Anything you can do...

After viewing an episode of the current season of My Kitchen Rules (MKR), and watching the contestants completely overwhelm a pork cutlet by topping it with sage and apple and blue cheese and then wrapping it in prosciutto, before serving it up undercooked, I thought I could do better!

The pear, walnut and rocket salad was dressed simply with Balsamic vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You might see some polenta hiding behind the pork cutlet. I have a love-hate relationship with polenta. It is so easy to cook, but I haven't yet been able to serve it up 'soft'. Mine always ends up firm. Anyone with tips on how to achieve this please please please comment below and let me know! Because of seeing the MKR contestants serve up underdone pork, I left mine probably a minute too long in the oven, so they weren't as moist as they could be. A little Balsamic over the top of the cutlet helped that out, as did the sweet and juicy pear. Although Andy was more keen for a 'jus'.
Overall, a summery combination of flavours and a nice light dinner. 4/5 wooden spoons.

And now for dessert: Chocolate Chilli Pots with Biscotti

These chocolate pots are one of the easiest desserts you can make. Start with 300mL Pure cream in a small saucepan and add a large dried chilli or a teaspoon or so of chilli flakes. Bring the cream slowly up to just below the boil. Remove from heat, remove dried chilli (leave the flakes if you used them). Add in 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces. Stir to combine well. Allow to cool slightly. Next, whisk in 3 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 20g butter. At this point I tasted the mixture and decided it needed more chilli kick, so I added some more chilli flakes - do this to your own level of chilli heat. Remember that when you eat them though you will be eating more than one finger-full at a time so don't throw the whole jar in. Pour into small ramekins (about 100 - 120mL per serve). Cover and chill for an hour, then sprinkle with chilli flakes. Chill for further 4 hours and serve cold with biscotti on the side.
You can make these ahead of time, ie the day before, which gives the chilli more time to infuse and do it's thing. I surprised a couple of friends, by "paying it forward" and giving them their own special serving to take home from work one day - lots of smiles!!! One of my favourite desserts - 5/5 wooden spoons

Walnut Wednesday

Well today was the first day back at work, after a 5 week break. So what did I decide to cook for dinner – a roast of course!!! Luckily I was home early and it was a cool day, so all was good. Instead of a traditional roast lamb and veges, I took a different tack and made a spiced roast leg of lamb with caramelised onion cous cous (based on Quick Smart Cook p158).

The flavouring on the lamb was delicious (cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic) and very aromatic. The lamb itself (from the amazing Cooroy Butchery – love buying locally) was tender and juicy, and cooked to a lovely pink medium. The caramelised onions and walnuts in the cous cous created a whole different flavour than you usually get with cous cous. Since lamb and lemon are old friends in my house, I added lemon wedges to serve. This helped to balance the sweetness of the caramelised onions in the cous cous. We had gravy from all the pan juices, but really it wasn’t necessary. Lucky those who are having leftovers tomorrow, including some friends’ lucky dog, Dozer, who gets the bone! Tonight’s lamb gets 4.5/5 wooden spoons (and yes I’m sticking with wooden spoons).

Spiced roast leg of lamb
3 tablespoons each of ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika, mixed with 3 crushed garlic cloves and 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil. Rub this over whatever cut of lamb you have. Cook your lamb to medium, however you like to cook a roast – bbq, stove top, oven.

Caramelised onion cous cous
Slice 2 onions and 2 tbsp rosemary (or thyme). Cook in a frypan over a med-low heat, with a little bit of oil, for about 4 – 5 minutes till the onions start to soften (try not to get too much colour on them). Add 1 – 2 tbsp caster sugar and 100mL balsamic vinegar to the onions, and cook over low, stirring ocasionally until almost all the liquid has been absorbed and it looks almost jammy. Make the cous cous as you would normally (200g cous cous to 400mL boiling water). Once the cous cous is ready fluff it up with a fork and add 2 tbsp chopped parsley, the onions (and any juice), 20 g butter and 100g toasted chopped walnuts. You may need to add a little olive oil to the cous cous to loosen it up a little. Slice the lamb and serve with cous cous and lemon wedges.

Keeping with the walnut theme was tonight’s dessert – Carrot and Walnut Puddings (from Delicious Sweet p79). I describe these as basically a little warm carrot cake, and who doesn’t love carrot cake.

After baking in the oven, these were served with a dollop of cream and a drizzle of

golden syrup on top and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. They were very tasty. But the size of “mould” suggested in the recipe was far too big and we only managed to eat half a pudding, despite the sensational flavour. Next time I’d do them half the size and make twice as many. These will definitely freeze and reheat well too! Also I think I’d also add some spice next time – nutmeg or cinnamon, or even a ground up cardamom pod or two perhaps, just for a little bit more something! If you’d like the recipe, let me know. 4/5 wooden spoons.

PS Yes, I know we cook lamb a lot - but we love it!