Saturday 17 November 2012
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| Easy Chocolate Brownie and Delectable White Chocolate laminton morsels |
125g Butter melted
2 lge eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of flour
1tsp baking powder
3 dessert spoons of cocoa powder
100g chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 180C. Mix melted butter, eggs, sugar and essence together. Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and add to butter mix with the chocolate chips. Mix until smooth. Spread into a lined sponge roll tin. Bake 25min. Cool in tin. Cut and dust with icing sugar.
Delectable White Chocolate Lamington Morsels
100g white chocolate buttons
1 cup of cream
1 cup of icing sugar
2 cups of fine coconut
1 cup thread coconut
1 small supermarket sponge
Combine chocolate buttons and cream, microwave for 30 second bursts until melted. Mix until smooth. Cool then add icing sugar. Cut the sponge up into small squares and using a wooden skewer dip into chocolate sauce then roll in fine coconut, redip into chocolate sauce and then coat with thread coconut. Place on plate and refridgerate until needed.
Sunday 15th April 2012
Today I made the best pizza sauce from tomatos that have been sitting around waiting for me to get to them. The recipe was from http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-make-pizza-sauce-three-recipes/
Easy and very sucessful - I used basil and oregano from the garden (fighting with the bees who are frantically visiting abundant flowers on these herbs) as well as peppers and chillis. The boys were so taken with the smell while it was cooking that they decided on pizza for dinner and made me a wonderful chicken and bacon version. I had cooked some chicken breasts in red wine, garlic and mixed herbs the night before and this sliced wonderfully to combine with the sauce producing a yummy tasty pizza.
Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pizza Sauce
This sauce is musky, gentle, and robust.
• 12 pounds paste tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons salt, maybe more
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 head garlic
• 3/4 cup green pepper, rough dice
• 1 cup onion, rough dice
• 1 jalapeno, rough mince
• 1 tablespoon each dried oregano and dried basil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• citric acid, bottled lemon juice, or vinegar
1. Cut the top off a head of garlic making sure the tip of each clove of garlic has been decapitated. Set the head of garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle the top with a smige of olive oil, and wrap it up tightly.
2. Wash, core, and halve the tomatoes. Toss them with ½ cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt, and the black pepper. Divide the tomatoes between two large, sided baking sheets. Nestle the foil-wrapped head of garlic on one of the trays.
3. Roast the tomatoes at 400 degrees for about an hour, rotating the trays as necessary. Some of the tomatoes will blister a bit—this is good.
4. While the tomatoes are roasting, sauté the green pepper, onion, and jalapeno in 2 tablespoons olive oil until tender and translucent.
5. Dump the roasted tomatoes into a large stockpot.
6. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze out all the yummy mush. Add the garlic and sautéed veggies to the roasted tomatoes. Purée the mixture.
7. Add the spices and sugar. Simmer the sauce to thicken, if necessary. Taste to correct seasonings.
8. Ladle the sauce into pint jars, add acid, and process the jars in a hot water bath for 20 minutes at a gentle rolling boil.
A recent recipe I have tried and loved is this from a local magazine Nourish (http://www.nourishmagazine.co.nz/)
Caramelised Capsicum and Onion Relish
Red onion sliced
Red Capsicum
Orange Capsicum
Olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Basil
I had no red wine vinegar so I used "White Balsamic Condiment" from Lupi and it tasted yummy!
Add a dash of oil then add onions and cook gently for about a minute then add finely sliced capsicum. Cook at a gentle heat for about 15 minutes so they begin to caramelise but do not brown. Add vinegar, brown sugar and some of the basil. Cook for another 15 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick and glossy. Stir in some more torn basil. Cool and then refrigerate. This is wonderful as part of a platter of cheeses and meats. We had it with blue cheese, cambert and freshly baked bread. Delicious.
