On Holidays!

Afraid I won't be cooking anything at all for the next five weeks, because I'll be on HOLIDAYS!!!! And you guessed it, we are off to the USA. Starting in San Fran, a brief stop in LA, onward to Vegas (where I'm getting married!) then across to New York. Perhaps I will bring you back some photos of the food I ate whilst travelling around...

Til next month... bon voyage!

The Perfect Sunday...

Starts with a delicious cooked breakfast! These scrambled eggs with feta and parsley were so creamy and light, and the bacon superbly crisp. The perfect way to start a lazy Sunday...

4 free range eggs
1/4 cup milk
50g feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Sea salt & cracked pepper
1 tbsp butter

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them together, add the milk and crumble in the feta. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a frypan over medium heat and melt the butter, then pour in the egg mix. Gently pull the eggs away from the sides as they cook, without over-stirring.

After a couple of minutes fold through the parsley, then continue to cook until the eggs are just set. Remove from the heat and serve on top of warm toast with a side of crispy bacon.

Serves 2

Zucchini Slice with Bacon and Cherry Tomatoes

As any dedicated meat eater will know, everything tastes better when you add bacon. Something I found out after ten years of dedicated vegetarianism! However, this slice can go either way, so if you want to keep it vegetarian, simply omit the [delicious] bacon.

3 medium zucchinis, finely finely grated
1 onion, finely chopped
3 rashers rindless bacon, diced
1 cup grated tasty cheese
3/4 cup self raising flour
4 large eggs (free range please)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2-3 inch piece feta cheese, crumbled 
Sea salt & cracked black pepper

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C and line an 18cm x 28cm (approx) baking tray with baking paper.

Heat some olive oil in a frypan and fry off the onion and bacon until the onion is soft, but not browned, then set aside to cool.

After finely grating the zucchini, squeeze out the excess water (and there's a lot!) over a sink. This is important, as you don't want a soggy slice.

Next, combine the zucchini, bacon and onion mix, cheese, flour and salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl and stir well until all the flour is combined. Use a fork to beat the eggs and oil together in a bowl, then add to the zucchini mixture and mix well.

Pour the mix into the baking tray and spread evenly. Scatter the top with cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese, then bake for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown and firm to touch. Set aside for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6-8
 

Banana Cake

I baked! Which is very exciting for me, as I rarely feel inspired to cook anything containing sugar... I actually had to go out this morning and buy a cake tin just so I could cook it. Well worth the walk to the shops though, this cake is delicious! Not too sweet, and the cream cheese icing really makes it.

125g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (fan forced) or 180 degrees C (conventional). Grease the sides of a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Place the butter, sugar, banana, vanilla and eggs in a bowl, then mix with a hand blender until well combined. Add the buttermilk ad stir through.

Sift in the flour and bicarb soda and mix well to combine the wet and dry ingredients to form a smooth batter. Then pour the batter into the lined and greased cake tin.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack, then spread with cream cheese icing.

Icing:

100g cream cheese, softened
45g butter, softened
1 2/3 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp desicated coconut

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth, then spread over the top (and sides if you like) of the cooled cake and sprinkle with coconut.

Serves everyone!

Asian Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Now, bearing in mind that Asian cookery is not my area of expertise, I have to say I was pretty happy with the way this soup turned out! Very fresh and light with lots of wonderful flavours going on. And best of all it's incredibly healthy! I make this soup at least once a week now.


1L salt reduced chicken stock
1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
2 inch piece ginger, roughly sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces
Cracked black pepper
1 skinless chicken breast (approx 200g)
1 bunch choy sum, cut into 2-3 inch lengths
1 handful snowpeas, halved
150g udon noodles
1 long red chilli, finely sliced for garnish

Pour the stock, water and soy sauce into a saucepan and add the garlic, ginger and lemongrass pieces. Season with pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken breast and allow poach gently for 20 minutes, or until the breast is cooked through.

Meanwhile, place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until noodles are tender and ready for use.

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the stock, allow to cool slightly then shred. Strain the stock to remove the garlic, ginger and lemongrass pieces.

To assemble the soup pile noodles in a large bowl, top with the fresh choy sum, snow peas and shredded chicken, then ladle over the hot stock. Garnish with fresh chilli and coriander.

Serves 2.