ‘take one for the team’.

For entrée we ordered:

Sweet potato falafels, on tahini sauce $10 (unphotographed due to bad lighting and bad handling of new lens)

I have had a lot of experience with falafels in my time, some not pleasant….it can be overcooked, cooked in bad oil, made with non-fresh ingredients, or worse it comes out of a packet. The best falafel I have ever had was at a takeaway stall at the local Croydon Park primary school. Generous balls, golden and crisp on the outside and steaming hot, delicately spiced chickpeas filling within.
When the falafels landed on our table I was a little disappointed. They were small and dark, and I thought 'overcooked!’ but one crunchy bite into my first ….I was transported straight back to Croydon Park. Perfect!!! The sweet potato filling was only a little sweet and I could identify garlic, cumin, coriander and lemon in it also.
The tahini sauce was light and mild and I wondered if it had a little yoghurt in it? I would love the recipe!

Kataifi pastry filled with Middle Eastern cheeses $12

This pastry is intriguing! I first saw it on MKR with Veronica and Shadi’s winning dessert. When I had my first mouthful of these little pastries, I spent ages trying to figure out what the pastry was made of, as it nearly tasted like it may have had a bit of parmesan through it (Kataifi is actually a shredded pastry resembling shredded wheat)
And inside the spun crunchiness of the pastries was a taste explosion of creamy cheeses (I am guessing labne and feta) with a smattering of pine nuts. I wanted to just eat those all night.

Main: Garlic chicken kebab, mjaddarah, yoghurt sauce & tabouleh $22.50

The chicken was cooked perfectly. Succulent moist cubes on a skewer. Mjaddarah is real Middle Eastern comfort food….rice, lentils and onions. It is something I have wanted to learn to cook first and then learn to cook well. It was delicate; maybe a little too delicate; it wanted a tad more grease and salt.

Pizza-Spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac $20.50

There was a lot to like. No parsley for one thing!!! :) The meat was laid on the pide in tender grilled strips. The sumac added a nice light tang to the rich lamb and the bread, and the yoghurt drizzled over it was yum. I steered clear of the rocket to be honest; I eat enough rabbit food every other day to want to face it on naughty day. It was a shame the pizza got a little soggy on the bottom.

Dessert: ICE-CREAMS, 3 SCOOPS $9.50 (on the menu it is a little confusing as each flavour has the $9.50 price against it, but it is 3 scoops for that price.

We were pretty nearly stuffed; ok we were full as googs, so we decided to share a plate of 3 scoops of ice-cream.
Baked apple: You have to try this. I don’t know how they do it! I kept saying. 'They should call it Apple Crumble ice cream'…but no that description wasn’t quite right …Know what it tastes like? Apple Pie! How can ice-cream taste like Apple pie? Try it! Tell me what they put in it!
The Halva ice-cream was easily identified also, with chunks of halva through it. I loved it.
The Plum and Vanilla was a little ambiguous….I guess I could taste the vanilla….

Tracey and I relished the food at Mecca Bah overall. One of the very best things about it(probably just as important as its ambience) is its waiting staff. Friendly, efficient, constantly checking our drinks were full. And as we left, the waiter who had recommended the pizza, but had actually not served us anything beyond our drinks, came over as we were paying, to ask if we had had the pizza after all. I got a real sense from their behind the scenes banter with each other as we were leaving, that they enjoy each other’s company as well, a staff that gets along.

Bharat International Spice and Sweet Centre

2010-04-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Indian candy..........the very thought has left me glassy eyed for the last few days. Why? Well, here's the thing: each night Top Gear was on this past week, everyone else gathered round the box and ogled and giggled as though it was some kind of quality entertainment.

So I would snuggle up by myself on the bed with the portable DVD player and watch an episode of Feast India with chef Barry Vera. It is a DVD series I bought second hand to give my sister for Christmas several years ago, but after previewing it, I found I couldn't part with it! Sorry Robyn! The videographer captures India’s colorful and vibrant cities and villages; and the food….well you can nearly smell it. And so it is I have been daydreaming about Indian sweets for days…

When I Googled to find out where to get them here in Canberra, one place kept popping up: Bharat International Spice and Sweet Centre (1/17-23 Oatley courtBelconnen ACT (02) 6251 0455), though from now on in this post we will call it Bharat.

Bharat is tucked away in the industrial area of Belconnen, and it does not just sell sweets. After I arrived and confirmed with the owner Ravi, that Indian sweets were sold in the establishment, I relaxed and strolled around the aisles a while.

Oh my! Never have I been in a grocery store and known less about what to do with all the exotic ingredients on offer. I was inspired by my hopelessness. Maybe I should do a Indian cookery course…...

Look at all the different types of rice you can buy!

Yes, Indian sweets stocked up! Woot!

Check out these Supersize Me sacks of rice!

More rice.....

Coconut oil...brings back lots of memories of Kenya.

Assorted Indian snacks: 6 for $10

Supersize Me bags of cashew nuts.

They don't just sell food.

There is an extensive range of well priced savoury and hot food as well. You gotta love the lunch hours, huh! One of the customers told me he comes all the time and is hooked.

You can dine in.

Ok, enough browsing.... time to choose the sweets ! Hurray… so many of them were already familiar to me and took me straight back to a city stall in Mombasa. It was a tough choice but here is what I came up with.

I am not going to go into depth and try to pull out what every single ingredient is in each sweet...I think the mystery is half the exotic charm and enticement of Indian sweets...suffice to know that they are sweet, succulent and scented gently with spices.

Here is the rundown of what I chose, and I did not even sample half of the sweets they had.

Kalakand is a sweet made with paneer, khoya (solidified, sweetened milk) and cardamom, and it has an addictively moist crumbly fudge texture

Bangali Rasagoli is balls of chenna (freshly curdled milk)and semolina dough, cooked in sugar syrup. I didn't like it at all, but once I knew what it was made of, my taste buds re-computed and now it is one of my faves.

Khoya Cutlets- Khoya is a reduced fresh milk used in making desserts and curries, and this was a delicious sweet, bit like a dense buttery cake soaked with sweet syrup.

Ladoo Besan- crunchy nutty fudge balls- I could have sworn there was semolina in there, but maybe it is some type of powdered nut.

Milk Cake is the candy most people probably think of when they hear 'Indian candy'. It's fudge-like consistency tastes creamy and is delicately perfumed with cardomon

This is Rusgula, which seemed to be nearly the same thing as the Bangali Rasagoli (a few pics above), but that is confusing as they are very different in taste. This Rusgula was not as cheesy, and maybe it was deepfried before being soaked in syrup.

My favourite!!! Gulab Jamun: deep-fried sweet milky balls of dough, soaked in sweet syrup.

Eating a crumb of this one ( Sugar is not my friend, so I ration myself big bits of sugary substances that I call 'crumbs') was time travel. :) Each bite is delicately chewy and all the syrup soaks right into your waiting tastebuds. Oh my!

Ravi, who runs Bharat is friendly and helpful, and happy to have a chat. I have been looking for misri (though I didn’t know the name of it) for years, though no one really understood my description. Ravi, however, knew exactly what I meant, and the kids have eaten nearly all of it! 'Misri' comes from a Chinese word meaning “sweet-pebble-glassy’ and it sure is! It is a sugar candy, that looks like small pieces of glass. Mmmm! Ravi sometimes stocks a Fanta bottle that is just like the ones I grew up with in Kenya

Next time I get out my massive Indian cookbook and come up with an overly optimistic menu, I will go to Bharat and have Ravi help me find my way through the spices. Definitely going back for more!

Mogo Meanders

2010-04-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

We are just back from 5 relaxing days down at the South Coast. It was still warm enough to get wet twice a day, though the swimsuits didn't totally dry between uses. Halfway through our stay, we made our traditional pilgrimage to Mogo to visit the lolly shop, stock up on secondhand books and EAT!
The first port of call:

I can't eat sugar as a rule, and seeing as ice-cream doesn't really float my boat, I sat back and let the others try out their favourite flavours (and saved those naughty calories for this weekend!! haha!). The fact that we simply HAVE to visit this ice-cream joint every time we are down the coast must say something about its quality. :)

Flynn chose the Crazy Cone which he then decided must be rechristened 'Tutti's Fruiti's'. Word for word, he described it thusly: 'It is sort of cold, 'cause it is ice-cream. I think it is full of all sorts of fruit, 'cause it's tutti's fruiti's.'

Zac will always go for the licorice flavour of any food type if there happens to be that option....and at the Mogo IceCreamery he got lucky. He had a Stairway to Heaven scoop on top and a Licorice Licks scoop under it.

Licorice Licks- a strong licorice flavour mellowed by the creamy vanilla streaks.

Stairway to Heaven- a blend of vanilla and caramel icecream shot through with chunks of Belgian chocolate.

Kara had Stairway to Heaven on top of a scoop of Honeycomb Crunch which she says was generously full of crunchy honeycomb pieces.

Bodie's mango (top layer) /banana (bottom layer) duo is his usual...He chose the fake-ier banana choice, even though there is a true fruity banana option, because he felt that two truly fruity choices might be just all too real. Hmmm....

Andrew's scoop of Honeycomb Crunch was topped with Macadamia Nut, and the macadamias were still crunchy!

I would have had a scoop of Rum and Raisin if I had chosen to have some... :) Always my fave.

Then, just before we drove back to the shack, the bottom part of this sign drew us into the Blue Fox's lair.

To be honest, I probably only go a loaf of sourdough once a year. So while it is yummy, it is not a weekly neccessity. But all of a sudden, driving past the sign, we all NEEDED sourdough. Inside the cafe, we saw two types of sourdough in several sizes. The fruit and nut variation was not really how we roll....so we bought 2 of the large plain loaves.

I was skeptical of getting through even one loaf. Sourdough is an acquired taste for kids. The flash of brilliance, naming it 'injera bread'(only the kids favourite: Ethiopian sour pancake) saw the first loaf disappear rather rapidly down the children's gullets pretty much as soon as we got it sliced up.

Check this loaf out! Such a crunchy buttery crust. I would have been happy to eat all of the kid's crusts, 'cause that is the generous kind of human 'bean' I am, but they didn't leave me any.

The bread itself was warm, dense and just sour enough. I had a thick unadulterated slab, followed immediately by an equally thick slab, this time thoroughly corrupted by a generous smear (ok, two generous smears) of butter....and then I had to render emergency preventative measures immediately, (aka sucking hard and fast on a sugarfree lolly to rid my weakened tastebuds of all that addictive deliciousness) so that ten minutes later I would not be curled up in a remorseful heap on the kitchen floor, having polished off the second loaf on my own.