My Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding Tart has very caramelised crispy edges, which your family or dinner guests might just fight over, if given the chance, and the vanilla scented custard filling layered with pops of chocolate and marmalade is amazingly light, smooth and delicious. This is my idea of a perfect dessert over Easter this year, when there may be some chocolate indulgence, requiring a well balanced dessert with just a hint of chocolate and sweetness to be on theme.
A comforting bowl of Italian meatballs in Tomato Sauce anytime
Tender baked meatballs simmered in a homemade umami flavoured tomato sauce really deliver in flavour. The layering of ingredients, the fusion of flavours into the meatballs and the sauce during the cooking process, and the addition of fresh and dried herbs bring together a meal that has you coming back for more.
Italian lamb shanks are one of my favourite meals, and is often what I order when we are dining out. This recipe had a lot to live up to, however it is as delicious, even more so, than any Italian Lamb Shank meal I have ever eaten. It's made from scratch, without the use of any packets of supermarket branded products, such as a packet of red wine jus. There's just no need.
Lamb Siniyah or stewed lamb cooked in a pot with a tahini crust are the stars of this delicious Middle Eastern version of Shepherd's Pie. A golden tahini crust replaces the potato topping to perfection. It's rich and comforting and laced with fragrant Middle Eastern spices. Who doesn't love a tasty Shepherd's Pie? Well, I promise you; this dish will exceed your expectations even further. Yotam Ottolenghi has created a very clever recipe here, one of many in his book "Simple".
Lemon Delicious Pudding is a very popular self-saucing pudding in Queensland, and after harvesting the first crop of the year of precious lemons from our potted tree, this was the first dessert I wanted to make with them. When I say first harvest, I mean 4 lemons. The recipe produces a luscious and creamy lemon sauce topped with a soft lemon flavoured sponge cake which is an absolute joy to eat. It is also a cinch to make.
January 2021 was a month of recovery and readjustment from Christmas holidays, concern over the Covid crisis, tropical heat, some tropical rain, reading good books, relaxing, and not that much cooking or gardening. We were in Cairns, Far North Queensland for Christmas and New Year, and drove home on the 2nd January, just in time before the roads flooded the next day near Ingham cutting off the Bruce Highway to all traffic. We drove carefully through some torrential rain that day, and it was lovely and quite a relief to arrive home. Despite a wonderful holiday, there's no place like our own home.
When we're in Cairns we always go to Chef Link, a countertop store and warehouse which supplies all of the Cairns restaurants, cafes and bakeries with their catering requirements, but is also happy to sell to and assist members of the public at no extra cost or the need for an ABN. I love this shop, and they are always so helpful. They will also accept orders online. Mr. HRK was looking at their coffee cups, I was looking for bread making equipment, and anything else that caught my eagle eye.
This time I bought a Herbert Birnbaum, plastic polypropylene Brotform, or a bread proofing basket. Brotforms, Bannetons, and bread proofing baskets are all the same thing. This range is made in Germany, is guaranteed to last a lifetime, and is recyclable. I can't wait to try it. No need to use a tea towel or any cloth to cover the base, it just needs to be misted and lightly floured and the dough placed in it to rise. If it works to my liking, I'll invest in a rectangular one for a large loaf as well. I have a couple of round cane bannetons which I bought at Chef Link during 2020 last year, but they need a tea towel insert to work. Can't have too many though I reckon.
Then we ventured onto the shopping centres, enjoying the air conditioning during the Cairns heat, and whilst in a kitchen shop, we bought a new chopping knife. The Japanese make great knives, and their packaging is very attractive and designed to house the knife very well. Mr. HRK likes to use a good, sharp knife when he's chopping and I'm very happy to support him with that.
And for dessert, I made Mango, Lime and Coconut Panna Cotta which I wrote about in a previous post, and here is the link to the recipe if you missed it and are interested. The recipe serves 6 people.
The seasonal Bowen mangoes were delicious during December and January here, but are finished now making way for the southern stone fruits.
I haven't been cooking nearly as much as I usually do, blame the heat and the holiday vibe. However I made some delicious Chicken Burritos from scratch recently. Believe me, there were no El Paso spice mixes to be found in this recipe. I'll be publishing it on my blog shortly. I just have to make them again to take a photo of the finished product. I have photos of the process, but I forgot to take a photo before they all disappeared. Familiar story?
Throughout January it has been very hot and humid and we ate lots of salads. Salads, salads, and more salads was my mantra. Last week, I made some comfort food though, as my gut was telling me to take a step back and just eat some plain steamed vegetables, chicken, brown rice and so forth. Part of the problem I think is that Mr. HRK is waiting to have surgery on his sinuses this month, and as a consequence can't taste anything, which is quite frustrating for him so I have been trying to spice my cooking up a bit more than usual so that he can hopefully taste some food. I might have overdone it with spices when I have actually cooked, so I am being careful for a while and eating blander foods, while he continues to add condiments like Kewpie Mayo with wasabi and sweet chilli jam to our meals which he loves.
I made one of my favourite comfort food dishes last week for us, Paleo Beef Chow Mein which just has a minimal amount of curry powder added and is full of vegetables. Always a winner. I used cabbage instead of kale which is in the original recipe.
Best wishes.
Pauline
