Dear Lovely Readers,

First up, a huge thank you to those of you who have been asking for an update! My trip to Melbourne was hectic to say the least. (Thankfully I ate LOTS of food to fortify me!) I came back to Toowoomba late last Wednesday and by Friday afternoon I’d landed myself a new job. So, in the midst of recovering from my trip, I’ve been gearing up to go back to work and then, actually going back to work. (For those of you who are interested – work is a part-time gig editing/updating a consulting firm’s research reports and marketing materials. Lots of desktop publishing!)

Unfortunately, my return to work means the end of daily updates here – at least for the time being. I’m aiming to update 2-3 times a week, and perhaps more frequently as I become more au fait with work and no longer come away feeling like my brain’s been through a juicer. There’s the Working Mum thing to get used to, as well!

I’ll be posting some highlights of my Melbourne trip this week, and then some recipes to come – soon!

Thanks for coming by.

Jo

To make beef and vegetable goulash pie, fry 500g beef mince and a cup each of chopped pumpkin, carrot and peas with an onion. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of paprika and 1/2 cup water. Season well with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish and top with either a sheet of puff pastry or mash potato, and bake.

I topped mine with mash potato, and added a touch of whimsy which I’m pretty sure the Little Miss would like.

I sprinkled paprika into a heart-shaped pancake/egg ring…

Voila!

Have a great week ahead and I’ll see you back here on Thursday.

Dear Lovely Readers,

On Thursday this week, I’ll be setting off on my own to Melbourne. We are going to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday on Saturday. My Ah Mah hasn’t been well of late and is in hospital on an extended stay. I’m feeling a bittersweet squeeze in my heart… Can’t help but wonder if this will be her last birthday. It’s an awful feeling. But I’m determined to focus on the positives.

We will be celebrating her birthday with a thanksgiving service, followed by an afternoon tea. I’ve offered to help with the catering and am oddly excited at the prospect of providing light refreshments for some 20-odd – oops, perhaps should I say – 20-plus people. So I will be busy organising that, and then having lots of family time once everyone arrives in Melbourne.

I’ve decided to take a break from blogging to focus on family. I’ll be taking photos and probably planning posts; but will be away from the blogosphere from Thursday 31 March. I’ll start posting again from Thursday 7 April.

Thank you for coming by each day – or every now and again – it’s always a pleasure to have you.

Jo

Creme brulee is that irresistible combination of crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside, and of soft vanilla accents amidst the bite of burnt sugar. It’s a dessert so simple and yet, so, so decadent. A whole little pot of cream, enriched with egg yolks and infused with vanilla, topped with caramelised sugar, for each person! Bliss!

There are many variations on this classic French dessert. Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut praline, Coffee Creme Brulee, Baileys Creme Brulee, Chocolate, Orange and Cardamom Creme Brulee… You’ll find a selection of those creme brulee recipes at http://www.taste.com.au/. (Just type in creme brulee in the search option.) I used the first recipe on that page, featured in Delicious Magazine. My variations on the recipe: I used a grill to burn the sugar, and the old thing wasn’t quite hot enough to completely melt the sugar – but it still caramelised and had a good crunch to it. Also, I used vanilla paste instead of vanilla bean.

Enjoy! 

Enjoy your weekend!

 Meatos

   Lamb Tagine 

    Beef and Cashew Stir fry    

    Creamy Pesto Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes    

Vegos

 Veggie Shepherds Pie with Sweet Potato Mash 

     Eggplant, Ricotta and Parmesan Bake 

  Vegetarian Phad Thai  

Dear Readers,

Today has been one of those days. I think I’ve sprained my brain – I guess brainstorming will do that – so this will be a short one.

I received a card from my lovely Yakky Sister-in-Law a couple of weeks ago. She saw the picture of the bowl of pears and thought of me, and wrote to tell me to hold out hope that my ‘writing dreams can come true if (I) keep writing, rattling doors and believing.’

It may take a word, a touch, a card, a gift. But if you see an opportunity to hold out hope to a loved-one today, please follow through and give a little of yourself to that person. That small gesture could be just the thing to help them get through, today or another day. Reading this card again gave me a much needed boost today.

Thanks, Sis! Love ya!

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Pics by Fidelis Rego, Curry Chef Extraordinaire

Since then, I’ve been craving chilli hits at almost every meal. It wasn’t enough to just have my mouth tingle, but I was after some serious burn. So with that in mind, I set off to make my own curry, from scratch, from whole spices.

Mmm…whole spices smell amazing! Especially when I bash away at it with a mortar and pestle! Then I realise that while it’s an exhilarating sensory experience, it takes a loooong time to reduce it to a fine powder. Time for some reinforcements…

Put them all in a spice grinder…exert myself by pressing a button for 2-3 seconds…look! Fine powder! 

I chose to make this curry because, it’s really quite a simple one (relatively speaking) to make. All it needs is spice, meat and coconut milk, and then a gentle simmer until the meat is tender. If you don’t want to use whole spice (and having to grind them), just substitute with ground/powdered spice. I served this curry with rice and a very simple, tangy carrot salad. The tangy carrot salad/relish is not something I’ve made before, but I think now that I will always have that with a curry. The cool, tangy carrot perfectly balanced the rich, spicy curry. Now I understand why Indians love pickles with their curry!

You’ll find a similar recipe to the one I used, here. Enjoy!

Dear Readers,

 I have a Joseph Joseph spaghetti server and a pair of sage green-tipped mini tongs to giveaway to one lucky – or rather, curious – winner! All you have to do is post a question(in the comments section) on a culinary conundrum, and the person whose question that I end up answering in a post will win the giveaway. Questions can be anything from – why are hamburgers called hamburgers, when there’s no ham in it? To - how is it that millions of people can eat MSG everyday and not suffer the dreaded Chinese Restaurant syndrome, ie headache and dry throat? Or, why is tomato sauce called catsup? Or, what’s the difference between cookies and biscuits? So go put your thinking hats on, and post me a lovely, juicy conundrum and I might just post you the prize.

Happy cooking and thinking about food!

Jo

Of course, the sensible thing to do would be to use a spoon rest…

But then you wouldn’t have an excuse to use a nifty gadget like this…

Once in a while, BBQ Man’s Dad breaks out of character and does something rather unexpected. (Like pocketing some interesting bouncing rocks from a national park, but we won’t get into that…) This weekend he coolly turned out 4 perfect pizzas as if he’s been making them all his life! They were so good that I ate far too many pieces and could barely move from the table. And looking at the pics now…groan…I want some for breakfast!! Thanks Dad, they were deeeelicious!

First up, grab yourself a ready-made pizza base. Squeeze a sachet of tomato paste on.

Swirl the paste around with the back of a spoon. When you get tired,

hand the task over to an eager assistant.

Top the pizza with assorted goodies…

such as pan-fried chicken breasts, cherry tomatoes, ham, fried red onions and mushrooms

Don’t forget the cheese!

Pop it in a hot oven until the cheese melts

Slice, top with baby spinach leaves and serve.

(I LOVED the spinach leaves, it gave a new and entirely delicious dimension to pizza.)

When can we come over for pizza again, Dad?

Actually, affogato means ‘drowning’ in Italian, and if you want a dessert that will have you drowning (as well as melting) with pleasure, this is the one for you. It’s quite possibly the easiest dessert to make ever, and one that does not sacrifice an iota of elegance in spite of its quick-n-easy-ness. If you’ve not come across one, affogato is simply a scoop of vanilla ice cream served with a shot of hot espresso poured over. What you end up with is soft, melting, sweetness in a pool of hot, hard-edged coffee. If you’re like me you’ll spoon that into your mouth with a distant look in your eyes… I serve affogato with a little (or a lot) of Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) poured in with the espresso, thereby lifting it from merely delectable to positively decadent. Enjoy!

Affogato

This easy recipe has no hard and fast rules. What I give here is merely a guide. You or your guests may prefer more or less ice cream or coffee…or liqueur!

Ingredients

Good vanilla ice cream (I make and use Jamie Oliver’s semifreddo)

Espresso shots or plunger coffee, unsweetened

Whipped cream, optional

Method:

Serve each person 1 scoop of ice cream (and dollop of whipped cream)  with 50-100ml hot coffee poured over

Add a tablespoon of liqueur if you like, or more!