453/1038 - Polish sausage and potato salad

It appears I am on a bit of a recipe roll at the moment! 

There were some sensational pork and apple sausages in the freezer* which I thought would be a good substitute for Polish sausage. Thankfully I was right and this dish was absolutely wonderful. 

A little concerned about some of the ingredients being welcomed by my family, I chopped and mixed them with trepidation; the chopped gherkins for my husband and capers for my youngest. Amazingly, everybody liked everything! 

This was a really easy dinner to put together and I paired it with raw vegetables (peas straight from the pod, capsicum and cucumber) to continue with the wonderful theme of a quick and easy dinner.

Love x

*no I didn't make them, but look out for some sausage making action soon!

450, 451 & 452/1038 - Abalone 3 ways: Steamed/Sautéed with butter and lemon/With soy and ginger

With a bunch of beautiful abalone to hand (and uncertainty with regards to when I will have more) I decided to cook them a number of ways instead of using them all for one recipe. I am really glad I did too, because the recipe that turned out to be my least favourite was the one I was originally going to cook for us all!

The first method was by far my favourite and can be seen in the picture above. Coated in smoking oil, soy and spring onion, these were bursting with flavour. I used coconut instead of peanut oil which I can highly recommend! 

The second method I loved was simply steamed and then covered in soy and ginger. So, so simple but of course soy sauce is one of my favourite things and so it was almost a given that I would love this one too. 

The third and final method was to sauté the sliced abalone in butter and oil with garlic and parsley. My youngest liked this one the best. I thought it was lovely but think I preferred the slightly fresher flavour of the other two. It certainly is a first world problem, comparing abalone recipes! 

So there we have it folks - milestone 450 achieved with a bang x

449/1038 - George's chocolate nut cake

This cake responded to my keeping up with our constant stream of eggs and also the seemingly never-ending appetite of my hungry boys.

Out came the second version of The Cook's Companion for this recipe as it appears not to have made the cut for the final edition. It satisfied my needs as it required nine eggs (hooray!) and also ingredients I already had in the pantry. Admittedly there is not much I don't keep in my pantry!

Almond meal is something I always make myself in the thermomix using slivered almonds, but on this occasion I was down to my last handful. I substituted for whole almonds which I thought worked beautifully, providing a slightly earthier texture and taste. 

This cake was is incredibly moist in the middle and light on top. We loved the texture the whole almonds gave the cake and I was pleased I left my meal more coarse than usual. My husband came home late and so sadly missed out on the double cream we devoured before he arrived.  

With or without cream, this was definitely another hit x

448/1038 - Crab cakes

My own little crabby patties! (Apologies to those who are not across the whole SpongeBob caper...)

I do love a good fish cake and these definitely delivered. I made the beautiful golden breadcrumbs from a leftover soda bread and I am sure their milky flavour enhanced the finished product. Sticking with the truly home-made theme, I also whipped up a batch of mayonnaise to include in (and serve with) the patties. 

I decided to bake rather than fry these and so melted some butter and poured it over the top before I popped them in the oven to ensure they weren't completely boring. If I made them again I would redo this step but with even more butter! 

We ate these with gherkins and a lovely fresh fennel, spinach and orange salad.

Lovely. 

447/1038 - Marieke's chocolate cake

With our chickens still going great guns, I decided that today's cooking adventures would be all about eggs. As well as an open egg, bacon and chive tart which was absolutely amazing, I decided that a chocolate cake would be a fabulous choice for dessert. 

Confession time: I have made this cake once before! It is cooked in a water bath and last time I made it I was mortified to see that water had leaked into the tin, making the bottom of the cake soggy. I actually managed to rescue it, baking it again to dry it out, but decided not to post it anyway. 

So this is Marieke's chocolate cake, take 2.

I decided to halve the ganache amount and still felt I had plenty to spread around, so I would definitely recommend this tip to others! 

Not only were there were groans of happiness as my family took their first bites of this, but my husband has vowed to head for seconds before the night is through. 

Win! 

446/1038 - Choi sum and chinese mushrooms over rice

Such a fabulous and tasty dinner!

It has been a red rice fest in this house since my husband inadvertently purchased a couple of packets recently. I have really grown to love both the look and the flavour of this rice and will continue to keep some in my ever-expanding pantry. 

This dish was lovely, but choi sum, shiitake and rice is not complete without some fabulous chicken! I marinated some thighs with honey. soy sauce, ginger and sesame seeds and once fried, there was plenty of beautiful sauce to pour over our dinner. Paired with the mushroom and garlic sauce from the choi sum recipe, this meal got a big thumbs up from the boys. 

Sometimes it's the simple things...