369/984 - Baked ricotta with fennel, cumin and coriander

As if a dinner party is not busy enough to prepare for...of course I decided to make my own cheese too!

Making ricotta is such a fun little science experiment. Simply heat the milk and salt (and cream if you like) and add lemon juice or vinegar (I added both) and watch the magic happen. As the curds started to separate I removed them with a slotted spoon. I could see that there was still some creaminess to the liquid and so kept adding lemon juice and vinegar until the whey looked more like yellow water.

Three litres of milk made me enough ricotta to cook this recipe and also my modified version of palak paneer the following evening. 

I shaped the ricotta into a roll for baking, but due to the excessive fluid it slowly melted as it baked! No matter, a flat baked ricotta with toasted, ground spices was still fabulous, if a little unattractive. It was even better rolled inside a piece of home-made flatbread.

I kept the whey to add into our scrambled eggs and gave the remainder to the chickens.

Something for everybody x

Lovely ricotta, a very tomato-ey palak paneer, baked ricotta
and scrambled eggs with whey.

368/984 - Chickpeas with spinach

Just one element of a dinner party spread, this dish was simple and surprisingly lovely. This particular dinner party was in honour of my newest second cousin, baby James. Of course he was too little to partake but his parents were willing participants!

As per usual, I forgot to soak the chickpeas overnight. This is not really a problem for an early riser given that a few hours soaking in the morning is enough to do the trick. 

I decided to serve most of the dishes cold on this evening, and so after cooking the spinach, chickpeas and onion I popped them into the fridge. I also mixed up the yoghurt with mint and garlic and left that in the fridge separately, hoping that the garlic flavour would seep through the yoghurt by dinner time (which it did!).

We all adored this combination and with a pinch of paprika it was full of flavour. This one will definitely be repeated, and the yoghurt mix is likely to appear again as a dip or sauce for vegetables.

367/984 - Slow-roasted loin of pork with garlic, rosemary and fennel

It was a porky night at our place tonight, with the slow roast being the highlight of our evening. Until the marshmallows were cooked in the chiminea of course...

The loin I bought was already rolled and so I had to unroll it in order to fill it with the beautiful marinade of oil, garlic, rosemary, fennel leaves and cracked pepper. I would like to report a deft re-rolling of the roast, however it was more like an awkward wrapping of an odd-shaped present. I got it done but have vowed to google the correct technique very soon!

Amusingly, when the diced veg and bones were removed from the pan to make way for the roasting vegetables, the family descended, gnawing at the bones and eating the vegetables straight from the pan. Needless to say, I did not make the jus to serve with our meal. 

I added some mushrooms, zucchini and carrots to the pan for the last hour along with the potatoes and fennel to round out the meal. Lovely roast, good crackling...and finished with gooey marshmallows. Perfect.

366/984 - Mouclade

Fairfield Farmer's market was on yesterday and we paid a little visit to Western Port Mussels. 

My family absolutely adores mussels and we are yet to find a mussels recipe we do not love. My lovely Henry helped me de-beard and clean the entire two kilograms and once that was done the recipe was a snap. 

I steamed the mussels in some white wine that I deemed not quite fabulous enough to drink, along with some shallots and cracked pepper. 

The creamy sauce was made with the reserved juices and was plate-lickingly fabulous. Pouring it over the mussels was interesting, with the shells catching the juice and sending it spraying around the kitchen. A word of warning - pour gently!

I decided to serve the mussels on top of a lovely fresh salad, which meant more bits and pieces for the juices to soak into. The best news? Plenty of leftover sauce to drizzle over my breakfast vegetables.  

365/984 - Spiced beef curry - daging rempah

Don't you just love it when you make something that blows your family away? 

This curry had the most incredible flavour, with the tamarind adding a wonderful bite. In true Malaysian style I have just eaten the leftovers for breakfast...

There were a few small changes I made to the recipe, some intentional, some not. I used tamarind paste instead of pulp and also replaced the vegetable oil with coconut, which is my preferred oil to use wherever possible. The biggest change I made was the result of a lack of labelling in our freezer, with the defrosted beef turning out to be lamb rump. (Yummy mistake!) I didn't have any dark soy (replaced with regular) and was fresh out of fresh chillies and so used six good pinches of the dried variety. Apart from that I followed the recipe completely!

With a ninety minute simmer time this was not a quick meal, but the long cooking time was absolutely worth it. Unbelievable. 

Blended spices which smelled incredible!

364/984 - Cheese rarebit (or rabbit)

My eldest scored a goal in his final soccer game today and this was his reward! Confession: I was making these anyway but don't tell him that!

I was a bit shocked when I was measuring out the cheese for this recipe, convinced that it was going to be way more than we could eat. It turns out I was right, but I imagine a very hungry person could polish off this amount (as in one third of what you see above, plus what was left in the pan) with a very large piece of toast to support it. This bread is home-made and my loaves are quite petite compared to commercial versions and so our toast was on the small side. 

Filled with rich ingredients such as melted butter, cheese and English mustard, this was not a snack for the faint hearted. Literally!

I couldn't help adding some parsley on top, convincing myself that this would make things just a little bit healthier. I have no idea who I was kidding....this was absolutely decadent and has definitely confirmed my decision to complete a gut busting workout later today. 

363/984 - Yoghurt cheese pie

This pie was yum, yum, yum!

I adore Greek yoghurt and we always have a large tub in the fridge. The last tub I bought was a different brand to my usual pot set variety...and I didn't like it. This recipe was my way of getting rid of the last of the offending yoghurt, which I found weirdly creamy and not very nice at all. Hooray for an empty tub and a new bucket of Jalna on its way.

This pie also had a good lump of goat's cheese included which is one of our very favourite things. When I was buying it I was amused to find that the only variety available had black truffle included, which inflated the price but in the overall pie, made no difference to the taste whatsoever. 

I must confess to adding my eggs to this recipe in the most unusual way. I had five egg whites left over from my ice-cream adventure, and so used these along with four frozen egg yolks from the freezer. I didn't bother to thaw the egg yolks, but instead just blitzed them in the thermomix along with the rest of the ingredients. This explains the orange spots in my pie!

We ate this with an entire bunch of baked kale and some raw red capsicum. Absolutely wonderful. 

362/984 - Rice-paper rolls with chicken filling

We love rice paper rolls in our house and so it is surprising that it has taken me this long to make this recipe. 

Something a lot of people might not realise is that there is more than one type of rice paper. The way to tell the difference is to look on the packet for either the word "deo" which means soft, or "sieu mong" which means very thin. These words indicate rice paper that can be softened quickly and are best for rice paper rolls that will be eaten immediately. All other types (that do not have "deo" or "sieu mong" on the packet) will be more suitable for rolls that are to be pre-made. 

Tonight we used sieu mong rice paper, gobbling up the rolls the minute they were made. 

We didn't mix all of the ingredients together, choosing instead to stack them on the rice paper in the amounts that suited us best. I like mine piled with cucumber and loads of coriander and with a good helping of roasted peanuts. 

We really must eat these more often; such an easy and fabulous meal and everybody rolls their own. Perfect!

361/984 - Fennel and tomato fish soup

It has become such a habit to pick up The Cook's Companion when I am planning meals that I sometimes wonder how it is going to feel when this challenge is over. Last night's soup was again one of those recipes that I might not have bothered to try if it were not for this challenge....and what a shame that would have been! 

My favourite thing about this dish was the citrus zest. I say citrus and not orange, because the closest thing to an orange I had in the fruit bowl was a tangelo. The recipe called for a strip of zest and I added quite a large piece because I love the tangy flavour so much. Once the soup had been blended it added an incredible freshness that made me pleased I had over-zested!

This recipe was in the fennel chapter, and while I am sure the fennel added to the amazing flavour of this soup, it was interesting to note that it was a bit lost in the overall taste.

Blended to a smooth consistency, and then with the addition of potato cubes and fish, this was a really lovely meal. 

Of course made even better with the addition of wonderful home-made soda bread x

360/984 - Mandy's coconut and caramel slice

Who doesn't love a caramel slice? 

This version was not as sweet as the caramel slices I have eaten in the past and I think there were two reasons for this. Firstly I made this in quite a large pan which meant that it was thinner than usual. Secondly, the base was very different from the standard biscuit base, this one made from a wonderful mix of coconut, nuts, oats and cinnamon. 

This was the second half of my high tea Father's Day spread, a lovely sweet finish to the savoury cheese and onion scones. My eldest polished off five pieces before I could herd him away from the plate and I must confess to sneaking a couple of pieces in quick succession.

I love Stephanie's idea of making this without the caramel, turning the recipe into one for a lovely chocolate covered biscuit. 

Now to figure out how to ignore the rest of the slice which is beckoning me from the fridge...

359/984 - Cheese and onion scones

I decided to prepare a mini high tea for my Dad for Father's Day. On the menu was a caramel slice (post to come!) and a batch of cheese and onion scones. 

While Stephanie recommends the adding of cheese to the scone mixture, I decided to also add onion and cayenne pepper to spice things up a little. I minced half an onion finely to ensure an even spread of taste, and added the cayenne in and on top of the scones.

Although the recipe instructed the use of an appliance to mix the flour and butter, it is something I like to do by hand because it reminds me of when I was small, watching my mum do the same thing.

I wrapped the scones in a tea towel as soon as they were cooked and they were still warm when we got to my Dad's. They were lovely, but due to my fear of over cooking them, I accidentally undercooked the ones in the middle; a problem which was easily rectified by quick thinking and my Dad's George Foreman grill.

The empty plate at the end of our Father's Day visit was a good sign of success...

358/984 - Potato flatbreads

With two friends coming over for dinner, I decided to make Stephanie's tried and true lasagne and these potato flatbreads to serve alongside. 

Given the small amount of potato in the mixture, I was interested to see if they tasted any different to other versions of flatbreads I have made. 

I decided to add an olive oil/rosemary/sea salt topping and threw them in the oven hoping for the best. Straight out of the oven, I was delighted to note that there was a slight hint of potato chip in the flavour. As they cooled, the main difference I noted was the slight crispiness to the shell of the breads which I assume was from the starch in the potato. Such an interesting texture, and not at all chewy.

I really liked these, however the long proving time means that although I will make them again, they will not be my first choice for a last minute addition to a meal. 

A big puffy bowl of proving dough.

357/984 - Sabee Sabee Kumala

This was such an interesting dish, and definitely one for lovers of sweet potato. The only challenging element was getting used to the taste of banana in a savoury dish!

We went shopping twice looking for green bananas, which seem to be available in abundance when not required, but the best we could come up with were ones that had just a hint of green about them. To be honest once I got over the surprise of the banana taste, I really liked their slightly tangy flavour, which was a lovely contrast to the sweet potato and pumpkin. The onion imparted a wonderful flavour to the coconut milk through the gentle cooking stage which I think rounded the dish out nicely.

The family were not huge fans of this one and so I happily devoured the leftovers in a couple of separate sittings. I love my funny little family; they will devour tongue, trotters, liver and brains but baulk at the addition of a couple of bananas to their evening meal. 

Go figure.

356/984 - Mushroom confit

I feel the need to come clean up front regarding this recipe. I did not seal and store this confit for two months before eating it, but rather cooked and ate it on the same day. In my defence, the result was still incredible; I can only imagine how fabulous this would be after two months of storage. 

A main ingredient of this recipe, dried porcini mushrooms, are one of my favourite things at the moment. I love their fabulously intense flavour and the way they add a special something to egg, meat and vegetable dishes.

This recipe started with the roasting of a head of garlic, which made my house smell amazing! We buy our garlic from Angelica Organic and it not only tastes fabulous, but it lasts for the longest time. The garlic is then baked in oil with mushrooms, rehydrated porcini and some lovely fresh herbs.

Finished on the stove top with sherry vinegar, the result is an intensely flavoured mixture, that once minced, made a fabulous topper for steak and a wonderful breakfast on toast the next morning.

A wonderful topping for steak

Lovely roasted garlic

355/984 - Zucchini patties

When I was a much younger cook, patties used to make me nervous. I was forever worried that they wouldn't bind and that the insides wouldn't be cooked. As such, I avoided patties like the plague, and would opt to bake dishes rather than fry them where ever possible. Obviously I have come a long way since then...

I followed this recipe quite closely, except for the omission of the parsley (I need to get some back in the garden!) and I only used two zucchini as they were BIG ones! I am not exactly sure if I used the recommended amount of flour as I didn't measure, but instead sprinkled it into the mixture until it looked just right. 

These little beauties were filled with zucchini (obviously), cheese (yum!) and lovely little surprises like mint and spring onion. These were amazing both warm and cold and as the last one was polished off today I kicked myself for not doubling the mixture.

354/984 - Royal icing

You didn't think I would make gingerbread without royal icing did you?

Of course I forgot to pay attention to the recipe (shock, horror) and accidentally made a full batch of royal icing rather than a half. I spread the icing as thick as I dared and then froze what I couldn't squish onto the biscuits. I am not exactly sure if royal icing will freeze well - I guess only time will tell! 

No doubt due to the thickness of the application, the icing has still not quite fully set, but is absolutely yummy and so we don't mind at all.  

Back in March last year I had my least productive month of this challenge, racking up only four completed recipes. After a very slow start this month, I was determined not to repeat such a dismal performance and so royal icing represents number five for August. 

Some personalised biscuits I made
for my sister and her little ones.

353/984 - Nat's gingerbread

It has been a long time since I have made gingerbread...and I have never made gingerbread as amazing as this!

I loved the array of spices in this recipe and got quite a surprise to see white pepper in the list of ingredients. Before I wrapped the dough into a neat rectangle ready for overnight refrigeration, I couldn't resist stealing a small amount to nibble on. I have never understood the concept of eating cookie/biscuit dough...until now. I could have happily eaten the entire block with a big jug of milk. Only common sense, and the desire to eat the finished product, stopped me.

With life getting in the way, this dough sat in the fridge for two nights before I got around to making these sweet little gingerbread biscuits. Once the dough was rolled, I pulled out my tin of biscuit cutters and was shocked to see the distinct absence of a gingerbread-man shaped cutter. What kind of baking mother was I to be devoid of such an essential tool? 

Once I got over my surprise, I spied these sweet little shapes and realised that the smaller I made the biscuits, the less volume of biscuit my boys were likely to eat. 

The biscuits were sweet, but with a fabulously spicy after taste. Yet another classic recipe wonderfully represented in The Cook's Companion.

The fabulous spices.

Dough, wrapped and
ready for the fridge.

352/984 - Apple yeast sugar tart

For the last few months I have been regularly baking friendship cakes for my family. While they have all been amazing, I thought it was time to try out a different dessert!

I don't know why, but this recipe has never appealed to me. Perhaps it is the word "yeast" in the title that put me off, not being an ingredient that when named, gets my mouth watering. 

The crust was easier than pastry to make, mixed and kneaded like bread dough and left to rise. It was then pressed into the flan tin, where it puffed up again prior to the addition of the apples. I cut the apples into sixteenths rather than eights given that they were on the larger side. 

I accidentally set the oven to fan-forced and so after the first ten minutes of cooking my crust was already toasty and brown. I covered the tart with foil for the remainder of the cooking time, but of course this meant that the cream did not caramelise as it should have. 

Enter the blowtorch! 

We absolutely loved this tart and it was declared one of the best I have made. The crust was amazing and worked beautifully with the perfectly cooked apples. Love, love, loved this!

351/984 - Chickpea soup with mint and lemon

It has been a quiet month for Stephanie recipes! 

Last night I served up this beautiful chickpea soup with some freshly baked bread. The fennel seed in the bread was a wonderful, refreshing lift that worked beautifully with the slightly tart flavour of the soup. I didn't have any parsley (gardening incident, don't ask) but had plenty of mint to sprinkle on top. I also added a big dollop of Greek yoghurt to each bowl.

I loved this, but after two soups with lemon being rejected by the two older males in my family (the avgolemono was also a fizzer) I have decided I will save the lemony soups for times when I am alone with my little one.

Entrée (yes, soup was the main!) was my first attempt at eggplant parmesan chips which I can confidently say were a winner, given that we ate two eggplants in less than ten minutes. Not bad for children who apparently don't like eggplant. 

Lovely parmesan eggplant chips

Buckwheat loaf with linseed,
chia and fennel seed. 

350/984 - Quatre épices

Due to our love of Asian food, I have cooked many times with Chinese Five-spice. Last night, however, was my first conscious encounter with French four-spice, otherwise known as quatre épices. 

Stephanie's version contained nutmeg, ground ginger, black peppercorns and cloves. The only changes I made were to replace one third of the black pepper with white (I love white pepper!) and also to substantially reduce the quantity. 

I contemplated making this spice mix manually but then realised how much I would resent the nutmeg after having to grate it by hand which would have taken f-o-r-e-v-e-r. So into the thermomix went the raw spices, and seconds later my quatre épices was born. 

I roughly divided the recipe by around seven, and used the entire amount to flavour one kilo of pork for lovely baked pork balls, to which I also added some fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs, an egg and a good pinch of salt. 

I just ate the last couple of pork balls straight from the fridge (read: classy Sunday morning breakfast) and loved the peppery zing and nutmeg/ginger after taste. 

Oh and did I mention that this was recipe number 350?

349/984 - Bashed neeps

Bashed neeps. Honestly is that the sweetest and most obscure name for a recipe you have ever heard?

Apparently "neep" is the British term for a swede, which is exactly what this recipe was made from. The boys were dubious, with Henry thinking I was trying to pass off some soft polenta as something completely different. He really is still scarred from the last, slightly under-seasoned, soft polenta incident.  

I ordinarily love swede, but I must confess my love for it grew exponentially after tasting it this way! So simple, but so lovely. The swede is boiled and mashed and then mixed with butter (quite a bit), white pepper (one of my favourite things!) and a pinch of ground ginger. 

Such a lovely alternative to mashed potato and the family gave it six very happy thumbs up. 

348/984 - Classic cheese soufflé

I have been playing around with goat's milk this week; using it in scrambled eggs, bread, mashed pumpkin and last night in this lovely little cheese soufflé.  

The recipe directed me to make one big soufflé that was to be divided between the four of us, but I decided it would be nicer (and easier) to make individual serves. 

I forgot to run my thumb around the edges and may have overfilled the ramekins (I was determined to fit it all in!) which meant my soufflés puffed up like nobody's business...but I think they look rather pretty like this! They were light and airy and oh so cheesy.

I can highly recommend this as quite a simple dinner (really!) and definitely a winner with goat's milk.

346&347/984 - Classic corned beef with mustard sauce (and sauce ravigote)

My husband is a man with an old fashioned sense about him. He still calls the pictures the flicks, loves old movies (Ben Hur, The great escape, every Bond film ever made), old music (Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey) and classic old dishes such as corned beef.   

So I made this with him in mind. 

I decided this was a Sunday dish given the hours of cooking I knew it would require and also because I knew I wanted to make the mustard sauce and sauce ravigote to be served alongside. 

The dish was very well received although feedback included a question around whether the carrots (yellow and orange, pretty hey?) should have been steamed separately rather than cooked in the salty stock, given the overall saltiness of the dish. I liked it as it was but it is food for thought for anybody else thinking about taking this recipe on. 

I thought this was a wonderful dish and was thrilled to find that I was left with enough stock to make a risotto this week. We also loved the little pickling onions and my littlest son was most amused to see his onion "do a poo" as the middle slid out when he stabbed it with a fork. 

For the record the mustard sauce was wonderful (and easy) and the sauce ravigote was incredible with the meat. A highly recommended trio indeed.

345/984 - No mess polenta

I confess, the Cook's Companion challenge is a hybrid. When I upgraded to the rainbow book and updated my recipe spreadsheet (go ahead, you can laugh) I realised Stephanie had decided to drop a number of recipes from the orange book when publishing the new one. 

Being a person that values integrity, I just couldn't bring myself to continue without keeping all of the cross over recipes from the orange book in the challenge. It just wouldn't have felt as if I had TRULY finished when I got to the end. This recipe is one that actually did make it to the new book, but it is no longer listed as an actual recipe. But in my challenge it still counts!

Cooking polenta in this way is so simple, but it still takes some time. The polenta sits in a bowl over a simmering saucepan and is covered with foil and stirred every twenty minutes. The first night we ate this I served it as is, sprinkled with parmesan, salt and pepper. The boys were not impressed.

The second night I was determined to redeem myself. The polenta was quite firmly set and so I blended it with fresh rosemary, parmesan and a good dollop of truffle oil. I spread the new concoction in a tray and baked it at 180°C until it was set. 

The boys were thrilled! 

I took some squares to work for a colleague to taste because he had said that he had not tried truffles before. I realise truffle oil is not the same as fresh but I thought it would give him the general idea. He declared it to be the best polenta he had ever eaten. 

Tick!

A very enjoyable three years...

This week I ticked over three years since 'The Cook's Companion Challenge' began. What a ride it has been!

As I do each year, I thought I would list some of the little things that have happened along the way. In the last three years I have:

  - cooked at least one recipe from 97 of the 123 chapters

  - had wonderful conversations with people I would otherwise have never met

  - begun to cook from the margin as well as the main recipes, with 53 micro recipes completed

  - finished cooking everything in two chapters (prawns and broccoli)

  - maintained my average of cooking a main recipe from the Cook's Companion every three days

  - finally cooked more than one third of the recipes in the basics chapter, with 14 of 37 complete

  - had more than 40,000 hits to the blog

My cooking and blogging keeps me sane in the midst of an otherwise busy life, and to date has been the most fulfilling "hobby" I have adopted. 

As always, thank you to everybody who is still riding this crazy cooking wave with me.

344/984 - Mint and spring onion chutney

As per my very organised menu planner for this week, last night's dinner was flathead tails and coleslaw with this beautiful mint chutney.

The chutney was so simple to make, although my youngest and I did spend some time carefully picking the mint leaves and washing them to remove any grit. We discovered that one cup of mint leaves equates to an entire bunch of mint once it is squished flat. 

I threw all of the ingredients (mint, spring onion, chillies, garlic, soft brown sugar, salt, garam masala) into the thermomix and blitzed them to a pulp. I was a bit concerned that the result was a bit salty for my taste and added just enough of the lemon and lime juice to even out the flavour. My chutney was quite wet and so I didn't add any water at all. 

Within moments of sitting down to eat, our plates looked incredibly messy, with all of us wanting to coat both fish and coleslaw with this amazing chutney. 

Love, love, loved this and will definitely be making it to go with salads, fish and possibly even lamb. 

Yummo.

Week 2 menu planner.
I am so organised at the moment I don't recognise myself.