15 steps to a more successful Easter.

Not sure if everyone remembers my hot cross buns or should I say hot cross rock cakes from last year...

But this year I had much more success... yes a little early but with all these delicious smells in bakery's I couldn't help myself. I used a different recipe and they turned out 100 times better.

And don't they look delicious and fluffy?

The recipe I used was based on one from taste.com.au but changed it slightly as not sure if you know but the one thing I HATE is sultanas... so I used craisins instead which did make the buns not as sweet and less spicy but my alterations have fixed this.

Cranberry Hot Cross Buns

1 1/2 cups of warm (body temp) milk

2 tsp (7g) dried yeast

1/4 cup caster sugar (plus extra one tbs of caster sugar)

60g melted butter

1 egg, slightly beaten

4 1/2 cups of strong bakers flour (plus extra for kneading)

1 tsp salt

4 tsp mixed spice

1 cup of dried cranberries

1/3 cup cold water

1/2 cup apricot jam

1. Combine milk, yeast and the one tbs of caster sugar in a bowl and then set the bowl in another bowl which is filled with warm water (hotter then the milk). This helps active the yeast.
2. Put flour (only 4 cups), salt, mixed spice and sugar in a bowl and add your dried cranberries. Stir to combine.
3. Once the yeast has started to bubbly or change appearance in the milk add the melted butter (not piping hot) and egg and whisk to combine. 
4. Make a well in your flour mixture and pour in milk mixture stirring to combine.
5. Bring together with your hands and turn out onto a dusted surface and knead for 10-15min.
6. Keep warm for 1 hour in a floured bowl covered with a tea towel. Using the same method as in step 1 by placing the bowl with the dough in it in another bowl with warm water in it.
7. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grease a 23cm cake tin.
8. Punch dough down and knead for 2-3 min.
9. Divide into 16 pieces and shape into balls.
10. Arrange dough in the cake tin side by side and then set aside for half an hour to rise again.
11. Mix the 1/2 cup of flour and water together to form a paste and pipe down the centre of each row and back the other way to make crosses on each bun.
12. Bake in the oven for 10min then reduce the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 20min. The buns will sound hollow when they are done.
13. Turn out on a cooling rack.
14. Place jam in a saucepan until it melts (approx. 2min). Strain and brush over hot buns.
15. Serve warm with butter or toasted.

Serves 16

Not a Stew but a Stroganoff

Recipes #48 and #49.


Tonight I am cooking Beef and Ale Basic Stew. Mum hates the word stew... so we'll call it Beef and Ale Basic Stroganoff with lovely dumplings. It was easy to cook, I chose to cook it in the oven rather then the stove so I could sit and relax. 


I chopped 2 carrots, 2 onions and 2 celery sticks. Threw them in a oven proof dish with some olive oil and butter (butter was my touch... I've been reading too much julia Child lately and couldn't stop myself.) through in a couple of bay leaves and cook it for 10 min or until soft. I added pre-chopped beef, a can of Guinness, pepper, salt and a can of chopped tomatoes. Brought it to the boil and bunged it in the oven for 3 hours. (It's in there atm). 


For the dumplings a rubbed butter and self-raising flour together to get breadcrumbs and then added some chilled water to make a dough. Divided it in to 12 and rolled them in to dumplings. 


I added them to the stew.. sorry stroganoff for the last 30min and there is 5 min left on the cooking. I am hoping this fix's my headache :)


Fingers crossed!

Brushetta, Julie & Julia... does it get any better?

Over the weekend I attempted to make Granola (Recipe #45) for the 3rd time. First time I added currants which made it a little too sweet, the 2nd time I didn't add fruit and it was delicious over greek yoghurt so I thought I would make again since I had eaten the 2nd batch and was craving more. Yes well it sounded a great idea until the over powerful oven decided to burn the buggerey out of it. So I'd say that this third time lucky did  not work. The kitchen smelt like burnt-ness to I thought I would leave it for another weekend and make brushetta and watch Julie and Julia. (Fantastic afternoon may I say!)

For dinner I cooked the Perfect Roast Beef (Recipe #46). I placed the veggies in the bottom of the pan, placed the beef on top and cooked it for 1 hour while I went to basketball. Worked out perfectly.

We had roast veggies, yorkshire pudding and gravy. YUM.

Crumble hides reality.

Recipe #44- Stewed fruit.


We had a going away dinner tonight for 2 friends that will be leaving us for four and a half months. I don't think it's hit me yet that there actually going so I made dessert instead of thinking about it.


Rhubarb and apple crumble. Goodness knows how much rhubarb I used but I had to cook for 10-11 people I was told so in my lunch break today I went to the fruit shop in Westfield where I found a bunch of rhubarb which was about a metre tall. Very embarrassing taking it back to the office where I got looks like "is that a tree??" "no its rhubarb!" I stared them back.


I also bought 1kg of apples with my rhubarb and when I got to the counter I realised I had no cash on me so I took out my bank card. "Minimum of ten dollar" the checkout chick said. So I grabbed a bag of nuts that were on the counter to make up the extra $2 that I need to spend. "15 dollar thank you" I bought the most expensive nuts in Chatswood which I didn't even want.


Back to the crumble.


Mum helped me peel and chop the apples as I has half an hour to make a crumble and be at someone's house where I ended up getting lost anyway. The rhubarb and apples went in with some water and sugar and stewed for a bit. Yes some of this and a bit of that. I didn't really measure... naughty naught naughty I know. My rhubarb wasn't as pink as I had hoped for. But then I'd never cooked or eaten rhubarb until. It all cooked nicely and went that awful shade of pink that nanna's wear. I tipped the crumble filling into an oven proof dish and let cool before I covered it with foil for the car trip. 


Next was the crumble topping. I used flour and butter and rubbed it together with my finger tips ( and added some oats). Yes again a little bit of this and a little bit of that. When I started measuring the flour on top of the butter the scales turned off. Helpful that I couldn't take the flour out and re-measure it.


The car trip went well and I did not spill and in mum's car even though I did get lost alone with only a crumble to swear at in the car.


The Girls cooked the main which was delish, thank you my lovely's. 


I preheated the oven and spooned over the crumble filling and some demerera sugar. I thought that would give it good crunch but it didn't really work. I had way to much crumble topping for my stewed fruits. And although I was warned that rhubarb can get too excited and bubble over I didn't think it would happen in the oven but yes the rhubarb got excited, so I took the crumble out a little to early because I didn't want to mess the oven that was not mine up. So no crunchy crunchy topping. Maybe I put too much on... and the centre went very mooshy. I think less cooking on the stove next time and more time in the oven or under the grill so get nice and crunchy on top. Everyone said they enjoyed it so I will take that as a dessert accomplished :)

Chickpea free

Dinner tonight was Pot Roast Meatloaf (Recipe #43). 


You start with cooking onions off in a frying pan with cumin and coriander till soft then leaving them to cool (I got impatient and didn't leave them to cool). Smash sayos up (I used Oscar) add them to a bowl with the cool onion, mince, dijon mustard, dried oregano, pepper, salt and 1 egg. Moosh with hands till combined and make a rugby ball out of the mince and place in a baking tray. Cook for 30min in a preheated oven at 200 degrees (I had the oven at 180 because we have a small oven that compensates by being too hot).


Chope your 2nd onion into 1cm pieces with 2 cloves of garlic and a chilli. Fry in a pan with smoked paprika (I cannot stand the smell of Smoked Paprika for some reason, but I did add it) When the onions are soft add the tins of tomatoes and chickpeas. Now we have had enough chickpeas for the moment. Everything Jamie can put chickpeas in he does so we decided to leave them out. I asked the family and it was a flat 'no chickpeas'. Add balsamic vinegar and worcestershire sauce and being to the boil and simmer for 10min.


Once the meatloaf had had it's 30min transfer it to a baking dish and pour sauce around it. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and lay prosciutto over and around it. Put it back in the oven for another 15 min until prosciutto is crispy.  


We served this with couscous (that worked this time). Yum. It will be a meatloaf sandwich for work tomorrow!! 

I am a food processor...gone slightly mad

Last night it was dessert that Jamie came into my kitchen for. 


Recipe #42- MEGA Chocolate fudge Cake.


This recipe calls for a food processor. Something that my mother only has a tiny one of called Oscar. It holds one cup, thats it. Nothing more but yes it can hold less if you tried.


This was how I worked my way around having a normal sized food processor and you know what? It worked wonderful :) To sum up the recipe method; Jamie says bung all ingredients in food processor and wizz. HA good one Jamie. This recipe is meant to test me I know it! 


So with mum's one cup Oscar I wizzed 200g of dark chocolate then transferred it to a bowl, wizzed 100g blanched almonds and transferred them to the bowl, measured 120g soft brown sugar and added it to my bowl with 1 tbs of cocoa. (I gave the wizzed mixture a stir with a spoon at the point) This next bit is the test. 175g of butter and wizz. Haha you make a funny joke!


I put 175g of softened butter into Oscar with about 6 tbs of the wizzed mixture and wizzed it! Genius! I kept adding a little bit of the dry mixture until Oscar was full and refused any more. I turned the buttery mixture into the rest of the wizzed goodies and stirred with a wooden spoon. 


Next 4 eggs and 150g of Self Raising flour is needed. Oscar went to bed early at this stage and never returned to help with the cake making. I added one egg with a huge spoonful of flour to the mixture and mixed with a wooden spoon until all was mixed through well. I continued doing this with the other 3 eggs and remaining flour.


You need to butter a 25cm x 25cm tin and then coat the inside with cocoa. Pour your wizzed mixture in and crumble 100g of fudge over the top pushing the larger bits in the cake batter. Bake in a 160 degree oven for about 20-30 min. Remember if your making this that all ovens are different. We have a powerful tiny oven at home but I still needed it in there for 30min even though Jamie says 20min.


I am a magician! Or should I say I am a food processor?? Oh dear I think this cake has gone to my head.


Delish with ice cream :)

Vegemite Pie

Recipe #40 and 41- Classic mince and onion Pie & Pastry Lid.


Last night I felt like soup but was the only on in my family who felt like soup. Very disappointing when you're trying to describe Fresh Mint and Pea soup to people who just turn up their nose and say...'Soup?'


So Vegemite Pie it was. I say Vegemite Pie because of course the obvious, there is Vegemite in it. First recipe I have made (apart from tiger toast) that asks for Vegemite. Ok well Jamie says Marmite but I thought I would Auzzie the pie up and use Vegemite.

I fried the carrots, onions and celery with fresh rosemary and dried bay leaves until the onions started to go translucent. Then added the mince, hot mustard, Vegemite, worcestershire sauce and 2 tsp of flour and stirred until everything was mixed through well. I have to admit the Vegemite did not want to spread I would advise mixing a splash of boiling water with it next time to make it easier to mix. The stock and boiling water was then added and left to cook with lid off for 1 hour. Jamie says lid askew but there was a lot of liquid so I thought lid off so the sauce could reduce which it did perfectly. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees when you have about 30 min left of cooking.


I then transferred the mince mixture into a ceramic pie dish to let cool slightly and let my pre-rolled shortcrust frozen pastry thaw. Next the pastry went over the pie. This is where I struggled and had holes in my pastry. Cook for about 40min or until golden on top.


The Vegemite Pie was YUM. We had it with buttered peas. Mum kept saying how English this meal was but I don't think so... Vegemite Pie is definitely Auzzie :)

Happy Easter!

So I know this is not part of my 'mission' but I couldn't resist making Hot Cross Buns since its easter and because I have got a little Nigella mad lately and went with her recipe. I did however leave out the orange, clove and cardamon pods for Mum's sake. She doesn't like hot cross buns too spicy.


I also have to admit that I used the wrong flour and only read the recipe note saying if you don't have the right flour (bread flour) don't bother making them until after they were in the oven. Ah well. I thought they were nice.


Sultanas to me are disgusting, one thing I cannot bring myself to eat or even make myself like. So instead of these disgusting nuggets I used currants which I do like. The buns didn't rise much but I think that was my impatient-ness and the fact I used home-brand plain flour... So instead of looking like shop bought Hot Cross Buns they were more like Hot Cross scones. Still delicious! I will make them again for sure... with good bread flour and maybe also more time to rise.. eg over night :)

A little bit of inventing.

We had our ritual girl’s dinner the Wednesday that just past and we devoured a Lemon Meringue Pie that the host prepared for us along with minestrone soup. Was it as good as it sounds...? Hell Yes it was!! :)


But I couldn’t resist myself and had to make something and bring it along with me. I have the cooking bug at the moment and sorry Jamie but it’s not for your fish recipes... I did the wrong thing and cooked everything I was dying to cook to start with now I’m left with baked apples... 4 types of porridge... and more cod. Ah well, I will get through and be gastronomically wiser after.

Anyway back onto last Wednesday night I made a Baked Artichoke dip. I tried a similar dip to the one I made at a friends house and thought it was delicious so while looking through a few recipes online I took initiative and made my own version. It's very simple and very decadent. It's almost like a creamy artichoke fondue.
-- If you are cooking to the dip straight away- Preheat your oven to about 190 degrees Celsius. --
1. Add 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 6 tablespoons of sour cream, 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram and 8 tablespoons of grated vintage cheese in a bowl along with 2 clove of fresh garlic minced.
2. Mix everything together and season well with salt and freshly grated black pepper (be careful not to over salt at this point).
3. Dice a 400g can of Artichoke hearts to the size you like. (I diced mine into little squares to give the dip some texture.) Add the chopped artichokes to the cheese mixture and mix well.
4. Test to see if it needs more pepper or salt. WARNING. It will taste VERY garlic-ee at the moment but do not be alarmed the hot-ness of the garlic does calm down when it’s baked. Pour the dip into an oven prove dish- I use an oval shaped one (very retro!)
* -- If you are making the dip a day in advanced stop now and cover with cling and refrigerate until required.--
5. Top with grated Parmesan Cheese and bake for about 20 min or until heated through. Move the dish up in the oven to let the cheese bubble on top. You may need to dab a bit of the oil from the top with kitchen paper so that guests don't feel too guilty indulging and Serve with crusty baguette pieces and carrot fingers. The carrot gives a lovely refreshing change to the satisfying rich-ness of the dip its self.

Mmmm mm

Use your imagination... fresh cream and fresh strawberries....

A non Jamie dinner tonight but Chocolate chip scones for dessert which Mari and I made on Sunday. We adapted Jamie's fruit scones recipe (recipe #32) and made Chocolate Chip scones as we both are not fan's of fruit scones.

Because we don't have a food processor that hold more then a cup we made them the manual way by rubbing the flour, baking powder, and butter together with our fingers. We added about a tablespoon of cocoa here and took a table spoon of flour out so they would be more decadent. Mari did this while I mixed the Eggs, milk and chocolate chips in a bowl. We made a well in the centre of the crumbly flour mixture and poured the eggy mixture in. Stirred and did a small kneed. Once the dough had come together we cut out our scones and put them in the preheated oven. 


MMM YUM! they were delicious! Not too sweet but just enough to make you want a 2nd but not a 3rd. Would have been delectable with fresh cream and fresh strawberries! Will def be repeating the recipe! 

Cookies make everything better

Recipe 24: Over the weekend I made Jamie’s chocolate chip cookies with Mari. We were suppose to be at KK’s house to watch the netball at 4pm but the cookies took a lot longer then we thought. We had to freeze the cookie dough before you could mould them. When I read this I thought:  Pft nope it’ll be fine we don’t need to freeze the dough.


    Oh yes we needed to! We found this out once it was made. It was gooey and sticky. It looked a delicious caramel colour and smooth texture. If you like cookie dough raw then this recipe looks like a good one, but I’m not a raw cookie dough eater. I prefer my cookies fresh out of the oven.
    We shaped it into a sausage shape, wrapped in glad wrap and froze it. We got impatient as we were already late to KK’s and got the dough out before the 30min was up. The edges were frozen but the centre was still a sticky mushy mess. We managed to cut 12 cookies out of the sausage shapped cookie dough even though we were meant to get out 15.
    Jamie says they're done when the edges start to brown.      What about the middle?? Is it meant to stay not brown?     We took the cookies out, only a couple looked overdone but they were delicious! A little crumbly round the edges but very yummy. Dad had hoped I would forget to take them with me when we finally got out my front door.


We missed the Sydney Swifts netball game but I think the cookies made up for it

cookie monster confessions

P.S. Delicious magazine arrived today! woohoo!!


I made the Nigella cookies but had to use hazelnut chocolate because that was all we had. Still quite yum though... probably not the best idea before netball.

Red Velvet is the new Denim.

Made them ate them and loved them!

I used Jamie Oliver's recipe in his latest magazine (Issue 8: Feb/Mar '10). I know it's off topic but I thought that because it was Jamie still I could get away with it.

Jamie's: Red Velvet Cupcakes

- 375g plain flour

- 50g baking cocoa

- 1tsp baking soda

- 1tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 230g butter, at room temp

- 360g caster sugar

- 5 large eggs

- 250mL buttermilk

- 1tsp vanilla essence

- 1 tsp natural red food colouring (I used colouring paste)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and fill muffin trays with cases (it says it makes 24 but I got 32 out of this recipe). 

2. Combine the flour, cocoa, making powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Sift the mixture 3 times. (YES 3 times!!)

3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time making sure they are mixed in well.

4. Add a quarter if the dry ingredients and 60mL of buttermilk, alternating till it's all used.

5. Mix in the vanilla and food colouring.

6. Fill the muffin cases half full of cake batter. Bake for 15-20min (test with a skewer).

7. Leave to cool for 5 min in pan and move to a cooling rack. The cupcakes must be completely cool before icing.

The icing: Beat together 130g unsalted butter and 250g full fat cream cheese until fluffy. Add 250g of icing sugar gradually and stir through 1tsp of vanilla essence. Ice and eat! delicious!

**sorry there are no pictures... they didn't last long enough for a photo to be taken :)

Is Red Velvet the new denim?

Jamie Magazine arrived Yesterday! Woohoo! 

I haven't had a huge look through yet, only a quick flick. But I have to say that about a week ago I had never heard of Red Velvet cupcakes and they seem to be everywhere at the moment. (I am sure you are all wondering how a foodie has never heard of red velvet cakes right? well my mum was never a cake baker. Her cakes turned out like slices and her slices turned out like cakes. She never attempted cookies.) I went onto deliciousdeliciousdelicious when the Red Velvet Lamington was on the site. Recently he has posted the Red Velvet Cupcake and now in Jamie's magazine this month he has also done a recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes.

All I can think of is Red Velvet Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes... Red Velvet Cupcakes. I may have to ease my cravings for them.