Quick update!

Just thought I'd share a quick update on the state of the kitchen. It is now in process of being torn our and remodeled. Turns out I wont get everything I want, because that would be too big a job for the time allotted by the builders, but it will be improved. But at least it's starting to look like our house again. Not just a black pit from hell!!

Lucky Star's Kitchen Temporarily Closed

Well, it's been about two months since my last post, nearly three, but there is a good reason. On April 23rd we came home to find we'd had a house fire. It was only small, but there was extensive smoke damage to the whole house, which meant we had to move into temporary accommodation while repairs and cleaning were undertaken. Sadly we lost one of my three kitties after he was trapped inside and was overcome by smoke. I think that's been the hardest part for me.

As of today the cleaning has been completed, the builders should go in next week, and in six to eight weeks we should be home. Our kitchen is going to be completely demolished and replaced, due to the damage of the toxic, corrosive smoke. New oven, sink, dishwasher, cupboards, everything! In one way it's a positive because it'll be a brand new kitchen. On the downside, we're homesick and just want it finished.

So for the moment, until I'm home in my own kitchen again, my posts will remain minimal. I may update with changes as the building works commence and the new kitchen comes to life, but there may not be many recipes. My rental house kitchen is a bit small and the oven is rubbish. Sorry to anyone who may have become a follower. I'll try to be back as soon as humanly possible, builders and insurance company hold ups allowing. : )

Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Tonight I really felt like Swedish meatballs. We used to enjoy the ones you can buy and reheat from IKEA, but when my food intolerances began we soon found we couldn't eat them any more.  The meatballs were fine, but the sauce mix they sell is loaded with MSG and flavour enhancers, which make my skin itch and gives me a pounding headache.  Very disappointing... That was until I discovered a recipe for Swedish meatballs on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste. So, so very happy and grateful to have found a homemade alternative! And the best part is, I think it tastes 100 times better than the IKEA version.  I couldn't eat their meatballs now, even if I didn't have food problems; their texture seems all wrong, like that used scopes of dog food (sorry IKEA!) and my sauce has so much more flavour going on.  I've tweaked the original recipe from Skinny Taste to suit our tastes and to the products I can use, but it's still very similar. You can use whatever you like, I've just used products that work for me.

My hubby and I like to serve this recipe with oven-cooked chips, but it's also delicious served with mashed potato or you could serve it with your favourite pasta.  Cranberry sauce, or the more authentic Swedish Lingonberry Sauce, is optional, but we find that the sweet fruitiness of the sauce is a nice contrast against the savoury meat and cream sauce. 

I think this would be a good family meal. You could totally serve the cream sauce over mashed potatoes, sweet potato, roasted pumpkin, peas and corn... whatever your family prefers. You could also sneak more minced/grated veggies into the meatballs to trick your pick eaters into eating something healthy. I'm thinking next time some finely grated carrot and zucchini would both bulk these babies out and make them even more nutritious.  Even without the extra veg, they're still pretty guilt free, with a serve of meatballs and sauce measuring up at around 323 calories per serve. 

Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Serves: 4 (approx 5-6 meatballs per person)

500g Coles 5 Star Beef Mince

1 cup homemade breadcrumbs or Panko

1 whole free-range egg

1 medium onion, minced

2 sticks celery, minced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp allspice

1 - 1 1/2 Massel beef stock cube

1L warm water + 1/4 cup warm water

2 dessert spoons Philadelphia cream cheese spread, 80% fat free

2 dessert spoons cornflour

Start by putting your beef mince into a large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs (or Panko, your choice), egg, onion and celery, garlic and the allspice.  Time to get your hands dirty!  Roughly mix the ingredients together with your hands.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up meatball mixture.  Split in half, so you have a 1/8 cup sized serve, and roll into a neat ball.  Arrange on a plate or cutting board as you go until all the meat mixture is rolled into balls.  The mixture should make about 18 - 22 balls. 

Raw meatballs bathe on hot beef stock...

In a large, high-sized frying pan, add your litre of water and stock cubes.  Stir gently to dissolve the stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and gently add your raw meatballs, one at a time, being careful not to splash yourself.  It's easiest to start from the outside of the pan and work your way into the centre of the pan.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.  Don't touch the meatballs during the cooking time or they may break apart!

No longer raw, but cooked and tender. Set aside while you finish the sauce.

Remove the meatballs from the liquid with tongs and set aside in a covered bowl to keep warm. Keep the beefy liquid on the heat.  Add the Philadelphia cream cheese spread and whisk into the liquid.  Mix the cornflour with the 1/4 cup of warm water and add to the cheesy stock mixture, and whisk in.  Keep on a low heat, whisking as the sauce begins to thicken.  Remove immediately when it reaches your desired thickness, and serve over your meatballs and choice of side.

Thick creamy sauce, infused with the herbs and spices from the meatballs.

Load up your plate and enjoy!

Cream sauce smothering the oven chips.

Sweet cranberry sauce to go with my savoury, tender meatballs. Yum!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

I was inspired to make this after reading a similar recipe on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste, a couple of weeks ago.  My hubby loved this, apart from the broccoli... he's not a big broccoli fan. But he was willing to forgive it's presence in his dinner this time after smelling the whole thing cooking.  He was near salivating, watching the timer count down!  

This recipe is filling, tasty and pretty healthy, being low in fat - I worked it out to be 344 calories per serve. I was not well organised today, so it was a juggling act to get everything cooked and ready to go together. But I'm sure you won't have that problem. I think this is a dish the whole family will love... even picky eaters because the veggies are hidden in the delicious sauce. It may seem weird to top with rice crispy cereal, but I love the extra crunchy texture this gives the dish!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

Serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil

400g chicken tenderloin or breast

4 cups of cooked pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

1 cup raw broccoli, chopped

2 tbsp light olive oil spread

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup frozen chopped onion

1 cup low fat milk

2 cups hot water

1 Massel chicken stock cube

30g shredded parmesan

1/2 cup shredded pizza cheese (tasty, parmesan, mozzarella blend)

1/2 tsp ground sea salt

1/2 ground black pepper

1/4 cup rice crispy cereal, crushed 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (fan-forced) To start off cooking, boil your pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside in a bowl. 

Cut your broccoli into small bite-size pieces, including the stalks.  Boil in unsalted water until just tender. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop it cooking further, and set aside with the pasta. 

Brown chicken tenders or sliced chicken breast in a little olive oil over a medium heat.  Just until browned on the outside.  The chicken will finish cooking later in the dish.  If you're using chicken tenders, you can break them up into bite-sized pieces using a couple of forks at this point. Set aside.

Next, using the same large saucepan you used to cook your pasta and the chicken, melt the olive oil spread over medium low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of the salt, and sweat the onion until it starts to become transparent. Add the thyme and garlic and stir through.  Heat for a further minute or so.  

Take the pan off the heat and add the plain flour.  Stir this through the melted olive oil spread to start making a roux.  It should become a clumpy, gluey dough-like mixture. Return to low heat, stirring for a minute or so to cook out the floury taste. Add milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk together to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thick white sauce.  Crumble in the chicken stock cube and stir, then add 2 cups of hot water, one at a time, whisking in between to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thinner very chickeny flavoured white sauce.  Add the parmesan and about half of the pizza cheese, and stir to help it mix through as it melts into the sauce. My hubby got very excited at this point!

Now we begin to assemble to dish... Add the pasta and broccoli to the white sauce mixture.  Stir, then add the chicken and mix it through gently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then pour into a baking dish. Top with crushed rice crispies and the remaining pizza cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the top has gone golden. Serve and enjoy!

The finished dish

Full of juicy chicken and broccoli...

...and rigatoni smothered in a creamy cheesy-chicken sauce.

Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders with Chinese Five-Spice Barbeque Sauce

My husband LOVES chicken. The truth is, if he could, he would eat it every day, every meal, until he grew feathers and a beak. Wanting to try something a bit different tonight from the usual crumbed chicken, I went hunting on the internet and found this recipe. The smell of the tenders cooking is wonderful, warm and almost nutty from the spices and sesame seeds.  The five-spice powder smells just like a health food market my mother used to shop at when I was little. Warm and comforting. Combined with the barbeque sauce, the flavours are sweet, subtly spicy, a little sour and salty. The kind of thing one expects from most Asian-style cooking. 

Oven-Fried Chicken Tenderloins with Chinese Five-Spice Barbeque Sauce

Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders

3/4 cup Panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 large egg

1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1/2 tsp salt

400g chicken tenderloins

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan-forced).  In a large saucepan, toast Panko and sesame seeds over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until golden, stirring frequently to ensure even heating. Transfer to a plate or bowl.

In a medium bowl, with a wire whisk or fork, mix egg, five-spice powder and salt until foamy.

Dip the tenderloins in the egg mixture, then in the crumb mixture to coat. Place the tenderloins on a baking tray and cook for 13 to 15 minutes, or until they've lost all pink colouring throughout. Do not turn over while cooking. 

Crispy, golden crumbed tenderloins...

Chinese Five-Spice Barbeque Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 gluten-free Worcestershire sauce

While the tenders cook, in the same saucepan used to toast the Panko and sesame seeds, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and cook 8 to 10 minutes, or until soft and lightly browned. You can add a pinch of salt to stop the onion browning too much.  Remove from heat; stir in tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and five-spice powder.  Return to a low heat to warm the sauce through.  Pour sauce into a small bowl and serve with the cooked tenderloins. 

Barbeque sauce... sweet, spicy saucy goodness!

And this is the finished product!

Together at last, golden crumbed chicken tenders with delicious barbeque sauce.

Serve with a nice salad on the side, or if you're feeling a little more decadent, serve with oven-bake chips, and dip away at that warm barbeque sauce. 

A twist on this recipe would be to use chicken breast sliced into "fingers" and serve as finger food at your next party. 

Homemade Meat Lovers Pizza, Including Pizza Dough

So, yesterday my hubby decided he wanted pizza for dinner, which was all good with me because I'd been craving pizza for about a week! We just used our favourite meats, but you could put any topping you like on yours.  Sliced chicken breast, bacon, onion and pineapple with a barbeque base is a nice alternative, or you could throw all your favourite vegies on there. My dough instructions are for a bread machine, but if you don't have one, check out my notes at the bottom of this post to find out how to make pizza dough without the aid of a machine.

Pizza Dough

4 cups of bread flour

1 cup luke warm water + extra 1/2 cup

1 tsp dry yeast

1 tsp white sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 olive oil

1 tsp dried Italian herbs

Put ingredients into your bread machine according to your machines instructions. Mine calls for the liquid first. Put in a cup of water, then the flour and other dry ingredients on top.  Set to a dough only setting and start mixing.  Check it as it goes.  Depending on your flour you may need to add more water.  I've been using Wallaby brand flour, which seems to need more water. But check it and see how you go. If the dough looks too dry and crumbly and not coming together, then add a bit more water, about a tablespoon at a time. With my dough, it sounded a bit sticky after the water went in (by that I mean it was making squidgy noises as it was mixing!), but came together perfectly in the end. You might find you need to get in there with a spoon to make sure everything comes together when you're adding the water... sometimes dough just needs a little encouragement, you know.

The completed dough...

Once your machine goes BEEP to let you know it's done mixing and proving your dough, turn it our onto a floured bench top. Divide into equal parts.  We like thin crust and get four large bases out of this mix. If you prefer thick crust, you could just divide it in half to make a thicker base. 

Divide by pinching to two, then pinch those into two again and so on.

Once you've divided it up, it's time to get your rolling on!  The trick to rolling out even shaped and sized pizza dough is not to move the rolling pin all around.  Instead, turn the dough and keep rolling straight ahead of you. It sounds like such a little thing, but it works. 

When the dough has reached the right size and thickness it's time to line your pizza tray.  Flour the tray with a little flour before putting your pizza base down... but not too much, you don't want your pizza to taste floury! Take a fork and gently make holes evenly over the base.  I find this helps to stop it getting big air bubbles in the base when it bakes.  Then you've come to the creative part... adding your toppings! Yay!! 

The finished rolled out base. Time to get cooking!

Meat Lovers Pizza Toppings

Makes enough for 2 large pizzas

4 tbsp "pizza" tomato paste (we use Leggos "Pizza" sauce with garlic and herbs)

1 cup cheese (any shredded cheddar or tasty blended with mozzarella works well)

100g shaved leg ham

4 thin slices parma ham (also known as prosciutto)

50g thinly sliced chorizo

50g thinly sliced pepperoni

Assembly is pretty much as you would imagine...  Start by gently spreading the tomato paste over the base with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle on most of your cheese.  Then arrange your meats.  We start by tearing up the ham first.  Then add the sliced chorizo.  Add the rest of the cheese.  Then we finish by tearing up the parma ham and adding the pepperoni.  

Topped with cheese, ham, chorizo, parma ham so far...

And now with some spicy pepperoni to give it a little kick!

Bake in a moderate oven, around 180 degrees Celcius, for about 15 minutes. We ended up with a crisp base and perfectly golden toppings.  Slice up and enjoy!  

The finished product!

Now doesn't that look delicious? All crispy and golden and full of meaty, cheesy goodness...Ready for nomming!

** Note** We're lucky enough to have a bread machine to do all the work for us in making the dough.  Even if you don't have a machine you can still make this.  You'll just have a little more work ahead you... Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until it comes together as a rough dough. It works best if you use your hands to mix.  Then tip it out onto a floured bench top and knead away until glossy smooth. This is done by pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your palm, then bringing it back to you, turning the dough as you go.  Then put into a bowl, cover with cling wrap and a put it somewhere warm to rise for an hour to an hour and a half. Near a sunny window, but not in direct sun, is good.  The dough should double in size.  Knock it down a bit, divide up and start rolling out your base.  Easy!  If you're still a bit confused how it works, check out YouTube, there'll be an awesome tutorial video of how to make dough by hand.

If you can't find bread flour at your local supermarket, don't stress.  You can use ordinary plain flour.  The only difference is bread flour is ground a bit finer.  But the results shouldn't be too much different.

If you're having a pizza party with friends or family making their own individual pizzas, then you could divide the dough up into eight to ten smaller bases. Same if you have children who want to help you cook their own pizzas.  

Also, you can freeze what you don't want to use immediately by putting it into individual snap-lock bags.  Just defrost in the refrigerator for a few hours before you want to use it.  We used half the dough now and froze the other half this time. If you're storing for a party or to use as smaller bases for one person, you could roll the dough out ahead of time and store in the fridge or freezer between layers of grease proof paper wrapped in cling wrap. It should keep happily in the fridge for a day or so, and in the freezer I find it's fine for about a month (mind you, it never stays in there longer than that at our house!!). 

If you're curious any specific products I used in this, just ask me. : )

Homemade Cottage Pie

This recipe is something I threw together on a whim to see if I could replicate the Maggi Cottage Pie mix that Hubby used to enjoy.  Hubby said the meat mixture I made was beautiful and was so good he'd be happy to just have it on toast anytime.  That's a pretty big compliment from Mr Picky!  The potato is smooth and creamy, while the meat mixture is rich, lightly spiced and slightly tangy.  And I don't know about you, but I find making mashed taties very comforting and theraputic after a hard day!  A hearty meal for a cold night, and one that both young and old will enjoy.

Homemade Cottage Pie

Homemade Cottage Pie

Serves: 6

Mince:
1 tbsp olive oil
500g heart-smart beef mince
1/2 cup frozen peas, carrots and corn
1/2 cup frozen chopped onions
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 cup water
3 tbsp Massel Supreme gravy powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt + a pinch
1 Massel beef stock cube

Potato:
5-6 large potatoes
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup low fat tasty cheese (for topping)


To cook mince:
Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Over a medium-low heat, add onions. Sweat but do not colour.  To stop onions browning, add a pinch of salt. Add minced garlic. Stir into the sweating onions. Add mince, cooking until browned.

Turn heat up to medium. Add tomato paste and stir through the mince and onion mixture. Heat through to "cook" the paste. Add the canned tomatoes, mixed vegies, salt, pepper, dried thyme leaves and paprika, and stir again.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Add water and crush up the stock cube as you add it in.  Stir into the tomato mince mix.  Add the gravy powder one spoon at a time, cooking in between. This will help thicken the mince mixture. Cook for another 5 minutes, until thickening, then remove from heat.

To cook potato:
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. 

Peel and chop the potatoes into even sized chunks. Cook until fork tender.

Take off the heat and carefully drain off the hot water.  In the warm saucepan add butter or margarine to the hot potatoes.  Add half the milk and start mashing!  Add more milk as you go to make a nice smooth mash.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Using a whisk, whip your mash until it's light and fluffy and completely smooth. 

To assemble to the meal:

Pour the mince mixture into a ovensafe baking dish. Gently spoon the potato mash over the top of the mince, and spread out with a fork.  Spread it out as rough as you like - some spikey bits with make for a nice crispy texture on top. Spinkle with tasty cheese, and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius (fan-forced) for 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden and melted.  

Baked and golden...

And deliciously ugly, hehe.

*Note* I was a little naughty with mine this time. I was in a hurry and in the dish pictured I used Edgell instant mashed potato to top the mix.  All previous times I have used real mashed potato, which always tastes a million times better!  But this is a handy option when you're pushed for time, and the Edgell instant mash at least tastes fairly close to real thing when you add milk, butter and a little salt and pepper.

Apricot Chicken in the Slow Cooker

This post was inspired by my old school friend Holly.  She contacted me recently for a recipe for Apricot Chicken to use in her new slow cooker.  This was an untested recipe I had on file.  While Holly tested it out at her house I decided to give it a go with my homemade French onion soup mix.  It turned out sweet and tasty, with a nice hint of spice.  Hubby went back for more, which is always a good sign he liked it.

Apricot Chicken and Brown Rice

Apricot Chicken Recipe 

500g chicken (breasts or thighs)

400ml apricot nectar

1 packet of French onion soup (or my homemade mix if you're MSG free)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 400g can apricots, drained

Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Put the chicken into the slow cooker, followed by the other ingredients and stir until well mixed.  Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. 

Serve with brown rice and vegetables - anything you like! 

Now doesn't that look good? Just like a golden sunset in a bowl!

Hmm, sweet, spicy apricot sauce... *Homer drools*

 

*Note* If the sauce is a little thin, mix 1 tablespoon of cornflour with about a 1/4 cup of water until smooth, then add to the dish.  Mix through and allow to cook out for a few minutes.  When you go to serve the sauce should cling to your chicken a little better.   

I didn't add extra vegies this time, testing it out on a picky hubby. Next time I think some peas or green beans, or some strips of red capsicum would be nice, added in 30 minutes or so before serving so they don't break down too much.  You could also add a handful of chopped dried apricots to add a more intense apricot flavour and chunkier texture. My canned apricots broke down to almost a jam-like consistency. 

Homemade French Onion Soup Mix

As anyone with MSG sensitivity knows, when you can't eat that stuff anymore you have to get creative to make full flavoured foods.  This can seem hard when you've been so used to using pack mixes to speed things up in the kitchen.  But once you know how to read labels, you know what the nasties are to look out for and also find the delicious things that give you back the flavour you've been missing.  Get back to basics and head to the spice aisle!

One of the things I really missed when my MSG sensitivity first began was potato bake.  Our friend Tracy makes to most delicious, mouth-watering potato bake for family barbeques.  It's creamy, it's cheesy, the potatoes are tender and melting... I'm salivating just thinking about it.  But sadly, the recipe she uses calls for French onion soup mix.  That's right!  That little sachet of powdered soup from the supermarket.  All of these innocent looking packets contain Flavour Enhancer 621, code name for MSG.  This may sometimes be switched around with Flavour Enhancer numbers 627, 631 or 635.  The other three are artificial versions of MSG, called Ribonucleatides, which can be even more menacing (Google the E635 and pick the Fed Up With Food Additives website for more info).  Anyway, I was missing things like this, so I went hunting for an alternative that was safe for me to eat.  This is a recipe I have found and used successfully in place of the commercially made French onion soup mix. I hope you find it useful too.

Homemade French Onion Soup Mix

Ingredients:

3/4 cup dried minced onion

2 Massel brand beef stock cubes (see notes)
4 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon pepper


Method:

Put all ingredients into a resealable sandwich bag, adding the stock cubes last. Press out most of the air as you seal the bag, and then rub the ingredients together, being careful not to tear the bag in the process.  Do this until the stock cubes are broken down and evenly mixed into the dry ingredients.

Makes the equivalent of one packet of French onion soup mix. Store in an air tight container until needed.  Flavours will infuse and the mix will taste better after being stored for a couple of days.  

To make up as a soup, add to a 1L of water. Bring to the boil.  Serve with toast, with or without butter or melted cheese.  Enjoy!

French onion soup mix, with roasted onions from IKEA.

*Note* I use Massel brand stock cubes because they are the only ones I have found that don't list the above E numbers, MSG, anything hydrolysed or "natural flavours".  They do contain yeast extract though, which can form free MSG when combined with salt at high temperatures, so if you're super sensitive you may want to avoid these too.  For some reason I seem to be OK with them.  I'm yet to have a reaction.  Hopefully it stays this way... I'm can't imagine not having a stock of some sort in my pantry!

An alternative I found to using the dried onion flakes from the spice aisle is roasted onions from IKEA, RONSTAD LOK. They have a pungent onion aroma as well.  I used a mix of both onion flakes and the roasted onions in the mix pictured above. 

Chocolate Shortbread

After receiving some disappointing shortbread for Christmas, by request of my hubby, today I made chocolate shortbread.  These were super easy to make and would taste great with a coffee at morning tea!  The best part is you just use things you'd normally keep in the cupboard, without the need to buy rice flour like many recipes need.  

Chocolate Shortbread

110g plain flour

40g Bournville cocoa

50g sugar

100g soft butter

2 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Sift flour and cocoa together into a large mixing bowl to make sure there's no lumps. Add the butter, sugar and vanilla essence, and mix together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.  Everything should come together as a crumbly dough. Now here comes the fun part!  Get your clean hands into the bowl and work the dough with your fingers until combined and smooth and all sticking together. 

Add all your ingredients to a bowl (not pictured - vanilla essence).

The dough should look like this when it comes together.

Lay some cling wrap out on your work surface.  Tip your cookie dough out on to the clip wrap and shape into a big fat disc.  Wrap up.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes or so, until firm.  

Wrap in cling wrap, and rest in the fridge.

Sprinkle your work surface with sugar and take out half of your dough.  Sprinkle a little more sugar on top.  Take a rolling pin and roll out about 3/4 of a centimetre thick.  Using cookie cutters cut out whatever shape you desire.  Alternatively, you could just take pieces of dough and roll into a ball, then flatten into a smaller fat disc to make round cookies. 

The pre-cooked dough.

Arrange your cut out dough on the baking tray.  Use a fork to make a pattern if you so desire, and sprinkle with extra sugar.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool.  Serve and enjoy!  

Serve and enjoy with your favourite hot beverage.

*Note* To make plain, vanilla shortbread, omit the cocoa and add 40g plain flour back in.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

This sweet, buttery cake was made for my sister-in-law Georgia's birthday yesterday (Happy birthday if you're reading Georgie!). The recipe comes from my favourite Nigella Lawson cookbook, Nigella Express.  It is very simple to make, and tastes so good, everyone will love it.  The cake is light and moist.  The tartness of the pineapple cuts through the sweetness of the cherries and the cake, giving it a nice balance.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

butter for greasing

2 tbsp sugar

6 slices of pineapple rings in juice, a 225g can is perfect,

   plus reserve 3 tbsp of the juice

glace cherries, approx 75g total

100g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, or 180 degrees if fanforced. Butter a non-stick cake pan measuring approximately 20 - 23cm in diameter.

Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base of the cake pan, and then arrange the pineapple slices to make a circular pattern, starting with one in the centre and working half slices around the outside.

Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.

Put the all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl with the butter, caster sugar and eggs.  Mix using electric beaters or a kitchen-aid if you're lucky enough to own one. The mixture will be quite thick, a bit like a soft biscuit dough.  Pour in the 3 tablesoons of pineapple juice one at a time, beating between each one, to thin it a little. The mixture should be smooth and a bit fluffy after this. 

Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will be just enough to cover it. Spread out very gently, being careful not to disturb the cherrys.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check at the 25 minute mark. If it's still jelly-wobbly in the middle then give it another 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.  Then ease a spatula or a thin knife around the edge of the pan to make sure your cake is nice and loose. Place a plate or cooking rack on top, and quickly flip it upside-down. Tap the bottom of the pan lightly to make sure your pineapple hasn't stuck, then remove the pan.  Voila! Upside-down cake! 

*note* I found the easiest way to get the butter soft enough for this was to leave it out overnight to soften.While soft and messy, this made it perfect for whipping up with the beaters, adding to the fluffiness of the cake. Also, other fruit can be used as an alternative. I've made it using dessert pears in chocolate sauce with cherries as well.

Ruby cherry jewels set amongst golden pineapple rings.

The results after visiting Georgia's house. All gone!

Happy New Year!

Hello and welcome to my new blog! I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, and with a new year beginning now seemed as good a time as any to begin.  

A little bit about me for those who don't know... I love to cook and love sharing my food with friends and family.  I get a little bit of a buzz seeing people enjoy the food I've created and put my love and energy into.  I'm probably not the most skilled cook, but I'll give most things a go and enjoy myself doing it. 

Before Christmas we were listening to the radio on the way to work, when they had TV chef and food writer Anna Gare on to talk about ideas for making it an easy but special Christmas meal. During this time she was telling the announcers her husband calls her a Foodiac because she wakes up thinking about food and is always thinking of things to do with food.  I think this label may apply to me too.  I sadly spend a lot of time thinking about what to cook and what flavours would work together. 

This preoccupation with food may partly come from the fact that my husband and I are what most would call "picky eaters".  Sometimes I think it would be easier to list what we can/will eat than what we can't/won't. Part of this pickiness on my part has come from having a parent who would either burn the dinner in the oven or boil things like vegetables within an inch of their life so that they were mushy and lifeless by the time they hit the plate.  I would like to think I haven't carried on this trait!  Eating dinner at friend's houses as a child was an adventure - food had a life to it that I didn't know at home. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and I wasn't game to try to many things for fear they'd taste horrible. It wasn't until I moved out of home and met people who knew how to really cook that I've gained the confidence to try new things.  My hat is off to you guys if you're reading this!

The other reason for the food preoccupation is because I have food intolerances to MSG (also knows as E number 621) and the similar artificial flavour enhancers, usually listed as E numbers 627, 631 and 635, which are sadly found in a great many items on the supermarket shelves.  My husband and I spend a lot of our grocery shopping time reading ingredients labels to ensure I will be ok.  It is only through trial and error we've been able to be sure I can eat certain products, and I've had to learn to be creative in the kitchen in order to make tasty meals again.  I would like to think this blog will help others like myself who have recently discovered they have similar intolerances. I know when it happened to me I went through a period of depression and despair at how I was ever going to eat and enjoy food again when so many of the things I loved had suddenly been taken away from me.  I was angry that my body was doing this to me.  (That could also have been the detox from the MSG that partly caused this moodiness - I swear, coming off the MSG was as bad as any drug addiction. Don't believe me? Watch Super-Size Me and see the dude's reaction to eating that food. That kind of euphoria during and just after eating, then swinging back to depression and feeling so ill could only be the addiction to MSG and toxic levels of it in the poor guy's system!).  If you're finding yourself in this situation, please try not to despair! I hope my tried and tested recipes will help you feel better about your new dietary needs and give you the courage to get out there and create something wonderful of your own.  :)

Now, without further ado, let's get cooking!