Sonnet 163- To the carbohydrate!

Weight- 10000 calories    Exercise- 10 km marathon run   Books- 1Pandemonium   Holidays- 13 days left   Carbs- too many   Days till health kick- 1

"Be not afraid of carbohydrates: some are born addicted to carbs, some achieve this obsession, and some have carbs thrust upon them."

Weekend food is usually NAUGHTY food. In this household anyways. There's just something about finishing a week of work and craving all things that surely must go straight to the hips, tummy and thighs! It's compensating for the good work we do on the other nights and allowing some freedom and guilty pleasure in eating what YOU want. Moderation is the key right?


On Master Chef they had an invention test where they had to cook "dude food." I personally don't understand why it's called that, as as a definite girl I also crave salt, carbs, grease and savoury delights.  Especially after watching the mouth watering concoctions they produced to satisfy these late night cravings. So instead of dining out this weekend (clap clap) we decided to create our own version of these challenges. Apart from the mess and time, the advantage is that you are getting exactly what you feel like. Minimal health benefits but soul comfort food.


We made crunchy onion rings- deep fried of course. After many previous failed attempts this batter is the easiest and has made the best onion rings. We cheated and bought aioli to dip them in too. So yummy but so bad! 

Onion rings

• 1L vegetable oil                                                                   
• 200g plain flour
• 200-250ml soda water
• 2 brown onions, sliced into 1/2cm rings

Kewpie slaw

• ¼ red cabbage, finely shredded
• 2purple carrots, julienne
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 150ml kewpie mayonnaise
• Juice of one lime

We complimented this with little ranch sliders (mini burgers). We bought little panninis from Coles, made some pork/beef/bacon patties and made coleslaw from red onion, wombok and carrot. We tossed the coleslaw through kewpie mayonnaise, an idea stolen from the 'dude challenge,' a Japanese condiment. And because we couldn't be bothered to make George's bacon mayonnaise from Masterclass (as delicious as it looked) we tossed some bacon through it for the flavour. Then we assembled them together with some added sliced cheddar cheese and there we had it. The perfect late night hunger quencher. 




Carb Verdict- Guilty!

love choosing wines by their labels

Shakespeare's Soup Kitchen

Another night for a soup with this cold, wet and miserable weather! Something that one can eat while lazing on the lounge with Ugg boots and a "blanky." Decided to attempt (for the first time) the classic French Onion soup. And I'm amazed I never cooked this before because it practically uses only 4 ingredients.
Gary made this soup on Masterclass last week, so I loaded up the segment and cooked it as I watched. I halved the recipe however- 2 kg of onions eeek! Bit of butter, some herbs, beef stock, cheese, a splash of sherry instead of cider and some crusty bread. Pretty much stock standard ingredients you have in the pantry! Also a good recipe for walking away from as you're pretty much just cooking the onions and sweating them for long periods of time. It's minimal fuss and prep.

Caramelise. Simmer. Add. Pour. Ladle. Grate. Grill.

I pull the soup out from under the grill and dip my spoon into gooey bubbling melted cheese- a little too hot on the tongue, but I keep eating!  Then I move the crusty bread around so it soaks up the sweet onion stock and pop that into my mouth.

 It's just what I felt like. Now for a good book.

Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers- Romeo and Juliet

Pitter Patter. The rain has finally hit today and the clouds all rolled up and gathered into one. A perfect night to sit on the lounge and rug up and watch "Masterchef." Or maybe, I could attempt a collossal feat in baking to celebrate the end of the Term and the upcoming school holidays? This way I can surprise some of the staff tomorrow with a bunch of calories instead of eating them all myself. This could save the hips.  So here I am, currently in the kitchen constructing a Mojito genoise, as made in Masterclass by Lorraine Pascall! Mojito cake? You had me at Mojito. What a great idea for a birthday cake for an 18th? This is no easy feat though. It requires a lot of ingredients, steps, time and love - all worth it though don't you think! The cake looks fluffy and similar to hers, and the butter cream......well let's just say I've licked the bowl a few times. The sugar syrup was a bit thick but will let you know how it goes when we eat it tomorrow. Presentation looks awesome and the praline.....lucky there is left over!

And the smells wafting through the house are delicious; the oven warming the living area on this cold wintry evening. Perfect baking weather methinks!


Great excuse to pull out the Bacardi and maybe reward myself with a Mojito cocktail too. Bottoms up!

Sugar Syrup

• 150 g (5.3oz) Soft light brown sugar
• 40 ml (1.4fl oz) Water
• 2 Finely grated zest and juice of limes
• 80 ml (2.8fl oz) White rum
• 1 Bunch of fresh mint, leaves only

Praline

• 400 g (7.1oz)Granulated sugar – Pecan coating
• 200 g (7.1oz) Pecans – Pecan coating                           
• 1 Dash of vegetable oil, for oiling – Pecan coating

Genoise Sponge

• 260 g (9.2oz) Caster sugar
• 115 g (4.1oz) Butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
• 260 g (9.2oz) Plain flour
• 6 Eggs, lightly beaten

Buttercream Icing

• 300 g (10.6oz) Butter, softened
• 600 g (21oz) Icing sugar
• 2 Vanilla pods or 4 drops of vanilla extract
• 1 large or 23 small Lime – Finely grated zest and juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C; grease a 20cm cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Feel free to mix yourself a real mojito for consumption later – (although for this you’ll need more mint and sugar).
2. Make the sugar syrup first to give the mint and lime plenty of time to infuse. Zest 2 limes and put zest aside.
3. Place soft light brown sugar, water, the juice of the limes and 80 ml white rum in a medium pan over a low heat.
4. Cook until the sugar dissolves, then boil for 2-3 minutes until the syrup thickens.
5. Remove from heat and add the leaves from a bunch of fresh chopped mint (leaves only) and the lime zest .
6. Set aside to infuse.
7. Line a baking sheet with paper.
8.  Put sugar in a medium-size pan over a medium-high heat and leave to melt.  Don’t stir it, just swirl the pan to move the sugar round.
9. Once the sugar is melted, bring the mixture to the boil and cook until caramel colour is reached. Be careful not to burn it!
10. Add 200 g pecan nuts, swirl the pan to coat them a bit in the sugar and pour on the lined baking tray. Leave to cool.
11. Once this has cooled right down, blitz the praline in a food processor (or alternative place in a plastic bag and smash with a rolling pin). Put aside.
12. Place a large pot around a third full of water and bring to the boil while you lightly beat 6 eggs in a heatproof bowl. You’ll want this bowl to fit snugly over the pot of water, which is the next step. Now’s also a good time to melt the butter gently, and measure out the flour so you have them to hand.
13. Remove the pot from the heat from heat and place the bowl over the top, containing the eggs and caster sugar. Make sure the base isn’t touching the water
14. Beat like crazy with an electric handheld mixer – trust me; you do NOT want to do this by hand. You should beat for about 10 minutes over the pan of hot water – this might be a good time to throw back another mojito, because you won’t be going anywhere for a while!
15. Remove the bowl from the pot and continue beating for 5 mins or so. You need to get to a ribbon stage – when if you take a spoonful and trail it back in, the resulting ribbon should hold itself for at least 3-4 seconds before blending  back into the mixture.
16. Pour the melted butter around the sides of the bowl, so as not to knock out the air (which is what happens if you pour it in the middle.
17. Fold the melted butter into the egg mix, moving the bowl around and scooping down to the bottom to fold the mixture over itself, using as few movements as possible to retain maximum air.
18. Repeat the process with the flour, again using as few movements as possible. Be aware though that those rotten flour lumps lurk at the bottom of the bowl, and you don’t want to be pouring it into the tin and finding a dry pocket at the bottom of the bowl!
19. Pour the mixture gently into the prepared tin, and bake in the centre of the oven for 30 mins. Keep an eye on it, as it’s easy to burn.
20. Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
21. Once cool, divide the cake horizontally into two. I use a cake separator, but on Masterchef Lorraine used kitchen string stretched around the cake and then pulled tight to slice the cake evenly in half.
22. Prepare the buttercream by adding 300g softened butter, 600g icing sugar and the seeds of 2 vanilla pods (or the vanilla extract) into a bowl and whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the jest and juice from the lime.
23. Assembly time! Place the bottom of the sponge on the plate and brush with the reserved sugar syrup. Be quite liberal to make the cake really moist.
24. Put a big dollop of buttercream on top of the sponge bottom and, using a palette knife, spread the buttercream over the cake until it is level.
25. Take the top half of the cake, turn cut side up and brush with the sugar syrup. Turn it back over and put it on top of the buttercreamed sponge.
26. Next, cover the whole cake with the buttercream, including the top and sides, making sure it is a smooth as possible with straight sides and top. Put the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to firm up a little.
27. Use the praline crumbs to coat the sides of the cake, picking up the fallen crumbs and gently patting onto the cake.
28. Gently indent the cake top into sections, to work out where you will place whole pecans and lime slices.
29. Top with one pecan and one lime eighth per slice, and serve.

 It was demolished! 

They eat us up hungrily, and when they’re full, they vomit us up.

Men: "They’re like stomachs and we’re just the food. They eat us up hungrily, and when they’re full, they vomit us up."


Slightly disagree with the women in Shakespeare's Othello! I mean, my husband just whipped up an awesome mid-week meal based on masterclass last week. I know he watches MasterChef (tick) and cooks dinner (tick) and washes up (double tick).
Tonight he created George Colambaris's Greek ribs with a bean salad, mixed with fetta, caramelised onions, baby spinach, pine nuts and cherry tomatoes. MMMM and did I mention the yoghurt dressing drizzled on top with a mix of honey! Feeling slightly healthy too and no stomach bulge. BONUS! I had been salivating for them since last Friday, even though I'm not really a ribs girls. Close-ups on TV showed them juicy and tender and I'm a sucker for the contestants groaning over food!. Pretty easy to make, a crowd pleaser and tasty. Next week we might make Matt Moran's version and compare which was tastier!

Watch this space for more rib action next week!!

• 1kg lamb breast riblets, cut into single ribs
• Olive oil, for serving

Marinade

• 2cm ginger
• 5 eschalots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 star anise

Dipping sauce

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup Greek yoghurt

Bean salad

• 100g blanched baby green beans, sliced into 4cm pieces
• 1 tablespoon toasted flaked almonds
• ¼ cup caramelised onions
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup fetta, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint