It's not "too hard" to make a French custard tart like this in your kitchen. If you enjoy baking, you can make it. The pastry is easily achieved using a simple biscuit crumb base. The vanilla custard is creamy and dreamy, and is a cream enriched version of the custard, crème pâtissière, used in many French Pâtisserie tarts, but even more cream-enriched. Thanks to Nagi Maehashi for this recipe from her recipe book "Recipe Tin Eats Tonight" that I based mine on.
It's Spring, it's September, and I am loving the freshness of it all, despite what else is happening in this crazy world of ours. It's been an incredibly busy couple of months, hence my late submission to Sherry from Sherry's Pickings who hosts In My Kitchen each month. Thanks Sherry for taking the time to host the achievements of so many amazing home cooks around the world. Our French family has arrived from Montpellier in France to take up residence in Australia and we are over the moon about it. There's a lot of other good stuff from my kitchen to share with you which I hope you will enjoy.
This is the perfect fruit muffin to bake at home. Loaded with fibre and laced with blueberries or even raspberries, these muffins are delicious and yet healthy enough to suit your children's or your work lunchboxes, your breakfast menu, or essential morning and afternoon teas. Dressed up in a pretty paper wrapper, and dusted with icing sugar over a layer of scented cinnamon, these muffins will impress.
Hot Buttered Fruit and Nut Sourdough Toast for breakfast or anytime: makes 1 loaf
It's time again for BKD (Brookford Kitchen Diaries) cookbook club. Sometimes I manage to link up, sometimes not depending on whether or not life gets in the way. I'm promoting cookbooks in a circular kind of way in this post, and bread, yes I'm a fan. Most of my bread baking is with sourdough. This month we're talking about all things bread, whether it be toasties (formerly toasted sandwiches), jaffles or hamburgers. I am thinking sourdough, as that is what I mostly work with, however does pizza qualify? Why not I say, it's really an open Italian sandwich after all.
I had an abundance of vegetables in my refrigerator crisper needing to be used during the week, and rather than do a traybake with them, or donate them eventually to the compost bin or the worm farm, I decided to make a rich vegetable stew with a Spanish theme and Mediterranean flavours. In the process, I also rediscovered the Gilda, a delicious and famous Spanish Pinxtos.
If you enjoy a delicious home roasted chook, a potato gratin, and leeks, then you will love this dish. If you aren't fond of garlic or can't eat it, then leave it out and just use salted pure butter mixed with fresh herbs. It will still be delicious. All of those elements cooked in one baking dish, and the result is a dish that's perfection for a dinner party and quite economical when shopping for ingredients.
It's Winter here in Tropical North Queensland, and we've just harvested our annual crop of fresh ginger, and whilst we've dehydrated a large percentage of it, and ground it in the spice grinder to make the most fragrant ginger spice imaginable, the pink-tipped young ginger pieces reminded me that I must make this very gingery cake. I've been working on perfecting this recipe for a long time, and now I'm very happy with the result. I hope you love it too.
"Gardens shouldn't be static, but a place for change and evolution" by Tim Pilgrim - Landscape Designer
It's winter in the North Queensland Tropics, and it's our favourite time of the year to grow vegetables, in fact it's the only time to grow actual vegetables, except for eggplant(aubergines), some spinach, chillies, and whatever else we feel brave enough to persevere with in Summer. You might have had other successes, and I'd love to hear about them if you have.
It's July already, when I'm embracing the beautiful humidity free Winter weather, and enjoying being in the kitchen and the garden during these cooler months. Winter is when I feel at my most productive. I hope you enjoy reading about what my June kitchen and cooking activities entailed. There are also some stories about our experiences in France and Croatia. The photo above is taken at beautiful Palm Cove near Cairns in the last couple of days.
Images of Green and Gold as an Ode to the World Cup
It was the morning of the World Cup playoffs between Australia and Paraguay, and this Korma Chicken Traybake was an easy Dinner option, as the oven does all the work in your baking dish. I was also thinking Green and Gold for Australia. Just load up the tray, stick it in the oven, and in 30 minutes everyone will be licking their lips in anticipation of an amazing meal. The chicken and rice are baked together with a few vegetables in a spice infused creamy yoghurt which results in an incredibly tasty dish.
"Cumquat marmalade is the best of all breakfast preserves, with a scented sharpness and a golden glow all of its own. " Stephanie Alexander, 1996.
This is a lovely fruity Cumquat marmalade, and I don't know why I don't make it more often. Possibly because my Mum made perfect Cumquat (Kumquat) marmalade and I am never sure that I can match hers. Never mind, I've made another batch now and I couldn't be happier with it, albeit a small batch though which often works best.
We enjoyed 7 days and nights on board the M/S Lupus Mare, sailing along the beautiful coastline of Croatia on the Adriatic Sea which was the perfect way for us to enjoy our first ever introductory cruise.
Lovely Lemons are in season, and anyone with a lemon tree where we live has them ripening profusely on the tree. I thought it was time to assemble my favourite lemon recipes together for you. Everyone of them is tried and true, and they are my go to at this time of year.
The tang of fresh lemon flavours combined with the richness of ricotta cheese, produces an Italian style cake that finishes off a special dinner perfectly, or is just lovely with a cup of coffee or tea. It's light and luscious, what more could you want in a cake? Thanks to Marcellina in Cucina for this perfect cake recipe.
The month of March and into early April, including Easter Week, called for some calming and comforting food, and some careful planning. I needed assurance that food would be catered for throughout the month and particularly over Easter when our club's Annual Easter Indoor Pickleball Tournament was being held, and most importantly, our daughter Shannon was driving home for Easter. I know that also means that a cake needs to be baked, and I also planned that her favourite Monte Carlo biscuits would be in the biscuit tin, or in the refrigerator, still necessary at this time of year.
