167/656 - Potato frittata

Things have slowed down somewhat in the Cook's Companion Challenge kitchen.

No longer churning out recipes by the truckload, I seem to have hit an unexpected slow patch. I have decided to run with this new languid pace for a while, holding myself to only one recipe per week. Given this distinct lack of recent achievement I am currently patting myself on the back for achieving two posts over the last two days!

I made a very clever decision to photograph this little frittata BEFORE I flipped it tonight, thinking that the other side might not be quite as attractive. I was absolutely right! The frittata tasted wonderful, full of fresh tasting parsley, spinach and chives, but was a little lacking in attractiveness once flipped.

Being the slowest cook on the planet I was pleased that I made this in record time...even if I did have to put Trev on meat and veg duty to make it happen. 

166/656 - Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern orange cake

It's another orange cake! This time sans flour and full of almondy goodness.

This is another one of those recipes I have already made, right back at the beginning of this challenge, uncaptured and unphotographed. I actually think I did a better job of it this time, with the cake ending up nice and heavy but not too moist. 

I narrowly avoided a cooking disaster when I checked on the cake halfway through and realised it was browning a little too quickly on top. I turned the oven down a notch and covered the cake in foil for the last half hour. I recently learned (the hard way) that when covering something in foil in a fan-forced oven, it is important to secure the foil tightly, lest it wind up blown off and clinging to the rear wall of said oven. 

Although the top of the cake was quite brown it was not burnt at all, and created an almost crispy, surprisingly sweet topping. Sometimes I love my little kitchen accidents!

165/656 - Australian old-fashioned gramma pie

I love pumpkin pie!   

This is the first time I have tried making pumpkin pie myself and I really liked this version which is beautifully spicy and has a lovely lemony after taste. The currants were also a very nice addition which I think enhanced the presentation of what can be a dessert that is visually a bit bland. I decided to blend my pumpkin mixture to ensure a smooth consistency which, kitchen mess aside, I have decided was a very good idea. 

The pie was lovely but very sweet and so apart from Henry who is currently in eating mode (and doing a wonderful impersonation of a human vacuum cleaner), we managed only a small piece each. 

164/656 - Labna - yoghurt cheese

It may look simple but this recipe has been more than a few days in the making!

Labna is simply yoghurt that has been drained of excess fluid and rolled into lovely little cheesy balls. I used Greek yoghurt and found that I needed to hang it in muslin for a couple of extra days as it was still a bit wet in the centre after only two. It doesn't appear to have done my little labna any harm, and the balls are still soaking in oil, garlic and rosemary which means the flavour has been getting stronger and tastier each day. 

The labna balls have turned out to be a great little snack to have in the fridge, but I am also thinking they would be a lovely addition to a cheese platter or as an extra little bit of protein on the dinner plate alongside some roast lamb.   

163/656 - Roasted rosemary potatoes

These lovely potatoes were roasted in a hot oven covered in rosemary and olive oil and surrounded by smashed garlic.

They turned out just as you would hope, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Something I don't normally do is completely dry the potatoes before rolling them in the oil and I do believe I will keep up this practice to ensure crunchy skins in the future.  

I had six hungry eyes watching and waiting for me to take this picture and so the sea salt  and pepper were added post capture. I had thought that 750g of potatoes was a very large amount that would create some lovely leftovers, but was foiled yet again by a family who constantly surprise me with the amount they can put away.

162/656 - French onion soup from Stephanie's with home-made sourdough

Standing out in the cold this morning supporting my eldest in his sporting endeavours, I spent most of my time cheering his efforts, and the remainder of the time imagining how good this soup was going to taste when I got home.

I had cooked the onions yesterday and so all there was left to do was to stack two layers of sourdough, onions and gruyère in a bowl, cover it with stock and then toss it in the oven until bubbling.

And did I mention I made the sourdough myself?

I took Stephanie's advice (of course!) on how to make a simple sourdough, tearing a piece of dough from Wednesday's loaf and allowing it to "mellow" for a few days in a bowl covered with a damp cloth. I then incorporated the dough into yesterday's loaf and voilà! Simple sourdough.

I was a bit concerned at the thickness of the bread that was stuffed into my tiny little bowl, but after consuming my fare in record time I have decided I would not change a thing. The onions, bread, cheese and probably also the cognac all contributed to the wonderful finished product.

This is definitely a dish that will impress! My verdict? Superb.

161/656 - Rabbit baked with thyme and mustard

It was rabbit for dinner again tonight which means our freezer is now officially devoid of bunnies. This rabbit was supposed to be served up last night, but as per usual I didn't read the recipe until I started, and then cursed the fact that my little Bugs needed to be marinated in oil, garlic and thyme overnight.  

It was worth it though! After rubbing the marinated meat with dijon mustard (and squealing all the while because the rabbit pieces were so cold!) it was baked in the oven for 40 minutes. The result was a lovely tender rabbit with the most gorgeous tasty juices, which I happily poured over my entire meal. 

A little bunny is the perfect size to feed our family of four and so disappointingly there were no leftovers. If I were a terrible mother I might start cooking the extra special meals when the boys are not here. But of course only a terrible mother would think of doing that...

160/656 - Chocolate sorbet

It will be of no surprise to my friends that less than a quarter of the way through this challenge, I am already more than halfway through the chapter on chocolate.  There are eleven recipes of chocolate deliciousness in The Cook's Companion and this sorbet was effort number seven.   

Unlike any other chocolate sorbet I have tasted, this version tastes of chocolate (of course) but there are also subtle traces of coffee and cinnamon coming through which complement the chocolate flavour beautifully. 

I actually made this last night but my ice cream maker does not always play ball and so I had to pop the semi-frozen mixture into the freezer overnight to harden. It's a shame because the result is probably icier than it should be, but I don't think I will be hearing any complaints from my chocolate loving family.  

159/656 - Atlantic salmon with parsley and breadcrumb crust

Presenting yet more of our wonderful bounty from the Yarra Valley! This time some superb Atlantic salmon caught by a very patient Trev at Marysville trout and salmon ponds. This salmon was enormous, weighing in at 2.6kg and tasted absolutely amazing. Even after it had been frozen (we couldn't eat it all at once!) the flesh was still oily and fresh tasting.

The parsley and breadcrumb crust was simple to put together, with the parsley, olive oil, bread and garlic being whizzed up together in the Thermomix. Have I mentioned that I am in love with my Thermomix? It was an insanely expensive addition to my kitchen but the hours it has saved me have made the purchase worth it, time and time again.

I don't think I would have looked at this recipe twice had it not been for this challenge. In fact in my life pre-challenge I don't think I gave the parsley chapter a second glance. Little gems like these then, are surely what this challenge is all about. 

157&158/656 - Osso Buco & Gremolata

Osso Buco and Gremolata. What a lovely Italian meal they make!  

Many years ago I ordered Osso Buco at an Italian restaurant and was served a plate of quite tasteless, tough meat. After that experience I found myself looking at people strangely when they ordered this dish, wondering why on earth they would want to eat such a horrible meal. Only a few months ago I had my second experience of Osso Buco at my friend Lydia's house. Her version was absolutely wonderful and I finally understood what all the fuss was about!  

So tonight I ate my third Osso Buco and thanks to Stephanie's guidance, it was superb. The meat was so tender it fell off the bone as I was serving it up and we absolutely loved the sauce which was course enhanced by the lovely fresh gremolata. 

Thanks to Lydia and Stephanie, I am now officially an Osso Buco convert. 

156/656 - Salsa of mixed peppers

What a lovely simple way to make fish taste great!   

This little salsa of peppers was chopped up and left to marinate, or as Stephanie says, it was left to "mellow". I like this turn of phrase and think I may use it both in and out of the kitchen. "Boys can you please be like the salsa and go and mellow for 30 minutes?" Not sure how well that will work but at least I will get a kick out of saying it. 

A choice between cider vinegar and red wine vinegar was given for this recipe, and I decided to use a little of each. The truth is that I had a slurp of apple cider vinegar left in the cupboard that I feared might live there forever if I didn't use it up tonight.  Red wine vinegar I go through like it is going out of fashion. Apple cider vinegar not so much.

All going well this is looking like being quite a productive week in my little kitchen so watch this space! 

155/656 - Maggie Beer's barbecued kangaroo with anchovy vinaigrette and soft polenta

What an impressive name for a Sunday night dinner at home! I usually leave the kangaroo cooking to Trev, but thoroughly enjoyed doing it myself tonight using Stephanie's directions and my trusty stopwatch. 45 seconds each side in a hot pan, 2 minutes each side in a raging hot oven and then 5 minutes rest. 

The meat turned out beautifully, very rare, which is how we like to eat our kangaroo. The polenta was magically smooth and wonderfully cheesy and the vinaigrette added the most incredible flavour to the meat. It was a sour and salty little dressing which included my two favourite salty things; anchovies and capers.

I realise it's not a very humble thing to do, but when my plate had been wiped clean, I declared this meal to be one of the best I had eaten in a long time. 

Lucky for me the family agreed.

154/656 - Garlic prawns

I experienced mixed emotions when I first realised that our eldest child had developed a love of seafood to match my own. On one hand I was proud that he was adventurous enough to eat virtually anything that came out of the ocean, regardless of its appearance. On the other hand I became acutely aware of the extra little pair of hands grabbing for the last crayfish leg or marinated octopus.

Needless to say, Henry was at the table, sleeves pulled up and fork at the ready when these garlicky little babies came out of the oven. It might seem amazing that I have only just cooked this simple recipe. The truth is I have gone to cook this many times and am always gazumped at the first step, which is to marinate the garlic in oil overnight. I can never wait that long!

We enjoyed the marinade on this dish so much we threw it over the chicken that is busily barbecuing itself for our main course enjoyment. 

153/656 - Washday pudding

Oh what a fabulous way to end the week!

I bought myself a pudding tin a few weeks ago and have been dying to try it out. Imagine my disappointment when I tried to drop it into my largest saucepan tonight, only to find it didn't fit! In the end I managed to tip it in sideways with one of the pesky wide handles pointing downwards, deep in the water. 

I assumed that the pudding would only cook on one side due to my lopsided steaming effort and so was very pleased to find the pudding evenly steamed. Learning for the day; puddings are foolproof!

The honey sauce I made earlier was nice and thick by the time the pudding was steamed, and turned out to be a lovely topping, teamed with a few dollops of thick cream for good measure. 

152/656 - Simple coconut-milk fish curry

It has been an enormous day of cooking in my kitchen today! Pancakes, dinner rolls, honey sauce, pudding and this little gem I found hiding in the fish chapter.  

As the title of this recipe states, this is a wonderfully simple dish to make. The fish is poached in coconut milk spiced up with spring onions, SIX cloves of garlic (yes six!), lemongrass, chillies, kaffir lime leaves and fish sauce. We ate this on rice with piles of carrots and beans and the very tasty dinner rolls I created today which were fabulous for soaking up the extra juices.

151/656 - Honey sauce

I made this sauce in readiness for tonight's pudding. Made from honey, vanilla, cream and butter, this sauce will be at it's best when cooled and thickened. Pudding post to come!

150/656 - Mary's rabbit pie

It's a rabbit-fest at our house!

Another wild rabbit from our Yarra Valley food tour was consumed tonight in this wonderful, although very time consuming, pie. I have mentioned before that I am not a fast cook, but four hours to prepare a mid-week dinner has to be a record even for me. 

The first step was to poach the rabbit. For two hours. Damn. I didn't start cooking until 3:30 having spent the afternoon chatting to my Dad, but having promised rabbit pie to my boys for dinner, rabbit pie it was going to be.  

Step 2 - Make shortcrust pastry. I realise that making pastry is not for everybody but I am completely hooked on the taste and I am getting good at it too! Stephanie would have been VERY proud of tonight's effort. My best yet by a mile. As my friend Emma would say, I am getting my pastry hands!

Step 3 - Sauté bacon and mushrooms, then sear liver and kidneys. My little rabbit came sans liver, but I was amused frying my first kidneys to find that they bounce like superballs. 

Step 4 - Toast almonds and mix with everything else cooked so far to make the filling. Add parsley for lovely green colour and as it turns out, fantastic flavour. 

Step 5 - Make decadent, creamy white sauce mixed with rabbit stock, lemon juice and cream. Mix with rabbit and other bits. 

Step 6 - Roll out pastry and bake blind. 

Step 7 - Make breadcrumbs. Thank you Thermomix. 

Step 8 - Put it all together and bake until lovely and brown. 

Looking back I am not as embarrassed at the four hour cooking time as I thought I might be. As well as being a fantastic dinner, tonight's effort also represented recipe number 150 (hooray!) and also my first completed chapter. Only 506 recipes and 113 chapters to go. 

It's OK, even I think I'm mad.  

149/656 - Rabbit with prunes

When we cook wild rabbit I always feel like we are doing our bit for the environment, supporting the eradication of the little pests. That is until I read that rabbit shooters would need to snare approximately 150 million rabbits each year to begin to reduce the size of the population. Not sure that my thrice annual wild rabbit purchase is going to make a whole lot of difference there!

This revelation, however, does not change the amount I enjoy eating a well cooked Flopsy. I loved this recipe, the generous amount of bacon, the meat of course, but most of all the prunes which were always going to taste divine after soaking in French brandy and a hefty glug of Shiraz. 

I did not serve this on mashed potato as was suggested, but all the better for my family. I reserved rather than served most of the juices which means rabbit risotto for Sunday lunch. 

148/656 - Grilled spiced Indian quail with fried coconut

So I have finally had a go at grilling dainty little quail.

I was quite surprised at how robust these little birds were, finding it easier than expected to separate the skin from the breast. The lovely smelling spice paste was rubbed under the skin, all over the fleshy side and finally over the wee little legs. 

The birds took only 9 minutes to grill, talk about fast food! I skipped the boning step because we were really hungry and scattered some of my lovely fried coconut over the toasty birds. Ten minutes later we had devoured this tasty little entrée. 

In my opinion the meat tasted a bit like duck but nowhere near as fatty. This of course means that quail has now jumped to a very lofty position on my list of favourite things to eat. Cooked the Stephanie way of course!

147/656 - Quail eggs in coconut sauce

How cute are quail eggs! 

We picked up these little beauties on the weekend at Yarra Valley Game Meats who have the most amazing range of products. The minimum purchase was two dozen eggs so apart from the few that we could not resist eating, I decided to dramatically increase the egg to sauce ratio in this recipe. 

The first step was to boil the eggs and interestingly I could not find cooking times for quail eggs in my Cook's Companion. Of course I found the info on the web (5min boiling compared to 8min for a chook egg) but am wondering if this information might have been included in the new "rainbow" version of the book. It is of course possible that I just missed it so would be happy to hear from anybody who can find it in either one. 

I used some of my lovely fried coconut in this sauce, along with onion, tomato (seeded and peeled), a very Indian array of spices (heaven) and coconut milk. The smell of the sauce cooking took me back to the early days of my marriage when I went through an extraordinarily long spell of preparing Indian food on an almost daily basis. I am still quite partial to Indian food but prefer a wider variety in my diet nowadays. 

I will definitely make this again and think I might even give it a go with chicken eggs given that we have them on tap at our place. Whether it be a disaster or a success I will be sure to add a post script to share the result.

146/1038 - Fried coconut

I am preparing to embark on a journey filled with all things quail. In preparation, I have made this incredible smelling concoction which will adorn both my quail eggs and my first ever grilled quail. 

Who knew coconut could smell so good? And I am not even hungry after stuffing myself silly with fat, juicy goat sausages from the lovely Ken at Yarra Valley Game Meats who we visited yesterday as a part of our family foodie day trip.   

This gorgeous smelling pile of coconut was fried with garlic, spring onion, coriander and freshly ground cumin and should last for about a week. I have already boiled and peeled my quail eggs ready for the next recipe but after a day of egg hunting (Easter eggs that is) I am wondering if it might be time to test out some of our wine purchases instead. 

145/1038 - Popcorn

Popcorn means several things to me; going to the movies, lolly gobble bliss bombs (which I actually haven't eaten in years) and a really cool song that was big when I was small. Tonight I made popcorn the Stephanie way and it was quite a different experience. There were two choices to be made when making this recipe and it was all about the seasoning. Olive oil or butter? Cayenne pepper or cumin seeds? 

I chose the oil and the seeds.

The olive oil was lovely and of course healthier than butter in it's raw form, and I liked the cumin seed flavour, although more would have been nice. The boys absolutely loved popcorn done this way which was not at all a part of my late night snacking plan.

Sadly for them their pilfering has left me hungry and I have spent the last half hour searching for their Easter eggs. I am not sure what is worse, stealing Easter presents from my children* or the fact that my husband knows well enough to hide them from me.

*Fortunately for my children my searching proved fruitless. And eggless. 

144/1038 - Leeks à la grecque

I love to find new ways of cooking my vegetables and these leeks were the highlight of our dinner tonight. Apparently they were cooked in the Greek way with olive oil, tomato paste, herbs, garlic and lemon juice. The finished product was beautifully tender and well flavoured. 

Apparently this method of cooking also works well for other vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini and okra. I particularly like the sound of cooking mushrooms this way and will be trying it out with my breakfast eggs in the morning.

Yum.

143/1038 - Kangaroo tail soup

It has been a gamey week in our house. Venison pie, venison steaks and now roo tail soup. 

The kangaroo tail was easy enough to find at the Queen Vic market (in the deli section if you are interested) but the venison was a different story. I don't have a problem with being a meat eater, but as we travelled down the very long driveway of the Venison Farm in Bass I was trying desperately not to catch the eye of any of the beautiful deer that ran to the fence to have a look as we passed. The thought that we might be taking home one of their parents in our esky was almost too much for me.

Almost, but not quite. The pie and the steaks were delicious and I am quite keen to tuck into the venison roast currently residing in our freezer.

Needless to say I was pleased I did not have to eyeball a kangaroo in order to obtain my tail. The soup needed to simmer for four hours and stupidly I decided to cook this on an evening when a better decision would have been to curl up in bed with a good book. I dutifully simmered and skimmed for about an hour, and then my energy flagged and I ended up on the couch with a glass of wine.

Unbeknownst to me, my soup started to boil and a good amount of it boiled away before I finally came back to do another skim. So what we ended up with was a lovely rich soup with deep flavours, but much less of it than there should have been. I am so glad I caught it when I did and saved enough of the soup to make Skippy losing his tail worthwhile.

142/1038 - Fennel-seed breadsticks

I have recently taken to making our bread from scratch on an almost daily basis (industrious I know!) and stumbled across this recipe whilst reading up on fennel. Very sneaky to hide additional bread recipes in a herb chapter!

I have a little pot of saffron threads which largely sits unused on my shelf and so I was excited that a pinch was required for this recipe. I actually love saffron but most of the time I forget it is there. A bit like my tin of moghrabieh. I love it but it’s not an ingredient that springs to mind when I am planning a meal.

Stephanie advised that this recipe would work equally well fashioned into either four breadsticks or 20 dainty grissini. I was very tempted to make grissini but just knew they would be a diet disaster waiting to happen. I would most certainly have polished off a mountain of them, convincing myself each time that “they are only small and so another one will not hurt”.

So breadsticks it had to be. Stumpy little breadsticks in this case.

We had a late night taste and the fennel seed has been declared a winner. And I thought I would be in trouble with grissini in the house...

141/1038 - Sponge topping

My eldest was particularly helpful around the house last week which meant he was granted the opportunity to choose a special dinner or dessert. Completely out of the blue he requested sponge cake. 

Given I have only completed five out of twenty two recipes in the basics chapter (now six) I was pleased to be handed the opportunity to knock off another one. This sponge was supposed to be a topping for either poached or puréed fruit but having neither on hand, I decided to use freshly diced peaches and plums instead.

The result? A lovely, light dessert that would have been even better with a dollop of cream or ice cream. Or if I had been more organised, some lovely home-made custard.

140/1038 - Fast red-wine sauce

My husband looked after the roast for dinner tonight while I whipped up this lovely little sauce.

Somehow between us we overlooked the steaming of the greens and so it was a decidedly red, brown and orange dinner tonight. My children are hardly on the brink of scurvy given the amount of vegetables we regularly force into them so I will forgive us both this oversight on this occasion.

The roast was extra tasty tonight, covered in basil, oil and oregano. My little sauce went down very well, although I probably could have reduced it a bit further. I tend to rush things when the family look as if they are about to chew their arms off from hunger. 

Thankfully I was not in such a rush that I forgot to add the rather large knob of butter to the finished sauce. What a lovely shine! What a lovely taste...

139/1038 - Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise, simple right? Not in my kitchen.

I have decided there is one thing that has taken me from being a cook who creates regular disasters to one who can accomplish almost anything in the kitchen given enough time. That thing is the ability to rescue a failed dish.

I decided to third this recipe and so began using only one egg yolk, a waft of salt and a dash of champagne vinegar. In went the olive oil, but only half the recommended amount as I have found this recipe to be rather oily on past attempts. No disrespect to Stephanie intended, I am sure this comes down to personal taste. With the oil added, my mayonnaise seemed a tad runny so I decided to add an extra egg yolk. The result was very, very yellow but the consistency was much better.

I opted for white pepper to pep up the taste and also added more salt, some pepper and an extra dash of champagne vinegar to reduce the oily taste that I abhor in a mayonnaise. I was very pleased with the final result and my curried eggs tasted better than they ever have before.

Added bonus - I somehow managed to ignore the lovely bread I made last night and ate my eggs wrapped in lettuce leaves so a double win for me today!

138/1038 - Mietta's chocolate cake

We had dinner at my mum's place tonight which in my opinion is always cause for celebration!

Mum loves to cook for people as much as I do and has bunches of people over what seems like every other week. It's fairly obvious where I inherited my love of entertaining! Tonight we were lucky enough to be treated to leftovers from yet another big lunch she hosted on Saturday.

Party leftovers/dinner tonight started with fried halloumi, figs cooked in red wine syrup and a drizzle of fig balsamic. Next were gorgeous garlic and herb toasts topped with buttery, herby chicken and home grown silverbeet on the side. If that was not fattening enough, I brought out this wonderful cake to finish with which was topped with chocolate and brandy butter cream. 

The cake needed something special to finish it off and the lovely Chas came through with some dried rose petals. Eaten with whipped cream (and in my case an extra handful of rose petals) this cake was rich and amazing. I think I had it in the oven for just a couple of minutes too long but I am a huge fan of a crusty edge on a cake so I was very happy.

137/1038 - Vietnamese Mang Cua soup

I have a child who is obsessed with seafood. We were recently dining at Bokchoy Tang (which is fabulous by the way) and it took quite some effort to convince him that he could not order the live lobster. Apart from the astronomical price, we had a show to attend and did not have time to sit around while a lobster was killed for his gastronomic enjoyment. 

So when he spied some lovely looking crab at the market, he asked if we might buy some to make up for the lack of lobster in his recent diet. First word problem #34...really, sometimes I wish my children would understand what it really means to be deprived!

So tonight it was “so good you want to lick the bowl” Vietnamese Mang Cua soup. I was going to make the crab cakes but to be honest they sounded like slightly more effort than the soup and being a Sunday night I went for what appeared to be the easier option.

Being the slow cook that I am I was pleased that this really was a 10 minute "throw it all together and you are finished" kind of soup. The picking of the crab meat was another story of course and I will be pleased if I do not look at another crab leg in a very long time. 

Even better than satisfying my son's seafood craving, I was able to use a perfect little chilli from my garden tonight which I have been saving for something special. Warm fuzzies all 'round.

136/1038 - Brown lentil salad

Let’s face it, lentils do not have a great reputation. My family will eat them but there is certainly not much excitement displayed when they are presented at the dinner table.

With this in mind I halved this recipe remembering all too well the times I have been the only person ploughing through lentil leftovers. Well actually it’s me and the chickens, who inevitably end up with the final scoop or two that I can’t quite get through.

Something I didn’t see coming was the salad being almost completely demolished by me during the writing of this post - it was that good! I am sure the boys will be thrilled.

135/1038 - Barbecued chicken wings

Let it be said that the boys in this family like chicken. I mean they REALLY like chicken. So tonight's dinner was seen as an extra special treat that will keep me on the family pedestal for many days to come. Of course it also means happy boys and lots of hugs for me so a win-win situation!

The wings were cooked in the oven, tucked in a dish and slathered in a heavenly mixture of oil, hoisin, soy, sambal oelek, tomato paste, garlic, ginger and stock.  

I was literally playing with fire as they cooked, leaning into the oven with the tongs and turning them every so often. The oven was so incredibly hot I was actually yelping as I did it until my (wise) 8 year old advised that I “really should be wearing an oven mitt to do that job.” Smart kid I have there.

I was very well behaved and only ate one wing, although I think I could have happily devoured a plateful. The boys managed two each and I have been smothered in kisses since the plates were stacked so hooray for Stephanie yet again.  

134/1038 - Sweetcorn brunch fritters

I used these corny fritters as another interesting way to serve up a vegetable with our dinner tonight.

The first job was to grate the corn cobs and I was thrilled that I managed, after recently surviving three quite decent knife cuts, to complete this task without a scratch. Unfortunately for me there was still some collateral damage with my hair and walls ending up spattered in bright yellow corn juice. At least I know the corn was fresh!

They were cooked in the same fashion as pancakes, turning them over when little bubbles appeared on the surface. Response from the family was positive but not overwhelming. Next time I will make sure we have some maple syrup and bacon on hand to make eating these a truly special experience. 

133/1038 - Asparagus with coddled eggs

Coddled eggs in our house are usually served with salt, pepper and sage (me) or heaped with freshly grated parmesan (my youngest). My eldest is an experimenter and tends to change the contents of his around a bit. But after today I have a new favourite combination!

Much better than boiled eggs, the coddled variety have extra ingredients added to them prior to cooking which means plenty of flavour in the eating. Coddled eggs à la Stephanie are AMAZING! A spear of asparagus is dipped into the egg and then rolled in herbs and toasted, buttery breadcrumbs. And did I mention the dash of cream that was added to the cooked egg?

I said goodbye (temporarily) to my healthy eating regime whilst consuming this mid-afternoon snack...but it was worth it.

132/1038 - Wilted cucumber salad

This book is crammed full of hidden, healthy treasures if you know where to look.

I am on day two of a healthy eating regime and am feeling quite pleased with my progress so far. I know it seems a little early to be patting myself on the back but willpower is not one of my strong points and so I have learned to celebrate every victory, no matter how small.

After eating a bowl of left over pumpkin soup for lunch, I made myself this healthy salad as I was craving something with crunch. I didn’t have any borage flowers on hand but my herbs are amazingly bushy after all the sunshine and rain we have been having so I happily tossed in a large handful.

Mid-way through demolishing the salad I decided to add a sprinkle of Spanish paprika which was mind-blowingly hot but just the bit of added flavour I was seeking. Given that it was too late to take a picture of the salad with paprika on top I thought I would add one of the paprika tin instead.
        

Wouldn't supermarket shopping be more enjoyable
if there was more of this fabulously daggy
James Bond-esqe packaging to be found
 on the supermarket shelves?

131/1038 - Herb and pumpkin soup

After overloading on way too much food over the last few months I am on a mission to cook myself light, healthy carb-free meals. Only for a short while of course, and only until I shrink down to my regular size, pre eating frenzy.

Stephanie's herb and pumpkin soup was the first healthy cab off the rank. This recipe produced a HUGE quantity which should cover me for a few days worth of lunches and snacks. Don't be fooled by the drool-worthy garlic croutons you see in the picture. They were made for my boys who are definitely not watching what they are eating and would be devastated if I removed carbs from their dinner menu.

When I blend my soups I like to leave at least some texture remaining to keep things interesting, and so as we ate tonight there were still lovely little pieces of potato to be found. Now if only I could figure out a way to keep my mind off that garlic bread...

130/1038 - Onion and cheese tart

I love it when I cook something and the result is quite unexpectedly wonderful!

The pastry for this tart was made from scratch and I am pleased to report that it turned out perfectly - all buttery and soft and melt-in-your mouth good. But the filling! So soft and light with lovely, sweet onions and the gorgonzola creating just enough bite so as to be tasty but not overpowering.

I was chatting to one of my friends about Stephanie and we both agreed that she must be at least a little bit French. All that butter and cream she uses – it really is quite amazing how much of it we have gone through in this house since this challenge began. 

The only downside to this challenge is that my rapidly expanding repertoire in the kitchen is slowly being matched by my rapidly expanding waistline! I do believe it is time to seek out some more of those healthy vegetarian recipes that I just know are hiding in the book somewhere.

129/1038 - Dill pickles

I happened upon some lovely little cucumbers this week and picked them up with this recipe in mind. I have loved dill pickles since I was small and so I am particularly excited to see how these turn out.

It will be two weeks until the cucumbers are properly pickled and so now we wait...

128/1038 - Chocolate and almond cake

This cake was the fulfilment of a promise I made to the kids for something sweet tonight. Apparently it is based on the French classic reine de Saba or Queen of Sheba's cake which of course sounds incredibly exotic and made it very hard to resist giving it a try.

I made the almond meal and the castor sugar in the Thermomix although as per usual I over-blitzed the sugar and had a lovely sugary cloud following me around the kitchen. 

The end result was lovely and gooey and very, very decadent. Sweet cravings satisfied!

127/1038 - Rosemary and polenta pan bread

The boys (all three of them) loved the cornbread I made in November for Thanksgiving so I am assuming they will also appreciate this pan bread which will be served with dinner tonight.

I decided to make the variation of this recipe which was to use yoghurt and milk instead of buttermilk. The recipe count for this challenge does not include any of these variations or side-note suggestions and I have been wondering lately if I might be tempted to complete all of those once this initial recipe challenge has been achieved.

Anyway back to the bread! It came out of the oven smelling wonderfully of rosemary and has an unusual texture, much like a cake but quite coarse. I am predicting some smiling faces at the dinner table tonight!

126/1038 - Fettuccine with gorgonzola

My children eat an amazing variety of foods but I thought it might be presumptuous to serve blue cheese to them without warning. With this in mind, I made two versions of this pasta dish tonight. The first I made with an incredibly creamy and lovely imported gorgonzola that I picked up from Cardamone's in Fairfield. The second version was put together with mozzarella (also lovely and also from Cardamone's) which produced a meal only children could love, with a big gooey hunk of melted cheese swimming in sauce.

The great news is that everybody enjoyed their meals. The even better news is that the boys tasted the gorgonzola and loved it! My learnings from today – never assume, and run the taste test before cooking!

125/1038 - Praline

Having a tray of left over caramel and some banana ice-cream from previous cooking adventures, I decided to make some praline and turn these three elements into a dessert.

Toffee was boiled and poured over a pile of toasted almonds. Once set, it was chopped into pieces of a respectable size. It took quite some willpower to resist the urge to curl up on the couch and scoff handfuls of this sugary goodness until I was light in the head. But resist I did, and the praline helped to create a very neat, and oh-so-sweet little dessert. Of course I still have praline left over and this, paired with a severe lack of willpower means that couch session could still be on the cards.

124/1038 - Anchovy butter

At Stephanie's suggestion, I served some toast with anchovy butter alongside our cucumber soup tonight.

Anchovies are a fabulous way to divide a group and as expected half of our party was in the "I love anchovies" camp and the other half were firmly in the camp that performs vigorous head shaking and screwing up of noses at the mere mention of this little fish.

I was a gracious host and allowed for plain butter to be spread by the non-believers, but I was personally thrilled with how this little butter turned out. It was whizzed quite well due to my trusty thermomix and so there was only the occasional anchovy lump to be found. A smooth texture is wonderful but I imagine I should label the container carefully. It is a lovely butter but probably not so good if accidentally spread with vegemite or jam.

123/1038 - Cold cucumber soup

With friends coming for dinner on a 38°C day it made sense to give this refreshing cold soup a try.

Complete with absolutely loads of dill (my poor little dill plant may never be the same again!) this soup was flavoursome but not overbearing. Sour cream and egg yolks gave the soup a lovely creaminess and sherry and lemon zest added to the depth of flavour.

This one was a hit with only one of the kids (out of a very critical group of four) but the adults loved it so I am happy to call this one another success.

122/1038 - Stir-fried okra and prawns

I would like to officially thank Stephanie for introducing me to okra!

Apparently the mucilage that oozes out of the okra when it is sliced is a turn off for some people but not for my family. Complemented by spring onion, prawns, chilli and garlic this was a quick little fry up that was gobbled up in minutes.

Highly recommended as a tasty snack or entrée.

121/1038 - Warm spinach salad

I had a beautiful bunch of spinach delivered to me this week and tonight I decided to turn some of it into a lovely salad. I quartered the recipe to make an individual serve as the boys were busy chowing down on pizza and were not at all interested in joining me.

The spinach was tossed in a pan with oil and champagne vinegar and then put together with crispy bacon and a boiled egg. Seasoned only with cracked pepper, I was thrilled with the taste, not quite believing how quickly I had put my dinner together.