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.