photo credit: I love chocolate pudding
I do have to admit, I'm not usually fond of microwave recipes.
The microwave bewilders me; it places a plastic barrier between the food and my senses, blocking out changing smells and textures and rendering me useless. I can only gaze at the steady spinning, whirring and hoping that the 'ding' will come at the right time.
My grandmother was always equally hopeless with the microwave. I recall her wrapping butter in aluminium foil and putting it in the microwave because someone had told her she could do that to soften it. I also recall the zapping noises and the sparks.
This recipe is however so enticingly easy and delicious that even I and my microwave manage to call the truce long enough to make this one.
I'd be surprised if you didn't have all of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry right now and you'll be delighted to know that this pudding is prepared, cooked and served in just one dish!
Photo credt: 365:339 Microwaved
You will need to consider your own microwave's power rating and adjust the time accordingly; the time is set based on the older 800 watt microwaves. It is probably wise to drop the power down to medium-high if your microwave isn't similarly ancient.
Ingredients
- 60g butter
- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
- 220g caster sugar (about 1 cup)
- 25g cocoa (1/4 cup)
- 180ml milk (I use low-fat milk and it works fine)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 35g (1/3 cup) cocoa, extra
- 2 cups boiling water
Method
Place butter in a large microwave-proof dish and heat on high for 60 seconds to melt. (Note: I still can't bring myself to do this and melt the butter in a pan on the stove then add to the dish)
Stir in sifted flour, caster sugar, and cocoa. Add the milk and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Sprinkle with combined brown sugar and extra cocoa.
Carefully pour the boiling water slowly over the back of a large metal spoon and over the pudding mixture.
Cook on high for 12 minutes (Note: Eep! Try 8 minutes on medium-high in a modern microwave and see how you go) until springy-soft and just cooked in the centre.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes if you can, then serve with ice-cream or cream.
photo credit: the last bit of pudding
I promise it will be magic.
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Ingredients: Cake
- 125g self-raising flour, sifted
- 120g caster sugar
- 125g unsalted butter, chopped, room temperature
- 2 extra-large eggs
- one large orange (or lemon): 3 tsp finely chopped zest and 2 TB juice
- 3 TB poppy seeds
- 2-3 TB milk
- good quality marmalade, for glazing
Ingredients: Icing
- 2 TB passionfruit pulp, strained to separate seeds
- 125g unsalted butter, chopped, room temperature
- 220g well sieved icing sugar
Method: Cake
cupcake glazed with orange marmalade
Preheat oven to 180C (not fan forced) for mini cupcakes, or 200C (not fan forced) for standard size cupcakes.
Take eggs, butter and milk out of the fridge to come to room temperature. While that's happening, measure out the other ingredients and get everything ready.
Stir 2 TB milk into the poppyseeds in a small bowl. The poppyseeds should start making 'zingy' noises.
Combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs and 2tsp of the orange rind in the large bowl of a food processor, don't over-mix.
Add the freshly squeezed orange juice through the top of the processor while pulsing the mix.
If more liquid is required to make a smooth batter, add half to a TB of milk.
Fold the poppyseeds into the batter with a metal spoon. Add remaining chopped orange zest to taste.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. The mixture will make 36 mini cupcakes or 12 regular size.
Bake mini cupcakes for 8-10 minutes and regular cakes for 15 minutes. The tops will spring back when gently prodded.
When done, immediately take the cupcakes out of the tins and onto wire racks.
While cakes are still warm, use a pastry brush or bread knife to carefully spread gently warmed marmalade on the tops of the cupcakes.
Method: Icing
iced with passion fruit butter cream
Beat butter with electric beaters until pale and fluffy
Beat in half of the icing sugar and half of the juice from the passionfruit pulp until combined
Beat in the second half of the icing sugar and passionfruit juice.
Add a little extra milk (1/2 to a TB) if required to make a very light and fluffy icing
Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes.
If desired, decorate with reserved passionfruit seeds or curls of orange zest.
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]]>Cinnamon-Fig Jam by Eating Out Loud
Photo by Eating Out Loud
The recipe and beautiful accompanying pictures are giving me tingles. What an amazing use for figs! If you're in Australia grab them quick before they go out of season and make this divine looking jam. I'm sure this will be fabulous added to an autumn cheese platter.
Blood-Orange Yogurt Cake from Picky Cook
Photo by Picky Cook
It is no secret that I love the lightness and texture of yogurt cake and this one looks fabulous. Moist, light and an amazing colour - what more could you want? STOP PRESS: You could also want a great grapefruit version!
Especially for easter:
Iron Chef Shellie's Hot Cross Buns
A classic looking recipe, adapted from Donna Hay's but with extra fruit, just the way I like it. Shellie's photography is always gorgeous and these buns look soft and glazed-shiny.
Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns by Not Quite Nigella
Photo by Not Quite Nigella
Oh oh .. cimmamon, chocolate and the soft butteriness of a hot cross bun? Diet? What diet? Not Quite Nigella's take on the standard looks fabulous and I can almost taste them already.
What are you cooking this Easter? Share your recipe ideas or links in the comments below!
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Vietnamese Prawn Salad
I made it for dinner last night, with a few changes to reduce the calorie content.
Firstly, I used snow peas instead of snake beans, because the snow peas looked great at the local greengrocer whereas the beans looked a bit tired.
To cut down the fat I didn't fry the prawns - I bought extra-large boiled prawns to go with the cold salad. I just peeled and de-veined them (leaving the tails on). I used more prawns than the recipe specified - prawns are low-cal and low-fat and 4 per person just didn't seem enough.
Coles now stocks palm sugar in my local supermarket (in the asian foods aisle, right on the top shelf) but you can use brown sugar instead.
If you like the look of this, you can click through to get the recipe for Vietnamese Prawn Salad.
Leftovers magic:
While I was fiddling about with the vermicelli and prawns I also peeled some prawns completely and wrapped them into some rice paper rolls with finely sliced cucumber, cooked and rinced vermicelli, coriander, vietnamese mint and thai basil. They were delicious eaten immediately, dipped into hoisin sauce.
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photo credit: Photoportunity
Each week I like to add some new dishes to the menu.
We do have our favourites that pop up on the meal plan on a regular basis (particularly mid-week) but I enjoy discovering new favourites too.
Here are some great recipes from the blogosphere and beyond that I'll be trying in the next week.
photo credit: Darwin Bell
Emma Knowles' Vietnamese Prawn Salad (Gourmet Traveller): This recipe looks light, fresh and well balanced. As a bonus, you'll find a short, simple ingredients list and minimal preperation and cooking time.
We'll be eating this one outside. Asian food and wine pairing can be tricky, however I think a young grassy sauvignon blanc or perhaps a riesling could work. I expect though that we'll be cracking open a few bottles of Hoegaarden (or Hoegaarden Grand Cru if we're feeling indulgent) instead.
Tips: I've previously successfully substituted brown sugar for palm sugar and if you have good pans I'm sure you can get away with less oil.
Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's Chana Punjabi (as shared by The Wednesday Chef): Warm, luxurious and enticing, without offending the budget. Store cupboard basics and a few fresh bits and pieces easily picked up on your way home never looked so good!
No you won't be eating this in 15 minutes, but pour yourself and your partner a glass or two of wine while you stir and allow yourself to slow down and relax. There's no complicated prep or advanced cookery magic here. All you need is a bit of time and basic ingredients.
Note: Cilantro is also known as coriander.
photo credit: sea turtle
crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies by Smitten Kitchen: Speaks for itself really, doesn't it? A classic recipe that I'm sure will please everyone.
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photo credit: Bucket of Lemons
This cake is made from very basic fridge/pantry items so you won't be trekking all over for exotic ingredients.
It also has the advantage of being light and indulgent without being high in fat. If you make it to serve 8 people, one slice is less than 4.5g fat, which means you could safely enjoy seconds.
The taste is reminiscent of a baked cheesecake and it is very popular in our house!
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 100g caster sugar
- 3 TB plain flour
- 400g strained Greek yoghurt
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Beat egg yolks with sugar to a thick, pale cream.
Beat in flour, then yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, until thoroughly combined.
Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into yoghurt mixture.
Pour into a round, non-stick 23cm baking tin greased with butter.
Bake 50-55 minutes until the top is brown. The cake will puff up like a souffle and then subside.
We tend to serve this with fresh berries but you could certainly eat it plain or drizzle with a little citrus/sugar syrup.
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]]>Good thing too, because as it turns out husbands tend to be awfully forgiving of a wife's foibles when the smell of roast lamb, garlic and rosemary is caressing their nostrils. (Maybe I should have got the shoes as well?)
Smear (please use your hands - trust me) a paste of mustard, olive oil, garlic, fresh chopped rosemary and parsley over lamb racks. Cover and hide the lamb racks in the fridge for as long as possible, overnight if you can manage it. If you're doing it at the last minute as I often am, pop the lamb in the fridge and get started on some accompaniments.
BTW: I find that soup on the stove can hide a multitude of sins (or at least an utter failure to start dinner at a reasonable hour) so home-made soup in the freezer (or a good quality bought product) can be useful!
The lamb needs a quick sear in a medium-hot pan for 1-2 minutes on each side, then, depending on the size of the racks, about 15-20 minutes in a hot oven. Cover and rest the lamb (and yourself) for about 10 minutes.
Deglaze the pan and pour the pan juices over the lamb and serve with roasted vegetables, paris mash potato, (or for a lower GI option) sweet potato rosti, steamed greens or whatever takes your fancy.
Healthy Eating Update
While the addition of olive oil and the carbiness of roasted root vegetables meant our dinner wasn't all that low-calorie, it was delicious, healthy and satisfying.
I find I need carbs in the evening to prevent me craving over-processed sugary sepulchres in the middle of the night. A glass of wine also helps me sleep and avoid the binging. It seems to be working - it may be my imagination but I'm feeling a little lighter!
So there we have it. My love handles are still prominent but I'm healthy and happy.
(Challenge for later: weigh myself. Regularly.)
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]]>Oops...
Case in point: in an act of complete stupidity last week I fell over and landed entirely (and heavily) on one knee. It goes without saying that I am incredibly uncoordinated. (It won't be a surprise to anyone who knows me that I somehow, unconsciously, protected my capacious handbag/briefcase in the fall which suffered not a scratch.)
As a result of my stupidity I have been forced to become acquainted with a pair of rather boring looking crutches and my footwear is restricted to my rather meagre collection of flat shoes.
photo credit: Patience
My doctor has also told me to do the unthinkable - rest - and stay downstairs for the foreseeable future. This is all very well but I live in a 2-storey house and my kitchen is upstairs.
The situation is dire indeed. Not long after I met my husband, he offered to cook me dinner. When he pulled the bright yellow Old El Paso box out of the pantry I knew that I was in trouble.
Things have moved on from there slightly. 5 years later I can confirm that he is fabulous at tidying up and putting things away.
However not much has improved in his cooking. Luckily there are no yellow boxes in my pantry!
Keep some pre-cooked meals in the freezer
photo credit: my freezer
While as a general rule I am not friends with my freezer (freezer burn is friend to no-one) I do have an emergency stash of pre-prepared and pre-cooked (by me) meals in the freezer, vying for room with the huge top tier of my wedding cake that has been in there for nearly 3 years and counting.
While I was stuck downstairs, lame and miserable, my husband was quite able to defrost some chicken schnitzels that I had previously crumbed and cooked.
As per my instructions he smeared the schnitzels with some tomato paste and sprinkled them with fresh rosemary from the garden and some grated cheese.
He chucked them under the grill to warm through and melt the cheese.
They would have been quite perfect if he had put them on the grill tray rather than in a baking tin, but served with some spaghetti tossed in some fresh and lively organic olive oil and lots of cracked pepper and some steamed vegetables, it was a satisfying dinner. (The baking tin warped in the high heat but was able to be restored to its previous shape.)
To make the schnitzels
Slice trimmed chicken breasts in half width-wise.
Bash the chicken with a meat mallet or you can use your fists and roll over the chicken with your knuckles.
Dust them in well seasoned flour (I often add paprika to this), then swoosh them into an egg wash (about a tablespoon of milk to each large egg) and into a mix of fresh and dried breadcrumbs, finely grated parmesan, herbs or whatever takes your fancy.
Shallow fry in hot oil until golden (don't overcook or the chicken will be dry and awful), drain well, cool, then wrap individually and pop them into a labeled freezer safe container or bag.
To reheat, warm through in the oven or make parmigana as directed above. Please don't use the microwave to do this, unless you have one of the fancy convection ones.
Buy it pre-prepared
photo credit: Whole Foods deli counter
Many butchers and delis now stock a great range of pre-prepared and easy to cook meals that are surprisingly budget friendly and tasty when added to some fresh ingredients.
My local butcher sells lovely little handmade meatballs which can be easily browned and then cooked through in a sauce of tinned crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, fresh herbs, a good glug of wine, a small dash of balsamic vinegar and served over pasta with a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan.
You could even use a good quality basic store-bought pasta sauce or passata instead.
A tray of meatballs is less than $6 at my butcher and will serve 2 very hearty eaters for dinner with leftovers for lunch.
So despite all predictions we're eating well during my exile from the kitchen and thanks to some generous offers from friends and family that is likely to continue.
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]]>This is my speedy, healthy-ish, completely not-Indian, not-curry version.
Mix a couple of tablespoons of good quality curry paste (if you're in Perth and haven't already, check out Prime Products) with roughly the same amount of plain yoghurt. Low fat yoghurt works perfectly.
Smear the curry paste mixture over a couple of chicken breasts (beef or lamb works too) and marinate in the fridge for at least 5 minutes. Chargrill until just cooked through (chicken breasts take 4 minutes on my Breville electric chargrill thingamy) and serve with basmati rice, vegetables of your choice and pickle or chutney.
If you cook double the chicken, you can serve it cold the next day wrapped in roti bread with salad, pickle and a bit of yoghurt.
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]]>This is my "cheat's roast" which will be tonight's dinner.
Smoosh a couple of cloves of chopped or pressed garlic into a couple of beef fillets. Massage some balsamic vinegar (or red wine) into the meat, cover, and put into the fridge to marinate for 15 minutes or more.
raw beef
While that is happening, chop up some veg. Tonight I used some kipfler potatoes, skin on, chopped into rough chips. Sweet potato, carrots, red onions, pumpkin etc would be great too - whatever you have on hand. I tossed the potatoes in a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil, flaked salt (I used Murray River pink salt but you can use Maldon or whatever takes your fancy), heaps of cracked pepper and some fresh thyme and spread them out onto a baking dish.
chips
I also put some tiny roma tomatoes into a mix of eevo and balsamic vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper in a small oven dish. You can also use cherry or grape tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters depending on how much time you have to cook them.
tomatoes (I realised i needed to chop these after the photo)
I had some large flat field mushrooms so I topped those with eevo, salt and pepper and some breadcrumbs and put them onto a tray.
Slide the veg into a hot oven, pour yourself a glass of red and tidy up the kitchen. Once that's done it will be time to cook the meat. Drain and then massage some oil into the meat. Chuck the beef onto a hot pan and cook to your liking. The balsamic will make the beef rather dark so don't worry.
Rest the beef while you set the table and pour more wine. Top the tomatoes with some crumbled fetta and pile the potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms and beef onto some warmed plates, maybe with a bit of just wilted spinach. Deglaze the pan and pour on top of everything else.
I didn't have a lot of time to present this nicely because my husband was about to knock me out to get to dinner. So here it is.
dinner
Please forgive the awful photos, I am just learning. Feedback is more than welcome!
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