Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made food? Henry VI

Most definitely am carnivorous! Ate a neck yesterday.

Made this Matt Moran masterclass lamb dish last night that I had viewed on the viewing screen one evening:

"Roasted Lamb Rack and Braised Lamb Neck with Pumpkin and Sheeps Milk Feta."

Used lamb chops/forequarters instead of the rack  though as we are on strict budgets in this household. Just something that we could caramelise. The recipe also uses lamb neck- a first for us. Didn't even know one could buy it. Thankfully, lamb neck seems to be only about $2. Had never had a neck before but surprisingly, after being braised and cooked for awhile it is really tender meat. Both cuts of meat melted in our mouths and the pumpkin puree was beautiful and soft. I preferred it to mash as it was lighter and sweeter. Made a little salad on the side and it was quite an easy budget friendly and tasty healthy meal. 

Try it I say!

Braised Lamb Neck

• 2lamb neck fillets
• 2tablespoons olive oil
• 1carrot, chopped
• 2stalks celery, chopped
• ½ brown onion, chopped
• 2stalks rosemary
• 2cloves garlic, peeled
• 1Ldark veal stock- we used beef

Roasted pumpkin

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 500gblue pumpkin, cut into 1-2cm cubes
• 3cloves garlic, peeled

Roasted Lamb racks

• 4 x 4 point lamb racks or lamb forequarters as cheaper
• Olive oil

Pumpkin puree

• 300gpumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
• 40g butter, softened
• 40-100ml hot chicken stock

Dressing

• 1teaspoon Dijon mustard

Dressing

• 1teaspoon chardonnay vinegar or just normal vinegar
• 40mlgrape seed or other oil
• 15mlextra virgin olive oil

Salad

• 80gsoft sheep or goats or blue vein
• 40gtoasted pumpkin seeds or pine nuts
• Small bunch rocket, baby leaves picked

Method

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• 2. For braised lamb neck, season lamb necks with salt and pepper, pour oil into pressure cooker and brown lamb. Add vegetables, rosemary and garlic and cook for a few minutes to colour. Cover with stock. Bring to the boil, seal lid and bring up to pressure. Cook for 45 minutes until tender. Release steam and allow pressure cooker to cool before releasing lid. Remove necks, and tightly wrap individually into sausage shapes in cling film. Chill for an hour in the fridge to set firmly.
• 3. Pour braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a clean saucepan and simmer over a low heat until liquid has reduced to desired consistency. Cut chilled lamb neck into thick rounds, keeping cling wrap on the slice to hold shape. Add to reduced braising liquid and cook over a low heat, spooning the sauce over the neck slices. Cook until nicely caramelised and warmed through.
• 4. For roasted pumpkin, heat oil in a frying pan, add pumpkin and garlic and cook over a medium high heat until golden, place in oven and roast for 15-20 minutes until pumpkin is soft. Season with salt and pepper.
• 5. Meanwhile, season the lamb racks with salt and pepper and place into a hot pan with a little olive oil. Seal well on all sides, transfer to oven and roast for 6-8 minutes. Remove and rest for 10 minutes.
• 6. For pumpkin puree, bring a saucepan half filled with water to the boil. Add pumpkin and cook until pumpkin in tender. Drain well. Place in a food processor with butter and enough stock to thin to desired consistency. Season well with salt and pepper. 
• 7. For dressing, slowly whisk ingredients in a bowl until emulsified.
• 8. To serve, squeeze a round of puree onto a serving plate and spread with the back of a spoon. Cut the lamb racks in half and place on the plate. Place a lamb neck slice near the lamb and drizzle with reduced jus. Arrange roasted pumpkin on puree with feta and pumpkin seeds or pine nuts. Drizzle with some of the dressing, sprinkle with goats or blue cheese, olives and arrange baby rocket leaves on top.

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! 

I've created a monster....

No I'm not quoting Eminem but alluding to the classic novel "Frankenstein" as I just went and watched the National Live Theatre stage play and it was an "out of this world experience" and got me thinking.......about my monster creation- my husband. I've turned his savoury taste buds to delectable sweetness, and there is no going back! My kitchen's cogs cannot seem to produce enough sweet treats to satisfy these late night cravings. Cakes, ice -creams, tarts, puddings, cheesecakes, slices cannot come out fast enough before being consumed of the fox's produce line.


As a result we spent the majority of yesterday in search for figs to make Debra's cake from MasterChef, "Sticky Fig and  Caramel Cake with Vanilla Custard. We went everywhere to find the seasonal product that is out of course out of season. Of course once the thought of eating this cake had blossomed within our minds nothing would do, so the search continued to Ferry Rd Markets, which have everything.....and of course the elusive fig. 


My husband was literally jumping up and down screaming "We found figs....We found figs." Might as well have been "It's alive...It's alive." It was a Kodak moment.


So was it worth it? I'm going to let you be the judge!

Cake

• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (bean reserved for custard)
• 2 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup full cream milk

Caramel sauce

• ¼ cupcaster sugar
• 50g butter
• 1/3 cup pure cream
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped



Pouring on the home made custard! Definitely making this again.

• 4 large fresh figs

Vanilla custard

• 1 cupfull cream milk, plus 1 tablespoon extra
• ¼ cup pure cream
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, plus reserved bean
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon plain flour
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 300ml pure cream, whipped to soft peaks, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20cm round spring form cake tin with foil then with baking paper.

2. For cake, beat butter, sugar and vanilla seeds together until pale, add eggs one at a time until combined. Add flour alternately with milk.

3. For caramel sauce, place all ingredients except figs into a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar has melted. Bring to the boil and cook until mixture turns golden brown. Remove vanilla bean.

4. Pour caramel into prepared tin. Cut figs in half and arrange in the pan cut-side down with tops pointing towards the centre. Cover gently with cake batter, spreading until even. Place cake on a baking tray and bake for 45-50 minutes until cooked through.

5. For custard, pour milk and cream into a medium saucepan with vanilla and heat until scalding but not quite boiling. Meanwhile whisk egg with sugar until pale, slowly add warm mixture, whisking continuously. Mix flour with one tablespoon milk to a runny paste, add to mixture and stir to combine. Pour mixture into a clean saucepan, place over low heat and stir until mixture starts to thicken, 5-10 minutes. Once custard coats the back of a spoon, stir in honey. Cover custard closely with cling film.

6. Serve cake warm with vanilla custard and whipped cream.

Don't keep calm he just called you carrots!

During the week we used all of our left overs to make Roast Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Pancetta served with Baby Carrots, courtesy of Billy Law from MasterChef season 3.
Really tasty and easy to make- we rolled the chicken up and wrapped it in the pancetta and made a bit of an apple/carrot slaw, using some of the purple carrots we had bought and used during the week, plus carrots we have been growing in our garden....Nom NOM.
Would you believe we even saw purple and yellow cauliflower at Coles when purchasing purple carrots!!! Even used the carrot peel by throwing it in the deep fryer and making crisps- not sure how good for you that is but it added a crunchy texture atop the chicken......and we felt quite "gourmet" making it. Might look like there's lots of ingredients in this recipe but its mainly spices and herbs! Way to spice up your chicken!!

• Carrot and apple salad
• 60gbutter, diced
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• 1sprig lemon thyme, leaves picked
• 1carrot, peeled and 1cm diced
• 1apple, peeled and 1cm diced
• Roast chicken roulade
• 4 slicespancetta
• 3chicken thighs, bone removed, fat trimmed
• 1 clovegarlic, minced
• 1 spriglemon thyme, leaves picked
• 20gbutter, long rectangular piece
• 20mlolive oil
• Carrot crisps
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2baby carrots, peeled
• Roast carrots
• 1 tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunchbaby carrots, peeled and tops trimmed
• 10gbutter

• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• For carrot and apple salad, heat butter, garlic and thyme in a small frying pan. Add carrot and apple and sauté until golden. Set aside.
• For roast chicken roulade, lay pancetta, slightly overlapping, on a clean chopping board. Lay two chicken thighs next to each other on top of the pancetta. Sprinkle garlic and thyme and a lay long strip of butter on top. Lay the third piece of chicken thigh over the dressed pieces. Gently roll up pancetta around the chicken and truss firmly with kitchen string to hold roulade together.
• Add oil to a hot frying pan and sear parcel all over until evenly golden. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Rest under loosely wrapped foil.
• For carrot crisps, heat oil in a small saucepan to 190°C. Peel carrot into thin strips using a vegetable peeler and fry until golden, drain on paper towel.
• For roasted carrots, heat a small roasting pan over medium heat, add oil and carrots and toss until just golden, add butter and toss until melted. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
• To serve, slice roast chicken roulade into 2cm slices. Place a bed of carrot and apple salad and serve alongside roast carrots and carrot crisps with a drizzle of the butter sauce from the carrot and apple salad.