A Few of My Favourite Things !

We have had the most awesome family week in the lead up to the new year. We had a loose plan of the activity we would be doing each day and were blessed with perfect weather for every one of them. Last Wednesday, we took a drive up to Silvan’s U-Pick Berry Farm in the morning. It was cool and quiet when we caught the bus from the carpark to the orchard. Armed with a bucket each and a plastic container for the more delicate berries, we set off to the boysenberry patch. Avoiding the thorns, we picked carefully and ate recklessly – boysenberry-stained lips and tongues and fingers. Eventually, we moved onto the blueberries then the raspberries and finally the cherries. By the time we returned, 2 hours later, the carpark was full to the brim and there were queues of locals and tourists waiting patiently for the buses.

Back home now, I marinate 5 cups of boysenberries with 1/2 cup sugar, a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of nutmeg and 3 tbs pre-soaked sago for 1 hour. This mixture is scooped into a pie tin lined with shortcrust pastry then topped with a pastry lattice before being brushed with beaten egg. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes with foil over the top to stop the pastry lattice from burning. Cool before eating so that the filling does not ooze out. We served it with ice cream as it was quite tart (more sugar next time).

Bananas are finally getting to be affordable again – an important and essential pantry item for those with little people in the house. It’s easy to grab at the last moment before you head out of the house and it prevents those ‘I’m so hungry and can’t wait another moment‘ tantrums (which happens quite a lot with my boys – the ‘I’m so hungry moment‘, I mean, not the tantrums). So, we get a bunch of bananas each week and prices range from 99c to $1.98/kg at the moment – pretty affordable in comparison to $20/kg or whatever it got up to. However, summer conditions also means that our bananas are ripening pretty quickly, sometimes faster than we can eat them. But, just in the nick of time, I’ve found the perfect solution for slightly over-ripe bananas that suits the heat and humidity we have been experiencing. No, not banana bread – that needs an oven and a whole lot of other ingredients. I’m talking about a frozen banana ice cream. A really quick and easy treat that I whip up with the help of my almost 4yo, then I send them both outside to enjoy every lick.

Here’s what you need to do: slice a banana and place onto a plate (trust me on this step as it’s a lot trickier to peel a frozen banana). Freeze for about an hour or two until solid then place the slices into a blender. Pulse until it comes together as a creamy mixture. You can experiment with adding other fruits (as we did with mulberries here), honey, a squeeze of lemon, peanut butter or spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Ultra-delish and awesome treat for those who are dairy-intolerant.

Okay, so it’s a BIG claim. But I’m going to make it anyway. I have just made the World’s Best Banana Muffin. There. That’s it. Done.

What made it so good? Was it the buttermilk, the caramelised bananas, the addition of dark chocolate pieces? Whatever, it worked and it worked so well that I made two batches in one day. It worked so well that my son who was ‘helping’ me to hold onto his cousin’s container of muffins sneaked pieces of it while we were driving over until there were just crumbs left. All I gotta say is you HAVE to try this recipe. I know that everyone has their own best banana bread, or muffin, or cake, but really truly -this is it.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 or 3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tbs rice bran oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cup SR flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
cinnamon & nutneg
80g butter
1/4 treacle or agave syrup
1/4 cup semi-dried bananas
1/4 cup dark chocolate pieces

1. Beat the sugar & butter until thick and pale, then add eggs and continue beating for a few minutes.
2. Add the mashed bananas, buttermilk, oil, treacle/agave syrup, vanilla extract, semi-dried banana and dark chocolate pieces
3. Stir in dry ingredients until just mixed
4. Bake at 175C until done (skewer comes out clean)

Broad beans – not around for long and a tad more effort than usual but there’s something quite therapeutic about podding them, twice. First, you pod the beans from the long bean that they are nestled in, then boil the beans for several minutes until the outer skin is easily peeled off. The beans can then be gently smashed with a mortar & pestle (a la Jamie Oliver) and seasoned. My first go saw a dollop of leftover chilli mayonnaise, , lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper – pretty sensational, especially when I had it atop a cracker with a slice of smoked salmon. Second time round was based on Jamie’s recipe so it included peas, mint, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper.

I’m hooked on broad beans now although I’ve noticed that you can buy them for $7.99/kg or $2.99/kg depending where you shop. Maybe I’ll try growing them in our garden next year.

This one started as a flourless orange cake, however I had a surplus of lemons one time and decided to substitute one citrus fruit for another. It’s a really simple recipe that calls for boiling two whole lemons (or oranges) for an hour, then adding them whole (minus the pips) into the cake. It results in an ultra-moist cake and depending on how much lemon you use, a sticky-icky, eat-with-a-spoon cake. I find that two whole lemons gives you a stickier cake than 2 whole oranges does so you can use 1.5 lemons instead if you want to be able to hold a slice with your fingers. This time, I also replaced 50g of almond meal with desiccated coconut and this can also help it to be less sticky.

2 whole lemons
250g almond meal (you can substitute 50g of this with desiccated coconut)
250g caster sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

1. Wash lemons well then cover with cold water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours then drain and allow to cool before processing into a pulp (remove pips first)
2. Cream butter and sugar until thick and pale
3. Fold in almond meal, lemon pulp, baking powder until just mixed
4. Bake at 170C for 1 hour until skewer comes out clean
(For a short cut, you can process the lemons, then add all your other ingredients into the food processer. I found that this worked pretty well too)
5. Decorate with butter cream if you wish

I love baking with my 3.5 year old and he LOVES baking with me, because he gets to crack the eggs, mix the ingredients with a whisk and, most importantly, lick the spoon (and scrape the bottom of the bowl) at the end of it all. The problem I have with baking is that you have to find enough mouths to eat – does anyone else face the same issue? My little boy would love to scoff as many biscuits as he can get away with but the spoilsport-mummy that I am doesn’t allow that to happen!

We have baked this recipe many times now, with my son getting to decide what dried fruits to add each time. It’s from a newspaper clipping about Emily Rose, who like me is forever reading labels and putting things back on the shelf because they have too many (bad) ingredients. She’s created recipes that use rice bran oil instead of butter, honey instead of sugar and wholemeal instead of white flour but they don’t taste like ‘health’ foods.

This is our go-to recipe for biscuits right now and probably will be for a long while yet! Also handy for those times when you don’t have any eggs and still want to make biscuits.

In the middle of putting this post together, I decided to try Emily’s chocolate chip biscuit recipe (this one does include an egg) and I can report that it’s a winner too. I will include my adaption of both recipes below for those who have been asking for them.

Orange, Cardamom and Fig Biscuits

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup rice bran oil
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp grated orange rind
2 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup dried figs (you can substitute any dried fruit eg raisins, cranberries)

1. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, coconut, oats and ground cardamom) together
2. Mix the wet ingredients (oil, honey, orange rind, orange juice) together
3. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together and add the figs , then let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
4. Roll into small 20 or 50c sized balls and place on lined tray
5. Bake at 170C for 15 minutes until golden brown

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 egg
1/2 cup rice bran oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
2/3 cup chopped dark chocolate (70%)
1/3 cup chopped roasted almonds

1. Beat the egg and mix in the oil
2. Dissolve the honey in water and mix with egg/oil
3. Stir dry ingredients (coconut, flour, chocolate, almonds) in
4. Stand mixture for 10 minutes so that it’s less sticky, then roll into balls and place on lined tray
5. Bake 180C for 15 minutes until golden brown

My husband is a pancake man, but I’m definitely a french toast kind of girl. It would undoubtedly feature in my ‘last meal on earth’ list if I had to make one. I love cooking french toast for my two little boys too, although my 3yo tends to take after dad more in this respect and would much prefer that I make pancakes. I’m a shocking cook in the mornings however, trying to get breakfast done, heating up a milk bottle for Z (the 1yo), getting both E & Z dressed, getting myself dressed, that I regularly burn things (or come really close) if they are cooking in the pot or pan.

I have discovered a good way for making french toast that avoids this problem by cooking them in a jaffle maker (aka sandwich press). One egg and a splash of milk into a bowl with a flat bottom, soak the sourdough bread for a few minutes while I dress the boys. Pop the bread onto the jaffle maker and turn it on, then I can walk away for a few moments to get other things done without it burning. I flip it with a fork as I walk past to the kettle and a few minutes later, breakfast is served. I love adding spices to my french toast so that my boys get to enjoy different flavours. It’s often cinnamon or nutmeg but even something more unusual like cinnamon and ginger powder goes down a treat.

Even better, the cleaning consists simply of wiping it down with a sponge – that’s it.

Melbourne has been surprising us with some amazing weather of late – a sunshiny, blue-skied 21C in winter – and pulling me out of the winter food rut. I’ve been trying to increase my protein intake so today, I marinated a 500g rump steak in 1 tbs palm sugar (finely grated), 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup lime juice, 2 tbs soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed) for the afternoon while my 3yo and I had fun at the playground.

Upon our return, I sizzled the steak on high heat for a few minutes on each side, as I like it quite pink/red, then left it to rest while I collected the washing from the line (yay, a day when I can hang the washing outside!). The extra marinade was used as a dressing for the salad of mixed leaves, thai basil and mint on top of which thinly sliced beef strips were laid. It was cool enough to light a fire by that time so we sat down in front of its warmth for our dinner. We also baked a couple of small, cored apples filled with sultanas in the coals for dessert. A diverse menu for diverse weather conditions.

I grew up in a family that never put brussels sprouts on the table. In fact, I don’t recall ever eating brussels sprouts ever, except maybe once on a plane when I was doing air time with British Air. So it came as a surprise to me, after hearing all the horror stories of how awful this vegie tasted, that I LOVE brussels sprouts! I stir fry it with garlic, salt and pepper until it’s charry and crispy on the cut side. Mmmmm, still with the slightly bitter tang that makes it more appealing to adult taste buds, but my 1 year old had a good go of it anyway.

Knowing that I would home close to dinner time, I decided to put the bread machine to work today making some pizza dough. Actually, it was the presence of La Latteria’s Scamorza Bianca that inspired me to make pizza tonight, truth be told. Good thing I was organised as I arrived home to a text message that my boys had decided to walk down to the local supermarket and needed a lift back.

My 3 year old helped me shape out the dough and to dollop on some tomato paste (he quickly started licking the spoon after that). Then he helped me to layer on the red pepper marmalade, anchovies and cheese on one pizza, while tasting everything multiple times, and olives and cheese on the other. I’m not sure whether more cheese went onto the pizza or into his mouth. While the pizzas were baking, I washed the rocket and sliced the tomatoes and these went on top of the second pizza when it came out.

Dinner was a blast. I think my 3 year old had about five slices and my 1 year old was also trying to get in on the act, having some of the cheesy crusty bits. In fact, he was still trying to put food into his mouth when hubby was trying desperately to get him cleaned up as it was about 20 minutes past his usual bedtime!

Pizza Dough (takes 50 minutes in bread machine):
200ml water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
2.5 cups flour (I used 1.5 cups plain flour and 1 cup wholemeal)
1.5 tsp yeast

Shape dough out, layer on pizza topping, bake at highest temperature for about 8-10 minutes.