Christmas Catch Up

 So we've taken down the decorations and recovered from celebrating the New Year; it seems like a goods time to look back on my Christmas culinary adventures for 2014.

 As regular readers would know, this year I made gingerbread trees to give out to friends/family/work colleagues/school teachers/comic book shop guys/the school crossing man. So I ended up making a LOT of gingerbread. Each batch made 64 Christmas tress, and I made 3 batches. That is a lot of mixing, rolling, cutting, baking, piping and bagging. Suffice to say, I don’t want to even think about gingerbread for a few months! Ironically I actually got to taste my first Christmas gingerbread at the weekend (the last two trees left over from Christmas day) and they still tasted good, almost two weeks after baking!

 One thing I did different this year was an attempt at Gluten Free (GF) gingerbread. With a friend who is coeliac and several gluten intolerant friends, I felt bad that they couldn't share in the spoils of my baking. Luckily, the only ingredient that contains gluten in my gingerbread recipe is plain flour (it uses bicarb soda as a raising agent), so I thought it was be a fairly easy substitution. I had some GF self-raising flour in the cupboard from a previous GF baking session which I usually wouldn’t substitute for plain flour. However, using my Science Brain, I remembered that it was the gluten in the flour that bound the baking together and helped it raise, so GF self raising flour was probably closer to non-GF plain flour than non-GF SR flour. All clear??

 And it worked quite well. I went more on Feel than exact measurements when adding the flour; GF flour has a rather different texture to non-GF so I probably had to add more to made the dough sticky enough to roll out. And I think the GF SR flour did make a difference, in that they were a bit more rounded, a bit softer, less crispy-biscuit like (next time I'll buy GF plain flour). But the main thing is they still tasted (and looked) like gingerbread, and my GF friends were very appreciative, even though I didn't get a chance to ice them.

(the darker ones were chocolate gingerbread)

 My next step is to try and make a refined-sugar free gingerbread (have I mentioned that a lot of my friends are very health/diet conscious with a lot of “…. Intolerant” kids???). I figure that I can substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar, and maple syrup for the golden syrup. This will probably affect the consistency and “stickiness” of the dough, so will probably mean a bit of fiddling with the (GF or not) flour. Next challenge will be going dairy free – should be a straight swap with nuttelex for butter which would hopefully cream up well with the sugar. I thought I had almost got everything sorted to finally make a batch for one of my friends (who is gluten, dairy, soy and refined sugar free), who then informed me that she doesn’t eat refined oils, which nuttelex is. *sigh*  My other option is then trying to cream coconut oil and coconut sugar together (and hope that it holds together), mix it with maple syrup and GF flour, and hopefully the addition of ginger will make it still taste vaguely like gingerbread.

 (Or maybe I can just resign myself to not making her gingerbread!)

 Regular readers will also know that I love a good theme, and Christmas is a great excuse to get Creative with Cooking. Last year it was my Rudolph pancakes, which this, year when I made them in early December, Son 2 proclaimed that he wasn't much of a fan of because he doesn't like bacon (Son 2 LOVES bacon, so he didn't see the issue). Nerdy Nummies Ro had made some Snowman pancakes (its the third 'treat') but that wasn't really suitable for an Australian Summer Christmas (but will be great if we go to the snow!). I then came across this awesome blog called The Joys of Boys (they had blog on making Star Wars snowflakes. So cool). They had Santa pancakes, which apart from having a HEAP of whipped cream (which I would think would be that nasty stuff from a can – what is it with Americans and a tonne of fake whipped cream?!?), they also had cherries for the hat. I have a girlfriend whose kids would adore this version (their dad was raised on a cherry farm and they are massive Fresh Fruit Fans), but mine, not so much. So what to use? Coincidentally at this time, one of my girlfriends (She with the French husband) was getting ready to go the Paris to celebrate Christmas with the Hubby’s family. For 5 weeks. And so was clearing out her freezer. As well as a packet of breadcrumbs (which my chickens loved) she also gave me a bag of 5 frozen eggs whites; which were leftover from an awesome chocolate Crème Brulee she had made the last time I went for dinner. Hmmmm – how fortuitous! So on Boxing day (as Christmas morning breakfast was taken up with the traditional croissants and fresh fruit breakfast), I made these Santa Pancakes...

...bacon for the hat, an egg-white omelette (badly) cut into shape for the beard and hat trimming, blueberry eyes and a strawberry nose. I got big smiles from both Sons who then carefully removed the fruit, swapped the bacon for egg and happily devoured them!

 My last piece of Christmas faffing was something that had been hovering around my Christmas Pintrest board for a while – the Christmas fruit tree. There are lots of really cool variations (when you have a spare 5 minutes, type “Christmas fruit tree” in the search engine and check them out). I did like the 3D version, but it didn't seem to be able to support a lot of fruit and as I was doing this for our family Christmas lunch of about 15 adults, I wanted to make sure there was bit available. Plus I knew I would be assembling it after I had hosted breakfast but before jumping in the car to drive to lunch. So it trying to keep things less stressed on Dec 25th, I settled for the 2D version. I had no grand plans as to how it would look (how very unlike me! I must have had my brain filled with other Christmas Organising), but ended up using cantaloupe (or rockmelon depending on where you were born) as “boughs”. Small bunches of grapes were great for greenery, strawberries and blueberries for a touch of colour and some watermelon star cutouts to make it look Christmassy.

 So I hope you all had a fun and festive Christmas with lots of yummy food (as I did) and I look forward to doing it all again in 11 months time

(but maybe not gingerbread this time…..)

C is for Coconut, K is for Kale

 I have never been into fads. Fashion-wise, I have always been a jeans-t-shirt-classic-pieces kind of girl, rather than the latest So Hot Right Now!!! (but not in 5 minutes) disposable fashion: I have not, nor will I ever own a pair of harem pants.
 So it follows that it takes me a while to jump onto the latest foodie gimmick - whether its a cooking style (hello sous vide), an ingredient (well, chipotle and I are friends now) or superfood. I need to read about it in several different places, maybe see it used in a few recipes and perhaps have a friend chat about their experiences before I'll feel brave enough to buy some and give it a trial. Quinoa and I started this way: I had heard rumblings about this gluten-free-grain-that-wasn't-a-grain that everyone had difficulty pronouncing. I started very slowly by using it in a salad, before graduating to fritters and porridge (which I now LOVE). So it makes sense that it has taken me this long to get around to using kale.

Yes, I know, its the latest superfood!!! Its high in anti-oxidants and has heaps of vitamins and minerals and stuff!!! It's SO versatile!!! (maybe its the enthusiasm that actually put me off, I mean it looks like curly parsley on steroids, how can it be THAT amazing?) But finally, there were a flurry of recipes in a couple of Delicious magazines that were cook worthy, so I grabbed a bunch of kale and got into it.

"It doesn't LOOK that super..."

 The first recipe was a "Ribollita with Italian Meatballs", which is a Tuscan "stoup" - lots of veges in stock with some meatballs to give it some oomph. The original recipe used cavolo nero, but I thought one green was as good as another and so used kale. This is a good way to use kale (or other winter leafy green) as when you cook it in the stock, all the nutrients stay in the dish (said the intro to the recipe). And it certainly did taste like a big bowl of goodness - nice and thick and hearty for the middle of Melbourne winter.

 (no picture I'm sorry - we ate it too quickly)

 Continuing with the soup theme was a "Chicken and Kale soup", which apart from having shredded kale through the dish, also had the chicken cooked in coconut oil (more on that later) as well as almond meal stirred through. Which did make for an interesting consistency, but again tasted quite nice.

"Cloudy with a chance of Kale"

 Probably not as hearty as the ribollita, but then it had about half of the ingredients. But a nice way to use up the kale. We were now down to two thirds of a bunch. Have I mentioned yet that a little goes a long way??

 While the soup was simmering, I gave Kale Chips a try. This was something that I knew had given kale its popularity - a healthy substitute for potato chips!! And so quick and easy - just rub in a bit of olive oil and pop them in an oven, These were "Spicy Kale Chips" and so had garlic, cumin and chilli mixed in with the oil. Quite yummy, but I did have my oven a bit hot (or got distracted and left them in too long) so half of them were a super crisp dark purple color and not very appetizing looking (so again, no picture, though the chickens loved them).  I will try them again with more attention to the details.

 The weekend rolled around and I came down to Hubby making brekkie of scrambled eggs, which reminded me that there were lots of uses for kale in breakfast dishes (which is good as I still had just under half a bunch in my fridge). I was planning on doing kale in scrambled eggs, but realised that didn't have quite enough eggs to make it for everyone. So I switched to what I am christening "Green, Eggs and Ham" (well, bacon). Fry up a few rashers of bacon, then saute your shredded kale in the bacon fat (soooo healthy) and fry an egg.

"Healthy" fry up

 Pop it all on a piece of toast (with avocado or aioli or whatever) and voila!
 

I DO like these Green. Eggs and (Bacon)Ham

 So that has been my Kale adventures so far, and I still have about a quarter of a bunch left to use. Hmm - might have to google some more receipes.

 The next Superfood to enter my pantry is coconut oil. Again, I had been hearing about it here and there (It's great to cook with as it has a high smoke point!!! Its full of healthy fats!!!... and you can look up the rest, there are lots of very long lists), but it wasn't until I has some falafel that my no-dairy-gluten-soy-and-generally-super-healthy friend had cooked in coconut oil was I convinced to try it (it gave them a delicious slightly nutty taste). AND after another friend gave me a jar of oil to try (before I buy!... bought), I had to give it a go.
 First up was cooking our Sunday morning pancakes, which was a perfect use as it didn't get burnt (like butter) when I left in in the pan too long (to get juice, cut up a pancake for Son 2, more syrup for Son 1...), and the subtle coconut flavour went really well with the maple syrup. I then used it as the "vegetable oil" in my standard muffin recipe (instead of the sunflower oil I usually use), and threw in a handful of shredded coconut and before I knew it I had banana coconut muffins! Quite yum. and very moist too.

 And amidst all the reading about how awesome coconut oil is, I read that coconut milk also shares a lot of similar health benefits. Which is great as I love using it in thai food; it always makes curries and laksas taste so decadent. But they suggested using it to cook quinoa porridge (instead of the soy milk I had been using. I'm not lactose intolerant, I just don't like the taste of milk) - which I did. And it was Ah-mazing!! So yummy and nutty and creamy - it didn't taste like it should be that good for you but it was! I know some people will say "Fat is fat and you should watch your intake" but I am a fan of the Good Fat, which is why I always found it hard to stick to low-fat diets in my younger days. Now I try to limit refined sugar but happily munch on nuts and avocado and cheese and I can seem to stay on track diet-wise.

 So I am happy to add these new foods to my pantry and fridge and will keep an eye out for the next foodie fad to come sweeping our way. But I think I will be sidestepping the edible insects craze, no matter how much I hear about it!

Happy Hoppy Christmas

 Like many Foodie-Crafty-Industrious type people, I love Christmas. Not only is it a fun family time with lots of food (and presents!!) but it gives us like-minded people a chance to shine and flex our collective creative muscles. From hand making presents, to new riffs on classic dishes, to clever effective decorations, there are so many way to get into the Spirit of the Season.

 However.

My December related shenanigans took a different turn this year, when, while trampolining wth Son 2 in November, I landed awkwardly and broke two bones in my left foot and well as "destroying" (the surgeon's words, not mine) the ligaments that run across the top of my foot. Which meant surgery to put it all back together again. Then a cast for two weeks. Then 4 weeks on crutches. Which did put a serious dent in what I was able to achieve for and in the run up to Christmas Day.

 But being the determined (or "stubborn and pig-headed" as Hubby would say) person that I am, I  knew that I would find a way to do at least SOMETHING festive around the home. As the pain in my foot (and my reliance on medication) decreased, I was able to get up and move about more. We also purchased a little stool on wheels which meant I could move around the kitchen fairly well. But, I was still trying to be aware of my limitations and not create too long a list of things to do. One thing I did have plenty of time for, was sitting on the couch and browsing the internet for ideas. Thank goodness for sites like Pintrest, where I could search things like "Christmas cookies" and "Christmas table" and find all sorts of ideas that I could adapt. It also (thankfully) helped stave off the boredom

 First up was the work Christmas present. Last Christmas was the Year of the New Icing Techniques and they got a batch of festively decorated cupcakes. Scaling it back for this year, I thought I could come at gingerbread: simple to make but very yummy. Add a batch of royal icing and I could still get creative with decorarting.

 So my lovely work colleagues, who had had to deal with me not being there for the month before Christmas, got a batch of "Kim-gerbread Men" - complete with cast.

 ... and their smiles were similar to the ones on their gingerbread men.

 I also found this cute idea for pancakes on Pintrest, which gave the Son 1 and 2 a nice pre-Christmas breakfast...

 ...  bacon for antlers, blueberries for eyes and a raspberry nose.

 Christmas Day posed its own list of challenges. In our family, we rotate who hosts lunch on Dec 25th and this was my year to host. There were quite a few discussions post foot-break as to whether that would still be a viable option. I knew I wouldn't have to slave away in the kitchen as everyone brings something along and really, the only specific job of the host is to provide the table/chairs/plates/glasses etc and the crackers (which I had already bought at last year's post-Christmas sales). So Hubby convinced me that we would be fine, and as he would be doing the majority of the "heavy-lifting" work wise, I took his word for it. And it probably made more sense as I was quite good at moving around our house  by this stage. But it did require a re-think of how to run tae day.
 First thing was to confirm the meal as Cold Meat and Salad. Much more sensible when Dec 25 can be a scorcher to have this rather than the full roast and trimmings. So we had ham, (cold) roast chicken and a roast pork, which was more because Hubby had become such a whizz with his pork and crackling that is seemed a shame not to share it with the family. I made a yummy (and healthy) quinoa salad that is made in layers and looked very festive with a  layer of baby spinach leaves and layer of chopped tomatoes. We did bow to tradition and have a Christmas pudding for dessert (as my aunt makes a fantastic one), but I also whipped up a Christmas ice cream (with nutmeg and brandy), and we had a fruit platter as well (not the Christmas tree ones I had seen online -maybe I'll do that next time...)

  Next up were the decorations. The last time I hosted, I had gotten very excited and done the full Christmas table set up, with decorations and bonbonierre for each guest.

 I think it took me about an hour to set that table, not including the baking and boxing up the cookies in the noodle boxes!
 This year I went for simplicity and a Serve Yourself mentality. Instead of the full table set-up, I had all the plates on a separate table, and I had bundled up a set of cutlery with a napkin and cracker and placed them on each table.: the theory being that each guest could grab their plate, fill it and sit anywhere at the table and go from there.

This year's more streamlined table

 But I still wanted something for my guests, as much to say "thankyou" for helping out and putting up with a more low-key Christmas. After the gingerbread was so well received at work, I though that could be the magical Simple-but-Effective again.  I was going to make individual gingerbread men for everyone, but realized that would mean about 2 batches to make and roll and cook and decorate. I did find a smaller gingerbread man cutter, but, as a few family members have 6 letters in their name, I knew it would be a tight squeeze. So I settled for my favorite shape (which is luckily still Christmas themed) - stars.

  This meant every guest that was coming to our house on Christmas Day had their own gingerbread star that they could eat whenever thy liked, or take home for a quiet Christmas night cuppa.

Christmas breakfast table

 So how did my one-legged Christmas Day go? Wonderfully well. Sons 1 and 2 were great little helpers, getting things out of cupboards and moving things into place. Hubby dutifully completed the list of tasks that seemed to keep extending as he neared the end. Family brought delicious food and helped out with serving and tidying up and it was a lovely relaxing fun day, just like I had hoped it would be.

 And it now gives me just under 1,100 days to plan and get creative for the next time I host Christmas!

Easter Feaster

  And so another full-moon-after-the-equinox has passed, leaving in its wake a deluge of chocolate eggs, random pieces of foil, empty Hot Cross Bun bags (I didn’t get around to baking any this year – for shame!) and a few unwanted kilos (or is that just me??). Regular readers will note that the four-day long weekend is traditionally a time for The Making of Fabulous Breakfasts; though I seemed to have missed writing about it last year. For those of you playing along at home,  I do remember making a Smashed Pea Bruschetta (with goats cheese and egg, from Donna Hay “Simple Dinners"), which will be getting a revisit when all of the peas Hubby has planted around the place over the last few weeks start producing (he was inspired by Verge Gardening, and our car port now has little pots and stakes all around the place); as well as Huevos Rancheros, which was a Mexican tomato-capsicum stew concoction, into which you cracked a couple of eggs which cooked in the mix. Quite tasty but don’t try and freeze the leftovers to reuse at a later stage; thawing is not its friend.

 This year’s Feaster started on Good Friday with “Baked Egg Cups” (from Delicious magazine) which were like a deconstructed egg and bacon pie: a blind baked mini tart case lined with prosciutto and filled with egg and baked in the oven. It was supposed to be finished with a drizzle of truffle oil, but although I had sourced it at my local gourmet grocer, I hadn’t gotten back to buy it! (there was no way I was going to the shops on the day before Good Friday!). And I hadn't decided whether black or white, or australian or French truffle oil would be best (decisions decisions!!).  So I served it will a bit of aioli on the side; which is my stand-by condiment for everything these days! For the record, the only thing it hasn’t improved was quesadillas (I had forgotten the sour cream – despicable!)

 This recipe was quite easy to make but was a little bit time consuming, it lost points for not being able to roll out of bed and have it on the table in 10 minutes: I got up and got the sheet of pastry out of the freezer, went for a walk while it defrosted, then blind baked the pastry while I was in the shower, and baked the filling while getting table set and such. If you really wanted the extra sleep you could probably bake the pastry the night before and put it together in the morning; which I will probably do next time as it was quite delicious (and looked quite cool) – Son 2 was also a fan!

 Easter Saturday missed out on Cooked Breakfast as I have a gym class on Saturday mornings so it’s more like Brunch by the time I get back. I did try a variation on my blueberry quinoa porridge (I was too hungry to wait the 15 minute simmering time) using rolled oats in the microwave. Which didn’t work. Which is good to know!

 Easter Sunday was “Fetta Fritters with Roast Capsicum and Tomato Salad” (Delicious Mag again) – you’ve got to love a title that leaves nothing to the imagination. This was definitely not a roll-out-of bed and throw it on the table breakfast option! Firstly you had to roast the tomatoes for an hour (which I did the night before), grill the capsicum so you could peel it, and double-crumb your fetta (with a 15 minute chill period). But it wasn’t too fiddly, just time consuming. And very yummy.

The fetta fritters were really tasty; and I imagine haloumi done the same way would be equally as delicious. The salad was really light and I am planning on making this again but as more of a bruschetta brunch; adding more basil and some red onion to the salad, and then having smaller bite-sized fetta fritters on the top – mmmmmm.

 By Easter Monday I had just about gone through my stash of To Cook breakfast receipes, and I thought that by this stage I would be a bit over preparing and fiddling first thing in the morning. So I stuck to an old favourite, “Smoky Ham, Egg and Jarlesberg sandwiches” (another detailed title!). This was from a receipe book called (strangely enough) “Breakfast” (from Marie Claire) that I got for Mother’s Day about 5-6 years ago. Hubby was a bit sheepish in giving it as he felt it was asking me to make breakfast for him, on the day when I should have got breakfast in bed. But he of course was wrong, I loved it and I have used it many times over the ensuing years. It has given us “Scrambled eggs with salmon on croissants” (or with ham for me, the non-smoked salmon eater), and “Fried haloumi, rocket and tomato sandwiches”, as well as classics such as Eggs Benedict, Croque Monsieur and many variations of pancakes. But this was a favourite, mostly due to its simplicity, plus the fact that I usually had all the ingredients in the fridge. I do try to have a nice solid bread such as pasta dura, and after frying an egg and putting it all together (with a slurp of Dijon mustard,) it gets toasted in the sandwich maker and voila !

 So before I sign off I’ll just let you know about another awesome breakfast that came my way via the " Hot Food” section of Epicure (in The Age) – F.A.T, which stands for Fetta, Avocado and Tomato. This delightful combo was one I had been moving towards over the past few years;  I had replaced butter with avocado as a spread on salad sandwiches a few years ago, and a BLT was always my meal of choice when working at Johnny Rockets (with Red Red sauce of course!). The combo of salty, creamy and tangy works so well. Our preferred method of F.A.T ingestion is to smash up an avocado, add some S&P and basil or mint, pop that on a piece of toast, crumble over some fetta (Greek or Persian, whatever you have handy) and top with chopped cherry tomatoes (and a bit of onion if you feel like it) – divine, no cook and healthy (ish) breakfast in less than 10 minutes

Happy breakfasting!

Breakf(E)aster

 Breakfast - “The Most Important Meal of the Day”.

 Well, it is for me. I’m not one of those. “Oh! It’s 11:00am and I haven’t eaten anything yet” kind of people. If I don’t get something substantial to eat fairly early on in the morning, I do not function (well, even less than usual). 

 Growing up, I was always a cereal and toast kind-of girl (with crumpets on the weekend!). 

It took a trip to the States to open my eyes to the many options that breakfast can offer. In a suburban house in Baltimore, I was served French toast with ‘breakfast bacon’ (which as far as I could tell, was just normal bacon which had been cooked ‘til it was so crispy it just about shattered when you tried to cut it), and maple syrup on the side. Totally bizarre to have sweet and savoury on the one plate but totally amazing. I loved it at first bite , and it became my go-to ‘seedy morning after’ breakfast for many years.

  One thing I love about breakfast, is that you can have a lovely and special meal together  with someone and still have the rest of the day to go and be productive (or not, as your day may decree). 

 Or head off to work, and with a hubby in retail this can happen often. It can be quite frustrating going to work when everyone else is relaxing, and often the majority of people at shopping centres on public holidays are those that can’t think of anything better to do (“drongos” was the term I think he used). Thus, the prospect of working over Easter was one I knew he would not be relishing. So in an attempt to send him off in a better mood, I thought I would use the days to try out a few new breakfast recipes.

 We got a copy of “Jamie’s America” by Jamie Oliver a few years ago and it has become one of my favorite recipe books. In fact, I have only had one ‘failed’ recipe in over 30 dip-ins  (the aforementioned cookies-that-congealed-into-one-large slice-like mess). It is divided up into areas, such as New York, Louisiana, Wild West and has recipes for things you’ve heard of in American films and TV shows (but were never quite sure what they were) like grits, collard greens and peach cobbler. I had been going pretty well working through my Things To Cook List, but had about 6 breakfasts to try, so culled it down to three and off we went.

Good Friday started with “Scrumptious Navajo Brekkie” (I do love the way Jamie names and writes his recipes). This was a whole heap of bacon and thinly sliced potato cooked up, a few eggs  thrown in to scramble the whole thing together, and then served on a flatbread/tortilla. Very hearty and substantial (we both felt we needed a nap after eating it) and would be perfect cooked over a fire around a campsite.

 If you’re into that kind of thing.

 My vegetarian sister-in-law stayed over on Saturday night which meant Easter Sunday morning was “Beautiful Breakfast Tortillas” – scrambled eggs with spring onion, which you then put in a tortilla with guacamole, tomato, cheese and a bit of fresh coriander (we didn’t add the hot sauce as I am a bit of a hot/spicy wuss, but the coriander still gave it a nice kick). Son 2 loved it as well, happily stealing bites in between mouthfuls of chocolate Easter egg. Not a sweet n’ savoury combo I’d recommend but at least he was trying new things!

 Anzac Day had us going Jewish (which maybe should have been done on Good Friday?) with Potato Latke Breakfast (a surprisingly textbook title from Mr Oliver). Latkes are a kind-of Jewish hash brown/potato pancake, and they were served with a poached egg on top. Son 2 again loved it and stole half, and I learned the right way to make a poached egg (my hubby’s) and the wrong way (mine).  I knew that poaching an egg in boiling water (and not those weird egg cup thingies) was a bit of a fiddle and so was prepared for the worst. I think I lucked out with the first egg, getting it all out in one dollop, and got a bit cocky/distracted with number two, which was kind of poured in from a height and in the end resembled a science experiment gone wrong. I put it down to years of pouring eggs  carefully to separate the whites and yolks, but at least I learned the ‘wrong’ technique early on!

 It all still tasted good – just lost points on presentation.

 So three from three with Jamie’s Easter Breakfast fest, and I’m looking forward to when I can attempt Mexican Breakfast (which seems like a thick tomato-salsa-esqe sauce with eggs cooked into it)  and Cowboy Scrapple, which I think is a bit like breakfast bubble n’ squeak to use the leftovers from last nights’ dinner.

 And it uses ‘grits’.

 Awesome.