Day 27: Blueberry Banana Coffee Cake

When I first saw this recipe I got a little excited #1 because I am a bit of a coffee addict and #2 because I like cake. Two of my favourite things in one; except that there was no coffee in the actual recipe. The only reason it's called coffee cake is because it goes perfect with coffee- which is good enough for me! I have an early 6am shift at work tomorrow morning so this is perfect to go with my morning coffee!

What you need:

-1 + 3/4 cup wholewheat plain Flour + 1 teaspoon

-5 tablespoons sugar

-4 tablespoons Butter, cold

-1 + 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon Cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

-2 eggs

-1 cup Banana, ripe, mashed

-1 + 1/2 cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen, do not thaw

-1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease an 8-inch square deep-sided baking pan.

2. Combine 3/4 cup of the flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two forks used scissor style until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. I found that this was the hardest step of the recipe, so I just got my hands into the mix (make sure you don't heat the butter up with your hands too much). Set aside 1/2 cup of the mixture for the topping.

3. Add the remaining 1 cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well. Add eggs and banana, mix just until incorporated, careful not to over mix.

4. Toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour. Stir them in with the walnuts. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle reserved topping evenly over top.

5. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

So delicious. It's perfect to have with your early morning coffee because it's not too sweet and has that whole-wheat kind of taste + blueberries for antioxidants and bananas for fibre. Nice and healthy...plus throw in your coffee and you've got a wonderfully tasty morning pick -me-up. 

Day 26: Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I feeling a bit under the weather, so the only thing i really felt like eating (and cooking) was soup. At first, even the thought of even cooking was making me tired, but once I got started, it actually felt quite therapeutic. I took my time with all the chopping and slicing which made the soup taste even better. 

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

• -2 tbs olive oil
• -1 medium onion, finely chopped
• -1 medium carrot, diced
• -1 large stick celery, thinly sliced
• -1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• -6 cups (1.5 litres) chicken stock
• -300g chicken breast fillets, diced (I used left over charcoal chicken from last nights dinner- even easier!)
• -50g dried asian noodles, broken into 5cm pieces
• -Thick wholegrain toast, to serve

How to make it:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add carrot, celery and potato and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
2. Add stock, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken and pasta, partially cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until pasta is tender.
3. Stir through parsley. Season to taste. Ladle soup into serving bowls and serve with wholegrain toast

MMM yummy in my tummy- making me feel so much better already. I couldn't believe how easy and quick it was to make! 

Day 25: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentines Day calls for learning how to finally bake Red Velvet. I've always been fascinated with red velvet, it just seems so mysterious and magical. It was only about a year ago when I tried my first red velvet cupcake- and I was hooked. It wasn't just the fact that it tasted quite different to what I was expecting ( I thought it would taste way too sugary and not as chocolatey) but the thought of eating something so brightly coloured...it kind of feels rebellious - the kind of food my mum would have banned me from as a kid so that my hyper-ness wouldn't get the best of me.


Here's what you need:
-2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
-50ml red food coloring (two bottles) or 4 oz beet juice (if you use unprocessed light cocoa you can leave out the food dyes and you'll get a warm red/brown color)
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 eggs, at room temperature
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
-1 teaspoon white vinegar
-1 teaspoon baking soda


How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350F). Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are about 3/4 full. I ended up with 24 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.
6. Enjoy!

Look how deliciously fluffy they are inside!! So great. Wish I could share them with my valentine, Patrick- but he is living in the states right now...so this recipe is dedicated to him! Love you...and these cupcakes. 

Day 24: Apple Cinnamon Muffins + Low Fat Chicken Nuggets

Please note...these two recipe's are separate, my cooking venture today wasn't some freaky apple chicken hybrid meal. Let me explain. Tonight I was needing some comfort food, and after driving past McDonald's on my way home from work, the mcnugget meal crossed the corner of my eye. Chicken nugget's have always been a favourite of mine. I'm pretty sure i had never tasted any other meal at maccas until I was about 14. Please don't judge me on my guilty pleasure. I know most chicken nuggets are packed full of yucky-icky bits of animals, but you can't deny their flavours. So tonight I decided to make my own healthy style chicken nuggets. Long story short...they pretty much sucked. My conclusion for tonight: chicken nuggets will never taste good 'healthy'. 
Which is where the apple cinnamon muffins came into the picture. To make up for my bland chicken, I baked- apple and cinnamon can never go wrong.


Here's where to find the chicken nugget recipe- who knows, yours might turn out better than mine!
Low Fat Chicken Nuggets

Here's how mine turned out- they don't look too shabby. Just tasted quite bland. I'm sure with a bit of good sauce they would be yummy!






Here's what you need to make the muffins:

• -Melted butter or margarine (optional), for greasing pan
• -300g (2 cups) plain flour
• -1 tbs baking powder
• -2 tsp ground cinnamon
• -150g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• -2 medium (about 375g) Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, chopped
• -125g (3/4 cup) seedless raisins
• -125g butter or margarine, melted, cooled
• -2 eggs, lightly whisked
• -185mls (3/4 cup) milk

How to make them:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare your ingredients. You will need 12 medium (125mls/ 1/2 cup) muffin pans. They are available in trays of either 6 or 12. Non-stick muffin pans are wonderful to use as they don't need greasing. If you aren't using non-stick pans, brush the pans with the melted butter or margarine to lightly grease. Alternatively, line the pans with paper muffin cases.
2. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large bowl. The baking powder acts as a raising agent and will help give the muffins a light texture. Stir in the brown sugar, apples and raisins until well combined.
3. Whisk together the butter or margarine, eggs and milk until well combined. Blending the wet ingredients before adding them to the flour mixture makes it easier to evenly combine the two.
4. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined. It is important that the ingredients are only just combined. If the mixture is over-mixed, the cooked muffins will have a tough texture.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin pans.
6. Bake the muffins in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. To test if they are cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of one - if it comes out clean, it is ready If not, cook for a little longer before testing again. When cooked, remove from oven and stand for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Letting them stand makes them easier to remove from the pans. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

These muffins were delicious. A little bit crunch but still moist and flavoursome. Absolutely adding to the mental cook book to remember for next time.

Day 23: Indian Lamb Riblets

So...tonight's recipe is completely random. I was having one of those day's where I wasn't craving anything in particular. Knowing that I had to cook something didn't make it easy on my indecisive mood. So I went to the freezer and checked to see what kind of meat was waiting for me. Lamb riblets- i've never tried those before...and i'm pretty sure i've never seen them raw either. I googled 'lamb riblets' and watched all the idea's pop up. Barbecued, spiced, honey-soy, smoked- you name it. But the one that jumped out to me was indian style riblets, by my friend Huey. If you couln't tell- I was being sarcastic, I can't stand the guy. For those of you who don't know who Huey is; he is a (large) australian chef with a horrible moustache and a terrible habit for talking with his mouth full. But, I sucked it up and gave him the benefit of the doubt.


What you need:
[Add all these together in step one]
- 1 tsp ground Turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tspn fennel seeds
- ½ tspn fenugreek seeds (I have no clue what these are, I didn't add those)
- 1 small cinnamon stick, broken up
- 1 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
-  2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp chilli paste
- vegetable oil


- 1 kg lamb riblets, trimmed 
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 can diced tomatoes ( I didn't seem to have any- so I just diced up two tomatoes)
- 1 - 2 cups chicken stock
-  Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
- 3 heaped tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- ¼ cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice


How to put it all together:
1.Preheat oven to 220°C fan forced (240°C normal). 
2. Mix all the dry spices with the ginger, garlic and chilli paste, adding a little oil if needed. Make sure its well mixed, you could even put it in a food processor to get it ground.
3. Using your hands, toss the riblets with the spice paste until well coated. Then put in an oven tray in one layer and cook in the oven for about 15-20 mins until browned. 
4. When the ribs are almost ready, heat a little oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan and gently sauté the garlic and onions until tender, stirring now and again. 
5. Add the tomatoes with about 1 cup chicken stock, quite a bit of salt and a little pepper. Stir and cook until the sauce has slightly thickened. Mine didn't thicken- I must admit I kind of freaked out at this stage. So, I grabbed a jar of curry paste from the cupboard and put about 3 tbs in to thicken it up. It worked well.
6. Then add the riblets to the pan, leaving any oil and fat behind. Stir to coat well with the sauce and add about 1 tbsp chopped coriander. Cover, turn the heat right down and simmer for about 20-30 mins until the lamb ribs are very tender, stirring now and again and adding more stock if needed. 
7. Combine the yoghurt with the remaining coriander and lime juice. Turn off the heat and stir through the yoghurt mixture. 
8. Serve the lamb with plenty of the sauce I plated it on top of some plain cous-cous. 

Mmmmm riblets- fun to say and eat! It was different to what I usually like eating, but it wasn't half bad. 

Day 22: Lasagne

So today was the day I cooked lasagne. My first lasagne...success. Lasagne is of course, one of my favourite Italian dishes. It seemed so complicated (and it was) so I've been putting it off. Well, It took about 2 hours all up to get it all done (i'm sure it will be easier and quicker next time) but gosh...was it worth it. I'm told it tastes even better heated up the next day. Okay...get ready people; there's a lot of ingredients. Which I happened to actually have this time. 


Serves about 8
What you need for the meat sauce:
-1 tablespoon (20ml) oil
-1 large (about 200g) onion, peeled and finely chopped
-100g shortcut bacon, finely chopped
-750g lean beef mince
-2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
-100g (4 tablespoons) tomato paste
-800g canned diced or crushed tomatoes
-125ml (1/2 cup) red wine
-1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
-1 bay leaf
-Salt and pepper, to taste


What you need for the Cheese Sauce: 
-90g butter
-75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
-800ml (3 cups + 2 1/2 tablespoons) milk
-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-65g (2/3 cup, firmly packed) grated parmesan cheese
-Salt and pepper, to taste


Extra's you will need: 
-250g packet dry instant lasagne sheets (you probably won't need the full packet: the amount needed will depend on the measurements of your baking dish)
-Cheese Topping
-60g (1/2 cup, very firmly packed) grated mozzarella cheese
-60g (1/2 cup, very firmly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese


How to make the Meat Sauce:
1. Heat oil in a very large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until onion has softened.
2. Increase heat to high and add mince and garlic to the pan. Break up mince by mashing with a fork until no large clumps remain. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the mince has changed colour.
3. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, red wine, oregano, basil and bay leaf to mince mixture and stir until combined. At first the mixture will look way too watery...but don't worry- you haven't messed up!
4. Once the mixture boils, reduce heat to about medium-low so that the mixture is simmering. Simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The meat sauce should be moist but not watery once it's ready.
5. Find the bay leaf from the mixture (it took me a while...sneaky little things) and throw it out. Shake in some salt and pepper and have a quick taste test. mmm-mmm.


How to make the Cheese Sauce:
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir flour into melted butter and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles. 
2. Remove saucepan from the heat. Add milk very gradually, stirring or whisking constantly.
3. When all of the milk has been added and the sauce is smooth, return the saucepan to medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 7 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
4. Add nutmeg and parmesan cheese to sauce and stir until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


How to put it all together: (don't worry, it's all down hill from here)
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. You will need a 3.25 litre (13 cup) capacity rectangular ovenproof dish. Use a dish that is about 6.5cm deep. But if yours isn't that size...don't fret it will work in something bigger or smaller.
3.  Spread about 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce over the base of dish. This thin layer of sauce will help prevent the pasta from sticking to the base of the dish. Completely cover the sauce with a single layer of lasagne sheets, cutting or breaking the sheets to fit the shape of the dish.
4. Spread one third of the meat sauce over the lasagne sheets.
5. Cover meat sauce with one third of the remaining cheese sauce. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets. Spread half the remaining meat sauce over the pasta. Spread half the remaining cheese sauce over the meat sauce. Cover cheese sauce with a layer of pasta. Spread with remaining meat sauce then remaining cheese sauce. Sprinkle with combined mozzarella and tasty cheese.
6. Cover lasagne with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 15 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden and pasta is tender. Remove lasagne from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the lasagne to firm up slightly before cutting and serving.

Yeah...so it doesn't look too amazing. I think my next blog should be on photo taking because I obviously lack that skill. Let me reassure you, it tasted brilliant! So creamy and i'm pretty sure it's the nutmeg that gave it that extra special zing. My family thought it was great. My dad (who happens to be my biggest critic when it comes to food), even went as far to say my lasagne is better than mum's. Shock horror! To which mum asked for my recipe... who would have thought! Can't wait to make it again (and eat it again)

Day 21: Light Chocolate Mousse

Well, after the dessert from last night, I thought i'd better try something a little easier on the bulge, I've heard mousse is a pretty good low calorie dessert, and was fairly easy to make; so I thought i'd give it a go. I looked up a few recipe's and this one seemed to have been the best. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8004/light+chocolate+mousse
So, the first part of the recipe was going great, until I got to the second step; beating the egg whites. But it's not what you're thinking, getting a 'soft peek' was easy, the problem was I only had one egg left in the fridge...and the recipe needed 4. So what did I do? ... I soldiered on. I attempted to make the recipe with one egg- and just take one serving of mousse instead of 6. Splitting everything into a 1/4. Pretty adventurous stuff. Here we go...


This is the original recipe:
What you need (fyi...check before you start cooking- duh!)
Serves 6

• -1/2 cup boiling water
• -2 teaspoons powdered gelatine
• -2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• -4 eggs, separated
• -1/3 cup caster sugar

How to do it:

1. Combine water and gelatine in a jug. Whisk with a fork until gelatine has completely dissolved. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until meringue is thick and glossy. With mixer on high speed, add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Slowly pour gelatine mixture into egg mixture (make sure mixtures are both at the same temperature before you combine them), beating constantly until well combined. Spoon mixture into 6 serving cups. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set and chilled. Dust with remaining 2 teaspoons cocoa. Serve.

Tip: When beating egg whites add a small pinch of cream of tartar. This helps to stabilise the egg, producing a light, fluffy mousse.

I'm pretty much stoked at how my mousse turned out. Apart from the little hiccup with the eggs, i managed to make 3 little espresso cup's worth of mousse. I thought by using espresso cups instead of big old tea cups, it could be a bite sized treat without worrying about it weighing you down... it was the perfect amount! Cute and tasty. 

Day 20: Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Okay...so these sounds great even before I get to the good part. I found this recipe online a while ago, and i couldn't wait to try it out. My love for Oreos, cheesecake and cupcakes combine to make one super, delicious dessert to impress. The first batch I attempted didn't turn out too good; firstly I didn't have enough creme cheese and secondly I forgot to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius- thus, cooking my poor little cupcakes at 250celsius instead of 130, which caused them to shrivel up. The second batch I made had the correct amount of creme cheese and I cooked them exactly by recipe...and they turned out absolutely scrumptious. 


Here's what you need:
I halved the original recipe, too many of these wouldn't do well for the diet.
- 16 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 12 left whole, and 4 coarsely chopped
- 500g cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Pinch of salt


How to do it:
1.Preheat oven to 130 degreesC. Line standard (12 hole) muffin tins with cupcake liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each cup.
2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Oh my goodness...you need to try these. Best invention ever; who would have thought cheesecake and oreos went so well together. Perfect for any dinner party!

Day 19: Roast Lamb & Herby Potatoes

This has always been on my list of things to cook. Just the thought of eating the roast and potatoes makes my heart warm- roast's are my comfort food, they remind me of home. Apart from the fact that I've always been totally overwhelmed by big chunks of meat, it was quite simple to do. I just went with the kind of recipe i've seen my mum make before- so it's just a guestamation but it worked out pretty good. It smelt amazing!


What you need:
- A Leg of lamb: mine was 1.5kg (remember 1hour cooking time per 1kg)
- 4 cloves of garlic (sliced)
- 1 lemon grated (for the rind) and juiced
- 100ml olive oil
- 2 tbs rosemary (fresh is best, but I used the dried stuff)
- 1 tbs dried oregano (or fresh)
- 3 tsp Paprika
-  5 potatoes (cut into long wedges)


How to do it:
1. Preheat your oven to 180degrees celcius. Using a small knife, cut 1cm slits all over lamb. Stuff each incision with a slice of garlic.  Combine lemon juice, oil, rosemary, fresh or dried oregano, paprika, sea salt and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Place lamb in a roasting pan, pour mixture over then turn lamb to coat evenly. Cover lamb with foil and roast for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, place potatoes in a large saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil then cook over high heat for 4 minutes. Drain. Return potatoes to pan with some more oil, paprika, lemon rind and 2 tsp sea salt. Toss to combine. Set aside.
3. Remove foil from lamb. Add potatoes to pan. Stir to coat in cooking juices then return to oven and cook, uncovered, for a further half hour, turning potatoes occasionally. Remove pan from oven and cover loosely with foil. Stand for 15 minutes.


Well, I hate to brag...but this was one of the best roast i've had in a very long time- it was juicy and soft in the middle and the outside had a nice herby crunch. The Potato wedges were cooked perfectly through but I think I added too much rosemary to them- maybe it would be better without the rosemary on the chips.