Monte Carlos

Time for some more sweet treats. Made by my gorgeous girlfriend, these are the most amazing Monte Carlo biscuits- yes like the old school biscuit we all know and love! But I must say- these are far better.

You will need:
For the biscuit-
- 185g butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cups self raising flour
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/4 cup raspberry jam, strawberry is also very delicious


For the cream-
- 60g butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
- 2 tsp milk


How to create:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees
- Beat butter, vanilla essence, sugar and egg in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in sifted flours and coconut in two batches
- Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into oval shapes and place about 2.5cm apart on a  baking tray lined with baking paper
- Flatten slightly and press with a fork to leave a slight pattern
- Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes
- To make cream filling, beat butter, vanilla and sifted icing sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then beat in milk 9make note- this makes a far bit)
- To put together, spread some jam on biscuit, cream filling on the other and then sandwich together, repeat until all biscuits are gone

Spiced Indian Pies

This is one of my favourites and you can have a bit of fun with the spices as well. It's one of those simple dishes that are easy, no fuss and they are delicious hot or cold.

You will need:
- A good handful of diced zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes and fennel (or any of you favourite vegetables, like eggplant etc)
- Short crust pastry (1 sheet will make 4 small-med tarts)
- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves (up to you how many)
- Milk
- 6 curry leaves (fresh are best, but dried work fine)
- Paprika/cayenne pepper


Spice mix:
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- chilli flakes
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp garam marsala


For yoghurt mix:
- Natural yoghurt
- A good squeeze of lemon juice
- Cucumber, finely chopped

How to create:
- Defrost pastry sheet(s)
- Combine all vegetables in a bowl, drizzle with oil
- Put spice mix in a mortar and pestle and crush together
- Sprinkle the spice mix over veggies and stir to coat them all, add the curry leaves
- Place on a baking tray and bake for about 40 mins, or until cooked through 
- Cut the pastry into quarters and put a good spoonful of the veggie mixture into the
centre, twist the sides in a clockwise format to create a case around the veggies
- Brush the edges of the pastry with milk and sprinkle with paprika or cayenne pepper
- Bake at 180 for about 15-20 mins or until the pastry is cooked and golden
- For the yoghurt mixture, combine all ingredients in a bowl


Serve these delicious pies with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture and a nice fresh salad.


All I can say to that, is YUM!!

Crab and Prawn Salad

There is nothing better than eating a meal that you have cooked entirely on your own... 


Nat and I decided to branch out the other week and venture to the Footscray Markets to see what all the fuss was about. Whilst it's not a fancy 'suburban' market- it has a plethora of cheap fruit and vegetables and a phenomenal amount of delicious seafood. I decided to give crab a try so bought myself a small blue swimmer crab and some green prawns.


It was a boiling hot day and I thought that an Asian Crab Salad would be amazing- but fogot that I had to boil the crab to cook it, not well thought out but a delicious result though.        

You will need:


Handful of picked crab meat

5-8 green prawns

Glass noodles, soaked in boiling water, drain

Bean shoots

Coriander

¼-1/2 avocado, roughly chopped

Small red chilli

Lemon, juiced

¼ Spanish onion, finely chopped

Cucumber, cut into pieces

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing:

Natural yoghurt

Lemon zest + juice of half of a lemon

Pepper

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan, cook garlic and chilli
• Then add the prawns, when almost cooked through pour in the lemon juice- put aside to cool
• In a bowl, combine noodles, cucumber, Spanish onion, bean shoots, crab meat and avocado
• Add the prawns and juices to the bowl
• Shred the coriander and put into bowl
• Combine the ingredients for the dressing and serve either on the side or on top of the salad