Macaroni Cheese

Fast and rich......Nigella Lawson style! Egg, cheese and evaporated milk put through a food processor and then mixed with freshly boiled pasta then baked.

Homemade Muesli bar

I can't believe how easy it is to make muesli bars. I've taken to putting a container of these in my car to eat on my 60 minute drive to work. Oh, by the way, I finally quit my job and made the move to hospital pharmacy. Werhoo! Should have done this years ago. But back to food... this is a variation of a Nigella Lawson recipe. My reasons for the variation? I didn't have 75g of shredded coconut in my pantry and didn't want to spend any more time in a car.

1 can sweetened condensed milk

250g rolled oats

100g chopped dried fruit (eg apricot and pear)

100g nuts (eg peanuts)

100g pumpkin seeds

50g sesame seeds

Mix it all around, press into a greased and lined disposable foil baking tray. Bake for an hour at 130 degrees C.

Boobie, er I mean Suji Biscuits

Is it me or do they look like boobs? ;)

These delicate biscuits are essentially a super-short shortbread. Very morish and crumbly. The recipe is here and is by Poh from Masterchef.

Cinnamon Scrolls

I used to be quite overwhelmed at the ideal of baking with yeast but I've had a bit of a play and I'm quite enjoying it. I think it's quite magical really. I would love to do it more, but I'm frankly not quite organised enough to fit in 2-3 hours of proving into my schedule. Anyway, in honour of the arrival of my dear relatives from Sydney I baked some cinnamon buns. This is the recipe:

Cinnamon Buns (yields 12 big ones)
Recipe by (you guessed it) Annabel Langbein:

Melt ½ cup butter in a saucepan then turn off the heat. Add 2 cups of milk and wait until the mixture is blood warm then add 3 tsp of yeast and ¾ cup sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. In a large bowl mix 6 cups of plain flour with 1 tsp of salt. Add the liquid and knead for 30-40 strokes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Leave it to prove under a wet tea towel until double in size (took me 2-3 hours). Roll into a rectangle about ½ cm thick. Spread a layer of softened butter on top and sprinkle over a mixture of 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1/2 cup of sugar. Roll up and cut in 3 cm segments. Arrange into baking tray and let it rise for a bit (20 min) then bake for 10-12 min at 240 degrees C.

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.