Fish Tacos

Eggs Asian Style

mmm... Morning Muesli

Home made muesli is always way better than that store bought stuff that often tastes like cardboard and leaves you searching your bowl for any trace of the fruit or nuts that it promised you that it contained.  So I whipped up my own version packed with all the fruit and nuts I wanted – and you can use whatever combination you prefer.

I used: whole almonds, crumbed walnuts, pecans, chopped dried dates and dried plums. Whack them in a big bowl with a splash of olive oil, some oats, wheat flakes, cinnamon and allspice – as little or as much as you like.  Mix it all together, spread it on a baking tray and roast for about 1 hour on a low heat.  I was pretty paranoid that my $15 worth of ingredients were going to burn so checked and moved around my muesli every 10 minutes or so – even after an hour they were never close to burning so I’m guessing that this was totally unnecessary. 

On the same day, after watching 3 back to back episodes of “River Cottage” I decided to use one of the recipes I’d seen to go with my muesli – a simple apple compote.  You can use any cooking apples you want in pretty much any quantity.  

I used: 6 apples – peel them and cut off the flesh following the shape of the apple (you should end up with lots of thin curved strips)  Its important not to get any skin or husk in the compote as it will give it a really grainy, husky texture which is totally undesirable.  I was after nice smooth, smooshy goodness.  Once you’ve chopped all your apples layer them in a pot, add some lemon zest – again if you like it lemony add more, if not add less – 1tsp of brown sugar and ½ cup of water.  Cover and cook on a low heat for about an hour or until the apples are just starting to fall apart.

And as easy as that, buy some natural yoghurt and some fruit and you’ve got your breakfast for the next week and beyond – the compote will last 3 months in the freezer and as long as you keep the muesli in an air tight container you will have devoured it before it’s even thought about going bad.

Squid, Prawn and Chorizo Paella!

 This is the second time I have made Paella and much preferred keeping it simple and cheaper by only using squid, prawn and chorizo.

Afterwards we thought it would be a great idea to fill our after dinner Baileys with left over tiramusu.  We all slept very well this night.  

 Erin couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough!

Ha di Har!

Friends feasting

I'll use any excuse to be cooking the kitchen - honestly i'll use anything - but i asked myself.. why do I have to have an excuse? I dont - so I decided to make a feast for no reason and get my most favourite people around. 

We ate:

A beautiful cheese + dip plate courtesy of Joel's bother Dom who was visiting

Caramelized Onion, Olive and Roasted Grape Tomato Tart w/ Goats Cheese

Apple, Marinated Cheese and Walnut Salad

Erin's Sesame Haloumi Salad

Honey-Hazelnut Ricotta Tiramisu

We drank:

Champagne w/ Guava Nectar

Baileys w/ milk

Beer

Red Wine

Honey-hazelnut ricotta tiramisu

I first learnt to make tiramisu at home with mum who makes a beautiful classic version.

I wanted to give mine a bit of a different kick - hazelnut, cinnamon, honey... mmmm drool. 

 Frangellico is a hazelnut liquor, which i used instead of a coffee flavoured liquor, I've said 1 1/2 cups but feel free to be heavy handed - the more the better i say.

Instead of using marscapone I used ricotta and saved myself $7!!! - and honestly it made it better if anything!

Chicken souvlaki w/ eggplant chips

Ahhh yum!

This chicken souvlaki was pretty freaking good and was easy peasy to prepare!

Marinate your chicken in olive oil, oregano, dried mint, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and salt + pepper - chuck it in the frdge for as long as you can.

It will start to cook in the lemon juice and vinegar before it even hits the pan.

Sooo melty and tender.

Blooms

Chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday.

Thanks Erin! 

YUM!