Afternoon delight - banana and honey muffins

I have a trusty muffin mix that I am always re-working and changing and adding different flavours to. I used the same basic principles for the fig cakes with chai syrup. I had a couple of really ripe bananas so I thought I'd make some banana muffins and add some delicious honey from the markets.

Grab your muffin tray and spray with an oil spray or pop in cases. Pre heat oven to 200C. In a bowl add 220g self raising flour and 1/2 cup caster sugar. mix through.
In a seperate bowl add 1/2 cup of light oil, 1/4 milk, 1 egg lightly beaten, 1/4 cup plain yoghurt and 1-2 tablespoons honey. Mix to combine.
Grab 2 over-ripe bananas and slice 1/2 of one very thinly into slivers (you'll pop these on the top for decoration) mash the remaining banana and add to the flour along with the wet batter. Mix until combined. Don't overwork the mix. Spoon into muffin tray. Top with banana slices, add a sprinkle of brown sugar. Bake for 18 - 20 mins. makes 12.

A quick afternoon pick-me-up!

food for thought - fish and chat potato chowder

You can probably tell by now that I LOVE soups. This one is my other favourite. My husband loves seafood but I don't cook a lot of fish at home. I'm just not that confident with it. Then I came across this recipe about a year ago and thought I'd give it a try. It is, without a doubt, absolutely beautiful. When you make it, just make sure that the vegetables at the beginning have been sweated down enough so that they are lovely and soft, otherwise you will crunch your way through the soup and it just wont taste as amazing. This soup is meant to melt in your mouth with the beautiful fresh fish,a dash of cream and yummy bacon and potatoes.....mmmmmmmmmmmm

The list of stuff:
olive oil
250g smoked speck, pancetta or bacon, chopped finely (I've only ever cooked this with bacon and it is very yummy)
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 baby fennel bulb, trimmed (fronds reserved) and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 and 1/2 tabelspoons plain flour
1 cup dry white wine
8 baby chat potatoes, each cut into 8 pieces
2 and 1/2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
500g skin removed, bones and bloodlines removed of Blue eye, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup pouring cream or single cream
2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley

Heat oil in a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Cook bacon for 3-4 minutes until starting to brown. Reduce heat to low and add onion, celery, fennel and garlic, cook stirring for 4-5 mins or until vegies are soft. Add flour and stir until well combined. Pour in wine and bring to the boil then simmer over med heat for 3 mins or until liquid has reduced by half. Add the potatoes, milk and bay leaf and simmer rapidly for 12 mins over med-high heat. Stir in the fish and cream and simmer for a further 5 mins or until fish is cooked through. (make sure the fish isn't overcooked either or else it will taste like rubber) Season to taste then ladle into serving bowls and top with chopped parsley and reserved fronds. Enjoy!

Have everything chopped and ready to go, except for the fish, you can prepare this during the 12 min time frame.

An oldie but a goodie - Lumberjack cake

My Mum came across this recipe in a Woman's Day (or something like that) in the late 80's. It was suggested in the article that Lumberjack cake was far better than any chocolate cake. Even then I thought that was a pretty big call but it's almost true. It is deliciously moist and tastes better for days after it is made. If it lasts that long, of course. I couldn't even tell you how many times I've made this cake. It was my best seller at the markets. Each month I would get more and more people asking me for this cake (my flourless chocolate came in at a close second)so it must be pretty good! This is going to sound totally disgusting but when I was in my 20's and I'd had a big night, if there was a slice of this in the fridge, I'd put it in a bowl and douse it in milk like it was cereal. One word - Heaven!

I always make this cake the day before I serve it. I think it tastes better the next day after it's been in the fridge but it's totally up to you. It tastes good straight from the oven too!

Take 125g butter out of the fridge, chop up and place in a large bowl, set aside to use later.
Chop up 200g pitted dates and 2 large delicious apples (skin and core removed and finely chopped) place in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of bicarb soda and 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and stand until warm (about 10 mins or so).
Pre-heat oven to 180C and line your cake tin with baking paper.
Beat the butter that you had put aside with 1 teaspoon vanilla essence and 1 cup raw sugar (I usually put a little less). Use an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add 1 egg, beat until combined. Stir in 1 and 1/2 cups sifted plain flour alternatively with the apple/date mix, then pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 mins. Around the 40 min mark, get your topping ready.
In a small saucepan combine 60g butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, 1/2 cup milk and 2/3 cup shredded coconut. (I didn't have any shredded coconut in the cupboard so I used desicated instead - It doesn't alter the flavour, just the look). Stir over a low heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Set aside until cake is out of the oven, spoon over topping carefully and bake in the oven for a 30 mins until topping is a lovely golden brown.
Enjoy on its own or with some cream. Freeze it in pieces. Keeps in the fridge for days.

Classic Afternoon Tea - buttermilk scones

The last scone!!!
When you have a few people coming over for Afternoon tea, there's nothing prettier than a batch of freshly made scones with some jam and cream in their own little bowls. There are so many different scone recipes but I have to say, these are my favourite. The buttermilk gives the scones a lovely texture and flavour. This recipe is so simple, you'll have them made and in the oven in no time. Enjoy with jam and lashings of cream, of course!

Pre-heat oven to 200C (fan forced). Place baking paper over a tray, set aside. Place 3  and 1/2 cups Self raising flour, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Combine. Add 60g chopped butter and rub through with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the mix and add 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk. Using a flat blade knife, stir until dough almost comes together. Place on a floured surface (or another piece of baking paper on the bench). Knead until dough comes together then using a rolling pin, roll out to a 3cm thickness. Then cut out rounds and place on your tray. Cook for approximately 15 - 17 mins, until golden brown on top and they sound hollow when tapped. Makes approximately 12 - 16.

Italiano! - quick minestrone soup

This is my version of minestrone soup made simple, without all the pfaffing about. It's all about the vegetables and the bacon in this dish. I don't even use garlic but I'm sure you could add a clove if you wanted to try it. It's simple ingredients, cooked simply in around 30 mins.The bacon, when cooked over a high temperature, imparts such a lovely smokiness through the soup when added near the end. Enjoy it with some crusty bread or just on it's own.

The list of stuff:
1 red onion diced
2 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 potatoes, diced (peeled if needed)
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 litre chicken stock
2/3 cup angel hair pasta
175g packet of bacon

Heat some oil in a large pot and add all the vegetables. Gently fry for 5 mins. Add stock, tin of tomatoes and bring to the boil. Now turn down heat and simmer for 20 mins. Add pasta and simmer for another 6 mins. Now chop your bacon, however you like and fry over a high heat in a seperate frypan, either in its own fat or in a little butter. If you are going to freeze the soup, do not add the bacon. Just add the beans and let the soup cool, then freeze. If you are serving straight away. Add the bacon and the beans to the soup and heat through for 2 minutes. Serves 4.

Autumn on a plate - Cinnamon jelly with grilled plums

I don't know about you but whenever I buy a special ingredient for a recipe I always wonder what other recipe I can use it in. Like the Muscat wine in the brownies. Other than drinking it of course I thought, maybe a jelly could work. You could use a sweet dessert wine like mosscato for example, which would give the jelly a much lighter colour and I think a more honey like taste. The muscat and the cinnamon however gave the jelly such a sweet, spicy earthiness and the grilled plum was just the icing on the cake. This is definately another one for the grown up palette.

Place 3 cinnamon sticks, 1 cup of sweet dessert wine, 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of sugar (I used caster sugar) in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 mins. Place 1 tablespoon of gelatine in a small bowl and pour over 1/4 cup of cold water. No need to stir it, just put it aside for 5 mins. Discard the cinnamon sticks after 5 mins, take off the heat but don't turn it off. Add the gelatine mix to the cinnamon syrup and put it back over the heat. Bring it to the boil and boil for 2 mins to completely dissolve the gelatine. Pour into moulds and refridgerate for at least 3 hours or until set.

To serve: halve plums, sprinkle cut side with raw sugar and place under a hot grill on high. Keep checking them every few minutes until done. Unmould your jelly's or serve in the mould with the grilled plum half. Enjoy. This jelly has quite a strong flavour but is really delicious. You could make 6 small ones rather than 4 bigger ones.

The moulds: I really wanted to unmould the jelly but alas I wasn't liberal enough with the oil! So if you do want to unmould it onto a plate, grease up the insides of the moulds and it is probably easiest if you fill the mould to the top.

death by chocolate is oh so sweet - fig and muscat brownies

I know, I know, another dessert with figs. I'll tell you how this came about. As I bought the rum for our hot toddy's it reminded me of my Husband's 30th birthday a few years back. I made a big batch of chocolate brownies and a big batch of rum and raison brownies for his birthday cake. I was thinking I could make them again but not everyone likes that combination. Sometimes the rum can be a bit overpowering. Then I came across this recipe and thought, "How deliciously sophisticated". You could take these to a dinner party and serve them with the muscat wine or a perfectly brewed cup of coffee; you could take these to a picnic and watch the joggers as they run past you salivating; You could even give these as a gift - the ultimate edible present! Plain brownies are for the kids;Rum and raison are for teens but these delicious morsels are definately for the grown-ups.

Chop up 100g figs (1/2 cup) finely. Place in a small bowl and pour over 60ml 1/4 cup of muscat. Stand for 20 mins.
Pre heat oven to 180C. Grease deep 19cm square cake pan; line base and sides with baking paper, extending over the sides so you can pull it out easily.
In a medium saucepan (make sure it's not too small) Stir 125g, coarsely chopped butter and 200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely, over a low heat until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes. (take off the stove)
Stir through 150g (2/3 cup) caster sugar, then 2 eggs that have been beaten lightly, then 185g (1 1/4 cups)sifted plain flour, then 150g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely (extra), then the fig mixture into the chocolate mixture.
Bake brownies for about 30 - 35 mins. Just keep checking them that they don't burn.
Cool in pan before pulling out and cutting into pieces. Dust with sifted cocoa.
makes about 36 pieces but cut them however you like.

"If you're gonna die eating chocolate, it might as well be these".