Time to confess

Right, so we're up to 'j' in the #abcmeals challenge. I had Jaffas in my head all week, and then couldn't find any. I even considered going to the cinema in search of them, that's how desperate I was. My plan was to crush some up to put in the Jaffa Cake batter, but because of their scarcity we ended up substituting Darrell Lea 'Chocolate Orange Balls', which weren't red like Jaffas, were larger than Jaffas, but still tasted pretty much the same. I wasn't going to tell you they weren't actually Jaffas, but in the interests of full public disclosure, and because maybe you're a Jaffaholic and you have stashed them all at your house and you noticed in the picture that they didn't look right, I thought I'd better come clean!  If you're hiding all the Jaffas, please send me a pack - express post, please!

Anyway, what else did I rustle up?  Well, Jatz crackers of course.  With a throwback to their heady days in the 70's I came up with a few classic combos - roast beef and horseradish, pizza (salami, sundried tomato, feta, olive and basil) and the standard tomato and cheese.  To add to the 70's style starters I also julienned (because that starts with 'j') some carrots, it wasn't very good julienning - got to have something to work on.

In between those two delectable delights (whoops wrong letter), was a spicy cajun Jambalaya, which is a great one pot wonder. It probably ended up with a touch too much chilli powder, but you can't ever tell till you're about 5 mouthfuls in.  This would freeze well and indeed was delicious the next day for lunch.

To accompany all of this I whipped up some 'jam jar' cocktails - how cool am I?  These were just gin (which starts with a 'j' sound, bit of a stretch there I know), juice of half a lime, lemonade and mint.  Very refreshing on a hot Wednesday evening and helped negate the Jambalaya fire!

Jambalaya (serves 4 - 6)
2 - 3 chicken thighs, chopped into rough pieces
1 - 2 spicy chorizo, sliced
1 - 2 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
1 red capscium, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 - 2 tbsp cajun spice (or make your own, see below)
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
350 - 400mL chicken stock
200 - 250g long grain rice
Parsley, to serve

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large fry pan (which has a lid) and add the chicken.  Cook for 5 - 8 minutes until golden.  Remove and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add the chopped chorizo and bacon, and cook through.  Remove and set aside with the chicken.
3. Using a small amount of the bacon and chorizo fat, in the same pan gently saute the onion until beginning to soften.  Then add the capsicum, garlic and cajun seasoning and cook for about 5 minutes.  Stand back when you add the cajun seasoning!
4. Add the chicken, chorizo and bacon back into the pan.  Add the rice and stir to coat it in the juices. 
5. Add the tomatoes and stock.  Stir well. Cover and allow to gently simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is tender.  Add more stock if necessary.
6. Serve sprinkled with parsley and a flat bread and natural yoghurt in case it's too spicy!

NOTES:

• Cajun spice mix - 2 tsp each of sweet paprika, dried oregano and dried time, 1 tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder (be careful!)
• Adjust the amount of rice and stock, depending on how many people you are serving.

Jaffa Cake
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
3 tbsp cocoa
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
zest of an orange

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.  Prepare muffin tins with cases, or grease and flour a cake tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between
4. Mix the flour and cocoa together.  Add this alternatively with the orange juice and beat well in between each addition, to ensure it is fully combined.
5. Add the orange zest at the end and mix in.
6. Pour/scoop about 1/2 cup of batter into each of 12 muffin cases or pour mixture into a cake tin and smooth the top.
7. For cupcakes bake for 20 minutes, then lightly touch the to see if they spring back.  If they do then remove to a wire rack to cool.  If they don't spring back, then leave another 5 minutes and re-check.
8. For a large cake: bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
9. When cooled, top with jaffa icing (below) and a jaffa.

Jaffa icing
These are rough measures, as I don't usually measure ingredients when making icing
2 tbsp (about 50g) butter, softened
1 - 1 1/2 cups icing sugar (possibly more)
2 tbsp cocoa
juice of an orange (about 1/2 cup or 125mL)

1. Place 1 cup icing sugar and cocoa in a small bowl.  Mix to combine, with a metal spoon.
2. Add softened butter and begin to mix again.  Add a small amount of orange juice and mix.  
3. Keep adding small amounts of orange juice until icing is desired consistency.  If you add too much, then add more icing sugar.

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C is for Chheeeeeese, Chicken and Cola

Hmmmm so many things i could make with the letter 'C'. The decisions were endless but it all came down to my favourites: cheese, chicken and cola. After being back at work for half a week it was worth getting stuck into the kitchen to cook up a 'C. feast. What better way to start off, a cheese platter.

For my cheese platter i had the usuals: Cheese and Crackers (Camembert, Classic Cheddar, jatz Crackers, Captains Table Crackers, Cabanossi and Coriander and pesto dip) ((all bought from Coles). I'm sure you all know how to put a Cheese platter together so i won't go into the finer points. ENJOY!




Chicken Meatball Caesar Salad
For my main course I went with my favourite 'C' of all: chicken. Chicken Meatball Caesar Salad.   This little recipe i found in the Delicious 'Love to Eat' cookbook. What you need;

500g chicken mince
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tbs finely chopped chives
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
a few drops of tobasco
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
4 rashes of bacon or flat pancetta
3 thick slices of sourdough bread, torn into 
bite sized pieces
2 tbs olive oil
2 cos lettuce hearts, quartered lengthways
Finely chopped chives to serve
Dressing 
1 egg
1 garlic clove chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp American mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
150ml virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 200C. Place chicken mince in a bowl with the onion, chives, garlic and tobasco, worcestershire sauce and 2 tbs of the parmesan. Mix and form into 20 or so meatballs. Place on lined baking trays, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up.
Place bacon or pancetta on another baking tray in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp up. Reuse tray for the croutons, spread out bread and drizzle with oil. 
Drizzle meatballs with the remaining oil then bake for 20 minutes or until cooked.
Meanwhile for the dressing, whizz up the egg, garlic, lime, mustard and worcestershire sauce in a small food processor. With the motor running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream until emulsified. Transfer to bowl, season and stir in parmesan. 
To serve, tear lettuce onto a platter. Top with meatballs, shaved parmesan, bacon(pancetta) and croutons, drizzle with dressing and scatter with extra parmesan and chives.

Cola Cakes
I found this little dessert cake in the same book, 'Love to Eat'. You can bake these little cakes in ramekins as I did, or make this as one large cake.
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp of bicarbonate soda
1 cup caster sugar
65g unsalted butter
1/3 cup sunflower oil
100g mini marshmallows
1/4 cup cocoa powder
100ml buttermilk
2 eggs lightly beaten
vanilla ice-cream to serve

Preheat oven 180deg C, grease 6 ramekins or line a 25cm spring form tin.
Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and add the sugar to combine. Combine the butter, oil, marshmallows, cocoa and cola in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, whisking gently to melt the marshmallows  and dissolve the cocoa. Add to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add the buttermilk and eggs, and stir to combine. Divide the mixture into the ramekins. Bake for 25 minutes. If in a cake tin bake for 45 minutes or until cooked.
Serve cakes warm topped with vanilla ice-cream.

Big claims to live up to

Whilst researching (wasting time??) on Pinterest and Instagram, I see all sorts of claims of 'best ever' - chocolate cake, lamb roast, curry, salted caramel sauce, rhubarb icecream (yes, I made that one up)... the list is endless.  But really can anything ever actually claim to be the best ever? Now usually I like to think I'm a glass half-full kind of a gal, but continual claims of 'best ever' have me frowning, shaking my head and definitely becoming the glass half-empty type.  That's not to say that it's not possible, I just think that if we bandy it around far too much, it will ultimately dilute or make it meaningless.  Think about when you last heard the following terms: hero (think sporting references); awesome (I know I use it too much) or worse, totes awesome; unpack (and no I'm not referring to your suitcase or shopping); and my personal favourite - omg.

By now, if you're still reading, you're no doubt wondering why I'm carrying on about this on a food blog?  Because I can, because it annoys me and because I've now cooked 'The Best Chocolate Cake Ever', aka Anne.  It's a big cake that has a lot, and I mean a lot, of sugar in it (2 cups!), but let's just move on.  It's a really simple cake to make and you don't even need to remember to take your butter out of the fridge to soften, because you melt it.  This is a throw-it-all-in-the-bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes kind of a cake - what can be simpler!  I guess that's part of the reason it's a 'best ever' recipe.  In the versions I'd read, many bakers were saying it took a lot longer to cook than the 45 minutes of the original recipe, and I concur.  With this in mind, I used my bundt cake tin (the swirly one with the hole in the middle) as I thought that might help.  I suspect in one way it did, the cake was cooked through and didn't fall down, and in another way it didn't, as it still took 65 minutes to cook.

One thing I realised when I came to ice this cake, is that I've never actually iced a cake I'd baked in my bundt tin.  Usually with these cake I just dust with icing sugar or pour melted chocolate or a syrup over.  The biggest challenge was icing around the hole in the middle. If you're using a bundt tin, you've been warned!

It's a good and tasty cake, easy to prepare and it makes a big cake. The top of mine, which became the base because of the tin I used, was still a little soft and fudgy, I think in part because of the lower oven temperature.  I will make this cake again and this time try it with less sugar.

Do I think it's the best ever?  Only time will tell!

Best Ever Chocolate Cake
185g butter, melted
2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups white sugar (regular is fine)
4 tablespoons cocoa
4 eggs
1 cup cold water with 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda mixed in
2 tablespoons hot water

1. Melt butter over a low heat in a small saucepan.  Allow to cool a little.
2. Sift flour and cocoa into mixing bowl. Add sugar give the dry ingredients a little mix with a spoon.
3. Add  eggs and cold water, then start your mixer on medium.
4. Add hot water, then drizzle melted butter in.
5. Turn mixer to high and let it go for 2 minutes.
6. Meanwhile grease and flour your tin (24cm round tin or bundt tin).  If using a normal tin, grease, flour and line base with baking paper. You could also dust with cocoa instead of flour.
7. Pour batter into tin.  Tap on bench to release some of the air bubbles.
8. Bake at 160C for 45 - 60 minutes.  Check after 45 minutes and rotate in oven.
9. Cool slightly in tin, then turn onto cooling rack.
10. Ice with chocolate icing when completely cool.
11. Decide if it's the 'best ever' chocolate cake you've made/eaten. Discuss! 

 Original recipe from Baby Mac


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It's a bit rich

Did you know that 2013 was the International Year of Quinoa, as designated by the UN, to recognise the long held practices of the Andean people who have been harvesting and eating quinoa for thousands of years. The Incas called it the mother of all grains. Quinoa was definitely the 'next big thing' in 2013, and I admit I tried it out in a few savoury things, mostly salads, and I wasn't overly impressed.  Let's be honest, it's just another grain, which is gluten free and high in protein, fibre, magnesium and iron - we could all do with plenty of that. However, because it's a so-called superfood we pay a premium for it.  People in the traditional South American quinoa growing areas are now starting to worry about food security, because the crop price has gone up (as it naturally would, when big markets get involved) and this inflated/higher price is making it harder for people to purchase it in these poorer areas.

I get a bit skeptical when people (media!) talk about superfoods.  Aren't they just the things our parents/grandparents told/made us eat because they're good for us - vegetables (broccoli, sweet potato, avocado, beans, tomato, chilli, garlic, ginger), grains (brown rice, oats), fruits (apples, bananas, blueberries), yoghurt, nuts, fish.  Then along comes goji and acai berries, chia seeds, pearl barley, kale, quinoa, green tea, green smoothies, coconut water, need I go on? Most of these have been around for a long, long time - thousands of years in many cases.  I think it can only be a good thing that people are going back to less processed and less packaged foods, and embracing the natural foods that have been around for thousands of years.  The next step is to source it locally and support local farmers and businesses. For example, why buy garlic that has been shipped to Australia from China, that has probably been stored/frozen for who knows how long by your friendly Coles supermarket, when you can get it at the local fruit shop or farmer's market where it's been harvested in the last week?

Right, so off my high horse now and onto the, you guessed it, Quinoa recipe.  I hadn't thought of using quinoa in a sweet dish until earlier this week when a friend of mine bought a chocolate quinoa cake to lunch.  It was rich and tasty and several of us wanted the recipe.  Much googling and pinteresting brought me to the recipe below.  In my search I was also looking for a recipe with mostly normal ingredients too.  So what you see below is the normal version and in brackets after some ingredients are the interesting substitutes you could make if you could find them or were so inclined!

Rich Chocolate Quinoa Cake
2/3 cup quinoa
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk (or buttermilk)
2 large eggs
4 large eggwhites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup olive/vegetable oil/butter (or coconut oil)
1 1/2 cups caster sugar (or coconut sugar)
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Rinse the quinoa, then add it to a small saucepan with the water.  Usually you use double the water to the amount of quinoa.  Bring it to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer with lid on for 10 - 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed.  Once cooked, leave it with the lid on for another 5 - 10 minutes, before fluffing it up with a fork and allowing to cool (i.e. tip it out onto a plate).
3. Whilst the quinoa is cooking prepare the cake tin.  I used a bundt tin, as it's a heavyish cake and I wanted to make sure it was cooked through.  So grease the tin, then flour it.  You could also use cocoa instead of the flour, or line the tin (if it's a normal shape) with baking paper.
4. If you're using butter or coconut oil, melt it and allow to cool.
5. In a blender add milk, eggs, eggwhites and vanilla. Pulse for a few seconds.
6. To the blender add 2 cups of cooled cooked quinoa and the oil. I found that the quinoa I'd made was just over two cups, so I used it all.  Blend until smooth.  Be warned, this mixture doesn't look that flash, but it's ok!
7. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt).
8. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine.  Mix well.
9. Pour into tin and bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until it is cooked (test with a skewer - it should come out clean).
10. Allow to cool in tin.  Do not attempt to tip it out while hot/warm as it will most likely fall apart!
11. Serve dusted with icing sugar, with berry coulis and a dollop of cream.

Happy New Year

To start off 2012, I cooked using two of my favourite ingredients - duck and chocolate. Tonight's menu was Roast Duck Breast with pickled red cabbage and figs (Matt Moran, Dinner at Matt's, p98), followed by a flourless chocolate cake with raspberries (Delicious Sweet, p56)

I chose the duck dish as I actually had all the ingredients (except Veal jus) in the cupboard or fridge. I know what you're thinking - who has duck breast and random duck bits hanging around??? What can I say, I love duck.

I have learnt from experience that the cheapest way to cook with duck is to buy a whole one and break it down, which will cost you in the range of $20. To buy just two duck breasts costs the same. So why not make an effort and then you have the wings, neck and ribs in the freezer for a rainy day when you just so happen to feel like making spiced duck jus! It's not as hard as it sounds!

The entire dish was quite simple to create. The pickled red cabbage is better if done the day before, and allowed to soak in the fridge overnight. Once you've made the spiced duck jus and reduced it, cook the duck breasts and allow them to rest for 10 or so minutes. Then slice, plate and serve.

The chocolate cake was straight forward as well. I love flourless chocolate cakes with their gooey centres and this one didn't disappoint. I served it simply with fresh raspberries and a dollop of cream. Very tasty.

My rating for tonight's dinner: 4/5 wooden spoons

Rose