In My Kitchen: August

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. It's been a busy month. I've had a couple of fun foodie experiences plus a trip to Bali and got some baking done too!

Do you ever get sucked into the recipes that go viral? I am particularly susceptible to baking related ones. During September the recipe that went viral In Australia was for Kingston biscuits with peaches, and I was absolutely going to try it. For those who don't know, Kingston biscuits are two coconut/oaty biscuits that are sandwiched with a chocolate cream. They are not the biscuits that I reach for normally (hello Shortbread Creams) so we had to go and buy some. It turns out it was lucky I could find them because apparently there was a shortage of them in both Australia and New Zealand this month.

The idea is that you empty a packet of biscuits into a baking tray, tip a can of peaches (including the juice) on top and bake for around 20 minutes. We chose to do individual serving in the microwave which was that you break up 4 biscuits. Cut up a few peach slices and put it on top of the biscuits, add a tablespoon of peach juice and then microwave for around 45 seconds. It was actually pretty delicious. Now there are lots of different variations out there such as chocolate biscuits with a can of cherries. We might try a variation at some point. We'll see!

The rest of my bakes this month came from Emelia Jackson's book, You Had Me at Cake, which was the Lamb's Ear Cook Book Club selection for August. The theme ingredient for the month was chocolate, so my first two bakes were chocolate flavoured and then I moved to different flavours. 

Chocolate Chiffon Cake - Chiffon cakes are my absolute favourite thing to bake. I love whipping the egg whites and then mixing it to create the batter, and then the lightness of the cake once it has cooked and then cooled by tipping upside down (as long as you are using the specific tin). The cake was then decorated with whipped cream and Maltesers.  This was good!

Chocolate Meringue cake - Next up I tried the Chocolate Meringue Cake which featured a denser chocolate cake with a chocolate meringue baked on the top of it! 

Peach Crumble Slab Cake - I then chose to make this peach cake, mainly to use up all the leftover peaches from the viral recipe. It was so good. Actually, they all were!

Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll  - The last thing I made during August was the Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll pictured at the top of this post which was inspired by our trip to Bali where I ate quite a few pandan flavoured desserts.  I had to go out specifically to find pandan flavouring. Now that I have some, there's a fair chance that there might be some more bakes. I am entering my pandan and coconut era!

We did have a bit of a local foodie adventure during August when we went to Chandon winery for a fondue experience. We took a drive through the Yarra Valley, which is a wine area about an hour and a half away from us. We did something called the Coldstream Food Trail which has about 10 stops on it, although we only did 4 stops. We stopped at a brewery and then went to a place called Coombe Yarra Valley which is a lovely place that has been created in the former home of world-famous Australian opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba. From there we did some cider and cheese tastings. The main reason we went out there was to do a Fondue and Bingo lunch at Chandon which was a lot of fun! I mean, fondue and sparkling wines...what's not to love. It was a beautiful clear winter's day and a lovely way to do some exploration of just one tiny pocket of the Yarra Valley. We did see some amazing looking restaurants that we will go back and visit again at some point!

While we on holidays in Bali, we did have a couple of great foodie experiences. One was something called a Rijstaffel, which translates from Dutch as rice table and is basically a pile of rice which is then surrounded by all different types of accompaniments. We had people stopping to ask us what it was. It will definitely go down as a memorable meal! 

We also had a floating breakfast in the private pool of our villa, which seems quite decadent! Not something to do everyday but a lot of fun!

Our final foodie adventure in Bali was to do a cooking class where we helped create a number of dishes. Everyone had to help chop, grind down pastes, cook different dishes including a pandan and coconut crepe dessert. It was a really fun experience. I posted about these experiences here.

Our collection of travel related souvenirs are growing, as is our magnet collection. We recently bought a magnetic board which we are using to display all of our magnets, which I think is much better than trying to cram everything onto the fridge!

We also bought these bowls while we were in Bali. I suspect that they are going to be mostly for display purposes but I do like them!

New recipes

Chocolate Chiffon Cake -

Kingston and Peaches dessert

Chocolate Meringue Cake

Peach Crumble Slab Cake

Pandan and Toasted Coconut Swiss Roll

Thai Beef from Nat Thaipun's book Thai

Mexican Beef - from Poppy Cooks: The Absolutely Delicious Slow Cooker 

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

In My Kitchen: July

Library Loot!

Truffled Chicken with Champagne Sauce

What We Ate on Holiday: Bali

Kate & Frida: A novel of friendships, food, and books by Kim Fay

Weekly Meals

Saturday - Nasi Goreng
Sunday - Ham and Cheese sandwich
Monday - Pork chops, mash, broccoli
Tuesday - Enchiladas
Wednesday - Tuna pasta bake
Thursday - Japanese Chicken Curry
Friday - Take away

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking: Truffled Chicken with Champagne Sauce (Valli Little)

Last week I talked about three cook books I had out of the library. One of those was Delicious: Love to Eat: Around the World in 120 Simply Delicious Recipes by Valli Little.

There were quite a few recipes that we have made in this book, but the one that I specifically wanted to share was the one for Truffled Chicken and Champagne Sauce. I know it sounds fancy, but it actually wasn't too difficult. The first time we made this recipe it was just for us, but we also made the champagne sauce when we did a roast chook for Christmassy in July and we had guests over. 

Just in case you think we are springing for truffles on a regular basis, we did a little bit of adapting to the recipe. I had bought some truffle butter when I visited the French festival and so we used that which we spread under the skin. We also used the humbler chicken Maryland instead of the cut they mentioned. We also did potatoes and you will note no green vegetables, as I had to specifically have to request them otherwise they will not make it onto the plate when my husband is cooking

Truffle Chicken with Champagne Sauce (Valli Little)

4 chicken breast fillets, skin on (with the wing bone attached, often referred to as supreme or Kiev)

60g unsalted butter, softened
3 leeks (white part only) each cut into 4 lengths
1 small black truffle
1 tbs olive oil
1-2 tsp truffle oil (optional)

Steamed baby vegetables, to serve

Champagne sauce

20g unsalted butter

1 tbs plain flour

1 garlic clove, crushed
100ml champagne or other sparkling white wine

2 sprigs of thyme

1/ cup (125ml) pure (thin) cream

1/2 cup (125ml) chicken stock

Pre-heat oven to 180c. Grease a 2L (8 cup capacity) baking dish.

Place leeks in prepared baking dish and dot with 30g butter. Sason, then pour over the chicken stock. Place a sheet of baking paper over the top, then bake for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, gently loosen the skin from the breasts. Thinly slice the truffle and place a few slices between the skin and flesh of each breast. Season. Heat remaining 30g butter and olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, skin-side down first, for 3 minutes each side or until light golden. Place the chicken on top of the leek mixture in the baking dish, then return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, drain off 100ml of the cooking liquid and reserve. Set aside the chicken, loosely covering with foil.

Meanwhile for the Champagne Sauce, heat the butter in a frypan over medium heat, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the garlic, champagne, thyme, cream, stock and reserved cooking liquid, gently whisking until smooth. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced. Season well.

Thickly slice each chicken breast. Divide leeks among 4 plates, top each with a sliced chicken breast, then drizzle with champagne sauce and truffle oil, if using. Serve with steamed baby vegetables.

In My Kitchen: July

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. It's been a busy month. I've had a couple of fun foodie experiences and tried some delicious new recipes! Let's start with what I made during the month of July!

Caramel Miso Apple pudding -Do you ever just randomly pick up one of your cook books looking for something and then find something else and go I have to make this? I was looking through Around the Table by Julia Busittil Nishimura for something (no, I can't remember what!) and I saw this recipe and through that looks appealing, especially given how cold it has been here. It was also very simple, and very tasty! Definitely a make again recipe. 

Chocolate Orange Cake - Rather than having a specific cook book of the month in Lambs Ear Cookbook Club, we had an author. Valli Little was the long time food editor for Delicious Magazine. I chose to borrow the book Delicious: Love to Eat - Around the world in 120 simply delicious recipes, and this was one of the simply delicious recipes in the book! This is a version of the whole orange cake, so started with boiling whole oranges for 2 hours and then blitzing them up in the food process.

Traditional shortbread /Pistachio, sour cherry and white chocolate shortbread - The featured produce for the month was nuts, so I couldn't resist the urge to make these again. The recipe comes from Emelia Jackson's book Some of My Best Friends are Cookies. 

Sticky date pudding ginger cake - This is another recipe from the Delicious cook book. We hosted Christmassy in July on 25 July and this was what I served for dessert! Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Well, yes, there was chicken but there was also pork and other deliciousness.

Earlier in the month we had a very European weekend where I visited the Bastille Day French market at Queen Victoria Market near the city.  We have been for the last few years and every time we pick up some of this delicious pate. This year I also picked up some truffle butter and these interesting flavoured French chips/crisps. Of course, there was also can can dancers, jazz and so much more.

We also visited a German Christmas Market which is in a small country winery about half an hour away from our house. We have been before and it is a lot of fun. This time, we had hot chocolate with Baileys which was a delicious surprise and I picked up the gingerbread above.

One of our highlights in July was going to a Bastille Day dinner which I posted about here. 5 plus courses, can can dancers, French wines and cafe style music! Fun night!

I have mentioned Christmassy in July! What do I mean by that? My sister always hosts Christmas and she used to do the same meal again for Christmas in July. We decided to host this year but didn't go the full Christmas experience. I put on my Christmas jumper (which it is usually way to hot to wear on actual Christmas day) and put on a Christmas music playlist. We served roast chicken with champagne sauce, air fryer roast pork, broccoli and cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes, cider gravy and more! Oh, and the Sticky Date Pudding Cake. Everyone went home having eaten way too much, so I guess that was a success then!

We did visit a new to us Korean café after we went to see an exhibition about ancient Rome at the museum. There's a few cafes doing these style of patisserie so I wanted to try one. I tried the pear version. It looked amazing and tasted very peary! So good!

I managed to only buy one cook book this month, which I think showed tremendous restraint. The book I bought was Tender by Lucy Tweed, which was last month's cook book of the month in the cook book club. The good news is I already own the August cook book! 

New recipes

We tried a few different recipes for the first time this month!

Slow Cooker chilli - Poppy O'Toole - It is very cold here so it is perfect weather for slow cooker meals.

Caramel Miso Apple Pudding - So good!

Chocolate Orange Cake - Another winner!

Air Fryer Pork Roast - This is now our go to method for cooking roast pork. The crackling comes out really crispy and it is super easy to do. 

Truffled Chicken with Champagne Sauce - This was a bit fancy, but oh so good, and the champagne sauce will go with roast chicken, whether it is truffled or not! We made this sauce a couple of times this month.

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

In My Kitchen: June

Paris in July: Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais

Bastille Day Dinner

Paris in July: Eva Longoria: Searching for France

Cook the Books: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal

Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas

Weekly Meals

Saturday - Christmassy in July
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Tomato and Paneer Curry
Tuesday - Salad Dressing Chicken and Rice 
Wednesday - Mac and cheese
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Chicken stir fry

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Cook the Books: Kitchens of the Great MidWest by J Ryan Stradal

When this book was announced as the current selection for Cook the Books I wasn't really sure what to expect. I hadn't heard of either the book or the author before, but being part of a book club often brings new authors so I searched out the book. Unsurprisingly my library system did not have a copy.

This book has quite an unusual structure. The story is fundamentally the story of Eva Thorvald, an enigmatic figure destined for greatness in the food world. However, Eva isn't really at the centre of the book. The book features a series of vignettes told by people who have the slightest connection to Eva. In one chapter she is the narrator's boyfriend's sister. In another, she is the judge at a bake off, in another a culinary rival. Eva herself only has one chapter where she is the one telling us of her life. The rest of her story is learnt through the interactions with other people.

Eva has a rough start to life. Her chef father wants to introduce her to fancy food at a very young age. Her mother has deserted the family to follow her wine related dreams. Eva is only young when her father dies, leaving her to be raised by her aunt and uncle. They love her, but they don't understand her. As a youngster she wants to grow the hottest chilli's she possibly can. Over the years, we see Eva's passion for food morph into an unrivalled food career, all of which she manages on her own terms. The other thing about Eva is that she is a collector of people, but as reader's we don't really see this all come together until the very end of the book!

There was lots to like about this book. It did make me laugh at times. For example, early on there is a section where Eva and her cousin are putting her forward in hot chilli eating competitions to make money, and there is a church baking competition that made me smile. There were moments when I found myself wishing I could be part of something similar to the Saturday Night Dinner Party where the guests all had to bring a dish that met the theme. Or the character who talks about the fact that they go to McDonalds for a birthday every year. One year it was McDonalds in Paris, another year it was London. That's my kind of trip to Maccas!

I am not sure, however, that the book worked for me as well it might have. It was a good read, rather than a great read. For all that there was humour and an unusual structure, underpinning it there was grief and damaged people, drugs and other struggles. I did like how it all came together though. I have also had a look at the other books that this author has written, and they do all sound like books I might like to read at some point. They certainly all have definite foodie titles and subjects.

This was a great selection for Cook the Books as the food was front and centre! I thought about counting all the different types of food that was mentioned but there was so many! I would have run out of fingers and toes before the end of the first chapter! I was not familiar with all of the food. For example, there were chapters about Lutefisk (a white fish cured in lye) which I have never heard of, and to be honest, I am not sure I would want to try. Another chapter featured Sweet Pepper Jelly, which again was a new taste to me.

So how do you decide what recipe to make when there are so many food mentions in a book. It almost happens by osmosis. I had written down a few notes, one of which was French Onion Soup, which was the subject of one of the chapters. And then I realised that I had this recipe already saved in my blog to share at some point, and that the recipe would definitely count for Paris in July and voila! The decision was made. It's not the first French Onion Soup inspired post I have shared for Paris in July. Back in 2022 I shared this recipe for French Onion casserole which was so delicious. I am trying to convince my husband that we need to have this again while it is still cold here. And every time I do have anything French Onion flavoured, I can't help but think of the soup that we had when we did our foodie walking tour of Le Marais. 

This recipe comes from from Tender by Lucy Tweed, which was a recent selection for Lambs Ear Cookbook Club. We have made several recipes from this book, at least one other of which had French influences. This was a cook book that I originally borrowed from the library but I did end up buying it!

Obviously, this is not an authentic French dish, but we really enjoyed the flavours and will definitely make it again! The cheesy thyme crumb was a highlight! So good! We didn't have gruyere so I used a combination of mozzarella and parmesan

French Onion Rigatoni (Lucy Tweed)

Serves 4 – Cook Time: 45 Mins

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large red onions, quartered
8 baby (pearl) onions, halved
200 ml (7 fl oz) dry white wine
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (vegetarian if you want the dish to be fully vegetarian)

30 g (1 oz) butter
2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
3 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves
400 ml (14 fl oz) beef stock (or vegetable)
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) rigatoni
11/2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
100 ml thickened (heavy) cream
90 g (2/3 cup) grated smoked gruyère
50 g (1/2 cup) grated parmesan


Cheesy thyme crumb


1/4 sourdough loaf, crusts removed, torn into small pieces
6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
35 g (1/4 cup) grated smoked gruyère


Method



Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced.

For the cheesy thyme crumb, combine the torn sourdough, thyme, olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes, without turning, until golden. Scatter with the grated smoked gruyère and return to the oven for 3–5 minutes. Allow to cool and crisp fully before crumbling into shards. (You can make this a few hours ahead of time or cook this at the same time as the onions, on a lower shelf.)

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole over medium–high heat. Add the onion quarters, cut-sides down first, turning to colour all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up any bits stuck to the base. Whisk in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, butter and flour until smooth and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Return the onion to the pan along with the thyme and garlic. Pour in the beef stock and sherry vinegar and stir well to combine. Transfer to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Switch to the grill (broiler) setting and grill (broil) for 10 minutes until the onion becomes jammy and browned on top.

Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni according to the packet instructions. Reserve a small cup of the pasta water, then drain.

Remove the pan from the oven and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and stir it through, using just enough of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce.

Add the cream either now or at the table, stirring it through for desired richness. Scatter with the gruyère and parmesan.

Top the pasta with the cheesy thyme crumb just before serving.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

The next selection for Cook the Books is Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford, which I am already looking forward to reading! This is the selection for August and September. The one after that it is my turn to host and my selection for October and November is The Kamogawa Food Detectives. If you enjoy reading and cooking, please join in. Cook the Books is a fun blogging event and you would be more than welcome!

Weekly meals

Saturday -  Out for dinner

Sunday - Truffled Chicken with champagne sauce (new)
Monday - French Onion Rigatoni
Tuesday - Zucchini, bacon and tomato risotto
Wednesday - Out for dinner
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Mexican Chicken and Rice

Top Ten Tuesday: Free books!

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free (submitted by Emma @ damppebbles.com).

I am focussing on the word Free in this and choosing to share the next ten books that are due back to the library. I know it isn't really free. I mean I pay rates and taxes which pay for it, but no money changes hands when I visit the library so it is as good as free!

The Island of Mists and Miracles by Victoria Mas - I finished this yesterday and liked it!

The Palace Women by Jennifer Ryan - And started this one today!

How to Fake it in Society by K J Charles - This one sounds like fun!

The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch up by Kate Solly - I am going to an author event with this author tomorrow night!

Delicious: Love to Eat: Around the World in 120 Delicious Recipes by Valli Little - My selection for the current Lambs Ear Cookbook Club

And, Now, Back to You by B K Borison - Looking forward to this one!

Better Than the Real Thing by Brooke Crawford - I have run into this author a number of times at bookish events.

A Far-Flung Life by M L Stedman - I really need to read this one before I have to return it.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune - This should be a fun read!

Kate and Frida: A novel of friendship, food and books by Kim Fay - Loved the previous book I read by this author 

In My Kitchen: June

 

Single serve chocolate chip cookie - I saw this being talked about in the RecipeTin Eats Facebook group and the idea of just whipping something up and having it straight away. It's funny though, on the recipe it talks about being able to make this single serve, albeit huge serve, and have it cooked within 20 minutes. To be fair, I am pretty sure I could find a chocolate chip cookie recipe where you could cook a whole batch in that time. This was half of the single serve and it basically was the size of the plate. I did love the way that you add the chocolate chips on top of the cookies while it was still hot!

French Apple Cake - This is another RecipeTin Eats recipe, this time for a French Apple Cake. It was very easy, and very delicious! Will make again!

I did end up buying a cookbook this month. Home Food by Elizabeth Hewitt was the cook book of the month in May for the Lambs Ear Cook Book Club. I originally borrowed the book from the library but we enjoyed everything we tried so I ended up buying it! I do want to try not doing that every month, but I think I am on track to buy the June book as well!

We did go to the most amazing Japanese dinner in June. It was a 5 course meal with free flowing alcohol, plus there was a cooking demonstration for every course, and cultural demonstration such as drumming, Judo and more! It was such a fun night.

New recipes

Single Serve chocolate Chip Cookies (RecipeTin Eats)

One Pot Pizza Mac (Recipe Tin Eats)

French Onion Rigatoni (Elizabeth Hewitt)

French Apple Cake (Recipe Tin Eats)

Coq au vin blanc pie (Lucy Tweed)

Aloo Muttar (Lucy Tweed)

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

In My Kitchen: April/May

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Paradox

Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama

Two South American Films

Weekly Meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Coq au vin blanc pie (new)
Monday - Aloo Muttar (new)
Tuesday - Pork and Apple Sausages, mash and gravy
Wednesday - 
Thursday - Beef Stir Fry
Friday - Take away

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking: Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by Donna Hay

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going to try to start cooking along more regularly with the Lamb's Ear Cookbook club. The February cookbook is Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by celebrated Australian cook Donna Hay.

As you might note from the photo above, I actually own quite a few cookbooks by Donna Hay, and yet I don't often cook out of them. Part of the reason is that everything looks so beautiful that I am intimidated by it. And because it always looks so good, I assume it must be complicated. When I cook I do tastes good, I don't often do looks beautiful! I am therefore often guilty of using her books as though they are coffee table books. I mainly just look at the pictures. 

I am not only talking about the food. Even the book is beautiful, with great pictures, a nice layout, and a ribbon! I love it when a cookbook has a ribbon. It instantly makes it a better book!

The book starts with a chapter on styling where she gives tips on how to make your lunch or dinner settings look amazing by saying things like "consider those vintage copper pots, ceramic saucepans and teapots in your cupboards the unsung heroes of your table." I don't really have any of those in my cupboard**, but I get her point. The styling tips continue throughout the book, especially in the menu sections 

The book is then divided into a pretty normal structure with chapters called

Sunrise: Win the morning, win the day (yes, I suspect Donna Hay is a morning person! lol)

Light lunching

Summer nights, simple dinners

Sunny sides that double as snacks

Sweet and sunny treats

Anything-but-basic basics

From there the structure of the book changes into a section called Coastal Celebrations where we get four suggested menus for entertaining from starters to mains and desserts, including the aforementioned styling suggestions. The four menus are called

Sailing into lunch

Summer in bloom

There's no party like a taco party

Coastal 

I have already cooked quite a few things from this book, but there is more I would like to make including the recipes below.

Tomato and mascarpone tart - This was so delicious and would be super easy if you bought premade shortcrust pastry

Crushed potato galette - We served this when we had family for dinner, and it was a hit. Soft on the inside, crunchy outside. Will definitely do again. 

Crispy lemon and garlic roast chicken - A bit unusual with the use of miso paste but definitely tasty and we plan to make this one again.

Thai chicken in lime and coconut - It's always good to have another tasty meatball recipe. I am thinking about having a whole week of different meatballs but I am not sure the rest of my house would agree

Korean fried chicken burgers - Making this tonight!

Sticky soy and miso chicken

Passionfruit powder puffs

Lemon and elderflower bundt cake

Passionfruit meringue tart

Crispy meringues with poached vanilla pears

Originally, I borrowed this book from the library, but we have already cooked quite a lot out of the book, and some of the recipes could end up in our regular recipe rotation, so I did end up buying it!

When I was thinking about recipes to share, I originally had something else in mind, but when I said we had made this recipe in my Weekly Meals section last week, Jackie mentioned that she was curious about this recipe so I decided to share this one instead. 

Thai chicken in lime and coconut (Donna Hay)

750g chicken mince
6 Thai lime leaves (also known as kaffir lime leaves)
2 tbspn finely grated ginger
2 tbspn finely grated lemongrass
2 tbspn finely chopped coriander leaves (also known as cilantro)
1/2 cup (30g) panko breadcrumbs

Lime and coconut sauce

1 tbspn grapeseed or vegetable oil
1/3 cup  (100g) store-bought Thai red curry past
400ml coconut milk
1/2 cup (125ml) good quality chicken stock
1 tbspn fish sauce
1 1/2 tbspn lime juice
1 tbspn caster (superfine) sugar
2 Thai lime leaves, finely shredded, extra

To serve

Extra coriander (cilantro) sprigs, shiso leaves (optional) and lime wedges

Place the chicken, lime leaves, ginger, lemongrass, coriander and panko in a large bowl and mix to combine. Roll the mixture into 16 balls and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

To make the lime and coconut sauce, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and curry paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and extra lime leaves and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reduced. 

Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, turning halfway, or until cooked through.

Serve with the extra coriander, shiso leaves (if using) and a squeeze of lime. 

**I have asked my husband to rejig the storage in one of the spare bedrooms so that I can reorganise to see if I have any of things I could use for smart styling. The challenge then will be to fill it up, right?

Weekly meals

Saturday - Scrambled eggs on toast
Sunday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Monday - Pork Schnitzel, mash, mushroom sauce and broccoli
Tuesday - Nasi Goreng
Wednesday - Chicken green curry pie
Thursday - Chicken, mushroom and broccoli pasta bake
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

In My Kitchen: January

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. For the first time in months, I had a lot of activity in the kitchen, and I have to say I really enjoyed it!

First up I made Hummingbird Cakes to go with my Cook the Books post about Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil which I posted last week! I had been craving something with cream cheese frosting, and these hit the spot! And bonus, I will now be able to find the recipe whenever I want to rather than just stumbling on the bit of paper on occasion.

Jamie Oliver's Cook Book Club has taken a bit of a nosedive, so I have gone back to looking at my Australian cook book clubs for inspiration. This year, the Lamb's Ear Cook Book Club has a book of the year, the monthly cookbook and new for this year is an ingredient of the month. For January, the ingredient was stone fruit, so I went searching through my books and found a recipe for something called Chaja Cake from one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas, Everybody Loves Cake: Sweet Bakes and Stories by Alisha Henderson.  This cake (pictured at the top of the post) originates from Peru, and oh my goodness, it was so good. It is a super light sponge, filled with peaches, dulce de leche and cream, and then the outside is smothered in cream and then the sides are covered with crushed meringue. It was so good! So good, in fact, that I am making it again today, although this time I am going to use store bought dulce de leche. When I next have a gap in my Weekend Cooking posts I will share the recipe.

Continuing on the stone fruit theme, Donna Hay shared a recipe for Upside Down Pavlova on her Facebook page and so I made that too. You can choose whatever combination of fruit you like but I used fresh peaches and plums (we won't mention the blueberries that had been in the freezer for too long) and then you top it with meringue and bake it! It was another delicious recipe, although I think that I needed to buy the fruit a couple of days earlier so it was a bit riper! I actually have Donna Hay's latest cook book out from the library at the moment because it is the February book of the month. I think I am going to end up buying it!

Have you tried the viral Japanese cheesecake? The idea is that you take a tub of yoghurt, you put some biscuits in it and put in the fridge to set. When you eat it, it is supposed to taste like cheesecake. Now, cheesecake is one of my favourites, so I had to try it. We tried it with Greek yoghurt and very plain biscuits. It does have a cheesecakey texture, particularly because the biscuits soften and so are reminiscent of the base, and it doesn't taste bad, but it still tasted very Greek yoghurty. I would try it again with maybe vanilla yoghurt and different biscuits or there is a brand here that does lemon curd swirl yoghurt and I have heard that is good with Anzac biscuits

I have bought more cook books so far this year than I did all of last year! I mentioned earlier that the cook book club has a book of the year, and that is The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater. My idea is that I am going to read with the seasons, so when he is writing about July I will read it in January, but I haven't kept up yet. I will try to do better in February.

The other book I bought is Arnotts: The Cook Book. Late last year I went to a book event where the bookseller was talking about the fact that there were three books that she couldn't keep in stock and this was one of them. It is a bit gimicky in that it is recipes that are made using Arnott's biscuits but there are some things in there that I will make. I think I will most likely start with Vanilla Slice but we will see.

In terms of new things in my kitchen this month, there isn't much. In mid January, we went to Perth for the weekend and spent time with my aunties and one of my cousins. Every time I go over there, my aunt buys me a bottle of spearmint milk (yum) and I get new wine recommendations. We don't drink a lot at home but I will go out and buy whichever wine we like after going over there. This time, we tried these two wines from Aldi. Given that I seem to have a bit of a peach thing going on at the moment, I particularly enjoyed the Peach Bellini wine although the Limoncello is very drinkable too

I did buy some new summery everyday place mats and table runner which you can see in some of the photos

In terms of other foodie events, it was our  meetaversary in early January. Apparently we can't call it an anniversary now that we have a wedding anniversary as well. It was 9 years ago that we first met, so we went out to dinner at the Meat and Wine Company. It was a delicious meal featuring lots of meat (naturally given the name of the restaurant) and some South African flavours. 

Last weekend we went to a new show that is on at the casino in the city. It was called Piper's Playhouse and is an interesting mix of Paris cabaret, magic, drag, burlesque and circus type acts and lots of champagne. The acts were very, very good, and the night was a lot of fun. After the show, the venue turns into a piano bar and the crowd really got into it! I think even the pianist was a bit surprised by some of the things that the crowd did last night! When I head about it, we had to try one of the desserts which was this shoe.  The shoe that you see above is actually all made of white chocolate and was filled with fresh berries and served with cream and berry sauce! Really it is just berries and cream but it certainly looks impressive.

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

Cook the Books: Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Blog Tour: The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Sweet Life Café by Helen Rolfe

Japanese Chicken Curry

Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada

Three Japanese Books Set in Cafes/Restaurants

In My Kitchen: December

New Recipes

While I am not doing the 52 new recipe challenges this year, I do still want to keep track of new recipes I try so I will add them here each month

Hummingbird Cakes

Chaja Cake

Japanese Cheesecake

Roast Chicken

Japanese Chicken Curry

Crispy Lemon and Garlic Chicken

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Swedish Meatballs with mash
Monday - Baked Tuscan Chicken
Tuesday - Chicken Stir Fry with noodles
Wednesday - Pressure Cooker Spag Bol
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Out for dinner

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Everything is Indian by Justin Nararyan

When Justin Narayan's Everything is Indian was announced as the May selection for the Lambs Ear Cook Book Club, I was curious about the book without being convinced that it was one that I needed to buy so I borrowed it from the library. Before the book was even due back at the library, I had already purchased it and had it delivered as I know that we are going to be cooking out of this book in the future!

Justin Narayan was the winner of Masterchef Australia in 2021. He was born and bred in Australia and has a Fijian Indian background and this mixed background is reflected in the ideas and flavours in this book. In the introduction, Narayan ponders on the importance of food in creating connections with other people

When you first look at a recipe or think about cooking, I don't want you to think about how to make it tasty. I want you to think about how to make someone happy. Think about who you are cooking for rather than what you're cooking. Whose that person is they are more important than what you cook. Food is just a way to connect with them and make them feel something That is is how my mum and my parti (grandma) cooked.

He also talks about growing up in Australia

The recipes in this book are about me, my culture and where I come from. Food is how I relate to the world and these recipes are how I've related to the people around me. It starts with the Fijian-Indian recipes I grew up with (traditional and easy versions you can make in around 30 minutes), then it goes into all the dishes I've learned to cook growing up in Australia. It's a melting pot of cultures here - when it comes to food, I think Australia is one of the best places in the world - and that mix of cultures is part of me. It's part of who I am and its inspired me.

The three main recipes sections of the book are titled 

The Family House

Love, Entertainment, Hunger, Pressure: Everything That Made Me a Cook

I Grew Up Very Confused: Maybe We're Not That Different

In The Family House we see a lot of the Fijian Indian recipes so there are a lot curries, but also recipes for roti bread, lolo bread and other dishes. Interestingly, for the Masterchef fans,  Justin has shared two chicken curry recipes related to his appearances on the show. One is what he is calling The OG Chicken Curry and was the dish that he first shared with the judges on the show as his signature dish. The second curry is called The "Chicken Curry" That Got Me a Masterchef Apron. Why the "chicken curry ". Because it is served as a juicy piece of chicken breast with a chicken skin crackling, a curry sauce and cauliflower puree. It's not your normal looking curry.

In the second section we find recipes such as roast chicken, pizza, pork belly as well as Victoria sponge, caramel slice and lots of different sauces

In the final section, we see how everything can come together to make the familiar new. For example, there is a Green Chicken Curry Tacos recipe and a Fried Fish Sando with Curry Tartare. A sando is a sandwich - Australians have a tendency to short words and/or add sounds to the end. In this case it was both. For those with a sweet tooth, there is an amazing looking recipe for Chai Creme Brulee, as well as Dessert Tacos and Tres Leches cake which can be made either with the traditional flavours or by giving it an Indian flavour twist. 

So far we have made 

Curry Roast chicken with marsala roast potato and raita

Prawn Curry

Curried Sausage rolls

We have actually made the roast potato a few times, and this has now become our go-to technique of how to make roast potatoes. We don't always do the spices but the technique is a winner.

Just some of the other recipes we intend to make include

Caramel slice

Fried Eggs with Roti

Egg Curry

Potato Curry


The Caramel Slice is an example of several recipes in the book where you can either use the more traditional recipe or use the with a twist variation.  In this case, the traditional caramel slice recipe of biscuit base, a caramel layer and then covered in chocolate is adapted by adding vanilla, cardamon and grated nutmeg into the caramel mixture. You then sprinkle roasted pistachios on top of the chocolate.

The book is super colourful and easy to use. It has a great table in the front where you can say I need to cook something, let's say cooking for a crowd, and then there are a list of the recipes that you might want to use which includes recipes for tacos, Portuguese chicken, curries, lamb shanks and more

When I was thinking about which recipes to share, it had to be the Curried Sausage Rolls which got a very big thumbs up in our house. One thing I would clarifiy is that in Australia, puff pastry comes in sheets that are around 20cm square, so the size of the rectangles will be about 10 x 20cm. Also, in the recipe the instruction is to bake until GBD which stands for Golden Brown and Delicious. 

I didn't put the seasoning on the ones I made in this picture, just in case you were wondering.

And now, I am craving Curried Sausage Rolls. Good job I have some mince in the fridge!

Curried Sausage Rolls


1 tablespoon light olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Fiji masala powder or garam masala
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) lamb (see tip)
½ cup (30 g) Japanese (panko) breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 puff pastry sheets, thawed if frozen
200 g (7 oz) tasty cheese, grated (optional)

Egg wash

2 tablespoons milk
1 egg


Seasoning

½ teaspoon chilli flakes
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
½ teaspoon cumin seeds

To Serve

Your favourite sauce (there are no rules)




Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is lightly browned. Add all the powdered spices and chilli and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Add the lamb, breadcrumbs, salt and egg to the bowl and massage with your hands or a spatula until you have a smooth uniform mixture. Cut or shape four even rectangles from the puff pastry (if it's store-bought, just cut each sheet in half).

Spoon a quarter of the lamb mixture along one side of a pastry rectangle, about 1 cm (½ inch) from the edge.Scatter the cheese over the lamb mixture, if using. Roll up the pastry, starting from the lamb edge, to enclose the filling. Arrange so the seam (where the pastry edges overlap) sits underneath the sausage roll log. Repeat with the remaining pastry and lamb mixture. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Line a tray with baking paper.

Meanwhile, slice each log into six even pieces for party size or in half for a meal size, then place the sausage rolls on the prepared tray. Mix the egg wash ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Ina separate bowl, combine the seasoning ingredients. Brush each sausage roll with the egg wash, then sprinkle the seasoning over the top. Bake until the sausage rolls are GBD (see page 13), about 30–35 minutes. Serve with sauce.

Tips

You can swap out the lamb mince for any other kind of mince. If you want to make these in bulk and freeze them, place the tray in the freezer after rolling. Once frozen solid, transfer to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F), egg wash the frozen sausage rolls, season and bake from frozen for 35–40 minutes.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away
Sunday - Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Nasi Goreng
Wednesday - Bacon, Vegetable and Risoni Soup
Thursday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - May

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I usually share everything I have made over the previous month. It has been a busy month in our kitchen with lots of baking and new recipes tries!

However, before we talk about this, I shamelessly stole the above pic from Jackie at Junkboat Travel because I feel seen! Often if I am baking I say to my husband that I am creating lots of washing up and the side outcome is something delicious to eat!

Speaking of baking here's what I did make this month

Raspberry Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate - I made this after reading The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer. I reviewed the book and shared the recipe, which is a family recipe,  here.

Chocolate Eclairs - My husband had been asking me to make eclairs for a while but I kept on putting it off as I was a bit intimidated by it! However, once I decided to make it, it is doable. The recipe, which I shared as part of my Cook the Books contribution a couple of weeks ago, makes a lot so I still have some in the freezer. When I first filled the eclairs, I made it with a chocolate glaze and chantilly cream filling. The next time, I refreshed the shells in the oven, and then used the passionfruit and milk chocolate ganache from the macarons as the glaze and chocolate cream

Curry sausage rolls - Yes, this is a rare savoury bake, and it was delicious! The recipe comes from Justin Narayan's Everything in Indian. 

Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate Macarons - My friend and I went and did a class to learn how to make macarons! It was such a great day. I shared about this experience here. 

Chocolate Brownie - It's been an age since I made my favourite chocolate brownie recipe by Bill Granger! It went down a treat!

I haven't bought many cook books this year. When this book, Everything is Indian, was announced as the cook book for Lambs Ear Cook Book Club, I borrowed it from the library. After cooking a few things from it, we agreed that we needed to own it! I am planning to share something about this book in the next couple of weeks. I also got Taverna by Georgina Hayden out from the library. We really liked her book Greekish, so I need to find some time to look through the book before it has to go back to the library!

My most useful purchase this month was two storage containers which are the perfect shape for sheets of premade pastry and things like wraps or rotis. I don't know how I lived without them! I keep on finding new ways to use it, but at this stage, I am resisting the urge to buy any more. 

We did have a very nice French dinner a couple of weeks ago. In fact, we had a very French weekend. I had already made eclairs, then we had the dinner before we went to see the arena version of Les Miserables which was amazing, and then I made macarons the next day. I wasn't sure what to expect of the dinner. It was a fixed price menu in the restaurant at the arena, and to be honest I kind of expected to walk away thinking that it was an okay dinner, potentially overpriced but worth it for the convenience of already being in the stadium. It turned out the dinner was delicious, the portions were generous and it was well worth doing! 

I had crab tart, mushroom pithivier and potato gratin. In theory, the dessert came boxed up so that you could take it into the show with you to eat later, but we ate it in the restaurant. It was a gingernut base with layers of strawberry and rhubarb.

 

52 Recipes Challenge

Here are the new recipes we tried this month.

Raspberry and white chocolate shortbread cookies

Curry Roast Chicken, Masala roast potatoes and Raita - from Everything in Indian

Curry Sausage rolls - Another recipe from Everything in Indian. This one got rave reviews from Robert.

Spicy Prawn Noodles - My son was away for a few days so we had prawns. We don't cook these when he is home. 

Spicy Beef Noodles - This came from Dominique's Kitchen and we tried this because it was a two person recipes

Chocolate eclairs

Potato Gratin - I had a craving for potato bake. This recipe came from RecipeTin Eats

Cottage Pie - Another recipe from the RecipeTin Eats site.

Sausage and veggie gravy traybake  - And yes, another RecipeTin Eats recipe.

Before next month I should check to see what the tally is and how close I am 

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

In My Kitchen - April 

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer

Afternoon Tea Diaries - Red at Oxitea Rooms

Cook the Books: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

Macarons class

Tucci in Italy/Nonnas - Italian Food

Weekly Meals

Saturday - Schnitzel, chips, broccoli, mushroom sauce
Sunday - Sausages and potato gratin
Monday - Beef and broccoli noodles
Tuesday - Cottage Pie
Wednesday - Sausage, vegetable and gravy traybake
Thursday - Chilli Con Carne
Friday - Out for dinner

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page