I'M IN SLICE PARADISE

I am a generous person by nature.  I have become even more generous of late due to the fact I have been baking my behind off and can no longer sustain the temptation of having muffins, slices and brownies presenting themselves on the kitchen bench at home.

I can safely say I have a few friends that are being just that extra bit more communicable with me lately as they know that I am more than happy to offer them a brown parcel of goodness, at no cost - or at the very least, for some constructive commentary in return on how I can further improve said treats.

Over the years I have churned through countless caramel slice recipes in what once seemed like a fruitless search for the perfect recipe to remind me of my childhood trips to the neighbourhood bakery.  The one below comes pretty darn close and there never, ever seems to be leftovers.  A good indication that you're onto a winner, if you ask me.  It is most definitely too good not to share, all I ask is that you give it a whirl and see for yourself.

caramel slice

base

  1 cup plain flour, sifted
  1/2 cup soft brown sugar
  1/2 cup shredded coconut
  125g butter, melted
filling

  395ml sweetened condensed milk
  2tbsp golden syrup
  60g butter, melted
topping

  65g copha, chopped
  130g dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Grease and line a rectangular slice tin with baking paper.

Combine all the base ingredients in a bowl. Mix together well and press tightly into the slice tin. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.

To make the caramel filling, combine all ingredients in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Cook, stirring continuously, for 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken and become a golden colour. Remove from heat and immediately pour over cooled base. Return to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until firm. Remove and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 4 hours to set.

To make the chocolate topping, place the copha and chocolate into a double boiler (alternatively, use a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water). Gently stir until melted and pour over caramel. Refrigerate to set before cutting into generously large squares to serve.

THE HIATUS IS OVER

I have been on a long-standing muffin hiatus for two reasons.  Reason one?  Nearly one year ago I suddenly encountered a muffin/cupcake craze wherever I turned on the streets, with stores offering every flavour combination imaginable, most of which were sub-par quality.  Reason two?  Once I found a decent offering I would always go back for more, starting off a vicious cycle of less-than-nutritious breakfast & coffee outings at 9am each morning.

To be fair, you simply cannot turn a blind eye to something and pretend it doesn’t exist.  So with great trepidation one morning when I was presented with a “come on, just try a bite – it’s actually very good” from a colleague, the hiatus officially ended.  Who would have though the oh-so-average office building café downstairs from my work could produce a muffin of such excellent quality?  Well I certainly didn’t.  Besides, now that the cupcake craze has died down and only the strong stores survived, I am willing to hop back on the wagon.  And I am going to start with these miniature morsels of goodness - technical goodness, that is (because they have fruit AND coconut in them).

coconut, raspberry and white chocolate muffins

  2 cups self-raising flour

  3/4 cup caster sugar

  3/4 cup white chocolate, chopped

  1 cup raspberries

  1 egg, lightly beaten

  1/2 cup macadamia oil

  3/4 cup milk

  1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.  Line a 12 hole muffin pan with cases or grease well and line with baking paper.

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, coconut and white chocolate (if you are using fresh raspberries, add them now; however if you are using frozen, do not add yet as they will thaw and the colour will bleed through the mixture).  Stir to combine and make a well in the centre.

Place the egg, oil and milk in a separate bowl and whisk together.  Gradually pour into the flour mixture, gently stirring as you go until the mixture is just combined.  If you are using frozen raspberries, add them now and very gently stir through the mixture.

Spoon mixture evenly into the muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes before ravenously wolfing down whilst still warm.  Be sure to keep one for morning tea envy (such as I, demonstrated below).

BEETS WORKING

What do you do when you have no energy to cook dinner but refuse to succumb to the takeaway leaflets hiding in the pantry?  Or when you are on the borderline of poverty the week before payday?

You make a salad.

I was faced with both of the abovementioned predicaments this week and set a mental inventory in my head while getting absolutely drenched on the way home from work.  After an immense shake-down and towelling off in front of the heater I set forth assembling one of my favourite salads.  It gets listed in the top 10 not only because it’s on the plate and in my stomach in less than 10 minutes, but also because the classic combination of lentils, beetroot and cheese also satisfy me in the hungriest of states and somehow - and I know this sounds ridiculous - I can feel the goodness as I eat it.

I have a bit of a bad habit in the kitchen which I am willing to divulge, which happens to be unwittingly omitting ingredients.  It never happens when I bake, however as an example I was adamant on having walnuts in said salad and even went as far as to email dear housemate at work to confirm we were in supply.  “Yes,” she said, “pretty sure you didn't candy them all with your delish crepes”.  That was good enough for me and I was pretty excited to add the textural element to my salad feast.  Alas, I only realised my mistake once I had snapped away with the camera and eaten through 80% of the meal.  Sigh.  Perhaps next time!

I used tinned beetroot for the below - forgive me, however it was due to time and budget constraints.  If I had the energy and less hunger pains I would happily scrub some fresh beets and roast them in the oven wrapped up in a tin foil parcel with all sorts of delicious herbs, oil and balsamic vinegar.

beetroot, (no) walnut and goat’s cheese salad

  6-8 baby beetroot, halved

  1/3 cup goats cheese, crumbled

  250g baby spinach

  1/2 cup lentils, washed

  1 handful walnuts, chopped

dressing

  olive oil

  red wine vinegar

  balsamic vinegar

  wholegrain mustard

  honey

  salt and pepper

This is the easiest recipe descriptive ever - combine all salad ingredients except cheese in a bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients in a jug (I have listed in order of volume, but it’s entirely to taste); I suggest 3tbsp olive oil, 1 splash of each red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, 1 large teaspoon of mustard and 1 small teaspoon of honey.  Pour dressing over salad ingredients and gently toss until coated.  Scatter with goats cheese and serve.  Too easy, too delish.

SEMOLINA GOES SWISH

I was incredibly sensible with my dinner decision making skills tonight, opting for a healthy salad to somewhat counteract the guilty pangs I was feeling after some not-so-healthy weekend escapades.  Well... at least, in my head, eating a salad for dinner on a freezing cold Monday night whilst thawing out in front of the heater and simultaneously watching a cooking show on television is a totally justifiable and effective method for undoing the done.

It was no surprise to myself, then, that instantly after my (second) helping of salad I had an enormous appetite for hot, sweet, and fulfilling.  Not that my salad wasn't fulfilling - it was most incredibly delicious - but I knew from the outset I was fooling myself and without any hesitation I gave into the sweet tooth craving and whipped up some fancy semolina.

This stuff will be prevalent in many childhood memories, either in a positive light (depending on your parent's cooking abilities) or in a horribly traumatic light.  I am lucky to only ever have had good experiences with semolina and still get intense cravings for it once in a while.  Now that I am a grown up (most of the time) and can decide what I want to eat, when I want to eat it, I have given this purified wheat an R-18 makeover that is guaranteed to always hit the spot.

semolina porridge with rosewater

  2 1/2 cups full cream milk

  1/4 cup semolina

  15g butter

  3tbsp caster sugar

  2tbsp rosewater syrup

serving suggestions

  stewed blueberries, crushed amaretti biscuits

  cinnamon, sugar, milk (omit rosewater)

  flaked pistachios, raspberry puree

Place milk, butter and sugar in a large, heavy based saucepan.  Gently bring to the boil, stirring occasionally as to not burn the milk.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and whisk the liquid in a circular motion.  Slowly add the semolina in a steady stream whilst continuously whisking and continue to do so for a further 3-4 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken.  Once the semolina starts to absorb the liquid and swell in size, remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside with the lid on for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to check the consistency (as it will continue to cook).  Don't let it become too gluggy, rather slightly runny but thick.

Serve immediately with a light pour of rosewater syrup and your choice of toppings - for the sake of the below picture as well as my tastebuds, tonight I went with stewed berries and crushed amaretti biscuits.  Serves 2.

HOT ADDICTION

I must admit, I am refusing to accept the fact winter is rearing its brutishly cold head around the corner.  I can also admit, although I am certain most people who know me have figured this out already, that I seem to have an addiction with chilli.

This is a good thing and a bad thing. Good? It sure as hell warms me up when I'm cold (I'm looking at you, Melbourne).  Bad?  The more chillies I eat, the hotter I like them.  Now I want to use it in everything I cook.  Add a recent trip to Thailand and the household's chilli harvest afternoon not too long ago to the equation... and there's nothing to curb the addiction in sight anytime soon.  This is coming from the girl who, at 9 years old, considered a smattering of cracked pepper on her dinner plate to be "too spicy" and refused to eat a bite of her tainted dinner.  Where did it go all wrong?

I'm going to roll with this chilli vibe for a while - at the very least until I have mastered the art of central heating 101... and because I have years of childhood chilli neglect to make up for.

I whipped up an incredibly quick and easy dinner tonight to satisfy the craving, using the same thai dressing I made with my fish and coconut rice the other day.  The free range chicken was on super-special this evening so I grabbed a couple of breasts (the chicken's ones, don't worry), poached them for 25 minutes, shredded them and tossed in the dressing with a sliced capsicum and cucumber & served atop a mound of steaming hot coconut rice and a mammoth wedge of lime.  What more could you ask for (more chilli, perhaps?).

CREPETASTIC

I got a bit ambitious in the kitchen the other day - the result being a fragrant rhubarb and rosewater upside down cake (posted, just so you know).  This sprightly burst of energy also resulted in a humongous excess of rosewater syrup, which I am in no way complaining about, but how much can you actually do with it?

A lot, it turns out.  My go-to would be a breakfast dish I often crave, being semolina porridge with rosewater, pistachios and stewed berries.  The other, I have independently decided, is used to satisfy late night cravings in the form of paper-thin crepes with caramelised walnuts and a swirl of the delicately pink syrup.  This decision was made after an early dinner (I overshot the mark when I got home) and when I was suddenly gripped with a sweet tooth craving at the same time cooking shows appeared on the television.  Coincidence?  Debatable.

(Don't worry, we'll come back to the semolina porridge.  It's too good not to share.)

crepes

  1 cup plain flour, sifted

  pinch salt

  2 free range eggs

  1 1/4 cups milk

  15g butter, melted

Place plain flour and salt in a large bowl, making a well in the centre. Set aside. Using a whisk, mix together the eggs milk and melted butter in a separate bowl or jug.

Gradually pour the milk mixture into flour and whisk, slowly incorporating the flour, until smooth and well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat a crepe pan or heavy based frying pan over a medium heat. Lightly grease with butter. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into the pan at a time and swirl to coat the base. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden, turn over and cook for a further 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter.

You can serve these deceptively delicious wafers of goodness with a simple squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar, or you can go all out (as I do 100% of the time) and pan-fry chopped walnuts, sugar and butter in a pan until golden, spread over each crepe, and drizzle rosewater over the top. My idea sounds better? Thought so.

JUICY BUNS

Everybody (who is carnivorous, might I add) has a favourite meat. Topping the pickles hierarchy would most definitely have to be pork, which is evident when you see how many posts I have made in my little online food diary showcasing the most succulent features of this fine animal.

I am most certain that we all have primal urges.  And I am also most certain that sometimes, no matter how inappropriate you know it is, sometimes you just have to satisfy your food cravings - because if you're anything like me, they don't let down.  Ever.

Case in point? An undying urge for pork belly at around 3pm today.  This was problematic for me as, having already eaten an enormous (and good value) bento box an hour prior, I knew reasoning myself out of cooking said dish for dinner was never going to happen.  I feigned reluctance as I wrote out a mental shopping list for the trip home.

And here was the result.  Urge satisfied?  Most definitely.

roast pork belly baguette with quince paste, potato and brie

  300g pork belly

  4 kipfler potatoes, washed

  1/2 wheel brie

  1 head fancy lettuce, washed and shredded

  quince paste

  dijonnaise

  3 sprigs rosemary

  4 sprigs thyme

  salt and pepper

  olive oil  

This is quite simple (but still incredibly fancy for a sandwich).  Preheat oven to 210 degrees celsius.  Place rosemary and thyme in a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil.  Place pork belly, rind side up, over the herbs.  Score the rind and drizzle with more olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper, rubbing into the flesh well.  Place the potatoes in the dish, whole, and place in the oven for 45 minutes or until the pork begins to turn a rich caramel colour on the top (this is subjective, as you may like your belly more juicy than I do).

Once cooked, remove from oven and leave to stand for at least 10 minutes.  Now comes the fun part - assembling.  Grab a large slice of crusty white baguette and spread one side with quince paste and the other with dijonnaise.  Place slices of pork, potato and cheese inside and finish off with some lettuce for green factor.

This is a divine combo - might I suggest eating it while the pork is still warm?  It just adds to the sensory explosion.

Bon appetit!