Decadent Creamy Rum Balls

I sit here with a large glass of green smoothie. It's chlorophyll packed, vitamin packaged and nutritious, to counteract a week of indulgent eating in Melbourne. Alright, one smoothie isn't going to cut it, but these drinks are becoming a regular, and I feel good! I'll tell you what else feels really good-belly laughs. Yes, I had a really good one the other night. It concerned coming home to my little family after my "annual leave" to hear my 5 year old son talk repeatedly of these great "chocolate energy balls" that daddy put in his lunchbox. There was talk of how there were a few left over for other lunches. Chocolate energy balls this, chocolate energy balls that.
Thinking Dad must have bought some new fandangled treat when he went shopping, I thought little more of it-until I saw a few remaining energy balls in the refrigerator on a late night raid.
Chocolate energy balls.
Laced with good, and I mean, very good, lashings of Mount Gay Rum. Not chocolate energy balls, but adult only style rum balls.
All of a sudden I envisioned my son at school writing his letters a little less than precise, reeking of Mount Gay Rum. Fumes on the breath. Teacher's eyes bulging a little at the recognition of the scent of liquor surrounding a kiddo in her class.
No wonder they were so good.
Before I left for Melbourne I made my hubby some of these delicious adult treats, but I fear the Tupperware slice container made them look rather child friendly and fooled him. I mean, there's not so much rum in them to affect a kid, but still, it make me cackle wildly in the dead of night.
Next time he requests those "chocolate energy balls" for his lunchbox, I'll be holding off on the booze!
I took a container of these "energy balls" on the plane with me to Melbourne to give to my mum as a gift. I got stranded for a good few hours at a train station in the city and, not having eaten for about 8 hours, retrieved them from my bag and started on my lunch of decadent creamy rum balls. While I indulged, I watched a man scrounge through a garbage bin and thought about offering him a few. Then I was distracted in that moment by a woman sitting in a cafe. She started vomiting all over the cafe table-violent vomiting. The man ran away from the bin in a screaming rage at an invisible person.
Eventful and random morning. I continued eating through the box of rum balls-feeling very fortunate all of a sudden. Sorry Mum.
This recipe comes from my good friend Ursula, and they are her specialty. She made me a lovely gift box full of them for me at Christmas, and I knew I had to get her to share the recipe with me. They are so delicious-definitely not your average rum balls. The Secret I think is in the addition of butter. They are creamy! Decadently creamy, chocolatey and rummy. Moorish.

URSULA'S DECADENT CREAMY RUM BALLS

2 cups icing sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp good quality rum
2 tbsp vanilla extract/essence
125g melted butter

Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add the rum, vanilla and melted butter to the dry mixture. Combine thoroughly. Roll into bite sized balls and refrigerate until ready to consume.

NOTE: if the mixture is a little too dry and the balls do not hold together well, add a tiny little bit of water or rum until the texture is corrected.

Fluffy Pikelets

A parent requires a great deal of devious know-how. Often mind games and trickery are involved to get the goods into tiny bodies and picky little eaters. My mum used to try to disguise the left over breakfast porridge by adding it to our after school pikelets. It was a pretty ingenious way of getting more fiber into us and not wasting food. She inspires me-waste not, want not, right? Sometimes when I sweep the floor at home, my toddler and two preschoolers make sure I feel guilty at the amount of food swept from under the table and into the bin. It could feed a small army, I assume. Don't even get me started on the amount of remnants I find in the bin-bananas with one bite taken out of them, crusts from lunches that my daughter has snuck in there when I popped out of the room for a quick bathroom trip. I'm pretty sure we're fermenting various fruits under the couch, regardless of how frequently I sweep. That funky odor you may smell on entering the house? Possibly a lost orange stashed somewhere impossible, slowly rotting away.
Just kidding.
But sometimes this food wastage makes me thinking about how repetitive the snacks can become for the kids. That's when I make an emergency batch of soft, fluffy pikelets, sans the porridge. A small spread of jam on these warm little beauties and the plate is soon completely cleaned off. If you wanted, you could even make them bigger to make pancakes-they really are the same thing just in a different size. My favourite use for this recipe is making mini ones and stacking them with a fresh berry on top and a skewer through the middle-perfect appetizers and a great party food idea!

FLUFFY PIKELETS (Adapted from Taste.com)

3 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/4 cups Self Raising flour
2 tbsp sugar
extra butter for cooking

Place butter, milk and egg in a medium bowl. Add the flour and sugar. Beat with the electric beaters until incorporated and smooth. Heat  a teaspoon of extra butter in a large frypan; turn the heat down to low. Dollop the batter in spoonfuls onto the hot pan, leaving a little room for spreading. Flip the cooking pikelets when small bubbles come to the surface and the bottom is golden. Cook the other side until golden also. Serve with a spread of jam, or stack the small ones with a toothpick down the centre with a berry garnish on the top. The small stacks also look really pretty with a fine sprinkling of icing sugar on the top.

Makes approximately 12snack sized pikelets, or 6 snack stacks

Thick, Creamy Chocolate Custard Yogo

Where do you keep your chocolate stash? Come on, I know you all have one, even if it is just an unintentional stash. Sometimes I find myself in the pantry with my hand in the cooking chocolate bag.
Last night I sneaked the block of chocolate out of my hospital bag. It was meant to be a midnight treat for after the baby is born, but now baby is overdue and  necessity calls--the chocolate is out, paired with girlie movies and other feel good things when the night comes and the babies are tucked up in bed. Why is the waiting game so hard?
I don't know...but chocolate sure makes everything feel a little better.
And I have just found the ultimate chocolate feel good recipe that pleases little people and big people alike. It reminds me of the chocolate custard recipe my mum used to make--or those yummy chocolate yogo tubs you get at the supermarket (although they're never big enough.) This super thick, creamy chocolatey goodness is easy and simple to make and cost effective--considering you buy a tub of the stuff for about 5 or 6 dollars. This probably costs a dollar. And I could seriously eat a litre of this stuff in a sitting. Although I can't, because my stomach isn't big enough anymore to do something as reckless as that. Just as well!
You can use cocoa powder instead of Milo powder for this recipe, but I used Milo/chocolate drinking malt for it's added nutritional benefits, and lowered the sugar from the original recipe. My kids can't get enough of this stuff and it makes a nice and not too naughty treat for them that they can scoop on their own from individual little plastic tubs. It's a winner all around.

THICK, CREAMY CHOCOLATE CUSTARD YOGO (Adapted from Best Recipes)

3 cups milk
1/2 cup Milo powder
1/3 cup sugar
4 tbsp. corn flour
1/2 cup boiling water

Place two cups of milk in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Heat until it boils. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, place the chocolate powder, sugar, corn flour and boiling water. Stir to combine and dissolve. Add the final cup of milk to this mixture and stir.
When the milk on the stove-top is coming to a boil, pour the chocolate milk mixture into the saucepan through a sieve or strainer. Lower the heat and whisk continuously until the mixture begins to thicken, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a container or individual tibs. Place a layer of plastic wrap directly over the top of the custard to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate until cool before serving. Custard will thicken on refrigeration.

NOTES: Makes about 700mL. You can use cocoa powder instead of Milo for this recipe. Some brands of cocoa are stronger than others, so adjust accordingly. You may also like to add a little more sugar if you use cocoa, as Milo is sweetened.

Award Winning Lemon Crinkle Biscuits

They say when you start talking about the weather, you have nothing to say.  In some cultures, when they have nothing to say to one another, they talk food instead of weather. I know I'm always talking about the weather on here, but it's because to me, without a question, food and weather go hand in hand. Casseroles and cold winter nights, lemon and summertime, rainy days and comfort food. Call me boring, but weather sways my every move in the kitchen. So here I go again--Today was particularly warm for a winter's day--25C, and it made me rip off my cardigan and get baking in the kitchen with the kids, doors and windows flung open. We whipped up these amazing lemon crinkle biscuits, and the house was infused with citrus scents for the duration of the cooking. I've never tasted anything quite like them.  

They're sweet and crisp on the outside, soft and fudgy on the inside and taste just like summer feels to me--warm and golden, zesty and fresh. 

You absolutely will not be able to stop at one--so make a double batch, I guarantee you won't regret it. And a little note--do use fresh lemon juice and zest! It really makes all the difference and packs a punch. Now I want a lemon tree. Oh for a lemon tree. Lemon really is a perk-me-up.

LEMON CRINKLE BISCUITS (Adapted from LDS Living)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
pinch salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line baking trays with non stick baking paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and light. Add the vanilla, egg, zest and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Stir in the salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour until just combined. In a small bowl or plate, place the icing sugar. Take walnut sized balls of dough and roll them in the icing sugar until well covered. Place on the baking sheets and cook for 9-11 minutes, until the surfaces are matte and the bottoms are just beginning to brown ever so slightly. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking trays for 3 minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 25-30
Tastes most awesome when still slightly warm from the oven.

Lemon Curd Stuffed Doughnuts

I've been dreaming of home made bread. Casseroles and stews cooking all day in the slow cooker, issuing a pungent, herby smell. Puddings. Risottos. Soups with hot garlic bread. All those things which feel so good on a cool Autumn or Winter night. Did I mention home made, custard filled doughnuts in that reverie? Or better yet, warm, fresh out of the oven homemade doughnuts filled with lemon curd.
Okay, I waaaay overdid it on the sugar coating part, and mine didn't come out as pretty and professional looking as Annie's from Annie's Noms from the Secret Recipe Club did. But it was fun and seriously, it was on a par with (what I imagine) dying and going straight to heaven (is like), sinking my teeth into the first hot doughnut out of the oil. I admit, there was a little trial and error involved. First of all I made a large doughnut and didn't wait long enough for it to cook through. It looked so perfectly golden so I took it out of the oil (too early) and the centre was still doughy. I figured my oil was too hot. After some trialing and lowering the oil temperature, I came up with some super yummy, cooked through doughnuts and filled the centres with lemon curd. I used my own lemon curd recipe because I knew that would make too much, and I'm such a sucker for lemon curd on croissants. Listen up! Croissant tutorial coming next week! Keep your eyes peeled!

LEMON CURD STUFFED DOUGHNUTS (adapted from Annie's Noms)

Doughnuts:

7g packet dry yeast
2 tbsp warm water
3 1/4 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 egg yolks
2 tbs caster sugar, plus extra for rolling
oil for frying

In a small glass, add the yeast and water together and combine. Sit aside for 5 minutes until it becomes foamy. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift the flour, then add the milk and butter, sugar and yeast mixture. Mix for 2 or 3 minutes until a soft dough forms and the ingredients are well incorporated. Form into a ball. Lightly flour the bowl and the top of the dough and place it back in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. The dough should double in size.

Meanwhile make the lemon curd. (recipe below)

Once the dough has risen, turn it onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a 2-2 1/2 inch diameter log. Cut the dough into ten 2 inch pieces. Shape each piece into even rounds and place on a lined tray. Set aside to proof for 1/2 an hour.
Heat 2 1/2 inches of oil in a small saucepan to about 180C. (you may have to adjust the temperature over time to a lower setting depending on the thickness of your doughnuts. If they are nice and golden on the outside and still doughy inside, reduce the oil heat).
In a small bowl, place about 1/2 a cup of caster sugar. You may have to top this up over time, as the dipping of the doughnuts can cause some clumping after a while.
Set up a wire cooling rack topped with paper towel just beyond the bowl of sugar for placing the hot sugar coated doughnuts.
When the dough has proofed, it should feel slightly wobbly. Drop the first doughnut into the oil and cook at a low heat until nicely golden. Turn the doughnut and cook the other side in like manner. Each side should take from 1-2 minutes. The cooked through doughnuts should sound light and slightly hollow when tapped.
Remove the cooked doughnut from the oil with a slotted spoon and immediately roll in the sugar bowl until coated. Place on the cooling rack.
Repeat this process with the remaining uncooked doughnuts.
When cool enough to handle, take a knife and poke a hole into the side of the doughnut and twist a little to make a hole.
Fill a piping bag with the lemon curd, set with a long nozzle that will fit into the hole. Fill the doughnuts until the curd appears on the outside of the doughnut. Serve and enjoy!
Store any remaining doughnuts in an airtight container.

Best Lemon Curd:

(This recipe makes twice as much curd as is needed to fill the doughnuts. However, it is difficult to halve the recipe due to it requiring three egg yolks. But if you're like me, you'll use the rest on toast, croissants and through other desserts! YUM!)

1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
3 egg yolks
60g butter or margarine

Combine the sugar and cornflour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add the lemon juice and water while stirring continuously until mixture is smooth. Place saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add the lemon rind, egg yolks and butter. Continue stirring until the butter has melted and mixture is well combined. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Anything that leaves a trail of sugar has to be good!

White Chocolate Dipped Cherries

You roll out of bed, the kids are calling for breakfast.
A wave of nausea hits, and the last thing you want to think about is FOOD.
What you're thinking about is whether you'll make it to the bathroom in time, and what other receptacles along it's way might be suitable ports of call lest your stomach decides to wait for no one. Ugh.
Yes, that's why I've been absent so long and my posts have become less frequent.
It's not a permanent thing. My husband and I are super excited to be expecting a little wee bubba into our lives for the third time!
I am still passionate about all things food, despite having to give up delightful soft cheeses, prawns, sushi and wine. Believe it or not, sadly I've even temporarily lost my desire for sweet things. The new little baby that is on it's way is craving nothing but healthy foods (and dim sims), and I find this somewhat challenging as I want to keep posting on Lick the Spoon, and find less motivation to cook the usual culinary delights.
I think my husband's work colleagues need to start demanding food sent to their office. I'm up for requests...Bring it on I say!
For myself, I'll stick to the salads and a buffet of fruit, until this morning sickness departs me. In the meantime, keep following! I'll be forcing myself to cook, and shipping it off to anyone who wants it...and blogging more frequently than I have been in the past few months.

I have a few recipes that I prepared over Christmas. I know, Christmas has passed. For the main part anyway. But...there are 12 days of Christmas, so there are still a few days of indulgence left! Here's a quick and easy and elegant addition to any gathering requiring food with friends. It combines the sweetness of white chocolate with the delightful tartness of fresh cherries, incorporating all the traditional colours of the festive season. These white chocolate dipped cherries look fancy, and take so little time to create, and can also be made using dark or milk chocolate depending on your taste-buds. Other serving suggestions: dip the unset chocolate coated cherry in crushed nuts, coconut or contrasting shaved chocolate for something extra fancy.

WHITE CHOCOLATE DIPPED CHERRIES

80g white cooking chocolate (I recommend compound chocolate)
12 cherries, at room temperature

Place the chocolate in a small microwave proof bowl. Microwave on high for 20 seconds at a time, removing and stirring after each pause until smooth.  Set aside to cool a little.
Line a tray with non stick baking paper. Dip each bottom of each cherry into the chocolate and place on the paper. When all the cherries are dipped, move the tray to the refrigerator. Chocolate should set within 15 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 12

NOTES: the bright red cherries look the prettiest, yet are have a more tart taste than the darker coloured cherries, which are sweeter.

Strawberry Custard

That's right--I'm still making my way through the killos and killos of strawberries I have stashed away in my freezer. And loving it! There's nothing quite like excessive ingredients to get the creative juices flowing. It doesn't matter if it flops. There are always more berries to use. But what I had in mind didn't flop, and made a delicious dessert and afternoon snack for the babies too.
My love for strawberries and custard were combined to make one delicious pink and fruity version of the original vanilla custard, which disappeared from the fridge very quickly. We even had trails of it leading to secret hiding places where small children hid licking spoons covered in sticky goodness. Oh the things kids get up to when your back is turned!
I myself felt like hiding in a wardrobe and rocking backwards and forwards with a bowl of strawberry custard, as the nerves for my big cook off on the weekend have well and truly hit. Breathe. I just have to keep reminding myself. Breathe! (And eat custard).

STRAWBERRY CUSTARD (A Lick The Spoon Original)

2 cups milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. cornflour

2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, room temperature
1/4 cup icing sugar

Place milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, combine yolks, sugar and cornflour and whisk over a low heat. When the milk has boiled, add a few tablespoons into the yolk mixture and whisk. Gradually add the remaining milk and whisk vigorously on a medium heat. Custard will thicken. Continue to whisk until boils, and remove from heat. Scrape into a small bowl and sit this bowl in a few inches of cold water or ice, to cease the cooking process. While cooling, hull the strawberries and process into a puree in the blender. Add the icing sugar and stir to combine well. Add to the warm custard and mix through well. Custard thickens upon refrigeration. Stores for 2-3 days.

Giant Triple Chocolate Biscuits

When I was a little girl, there came a certain satisfaction with making a double batch of biscuits and seeing them all go before they got the chance to completely cool. Yes, I am lucky enough to have six lovely brothers who all appreciated something sweet at the end of the day, and as much as I loved to see the biscuits go, there was also a sinking feeling that came with it. All that work and it's disappeared within 5 minutes!
I remember thinking the biscuits just weren't big enough or numerous enough, and so I started making triple batches to subdue the hungry masses. (Gee they must miss me since I moved out of home. What a warm fuzzy feeling--ha!)
This recipe would have come in handy at the time. My brothers also would have appreciated these thick, hamburger-sized, triple-chocolate, fudgey-centred biscuits that I like to think of as "man sized". Maybe I ought to send a box to each of them, with the bribe that they come and visit my blog?
These biscuits are of course, best slightly cooled but fresh out of the oven. They will firm up a bit on cooling, so I like to pop them for a few seconds in the microwave before serving to get that warm, soft and fudgey centre back into them, plus the chocolate chips within melt a little on doing so and make them all the more decadent.

GIANT TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BISCUITS (slightly adapted from Annie's Eats)

1 cup cold butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven at 180C. Line and grease two baking trays and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Then beat the cocoa powder through the mixture until well combined. Add the flour, salt and baking powder and beat on a low speed until just combined. Fold 2 cups of chocolate chips through the mixture. Knead briefly to incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly. Divide into 12 even balls and then flatten each slightly with the palm of your hand. Place them a few inches apart from each other to allow for some spreading. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to partially cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack. Melt the remaining chocolate  and drizzle over the tops of each biscuit.
Serve slightly warmed.

Makes 12

NOTES: If the mixture appears too soft to form balls from, refrigerate the bowl of mixture for 20 minutes. The warmer weather can make the dough quite soft.

Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Walnuts and Brown Butter Icing

It's a banana muffin. But it's sporting a gorgeous and scrumptious topping of sticky cinnamon-brown sugar walnuts, browned butter icing and a swirl of caramel sauce. When you sink your teeth into this delectable muffin you can feel the smoothness of the icing, the stickiness of the caramel, the firm yet soft crunch of the walnut and the moistness of the banana cake. It's a perfect combo of flavour and textures with just the right amount of sweetness.
For those who are counting calories or are fussy, feel free to leave off the caramel or the icing, or both. You will definitely want to keep the walnuts, and they're good for you, as is the cinnamon the are coated in. They also make a delicious snack on their own. But I warn you, they are highly addictive!
In the recipe I followed for the walnuts, they are not supposed to stay sticky (I must have made an error with the temperatures--my candy thermometer is out perhaps?) They are supposed to dry out and are like candied walnuts. Either way they will be delicious atop this lovely banana muffin!I think the walnuts on their own would make a very pretty Christmas gift, tied up in a clear cellophane bag with some red ribbon. That is, if they don't stay as sticky as mine turned out! Keep and eye on your candy thermometer and you'll be fine.

BANANA MUFFINS WITH STICKY CINNAMON WALNUTS & BROWN BUTTER ICING  
(A Lick the Spoon Original with walnuts adapted from Eat Good 4 Life)

Muffins:

1 1/4 cup Self Raising flour
1/4 level tsp. bicarbonated soda
1/2 level tsp salt
85g butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 bananas, mashed

Walnuts:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
150g walnuts

Icing:
1/4 cup butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup thickened cream

To make the muffins, sift flour, bicarb soda and salt together in a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating after a each addition until well combined. Add the mashed banana and beat again.  Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. pour mixture into muffin trays or paper liners. Bake at 180C for about 1 hour or until firm on the surface and golden brown.

Meanwhile, to make the sticky cinnamon walnuts, place brown sugar, milk, cinnamon and salt in a small saucepan. Place on medium heat and whisk until the mixture comes to the boil.
Boil the mixture on a lower heat until it reaches 115C on the candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir through the vanilla, then the walnuts.
Spoon onto baking paper and separate any clumps. Let to cool.

To make the icing, place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When melted, reduce the heat and swirl the butter in small circular motions. The melted butter should foam and begin to turn amber. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, place the other ingredients. When the butter has cooled, add to the icing mixture and beat into a thick icing.

To assemble, remove the cooled muffins from the pan and add a dollop of icing to each. Top with sticky walnuts and serve with caramel topping or sauce, if desired.

NOTES:

Oven Roasted Strawberries

Buying in bulk can result in storage problems, particularly when it comes to storing fresh produce. You either admit you've bought too much and let it sit and rot, or you eat your way through it...yes, every mean shall be strawberries! Strawberries, Strawberries, STRAWBERRIES!
September has been the month of strawberries, if you hadn't guessed. They're so cheap that I took liberty of the fact and bought a huge amount. Maybe it was just so I could feel like that famous chef for a moment, wheeling a trolley of stawberries to the counter. I can't remember who (I still have the word "strawberry" going over and over in my head) but she used to buy bulk, and then was forced to get creative in the kitchen with it before it went bad.
Well, with strawberries to spare I went home and decided I wanted to discover what a roasted strawberry was like. I dont remember where the idea came from, but I had to do it.
It's so easy, it's more a method than a recipe.
The result amazed me. For hours there was this overwhelming, very sweet strawberry scent wafting through the house. I've never been high (nor intend to) but I can imagine getting high off this smell. (A bit like that feeling you get when you've been painint a little too long and the fumes get to your head.)
The sweetness is extreme, delicious. It's potency will knock you off your feet. It's almost as if the sweetness of the berry is released into the air and when you taste the final product, a faded strawberry chip, there is nothing of the sweetness remaining. There is a delightful tangy flavour that hits the taste buds, and is compelling and addictive.
They make pretty garnishes and are about to be placed in a gourmet salad I'm planning to make. The possibilities are endless. Keep your eyes peeled for them popping up all over the blog!

ROASTED STRAWBERRIES

You will need:

quantity of strawberries
icing sugar (optional)
non-stick paper-lined tray

Heat the oven at 100C. Slice the strawberries lengthways into four pieces each. The larger the strawberry, the better, but if you have little berries, cut into three thicknesses per berry. This is just a guideline, you can cut them as thick or as thin as you like, but the above is what worked for me.
Line a tray with non stick baking paper. Sprinkle the paper with a coating of icing sugar (sometimes known as confectioner's sugar. This is optional)
Place a single layer of the berries on the tray  with a cm or so between the berries. They tend to stick to each other if stacked and don't dry out as well. Bake for 4-5 hours, checking every hour until they reach desired crispness. Remove from heat and allow to cool before removing.

What are you going to use your roasted strawberries for? Here's a few suggestions!

You could also eat them on their own as snacks, on an apple crumble, through your breakfast muesli...the possibilities are endless!

Easy Mini Quiches

The truth is, most people are pretty busy in their day to day lives and more and more are turning to take away foods because its a quick and easy option. High in salt and saturated fats, it's often not a great choice for frequent eating for main meals. That's why I absolutely love freezable, prepare-ahead meals and snacks that you can simply pull out of the freezer in the morning and come home to eat in the arvo. Everyone needs those meals every so often. I'm pretty good with cooking up dinner every night, but freezable do-ahead food is always welcome. I love cooking but I tend to stress out before entertaining, and then feel like I cant manage to whip out a whole lot of appetizers or entrees on the day. This is where these little quiches come in. They're not only great on your entertaining menu, but can be eaten hot or cold, so you don't have to be near the oven while you have guests over if you would rather be enjoying a good glass of wine and a chat with them instead. They make great snacks too, and are healthy and quick to grab for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I made them in a 24 hole mini muffin tray (silicone for ease) but the same recipe would fit a 12 hole regular muffin tray or a pie dish depending what size you want. The mini size is fabulous for entertaining or as hors d'ouevres and look amazing  for finger-food at a party all set out in rows on a long plate. I made these ones vegetarian, but you can add bacon or ham if desired.
And...real men DO eat quiche.

EASY MINI QUICHES

4 eggs
1/2 cup cream
3 tbsp water
pinch salt
1 1/2 sheets pre-rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 small zucchini, grated and dried off in paper toweling
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup cheese, grated (I used Tasty cheese)

In a medium bowl, place the eggs, cream, water and salt. Beat on high with an electric mixer until well incorporated and light and foamy.
Take the pastry and cut the first sheet into four rows of four to make 16 small squares. Take the next sheet and cut it in half. Cut two rows of four squares from this, to make an additional 8. Using a 24 hole mini muffin tray (grease this first if it is not silicone like mine) press each pastry square into the base of each hole. Take a pinch of cheese and place it in the bottom of each uncooked pastry case. Repeat with the zucchini, sun dried tomato and onion. Ladle egg mixture over the top of each until the pastry case is full. Cook for approximately 35-45 minutes at 200C, or until pastry is puffed and lightly browned and tops of quiches are golden and firm.

Makes 24 mini quiches.

NOTES: You can use fresh tomato instead of sun dried tomato if prefered.

Millionaire's Nuggets

So after a marathon of lots of tasty savory delights for the blog for the Gourmet Gardens Herb Blog off, I am back with a super scrumptious sweet. It's that time of the month again, reveal day for the Secret Recipe Club. Erin from Making Memories  had me looking at her page for weeks, I couldn't decide what to make for this month's reveal. Erin has an interesting blog filled with fun ideas for things to do with your kids, including some very yummy looking recipes. I found amongst it all a recipe for millionaires nuggets, and thought it looked like my sort of affair. Caramel-y, gooey, sweet, covered in chocolate...maybe some marshmallows in there too. I have been meaning to make Millionaire's tarts for quite a while now, and realised this would probably give me my millionaire's fix. Oh so tasty.
I couldn't for the life of me find caramels in the store, so I made my own basic caramel instead. Erin from Making Memories melted down a 14oz bag of caramels to pour over the rice bubbles ("Rice Krispies" in USA I'm guessing!) but I think my caramel worked out really well in the end as a substitute.
Eureka!
I also splashed them with a bit of edible gold dust to jazz those babies up a bit. A little gold bling never goes astray.

MILLIONAIRE'S NUGGETS (Adapted from Making Memories)

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. butter
3/4 cup marshmallows, chopped (or use mini marshmallows)
1 1/2 cup Rice Bubbles (or Rice Krispies)
2 cups dark chocolate buttons
edible gold dust to decorate, if desired

Place the sugar, honey and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stir occasionally, until the butter melts and the mixture boils and bubbles. Remove from heat. Stir the marshmallows through immediately. Then add the rice bubbles and combine.
Scoop tablespoons full of hot mixture into a silicone mini muffin tray (or a well-greased tin mini muffin tray). Press mixture down until even. Place in refrigerator for 5-10 minutes. Remove from tray and place on baking paper. Melt the chocolate in two batches. In a microwave proof bowl, heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time, until smooth and well melted. Dip each nugget into the chocolate until well-covered, and replace on the baking paper. Repeat with remaining nuggets and chocolate. Sprinkle with gold dust if desired.

Makes 16

NOTES: You can also roll the mixture into balls, if preferred. Prepare your hands firstly with a generous amount of cooking oil before beginning, as the mixture is quite sticky (and may be hot!) You can buy edible gold dust  in decorating stores, or online (I bought mine from a cake decorating place on eBay)

Luke's Spicy Meatballs with Plum Sauce

My neighbours have a herb garden. I know this because sometimes when I go out to hang my washing, the most divine aromas waft towards me from their yard. There's a small patch they have by the fence and often I can smell they have been freshly clipped, undoubtedly for an addition to some delicious meal. I admit to having thoughts of jealousy and being tempted to nick a bit. It conjured up some lovely memories I made with my brother Peter about 20 years ago. As little kids, 4 and 6, we would duck through the neighbour's fence and pilfer strawberries from the old woman's garden. She was too decrepit to tend to it, but a large crop of strawberries thrived there every year, surrounded by a dome of netting. They were safe from the birds and so grew big and luscious, but they were far from safe from ravenous thieving little mouths and grubby hands such as ours.
I thought about how awesome that memory made me feel and then decided it wouldn't have half the thrill at the age I am now. Sigh.
My husband and I attempted a patch of our own, but it seems we have everything but green thumbs. There is always some critter that beats us to the delicious herbs we plant, and never quite enough to go around. Is there anything quite like fresh herbs? Well, I would say that Gourmet Garden's herb pastes come pretty darn close, and are super handy to have sitting in the fridge for when the caterpillars have curled up to live in all your fresh basil leaves (Don't get me started).
As part of Gourmet Garden's Cook Off, I have created or adapted a series of recipes to blog about to showcase the versatility of their herb pastes, and hopefully to shed a little inspiration to my readers.
I held a five course Gourmet Garden Dinner Party to celebrate my quarter-of-a-century birthday that hit on the 19th of this month. I invited my board of delightful reviewers and taste testers (aka the guinea pigs/ In-laws) and we had a delightful feast. I hope you enjoy the visual banquet as we had it, and get the opportunity to try a few for yourself sometime.

Course 1:

LUKE'S SPICY MEATBALLS WITH PLUM SAUCE (A Luke Original)

700g beef mince
2 tsp. Gourmet Garden hot chilli paste
2 tsp. Gourmet Garden coriander paste
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Gourmet Garden garlic paste
1 tsp. garam masala powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 eggs

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Roll into walnut sized balls, and fry until cooked through. Serve alone or with plumb sauce.

Makes approximately 30 meatballs

PLUM CHILLI SAUCE

1 tsp. Gourmet Garden Hot Chilli paste
 1/2 cup plum sauce

Combine the chilli with the plum sauce in a small bowl.
Stir to combine. Serve with hot meatballs.

Strawberry Oreo Kulter Hund Chunks

It literally translates to "Cold Dog", but that conjures up images of jellied, chunky canned pet food to me. Have you ever wondered how dogs and cats could like eating that stuff?
Well, if eating this German Kulter Hund makes me a dog, so be it, and if it makes me a cold dog, well...maybe I am?
This German favourite is usually made with plain baby biscuits. The plain, rectangular milk biscuits that would be given to babies in the first year or two of life are the ones I'm talking about. The ones that are always the last to go from the family selection pack of biscuits.
So here's a wonderful way to use up those more plain biscuits that can accumulate in the bottom of the tin. I've used strawberry oreos for this recipe to add extra decadence. Who knew oreos have been around for 100 years? I only heard of them about two years ago...I must have been living under a rock. I suppose they're not as common in Australia as they are in America, but I decided to give them a go. After all, just about every cooking blog has something oreo. They must be good!
Truth is...they're delicious. Chocolate ripple biscuits are still my favourite all time biscuit for recipe additions though. Both biscuits have been known to make fabulous pie crusts and fillings for various desserts.
Now just a quick note about these Oreo Kulter Hund Chunks. They're so easy to put together that a child could do it, and there's no cooking involved (just the chocolate melting which can be done in the microwave). They can be a bit messy to make, especially as I made this lot in a 20x20cm bundt tin, but it's so worth it when it's set, and you cut off those lumps of chocolatey-oreoey goodness. It can be a little crumbly between cuts, so grab a zip lock bag and sweep up the crumbly bits...it's fantastic over ice cream! So...even for those of you who don't bake, there's no excuse not to whip this up for your mum on Mother's Day! It's child's play.

STRAWBERRY OREO KULTER HUND CHUNKS

450g good quality compound chocolate (I used Nestle)
250g strawberry flavoured oreo biscuits

Grease and line a pan of your choice. (I used a 20x20cm bundt tin, but a loaf pan is fine as well). Melt half the chocolate very gently in a microwave proof bowl, stopping at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is almost melted and can be stirred smooth. pour a layer of chocolate into the pan to cover the bottom. Cover the chocolate in a layer of oreos. Smooth on more melted chocolate over the oreos. Melt the remaining chocolate.
Layer again with oreos, and repeat with the remaining oreos and chocolate, finishing off in a layer of chocolate. Refrigerate to set, before cutting into rough chunks.

Wrap in cellopane and tie with a ribbon for a budget friendly and delicious Mother's Day gift!

Sour Cream, Chives and Onion Dip

You're probably as astonished as I am. I don't know if it was Lenten fasting that did it to me, or the influx of sweet, sticky, melty goodness that engulfed me over Easter, but I've been a little more interested in savory things of late. Imagine my amazement to find something delicious enough to blog about that wasn't sweet and was made by my own hands. I never thought I had it in me.
Like lots of amazing things, this delicious dip was created by chance. My mind does not think in savory ways (my thoughts are not too unsavory, I hope), so anything invented by myself that isn't sweet, and tastes good, is surely a fluke.
It's very simple really, and utterly, ridiculously addictive. I stumbled upon it while creating my last Secret Recipe Club post, and, on licking that spoon, discovered that I had indeed invented another recipe at the same time. I almost had to make another batch, as I instantly whipped out the rice crackers and my son and I sat on the floor and dug in with glee. Between bites he sang out "Mumm mmum mmmum!" I take that as pretty high praise. "Yum" has become "Mum", oh that's how I like it!

SOUR CREAM, CHIVES AND ONION DIP

4-5 stalks fresh chives, chopped (2 tbsp)
1 cup thick sour cream
2 tsp french onion soup powder
1 tsp crushed garlic

Place the sour cream in a small bowl, and stir the garlic through. Finely chop the chives and add to the sour cream. Sprinkle the onion powder over the chives and stir to combine.
Refrigerate if not serving immediately. Enjoy with crackers.