Betty Crocker Taste Test

Woolworths had a really good special on Betty Crocker cake mixes one weekend, and I decided to give one a try to see how good they were. I have a friend who loves to bake and she has told me that the Betty Crockers mixes are quite good, without that telltale cake-mix taste so common in other brands.

It was also rather late on a Sunday afternoon and I didn't have anything snacky that I could take to work the next day. I had been reading about Cinnamon Crumb Cakes and I wanted to make that, but by that stage was over an involved America's Test Kitchen recipe. I spotted the Cinnamon Crumble Muffins mix, and I was sold.

I'll spare you the laborious preparation stage and just say that these are actually pretty good. Considering that sprinkling over the cinnamon crumb mix took the most time out of anything, they were very very easy (as you would expect from a packet mix). The best thing was that you couldn't tell they were packet mix. They were very tasty and moist. Even DD, who isn't a big fan of cinnamon, really liked them.

I bake more for the fun of baking that the finished product. I like the beating and the creaming and the mixing and the act of putting it all together, and most of the time I take my goodies to work for my colleagues to eat rather than keeping it for myself and DD. In the rare times that I bake for the finished product, these mixes are a good option to have in the pantry.

I haven't tried to make the brownies yet. DD chose that one, and I have been making other things. I think he may have forgotten about it.

Stromboli Bread

We went for a visit up to the Eumundi Markets for the first time the other Saturday. We love markets, and have heard lots about Eumundi but had never made the trip. It was a beautiful day and it was a beautiful trip which we enjoyed very much. We loved looking at all the crafts and finding all the hidden treasures among the stalls.

We found the Hermitage stall with its gorgeous selection of baked goods and couldn't walk past without trying some. We bought some lovely banana bread and this Stromboli bread.

The Stromboli bread was made with mozarella cheese, rosemary, turmeric, sea salt and garlic. We had some toasted with Gympie Farm butter, it was fantastic. It's a very dense, but very tasty. It freezes well too!

Pollo Al Ajillo

DD and I were browsing through recipe books at the bookstore and came across a book of Spanish recipes. One of the recipes was for Pollo Al Ajillo, or Spanish garlic chicken. We loved the look of it, but weren't looking to spend any money so we wrote down the name of the recipe, left the book behind and went browsing the interweb.

We found a recipe on Recipezaar and decided to give it a try.

It was very easy. We used chicken breast pieces as DD doesn't like meat on the bone. I used a tiny bit more saffron than required because my saffron was a little bit old.

I found it to be quite bland, actually. It needed a lot of salt to be tasty. The underlying flavours had promise, but they just didn't come across in the finished dish. I don't know what I did wrong, because the reviews of it seem quite good. I halved the recipe, but the original is below.

Oh well, it was nice to try something new.

Pollo Al Ajillo
from Elmotoo on Recipezaar

1/2 cup olive oil (I didn't use anywhere near this amount, maybe that's why it didn't work?)
1kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces
salt
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1 lemon, juice of
1 pinch saffron, crushed and diluted in very small amount of water

Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook over moderate heat until golden brown.

Place chicken pieces in large, shallow casserole. Season with salt. Pour off all but 4 tablespoons of oil in skillet.

Saute garlic. Stir in water and bring to boil. Pour over chicken. Add lemon juice and saffron.

Cook, covered, over low heat about 15 minutes or until meat is tender. Serve, spooning sauce over chicken.

Barbecued spinach and mozzarella pizza

I bought Donna Hay's new book No Time To Cook recently. There are some interesting looking recipes in her book, but one that caught my eye was this Barbecued Spinach and Mozzarella Pizza.

The idea behind it is a simple pizza topping on a pita bread base which is cooked, covered, over a medium heat on a barbecue plate. Donna (or her food stylist) makes it look very substantial and crispy. Mine did not work out too well. We don't have a barbecue (much to my disappointment), so I used a frypan on the stove. Our stove doesn't really do "hot" or even "medium" so I don't think it had the required heat. Also, my ricotta looks much more liquid than hers - I used a low fat variety from the supermarket and I think that when she says fresh ricotta in the recipe she means it.

Mine looks very anaemic. Donna's spinach had a gorgeous dark green hue, and her pancetta had some nice colouring. If I make this again (it's not certain yet) I would brown the pancetta before putting it on the pizza and actually use English spinach rather than baby spinach.

The flavours went very well together, I just didn't like the texture or the sogginess of my attempt. I wasn't much of a fan.

Barbecued Spinach and Mozarella Pizza
from No Time To Cook by Donna Hay

200g English spinach leaves
2 rounds pita bread
240g fresh ricotta
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 tsp lemon thyme leaves
6 bocconcini, halved
8 slices pancetta
rocket leaves, to serve

Place spinach in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water for 2 minutes, drain. Squeeze out any remaining moisture using absorbent paper, then roughly chop. Spread pita bread with ricotta and top with spinach, lemon rind, thyme, bocconcini and pancetta. Preheat a char-grill pan (broiler) or barbecue to medium and place the pizza on the cooking surface. Close the lid of the barbecue or place a lid over the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the base is golden and the cheese has melted. Serve with rocket.

Antioxidant Salad

I love reading Not Quite Nigella. Lorraine posts the most amazing recipes and reviews. She posted this wonderful salad, calling it "just one of her everyday lunches". I wish I had Lorraine's everyday lunches, because this salad is spectacular.

It's a fresh mix of pomegranate, mango and baby spinach with a smooth dressing of balsamic vinegar, grapeseed oil and POM Wonderful juice. Lorraine added almonds, but I didn't like them in the mix so I've left them out.

I took it to work one day and shared with some of my colleagues. Not long after, I started getting emails about "OMG, the best salad ever!!!" and recipe requests. It truly is an amazing salad.

See Not Quite Nigella for the recipe. You need to try this salad.

BLT Wraps

I've been looking for quick and easy lunch ideas recently. Preferably those that don't require heating and can stand being in my lunch cooler for a few hours. I've been mostly making salads, but sometimes you want something different.

These BLT Wraps have gotten some great reviews on Recipezaar, and they seemed so simple. I don't know how healthy they are with the mayonnaise and the bacon - but I used Weight Watchers bacon and reduced fat mayonnaise to try and make them a little less guilt-inducing.

I said they were simple, in fact all that you need to do is cook the bacon, tear it into pieces (I cut mine into small pieces and then cooked it), shred your lettuce and add mayonnaise. The original recipe also said to add tomatoes, but I didn't have any.

They were very tasty, the saltiness of the bacon worked well with the mayonnaise. I mixed everything together before I left home, but next time I will keep the mayonnaise separate so the lettuce stays crisp.

It's not an everyday lunch, but it's fun and tasty.

BLT Wraps
from Shae as posted on Recipezaar

2 rashes of bacon - I use two eyes
2 handfuls of shredded lettuce leaves
mayonnaise as needed

Place bacon and lettuce in a large bowl, add enough mayonnaise to"wet" all ingredients together.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Place a"generous" portion of BLT mixture onto tortilla, as if you were making a burrito.

Wrap and Roll-- you're ready to go!

Sushi from Fresh Fish Co

I love sushi. I could eat it all the time. I often make it at home, but it's never as good as when a proper sushi chef makes it. One of my favourite sushi places is Fresh Fish Co at the James Street Markets.

My favourite choice from their selection is the California Box (above), fresh salmon, avocado and Japanese mayonnaise. I've found that their rice is nicely seasoned, their fish is always fresh and everything is of the highest quality.

DD doesn't like seafood, nori or cold rice so sushi really isn't his thing. Luckily, he's very patient with my requests to go to James Street just so I can buy sushi.

I've recently discovered a sushi restaurant near where I work that has fabulous sushi. Unfortunately, it's far too close for my purse to be comfortable with. I've had to set myself a rule: you cannot get sushi for lunch unless someone else is going too. This seems to be working, but I can't say I'm not tempted to go visiting everyday - there's so much to try.

Heritage Tomatoes

There is a stand selling gorgeous Heritage Tomatoes at the Jan Powers Farmers Market and I look at them every time we visit. I've always wanted to buy some, but I didn't know what to ask for and I'm a little shy about asking people.

We saw them again on a visit to the Chandler Markets. This time my friend came along to give me courage and we investigated these beautiful looking tomatoes.

The lady there said that the Green Zebras were very popular, and she warned us that the tomato is green inside but it is ready to eat. We also got a Black Zebra (which is red) and they also gave us a peach tomato to try.

I really liked the Green Zebra, it was my favourite. Aside from its bright cheery greeness, it also tasted fresh and delicious.

Restaurant Teriyaki Sauce

Phew! Things have been really busy latey and I apologise for nearly a month of no posting. Hopefully, I can get things moving here again.

A little while ago, I mentioned a place I used to frequent that sold the best teriyaki chicken bento boxes. I used to love those bento boxes and I've been trying to recreate them at home. Maki at Just Hungry introduced me to the fabulous recipe for Japanese Potato Salad which is exactly like what I remember, but I couldn't find anything that gave me the saucy slippery teriyaki chicken that was the star of the bento.

I was browsing through Recipezaar and found this recipe for a Restaurant Teriyaki Sauce. It had more than twice the ingredients than the teriyaki recipes I had been using, but I liked where it was going with the addition of honey and cornflour. The difference between what I had been making and what I remembered was that mine have never been particularly saucy, the teriyaki is quite runny and doesn't hold up in a packed lunch, it's more like a marinade. This one is far more robust and saucy and I think it is a pretty good likeness for the teriyaki chicken I remember. It's very tasty and rich with teriyaki flavour. It took a long time to cook down for me, but I've been having stove problems where my hotplate can't maintain a heat so it may not take as long for you.

The next thing to do is to recreate the whole bento. Chicken, rice, potato salad and a little green salad. What a great lunch to look forward to, it may make Monday seem a bit more welcoming.

Restaurant Teriyaki Sauce
from JuniperNW as posted on Recipezaar

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 tbs packed brown sugar
1-2 tbs honey
2 tbs cornflour
1/4 cup cold water

Mix all ingredients except for the cornflour and 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan and begin heating

Mix cornflour and cold water in a cup and dissolve. Once sauce has started to boil, add the cornflour mix to the saucepan.

Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness - water can be used to thin it if necessary.