Monthly Archives: October 2011

Slow Roasted Pork Tacos with Cilantro Lime Sauce

30 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Pork

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Pork Rub:
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1-3 Teaspoons of Vinegar

Place all of your spices in a bowl and mix. Slowly add your vinegar. I cant remember exactly how much I used.
You want your spices to look like wet sand/paste so you can rub it on your pork and have it stick.

Crock Pot Ingredients:
1 Yellow Onion (chopped)
2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
1 (15-ounce) Can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
4 to 5 Pound Pork Shoulder

Put the onion and garlic in first, then place your seasoned pork on top.
Next pour the tomatoes over it. Cover. Cook on High for 4-6 hours.

The pork will fall off the bone. That is how you know it is ready.
Remove the pork and shred into a separate bowl.

Cilantro Lime Sauce:
1/4 Cup Lime Juice (fresh)
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
1 Tablespoon of Honey
1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Clove Garlic (minced)
1 1/2 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 1/2 cups of Salad or Olive Oil

In a blender, mix your cilantro, lime juice and vinegar. Next add your garlic, sugar, honey and salt.
Add mustard. Then, slowly add your oil.

For Tacos:
Avocado
Corn Tortillas

The avocado is a must! The fatty avocado combined with the savory pork and the citrus sauce made this taco outstanding!

Enjoy

Joy

Mini fruit crumble

28 Friday Oct 2011

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The girls were coming over for tea and I was determined to make a fruit crumble. The problem was that I had one pear, one nectarine and one apple. Not enough of one fruit to fill a pie pan. I had made the crumble topping already so I got out my cupcake pan instead!

Here’s what you need:

Filling:

1 nectarine (Diced)
1 pear (Diced)
1 apple (Diced)

Crumble:

1 1/4 cups of packed brown sugar
2 cups of uncooked quick oats
2/3 cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon
2/3 cup of flour

Mix oats, brown sugar, and flour. Add butter and rub evenly in with fingertips until mixture is crumbly.
Press the crumble topping into each tin to make a base. To this, I added a tad more butter into each tin and then baked it for 10 min at 350 degrees.
You want this base to be nice and crispy.

Dice the fruit and dust with cinnamon.
Put a little of each into the cupcake pan.
I kept the fruit separated, but could’ve combined the fruit.
Then, I topped it with the crumble.
I baked it for 30 min at 350 degrees.
The topping didn’t look crisp enough so I put it in the broiler for a few minutes.

The apple got drizzled with melted caramel, the pear was topped with toasted chopped pecans and the nectarine got a dollop of whipped cream.
The ladies LOVED it and thought I spent a lot of time making individual crumbles, when it really took no time at all!
Enjoy!

Joy

Leek and Bacon Quiche

24 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Simple meals, Tarts, Uncategorized

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Apologies for the photo – it was taken with my phone…

I went round to my friend Claudia’s for a bit of cooking, and we made leek and bacon quiche, cheesy bits and a beautiful tarte tatin. I’m going to explain how to make a very easy and yummy  and the cheesy bit – you’ll have to wait a little for the tarte tatin.

For our quiche we used bacon and leek but you can really use anything you fancy so this is a good one if you have left-overs and want to make something a little fancy. We were left with a bit of pastry so we made my special cheesy bits – they are great for an apperitif.

What you will need for the quiche:

Short-crust pastry (ready-made or freshly made – see our tomato tart for this recipe)

4-5 eggs
300ml of single cream
2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
4 slices of bacon
1 leek
Pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 180C . Cover a tart tin with the pastry. Heat a pan and add a bit of butter or oil and add in diced bacon, once they start to brown add thinly sliced leeks until they are softened.

In a bowl whisk all your eggs and add the cream – you can also replace the cream with milk or go half milk half cream. Now add the cheddar, bacon and leek and a some ground pepper to taste. You don’t need to add any salt due to the cheese and bacon. Put the mixture into the tart tin and place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

What you will need for you cheesy bits:

Short-crust pastry left-overs 
1-2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese (the more the better)

Mix your pastry and cheese together and then roll it so it looks like a stick, you can do this in small bits. Then cut into small pieces. Put in a pre-heated oven at 180C and it should be ready in about 15mins!

It’s that easy! And the quiche will feed 4 people, serve with a green mixed salad and there you have it a yummy but simple meal.

Mel

Pecan Pie Sundae

23 Sunday Oct 2011

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My husband’s birthday is this week and I was making an early celebration dinner because his mom was in town.
He is not a chocolate lover, so I was slaving away at a pecan pie for him.
After I baked them I asked if he liked pecan pie and he said,”not particularly”.
Can you tell we are newlyweds? I had no idea!

So instead of panicking, I said, “Well, this pecan pie will change your mind!”
Instead of serving it on a plate with whipped cream or ice cream, I made a sundae out of it.
I put the pecan pie on top of vanilla ice cream and drizzled dark chocolate over it.
It was a HUGE hit! He could not stop telling me how “amazing” it was.

Here is what you need:

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter (melted)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 large eggs
1 cup and 1/3 light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
4 cups pecans, chopped and toasted
I bought a frozen ready-made pie crust which I don’t usually do, but it worked great!

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk eggs and then your sugar and corn syrup.
Add vanilla, salt, butter and bourbon to egg mixture.
I whisk, but you can also beat together in mixer on slow speed.
Stir in pecans.
Pour into a 9 inch unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle evenly with pecan halves.
Bake for 55 minutes. Pie should be firm and will “set-up” while cooling for at least 2 hours. It may crack.

Scoop on top of ice cream with drizzled chocolate or serve traditionally.

Enjoy!

Joy

One Fantastic Peach!

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

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I recently had a dinner party with the intention of making a peach cobbler for dessert but completely ran out of time. I literally had no dessert when dinner was finished.
I had grilled peaches in the past and decided to try broiling them. The result was so tasty and it only took 5 minutes!

Here is what you need to serve 4 people:

2 Peaches
4 Pads of Butter
1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon of Cinnamon (optional)
1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1-3 Tablespoons of Powdered Sugar (depends how sweet you like it)
4 oz Mascarpone Cheese

Slice the peaches in half and remove the pit.
Put a pad of butter in each center and sprinkle the brown sugar over all 4 peaches.
Place in broiler for 5 minutes
Remove the peaches and scrape off the burnt sugar
Lightly sprinkle the cinnamon over all four peaches
In a cold mixing bowl, pour in the heavy whipping cream and Mascarpone Cheese.
Once it starts to thicken, add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
Continue to whip until you see stiff peaks.
If you beat too much, you will get butter, so be careful!

Joy

My Favorite Fennel Slaw

15 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by in Salads

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I’ve been eating a LOT of fresh fennel these days because it helps support healthy breast milk production. It is also a good vegetable to have in your milk output for any upset stomach that your baby may have.
This recipe is delicious and SO easy to make. Enjoy!

Slaw:
1 Bulb of Fennel (shredded)
1 Carrot (Shredded)
1 Sweet Apple or Cucumber (Shredded)
1 Stick of Chopped Celery (optional)

Dressing:
3 Tablespoons of Fresh Lime or Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon of Rice Vinegar
1 Teaspoon of Soy Sauce
3 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil
1/2-1 1/2 Tablespoons of Honey (you decide)
1 Cube of Minced Fresh Ginger (Optional)

Combine all shredded ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the juice, vinegar, soy sauce and ginger. Slowly add the sesame oil and honey.
Add dressing to slaw and serve immediately or for an even better flavor, chill for 1-3 hours.

Joy

Raspberry cheesecake

09 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Desserts

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After seeing a simple but perfect cheesecake being made on Australia Masterchef, Alexis and I decided to give it a go. Now it’s not the cheapest cake to make but it is delicious and from time to time really worth making it. Mine was a little different to the Masterchef one, they used ground almonds in the base, I didn’t and I added rasberries to the mixture.

What you will need:

For the base
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of sugar
90g chilled chopped butter

For the filling
330g cream cheese
500g ricotta
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1 lemon’s juice
1 1/2 tbsp of cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp water
As many raspberries as you fancy (I used about 2 handfuls and sliced in two).

You will also need a deep circular cake tin (one with a removable bottom and clasp is best)

Pre-heat your oven to 150C. In a bowl add in all the ingredients for your base and knead them all together with your fingers, you know it’s ready when the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Butter your cake tin and add the base mixture to the bottom of the tin. With a spoon flatten the mixture so it becomes hard and homogenous. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Whilst your base is in the oven prepare your mixture. In a small bowl mix the cornflour and water and then add all the ingrdients together in a large bowl except for the raspberries. Whisk all ingredients together. Take your base out of the oven and pour in your mixture. Then add in your raspberries.

Put your cheesecake in the oven for an hour, then turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for an extra hour. It’s not over yet – you’ll need to leave it in the fridge for about 2 hours. Though I was in a rush so I put the cheeseake in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Unclasp the cheesecake and either leave it on the tin base or move it onto a plate. I had some raspberries left so I made a quick coulis by adding a bit of sugar and the raspberries in a pan on a low heat until they melted together.

Enjoy
Mel

Sweet and Sour Chicken

02 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Chicken, Simple meals

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I’m hooked on Masterchef Australia at the moment and this sweet and sour was inspired by their sweet and sour pork. What’s great with sweet and sour sauce is that you can use any meat, prawns or just have it with vegetables and your meal will be ready in 15 minutes! I love sweet and sour takeaway but never knew exactly what was used to make it. What surprised me is  how simple it is and that it’s made with ingredients that can be found in any kitchen, that’s ketchup and vinegar! Now the quantities I’m going to tell you to use are a guideline as it really all comes down to taste and also how much sweet and sour sauce you want.

What you need:

Two chicken breasts – cut in small pieces
3 tbsp of ketchup
2 tbsp vinegar (any type is fine)
A small tin of pineapple (if you have fresh pineapple all the better)
Chilli flakes (if you like the heat)
1 large pepper (the colour of your choice) – cut in small chunks
Half an onion – sliced
1 clove of garlic – chopped
40g of finely sliced ginger

Rice or noodles

In a frying pan or wok fry your onions on a medium heat until they look soft and add in you chicken until it starts browning, then add in your pepper, pineapple (keep the juice to one side), garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir all the ingredients together and then add in your ketchup, pineapple juice and vinegar. Cook all the ingredients for about 5 minutes. Taste and add in more vinegar or ketchup depending on taste.

I used rice noodles which are super easy to make as all you need to do is place them in a bowl and pour over some boiling water and they are ready within seconds.

Serve up your sweet and sour chicken on top of your noodles or rice and there you have it -dinner in 15 minutes!

Enjoy 🙂

If you use fresh pineapple then you can caramelise it with a bit of sugar and also add in a bit of pineapple juice.

P.S I’ve just made Masterchef’s cheesecake but with a twist – it’s in the fridge so fingers crossed!

Mel