Grilled Cheesy Leek Toasts

Do you remember a few weeks ago on Masterchef they had the 'Dude-Food' challenge? This is definitely 'Dude-Food'. Leeks. Bread. Cheese. Worcestershire Sauce. Stout (which I left out because on a Sunday arvo I wasn't going to go out and buy a whole can for 1/4 cup of it). I'm sure my ass was growing as I was eating it. It was just carbs and fat.

And tasted awesome.

I love leeks and the sweetness they have that onions don't. They're a beautiful substitute and are the best option for a dish like this. They marry so beautifully with the bechamel-like sauce that's flavoured with the sauce, mustard and copious amounts of cheese (and stout). Then grilled till golden.

Definitely a 'sometimes' food.

Yes, I know they're not the most appealing photos. They're dodgy rushed iPhone pics because the camera battery was flat.

But you get the idea.

Coffee and Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

I was so looking forward to this dish and for some reason it didn't work. *Big Frown Face Here*

I think I stuffed up. Where it says 'place all this stuff in a 15cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan ... blah, blah, blah.... Bake in the oven'. You see, I don't have a 15cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan. So I did the stove top stuff then pop'd it into a pie dish and did the rest. Which stuffed it up.

It wasn't a total write-off. The cake part still tasted awesome but the sauce was just so watery. It hadn't thickened at all.

Looked good though. Brownie points for that?

Caramel Pear Pie

Pie? To me a pie has a top. And is usually filled with meat. To me, this is a tart. A Caramel Pear Tart, not Pie. But it's titled 'Pie' so a pie it shall be called.

I love the Basic Vanilla Pastry. I am not a baker. At all. Don't get me wrong, I love baking. But I also suck at it. A lot. I love this pastry because it works for me every time. I haven't managed to stuff it up yet. I follow the recipe to a tee, so that might have something to do with it. I also love that this recipe uses home made pastry rather than bought shortcrust pastry.

There's something to be said about making your own pastry. Therapeutic, it can be. If your nearly three year old isn't standing at your feet demanding to eat it raw.

Oh well. Can't hurt him.

Making this dish made me want to cook poached pears. I love the smell of cooking pear. To me it's so fresh and beautiful. I cored the pears and poached them in a little water till they were just soft. Then arranged them in my pastry lined pie dish and poured the golden syrup caramel mixture around them.

Letting this set after cooking is a big thing. Don't be too eager to cut into it. Although it smells DEVINE, resist temptation!!

And luckily, I did. It was set so beautifully when we ate it.

With the lovely crumbly pastry. So good.

Barbecued Bacon, Tomato and Scrambled Egg Sandwich

I know the title says it's BBQ'd, but I didn't. Cos it's cold and we were inside and the BBQ's outside and because I'm a woman I'm not allowed to cook with the BBQ. So as the footnote suggests I cooked it inside. I can see how it would be a great and easy BBQ meal though.

I made this for Hubby one day as it's such a simple recipe and I thought it'd be a nice lunch. After he ate it he asked what the difference between a Donna Hay sandwich and a normal Bacon and Egg sandwich is? I think it's that the egg is scrambled lightly rather than fried. It add lightness to the dish and lifts it a bit from the heavy usual B&E sandwich he'd be used to.

Nice and simple.

Coconut Cake

Last month both Hubby and I celebrate our birthdays, with Hubby's coming first. Instead of the usual chocolate cake, I thought I'd do something different and made this coconut cake instead. I called out for a Bundt tin on the local Buy, Swap & Sell and was lucky enough someone had one in their camping gear that they no longer wanted!

I love the cake. Nice and fragrant with coconut, but not overpowering. It was a little lighter than I expected, but I substituted the milk for the leftover buttermilk I had in the fridge, so that might be why. I also used wholemeal self-raising flour instead of white flour, supposed to be healthier. Hey, I won't argue...

We light the candles a few times so Noah can have a go at blowing them out as well. He wants candles on every cake we have at home! Sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's exasperating.

 A lovely change for a Birthday cake!

Minted Lamb Leg

Sorry, no photos for this one. It was eaten too quick on empty stomachs, and I completely forgot about photos.

This one is in the 'Spring' section of the Seasons book, but now that the weather is cooler I'm leaning more toward roasts as having the oven on warms the house so nicely. The heat radiates through the tiled floors and take the chill out of the evening air. Then the lovely warm food sits well in the our cool bellies. Perfect cool weather food.

I loved the addition of malt vinegar to base the meat. It left a beautiful sweet layer on crust and just worked so well.

Neither of us eat asparagus, so instead I served it with a small salad. Now that it's cooler, some mash potato might be called for.

:)

Crispy Southern Fried Chicken

Living out in the middle of nowhere, there's not a lot of option to get take-away food.

Next best option? Make it yourself!

Taking these out of the oven after they'd finished cooking, if you closed your eyes it smelled like KFC. Without the greasy aftertaste. Yes, they are initially fried to get the crispy texture to the coating, but then completely cooked in the oven.

I loved using buttermilk with them and think it made a big difference to how light they tasted. If I'd just used regular milk, I can understand that they'd feel a lot 'heavier'. I've never used Onion or Celery Salt in cooking before either. Might have to start experimenting....

I made burgers from this meal and they were awesome! Just with toasted bread, a little salad, mayo and the coated chicken = win!