Get Your Pink On!

Posted on October 30, 2012 by DemeterG

We decided at the last minute to have a Pink Ribbon Day Morning Tea Fundraiser for breast cancer. What a great opportunity for me to experiment with something I’d wanted to try for weeks – a polka dot cake.

I was purchasing a few things from my favourite cake supply shop: Cakes around town and on their front page they had a link to the polka dot cake by Once Upon a Pedestal. How cool is that! I also love her butterfly cake and when I have about three days to spare I’ll give it a go myself.

But back to the polka dot cake….. I already purchased the cake ball pan, with making a polka dot cake in mind. Not for making cake balls….. been there….. done that….. failed a little bit….. had a heap of fun tho’

So, with limited time, I resorted to cake mix and frosting mix…. Aunty Betty to the rescue!

I wasn’t happy with the pasty pink that the strawberry cake mix gave, so out came the neon pink gel paste and I had two lovely shades of pink to play with. Half the tray was filled with pale pink and the other half with neon pink batter. I cooked them for about 10 minutes, until the bits that volcano’d out the top were just cooked. I popped off the little volcano caps and opened up the pan and there were lovely little pink balls of cake. Slightly cone shaped, but once they were in the main cake, no one would notice.

So, I put some of Aunty Betty’s vanilla cake mix into the bottom of the cake pan, laid the balls in and then covered them up with more batter. It kind of worked. The cake rose more than I expected and the little cake balls were trying to escape out the top of the cake. Once the cake was cooked and out of the oven I tipped it out of the cake pan and let it cool upside down, to try and flatten the top a bit.

Once cooled, a slap of Aunty Betty’s vanilla frosting and a sprinkle of pink sparkle and Ta Dah! A polka Dot cake!

And it did cause a bit of a stir in the office when we cut it. Everyone was very intrigued to know how I got the pink bits so round. They were also still nice and moist, even though they were twice cooked.

So, for a bit of fun, next time you have to make a cake, try a polka dot cake. Not all that hard at all.

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Koftas in Tomato Sauce with Vermicelli Rice

Posted on October 25, 2012 by DemeterG

These koftas are Amina’s from Masterchef magazine #23.

Making them was in response to DB when I asked him what he wanted for dinner. The answer was “MEAT!”
We had two vegetarian dishes during the week, so message received, loud and clear. Here is some meat!
I have made it since for B1 and B2 and got a two thumbs up from them, so it comes recommended. Note of warning, it does take an hour and a quarter from start to finish.

Ingredients:

Koftas:
300g beef mince
300g lamb mince (I substituted pork & veal mince)
½ cup finely chopped parsley
1 small tomato, seeded & finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon baharat
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sumac

Tomato Sauce:
¼ cup olive oil
2 onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon baharat
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Vermicilli rice:
200g long grain rice, soaked in water for 10 minutes
40g butter 30g vermicilli noodles
375ml chicken stock

Method:

Put all the kofta ingredients into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Combine well. Form tablespoons into balls and set aside.

To make the sauce, heat the oil over a medium heat, in a deep frypan that has a lid. Add the onions and garlic and cook stirring for 10 minutes or until dark golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Increase heat to high and add koftas. Cook turning for about 4 minutes until browned all over. Return onion to pan with remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Remove lid, increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened.

Meanwhile, to make the vermicelli rice, drain the rice well. Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan on a medium-high heat. Crush the noodles and add to the pan. Cook tossing for 4 minutes or until golden. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the stock and bring to a simmer without stirring. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Stand covered for 5 minutes.

Fluff the rice and serve with the koftas in tomato sauce.

 

 

Posted in Beef, Favourite Recipe, Lamb, Recipes | Leave a comment

The Birthday Festival is over…..

Posted on October 25, 2012 by DemeterG

September is Birthday Festival month…… or at least it seems that way sometimes. B1’s birthday is usually a two week affair comprising of a birthday shopping spree the weekend before, presents and dinner on the day and then all the preparation for “the party” the weekend after.

The party comprises of a few close friends having a sleepover and the DB’s home-made pizza, gummy bears, jaffas and jelly shots (just jelly, no alcohol). Followed by a midnight walk through the bush in the dark and scary movies all night. The term sleepover isn’t quite correct as they usually don’t get much sleep.

The Rainbow cake didn’t turn out too bad and B1 had fun drawing on it with the food grade textas I gave her for her birthday. The isomalt “gems” gave it a bit of bling and we were eating cake for the rest of the week.

For those of you who missed the earlier post see the Rainbow Cake Post for all the info. on how to make your own.

Don’t look too closely as the icing job is very dodgey. I have decided that decorating cakes is not my thing, or if it is, I need to go on a course. All in all, it was fun and I know B1 liked the rainbow cake. now….. how do I do better than rainbow cake next year…… Currently trialling Once Upon a Pedestal’s polka dot cake……. 😉

 

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Crumpets

Posted on October 13, 2012 by DemeterG

I had home made crumpets suggested to me awhile ago, by a work colleague and while my interest was piqued, they hadn’t bubbled up to the top of the “to do” list yet.
Last week I received the latest copy of SBS Feast Magazine featuring Matthew Evans’ breakfast recipes and there they were, home made crumpets lathererd with whipped honey butter. How could I not want to give them a go?!

First problem was finding a warm place for them to “brew” on a cool spring day. The DB had a great suggestion: What about the hot house? Perfect!
I suggest making them and then leaving them to cool and toasting them later.
Makes 18 crumpets if using crumpet rings, more if you only have egg rings.

Ingredients:

3 cups milk
7g dry yeast
1 teaspoon caster sugar
30g butter, finely chopped
3 1/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

Warm the milk gently so that it is body temperature. (Too hot and you will kill the yeast)
Dissolve the yeast in 2 tablespoons of the warm milk. Dissolve the sugar in the remaining milk, stir in the butter until melted.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and stir in the butter and milk mixture, then the yeast mixture.

Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. It should be thick and bubbly but be able to be poured – slowly.

Grease a fry pan and crumpet rings with canola spray and heat over a medium heat.

Using a 1/3 cup measure, pour batter into crumpet rings, two-thirds of the way to the rim. Do not overfill as they do rise. Cook for 5 – 6 minutes or until holes appear on the top and it starts to dry out. Be careful that the bottom doesn’t burn. Too low a temperature and you will not get bubbles and too high and the base will burn.

Remove the crumpet rings (remember they are hot and use a glove – unlike my first attempt with my fingers…..), turn the crumpets and cook the other side for 1 – 2 minutes or until lightly browned. If you are toasting them later, leave them a light golden colour. If you can’t wait and will eat them straight from the pan, then let them darken a little more.

And Voilà! just like the bought ones…… or as the DB says….. as close as $hit is to swearing!

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Baked Eggs with Chorizo & O.D.O.

Posted on October 6, 2012 by DemeterG

Ever since I received my “Cheese Club” delivery from Bruny Island Cheese Co. I have been wanting to experiment with baked eggs and their O.D.O. (one day old) marinated cheese.
I will say I think the baked eggs were a wonderful success (or as the DB said “Bloody Nice”) and I imagine they will be on the menu fairly regularly. Serve with toasted crust bread to dip in the runny eggs. Serves 2.

Ingredients: 
1 chorizo, sliced
½ tomato, chopped chunky
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
4 eggs
pinch cumin
pinch, coriander seed
pinch ground chillies (could have done with more)
salt & pepper
110g marinated cheese (I used Bruny Island O.D.O)

Method:
Pre heat oven to 180°C.

Fry the garlic, tomato, chorizo slices, cumin, coriander and chillies in a small frypan, until the tomato is soft and the chorizo is slightly browned.

Into two individual baking dishes, crack two eggs gently into each.

Cut the cheese into chunks and place around the outside of the eggs (this forces the eggs into the middle of the dish).

Add the chorizo and tomato mix in between the cheese pieces, trying to keep the eggs on the inside of the dish.

Top each dish with a little salt and pepper and bake for 10 – 12 minutes until the whites are coloured (cooked and no longer clear)and the yolks are still runny.

Posted in Breakfast, Eggs, Favourite Recipe, Recipes | Leave a comment