Too sweet or not too sweet!

I am not usually a dessert person, but for some unknown reason (maybe it's the change of season) I have been craving sweets and lots of chocolate. So to mix things up I have been making lots of little things for dessert.

This first one is strawberries dipped in melted dark chocolate then rolled in crushed pistachio nuts. Fresh, salty and sweet, what more could you want.

An experiment with mint slice biscuits, short crust pastry and crushed straberries mixed through ricotta. An interesting combination, but it was amazing.
I crushed mint slice biscuits in my pestal and mortar and put that on the pastry first, then I topped it with the ricotta mixture, then sprinkled some more of the mint mixture and a few pieces of fresh strawberries to finish it off.
Simple and yummy, the mini ones were great!

Who said being a vegetarian is boring...

Vegetable pie with pesto, parmesan and rocket.

A few of my friends happen to be vegetarian and I have claimed (over the years) that I am (if that involves me still being able to eat yummy bacon, mince and my favourite... lamb!!) ok so that's not exactly being vegetarian, but i enjoy vegetarian food and last night decided to make something I have never really attempted. A Pie. A Vegetable Pie to be exact.

It was made with short crust pastry (I didn't make this myself)

Bake the pastry for roughly 15 mins with pie weights or rice (and don't do what I did and put the rice straight onto the pastry, needless to say there was a 'take 2' and I have learnt my lesson to use baking paper in between, rookie mistake!!) then remove rice or weights and bake for a further 10 or so mins until golden brown and the base is cooked.

The filling:

- The base was smeared with pesto (I had a gourmet capsicum and tomato one but any is fine!)

- Then roughly 500g mashed sweet potato, combined with 2 tbsp cream, 200g ricotta and 2 tbs grated/ shaved parmesan

- Top with cut pieces of zucchini, eggplant and red/ green capsicums, then place halved cherry tomatoes on top (I roasted all the vegetables slightly so they weren't too crunchy)

- Bake it in a moderate oven for roughly 10 mins until the vegetables are cooked

- Top with fresh rocket and shaved parmesan.

Then enjoy.

I know I did and I had left overs for lunch the next day. Yum.

And as I usually do, I made some miniture pies. They are great cold as well as hot.

Ladybird

I have an obsession with Lady-Birds and therefore requested a Lady-Bird cake for my 26th birthday. Needless to say it's eyes look a little creepy but the pink icing is cream cheese icing and its a wicked chocolate cake underneathe. Covered in my favourite chocolates- freckles, jaffas, clinkers and licorice it was a heavenly treat and it didn't last very long, if you know what i mean!

A Promised Feast

I promised my girlfriend I would cook her a yummy dinner early this week and it was put off for a few nights as I ended up having to work. So to make up for the delay, I decided to make a very special dinner on thursday night, a three course meal to be exact. To accomplish this I needed some help from my good friend (not in real life) Donnah Hay. I went slightly off recipe but still was heavily inspired by her and her recipes from her 'Entertaining' book.

To start, we enjoyed a few pieces of french stick, lightly toasted, topped with roasted holoumi cheese with olive oil, lemon zest and chopped fresh oregano and fresh cherry tomatoes to garnish.

Follwed by roast lamb with oregano and a potato, dill and red onion salad. The lamb had an simple yet amazing dressing of honey and dijon mustard (the honey we have is beautifully candied so gave it an amazing texture and flavour)

And last but definately not least, my all time favourite Sticky Date Pudding, and yes I used mini tea saucers to serve it, needless to say they absolutely melt in your mouth and you can't help but want more!

'Tea for Two'

Despite the disgusting weather we have encountered this past week, there are still hints of spring in the air. I was out driving the other day i came across these gorgeous blossoms (I'm assuming that what they are) and thought to myself, spring is definately near, and tea for two is a must.

A cup of tea in spring is a delight; the weather is perfect to drink a hot drink with the smell of flowers and sunshine floating gently through the air. I have taken poetic liscence on the idea of 'tea' and have created (with the help of my beautiful girlfriend) a fabulous dessert which is as delicate as tea but a little more delicious if I say so myself.

After making a batch of delicious Chocolate Ganache Tarts, my girlfriend mixed through chopped rasberries through the remaining ganache. To serve, we then put it into pastry moulds and mini tea cups. We made some extra pastry pieces and cut strawberries to dunk into the velvet chocolatey goodness to place on the saucer. This was incredibly easy and absolutely deslish!

For those of you who want to try it:

Chocolate Ganache.

200g good quality dark chocolate

125ml thickened cream

50g butter, cold, chopped roughly

Optional: 3 tbsp brandy/ vanilla/ 3tbsp orange juice (Not all of them together!)

Stir all ingredients together in small saucepan over a low heat until smooth.

Allow to cool and thicken before using.

*If allowed to thicken significantly you can pour it into cases to make ganache tarts

*Mix in a punnet of rasberries (crushed/ roughly chopped)

And then simply enjoy, they are amazing and very addictive.

Vegetable-Mania

I decided that we were eating too much meat and that a vegetarian meal would be good for us. So I went a little crazy at the Central market and bought a multitude of vegetables for a red curry.




This is the end result. Colourful, vegie goodness with rice. Unfortunately my girlfriend isn't quite the 'spice lover' like me and found it a little bit too much (although she did eat it!) It was full of flavour and the cunch of the vegetables was fabulous.

This is a vegetable roast with danish feta. It is simple, quick and soo good for you. You simply pick your favourite vegetables, cut them to similar sizes, drizzle some olive oil and season then roast them in the oven until tender. Add broken up feta and grill for a couple of minutes. Then its ready to enjoy.

This is it with a side of homemade garlic bread. You can pretty much taste the crunch.

Nostalgia

I am very lucky to have the pleasure of my girlfriend cooking for me and i was especially lucky this sunday when i was introduced to a Mellett Family Favourite 'Pine-Camp Casserole' which is undoubtedly the most amazing casserole to walk the planet. It takes a while to make, but the pleasure you will get from it erases that thought immediately. The dish is a trip down memory lane, taking you back to cosy family dinners sitting by the fire.

The following photos are a stroll through the pleasure of cooking it and the delightful end result.

The Wine, a very important part of a delicious meal.

Watching my favourite show has taught me some amazingly clever 'tips' and this one works brilliantly. Slow boil the potatoes, then to mash (only do a couple at a time) and use a utensil to push them through a sieve. Then pour in slightly warmed milk and a dollop of cold butter at the end. Season to taste. It will be creamy and lump free- guaranteed.

The end result, with green beans, honey and sesame seeds.