tastes like yum
a blog about food and drink that tastes yum! Also restaurant info for melbourne and the macedon ranges region.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Kinda healthy donuts
Kinda healthy donuts
(recipe adapted from here)
Ingredients
1 cup of wholemeal self raising flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 cup of stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/2 of greek yoghurt.
1/4 cup of milk
1 egg
1/4 cup of coconut oil
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Line a flat oven tray with baking paper.
Combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients. Mix the two mixtures together and place into a piping bag. Pipe the mixture into donut shapes. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool, then ice, glaze, spread or dollop your choice of toppings.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The famous Darroch apple cakes.....
110g Plain flour
110g Self raising flour
125g caster sugar
125g butter
1 egg, beaten
Mix flours, and add the sugar. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. Add egg to flour mixture and mix into a firm dough, leaving the basin clean. Knead lightly on a lightly floured bench. Allow to rest, wrapped in glad wrap in the fridge for five minutes.
Divide dough into two pieces. Roll one out, and cut into rounds to fit your tart pan. We use one that looks roughly like this. Roll out the other piece and cut out appropriately sized lids.
Spray the tin with cooking spray, and place the cake bases into the tin. Fill with stewed apple (tinned works just as well), place the lid on top, then gently press down around the edges to seal.
Bake at 180 deg C for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool before icing.
Now, the most important step - dust the freshly iced cakes with cinnamon sugar. They are just not the same without it!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tuna Tataki
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
A salad of sorts
Here's what you need:
Par boiled, then grilled potatoes, seasoned
Thinly sliced red onion
Grilled chicken, sliced (this was marinated in garlic, lemon juice, paprika, oil, salt and pepper)
Crispy prosciutto, torn into pieces
Fresh mint and basil scattered on top
Assemble the above on a plate, top with the salsa verde, and finish with some olive oil and salt.
For the salsa verde, I created something that was along the lines of this, but I omitted some of the herbs, and added garlic and two anchovies.
Friday, April 5, 2013
The last of the tomatoes
I do have some slight reassurance in the fact that I was able to prolong their life (a little) by turning them into relish. Chutney. Sauce. I don't know what to call it - lets just say yummy tomato, chilli and capsicum relished saucy chutney stuff. I decided not to go for plain old tomato, as we have a reliably delicious and available source of this from my Mum. So I added some chilli, ginger, fish sauce, and lime juice to give it my relish a little kick.
2013 Relish
Approx 750g tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 tin of crushed tomatoes
1 capsicum finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 brown onions, chopped
1 green apple, peeled, cored and grated
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
1 small red chilli, sliced very finely
1 tsp chilli flakes
1.5 tbsp fish sauce
juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
Gently sweat the onions until softened in a heavy bottomed saucepan with some oil. Add the garlic, ginger and capsicum, and saute until the capsicum has softened. Add all the other ingredients, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for around an hour. Once it has reached the consistency you like, pour into sterilised jars.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Make your own Huxtaburger
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Pan de Sal - from Asia Finest, Sunbury
The tip revolves around some delicious little buns called Pan de sal. I was told to go to our local Asian grocer, and 'buy the buns that are on display at the counter'. Well a few weeks later I did, and they did not disappoint.
A quick Google search tells me that they are otherwise known as Filipino bread rolls, or sweet bread. I could tell from the aroma that hit me once I opened the bag that they were going to be sweet - they sure were. Normally sweet bread is anathema to me, however these delicious little buns are the exception to the rule. Flour, sugar, salt, yeast and eggs are all that are listed in the ingredients - nothing out of the ordinary - however the alchemy involved in creating them works to spectacular effect: they are delicous!
The second tip I received was from the always friendly lady behind the counter who always has to put up with my no doubt annoying questions regarding black vinegar, rice wine vinegar, the subtleties of different chilli pastes, pork buns, you name it - the list goes on. She told me that I would love them, and to heat them up in the oven for a few minutes. Duly noted, we gave them a quick blast in a hot oven for around five minutes, and when they came out they were sporting a new, perfectly crusty exterior, with a soft pillowy (that's totally a word) interior. Second time around the same effect was achieved by using the Weber This time they were the perfect medium for enveloping the chicken sliders above.
Now I should point out that I'm not into giving tips, and telling people that they MUST try this - so I'm not going to do that. However if you're in Sunbury and anywhere near Asia Finest (Gap Road), ignore this post at your peril.....
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Gazpacho
Gazpacho
1 carrot, peeled
1.5 kg tomatoes, peeled and cored
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 continental cucumber
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 spring onions, trimmed
1 anchovy (optional - if using, pound to a pulp first in a mortar and pestle)
3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
a few tablespoons of finely chopped herbs - chives, basil, thyme, parsley
a pinch of cumin
pepper to taste
Simply process in the food processor until all the pieces are very small, push through a fine strainer. You can leave the 'chunky' bits in if you like, but I thought the texture was much nicer after being strained. Don't worry, all that goodness won't be thrown out - I can saute it down to use as the base for a sauce, or even use it in some savoury muffins.
You can garnish with whatever you like; I chose chopped hard-boiled egg, sliced olives, diced red capsicum, croutons, and mint and basil tops.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Cauliflower Risotto
All you need to do, is roughly chop a whole cauliflower, add it to the food processor, and process until the cauliflower 'grains' resemble rice! Then substitute for rice in your favourite risotto recipe. I'm not going to put a recipe here, however simply dice one onion, saute gently with some crushed garlic, add the cauliflower and cook gently until the cauliflower is taking on some colour. Deglaze the pan with a glass of white wine (drink the rest), and add ladlefuls of stock, until your required consistency is reached. We went for thyme and roasted mushroom cauliflower risotto, finished off, of course, with copious amounts of parmesan, butter, and a little cream. Delicious!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Apple Tart Tatin
This has to be one of the best desserts I have made in a long time. Not only was it delicious, but simple also. Don't be afraid of this pastry recipe, it is practically foolproof.
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
250g plain flour
100g cold butter, cubed
100g icing sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
A pinch of salt
Combine the dry ingredients, then add to a food processor with the butter. Process until fine. Add the egg and yolk, and process until just combined. Tip onto the bench, gently but quickly bring together with your hands and flatten into a disc. Try to touch the pastry as little as possible. Wrap in happy wrap and rest ib the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
Apples
Preheat oven to 180deg celcius. Peel, core and quarter 4 granny smith (or other firm) apples. Gently roll out the pastry on a floured surface, and cut out around big enough to cover the your frypan.
Heat 60g of sugar over low heat in a very clean, medium sized ovenproof frypan until coloured slightly around the edges. This should only take about two minutes. Swirl the pan and cook gently for another minute or so until all the sugar is dissolved, and has coloured a little. Add about 40g of butter, swirl the pan to combine, then place the apples carefully in the pan, rounded side down.
Gently but quickly drape the pastry over the apples, and very carefully tuck the edges in around the apples.
Bake for around 20 minutes, remove from the oven and let sit for five minutes. Shake the pan gently to make sure the tart doesn't stick. You may need to separate the pastry from the pan edge with a knife. Carefully flip onto a plate and serve with homemade custard.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I think I found my dream birthday cake...
http://www.saltmeatscheese.com.au/product-category/cheese-tower/
Monday, February 4, 2013
A revelation...
Thursday, January 24, 2013
A new, even quicker and easier, muesli bar recipe
This recipe is great for a few reasons - it's fairly healthy, and it's super quick to make... which is especially handy when you've got double the toddlers to chase around.
Here's the recipe:
1 packet of mixed nuts and dried fruit (500g-ish), blitzed in the blender until the pieces are small enough for little people
Stir in 3 tablespoons of honey, and 4 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Yep, that's it! All you need to do now is either roll into balls, or press into a lined slice tin, and refrigerate.
You could make the dry ingredients whatever you want - we swapped out some nuts for rolled oats and coconut. You could even add chocolate chips if you like! If the mixture is too crumbly, just add some more peanut butter or honey, or if it's too wet simply add some more dry ingredients.
Thanks to Marisa for the recipe!
More information about AMBA is available here - http://www.amba.org.au/