It's FINALLY here people!

Ben and Jerry's opened this week in Manly! I've been twice already and it's just as chunky, teeth achingly sweet and delicious as I remember. Go people, go as soon as you can!









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Jamie Oliver's Sticky Chicken

Has anyone else made this? It's all over the blogasphere - if you haven't make sure you do. My Mom introduced me to this recipe a while ago and I finally made it again tonight.

The picture isn't prettybut it's a really tasty, satisfying meal. I served it with garlic spinach - a lovely healthy meal.


The recipe is here

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Baking with the little man

My little man is really into cooking. At 17 months he loves standing on a chair in the kitchen with his Dad helping make omlettes. He's very good at stirring but can't be trusted with grated cheese.

I've been dying to do some baking with him - I've ordered some awesome cookie cutters and as soon as they arrive we are going to make some very cute gingerbread.

Today however we made cheese biscuits from one of my baby cookbooks. 'A' helped me roll out the dough and place the cutters. He would then lick each cutout and place it on the tray. These biscuits are ALL his!



The recipe is easy and the biscuits have a good cheese flavour but are a little tougher than others I've had -I think this is due in part to the wholemeal flour and partly to some very enthusiastic rolling! I might try them with half white flour next time. Little A liked them though.



Cheese Men - recipe adapted from Feed Me! by Gerri Dawes

50g chilled butter
50g grated cheese
100g wholemeal flour
1 egg yolk
Scant tsp of mustard
2-3 tsp of milk if needed

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs

Add the cheese, mustard and egg. Start to draw the mixture together - add milk if necessary to firm a dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 mins.

Roll out, cut into shapes and bake for 10 mins in a moderate oven.

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Fun supermarket find

Cranberry juice jelly anyone? Or ....ginger beer?

I know I know - you can just add regular gelatine and do the same thing but the shiny box was too much to resist.


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CHEESE!

Looong time between posts again people, sorry about that. I am going to try and remedy that. I've been cooking loads recently just not with my camera around or with the stamina after the meal to tell you about it.

Had to tell you about this though - I made cheese. Real honest to goodness yummy cheese. Mexican cheese.

My Mexican obession has continued unabated over the past year - we eat it at least weekly at the moment. I'm getting pretty good at substituting what I can find locally for the hard to find ingredients and have found sources for just about everything else (god bless the Internet and international shipping)

Mexican cheeses have been more difficult - we've more often than not just skipped them or used sour cream.

Last week Homesick Texan blogged about making queso fresco and I just had to give it a go.

It's ridiculously easy - heat full cream milk to about 90 degrees C or less technically till just before it boils and then add lime juice or vinegar to make curds. I used 2 litres of milk and 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Once the curds have seperated pour the whole lot into a colander lines with muslin. Salt generously and drain for a few hours.

The result is a mild, crumbly cheese that is great on enchiladas or toast with tomatoes. For more detailed instructions head over to Lisa's blog http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/





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Apps for food lovers!

I recently got myself a shiny new iphone (finally!) and am totally in love! I've been boring friends, family and colleagues with my raptures of joy so I won't bore you with the details, except to say I'm more organised, entertained and eating better than I did B.i. (before iphone)

I regularly use Epicurious for interesting ideas and recipes - it's very US-centric but I really like the reviews of each recipe. I have found some great recipes that are in regular rotation at my house. The free app from their website is a cut-down version but it's great - easy to search and save recipes and perfect for when I'm on the bus home trying to decide what's for dinner.

It has a tricky little function where if you turn the phone on its side it separates into 3 tabs - main (photo and description), ingredients, and preparation so when you've got the phone in the kitchen cooking you don't need to scroll through each stage - just tap! It also doesn't go into powersave mode when its in this function. Tricky.

Dinner tonight was Epicurious inspired - pasta with pumpkin, blue cheese and pecans. We are still trying to eat less meat so I substituted sweet roasted pumpkin for the chicken and used pecans as that's hat I had on hand.

I roasted cubes of pumpkin (about 1/2 a butternut), olive oil, fresh rosemary and pecans till the pumpkin was soft and just a little brown

.

Cook the pasta till al dente and drain. In the same saucepan I browned a small onion (diced) and then put the pasta back in, added a handful of rocket and 100g of crumbled blue cheese. Mix well so that the cheese melts and then serve topped with the pumkin mix.

It was good - I might even try it with the chicken next time

What apps are you using for cooking?

Please support my Half Marathon attempt and vital cancer research!

Hi everyone,

In a moment of madness a few weeks ago I put my hand up for the half marathon in the Sydney Running Festival which runs on September 20. I've just finished my second week of a 14 week training program with Can Too. I completed 8kms today - I've still got a long way to go but I'm determined to cross the finish line.

Can Too is a fantastic organisation that trains people like me for events to raise vital funds for Cure Cancer Australia so that they can provide grants to local scientists pursuing breakthrough cancer research here in Australia.

I’m asking you to sponsor my Half Marathon attempt to raise funds for this vital cancer research. My goal is to raise $2,000.

It’s easy to donate and it’s tax deductible. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Go to www.cantoo.org.au
2. On the menu bar click on Sponsor a Participant.
3. On the drop down menu click on Online Sponsorship.
4. Enter the surname of the participant you wish to sponsor (HAZELL). Click on Search.
5. Tick the name of the person you wish to sponsor (Georgia Hazell) and enter your sponsorship amount (enter the amount in figures only i.e. 50.00).
6. Click on Add Sponsorship.
7. Enter your details. Click Submit.

After you’ve made your donation, you’ll receive an automatic notification via email that the sponsorship has been received along with a tax deductible receipt.

Thank you so much in advance for your support and generosity! I’ll let you know how I'm progressing and if/how I survive the day of madness!

Georgia

About Can Too

Can Too have trained more than 1,700 people while raising over $3,000,000 for cancer research since its inception in 2005. This has enabled 33 brilliant young researchers to strive for a cure!

www.cantoo.org.au

About Cure Cancer Australia

Since 1967, Cure Cancer Australia have provided an essential link between the community and young Australian research scientists working in all areas of cancer at the start of their careers. Funding more research grants each year enables Australia’s brightest researchers to secure further funding, build on their ideas and continue their vital work in Australia. Thanks to the generosity of the community, Cure Cancer Australia’s mission is possible: to find a cure by supporting young scientists to deliver breakthrough cancer research.

www.curecancer.org.au

Happy Birthday!

My little man turned one recently - I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone! From my little squidgy baby to a walking tornado of blond hair and giggles. We decided to throw a small party for him and my sister and I spent a lovely couple of hours baking a cake.

If you grew up in Australia in the 80's the preparations for your birthday would probably have included several hours poring over the Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake book. The agonizing decisions - the beautiful butterfly or the pink number seven! What about the candy castle?

When the little man was born I bought a copy of the original 80's version from Ebay - it's has dated a little but my sister and I had a lovely afternoon deciding which cake to cook. We eventually decided on the classic number one - yellow butter icing and smarties.

The cake itself was simple - an orange scented butter cake, covered with a thick layer of butter icing. The most time consuming part was putting the smarties on - the smarties were distinctly less vividly coloured and glossy than I remembered from my childhood but the effect was still fun

We also made chocolate crackles to complete the nostalgia trip - they were as popular at my office the next day as they were at the birthday party. Happy birthday little man! What cake shall we do next year?

A road trip to Victoria

The family and I have just arrived home from a road trip to Victoria - 2 weeks of exploring, camping (pretty challenging with a 9 month old!) and eating. We caught up with family and friends and generally had a great holiday. Apart from a roast we cooked with my sister in Melbourne we ate pretty standard camping fare although there were some spectacular food highlights when we ate out.

On the Mornington Peninsula we went wine tasting and ate lunch at a couple of the local wineries. We had a lovely Italian meal at the restaurant attached to T'Gallant winery - it was lovely place to sit and overlook the vines with a glass of wine and some food.

We also had a great French meal at La Petanque. No photos due the time spent trying to wrangle a small child into to his highchair and keep him there - it required 2 pairs of hands and G had to relinquish a fairly large portion of his pork belly and parsnip mash to a hungry little mouth!

After a weekend in Melbourne with my sister we drove further south to the Great Ocean Road and stayed in Lorne for a few days. It drizzled pretty much everyday we were there but we braved the weather and took a day trip to the Gentle Annie Berry farm.

This was a great day - the farm is a family run affair and has a cafe and produce store. After paying for a "Gobbler's pass" we were let loose on the berries to pick and eat to our hearts desire.

We picked (read ate) our way through several varieies of strawberries and rasberries, thornless blackberries and nashi - we even managed to pick enough to fill a small punnet and then retired to the cafe to eat pie. Bliss..... if you are down that way I highly reccomend a trip to Gentle Annie farm.

Soba salad with miso dressing

Our New Years resolution this year was to eat 2 vegetarian dinners per week - good for our health, good for the environment. So far it's been great and it's really pushed us to look for recipes outside our usual repertoire.

This recipe came via Kate at Veggie Friendly - it's filling, flexible and the dressing is to die for. On a whim I bought a shiso plant from the Japanese supermarket and then realised I haven't really cooked with shiso before. A quick search brought this recipe up and it's a keeper.

Soba salad with miso dressing
200g soba
mixed salad leaves
steamed green vegetables (broccoli, snow peas, beans etc)

Marinated tofu
300g firm tofu
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup boiling water
1 clove garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1/2 tsp ground chilli

For the dressing
1 dessert spoon sesame oil
1 dessert spoon rice wine vinegar
2 dessert spoons tamari
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup light miso stock


Make up the marinade and slice the tofu into thick slices. Marinate the tofu for at least 30 mins.
Boil the soba according the packet directions - drain and rinse with cold water.
Steam the green vegetables till cooked but still crisp.
Make up the dressing by mixing all the ingredients - for the light miso stock I used a good teaspoon of miso in a 1/4 cup of hot water with 1/2 a teaspoon of dashi stock powder.
Grill the tofu till heated through and then assemble the salad together and mix the dressing through

.

We are looking forward to more interesting vege meals - is anyone knows any good cookbooks or sites for new recipes all suggestions will be gratefully received!

Christmas Round-up

We had a lovely Christmas this year - a very relaxing 3 days of full on eating, family, gifts and more eating. Here is some of the amazing food we ate over the holidays

Gazpacho with prawns and avocado cream

Roast turkey

The traditional sides - roast vegetables and ham

Bean and asparagus salad with mustard vinaigrette and hazelnuts

Christmas pudding

Maggie - festively attired and stuffed full of ham and turkey

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Now G and I have the little one we have been starting our own family traditions for the season like visiting the Christmas windows at David Jones and photos with Santa. We've had a lovely time watching his little face take it all in.

One tradition I'm keen to start is baking and decorating Christmas cookies. As the little man is only 7 months old I had to borrow a friend's daughter S to help this year - we had a great time with brightly coloured icing, sprinkles and silver balls. S was entranced and stood on her little stool for a couple of hours decorating biscuits like a machine, she didn't even stop to lick her fingers! I think you'll agree she did a beautiful job!

Gingerbread Cookies
(adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup golden syrup
  

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and syrup. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut with assorted cookie cutters. Space 2 centimeters apart on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Royal Icing
In Australia we seem to be less concerned about raw eggs than in other places hence the recipe below - if raw eggs are a problem where you live Martha Stewart suggests substituting 5 tablespoons meringue powder and 1/3 cup water for raw eggs.

2 egg whites
2 cups of icing sugar
assorted food colours

Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks - slowly add the icing sugar. Divide the icing up into smaller bowls and colour with a few drops of food colouring.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2009!

Georgia

Solids!

The little one has just started solids - G and I are thoroughly enjoying watching his face as he tries new flavours and textures. What comes out the other end - not so much. Our freezer is now full of little frozen jewels of apple, pumpkin, peas and the like.

Oh little one the fun has only just begun!

Spice Islands

On my recent trip to Indonesia we stayed at a lovely old Dutch house in the mountains near Jakarta. The house has an amazing garden - full of tropical fruits like durian, star fruit, cocoa and spices.

Some of the more interesting things I learned while I was to be careful of falling durians as people have been killed by the falling spiny fruit and that you can eat the flesh of the nutmeg fruit.

A friend of my mothers grew up in Indonesia and grew up eating nutmeg fruit. The fruit looks like an unripe apricot or peach. The nutmeg we were eating were not mature - the 'nut' inside was still soft. The flesh is crisp and tart - it has a very sour citrus flavour with a strong nutmeg aftertaste. We dipped the small slices in salt before eating them.

The flavour is quite pronounced and you can only eat a small amount before it gets a little overwhelming. Totally delicious though.

On the road again...

The Bub and I are in Jakarta at the moment visiting his Grandma - she hasn't seen him for a couple of months and as you can imagine we are both being spoiled rotten!

The wet season is approaching here and the weather is hot and humid so we are heading up to the mountains with some friends this weekend for a (slightly) cooler break. The weekend will be potluck and we are tasked with a couple of meals - Mom and I are making a couple of dishes but also these super easy super tasty brownies.

This recipe is via Bub's other grandmother - or as she likes to be known - Nan - and is the easiest dessert in the world. This is a one pan wonder and takes under 30 mins to make. I know there are richer, more complex brownie recipes around but this is your good basic that is gooey in the middle with a nice crust on the edges. They are divine straight out of the oven or if you want to go fancy served 'a la mode' with some good vanilla ice cream.

Nan's Brownies

4 oz butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 eggs
2/3 cup SR flour
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Melt the butter and add the rest of ingredients in the order listed. Pour into a greased pan and bake in a moderate oven for 25-30 mins.

Been away for a looooong time

Ummm hello internet! I'm embarrassed about how long it's been since I've updated this site. I've got very few excuses, I've been cooking, I've been around....umm I had a baby...but anyway..

Actually I really did have a baby in May 2008 - a fantastically gorgeous boy called August. He is divine and very very time consuming. But I'm hoping to be able to update this site more regularly now that he's 12 weeks old and I feel like I'm getting my head around this motherhood thing.

In the meantime though here's some photos of the little man I made since I last spoke to you all....

Cinnamon Teacake

This is an afternoon quickie - G is working weekends at the moment - he is coming up to the end of a big project he's been working on for a while so I whipped up this cake for him to take in to work today and share with the troops (doesn't that make me sound hideously domesticated!)

This is a simple old fashioned cake and best served straight from the oven all warm and fragrant.

Cinnamon Teacake
(adapted from a Margaret Fulton recipe)

Cake
1 egg, separated
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour
30g melted butter

Topping
30g melted butter
1 Tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Grease a small round cake pan (or several small bundt pans)

Add the salt to the egg white and beat till stiff peaks are formed. Add the egg yolk the gradually beat in sugar.

Add the vanilla to the milk. Beating slowly alternatively add the milk and flour till well combined.

Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake in the centre of a medium oven (180 degrees) for 20-25 mins.

When the cake is done - invert onto a plate and using a pastry brush paint the top with melted butter. Sprinkle the mixed cinnamon and sugar on top.

Serve warm.

SHF #35 - The Beautiful Fig

This month's Sugar High Friday is being be hosted by Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and her chosen theme is the fig. It's summer in the northern hemisphere and figs are in season - we in Australia are just coming into spring so while fresh figs are available they are prohibitively expensive. So dried figs it is....

I have only recently come round to the pleasures of figs - fresh or dried - their mild taste and creepy squashed look when dried has never really inspired me. Recently we have been occasionally shopping at a local organic market that sells the most divine fruit bread from La Tartine filled with raisins and divine chunks of dried figs. It is a little expensive but toasted with a little butter it makes the most divine weekend breakfast.

But I digress -when deciding what to make for SHF this month I looked at variations on fig bars or biscuits - I looked at what I currently bake with dates (fig scones anyone?) and finally decided on a coffee cake with a fig filling.

Fig-filled Streusel Coffee Cake

Topping
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter

Cake
1 cup dried figs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups self raising flour
1/3 cup butter
1/2 sugar
1 vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

To make topping, combine flour and sugars in small bowl. Rub butter in with your fingers until crumbly. To make cake batter preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a springform pan.

Pulse the dried figs in a food processor until finely chopped, mix in walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Cream the butter, gradually add sugar and beat until light. Beat in vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Alternately beat flour mixture and sour cream into batter. Spoon cake batter in bottom of pan.

Spoon fig mixture carefully on top of cake batter and spread to even layer. Sprinkle streusel topping over top. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes.

Serve straight from the oven with custard for dessert or room temperature for afternoon tea

A food blog eating itself

I was watching cooking dinner the other weekend - Australian Idol was on ( I was not watching it I swear!) and a comment Dicko made about pop culture eating itself given that many of the new Idols were singing Kelly Clarkson songs made me giggle.

It struck me again as I was taking photos of my lunch yesterday and planning to blog it here - a recipe I got from a favorite food blogger, Luisa of The Wednesday Chef

The recipe in question is Tomato Bread Soup and I have to say it is every bit as good as Luisa expounds, even with spring, just ripe tomatoes rather than the height of summer sun ripened tomatoes. The soup has a fresh taste and the bread takes on a gorgeous custard like texture - perfect with a sprinkling of grated mild cheese. Divine on a wet afternoon!

Bill Telepan's Tomato Bread Soup - via The Wednesday Chef

1.5 kg ripe tomatoes
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cups of cubed sourdough bread - crusts removed
1 tablespoon fresh basil finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 cup grated ricotta salata - we used a mild Spanish cheese as the miserable weather meant we really didn't want go out and shop.

Core and quarter plum tomatoes. Place tomatoes in food processor and pulse to chop, but not too fine.

Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, but not browned. Add tomatoes and their juices. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a slow simmer and cook 45 minutes, covered, stirring from time to time.

When the soup has simmered for 45 minutes, stir the bread cubes into the soup and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Check the seasoning.

Serve hot or at room temperature, with grated ricotta salata and minced basil strewn on each serving.

** Next time I make this - and I will make it again - I think I'll add some stock to thin the soup a little - the tomatoes I used weren't really juicy so the soup was a little thick - especially after I added the bread and it soaked up a lot of the liquid **

A quick trip to France

Well I have been a very lazy food blogger haven't I? I have been and long returned from a trip to France and Japan. I was lucky enough to spend just over 3 weeks away and seems I have been in holiday mode ever since!

I wasn't sure what to expect in France - despite traveling for around 4 years I have never been to Europe (I know!) and have never really eaten a lot of traditionally French food so I was really unsure of what I'd eat past pain au chocolat, baguettes and loads of wine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the supermarkets and local markets - I found the restaurants a little hit and miss, but I suppose that is true everywhere! I was totally put of my depth with the wine but enjoyed what I drank - I'll never be able to tell you what it was though.

Here are some of the photographic food highlights.

You have to love breakfast cereal with dark chocolate, 70% no less- who needs Coco Pops?

Another breakfast favourite - Chanson Pomme (apple filled pastries) from the boulangerie near our houseboat on the Seine.


Evening drinks on the houseboat - French champagne (of course) and cheese.



We went to a couple of local 'marche's' while driving from Paris to Bourgogne. I have to say the standard of the produce was amazing - from the fresh butter and cheese to the fruit!


Mom and I literally stumbled on Laduree while looking for the Musee D'orsay in Paris - we had a gorgeous mid-afternoon break full of macaroons and rose flavoured pastries

We had a lovely afternoon in Sancerre - a wine growing region in the Loire . They have a great museum that explains the region and goes through the history of the growers collective.



Another wine highlight was going with our family friend, Camille to buy wine for her cave. We wound our way down a little suburban street to the vineyard version of a petrol station and bought several 33 litre 'bag in a box' to bottle back at Camille's house.



Bottling the wine was a family affair with a mini production line in place. Corking the bottles took some muscles! I have to admit that I only helped bottle one 33 litre cask and that was plenty.

Other highlights were several lovely meals in little bed and breakfasts, the range of aperitifs served before dinner and the epiphany of a beer cocktail - really not as weird as it sounds!

I promise it won't be so long between posts again - I am well and truly out of holiday mode now.