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.