Creme Brulee

I have to admit, I've never made Creme Brulee before. It's one of those 'classic' desserts and always intimidated me a little. But I'm going to have to make it again, because my creme brulee was a complete and utter FAIL.

Yes, I've now made it. So technically I can tick it off my list. But I'm not happy Jan and will one day give it another go.

The custard worked really well but in hindsight, I wonder if it wasn't complete set when I baked it. Or maybe it hadn't been in the fridge long enough? I've no idea. The sugar crust top worked ok, considering I was crusting it under the grill in the oven. I would've liked a small hand held blow torch, but alas, IGA doesn't sell one.

It looked okay, but after cracking into it Hubby and I discovered the custard underneath was not smooth and delicious. It was like sweet watery scrambled eggs. Which confused me as the initial custard worked really well. Maybe it re-cooked being under the grill? I've no idea. I'm just not happy with it.

And will one day try again.

Apple and Mint Lamb with Crunchy Salad

I LOVED this dish. For a few reasons. But honestly, absolutely loved it!!

Now, good luck trying to find Lamb Cutlets in Dysart. Or finding them at a decent place any where near here. So instead I bought a rack of lamb, which I found to be cheaper, and sliced them into cutlets. Oh, and radishes. Good luck again. But, I wasn't too phased by that, as I don't like radishes, so I just replaced them with beans to keep the crunch in the salad.

The best part about this dish is the apple and mint sauce. Oh. My. God. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL, and complimented the Lamb so well. Not too minty, not too much apple and just perfect cooked in the pan juices from the lamb.

If you're ever going to buy a book for just once recipe, make it this one.

Oh and the second reason I love this dish:

 My son ate it!!

Pumpkin and Feta Loaf

I'm not a bread maker. I think I've made bread a few times in total, so I'm not that good at it. But I am good at following a recipe...

My yeast was past its 'use by' date, so I wasn't sure if this loaf would actually work. To my pleasant surprise, it did! I really liked the way the onion and rosemary were processed with the wet ingredients, I found the mild onion taste through the bread really complimented the sweetness of the pumpkin. But a warning, buy cheap feta, and the feta will be...well....cheap. The local iga does sell better feta (say that out loud!) but for an extortionate price out here. I didn't expect the cheaper version to be so bad, but it was. Rubbery and quite tasteless. But I did enjoy the bread, so if I made it again, I'd splurge and buy the good quality stuff.

The only down side was cutting it the next day it became quite crumbly. Probably cos of my old yeast. Or my average cooking schools. But, even in crumbs, it still tasted nice.

Cherry Tomato Tarte Tatin

Normally Tarte Tatin is made as a dessert by stewing fruit in a caramel of sugar and butter before topping with pastry and setting in the oven. I guess it's still authentic as tomatoes are fruit, but this is definitely not a dessert dish.

It's actually supposed to be made with yellow cherry tomatoes too, but be stuffed if I could find any yellow cherry tomatoes anywhere around here. I know I'm growing some, but the play is about an inch tall, so won't be getting any fruit from it for a little while yet.

I haven't made a tarte tatin before, so was a bit apprehensive about how it would turn out. I also don't have a small oven proof frypan, so had to improvise.

Once the tomatoes were cooked in the vinegar and sugar mixture, I transferred them to a pie dish and topped with puff before popping them into an oven for the pastry to rise and become golden and crisp.

  

Still, I'm quite please with how it tasted. The vinegar naturalized the acidity of the tomatoes beautifully. The puff didn't completely puff, but I used a cheap brand, so I can't really complain all that much. The crispy bits contrasted really well with the soft gooey twice cooked tomatoes. 

Would make a fantastic entree course.

Raspberry Ripple Semifreddo

I have never ever made any kind of ice-cream dessert before, and with the humid days we've been experiencing lately, this dish practically leaped of the page at me.

Semifreddo I already know means 'semi-frozen' so I don't think it's technically an ice-cream. According to wikipedia it 'has the texture of frozen mousse because it is usually produced by uniting two equal parts of ice cream and whipped cream.'

The ice-cream portion of making this dessert was to create the custard by whisking the egg yolk, vanilla and sugar over a bain-marie so that the eggs start to cook. Doing this will give the eggs air and make them all nice and light and fluffy. Once that's cooled fold it into some freshly whipped cream and into a freezable container, leaving a portion out for the raspberry puree. Mix the puree with the rest of the custard, ripple through the container and freeze for a few hours, preferably overnight.

I made sure we had an alternative dessert on the day I made this as I knew it wouldn't be ready and hubby would still want to eat it.

It was divine. And still is, as I'm going to finish it off within minutes of publishing this post. I did unfortunately over whip the cream, but only by a little (didn't turn it into butter of anything silly like that) so it didn't completely incorporate with the custard and there are little chunks of cream dotted throughout the semifreddo. But actually, I like it. Ideally, they wouldn't be there, but they don't ruin the dish either.

It's good to now know how easy it is to make semifreddo, and how damn cheap it is! Especially since we always have an abundance of eggs. I think it might just replace Bulla in this house. I later froze the leftover egg whites and intend on using them to make one of the meringue based desserts from this book as well.

Waste not, want not.

Here, porn for your taste buds....

Seriously, go make some yourself. :)

Progress so far....

So today while menu planning for the week I decided to check my progress with my challenge.

I went through and added up all the recipes I've already cooked out of the book. To date I've made 30 recipes!

Sounds great, right?

But I noticed that a lot of recipes didn't have my tick next to them. And I mean, a lot.

In total there are.....195 recipes in the book!!!!! And I've only done 30!!

Thinking I'd better pull my finger out! I gave myself till October next year (I think that's when my 1001 days expire) to cook them all and I've only done 30!

Hubby, all that healthy eating you've been planning on doing...sorry. I'll go out the window. Just start running...

Anyone want to come over for dinner?

The only thing that holds me back on some of the dishes is the fact I live here. I mean, where am I supposed to get vine leaves in Dysart?!? There are a few ingredients that I'll need to source and get delivered I think. Probably by my parents. Good thing they like to visit.

So today I've included 4 recipes in this weeks menu and if I get off my butt in the next half hour I'll make another one for my lunch.

Hope you're ready for the food onslaught!!!

Chicken and Haloumi Skewers

This recipe is actually titled 'Chicken, Haloumi and Preserved Lemon skewers', but good luck finding preserved lemon in Dysart!

I love the dishes you can start preparing earlier than dinner time. Makes life a little easier with two kids. I started marinating the chicken and Haloumi in the lemon juice and oil mixture about an hour before cooking time, then off to bath the ratbag.

I only recently discovered Haloumi when I attended a cooking workshop held here by the winners of the first series of My Kitchen Rules. They cooked these awesome Lamb and Haloumi skewers. Then you couldn't buy Haloumi here for the next month with all the people trying it out for themselves. I saw it in IGA last week so was excited to try cooking a cheese that won't melt for myself.

Hubby started eating the dinner that night and was wondering why the chicken was squeaky before I explained it was actually cheese he was eating!

The skewers were really nice. The chicken made tender from its lemon juice bath. We ate them with quinoa for a nice healthy dinner. They were easy to prepare and will probably be made again for our next BBQ.

No photo, sorry. Completely forgot. How about you go buy the book and make some for yourself. :)

Honey Jumble Cakes

These cakes were meant to be cooked in a friand tin, but alas, I don't have one. So instead, I made Honey Jumble Muffins...

I love simple recipes. A bit of flour, a few eggs, melt some honey and butter and combine. Simple.





The muffins turn out so soft and moist from the half a cup of honey in the batter. The honey surprisingly isn't as overpowering as I'd assumed it'd be. Next time though, I'll substitute the 70g of butter for Macadamia Nut oil. A bit kinder on my hips.

Impatient as always, I iced them too early and it lovely honey based using melted everywhere, but still tasted as good. They were still soft and moist three days later in the fridge. How they lasted for three days without being inhaled first, I don't know!