Monday Menu is back for 2013

I threatened to post and here it is. Rob is cooking up a storm while I feed the girls. He's particularly happy as the garden is providing parsnips, carrots, garlic, celery and silver beet. The tomatoes eggplants and basil are still hanging on, just. Although I did find a moment to bake some gluten free hazelnut brownies the other day, it felt good to be back in the kitchen. We even had two of the NICU nurses down to the hut for a roast beef lunch to catch up. I think they just missed cuddling the girls!

M: Lamb stew.
T: French cheeses for lunch. Roast lamb shanks with a quince jelly glaze and potato stacks.
W: Pumpkin soup.
T: Tomato, basil and mozzarella salad. Roast beef, with baked potatoes and roast parsnips, carrots and beetroot. Nigella's chocolate cheesecake.
F: Leftover roast vegetable risotto.
S: Beef stew pie, mash and broad beans.
S: Beef stew.

Also Sunday breakfast in bed was back. Buckwheat pancakes with poached quinces and yoghurt.

What's been on the menu at your place?

Monday's Menu megamix

I'm back. The cold is all but forgotten (except for the occasional annoying cough).

To be honest I can't remember a lot of what we ate the week before last, but looking at my collage, we enjoyed a spring vegetable risotto (peas and broad beans courtesy of our garden), an omelette, roasted lamb shanks and root vegetables on couscous with minty yoghurt, and home made lamb souvlaki the next day with the left over lamb, hummus and more minty yoghurt. We also headed out for lunch one day for roast duck, pan fried beans with pork and dumplings. They were good.

During the week I had off we enjoyed:

Monday: Steak with pumpkin, asparagus and mini radishes from our garden.
Tuesday: Mushroom, bacon and pumpkin risotto.
Wednesday: Chicken wings with sausages, sage and onion.
Thursday: Frittata with pumpkin, asparagus (from our friend's garden, it was so sweet) and walnuts.
Friday: Penne with cream, peas and bacon.
Saturday: A birthday dinner in northern Tasmania for Rob's father. We started with dips and bread, Rob made Nigella's marinated ocean trout (she uses salmon) with capers and gherkins. We moved onto roast beef fillet with Cafe de Paris butter, new pink eye potatoes, steamed carrots and parsnips, fresh broad beans and peas (the last four veggies from our garden) and a green salad. The birthday cake was a chocolate roulade with cream and raspberries.
Sunday: After snacking all day we ate a simple salad of rocket, pumpkin and pine nuts.


Rob sent me some gorgeous photos he took of the spring grass at the hut, with the dogs wrestling in the foreground. If I can I'll load up a movie made of the images...but in the mean time here is my favourite.

Monday's Menu with a side of our Spring garden and Cinnamon tea cake.

I like the ying and yang of this weeks Monday's Menu photo collage. Chocolate cherry cupcakes made with a jar of Bonne Maman cherry preserve right next to a very virtuous meal of steamed greens from the garden. The greens are starting to get going now, we ate three types of broccoli in our soup on Saturday, the ever present silver beet, as well as the tops of the Savoy cabbages.
I can not wait for the broad beans and peas to start. Yesterday we planted some more seedlings and seeds: lettuce, chives, sweetcorn, beetroot, rocket, radishes, and parsnips.

Anyway the menu:

Monday: Baked ziti with silver beet.
Tuesday: ahem, baked ziti with broccoli.
Wednesday: Steamed broccoli, silver beet and cabbage tops with soy sauce.
Thursday: Pork and fennel sausages on silver beet and fresh sourdough bread with home made tomato sauce.
Friday: Decided to live in the moment and headed down to Cygnet for dinner at the Red Velvet Lounge. Rob enjoyed a rump steak, with old-school chips and salad. I had the famous pork cotoletta. We shared a dessert of cherry ice cream and chocolate sauce, and we were back home by 8pm.
Saturday: The big grand final day with our annual consumption of footy food. We ate the footy franks in white squishy buns with mustard, tomato sauce and butter (that sentence confused a few of my international Instagram followers- they eventually worked out I was talking about a hot dog!) I'm afraid that they didn't make for a very photogenic food picture, but they were tasty. We used the remainder in a tomato and vegetable soup.
Sunday: Rob cooked us Patricia Well's Chicken breasts with sage and potatoes (parboiled, then sliced and cooked in butter).

My sister, her husband and my niece visited for afternoon tea yesterday, we had chocolate caramel and almond slice (similar to this recipe but with almonds), those cherry chocolate cupcakes and a simple cinnamon teacake. Which was probably the most popular! See the very simple recipe below.

Cinnamon Teacake {From Women's Weekly}

Ingredients:

60g butter, softened
2/3 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup milk
15g butter, extra
3 tablespoon castor sugar, extra
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 160deg C (fan-forced oven)
Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy (about 5 mins).
Stir in sifted flour and milk with a wooden spoon, beat lightly until smooth.
Spread mixture into the tin, bake for approx. 30 minutes.
Turn onto wire rack, pour over extra melted butter, sprinkle with combined extra sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm with butter.

Finally Rob headed out when it wasn't blowing a gale or pouring with rain (not many opportunities over the weekend!) and took some photos of the flower and vegetable gardens with a real camera. I'll share them on Friday, but in the mean time I'll leave you with a photo of the dogs in the flower garden. Everything is starting to look very green and lush.

Monday's Menu, a little late

Hello. Sorry I'm late. I've flat out this week with the conference booth, so have only just got the chance to create my weekly menu photo collage.
We're both still recovering from this silly head cold, so neither of us has felt all that keen in the kitchen. But there were some highlights still:

Monday: leftover beef Bourguignon.
Tuesday: chicken and ramen noodle soup.
Wednesday: Pasta puttanesca .
Thursday: Baked beans and fried eggs on toast!
Friday: Spinach, fetta and mint pastry triangles.
Saturday: Roast loin of Mt Gnomon pork (Vermey's are stocking them now!) on a bed of savoy cabbage and apple with potato stacks. With a fruit mince and apple crumble for dessert.
Sunday: Rocket salad, with speck, soft boiled eggs and croutons.


I hope that next week is a little less frantic and I have some more time to write here. I miss it.

Chocolate caramel peanut squares {Nigella and Women's Weekly}

I am feeling much more relaxed. An afternoon in the kitchen yesterday did wonders. I cranked up some 80's dance music on the Tivoli, made a list and worked my way down.
Caramel slice, Massaman curry and Speckled (fruit bread).
As we had a packet of peanuts I decided to roast some and inspired by Nigella add them to the caramel. So here's my caramel slice, I see I noted in Nigella's Forever Summer last time I made this, dangerously addictive.

For the base:
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup plain flour
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar
225g in salted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180degC. Grease 20x30cm rectangular pan, line base and sides with baking paper extending over the long sides.

Combine sifted flours, coconut and sugar, add melted butter and mix. Press firmly into the base of pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

For caramel filling:
395g can of sweetened condensed milk
30g butter
3 tablespoons golden syrup
250g salted dry roasted peanuts

Combine condensed milk, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until caramel is light golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. (I may have pushed it a bit far, very firm caramel!)
You can either stir the peanuts into the caramel now, or as I did sprinkle them over after you've spread it onto the base. Bake 10 minutes, then cool.

For chocolate topping:
375g chocolate (i like a thick chocolate topping, original just has 185g)
3 teaspoons vegetable oil

Melt the chocolate with the oil in a microwave, stir until smooth. Pour over cold caramel. Refrigerate at least 3 hours then slice.

Happy Queen's birthday holiday to you.

Snap it {sweet}

I have eaten far too many of these in the lead up to Easter.

They're so addictive, and sweet.

Might have to have a break from chocolate for awhile though now.

Playing along here.

Monday's Menu

Ok so at least we got back to regular meal times this week.
It was cool earlier in the week so we felt like warming foods.
Monday was a roast tarragon chicken with roasted parsnips (our favourite), carrots, sweet potato and zucchini.
Tuesday was easy then, as Rob made a leftover chicken and vegetable risotto.
Wednesday has become our traditional pasta night, so it was our store cupboard favourite pasta puttanesca.
Thursday we decided on steak on the Weber, with grilled eggplant, tomatoes and onions with a last minute sprinkle of basil.
Friday night we treated ourselves to our old favourite cheese! A glass of French red wine, with a loaf of fresh bread, some oozy chèvre and a bizarrely orange blue cheese- Shropshire Blue. The iPhone app I have Fromage recommended eating the blue (or orange) with a cup of tea, a combination I tried the next day and it was surprisingly good.
Saturday, truthfully we decided not to take a photo, although it was delicious, fresh butter beans and boiled pink eye potatoes, but unfortunately the steak we cooked alongside was a touch (only slightly overdone), Rob now has quality control and was disappointed, so I decided not to take a picture. It still tasted pretty darn good though!
Sunday we had our friends around for lunch. I baked some potato and rosemary flat breads which went down a treat while we waited for the lamb shoulder to cook. Rob had slow cooked it the day before, so then it just needed a quick grill. We served it with couscous and roasted vegetables (parsnips, carrots, red onions and beetroot) and minty yoghurt. Sorry I forgot to photograph it, but as I've just ordered a lamb shoulder from Mount Gnomon farm we may do it all again this weekend! We finished it off with a chocolate cherry pavlova. I poached the cherries, and I have to admit my first pavlova collapsed into a sad looking cow pat overnight. So I whipped up a replacement in the morning. You know I don't like to brag, but I'm going to, it was fantastic. I thoroughly recommend you try it!

Slowing down

Yesterday afternoon I felt utterly exhausted. The combination of a very busy work week (writing and compiling a 12 page newsletter and managing some media with a federal government department) and the tree making and gazing until late at night finally hit me. After working through lunch then running off at 3 for a roll from Jackman & McRoss, we grabbed a family pie and rushed back to work. I'd had enough by 5.30, so after dropping Rob at his real tennis game headed to Bottega Rotolo for chocolate. Cute squares of Belgian and French chocolate for the advent calendar. I also stocked up on baking supplies from the supermarket, buying an obscene amount of butter! What finally did me in was the post match beer, we headed home and realized we couldn't be bothered even to heat up the pie! So we had a few slices of toast with peanut butter. True to my promise of giving Rob my undivided attention, we snuggled up on the window seat to gaze at the tree. Both of us fell asleep, and woke up a little disorientated about an hour and half later!
Today's grey and showery weather had kept indoors. This morning after our gym class we did some shopping at Norman & Dan, they had the most gorgeous array of chocolates! We picked up a few for gifts, including cigars and pocket knifes. Neither of us could resist these Christmas pudding mugs.
I have finished Rob's notes, wrapped some more gifts, and baked another Christmas cake.
I'm writing this whilst laying on the window seat, watching the clouds behind the hill, as the light slowly fades. I know I've probably told you this but I love living at the hut.

Our Easter

We took it slow over our Easter break.

• Sleep ins.




• Dog walks at the beach.




• Just hanging out at the block, planting trees.




• Snuggling under my Easter present from Rob, a heated throw rug.




• Inviting ourselves to cook a paella at our friends place.




• Eating chocolate.




• Camping at the hut overnight and christening the new Weber Q bbq.

The little hut is getting there, unfortunately the builder has run out of the timber for the back wall. So there may be a little wait til it's completed. I've decided that instead of having matching timber Z strap Barn doors for the laundry hut, I'd like blue doors. Rob has graciously allowed me this slight change of plan!

Yesterday the builders made a big mess at the block by installing the septic tank and water tanks. So there will be mud everywhere. But he's starting to promise the end is near.

Not long now.

Our baker’s dozen

I have to admit that with my slight autistic leanings I love writing lists. I do it all the time, for work, for home, for grocery shopping, for what I’d like to buy, plants, spices, cookie cutters. Oh dear! But one I’ve recently started is a baking recipe list to keep track of ones we do cook and how we rate them. There are over 200 cakes I’d like to try from our cook books, and we’ve barely cooked any of them. I admit we had a large bias towards one particular cook, and although we are moving on from our love affair with the domestic goddess in most cases, there are a few of her cakes that we do cook over and over. Last week it was my turn to bake a cake for the work morning tea roster. I tried to pick some new cakes to try. I ended up baking David Herbert’s lemon syrup cake (wasn’t on our list as it was in his book I’m borrowing from the library) and Nigella’s store cupboard chocolate orange cake. So my list writing wasn’t entirely successful: I didn’t pick a new recipe! What are our favourites, the ones we cook again and again? In no particular order here is our baker’s dozen of cakes:

1. Christmas cake- combination of Stephanie Alexander’s, Maggie Beer’s and Nigella’s recipes. We bake on average 5 Christmas cakes a year as we give most of them away. I love the spicy, fruity smell of the cake mixture pervading the house as they bake. They’re not difficult to prepare but do take some patience, as they take several hours to cook. If you rush the cake will be dry and overly browned. Whilst I mix up the batter, Rob carefully lines the tins with baking paper and wraps them in brown paper to help insulate them; also Maggie’s tip is to put a tray full of water in the oven to create a nice moist environment. As neither of us is overly fond of mixed peel we add a few tablespoons of our cumquat marmalade to the mix. We usually decorate them with plain white fondant icing- they look pretty but I actually peel it off to eat. Come to think of it, there’s a nicely maturing cake at home, only 6 months old, might have to try it soon!

2. Chocolate Guinness Cake – Nigella. A recent addition but a great textured chocolate cake, and any cake with cream cheese frosting has got to be a winner.

3. Upside down pear and almond cake- Ian Parmenter's recipe, we made a few of these recently with the Comice pear season.

4. Banana Bread- Nigella. A quick mix cake for those bananas that are looking a bit sad in the fruit bowl. Bananas walk a fine line in our house- I like them slightly under ripe, once they taste too much like a banana I can’t eat them (silly I know). Can also add choc chunks or brandy soaked sultanas.
5. Orange and almond cake- Claudia Roden. A classic - Rob’s trick is to pierce the oranges a few times with a skewer and then microwave them for a few minutes instead of boiling them for 2 hours. Perfect with Greek yoghurt.

6. Chocolate Cloud Cake-Nigella. A cake lightened by whipped egg whites. Rises impressively in the oven but sadly sinks once out. But then that’s what cream is for. A lovely combination of textures, crisp outer shell and mousse like interior.

7. Lemon syrup cake- David Herbert’s recipe is straight to the list. This cake has a serious lemon kick. Not only does it have lemon juice & rind in the mix, it is soaked once cooked with lemon syrup then topped with a covering of lemon icing. Sounds simple: it is.

8. Nutella cake-Nigella. One of those cakes moist with ground nuts- hazels in this case. With the chocolate and Nutella, this cake is for when you need chocolate.

9. Date and chocolate cake- Stephanie Alexander’s short recipe hides in her comprehensive tome, The Cook’s Companion. As she says- simple and very easy to make. With only 4 ingredients, it’s one to keep in mind as a dessert.

10. Store cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake-Nigella. A cake where the first step is melting chocolate and butter. Then mix in a jar of marmalade (cumquat of course), or raspberry, cherry (below) or apricot jam, or Armagnac soaked prunes. Topped with ganache another special chocolate cake.

11. Persian Love Cake- A cake featured in Gourmet Traveller – a reader request for a recipe from Qöm. After combining almond meal, raw and brown sugar and butter, half of the mix is pressed into the base of the pan. To the remaining mix add a few eggs, Greek yoghurt and a serious amount of freshly ground nutmeg. Pour this over the base top with some chopped pistachios and bake. Heaven.

12. Gingerbread-Nigella, I know yet another Nigella recipe. Her gingerbread is a favourite topped with lemon icing. Fudgy and dark, very addictive. It doesn’t last long in our house.

13. Apple and almond cake-Nigella. You may have realised by now, we quite like almond meal cakes. Another moist cake, and as it has fruit in it, Rob considers it a health food!

What is your favourite cake recipe?

Photos from: http://www.nigella.com, http://www.styleathome.com/

Christmas countdown & clean shoes

The countdown to Christmas has really started now. Sure, I’ve put up the decorations last week, we’ve got dried fruit plumping up in brandy for our Christmas cakes, and we’ve been shopping for presents for everyone (nearly there!) But on Saturday night we had to put our cleanest shoes on the back doorstep.
This is something I’ve done every 5th of December since I can remember. My mother is Hungarian and like many Europeans, her family has kept the tradition of St Nicholas. On the eve of the feast of St Nicholas, children have to put out their freshly cleaned shoes and if they have been good during the year St Nicholas will visit overnight and fill them with sweets or presents.
I’m the eldest of five children, so it was always a very exciting evening, as we all went about picking our favourite pair of shoes. Much debate was had over if we picked a big pair of boots whether we’d get more! I’m not sure about our polishing technique, but we set about it. We set our five pairs of shoes out either on the hearth, or near a window or the front door. We also (at my parents suggestion) left a glass of milk and biscuit for St Nicholas, a carrot for his horse (apparently that’s how he got around!) and a list for him to pass onto Santa. This last bit was a bit of blending- my mother’s Hungarian & my father’s Australian Christmas traditions- to help them on their shopping trips. I remember we struggled to sleep- thinking of what we might find in our shoes. Hoping St Nicholas hadn’t caught us misbehaving and thereby earning ourselves a stone instead of a lolly. As soon as the first of us woke up, we’d shake the others awake and run out to see what St Nicholas had left us: chocolate Santa’s, lollies, nuts, popcorn, chocolate coins, and fresh cherries. Then we’d spend the morning eating chocolates & lollies instead of breakfast.
I may be a bit older now, but St Nicholas hasn’t been able to give up the habit of visiting all of us each year- he even makes sure that some little treats get to my siblings in northern Tasmania & the UK.
So now I feel like I'm on the downhill run to Christmas -when do you feel like it’s the start of the silly season?