Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Spencer was given a book called Christmas Cooking for Kids by Fiona Hammond, as a Christmas present and the first recipe in the book is for Chocolate Peppermint Fudge. It looked good and is easy and from what I could tell was very much enjoyed, I certainly like it.

Ingredients

50g unsalted butter
395g tin condensed milk
250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces (I used Coles dark cooking chocolate)
100g peppermint flavoured dark chocolate, broken into pieces (I used Lindt's Mint Intense)
35g peppermint crisp chocolate bar finely chopped (optional)

It said to use an 18cm square cake tin (lined with baking paper), but I just used my Tupperware slice form, no need for baking paper.

Put the butter and condensed milk in a medium saucepan and place over low heat. Stir until the butter melts, then keep stirring for another minute. Remove the saucepan from heat.

Add the dark and peppermint flavoured chocolate to the saucepan and stir until they melt.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Sprinkle the surface with the peppermint crisp pieces, if using. Place in the fridge to set for 3 hours until firm.

Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Christmas Shortbread

It's getting to that time of year where lots of little gifts are given, so as Spencer was having his last speech appointment for the year, I thought it would be a good idea to make shortbread for Angela, his therapist, Donna, the receptionist and for his two little friends George and Yianni that have the appointment after Spencer. It would have helped if I had decided to make it earlier in the day, as it was I finished a bit after 11 last night!

Ingredients:

• 250g Western Star butter, softened
• 2/3 cup pure icing sugar
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup rice flour

Method:

Process all ingredients together in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Or if you are me, do it by hand!)

Press mixture together until it forms a dough. Divide dough in two.

Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper

until 5mm thick.

Using a star-shaped cutter, cut shapes from dough. Transfer to prepared trays. Sprinkle with caster sugar if desired. Bake at 160 degrees for 30

minutes or until dry and firm but still pale. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

I didn't leave them in the oven for 30 minutes, they would have burned, 10 -12 minutes was plenty of time.

Chicken, Leek & Tarragon Pot Pie

I have made this a few times, but it is definitely 'new' for this year and is quite popular in this house. I certainly didn't expect to be making it within the first couple of weeks of summer, being such a winter meal, but I thought I may as well take advantage, may be the last time before dinner becomes salads! The last time I made this Spencer wasn't interested, but he certainly enjoyed it last night and makes lunch the next day easy too. I always forget to buy fresh tarragon, so just use dried tarragon, still provides plenty of flavour.

3 tablespoons butter

750g chicken thigh fillets cut into bite size pieces

4 medium leeks (white parts only, thickly sliced)

3 tablesppons plain flour

250ml chicken stock

125ml single cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablesppons roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pie Pastry185g plain flour

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

1.5 litre pie dish

To make pastry, process the flour, butter, and a pinch of salt for a few seconds. With the motor running, add the sour cream, half the beaten egg and I-2 tablespoons of cold water until the dough comes together. Roll into a ball wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°. Heat half of the butter in a frying pan over high heat. Whe sizzling, brown the chicken for 2-3 minutes, turning often. Transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining butter to the pan and cook the leeks over medium heat for 2 minutes. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes until really softened.

Return the chicken to the pan and increase the heat to high. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the flour thickly coats the chicken and leeks. Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil, then stir in the cream tarragon and parsley. Season well. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool. Spoon into the pie dish.

Place the dough between 2 pieces of greasproof paper and roll out to a thickness of 0.5cm, making sure the dough is more than big enough to cover the pie dish. Place the dough over the top of the pie leaving the edges to overhang. Cut several slits in the top of the pieand gently press around the edges with a fork. Brush the remaining beaten egg over the top. Put the pie dish on a baking tray and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Ready for the oven.

Cooked!

Ready to eat.

This recipe comes from the book, Easy Comfort Food.

Low Fat Banana Bread

This is actually an old favourite as opposed to 'new', however I never had photographic eveidence of it, which I now do. This recipe is from the magazine Australian Table February 2002. They had listed a classic banana bread recipe as well as the lower fat one. I made both one day to see if Philip could tell them apart, he couldn't and he also thought that the low fat one was the better of the two.

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1 egg

250ml buttermilk

125ml low fat milk

110g caster sugar

300g self raising flour, sifted

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180°

Lightly grease a 21 x 11cm capacity loaf pan and line bottom with baking paper.

Combine bananas, egg, buttermilk and milk in a blender and process until well combined and smooth. Add sugar and mix again. Pour liquid mixture into a bowl and add flour, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon until flour has been incorporated into mixture. Do not over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan before turning out. I usually sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top before it goes in the oven.

This was made in my Tupperware silicone loaf form, it's great, no need to grease at all and it just slips straight out.

Melt and Mix White Chocolate Mud Cake

This one is not technically new, I have made it once before, but I hadn't done the white chocolate fudge icing that I decided to do this time.

250g butter, chopped
200g white chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 cups (495g) caster sugar
1 1/2 cups (375ml) water
2 cups (300g) plain flour
2/3 cup (100g) self raising flour
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven 120°C. Place the butter, chocolate, sugarand water into a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the mixture is smooth. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the flours, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Pour the mixtureinto a 22cm round cake tin which has been lined with non stick baking paper. Bake for 2 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.






White Chocolate Fudge Icing

250g white chocolate
1/2 cup single cream
70g butter, chopped

Place the chocolate, cream and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove and set aside to cool completely. Beat in an electric mixer until thick and fluffly. Spread icing on the cooled cake. 

I am not a fan of white chocolate to eat, I think it's too sickly sweet and and doesn't really have that lovely mouthfeel that chocolate gives you. However, this cake is very nice, doesn't really taste like white chocolate and even though it's probably not, it doesn't taste as rich as a chocolate mud cake. 
 

This is from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials - Chocolate

Isobel decided she wanted to decorate it herself, so I have before and after pics.

Before decorating by kids

After!

Fabulous Fish Pies with Prawns

After a hot day on Tuesday, yesterday was more like winter again, so winter style comfort food it was! My favourite foods in a pie! I changed this slighty by making one big pie rather than individual ones.

1kg floury potatoes cut into chunks
300ml milk
150 cream
1 bay leaf
450g mixed firm fleshed fish (I used rockling and salmon)
85g unsalted butter
1 small onion
40g plain flour
85ml dry white wine
1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
2-3 tablespoons fresh mixed herbs, such as flat leaf parsley, chives and dill
225g raw tiger prawns
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender for mashing. Put the milk, 120ml of the cream and the bay leaf into a meduim frying pan. Add the fish fillets and poach for 3-5 minutes or until just tender. Transfer to a plate and set aside until cool enough to handle, then flake into bite size chunks. Keep the poaching liquid for the sauce.

Melt 25g of the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook f or 4-5 minutes until softened, but not coloured, stirring occasionally. Stir the flour in well, followed by the white wine and the reserved poaching liquid. Reduce the heat, stir in leek and simmer gently for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the herbs and prawns and cook for another minute. Season to taste.

Preheat the grill to medium. Drain the potatoes well, then mash with the remaining butter and cream and season to taste.

Lightly butter 4 x 300ml individual pie dishes. Spread a couple of tablespoonsof the prawn sauce over the base, evenly scatter over the poached fish, the spoon the remaining sauce on top. Carefully spread over the mashed potatoes to cover completely and fluff up with a fork. Place the pies under the grill for 5-6 minutes or until the potato os bubbling and golden. Serve immediately.

As I said, I chose to make one big pie, so I didn't put the prawns in the pan, I put them in the pie raw and then cooked it in the oven for 25 minutes on 180°, they were perfect!

I thought this was very nice and made an excellent lunch today. Sorry, I didn't take a pic.

This recipe comes from Ainsley Harriott's All New Meals in Minutes.

Cheesy Chicken Balls

I made these for the kids today, something new for Isobel to try and I knew Spencer would like them. I left out one ingredient, the coriander, don't want anything obviously green in it.

Ingredients

500g chicken mince
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped coriander

Preheat oven to 180°. Line a bking tray with baking paper. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and season well. Using clean hands, mix until well combined. Roll mixture into 20 small balls. Place balls on prepared tray. Bake for 30 minutes until firm and golden.



The first few went down well with Isobel, until she said that she didn't like the green things that were in them, I asked her what she was talking about, she pointed to the onion, then they became inedible to her. Spencer ate his though.

After I made them, I realised I left out one other ingredient by total accident! It was the egg, still they stayed together well without it.

I took this recipe from a free magazine from Coles.

Pumpkin, Spinach and Goats Cheese Lasagne

This recipe is certainly not new, it's an old favourite, however it's been a litte while since I made it and it really is worth a mention here as it is a great meal. I also find the leftovers are even better the next day!

Ingredients

1kg pumpkin, peeled cut into 4cm pieces
80ml olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (I didn't have any so we went without)
30g unsalted butter
2 leeks, washed, thinly sliced
300g baby spinach leaves, washed, dried
2 garlic gloves, crushed
400ml tomato passata
3 sheets fresh lasagne
150g soft goats cheese, crumbled
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 200°

Place pumpkin in a roasting pan, toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Chop half the rosemary leaves, sprinkle over the pumpkin and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a bowl, mash and set aside to cool.

Heat the remaining oil and butter in a fry pan over low heat, add the leaks and cook, stirring for about 5 or 6 minutes or until softened. Add the spinach and garlic, and cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Set aside to cool. Grease an ovenproof dish. Spoon 4 tablespoons tomato passata into the base of the dish season with salt and pepper. Place a sheet of lasagne on top and spread with mashed pumpkin. Add another layer of lasagne, pressing down on top then 4 more tablespoons of passata, then a layer of leek and spinach. Finally, another layer of lasagne, spread with remaining passata. Mix together the goats cheese Parmesan and remaining rosemary and sprinkle over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes before cutting.

I also added some pinenuts to the spinach and leek mixture.

This recipe comes from the cookbook Delicious, which was a collection recipes from the magazine of the same name.

Spinach, leek and pinenuts.

Mashed Pumpkin.

Before the oven.

After the oven.

Yum!

Bitter Orange Ice Cream

This is not really new, I've made it a few times before, but so worthy of a mention as it is so nice. I don't think it will be ready enough to eat tonight, but should be right for tomorrow.

Ingredients

3 Seville oranges or 1 eating orange
2 limes
175g icing sugar
584 mil double cream

1. If using Seville oranges, grate the zest of 2 of them. Squeeze the juice of all 3 and pour into a bowl with the zest and sugar. If you're going for the sweet orange and lime option, grate the zest of the orange and one of the limes, juice them and add to the sugar as before.
2. Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the double cream.
3. Whip everything until it holds soft peaks, and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 litres) with a lid.
4. Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours). Remove to ripen for 15-20 minutes (or 30-40 in the fridge) before eating.
   

I didn't have any Seville oranges, so just used a normal orange. As I have made this before, I also opted not to use double cream, just thickened cream, I found the double cream too rich. I omitted the zest on Isobel's request, she doesn't like it.

This recipe comes from the Nigella Bites cookbook by Nigella Lawson and can be found on her website.

The ice cream was ready tonight and is as Nigella says, 'unlike anything you could buy'!

Salmon Pappardelle

As it was Sunday I asked Philip if he wanted a 'nice breakfast' or if he was happy having toast or cereal, he opted for the 'nice breakfast', which was not surprising. I made scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, Spencer decided that he wanted some as well, so he got half of mine. As there was a decent, late breakfast, we didn't have any lunch, therefore we were a little hungry come dinner time.

I'd bought some fresh pappardelle at the supermarket today, so I thought I might as well use it.

Ingredients

2 medium red capsicums
500g pappardelle pasta
750g salmon fillet
200g cherry tomatoes halved
2 tablespoons capers
300g English spinach, finely shredded
3 tablespoons fresh basil, finely shredded
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil

Place the capsicums under a grill preheated to high until the skin blackens. Transfer to a plastic bag to cool. Peel and discard the skin, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into thin strips.

Cook the papparedelle in a large pan of rapidly boiling water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Cook the salmon fillet under a grill preheated to high for 5 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking. Cool slightly, then break into large pieces.

Arrange the tomatoes and capers on a non stick baking tray and cook under the grill preheated to medium for 5 minutes or until the tomato skins have softened and the capers are crisp.

Put the pasta, capsicums, salmon, tomatoes, capers, spinach, basil, lemon zest and olive oil into a bowl and toss to combine. Serves 4.

This was the recipe that I took from Pregnancy Food by Jody Vassallo (no, neither Philip or I are pregnant), however I did change it slightly to suit myself. I didn't have capers, so included Kalamta olive instead and I did not shred the spinach, I didn't see the need. I also used much less salmon, even though I would have been halving this recipe, because I was only making it for two, I used a salmon fillet that was 150g - it was all I had! We did without the lemon zest too. We both enjoyed it though.

Vegetarian Risotto

I have made the Ratatouille Provencale a few times now because it's full of my favourite vegetables and it is really rather easy. I like to eat it on its own, but Philip likes his with pasta. I was trying to think of something to make yesterday, using eggplant, capsicum and zucchini, but I didn't just want to serve up the ratatouille again. I thought it would work well with mixing it with a plain risotto, which is exactly what I did and it was good.


Basic Baked Risotto

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 1/2 cups stock
1 cup finely grated parmesan
40g unsalted butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°. Place the rice and stock in a 10-cup capacity baking dish and stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until most of the stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Stir through the parmesan, butter, salt and pepper. Serves 4.

I timed them so that the risotto went into the oven when the ratatouille had about 40 minutes to
go so they would be ready together. I put some risotto into a bowl and then stirred through the ratatouille, sprinkle some shaved parmesan - simple!

From Donna Hay's A Cook's Guide.




Spencer thought he would enjoy some leftovers for lunch today, he loves eggplant!

Cheat's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

I didn't take a pic last time as I didn't bother putting it into a nice glass. I made this again tonight and managed a snapshot!

It was delicious, so easy and oh so nice! Recipe here.

White Fish with Pine Nut Brown Butter

I went to the fish shop today and bought some swordfish, they were out of rockling and I was pretty sure I had a recipe marked that called for swordfish. Of course when I got home, I couldn't find the recipe I was thinking of, but found another so it all ended well.

Ingredients

100g butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, roughly chopped
2 firm white fish fillets (I used swordfish)
steamed greens to serve

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until butter is light golden in colour. Add lemon juice and pine nuts and cook for one minute. Add fish to pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side or to your liking. Serve fish on steamed greens (I used brocollini), with the brown pine nut butter sauce. Serves 2.

I did receive positive comments from Philip, so that was good and it was very nice, I made sure I put the brocollini through the pine nut brown butter before I put it on the plate and I also included roasted amoroso tomatoes.



We had a bottle of Red Hill Estate Chardonnay to share on this very warm, stormy night.

This recipe comes from Marie Claire - Food Fast by Donna Hay first published in 1999.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I bought some chicken this week and I was going to use it! I love the idea of Simmered Red Curry Chicken and Sticky Thai Chicken, but I know that I have a husband that is not going to be as keen on those as I am. So, I searched for something that woul suit us both and I came acroos the Parmesan Crusted Chicken, mmm, delicious!

Ingredients

4 chicken breast fillets
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese
cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dip the chicken breasts into the egg whites then toss into the combined parmesan and pepper to coat. Place in the baking tray and cook for 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Serve with a simple rocket and tomato salad. Serves 4. I kept in the oven for 20 minutes and the chicken was perfectly done, I wouldn't have kept it in any longer.

*You must use good quality parmesan for a crunchy crust.



I had mine with the simple salad, Philip had his with mashed potato, peas and asparagus (well, truth be told, I had some asparagus too), something a little more substantial for him. This meal definitely got the two thumbs up as Philip commented that it was really nice.

This recipe is from Donna Hay's The Instant Cook and we had this with a bottle of Red Hill Estate Chardonnay.

Isobel's Breakfast Smoothie

Isobel is a big fan of Boost Juice's All Berry Bang smoothie, I am not, I think they are far too expensive for what they are. I told her I could make smoothies just as good, however the smoothies I was making weren't quite to her taste and didn't taste like the All Berry Bang, apparently. As I didn't want to get pestered each time we went to Doncaster Shoppingtown, I decided I would bite the bullet and buy some apple juice, the key ingredient for the Boost Juice smoothies. Isobel was so impressed she wanted me to share it. There are no exact quantities, I guess it would depend how much you want to make.

Ingredients

Ice cubes
Frozen raspberries (couple of handfulls)
Frozen blueberries (one handfull)
Apple juice
Jalna strawberry yoghurt

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Cheat's Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

I did this at 9 o'clock last night, as it didn't state that it needed time to chill, I didn't really plan ahead, apart from having the ingredients on hand. Can't get a much better combination than choc/hazelnut, so I was looking forward to it and wasn't disappointed. I will say that I do think it needs time to chill, so I will make it again giving it some chilling time.

Ingredients

300ml sinlge (pouring) cream
1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur (lucky we had a bottle of Frangelico in the house)
1/4 cup (85g) chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Nutella)

Place the cream in a bowl and whisk until just starting to thicken. Stir the liqueur through the chocolate nut spread. Add to the cream and whisk gently until combined and thick. Spoon the mousse mixture into glasses and serve. Serves 4.

As it was late, I didn't bother with putting it in nice glasses, therefore there is no pic, however next time I will make sure I get one in nice glasses.


This comes from Donna Hay's Fast, Fresh, Simple.

Easy Tomato & Zucchini Lasagne

This recipe says easy and even though it wasn't hard, I have to be honest and say it's one of the most disappointing meals I have made of late. It appeared to have 'disaster' written all over it, for me anyway!

Ingredients

1kg fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 x 440g cans peeled tomatoes, crushed
2 cups tomato puree
1/3 cup chopped basil
375g fresh lasagne sheets
750g or 5 zucchinis, thinly sliced (I used 750g of thinly sliced zucchinis and I had so much left over already cut up, probably more than half)
1 1/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°. Combine the ricotta, parsley, parmesan salt and pepper to make the ricotta layer. Combine the tomatoes, tomato puree and basil for the tomato layer. To assemble, line the base of a 14 cup capacity ovenproof dish with lasagne sheets. Top with some of the ricotta mixture and zucchini slices, then spoon over some of the tomato mixture to cover. Top with another lasagne sheet. Continue with the layers until all the ingredients are used, finishing with a tomato layer. Top with the mozzarella and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and cheese is golden. Serve with a simple green salad. Serves 4.

This recipe comes from Donna Hay's The Instant Chef.

Once again, I ran into the time in oven problem! I removed this from the oven after 30 minutes and it clearly was not ready. I put it in for another half hour and yes, the cheese was golden, but the zucchini had more bite to it than I expected, it needed more cooking. It also quite literally feel apart, definitely did not look like a slice of lasagne on the plate, looked more like a mess, it just didn't hold together. I covered the left over with cling wrap and put it in the fridge, it held up so much better the next day and was far more tasty the next day too. I know this was not a pleaser to Philip as he said nothing about it! I don't think I will attempt this one again any time soon, think I will stick to my Pumpkin, Spinach and Goats Cheese Lasange in future.

Pic was taken before it had its extra half hour in the oven.

Provencale Fish

Generally, when we have fish in our house, it will be salmon or barramundi, occasionally fresh tuna, but that is usually reserved for me, Philip isn't the biggest fan. I used rockling in a recipe recently and I thought it was very nice, so ventured out and bought some more for the Provencale Fish. I found this recipe on the Taste website and it originally appeared in delicious magazine.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 x 180g skinless blue-eye fillets (I used 150g rockling fillets)
  
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 large red onion, finely sliced (I didn't have red onion, so just used brown)
  
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 425g canned chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup (125ml) white wine
• 1 roasted red capsicum (about 75g), cut into strips
• 12 pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Steamed chat potatoes, to serve (I decided to do potato mash instead)

I also decided to add an extra ingredient of roasted eggplant, just because I had some in the fridge and thought I would use it. It had already been sliced, so I just popped it into the oven for about 25 minutes, until it was soft enough so that you could scoop out the flesh, very easily.


Preheat the oven to 200°. Place fish in a lightly greased baking dish. Season, cover with foil and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (I had to cook the fish for at least 20 minutes, I did take it out after 15 minutes, but it was not cooked through) until just cooked through.

Meanwhile for the sauce, heat oil in the frypan over medium heat. Add onion and stir for 1-2 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add garlic and stir for a few seconds. Add tomato paste, tomatoes and wine, then cook for 5 minutes until thickened. Add capsicum and olives, (this is where I also added my coooked eggplant) the season. Place fish on serving plates and pour over sauce. Top with parsley and serve with potatoes.

I didn't take a photo of this one like I would normally, next time I make it, I will and add it.

We were both very happy with this meal, the only complaint was 10-15 minutes cooking time for the fish just wasn't enough and I used smaller sized fillets. I would cook for a minimum of 18 minutes. We enjoyed this with a bottle of Point Leo Road Chardonnay.

Cheese Soufflé

This is something I made the Saturday before I officially started this blog, so I thought it deserved it's own place in here. It was a Saturday afternoon and I had some gruyere cheese that was just desperately asking to be turned into a souffle and I was looking for some lunch. I love souffles and once upon a time I would have thought they were far too hard to even attempt - restaurant only food, but I have since discovered that they are incredibly easy and just wonderful to eat.

Preparation Time

35 minutes

Cooking Time

55 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 15g (3 tsp) butter, at room temperature, for greasing
• 1 1/2 tbs dry (packaged) breadcrumbs
• 150g vintage cheddar, finely grated (vintage cheddar works, but I feel the gruyere was better)
  
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 30g (1 1/2 tbs) butter
• 30g (3 tbs) plain flour
• 250mls (1 cup) milk
• 4 large (59-60g) free-range eggs, at room temperature, separated

Method

1. Measure and prepare all your ingredients. Bring eggs to room temperature before using them - cold egg whites incorporate less air than those at room temperature. Use free-range eggs as they have a better flavour than battery hen eggs. Also, the more mature the cheddar, the tastier the souffle will be.

2. Start by preparing the souffle dish. The souffle will rise more evenly in a deep, round straight-sided dish, but shallower round or oval dishes can also be used - the souffle may not appear to rise as high but will still have a light and fluffy texture.

3. Brush a 2 litre (8 cup) souffle dish with the butter to grease. It is best to have the butter soft, not melted, so it forms a thick coating on the dish. Grease the base of the dish and then use even, upward strokes to grease the side, ensuring the butter coats the entire surface. If the dish is not greased well, the souffle will stick to it and will rise unevenly.

4. Place the dish in the freezer for 5 minutes to set the butter. Brush again with the remaining butter. Place the breadcrumbs in the dish and rotate the dish to coat with breadcrumbs. Turn the dish upside down and gently tap to remove any excess crumbs. The breadcrumbs help the souffle grip the side of the dish and rise evenly. They also form a delicious crust.

5. Most souffles are based on a flavoured, thick white sauce to which egg yolks and whisked egg whites are added. The air that is whisked into the egg whites expands in the oven heat and makes the souffle rise.

6. To make the sauce mixture, place the cheddar, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium heat-resistant bowl and set aside.

7. To make the roux (the cooked butter and flour mixture that thickens the sauce), melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add the flour and stir with a whisk for 1 minute or until the roux leaves the side of the pan and is bubbling. Don't allow the roux to brown.

8. Remove the pan from the heat and place on a wet dishcloth or damp tea towel to prevent it from slipping. Add 1/2 the milk while stirring constantly with the whisk. Stir vigorously until smooth and free of lumps. Gradually add the remaining milk, stirring until smooth. This will prevent lumps from forming in the sauce.

9. Return pan to medium heat and stir constantly until sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Constant stirring will ensure the sauce is smooth. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

10. Pour the hot sauce into the bowl with the cheese and seasonings and mix well.

11. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place 1 oven shelf in the bottom position and remove all other shelves. Place a baking tray on the shelf to heat. This will give the souffle instant heat on its base and assist with rising.

12. Separate the first egg, put the white in a small bowl and the yolk in a separate small bowl. Transfer the white to a clean, dry glass, ceramic or stainless-steel medium mixing bowl before separating the next egg. Repeat with remaining eggs. This way, if a yolk breaks into a white, you won't spoil all 4 egg whites. The egg whites, bowl and beater attachment/s must be free of any water, or fat such as butter, oil or egg yolks, as this will inhibit the whites from holding air and producing a good volume.

13. Add the egg yolks to the cheese sauce and mix until thoroughly combined. Use electric beaters to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Do not beat the whites until stiff or they will be difficult to fold in and will give the souffle a grainy texture.

14. Spoon about 1/4 of the egg whites into cheese sauce mixture and use a spatula or large metal spoon to fold the whites through the mixture until just combined. To fold in, gently run spatula or spoon around side and along base of bowl and use a sweeping action to fold the mixture over on itself, rotating the bowl. Repeat until mixture is just combined.

15. The folding action is more gentle than a stirring or mixing motion and retains the air beaten into the whites. Adding just some of the whites helps to "loosen" the mixture and makes it easier to fold in the remaining whites.

16. Pour the cheese mixture into the side of the bowl containing the remaining whites (this is to minimise air loss). Fold in with the spatula or large metal spoon until just combined. The mixture should appear spongy with streaks of egg white throughout but without large clumps of egg white. Overmixing causes the mixture

17. to lose air and the souffle will not rise as well as it should. Undermixing results in clumps of unfolded egg white which cause uneven rising.

18. Pour into the prepared souffle dish and gently smooth top with a spatula. Run your thumb around inside rim of dish and about 2cm into souffle mixture (try not to wipe off the butter and crumbs). This ridge helps the souffle rise evenly. Place on the baking tray in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.

19. When it is ready, the souffle should be well risen and wobble slightly when the dish is tapped. If you are still unsure, test with a skewer through the side of the souffle. The skewer should come out clean and slightly moist. Serve immediately, and remember, a souffle waits for no-one.

Notes

Individual cheese souffles:To make individual souffles, use four 310mls (1 1/4-cups) ramekins. Continue as for the basic recipe and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.This basic cheese souffle is delicious served as a starter, or as a main with a crisp green salad. It can be made as 1 souffle or 4 smaller ones. The sauce mixture can be made a day ahead. Keep, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge. To use, remove from fridge and stand at room temperature for 11/2 hours before using. Variations (based on basic cheese souffle recipe): Three cheese & herb souffle: reduce the cheddar to 50g. Add 50g finely grated gruyere cheese, 50g finely grated Parmesan, 1 tbs fresh thyme leaves and 2 tbs each of chopped fresh chives and chopped fresh continental parsley to the cheddar mixture. Continue as for basic cheese souffle recipe. Cauliflower & blue cheese souffle: reduce the milk to 125mls (1/2 cup). Omit the mustard. Replace the cheddar with 100g blue vein cheese, mashed with a fork, and add 1 1/2 tbs chopped fresh chives to the cheese mixture. Boil or steam 350g cauliflower florets until tender. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the milk and process until smooth. Use cauliflower puree in place of the milk in the basic recipe. Continue as for basic cheese souffle recipe. Chicken & green peppercorn souffle: omit the mustard and pepper. Reduce the cheddar to 100g. Add 2 chopped green shallots, 1 1/2 tsp crushed green peppercorns and 130g finely chopped cooked chicken to the cheddar mixture. Continue as for basic cheese souffle recipe. Ham & pumpkin: reduce the milk to 125mls (1/2 cup) and the cheddar to 50g. Add 120g finely chopped leg ham and 3 chopped green shallots to the cheddar mixture. Peel and deseed 450g butternut pumpkin and cut into chunks. Boil or steam until tender. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the milk and process until smooth. Use pumpkin puree in place of the milk in the basic recipe. Continue as for basic cheese souffle recipe.

I took this recipe from Australian Good Taste magazine July 1999 - see how long it took me to attempt this, should have more faith in myself - it's not that hard!

Spencer quite liked the souffle, he is always so good about trying new things, I couldn't entice Isobel to just have a taste. I was disappointed that Philip didn't bother trying it either, I know cheese souffle is not his favourite food, but given that he ordered one for entree when we went to Libertine a couple of weeks ago, I thought the least he could do is try mine.

Chicken Roasted on Eggplant and Tomatoes

It was a late dinner tonight due to a kinder committee meeting. I could have easily made something that I have made many times before, but I had chosen a recipe during the day and I was committed to it. So, even though we ate at 10:20pm, we ate well! Philip even said, when a few bites into it, this is nice! Good to hear, I missed that last night.

Ingredients

1 eggplant, thickly sliced
3 roma tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
sea salt and cracked black pepper
4 chicken breast fillets'
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 180°. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the eggplant slices on the tray and top with the tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Top each pile with a chicken breast and sprinkle with the parmesan and mozzarella . Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese in golden and the chicken has cooked through. Serves 4.

As I know my oven isn't the best and I couldn't see the eggplant cooking enough in 20 minutes, I pre cooked it for 20 minutes before adding the chicken. When Philip called me to say he was on his way home, it went into the oven, so that was at 9:30, I removed it at 10:20, so 50 minutes as opposed to the 20 minutes stated in the recipe. I did like this recipe as it was very easy, I served it with a spinach and rocket salad with some avocado and we had a bottle of the Red Hill Estate Chardonnay.



This recipe can be found in The Instant Cook by Donna Hay.

Potato Gnocchi with Blue Cheese Sauce

I had been wanting to make my own gnocchi for a long time, but kept putting it off as Philip is really the only person that eats it. I do on occasions, but it wouldn't be the first thing I think of when wanting a meal. Still, I thought it would be great to make my own and yesterday was the day. It started out brilliantly.

Ingredients

1kg all purpose potatoes
30g butter
250 plain flour
2 eggs, beaten

1) Peel the potatoes, chop roughly until very tender. Drain and mash until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the butterand flour, then beat in the eggs. Leave to cool.

2) Turn the gnocchi mixture out onto a floured surface and divide into four. Roll each into a sausage shape.

3) Cut into short pieces and press each piece with the back of a fork. Cook the gnocchi in batches in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for about 2 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Using a slotted spoon drain the gnocchi and transfer to bowls.

Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

50-75g blue cheese cut into smaller chunks (I used Castello)
150ml cream (light or full fat)

In a non stick pan heat the blue cheese until it melts add cream and simmer until it thickens. Pour sauce over gnocchi .

In theory, it all sounds so simple, except the gnocchi is so sticky that it's just an awful thing to deal with. They were also very big and didn't really hold their shape, it didn't really look the way I had pictured it in my mind. I did think it tasted quite good though especially with the blue cheese sauce. I am not sure how Philip felt about it as I didn't ask and he didn't tell. I didn't get the same enthusiasm from him that I got for the vanilla slice, still, I didn't see any of his meal in the bin, I am hoping he ate it all.

I won't be making my own gnocchi again in a hurry, unless someone can tell me about a less sticky, more consistent method.


We shared a botte of Red Hill Estate Chardonnay, which was very nice.

I took the gnocchi recipe from Ready, Steady, Spaghetti Cooking for kids and with kids. And the blue cheese sauce was just one I looked up on the net.

Ratatouille Provencale

Cheating slightly here, even though this is new, I have made it once before, but I thought as it came from one of my cookbooks that I very recently received, it should be included here. This recipe was taken from French Brasserie Cookbook The Heart of French Homecooking by Daniel Galmiche.

Ingredients

100ml olive oil

1 eggplant, cut into large cubes

1 onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 red capsicum, deseeded and sliced

1 green capsicum, deseeded and sliced

1 large or 2 small zucchini, cubed

400g tomatoes, peeled deseeded and cut into large cubes

a pinch of caster sugar

1 bouquet garni

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

a small handful of basil leaves to serve

In a large cast iron pan, heat the oild over medium heat. Add the eggplantand cook for 4-5 minutes until softened, but not coloured. Add the onion

, garlic and capsicumand cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then stir in the zucchini, tomatoes and sugar. Add the bouquet garni and simmer gently, partially covered over low to medium heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

When ready, check the seasoning and add some salt and pepper, if necessary. Sprinkle with basil and serve with rice or pasta.

I don't yet have a large cast iron pan, but I have bookmarked a website and I will be getting one or two very soon! The first time I did this I used a casserole dish that was able to be used on the stove top, however even though I had the (small) burner on low, it still burned the bottom of the dish a little. Tonight I decided to use my well used large fry pan, which due to kitchen incident last week, now has no lid (must see if I can get a new one from Kitchen Aid). It cooked well in the fry pan though, however that has not put me off the need to get the cast iron cookware. I am definitely happy to eat this just on its own, contains my favourite vegetables, but I cooked some pasta for Philip and served it with the pasta mixed through.

We had a bottle of Penfold's Thomas Hyland Chardonnay, but I can't help but think this would have been better with a Pinot Noir, the Miceli would have been ideal.

Mixed Mushroom Baked Risotto

I had the night off from cooking last night, instead, we had Chinese take-away, I love Tai Pan's Chilli Prawns! We had been out for Spencer's birthday party today, so didn't get the chance to go shopping, had to rely on what I already had and I wanted something simple!

I loved the way the baked risotto turned out a few nights ago (yes, I am already a convert), so I thought I'd look at another risotto, this time the mixed mushroom one.

Ingredients

• 10g butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 100g field mushrooms, sliced
• 100g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
• 100g button mushrooms, quartered
• 1 ½ cup arborio (or risotto) rice
• 4 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan
• 40g unsalted butter
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
  

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter, oil, garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Place the rice, stock and mushroom mixture in a 22 x 30cm (8½ x 12 in) 10-cup (80 fl oz) capacity baking dish and stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until most of the stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Add the parmesan, butter, salt and pepper and stir until the butter is melted. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

I decided to use 200g of the Swiss Brown mushrooms and 100g of the button mushrooms, as I didn't have any field mushrooms on hand. I think the Swiss Brown have a fantastic flavour, Philip asked me whether I had put truffle in it, it was very earthy.

I was a bit slack at getting a good pic of tonight's dinner, I used the iPod touch as opposed to the DSLR, I figured you couldn't see much of it for the shaved parmesan anyway!


Once again, find this great recipe on Donna Hay's website.

Roasted Salmon with Herbed Polenta Chips

I wasn't too fussed with putting in too much effort tonight, it was warm and I didn't want to spend too long in the kitchen. I knew we would be having salmon, as that's what I had waiting to be used, but I did want to try and deliver the salmon in a way I hadn't done before. When I'm feeling lazy, I will often do Salmon & Gnocchi, as it's so easy, but I decided I needed to do something a little different.

Unlike Spencer, Philip is not a huge fan of polenta, however I thought he would be accepting of putting it in chip form which is exactly what I did.

Basic Soft Polenta

2 cups chicken stock

1.5 cups (375ml) milk

1 cup (170g) instant polenta

30g butter, chopped

1/4 cup (20g) finely grated parmesan

sea salt & cracked black pepper

Step 1 Place the stock and milk into a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil

Step 2 Gradually whisk the polenta into the milk and stock mixture. (It's very important to gradually add the polenta to the hot stock while continually whisking. This will prevent any lumps from forming and give the polenta a perfectly smooth texture.)

Step 3 Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until thickened.

Step 4 Remove from heat, add the butter, parmesan, salt & pepper and stir to combine.

Herbed Polenta Chips

1 x quantity basic soft polenta

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

olive oil for brushing

sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Make the basic polenta, subtituting the milk with 1 1/2 half cups extra chicken stock. Add the herbs at the end of the cooking process. Spoon into a lightly greased baking tray and spread to 1cm thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set.

Preheat oven to 220°. Cut the polenta into 2cm x 10cm fingers, brush with oil and sprinkle witth salt. Place on a lightly greased baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and crisp.

I put my chips in the oven for the time stated, but I also had them in the oven for 20 minutes on 180° when I was cooking the salmon and the vine ripened cherry tomatoes.

2 x 150g salmon fillets
vine ripened cherry tomatoes
olive oil for drizzling

I just did as normal, placed the salmon into a baking dish with the tomotoes, drizzled the olive oil and into the oven, no longer than 20 minutes, I don't like my salmon to be over cooked.

I served with a spinach and rocket salad (with some avocado) and Philip said it was very nice, so I know he liked it, if he doesn't like something, he doesn't say anything!

Oh, I also did aioli for the polenta chips.

Aioli

1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 cup vegetable oil
sea salt flakes

Place the egg, lemon juice and garlic in a blender an d process until well combined. With the motor running, pour the oil in, slowly, in a thin stream and process until the mixture is thick and creamy. Add salt and combine makes 310ml.

We had this with a bottle of Baillieu Chardonnay 2009, from the Mornington Peninsula.

I have to say that I did cheat with my herbs in the polenta chips, I didn't have any fresh, so
rather than take two kids out with me to get them, I just used dried herbs, Italian blend.


The basic soft polenta and the herbed polenta chip recipe come from Donna Hay - A Cook's Guide.

One pan Fish Curry and Jasmine Rice

This was not the particular fish recipe I wanted to use, but I thought it looked good and would work with the rockling I had. This was taken from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 20 March/April 2005.

Ingredients

20g butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 cup jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups of water
4 x 150g fish fillet
1/2 cup cocnut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
3 green onions, thinly sliced - I didn't use these as it was the only thing I didn't have

Heat a large non stick frying pan over high heat. Add the butter, oil, onion and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes or until the rice in coated with the oil and butter. Add the water and bring to the boil. When tunnels form in the rice place the fish on the rice. Combine the coconut milk and the red curry paste and pour over the fish. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 7 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. To serve, top with green onions. Serves 4.

I did a slight disaster in the kitchen while doing this. I actually put the lid on my fry pan before moving it to the smaller burner (I can turn the big one down, but it's still too high). So, I turn the smaller burner on and I pick the pan up with my left hand, normally this would not be a problem, however due to a not quite healed netball injury from some weeks ago, I have a very weak left thumb and I tend to overestimate it's capabilities. The glass lid of my big fry pan fell to the floor and smashed into, what I am sure is, at least a million pieces! Therefore, it cooked without the lid and I felt I needed to use a little more coconut milk that just half a cup. The result tasted very good, however I am sure it's not on Philip's list of 'please make again soon', but I know he isn't a huge fan of red curry to begin with, sometimes you just have to make things to suit yourself. Philip won in the long run when dinner was followed with the sensational dessert!

I served it with some asparagus.

Vanilla Slice

I had Isobel home from school yesterday, so my plans for catching up on my non kid friendly TV shows went out the window. Instead, I went on the hunt for a particular fish recipe that I wanted to use for last night's dinner, I had the rockling in the fridge, I wanted to use it. It's very easy to get sidetracked when looking through cookbooks/magazines, so I tried to look through the ones I had already put markers on - the fish recipe was more likely to be there. I found a suitable fish recipe, it wasn't the one I was after, but it would work just as well.

I then decided to look through the Marie Claire Flavours book, which I noticed was first published in 2000 and I would have bought it then - I have not made one thing from it! Note to self, buying the cookbooks doesn't make the food magically appear, there is a little more involved in it!

The first section of the book is vanilla, I love vanilla. There is a recipe called 'vanilla school pastries', looks like vanilla slice to me, I check the ingredients, I have everything on hand, soI decide I will give it a go. I have never really been a fan of vanilla slices, mainly because the only ones I have ever had were the commercially bought ones, they're just awful, I always thought a homemade one would have to be good though. I was also thinking that it would impress Philip if they were any good, he loves vanilla slices. Anyway, here it is.

Ingredients

375g ready prepared puff pastry
icing sugar for dusting

vanilla pastry cream

1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of cornflour
1/2 cup of water
6 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 180°. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 3mm thick. cut the pastry into two 15 x 25cm rectangles. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, top with another tray as a weight and bake for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Allow to cool on racks.

I will say that I cheated a little here and used sheets of puff pastry I already had in the freezer, so all I had to do was cut them to size and follow the rest of the intructions.

To make the pastry cream, place the milk, cream, vanilla extract and sugarin a saucepan over medium low heat and heat until hot, but not boiling. Mix the cornflour and water to a smooth paste (I could not get it to a paste, maybe it was my cornflour) and then whisk into the hot milk mixture. Add the egg yolks and whisk, simmering for 6 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and the cornflour has cooked through. It took a while longer than 6 minutes for me to get the mixture to thicken and even then, I don't think it was as thick as I would have liked it to be. Allow the mixture to cool in the saucepan to room temperrature without refrigerating. Spread one of the baked pastry sheets with the vanilla pastry cream and top with remaining pastry sheet. Regfrigerate for at least 1 hour to set. Sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into pieces to serve. Makes 12 pieces.

I also cut into required pieces before adding the vanilla pastry cream.

The finished product!

Philip had one for dessert, while he was in the study, he came out looking very pleased with himself, saying 'that was excellent'. I thought he was talking about a racing result so I asked what was excellent, he replied with 'the vanilla slice, it was very, very nice, yes, excellent'. Have to be pleased with that.

Prawn, Artichoke and Lemon Baked Risotto

Once again, I turned to my new Donna Hay cookbook for tonight's inspiration. I have always been sceptical of baked risotto, but I thought I should give it a go before writing it off completely. I noticed that all Donna Hay risottos are baked, she explained it as "Why stir risotto for half an hour when you can just as easily bake it in the oven for the same result?" I totally get that, but wasn't sure whether you really would get the same result. I have officially been pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

1 ½ cup arborio (or risotto) rice
4 ½ cups chicken stock
16 medium green (raw) prawns (shrimp), peeled with tails intact
1 cup finely grated parmesan
40g butter
sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
4 store-bought marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
finely grated parmesan, extra, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Place the rice and stock in a 22 x 30cm (8½ x 12 in) 10-cup (80 fl oz) capacity baking dish and stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Add the prawns, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes or until most of the stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Add the parmesan, butter, salt, pepper, lemon rind and artichokes and stir until the butter is melted. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately. Serves 4.

As with last night's recipe, I had to keep this in the oven for longer than the recipe stated, could just be my oven. I removed it from the oven after 35 minutes and thought it was going to be a disaster, there was still so much stock that I couldn't possibly put my prawns in at that time, I didn't want to ruin them! In it went again for another 15 minutes. Pullled it out and was feeling a lot more comfortable about adding my prawns, still, I couldn't see it being a creamy risotto. After 5 minutes the prawns were looking beautifully cooked, though I still thought I had too much stock. I added all the other ingredients and stirred through, finally, it was coming together! Amazingly, the stock that I thought I had too much of, suddenly disappeard and I had before me a very creamy risotto that was, as Spencer says, 'delicious'!

I served it with some creamed spinach, mainly because I had to use the spinach and we had Point Leo Road Chardonnay, from the Mornington Peninsula. Another hit on my hands!

This recipe can also be found on Donna Hay's website.

Asparagus, Potato and Goats Cheese Frittata

Last week I received an order from Doubleday books, I haven't ordered from them since discovering the Book Depository, however they made me an offer I just couldn't refuse! On top of the many cookbooks I already own, I added a few more, one being Donna Hay's A Cook's Guide - The Best of Donna Hay Magazine's, How to Cook.

Tonight I decided to make the Asparagus, Potato and Goats Cheese Frittata, it was very easy to do which is always a plus and tasted great too, if I do say so myself. Next time I make it though, I might try substituting half the potato for pumpkin or sweet potato, just for added flavour. I think I probably have a dodgy oven as I did have to have it in the oven for a lot longer than was stated.

Ingredients

800g sebago potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
16 asparagus spears, trimmed and chopped
6 eggs
1 cup single cream
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
sea salt and cracked black pepper
110g goats cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 180° C. Place the potatoes and oil in a 1.5 litre capacity ceramic baking dish and toss to coat. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden. Top with asparagus. Place the eggs, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour egg mixture over the potatoes and asparagus and top with the goats cheese. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the egg is set and the top is golden. Serves 4.


Philip and I enjoyed this with a green salad and a bottle of Monkey Bay Chardonnay.