Don’t forget, the Ingredient of the Month for February is Jelly!! And together with Aeroplane Jelly, I’m offering the chance to win a large jelly hamper!! All you have to do is either email me your favourite jelly recipe, or write a blog post with about your favourite jelly recipe/jelly that you’ve had and post the link in the comments here.
Contest ends 1st March, so hurry!!
The boys at work have introduced me to the weight-loss devil – a lovely little French patisserie across the street that bakes fresh, mouth-watering, buttery bites of heaven that are so addictive, one bite and it’s all down hill from there.
The first thing that greets you is the whiff of sin baking in the oven. When you walk in, golden-brown morsels of every shape and size greet you through a clear glass case.
The sensory overload is enough for me to abandon all sanity like Cassanova casting off an old lover and begin my descent into pure, decadent, food sin.
On recommendation, I’ve decided to try the Sour Cherry Danish and the Almond Croissant.
The Sour Cherry Danish is just tart enough to keep you from sinking into the flaky pastry. I do, on one hand, prefer my pastries with a little more bite, but I definitely can’t fault this danish otherwise.
And the pièce de résistance (for me anyway) has to be the Almond Croissant. The soft, doughy, flaky pastry is topped by a sweet crust on the top, with almond flakes proudly displayed on the top like the crown of the statue of liberty. Each bite is sweet, gooey…all the comforting textures exploding in my mouth all at once.
I’ll definitely definitely be back for more – I’m trying the Ratatouille quiche today. =)
I ate at:
La Banette
18 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, 2037
Inspired by the hot hot summer days that we’ve been experiencing, I decided to make some frozen yoghurt! That, and I’ve got some leftover Lime Jelly Crystals from Aeroplane Jelly that I used in my Australia Day post!
By the time I remembered to take a photo, the tub of yoghurt was all gone, so I guess you have to make do with a picture of this really cute baby eating yoghurt!!
This is a really versatile, basic recipe, and great to make to have on hand.
Paw Paw and Lime Frozen Yoghurt
300g Thick Natural Yoghurt
1 tsp honey
1 medium, ripe Paw Paw (Papaya)
1 packet Lime Jelly Crystals
1 cup hot water
Dissolve the jelly crystals in hot water and leave to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, cut the paw paw up and place in the freezer to cool. When the jelly has cooled to a slurry texture, place honey, yoghurt, paw paw and jelly in a food processor and blend.
Place in a shallow container, cover with cling wrap and freeze overnight.
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And that’s it!! A tub of creamy, frozen goodness in your freezer, and a healthy option to ice cream! Also, don’t forget to enter the competition to win a selection of jelly for you to make your very own edible works of art! All you have to do is write up a blog post on your favourite recipe using jelly and leave a link in the comments here. Work fast, cause contest ends 1st March!! =)
…or you can make one!!! If you haven’t guessed it already, the ingredient for this month is
JELLY!!
This cool, gelatinous, melt-in-your-mouth is definitely a summer favourite for me, and it made me wonder about what else you can do with it.
So get your creative hats on, because Aeroplane Jelly has very nicely agreed to help me with the giveaway!! Just choose your favourite jelly recipe and write a blog post (leave the link in the comments), or send me an email with your favourite recipe ! It’s that simple. At the end of the month, I’ll pick my favourites, and everyone gets some jelly!!
Contest ends 1st March 2011.
I got a lovely present in the mail the other day – Aeroplane Jelly sent me some goodies for Australia Day! Boxes of Lime and Lemon Jelly (Green and Gold) to help me unleash my psychedelic jelly fantasies. =)
And so, I present to you…
My Andy Warhol colours inspired sandcastle beach scene. I mixed Blueberry and Lime jelly for the “sea”, and layered Lime and Lemon jelly for my sandcastle, with a heap of buttered biscuit crumbs for the “sand”.
=)
Happy Australia Day!
Well, actually I do! =) I am absolutely addicted to Jelly Slice, and this easy recipe is my new favourite thing to make. It’s a cheap option and always a great hit at a party!!
Jelly Slice Recipe:
85g Jelly Crystals
395g can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 tsp Gelatine
Juice of 1 lemon
50g butter
Biscuits (I used Milk Arrowroot)
Crush the biscuits for the biscuit base. How many biscuits you use depends on how thick you’d like the base to be. I used about 7 biscuits for the tin that I used. Melt the butter, and mix that in with the crushed biscuits. It should look like wet sand.
Press the biscuit into the tin and place the tin into the fridge while you make the other layers.
Use about 1/4 cup of boiling water to dissolve the gelatine. Once that’s done, add the lemon juice and the condensed milk. Pour that onto the biscuit base and leave to set in the fridge.
Once the condensed milk layer is set, mix up the packet of jelly crystals with 1 cup of boiling water. Leave to cool to about room temperature, then carefully pour that into the tin and leave in the fridge to set for a couple of hours.
Cut up the slice and serve!! Absolutely great for a hot summer’s day. =)
My friend Mel once commented that I show people I love them by feeding them. And that’s absolutely true. I love giving food away, and I love putting in effort to tailor it to people’s individual tastes. =) So this year, I made sauces to give away at Christmas! First up, the easiest Raspberry Jam ever!
Raspberry Jam:
1.5 kg raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1.5 kg sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Sterilize your jars how you wish. I wash them thoroughly in hot water, before placing them on a tray in a cold oven and setting the oven to 110C (without fan).
Soften the raspberries in a large pot over low heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, put four little saucers in the freezer. Once the berries get going, add the lemon juice.
Once the berries have softened to your liking, add the sugar. Now this is the important bit. Bring it up to the boil and cook the jam, stirring often. DO NOT WALK AWAY, IT WILL BURN. Trust me, I learned that the hard way. :S
Skim off any scum that comes up to the surface with a slotted spoon or a mesh skimmer.
The jam will start to thicken after about 15 – 20 min and this is the point that you start testing for ‘wrinkling’. Take the pot briefly off the heat and spoon a tablespoonful of jam onto a frozen saucer. Place it back in the freezer for 30 sec. Take it out and run your finger through it. If the surface of the jam wrinkles and you can draw a clear line through it, then your jam is done!!
Ladle very careful (it is VERY hot) into sterilized jars and seal. Leave to cool.
1.5 kg of berries yields slightly under 1kg of jam.
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Next, homemade Tomato Sauce!
Tomato Sauce
2.5 kg of ripe tomatoes (get the best that you can find)
2.5 cups cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp whole peppercorns
2 tbsp cloves
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp smokey paprika
3 cloves garlic
1 med onion, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
0.5 cup gin/vodka (optional)
Sterilize jars. (See Raspberry Jam recipe)
Roughly chop up the tomatoes and place in a large pot. Place the vinegar in and cook over low-med heat, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, place the cloves and the peppercorn in a piece of muslin and tie with string. Submerge this in the mixture in the pot.
After the tomatoes start to soften, put the rest of the ingredients in and bring to the boil. Then simmer and reduce the sauce slightly. When you are happy with the taste of the sauce, take the spice pouch out. Keep reducing the sauce till you get a thick-ish, lumpy mixture. Take the pot off the heat. Many recipes now tell you to strain out the sauce, but why would you waste all that goodness??? I use a stick blender and carefully blend all the ingredients into a smooth sauce.
Return to the heat bring back to the boil. Ladle into sterilized jars, seal and let cool overnight.
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And finally…
Barbecue Sauce
Tomato Sauce
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Brown Sugar
Soy Sauce
Chillies
Pepper
Rum (optional)
Sterilize jars. (See Raspberry Jam recipe)
Put all the ingredients into a pot (I used the remainder from my tomato sauce. The amount of each depends on your personal taste.) and reduce to desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
Ladle into sterilized jars, seal and let cool overnight.
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Et voila! Three bottles of love to give to your family and friends. And there are plenty of things to gift these with – cheese, barbecue spice mix, an apron…or turn up to a barbecue bearing these and I’m sure they’ll be a hit! Or make Jam Drops with the jam and gift those instead! So many ideas, and so much love. =)
Merry (belated) Christmas everyone, and a happy new year!
Durians. This spiky fruit that holds pungently fragrant yellow custard within.
Some people say that it’s smelly. I like blue cheese.
I WANT DURIANS!
I’m not often awake early, but when I am, I like to get industrious with breakfast!! People say that it’s the most important meal of the day and yada yada (no really. It’s important.) but I love it just because I think bacon&eggs is the best combination EVER!
Here I’ve got an egg baked in a tomato, covered in diced bacon, with a side of a yoghurt parfait with dried cranberries and cereal.
Eggs en cocotte de tomat (An original recipe):
Ingredients
Eggs
Tomatoes
Basil
Bacon
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Preheat your oven to 220C.
Carefully cut off the top of the tomatoes (I would use 1 or 2 per person) and scoop out the insides. (You don’t need the insides for this, but don’t waste it! I would suggest making your own ketchup. :)) Please make sure that you scoop out enough flesh – I didn’t for the first one and there was egg spilling out everywhere! Put a basil leaf in the bottom on the tomato, and crack some salt and pepper into the tomato shell. Then crack an egg into it and place into an oven proof tray. (On hindsight, I would’ve used muffin trays, cause it was a little finicky trying to get the cooked tomatoes off the tray.)
Drizzle the filled tomatoes and tops with olive oil (don’t ‘cap’ the tomatoes first!) and bake for about 5 min, or until just set. Then cap the tomatoes and bake for a little while longer, till the yolks are the way you want them.
While the eggs are baking, fry up some bacon.
When the tomatoes are done, serve up with yummy salty bacon!! =)
Yoghurt parfait:
Yoghurt
Cereal of your choice
Dried fruit of your choice
This one’s pretty easy. I just layered thick yoghurt, dried cranberries, weetbix, and oatmeal in a washed out jar. Et voila! Simple, and I think the jar looks super cute as little serving cups. heh heh.
The closest yoghurt to what I used would be a Greek style yoghurt (I made my own), but remember that not all yoghurts are sweetened, so taste them first! I do think though that the slight tartness of Greek yoghurts are a good foil to the sweetened dried fruit. But really, use whatever you want! =)
What else can I say hey, it’s crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside-covered-in-icing-sugar-dipped-in-chocolate goodness!
I must say though, there is a Max Brenner vs San Churros debate in my household. We just can’t decide which one we prefer, and we live pretty much an equal distance from the both of them. Well, I guess it’s just another reason to keep going to both to erm…research!
Sean very nicely thought that since I like chilli and chocolate, he would get me the new-ish Fire and Ice truffle. It’s basically dark chocolate with chilli and mint. The idea sounds really appealing, and I really think that it would work, but unfortunately, this particular balance is not for me. I’m not the biggest mint+chocolate fan, but I’m not completely adverse to the combination. With this particular chocolate, however, I can’t really taste much of the chilli before I’m promptly slapped in the face by the mint. And not in the good-chilli-hits-you-like-a-two-tonne-truck kinda way. It’s more like a challenging-slap-you-with-a-glove kind of way, and I’m not sure that I like it.
The White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake is rich and decadent. The tartness of the raspberry delicately balances the thick fudge-y texture of the cheesecake, and the sweet nuttiness of the almonds finish the mouthful nicely.
I didn’t try the hot chocolate, but I heard that it was very good!! Love the mug.
…doop dee doo…
On to more food!!
My favourite: the cookie milkshake!!! Mmm..Cookie Cha Cha. It’s basically a cookies and cream milkshake, and how can anyone not like that!
The churros are fantastic, as they always are, and for those who are unfamiliar with this tasty pastry, it’s pretty much been described as a Spanish doughnut. And I don’t think it’s that far off…but who can fight with the magnetism of fried dough! All fried dough is good.
I love the little inscription on the side of the hot chocolate mug. It adds an air of worship to the consumption of these sweet morsels.
And the napkins are fabulous too!! I definitely agree with them. hehe.
“Chocolate shall be your salvation” indeed. 😉
