Roasted Vegetable Couscous

This was amazing. It started out as some roasted vegetables to add to my lunch salads, some sweet potato, capsicum and red onion. It looked so good. I was in the middle of putting the groceries away after grocery shopping and my eye fell upon some couscous and I thought eureka! So I mixed them together and added some Italian chorizo sausage, threw in some cumin (I love cumin) and parsley.

It was so tasty. It made lunch the bright point of my day. I really should make it again.

Uncle Ben's Express Rice

Do you know the ad where the guy hears his wife coming home, so he jumps up and puts some Uncle Ben's Express Rice in the microwave, cooks some salmon and maybe cream(?) in a pan and has a meal ready before the wife gets upstairs?

Well, I've never really paid too much attention to that ad until I came down with a rather severe sinus/throat infection which meant all I wanted to eat was warm soft creamy/starchy foods and I wanted to eat what he made. Oddly enough, I couldn't find the ad online and it hasn't been on TV since I decided I wanted to make it. So, I emailed Uncle Ben's (or Masterfoods, as it turns out) and asked for the recipe. The response was:

"The commercial was produced by an agency in the United Kingdom and unfortunately we are unable to obtain. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you"

Okay, that's fair enough - but it's only like four ingredients and I want to try and make it!!! Does anyone else pay attention to ads who can tell me what this Uncle Ben's guy is cooking?

Mars Bar Slice

DD decided that he wanted some Mars Bar slice. I said he could have some if he helped make it, which he did. He did a fantastic job - he even won a "slice-off" with it at his work.

First, chop up the Mars Bars

Measure out the butter and place in a small saucepan

Add the Mars Bars

Melt it all together

Mix the melted butter/Mars Bar mix with the rice bubbles and place in a lined baking tray

Drizzle over melted chocolate

Voila!

Mars Bar Slice
from Best Recipes

3 x 65 g Mars Bars, chopped
90 g butter
3 cups Rice Bubbles
200 g milk chocolate
30 g butter, extra

Grease a slice tray.

Combine Mars Bars and butter in a saucepan.

Stir constantly over low heat, without boiling, until the mixture is smooth,

Stir in Rice Bubbles and press mixture evenly into greased tray.

Melt the extra butter and chocolate over hot water and stir constantly until smooth.

Spread the chocolate evenly over the slice mixture and refrigerate until topping is set.

Mmm Pizza

We bought some fantastic pizza bases from the Jan Powers Farmers' Market and were hoarding them in the freezer for a special occasion. D is very particular about ham on his pizzas, it needs to be good quality stuff for him to enjoy a pizza, so this special occasion was a large quantity of yummy, D-approved ham.

D loves satay sauce on his pizza, whereas I'm more into the tomato sauce base, so we tend to make two. This also means leftovers for lunch the next day. We kept it plain for the most part, D's with satay sauce, red onion, ham, mild salami and a mozzarella/cheddar cheese blend and mine the same but with tomato sauce and some feta.


The bases are awesome. They don't go crunchy like so many thinner bases and they aren't doughy like the thicker ones. They are great.


It's a pity our freezer is so small, because I'd love to have some of these in there all the time.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Not too long ago I received an email from America's Test Kitchen which had a collection of their favourite cookie recipes for all occasions. I can't find the article at the moment, but one of the cookies listed were these Chewy Chocolate Cookies.

I love chewy cookies. Anyone who knows me and has tasted my biscuits knows that a crunchy biscuit will never come out of my kitchen. I will underbake biscuits rather than risk them becoming crispy. I am not a crunchy cookie girl.

I love America's Test Kitchen recipes. They do tend to be a bit more heavy on the ingredient list, but they are very reliable in their quality. This recipe is no exception, these cookies are awesome!!

They are rich and chocolatey and richness is nicely offset by their sugar coating. Mine weren't as cooked as they probably should be (ATK mention that there should be some defined cracks happening on the top), but as I said above, I'd much rather them be undercooked than crispy. I do think that ATK have been taking their portion sizes from Nigella though as they said the mix makes 16 cookies. I got 48 out of mine.

My co-workers were my taste testers for these cookies. I had been taking in Dorie's World Peace Cookies because I had some dough frozen in the freezer, but there were a couple of people there that just weren't sold on World Peace in the form of a salty-chocolatey biscuit. These cookies, on the other hand, were a solid winner. Everyone loved these cookies. If only I could put the dough in the freezer for a bit more instantaneous gratification.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies
from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated Magazine

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for coating
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt plus 1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
170g unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

(The original recipe also calls for dark chocolate chips. I left these out)

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 190 degrees C. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place ½ cup granulated sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Whisk corn syrup, egg white, and vanilla together in small bowl.

In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low, add corn syrup mixture, and beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping bowl once with rubber spatula. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture and chopped chocolate; mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl once. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no pockets of flour remain at bottom. Chill dough 30 minutes to firm slightly (do not chill longer than 30 minutes).

Divide dough into biscuit sized portions. I used a tablespoon measure; roll between hands into balls. Working in batches, drop 12 dough balls into baking dish with sugar and toss to coat. Set dough balls on prepared baking sheet, spacing out evenly; repeat with remaining dough. Bake, reversing position of the baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), 10 to 11 minutes. Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack; cool cookies to room temperature.

Nigella's Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

I was playing my Nigella Express DVD in the background one lazy Sunday and she happened to make a lazy sundae (not really lazy, I just couldn't resist the joke). The combination of chocolate and peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk which you then put over icecream sent my imagination into overdrive and I just had to try it.

In Nigella Express, Nigella uses sweetened condensed milk instead of the cream and golden syrup listed on the Food Network site, so that's what I did too.

Very easy, put everything in a pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until everything amalgamates and becomes nice and smooth.

It is amazing. Absolutely fantastic. It's the best chocolate fudge I have ever tasted. It is dangerously good, because I have made it twice since then and each time I've eaten it all. D knows that when I start pulling out the condensed milk, chocolate and peanut butter that bad things can happen...

But it's just too good!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
113g of milk chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

Combine all ingredients in a small pan over a medium heat. Allow ingredients to melt, stirring occasionally.

As everything starts to come together, watch that your fudge doesn't start getting too thick as it will further thicken on cooling. If it does get a little too thick for your liking, stir in some water.

Gourmet Sausages

I was shopping at James Street Market one fine Sunday morning and I stopped Prime Specialty Meats to lust over their fantastic array of beautiful meats.

I couldn't walk past their selection of gourmet sausages though. There were so many I wanted to try but I restrained myself to two: Wagyu Beef (top) and Irish Pork.

They were fantastically meaty and chunky. They were solid too - it was difficult to get through a whole one. The flavours were really pronounced and well developed. The Wagyu was my favourite.

Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream

I was in the mood for a creamy, sausage-y pasta one night. I was dreaming about the Vodka Cream Pasta we made with the Eumundi Sausages mid-last year and wanted to recreate that flavour and texture.

The last couple of times I have tried to make the Vodka Cream Pasta I couldn't get it the way I wanted, it just didn't amalgamate the way it was supposed to.

This dish is a little different in its ingredients and flavours, but the overall creamy consistency is the same. If anything, this Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream was even better than the Vodka Cream Pasta. If only I had some fantastic Eumundi Sausages to make it with.

It is very rich and on the sweet side from the tomatoes and the cream, but it is a fantastic meal for a special occasion or after a bad day.

Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream
from GinnyP as posted on Recipezaar

1 tablespoon olive oil
225 g Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1/4 teaspoon crushed chilli flakes
1/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup pouring cream
1/4 tsp salt
cooked pasta (kept warm)
grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat and add the sausage and chilli flakes. Cook until sausage is no longer pink, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes.

Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown, stirring occasionally, for a futher time of about 7 minutes.

Add tomatoes, cream, and salt and simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.

Bring sauce to a simmer and add pasta to sauce and cook until pasta is heated through and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnish with parmesan

Aioli

We were having a meal which included a side of oven-baked chips. D made a comment that some aioli would be awesome. I was feeling particular fearless that evening, so I decided to make some.

I don't think it thickened as much as it should have, but I don't know if that was because I didn't beat it long enough or because of some other mistake I made. It didn't matter though, because it tasted awesome and was perfect with our side of chips.

Garlic Aioli
from Dawnab on Recipezaar

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups fruity olive oil
1-1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper

In a blender or a food processor, puree garlic with egg.

Mix oil with lemon juice in a pouring jar.

With motor running, add oil mixture slowly in a thin stream.

Add salt and pepper and whirl an additional 10 seconds.

Taste for seasoning.

Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.

If the mixture separates or does not thicken, correct it as follows: Pour all but 1 tablespoon of separated mayonnaise into another container.

Add 1 tablespoon water to remaining tablespoon of mayonnaise in food processor.

With motor running, add separated mayonnaise slowly; mixture should regain right consistency- if not, try again.

It is best to prepare this the day before, to allow flavors to mingle and mellow out.

Lunch Preparation

I was super organised one Sunday and had a big prep session to get ready for my lunches for the following week.

Everthing was so pretty and organised I had to take a picture. :)

Roasted Edamame Salad

I had half a packet of frozen edamame in the freezer and it was very close to being sacrificed due to a need for more freezer real estate. My favourite way of eating edamame is to boil them quickly, salt them gently and then eat them out of their shells, but I wasn't about to eat half a packet of them that way.

So, I went browsing and came across this recipe from Alton Brown. Roasted edamame, roasted corn... yum!

Well, it was yum in theory because the flavours really didn't work for me. The red wine vinegar just really overpowered all the flavours and it just wasn't good.

Roasted Edamame Salad
from Alton Brown Good Eats

2 cups fresh or frozen shelled edamame
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels, about 2 ears of corn
1/4 cup finely diced scallion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Place the edamame, corn, scallion, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper into a 13 by 9 metal pan and stir to combine. Place on the middle rack of the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, just until the edamame begins to brown. Remove from the oven and place in the refrigerator until completely cool, approximately 30 minutes.

Add the tomato, basil and vinegar to the edamame mixture and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature.