I had an urge to bake last week, and ended up with these muffins after a lot of flipping through cookbooks and browsing the internets. They could be the best muffins EVER. Sweet, moist, nutty, fragrant with coconut and with the occasional tangy raspberry – they were such a treat. Chocolate is so overrated – give me these any day!
1. Combine coconut and coconut cream in a large bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes. 2. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with muffin cases. 3. Using a metal spoon, stir sugar, egg and vanilla into coconut mixture. Gently stir in the flour until combined. Fold in raspberries. 4. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins and put a raspberry on top of each one. Top with shredded coconut if desired. Bake for 20-30 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely.
I have had a strange relationship with eggplant throughout my life. When I was a young child, I loved eggplant. I couldn’t get enough of it. Then one day I stopped liking it. I despised it, I hated the soft texture, the taste, the way it sometimes stings the tongue. And then, suddenly, when I got past my teens, I liked it again.
Maybe one day my love/hate eggplant relationship will switch again, but right now I’m in an I Love Eggplant phase. I prepared these eggplant, basil and feta rolls the other week and served them with salad. Not only was it a very satisfying dinner, but it was also a dinner chock full of vegies. I roasted the rolls with some home made tomato sauce, but you could also serve the rolls without sauce as nibbles.
Eggplant and feta rolls
To make them, thinly slice the eggplants lengthways. Brush lightly with oil, then put under a grill for 5 minutes or so until they soften and brown a little. Flip the eggplant slices over, brush with oil and put under the grill again. Let the eggplant cool slightly. Place a basil leaf and a spoon full of feta on the edge of each eggplant slice. Roll up the eggplant and secure – I tied them up with chives but you could just use toothpicks. You can eat them at this stage or you can roast them with sauce.
Note – if you are going to put some sauce on top and roast in the oven, leave out the basil when rolling up the eggplant and instead scatter on top once it’s served.
Generally I’m not a hoarder. Although I do keep some things like plastic containers and plastic cutlery. My Bro and I literally cannot throw these things out. We wash them and keep them BECAUSE THEY’RE USEFUL. Alastair doesn’t agree. Sometimes he’ll get so frustrated that he will sneakily clean out the cupboards and throw our plastic away. The next day, we’ll be all accusing, “Did you throw our containers away??!”
So I’m not a hoarder but there are a few items that I have a lot of. For example, I own 8 different kinds of oil – canola, vegetable, peanut, rice bran, olive, extra virgin olive, avocado and macadamia.
The other week I started making a white bean dip, and then realised that I had run out of extra-virgin olive oil. The normal olive oil I own is just cheap stuff to cook with, so I couldn’t use that. I decided to try the macadamia oil which is infused with chilli and lime. (It sounds nicer than it actually tastes.)
I forged ahead even though I had concerns about how it would turn out. The flavour was kind of all over the place – hello basil, hello garlic, hello chilli, hello lime?! But, it was passable. However, if I made it again I would definitely use plain olive oil…. alternatively I could always try one of the other 6 remaining bottles of oil!
White bean dip
1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 handful basil leaves Salt and pepper Good quality oil – whatever kind rocks your boat
Pulse the beans, garlic and basil roughly in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste, then, on a low speed, add enough oil to process into a chunky paste. Serve with crackers or grissini.
The last time that I had banoffee pie was in Wellington. Alastair and I had one way tickets to the other side of the world, and didn’t know when we would be back. Just before we left, Alastair, Pat and I went out to a restaurant and ate ourselves silly. We were greedy little piglets and ordered dessert too, which was banoffee pie. Even though we were stuffed, we ate every last crumb and enjoyed it immensely. A few days later, Alastair and I got on a plane, and we didn’t see my Bro again for a year.
Four and a half years have gone by since that banoffee pie and life has changed a lot. Alastair and I travelled, moved countries, settled down, got married and imported my brother into Australia. Life may have changed but we still talk about that night in Welly and reminisce about that pie.
Banoffee pie was apparently invented in 1972 by the Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex, UK. It’s a dessert with a pastry base, covered with layers of dulce de leche, bananas and cream. Once you’ve prepared the base and the dulce de leche, assembling the pie is very easy.
I’ve been wanting to make a banoffee pie for ages, but with the high banana prices over the past couple of years it never happened. Until the other weekend where I found an occasion for it – an Out of Africa barbeque! (Basically catching up with friends after our return.) The shortcrust pastry recipe came from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics 2 and is extremely easy and has never failed on me yet. I love making desserts using shortcrust pastry because people are always impressed – and yet it’s the easiest thing in the world. The rest of the recipe I took from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Kitchen. I cheated on the dulce de leche due to lack of time (and fear of exploding cans) and bought ready made caramel topping from the supermarket. The canned caramel topping was acceptable, but I have no doubt that boiling my own cans would’ve been better.
By the way, do try the almonds in Jamie’s recipe. They were wonderful on top of the pie, giving a bit of crunch.
Sweet Shortcrust pastry From Donna Hay Modern Classics 2
Process the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the mother is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined. Knead the dough lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of non-stick baking paper until 2-3mm (1/8 in) thick, or whatever thickness is required, and line the tart tin. (This recipe makes about 350g (12 oz) pastry, which is sufficient to line up to a 26cm (10 in) pie dish or tart tin.)
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C (350 degree F). Place a piece of non-stick baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking weights or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Banoffee Pie From Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Kitchen
200g/7oz blanched, whole almonds 280g/10oz icing sugar 2 x 397g/14oz tins of condensed milk, boiled 6 bananas 565ml/1 pint double cream 1 tablespoon Camp coffee seeds from 1 vanilla pod
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C (350 degree F). Give the almonds a rinse in water, drain them a little and mix them quickly with the icing sugar in a bowl until they are really sticky. Place on a baking tray and toast for 15 minutes in the oven until they are golden and crispy, turning them every couple of minutes. Don’t let them turn black or they will taste bitter. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Make and bake the pastry (as above), remove from the oven and let it cool.
Spread the toffee as thick as you like across the base of the pastry. Slice the bananas and place on top of the toffee, then whip the cream. Add the Camp coffee – add a little less if you’d like a more subtle coffee flavour – and the vanilla seeds. Then dollop the cream on top of the bananas, as high and as rough as you like.
Sprinkle the almonds over the top of the banoffe pie and serve immediately.
We’ve been eating a lot of vegetables and salads in the last couple of days. I’m stocking up on fresh stuff because I have a feeling that we’ll be eating a lot of pasta and rice while we’re away.
Capsciums stuffed with bulghur
Serves 4
1 cup bulghur 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1 1/2 cups water 1 small onion 2 carrots, peeled 3 tablespoons pine nuts Salt and pepper 8 small red capsciums
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.
Rinse the bulghur, then place into a pot with the vegetable stock power (the bulghur will expand, so use a good sized pot). Crush the garlic cloves with the flat of your knife and add it with the water to the bulghur.
Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer until all the liquid has been soaked up. Turn off the heat, take the lid off and cover the top of the pot with a clean tea towel. Place the lid on top of the tea towel and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Finely dice the onion and carrots. Heat up a frying pan on medium heat and add a touch of oil. Saute the onion and carrots on a gentle heat – I let them cook until the bulghur was ready.
Cut the tops off the capsciums, and deseed. Add the pine nuts and bulghur to the frying pan and stir to combine with the carrots and onions. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the capsciums into a baking tray, and spoon the bulghur mixture into them. Put the capscium tops back on and cover with foil. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, then take the foil off and bake for another 10 minutes or until the capsciums are soft.
Serve with the remaining bulghur (there should be quite a bit remaining!) and a crunchy salad.
I asked Alastair what he wanted for brunch on Sunday. I had two possible dishes in mind, one involving baked eggs and the other pancakes. I gave him an option of savoury or sweet.
He choose sweet – pancakes it was!
Coconut pancakes with bananas in palm sugar syrup
Adapted from a couple of recipes seen on internets
Makes 6 medium-small pancakes (enough for 2 people)
70 grams palm sugar 50 ml water 2 medium bananas, peeled and sliced
Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and coconut. Whisk in the milk, egg and melted butter until it all comes together.
Heat a frying pan on medium heat, melt some butter or a touch of oil. Add 1/4 cup of batter. When you start to see bubbles appearing on the surface, flip the pancake over and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Make the rest of the pancakes and keep warm.
Heat the water in a small saucepan and melt the palm sugar (you may want to grate it so it melts more quickly). Simmer until it’s darkened and thick, add the sliced bananas and gently toss through the syrup. Serve with the pancakes.
I’ve finished up at my old job and didn’t have to go to work. I got to sleep in this morning!
And, I had lunch with a good friend that I haven’t seen in ages.
And, the weather was gorgeous! As soon as I stepped outside and felt that warm air, I felt a twinge of glee.
PLUS, last night we had this beautiful salad. How can you not feel good after eating something so colourful and vibrant?
Three colour salad
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 2 cloves garlic, peeled and slightly crushed 400g broad beans, podded 1 bunch of asparagus Lettuce Red cabbage salt and pepper
Parboil the potatoes and garlic in salted water until just cooked.
Blanch the broad beans in lightly salted water for a couple of minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and refresh under cold water. Peel off the thick skin.
Slice the asparagus into 3cm slices. Cook in the salted water for a couple of minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
Slice up some lettuce and red cabbage (maybe a couple of leaves per person) and wash well. Spin in a salad spinner or dry well, then toss through the potatoes, broad beans, and asparagus with your choice of dressing (I used a bit of whole egg mayo and a dash of extra virgin olive oil). Season well with salt and pepper.
Another day, another meal utilizing canned chickpeas. I enjoy chickpeas, and I seem to use them a lot because they’re so easy. Most weeknights, I don’t have much time to cook – by the time I get home, chill for a bit (reading me some internets), exercise and shower, it’s at least 7.30pm by the time I get in the kitchen. It’s a good night when the bulk of my cooking time involves opening a can and tossing together some salad ingredients.
Chorizo & Chickpea salad
Serves 3-4
2 chorizo sausages, sliced 400g can of chickpeas Handful of mixed salad greens/lettuce per person 2 carrots, grated 1 Avocado, diced Handful of sprouts Extra virgin olive oil Balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper
Heat a nonstick frying pan on medium heat, add the chorizo slices, and sauté gently on all sides until the juices run and the edges are slightly crisp. Turn off the heat and add the chickpeas into the pan, tossing them around until they’re all nicely coated in that yummy, tasty fat.
Put the salad greens/lettuce, carrots, avocado and sprouts into a large salad bowl. Add the chorizo and chickpeas.
Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, toss gently and season well with salt and pepper.
The idea for these balls floated around in my head for a couple of days before I got around to making them. My cooking inspiration hasn’t returned yet. Even walking around the South Melbourne market on Wednesday didn’t help. Sadly, it was my last weekday wander around the market for the foreseeable future.
It’s my last week at my current job (tomorrow is my last day!) and next Thursday Alastair and I go on holiday. My head is full of finishing up, and sorting things out for going away and my routine is all shot. I suppose it’s hardly surprising that cooking has been neglected.
I’ve no doubt that inspiration to cook will return when we get back. I do have several meals that I haven’t blogged about yet. I’m finding it difficult to think of something interesting to say about them, but perhaps I’ll just whack them up with minimal commentary.
>My chickpea and ricotta balls ended up rather soft, which is why they look more like lumps than balls. I could’ve added some fresh breadcrumbs to stiffen the mixture but couldn’t be bothered. My Bro made a simple green salad of lettuce, cabbage and cucumber, which worked perfectly with them. The crunchy salad provided a great textural contrast to the balls.
Chickpea and ricotta balls
Makes 12
1 small onion, peeled 400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed 200g ricotta 1 egg 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you prefer less spiciness) Salt (about 1/2 teaspoon) Pepper Dried breadcrumbs
In a food processor, pulse the onion until finely diced. Add the chickpeas and pulse until mashed. Tip into a bowl and add the ricotta, mashing it into the mixture. Add the egg, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Mix well. Roll into balls, then dip the balls in the breadcrumbs until covered. Fry over medium heat, turning them every couple of minutes, until warmed through.
I resisted it for a long time, but a few months ago we bought a deep fryer. I realise that you don’t need an actual appliance – a pot will suffice – but I can’t use a pot of oil after standing above the commercial deep fryer in my parents’ shop for so many years. It just didn’t seem safe and I have problems figuring out the temperature, even with a thermometer.
Finally, I succumbed to the allure of deep fried goodness. Honestly, we don’t use it too much, but occasionally we have deep fried nights (not healthy but oh so good). Below is a good, simple recipe for beer batter. It’s nice and crispy and the bonus is the faint malty taste of beer.
PS: The chips were frozen chips from the supermarket. I like to cook, but that doesn’t extend to making my own chips. Maybe one day.
PSS: The model in the photo is Alastair, who patiently held the cone while I demanded that he hold it higher – no higher! No, lower! Lower! Right there. Oh, that shot doesn’t look good, hang on, don’t move!
Beer battered fish
Serves 4
600g fish fillet, skin and bones removed 200g (1 1/3 cup) plain flour, sifted 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 300ml beer (I used Coopers Sparkling Ale) Vegetable oil, to deep-fry
Method
1. Cut fish into 8 pieces. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Gradually add beer, using a whisk to stir until well combined.
2. Reheat oil to 190°C. Dip 4 pieces of fish, 1 at a time, into the batter to evenly coat and deep-fry for 3-4 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with remaining fish pieces, reheating the oil between batches.
