Ahhh November...

.... Christmas is coming....  That time of year when I have to explain to confused butchers why I need suet.  I am hanging out for fruit mince pies!!!

Death Cake

This cake is named as such simply because it contains copious amounts of cream cheese, cream, snickers, butter, and chocolate biscuits.  Adapted from this recipe.  Scroll down, then drool!

From our garden, to the table

Beetroot, salad leaves, and thyme from our garden, turned into a delicious salad.....

This is such a simple salad.  Some roast beetroot, sliced into segments, and cubed roasted pumpkin, on top of salad leaves.  Dress this with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt, then top with fetta and toasted walnuts.  Yum!

Roasted red capsicum pesto

After searching three supermarkets and delis for a pesto I had on the weekend, I succumbed and decided it was time to make one myself.  Ridiculously enough, I could have made the pesto in the time it took to search one supermarket!  Also, this was I know what's going into it - no sugar, no..t too much salt... Enjoy!

Roasted Red Capsicum Pesto

These quantities were all a bit of an educated guess, but it seemed to work well.  A few things however - you may need to loosen it up with either a dash more oil, or even a tiny amount of hot water.  I added a little more lemon juice to good effect.  I also realised after checking an actual recipe that I probably should have toasted the nuts for a little more flavour.  

50g cashews
30g pinenuts
50g sun-dried tomatoes
80g roasted red capsicum (I used some preserved in a jar as I was in a rush, I just rinsed off the liquid)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp finely chopped basil
1 tsp paprika
25g parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp oil

Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a small food processor, and process until all the large chunks have broken down.  Add the oil, and combine briefly until a smoothish paste is formed.  Add more oil if neccessary.  

Another thing you could add would be some red chilli, for a little kick!

We made use of the pesto, and some leftover sausages for dinner last night, simply stirred through some fusilli, zucchini, mushrooms, fennel, and chilli - it was delicious!

In the letterbox this week

Hot on the heels of Adriano Zumbo's packet macaron and brownie cake mixes, the Willy Wonka-esque genius, Heston Blumenthal appears to have released his own packet mixes just in time for Christmas   I spotted these in the Coles catalogue today:

I find it hard to believe you could get the same delight combining some ingredients from a box to create one of his amazing creations, compared to the feeling of accomplishment you would get from hunting down all the ingredients and making it from scratch.  I mean, that's the fun part isn't it?  Surprisingly I haven't seen any premix boxes with the Jamie Oliver name on it, which is interesting seeing as his name is plastered on everything from mixing bowls, to lounge suites.  Okay, lounge suites is a stretch, but you get the point.  

I also spotted the gem below in the Aldi catalogue, a pre-boned, pre-stuffed, pre-rolled, and generally pre-fabricated example of that wonderful poultry trilogy - the turducken!  For the un-initiated, it's traditionally a stuffed chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey.  Click here to see a pic one under construction my clever Mum made a few years ago.  Not the prettiest thing when raw, however once cooked in a woodfired oven it was delicious.  

My favourite animal....

.... is a pig, whole, on the spit.  Especially when cooked slowly over a hickory branch fire.  If you want to see an example of the delicious animal in question (which I was lucky enough to enjoy on the weekend), with crisp, glass-like crackling, click here - vegetarians beware!

8 signs you're officially a food nerd

I'm pretty sure I can tick 7 of these 8.... it's kind of sad really!

8 Signs you're officially a food nerd via Zagat

A serious food nerd (Photo via news.com.au)

While you're at it, these burgers are making me hungry this morning.