Cookbook Challenge - Apricot Jam - 2 - $ - V - !

The Cookbook Challenge is back again in 2011 hooray! This year is a little different in that it's a fortnightly activity; lots of people found it very hard to catch up once they missed couple of weeks in 2010 - myself included.
If you would like to play this year you can sign up over here. Thanks to Penny, we are adding our own links to a special group rather than April doing a wrap up once a week throughout 2011. A big shout out to Shellie too for designing the great new logo!

When my friend Snake moved house recently we were a bit sad about the prospect of no more figs from his garden for making jam. But his new house also has loads of fruit trees and a veggie patch! So far I have had beautiful homegrown silverbeet, dill and parsley, so when he asked me would I like a bag of apricots it really was a no brainer.

Naturally when making the basics I turn to Dame Stephanie's The Cook's Companion and in this case it was for a jam recipe.
I did a few things differently which you may or may not choose to do too.
Firstly, I took the apricots to the pub, where they got trod on and some got a bit squished. Then I left the squished ones in the bag on a 34C degree day and forgot all about them. The 'one bad apple' saying applies here, so I had to go and buy some more apricots to make up the recipe weight.
I also added scraped in a vanilla bean and left the pod in the pot while the fruit reduced.

Regarding the kernels mentioned below I am not entirely sure that they are meant to end up like they did, but I am entirely sure that I deviated a fair bit from the method. Dame Stephanie says to put the stones in a napkin and hit them with a meat mallet. I put mine between some paper towel and belted them with a hammer. Therefore the kernels got quite mashed and floated all round the jam mixture when I added them. I ended up picking them out before bottling so maybe someone who knows better could leave us a comment about this?

Ingredients

1.5kg apricots
1 cup water
2tbs lemon juice
1.5kg sugar
Jars for bottling - you can read how to sterilise them over here.

Preheat oven to 160C degrees.
Cut the apricots into quarters and remove the stones, keeping half of them.
Add the fruit, water and lemon juice to a large pot and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or a bit longer if the flesh hasn't broken down enough for your liking.
Meanwhile put the reserved stones between a napkin and smash them open with a meat mallet to extract the kernel. Have a smell of the kernels - remind you anything? Amaretto or marzipan perhaps?
Put the sugar and kernels in a cast iron pot or a tray and place it in the oven until it is 'hand hot'. This will take about 15 minutes. Add the sugar to the pot and stir until dissolved. Boil rapidly for about 15 minutes. Be VERY careful if you stir it as it might spit and hot sugar burns do not tickle.
Pop a spoon of jam on a cold saucer, cool in the fridge for a minnie or two and then run your finger through it. If the jam stays in two halves then it's ready to set, if not keep checking every 5 or so minutes.
Bottle the jam while it's hot and then spend the rest of the arvo cleaning the sticking kitchen as it will have ended up everywhere.
Serve on hot toast with lashings of butter.

Enjoy!

River Cottage Genoese Sponge Cake - 2 - V - $

Have you made your lists and checked them twice? I have had a lot of lists this week to help me organise everything for Christmas and our holiday and getting everything done at work. One of my lists disappeared between the car park at Dan Murphy's and the stupormarket which means I forgot the vegemite, but I did remember the champagne. Huzzah!

I've been going to lots of festive drinkies this week and haven't really been at home to cook, so I thought I would share a recipe for a lovely sponge that I was lucky enough to eat. My gorgeous friend Lady Sleekit hosted an early Christmas dinner for the girls and this was dessert.
Sleekit not only has great sense of style but masses of generous spirit; so thank you for dinner, the recipe, the photo and for being a great pal m'Lady!

Happy holiday season to you all! Thank you for reading What's For Tea? again this year and I look forward to sharing much Kulinary Karma with you all in 2011.

Enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Chilli Cake - 2 - $ - V

Yesterday many people around the world celebrated Dia de Muertos or the Day of the Dead festival with Mexico being the most famous for its colourful festivities.

On the weekend however, we celebrated my gorgeous friend Benny's 40th birthday with a Tex-Mex style BBQ and party. The birthday boy got up at 5am to light coals and hickory chips in smoking drums in order to cook the marinated brisket and sausage for about 8 hours! It was a mega effort and well worth it because I have never had such tasty, smoky, tender beef before - it was a real treat. There was also lots of white bread, corn muffins, 'slaw, beans and tangy potato salad all whipped up by Benny's smoking hot lady-wife.
For dessert we made a Mexican Chocolate Chilli birthday cake. I must send out a few shout-outs for this one as the designated baker hurt her back and it was last minute scramble to get a suitable cake baked to feed over 40 people! So to Kymmy for the tins and Mish for the recipe a big THANK-YOU.

I used some lovely Ancho chilli powder that I picked up at Gewurzhaus in Carlton and I am told it is the secret ingredient in a recent award winning cocktail...
This is a really low heat powder so I ended up doubling the amount in the recipe below and I think it could have even gone up a notch; use your own judgement and taste when making your version of this cake.

For the icing I substituted some of the cocoa powder with a chocolate spice mix that I also found at Gewurzhaus. It contained cassia, ginger, coriander and all sorts of other pungent smells and spices. The addition of this mix made the frosting top of the cake really sing with flavour, so again experiment with your own tastes.


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water

Icing

2/3 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2-3tbs warm water

Preheat oven to 175C degrees and grease and line an 8-inch round cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients. Make two wells and pour the vinegar in one and the vanilla in the other. Pour the cold water over everything and whisk until just combined (doesn't matter if the batter isn't super smooth).

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled completely, sift the icing ingredients to together in a bowl and add the water a little bit at time, stirring vigorously until the icing is nice and smooth and shiny.

Spread evenly over the cake, allow to set and serve.

Enjoy!

Halloween Birthday Party and Frittata - 1 - $ - V

Pardon my absence over the last few weeks! There are so many birthdays in my world during October that it's been non-stop parties and lots of cooking which I look forward to sharing with you over the next few days.

A year ago today one of my best and most favourite girls in the whole wide world gave birth to a little girl of her own. This tiny pumpkin has grown so fast over the last year and brought much joy and laughter to those in her world. Being her mother's daughter, she decided to take her very first steps today in front of a cast of thousands at her Halloween-themed birthday party!

Being birthday number one today's party was a huge affair with loads of yummy food and the world's most amazing birthday cake that my friend made all on her lonesome. The cake was chocolate, the cupcakes around it were banana muffins with cream cheese icing and the bones were meringues covered in sour cherry 'blood' sauce. Totally OTT and totally delicious!

One of the guests also turned up with the most impressive 'bring a plate' I have ever seen - a graveyard made of chocolate and biscuit tombstones!

We made a stack of bite-size savoury food with the easiest and most versatile being the frittata. The recipe below is for an asparagus version but when we ran out of spears my friend had the genius idea of using broccolini as a substitute which worked a treat and was actually more tasty than the original. I have listed this as a vegetarian recipe, however we put some crispy prosciutto on top of some of ours so you can omit/add that if you wish. We also made bulk versions to save time so I can confirm this recipe will still work perfectly if you double the amounts.


Ingredients

6 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup roughly grated Parmesan
1 bunch asparagus or broccolini
4 slices prosciutto (optional)
tomato (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C degrees and grease and line a slice pan.
Lightly whisk the eggs, cream and cheese together and season.
Lay the asparagus or broccolini along the bottom of the pan, alternating tops and tails.
Pour the egg mixture over the top and lightly shake the pan to spread it out evenly.
Cook for 20 minutes or until golden.
Meanwhile, fry the pancetta until nice and crispy and drain and set aside. Deseed and finely dice the tomato, set aside.
Once the frittata has cooled, cut into small squares and top with a piece of prosciutto (or not) and little bit of tomato. Serve as part of an array of finger food.

Happy Halloween everyone and Happy Birthday to my favourite little pumpkin!

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 48 - Bread - Simple White Loaf - 2 - V

Today I got my nails done and watched Mad Men DVDs and baked bread. Just call me Little Susie Homemaker! I do love Mad Men and I do love Christina Hendricks. Even though women's rights obviously left a whole lot to be desired back when the show is set, it sure is nice to see gorgeous, curvy women who aren't afraid of a carb or two. When I grow up I want to look like Joan...I've got red hair and a round behind so I guess I'm part of the way there.

So, to this week's Cookbook Challenge. I have NEVER baked bread, in fact the idea of making it terrified me before today. I think it stems from my inability to make scones very well and I didn't want to bugger up something that people have been successfully making on a daily basis for thousands of years. This recipe comes from Maggie Beer's book Maggie's Table and is brought to you by the delightful Cathie who writes Melbourne Epicure. I've been hanging on to this post in anticipation because Cathie is an excellent baker and I figured if she said it was easy then I could trust her judgement. Keep an eye on Cathie's blog if you live in Melbourne so that you can find out which markets she's selling her wares at, her herb and haloumi bread will change your life!

Before I even got started I had a mini meltdown in the stupormarket over this recipe. The ingredients listed baker's flour but there were only 10kg bags of it on the shelves! I was not going to buy that much to try this out but then I remembered reading a Jamie Oliver bread recipe once that listed Italian 00 flour and there was a 1kg bag of that. Now that I've done some research I can tell you that this kind of flour is usually used for making pasta or pizza dough but my bread tastes alright so I think it was OK this time around.
Also those little 7gm packets of yeast mean you are just short using one and have far too much left over when using two - a bit annoying but what can you do? This is a learning experience after all so hopefully my post will help some of you first time bakers. I can tell you that the time spent in front of the shelves umming and aahing over which flour to buy is long enough for your nail polish to dry.

The process is simple and even though it's long it is so worth it just for the smell that wafts around the house. I have read about many people who find baking bread really therapeutic and I now totally understand where they are coming from; I don't think I've had such a sense of pride pulling something hot and gorgeous from the oven like I did today.

Thank you Cathie for the post and good luck bakers out there. I can't wait to make some toast in the morning.

Enjoy!

Reader Recipe - Mini Baked Cheesecakes - 2 - $ - V

The lovely Erica from Recycled Fashion thought this mini baked cheesecake recipe was so lush that she wanted to share it with everyone! Thanks Erica!

Like all good cooks, she took this recipe and then tweaked it using her own inspiration to make it even more special. Instead of putting the berries on top Erica mixed 1 1/2 cups of frozen blue berries into the actual cake mix - clever no?
Then after she refrigerated them for an hour she made a chocolate sauce to go on top -

Ingredients
70gm dark chocolate (Erica used Green & Black's organic)
2tbs thickened cream

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Drizzle over the top of the cheesecakes and refrigerate again until set.
Leave out of the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 38 - Spice - Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry - 2 - $ - V - (!)

This week's catch-up Cookbook Challenge was an epic fail! It had nothing to do with the recipe mind you. Well I'm assuming it was my fault due to my rather large deviation from the ingredients. It all started so well too, with good intentions of maximising today's vegetable intake and providing lunch for my colleagues tomorrow.

Never mind, cook and learn. And what I learned today was not to use the coconut version of evaporated milk thinking it will behave like proper coconut milk because it WON'T. It curdles and should only ever be added at the last minute on a low heat due to having barely any fat content. Of course I know this NOW. Which is a real shame because the curry looked and smelled great before it all went wrong.
I think you should give the recipe a try and follow the ingredients to the letter because I'm going to have another go and I promise to do as Curtis Stone asks in Issue 4 of the MasterChef magazine which is where it comes from.


Ingredients - serves 4

100gm dried chickpeas or 1 x 400gm tin - if using dried cover in boiling water and soak for 40 minutes or until water goes cold
2tbs olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2cm piece of ginger, grated
2 long green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
2 long red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
400gm butternut pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 3cm pieces
2tsp garam masala
2tsp ground coriander
2tsp caraway seeds, toasted
1/2tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp ground turmeric
juice of 1 lime
1tbs brown sugar
2 x 400ml cans of coconut milk - use the real deal!
1/4 cup coriander, roughly chopped and extra to serve
steamed rice

Sort out your chickpeas if using dried ones or drain the tinned ones and rinse well.
Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat and cook off the onion, ginger, garlic and half the chillies for about 4 minutes or until soft.
Add pumpkin, carrot, chickpeas and spices and cook stir for another 3 minutes. Add the lime juice and sugar and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add 250ml water and the coconut milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Season and stir in the chopped coriander.
Serve with rice and garnish with remaining chillies and extra coriander.

Enjoy!

Review - Monk Bodhi Dharma - $-$$$ - V

My friend Sara is moving to LA soon so she's a bit sad that she's only just discovered Monk Bodhi Dharma cafe. I'm a bit sad that Sara's moving but that's another story.

Tucked down a lane behind one of the stupormarkets on bustling Carlisle Street in Balaclava this cafe is easily missed by those not in the know. As you may have inferred by the name, their menu is focused on vegetarian and vegan food with ayurvedic properties. Translation: it's good for you. It's also filling and pretty damn tasty too. Each day there are various soups and stews on offer for lunch as well as plenty of hearty breakfast fare even without eggs and bacon. (And, there's always super pretty cupcakes on the counter as you walk in the front door, so steel your self-control upon entering if you're trying to be good.)

The premises itself is quite small but the space is well used with a beautiful communal table as the centerpiece and fresh flowers poking out of vases strung from the ceiling. Even the menus are pretty, printed on floral Japanese paper.
I've visited a fair few times recently and have indulged in the world's biggest and most moist piece of banana bread with lemon ricotta and a Moroccan-style stew with chickpeas, minted couscous and some bitey sweet chili relish.

The Monk also roast their own coffee, serve syphon and have a comprehensive list of fairtrade and organic teas on offer. The tea infusion is very precise and the pots and cups differ depending on which one you choose. My most recent choice was based solely on the name - Iron Goddess - which hadn't even made it onto the menu yet.

Regular breakfast degustation mornings are held and you can keep an eye on their blog for other events. I'm also pleased to report that if you forget your re-usable coffee cup and have to have a takeaway it will be served in a biodegradable cup.

Visit the Monk for holistic hospitality at it's best.



Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 12 - Eggs - Salmon & Chickpea Frittata - 3 - $ - V

You know the old saying about needing the right tools for the job? Well I kind of didn't have the right pan for this frittata because it needs to go under the grill and I was worried about melting handles. So I plunged on and used a shallow cast iron French pan, which obviously withstood the heat under the grill but meant a little bit of stick on the bottom, despite a good oiling.

This recipe is really good! Filling, full of protein-goodness and could most definitely be served hot or cold. As a main I served it with some char-grilled asparagus and roasted tomatoes, but I would definitely serve it cold, cut into small pieces at a picnic or BBQ.

This is the second dish from the MasterChef magazine that has worked well for the Cookbook Challenge and is from Issue 4. I'd never made a frittata before and was happy with my first attempt, a non-stick pan will definitely be the go next time. The verdict on the chickpeas was varied so you have a go and make up your own mind.


Ingredients - serves 4 (I got 6 serves out of it)

2 x 200gm pieces of boneless, skinless salmon
2tbs olive oil
8 eggs
1/2tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic finely chopped/crushed
zest of 2 lemons
400gm can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
125gm fresh ricotta, crumbled into pieces
2tbs coriander leaves, plus extra to serve

Heat the pan over a high heat. Brush the salmon on both sides with 1tbs of the olive oil, season and cook for 1 minute each side or until medium-rare. Remove from pan and put aside. Wipe pan with paper towel.
Whisk together the eggs, cumin, garlic and zest and season. Stir in the chickpeas and then the ricotta and coriander. Stir gently to combine.
Heat the pan over a high heat and then add the last of the oil and swirl around the pan to coat the bottom and sides. Pour in the eggs and reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes or until the egg is almost cooked.
Meanwhile preheat the grill to high and then flake the fish into large pieces and tuck into the frittata. Place the pan under the grill and cook for 5 minutes or until just set and golden.
Scatter with the extra coriander and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 24 Chocolate & Week 30 Baked - Green & Black's Cookies Exclusive - 2 - $ - V

Here I go again combining themes in the Cookbook Challenge, but I think you'll be glad that I did!

This recipe comes from a cookbook that's not even in the shops yet! Drum roll please...
Thanks to the lovely and generous peeps at Green & Black's Organic I got a sneak peek at some chocolate recipes, so I thought it fitting that I bake some cookies.

These little babies are super easy, fairly quick and delicious. (And very naughty but you can at least console yourself with the fact that there is something organic in there somewhere.)

The recipe says it makes 16 cookies, but boy are they big cookies! Next time I think I will bake the dough in two batches and make them half the size - then there's twice as many (tricksy no?).
Also once the dough comes out of the fridge work quickly, especially if it's a warm day, as it gets very sticky and hard to work with in a short space of time.


Ingredients

125g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
50g muscovado sugar
1 medium free-range egg
few drops of vanilla extract
140g Plain Flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
75g rolled oats
150 - 200g Green & Black's Organic Chocolate (depending on your favourite flavour and level of addiction, try Green & Black’s Organic Butterscotch for a nice treat), chopped into chunks

Preheat oven to 180C degrees (160C for fan forced). Line a tray with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until it's nice and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat.
Add the flour, baking powder, salt and oats and then mix in the chocolate to form a dough. Put in the fridge for about 10 minutes for the dough to firm up.
Take plum-size balls of dough, roll them in your hands and then place on the tray with enough space in between for them to spread. Press the balls down with your hand to flatten slightly and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, leave them for 5 minutes to firm up and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Saturday Night Burger - 1 - $ - V

Do you sometimes REALLY want to eat junk food? Even though you know summer is just around the corner and you REALLY need to think about getting into your togs. Well I do!

This cheat's recipe is still a little bit naughty but it helps to get through the it's-Saturday-night-and-I-want-grease madness.

I know it's a bought veggie burger and of course you could make your own, but I am cheating so I used a ready made one (a quality ready made one of course). You can add any kind of salady topping to this little baby, for example some grated carrot or some beetroot or fried onions. Some of you might want to add pineapple, which I don't like, but I'm not here to judge, I'm here to help.

Ingredients

Veggie patty/burger (bought or homemade)Bagel (or bread roll of your choice) lightly toasted
Cheese slice (I opted for Swiss)
Egg (or not)
Cos lettuce (or any other leaf)
Tomato, thinly sliced
Avocado
Roasted peppers
Mayo
Tomato sauce (or relish)
Anything else you want to bung on there

Pop your patty in a pan to cook.
Slice all your ingredients ready to go.
Toast your bread and while this is happening put your egg on to cook beside the patty.
Over easy with the egg and pop the peppers in to heat up. Your patty should be cooked by now, so turn it and then place your cheese slice on it's nice hot top to start melting. If you're egg is cooked sit it on top of the cheese to help wit the melting action.
Meanwhile smear some mayo on one half of the now toasted bun, and some avocado on the other half. Make the mayo bun the bottom and start piling on your salad. Carefully transfer your hot patty/cheese/egg onto the salad base. Tomato sauce on top, pop on the lid and away you go.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 26 - Green - Spinach & Broccoli Pasticcio - 2 - $ - V

You will not beat me Cookbook Challenge! Slowly but surely I am catching up on my dishes. We've only got about 9 weeks/dishes to go. I personally have about 6 months worth of dishes to cook, so one per day should see me sorted...

This week I've got my cooking groove back on after a winter slump and lots of dining out recently. The more I go out to eat, the less I want to cook so it seems.
The following recipe from Issue 5 of the MasterChef magazine caught my eye because it was 'green' which ticked a Challenge box; I am in severe need of some vegetables; and I had a vegetarian friend coming round for tea. Perfect!

Green!

There is a fair amount of preparation for this dish but it's well worth it. The recipe said it serves 4 but we got 4 dinners (one with seconds) and 2 massive lunches out of it which was good going. However, bear this in mind when you make it because it won't freeze well.
Next time I make it I think I will roast some heirloom tomatoes to serve alongside the pasta so there is some acid to cut through the richness and give the plate some colour.

Golden haloumi goodness

Ingredients

360gm haloumi, grated
300gm sour cream (light is OK to use)
8 eggs
60ml olive oil
2 bunches spinach, washed and trimmed
500gm pasta (rigatoni, penne or anything tubular)
2 onions, finely chopped (I only used 1)
1 long red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 heads broccoli, stems removed and roughly chopped
Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat oven to 190C degrees.
Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping (I used half a cup 'cause I like it really cheesy on top).
Divide the remaining cheese into two large bowls (make sure one is massive to fit all the pasta), then divide the sour cream into each bowl. Crack 4 eggs into each bowl, season and whisk to combine.


Heat 2tsp oil in a frying pan over a high heat (I used a wok which worked really well) and cook the spinach for a couple of minutes until wilted. Drain, finely chop and set aside.
Cook the pasta in salted water for 5 minutes. It won't be cooked, but don't panic. Drain and then add to one of the egg bowls, stir through to coat with the mixture.
Heat the rest of the oil in the same pan/wok and cook the onion and chili for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the spinach and broccoli and toss for 3 minutes or until the broccoli is just cooked. Add the veggies to the other egg bowl and mix well to coat these too.
You need an oven dish that is at least 7cm deep. Pour in half the pasta and make sure the pieces are all laying flat and side by side. Pour the broccoli mixture on top of the first pasta layer and spread out evenly. Add the remaining pasta to create another flat layer and then sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the top is nice and golden.
Serve immediately with the lemon to squeeze on top.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 28 - Breakfast - Crumpets & Dead Man Espresso - 3 - V

I was thrilled to open the latest issue of delicious magazine to see my old colleague Luke Mutton smiling up at me from within its pages. Luke and his gorgeous wife Kylie opened their cafe Dead Man Espresso last year and have been the talk of the town ever since. Congrats you guys and keep up the good work!

The article included a recipe for crumpets and strawberry and rosella jam so what better way to catch up on my Cookbook Challenge-ing than by making them? I didn't do the jam but I did take a certain pride in being able to say I made crumpets and tack "from scratch" on the end of it!

The method is very easy but I had to wait a little longer than an hour for the batter to double because it's been really cold lately and my kitchen was pretty icy. I ended up putting the bowl next to the oven so it could warm up a bit and let the yeast do its thing.

The batter is very thick and it kind of snaps when you spoon it into the egg rings. I realised after cooking two rounds that once you flip the crumpets you can get the rings off and cook two lots of crumpets at time. You'd be at the stove for about a year otherwise!
Make sure you grease the rings too and be very careful when flipping and taking them off because they are HOT.


Ingredients - makes 18

3 cups plain flour, sifted
7gm sachet dry active yeast
300ml milk
250ml hot water
Melted unsalted butter

In a very large bowl mix the yeast and flour together. Mix the milk in a jug with the water and then pour into the bowl in a steady stream, mixing well to combine all the ingredients. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or cloth and stand in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour or until the batter doubles in size.
In a non-stick pan brush on some melted butter, put your greased egg rings into the pan on a medium heat and then spoon two tablespoons of batter into each ring. Cook for 6-7 minutes on each side until they are golden and cooked through.
To serve cut the crumpets in half (this is where the holes live) and toast. Smother in lashings of butter and jam and eat immediately.
The crumpets can be wrapped in foil and frozen.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Weeks 36 & 39 - Comfort Food & TV Chefs - Giant Yorkshire Puddings - 2 - $ - V

It's almost embarrassing posting this Cookbook Challenge! I am so behind but I am partly blaming it on the fact that Melbourne is having back-to-back festivals and just about every friend of mine has a birthday in August, so it's been very busy!

I know Jamie Oliver cops a bit of stick but I quite like his recipes; they have never failed for me and I admire his energy and ambitions when it comes to changing the way people eat for the better.

I saw Jamie make these Giant Yorkshire Puddings on telly when I lived in London but I have never tried them before now. I got introduced to the Yorkie when I moved to the UK and whenever I was feeling homesick over there I would always go for a roast on a Sunday because it reminded me of my mum.

Traditionally served with roast beef these golden pastries could go with any roast or any food where the mopping up of gravy is going to be involved! It is also the same batter you use for making Toad-in-the-Hole.

This recipe appears in Jamie's book The Naked Chef 2 and it is superb. If you search online you will see just how many people swear by this method.

Ingredients

285 ml milk
115gms plain flour
pinch salt
3 eggs
vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 220C degrees.
Mix the batter ingredients together and let it rest for 10 minutes
Preheat a Yorkshire pudding tray or muffin tin and put 1cm of oil in each section. After the 10 minutes divide the batter into the tray (I found using a ladle good for this).
Cook for around 15 to 20 minutes until crisp and puffy, don't open the oven door or they won't rise.

I cooked my Yorkies while my roast beef was resting and took the veg out too so they didn't burn. Because I am still learning how to drive my new oven I put the puddings a shelf too high up and they were a little too brown on top, but nothing serving them upside down in the gravy couldn't fix!

Enjoy!

Triple R Radiothon & Chang's Chocolate Spiders - 1 - $ - V

When I lived away from Melbourne for four years, there were two things that I would miss every single morning - not being able to get a decent cup of coffee and not being able to listen to Breakfasters on radio station Triple R.
Until I moved overseas, I didn't realise what a luxury it is to have community radio; I'd been tuning into The Rs since I was 13 and just thought that everyone had it as good as me. Not so! Now, 21 years later, I'm still listening and very grateful that I live in a community that have people willing to volunteer their time in order to broadcast 24-7.

The annual Radiothon is on at the moment and is the perfect time to subscribe to the station in order to keep this great self-funded institution running. There's loads of prizes to win and even if you don't live in Melbourne, thanks to the magic of the internets, you can stream Triple R anytime and listen to quality programs or download the podcasts for free. There's something for everyone on the grid (foodies in particular tune in to Eat It every Sunday and Suzie Morris-Ashton's Diet Schmiet every Tuesday on Breakfasters) and when you subscribe you get the chance to attend subscriber-only live to air music performances, exclusive film screenings and receive a copies of The Trip magazine.

Cameron Smith, Adrian Richardson (La Luna Bistro) & Shannon Bennett (Vue de Monde) at the Triple R BBQ day outside broadcast

I received my copy of The Trip last week and was reminded of The Bogan Banquet ideas that Breakfasters came up with back in May. Being of good bogan stock I thought it a fitting homage to my favourite show to bring you Chang's Chocolate Spiders. For my version I used dark chocolate and found that it took about 1 minute to melt the chocolate. I also only got about 20 spiders from the recipe.

You can subscribe to Triple R anytime by phoning 9388 1027 or online. Now that spiders are set I'm off to renew my subscription and pop the top on a West Coast Island Cooler...

Enjoy!

Reader Recipe - Cheese and Onion Bread- 1 - $ - V

Luckily this afternoon I found an email from the lovely Erica at Recycled Fashion with a recipe to share. It's lucky because I had a little bit too much sake at the fantastic Ichi Ni last night and the likelihood of me making any food worth blogging about today is not too high! Although perhaps a Top 10 of hangover food could be something worth writing about...

However, I digress. Erica has a love of op-shop cookbook collecting just like I do and she found a real gem recently - The Vegemite Cookbook. Thank you Erica for sharing your rainy day baking and photos with us!


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of milk
1tbs Vegemite (Marmite would probably do just as well)
3 1/4 cups self-raising flour
250gm grated tasty cheese
1/2 cup chopped spring onions
(Erica also added some corn to hers which I think is a clever addition)

Preheat oven to 200C degrees.
Warm 1/2 cup milk in a pot and dissolve the Vegemite in it. Combine the flour, cheese, spring onions and remaining milk in a bowl. Stir in the Vegemite milk and mix all ingredients until well combined. Divide the dough into three portions.
On a lightly floured surface make three rounds and then place them side by side in a lightly greased loaf tin.
Bake for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!