Pork Roast with Sides

Hello hello! Long time no post. I've had a busy few months and was too distracted for recreational cooking. But I've just had a refreshing 2 weeks overseas and I'm back at it.

This is Annabel Langheim's pork roast from The Free Range Cook. Belly pork served on wilted red cabbage with cheesy polenta, roasted apples, carrots and onion.

Swedish English Fusion

Swedish meatballs in the Toad in a Hole batter. A Swedish English fusion born out of desperation because I had run out of snags (Aussie for sausages). It's actually darn tasty and definitely gives a healthier meat to batter ratio. As usual I added thyme, rosemary and onions for extra flavour.

But now I'm stumped. Do I serve it with

a) Gravy?
b) Ikea Gradasas Cream Sauce?

Gravy won in the end but I was also reminded that I could have gone with c) lingonberry jam or d) vegetables. Must keep that in mind for next time.

Pandan Cake

Aka... that green sponge cake you see at Asian grocers.

In her cleaning frenzy, my Mum gifted me her baba cake tin which got me really excited. I've been sitting on a Pandan Cake recipe for a while because I didn't have the special donut shaped, loose-bottomed baking tin you need to make the traditional cake. According to Poh from Masterchef you need to cool the cake with the tin inverted so it doesn't deflate so you should definitely use the proper tin.

Best Recipe Ever. I had the cake up and ready in under 2 hours which is fricking awesome if you ask me. Only 25 minutes to bake and you dont' even have to grease the tin. In fact if doesn't work as well if you do. Score.

Pandan Cake
Preaheat oven to 160 degrees C and seperate 5 eggs. Whisk egg whites with 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and add 75g white sugar gradually until stiff peaks formed. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, 75g white sugar, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 5 tbs vegetable oil and enough pandan extract to turn it all bright green (I think I used about 1/2 tsp). Sift in 150g SR flour and fold in. Also fold in egg white mixture. Bake in a 23cm baba tin for 25 minutes or until golden brown and skewer comes out clean. Invert over a cooling rack and let it cool. Run a knife around the tin when ready to invert.

Pie Day Again

Mince Meat Pie
Not a pretty photo. Sorry.

Bacon and Egg Pie

I love making pies. If only there were more of us living here so I can get rid of it all. Mum and Dad are often the recipients of the stuff I make, but I'm not sure their doctors would approve with the first pie. I might have to inflict my cooking on the girls at work.

Bacon and Egg Pie (recipe by Annabel Langbein)
It's layers of bacon and potato with herbs and eggs on top. Wrapped in buttery soft crust pastry. Really easy to make and looks pretty good too.

Family Meat Pie (recipe in some Pie Book I bought at Planet Books at 11pm on a Friday night.. werhoo!)
Filled with 750g of organic beef mince.

Chocolate Mud Cake with Ganache

This is a very easy cake, made to to serve 8-12. You don't need a beater or mixer if you cut your softened butter into 1 inch cubes or zap it in the microwave first.

Put 3 eggs, 3 cups of SR, 2 cups of sugar, 1.5 tsp vanilla extract, ¾ cup of cocoa powder, 2 tsp of baking soda, 200g softened butter and 1 cup milk in a bowl and pour 1 cup of boiling hot coffee over it. Stir for 2-3 minutes until smooth and the butter has melted. Pour into prepared tin and bake at 160 degrees for 1 hour. Cool the cake completely and refrigerate for a few hours if possible. Ice with chocolate ganache (hot cream poured over equal part grated/chopped dark chocolate, stir until smooth).

Recipe by Annabel Langbein

Rosemary and Sea Salt Foccacia

This is the foccacia bread I baked for appetisers for our weekly family dinner. I served it with olive oil and basalmic vinegar for dipping. Italian meatballs and egg pasta was served with a bolognese sauce for mains. Hmm carbs makes Suebie happy....

Foccacia Bread recipe
Place half a tablespoon of sugar and three quarters of a tablespoon of dry yeast in three quarters of a cup of blood warm water. Leave for 10 minutes to activate. Mix one and a half cups of plain flour with half a tablespoon of salt and create a well in the middle. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Return dough to bowl and spray with olive oil then cover with cling film. Let it prove in a warm spot (ie oven that is on a very low setting eg 50 degrees) for at least an hour. Punch it down when it has doubled in size and knead it for another minute or so. Line a cooking tray with baking paper and form a foccacia shaped dough that is 1 cm thick. Let it prove for another 30 minutes. Push your fingers into the dough to create dimples and spray with olive oil again. Sprinkle on fresh rosemary and sea salt flakes. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius until the top is golden and sounds hollow when you tap it.

Souffle experiment

The idea of a souffle seems scary, but I've done a bit of research and decided I'd give it a go. This is Annabel Langbein's Souffle from my new favourite cooking show; The Free Range Cook. Annabel makes everything look so easy and I love the beautiful NZ scenery. Of course, I couldn't help myself and fiddled with the recipe a bit. I added some tasty cheese and took the option of replacing whitebait with smoked salmon. The souffle was a bit cracked. But still yummy. I wonder if it's all the solid bits that made it rise unevenly. I think I'll have to make a chocolate one to compare next.