Spicy Chai Latte

This is sure to put the fire in your belly!
We love to have this and drink in all it's exotic spiciness...very nice and one of my favourite drinks ( besides a good strong coffee...! )


4 tsp loose leaf black (or green) tea
2 C water
thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
6 green cardamom pods
6 black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 star anise
½ C milk
honey or sugar to taste


Place ginger, cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves and star anise into the mortar and pestle and give them a little crush, just enough to split and crack everything. This will make the flavours infuse better.
Place spices into a little pot with the black tea leaves and the 2 cups of water, bring to the boil on a medium-high heat.
Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until highly aromatic.
Remove from heat.
Now at this stage, I will froth the milk using my coffee machines steam nozzle...but you don't have to froth the milk, still tastes just as good! Add milk to tea infusion.
Strain into two moroccan style tea cups and add sugar or honey to taste.

A Big Ol' Pot O' Soup..

Waking up this morning to grey, threatening clouds - put me in the mood for some soup...any type really, I love soup.

So I went with a minestrone type soup...very nourishing and my daughter loves it, my son though, well he is fussier so what I do for him is, blitz his up so it is a puree consistency and then I cook him up some pasta and it is poured over the top like a pasta sauce. Then, my inner peace is restored - knowing he has eaten a few veggies...ahh kids...and all I can think is, "Hey better than McDonalds!" cacca crap...

Usually, when I make soup with beans in it, I like to soak them overnight, but I always have a few cans of beans ready to go in the pantry too..so this time, I used tinned beans and also, use a tin of good quality, Italian tinned tomatoes...none of this homebrand crap..they gotta be Italian.

1 large brown onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
drizzle of good olive oil
1½ litres of vegetable stock
1 400g can diced tomatoes
1 400g can of borlotti beans
¼ C peas
½ C risoni pasta (or any other soup pasta)
sea salt flakes (mine is from the Indian Ocean in Western Australia ♥)
cracked black pepper


Prepare and chop all vegetables.



Drizzle some olive oil into your pot.

Add all the onion, garlic and veg and saute for approx. 5 minutes, until veg soften and onion goes opaque.





Add the tin of tomatoes, stirring through and then the S&P and stock.








Bring soup to the boil, and then reduce the heat until it is simmering

Allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Add peas, borlotti beans and pasta.








Cook until pasta is al dente.

Dish up...I like to serve it with a mound of freshly grated parmesan in the middle and some cute little basil leaves, the hot soup melts the parmesan into a big cheesy goo and then the aroma of the basil just leaves you begging to eat this soup!

The Wackiest Products To Keep You Cooking!

Hahaa..this link is sooo funny you HAVE to read it!

http://inventorspot.com/the_wackiest_products_to_keep_you_cooking

My new kitchen toys !!

About a month ago now, I went and bought a new Kenwood "Patissier" benchtop mixer...my Sunbeam Mixmaster just doesn't cut it anymore..it couldn't keep up with my doughy demands. I LOVE my new toy!!! And this pretty funky ice cream scoop, I just think it is the cutest thing, don't you??

Custard Yoghurt Cake

This is one very moist cake, perfect for afternoon tea!!


Give it a try, I am sure you will like it. I love the addition of custard powder as it makes the cake nice and yellow and happy :)

• 150g butter, room temperature
• 3/4 C caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 C SR flour, sifted
• 1/3 C custard powder, sifted
• 1 C plain Greek style yoghurt
• 1/3 C toasted almond flakes
  

Icing:

• 1 C icing sugar mixture, sifted
• 20g butter, softened
• 1/2 orange, juiced

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Lightly grease your cake pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
4. Fold in sifted flour and custard powder alternately with the yoghurt. Stir until mixture is just smooth.
5. Pour mixture into cake pan, smooth surface.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool in pan, turn out onto wire rack.

Make icing:

Combine icing sugar, butter and juice in a bowl and stand the bowl in a sink partially filled with warm water to assist the butter to melt. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cooled cake. Sprinkle with toasted, flaked almonds and allow to set.

Panettone Glassato - Glazed Panettone

Panettone -I loved this as a child and even now, as an adult..I remember Mum buying it when we were kids, mainly around Christmas as it is a traditional Italian Christmas cake...so light and delicious. We were always excited when she would buy this, time to all sit around the table and enjoy a piece, as we listened to her reminisce about when she used to eat it as a little girl in Rome.

for the starter:

1/3 cup milk, lukewarm

1 envelope (7g) active dry yeast

1/2 cup (70g) plain flour

for the dough:

6 Tb (85 g) butter, room temp.

1/2 teaspoon salt

60 g sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

2 cups (280 gr) flour

60g raisins

60g candied orange peel (I omitted this)

for the glaze:

60g almond meal

60g caster sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1 egg white

60g flaked almonds

icing sugar, for dusting

Preparing the starter:

In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the milk.

Stir the yeast mixture into the flour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise for about 45 minutes. It should triple in volume. I like to use the microwave with door shut...it is kinda like a bakers prover only a mini-version lol...

Preparing the dough:

When the starter is ready, in a mixmaster with a paddle, place butter, salt and sugar. Beat lightly. Add vanilla and beat to combine.

Add one egg and 1/3 of the flour. Beat to incorporate.

Continue adding the eggs one at the time, alternating with the flour.

Beat this compound until smooth.

At this moment the starter will be “spongy”, soft and fluffy. Add the starter to the mixer and beat to incorporate until smooth.

Combine the raisin and candied peel.

Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until double in volume, for about 2 hours.

When the dough is ready push it with your fist to let the air out.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it, folding it on itself several times.

Transfer the dough to a 9 inch buttered spring-form pan. Press the dough lightly toward the edges, to cover the bottom evenly. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise for about 2 hours. The dough will rise to the edge of the pan.

Preparing the glaze:

Preheat oven 375 F (190 C).

Place the almond meal and sugar in a bowl. Add cornstarch and egg white.

Stir to combine.

Finishing the cake:

When the dough is ready pour the glaze on top.

Spread it evenly on the cake. Don’t press on the surface of the cake to avoid deflating it.

Sprinkle the flaked almonds on the top.

Top evenly with icing sugar.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the surface is golden and swollen.

Open the side of the pan, running a knife along the edges if necessary.

Transfer to a rack to cool.

The panettone can be stored wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

Where has the time gone?

WOW I cannot believe it has been so long since I posted here, so I thought it would be an appropriate time for a revamp, open up the curtains and brush away the cobwebs!!...

I have been super busy, cooking still, yes, and loving it as always but just sooooo slack when it comes to bloggin' about it - with the kids keeping me occupied, my busy household and my work from home design thing I have on the boil - well, I don't have much time left for me to blog on! Buuuutttt I am really going to make a stellar effort from now on, you'll see ;) and if I slack off, well I will be hoping you all will gimme a swift kick in the behind lol!

Good to be back ((hugs))