Masterchef Week...
I know so many of you are sick of cooking shows.. feel jaded by the night after night onslaught of ideas and unachievable aims... not us.. we are cooking up a storm here this week.. on the back of bountiful harvests of lemons, cauliflowers, sugar snap peas, Jerusalem Artichokes, Daikon, Yakon, eggs, Kipfler potatoes, beetroot and loads of Asian greens.
Chloe cooked a magnificent Lemon Meringue Pie. For a girl who doesn't normally cook she did a totally uber job!
I've also been making Arancini stuffed with mozzarella and peas
and
Rhubard and Cinnamon Cake
This has to be the one of the best cakes I've every made. Straight from the bible (The Cook's Companion) it is a ripper. I've been serving it hot with some freshly made lemon butter and cream. Normally I bake a cake, eat one piece and Luca eats the rest. BUT with this one... I can seriously say I've nearly eaten the whole cake.. This is going on the regular baking list from now on.
and
Labna
fresh milk from the dairy, a bit of yoghurt and some time
plus biscotti (no picture), muffins (no picture)
and last but not least
Fresh sugar snap peas and chorizo... wow what a taste sensation... and no wonder I feel tired... it's been a culinary RUSH...
Zest Fest 2011
This year I got a paid cooking 'gig' at Zest Fest. What a great opportunity for me to showcase my stuff up in the the mountains. I had a ball and it was such a good experience. I cooked Lemon Slice, Lemon and Leek risotto, Lime Curd and Orange and Fennel salad. There was some disastorous hiccups such as total power failure and 3 occassions.. (should have brought the case cooker!) but I soldiered on and enjoyed myself anyway. I decided to donate all proceeds from the day to the ABC Foundation in Thailand http://www.thestrattonabcfoundation.com/ and managed to raise about $300. It was a lot of hard work but definately worth it. A hugh big thanks to Chloe and David for being my unpaid slaves leading up to the Fest.
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Sausage City
The boys got down and downright dirty ... poor Gobbler finally got the chop but he yielded a bumper harvest which meant a lot of sausages....
Bonnie's 41st Thai Birthday Feast
Stir fried eggplant with Chilli Jam, Heavenly Beef strips, Stuffed deep fried tofu, Mock Frogs legs salad, Fish and Pumpkin steamed curry and sticky rice... yummmy
It's been a weekend of cooking yummy things:
I know so many of you are sick of cooking shows.. feel jaded by the night after night onslaught of ideas and unachievable aims... not us.. we are cooking up a storm here this week.. on the back of bountiful harvests of lemons, cauliflowers, sugar snap peas, Jerusalem Artichokes, Daikon, Yakon, eggs, Kipfler potatoes, beetroot and loads of Asian greens.
Chloe cooked a magnificent Lemon Meringue Pie. For a girl who doesn't normally cook she did a totally uber job!
As for me... I cooked a meal to be totally thrilled with...
Sweet and Salty Duck breast (thanks Luca and little ducky) on a bed of pureed Jerusalem Artichokes, Kipfler potatoes and Cauliflower and sided with a stir fry of fresh sugar snap peas, deep fried eggs and chilli jam. The thing I was so proud of was that everything was from our garden, including the duck! I only wish my photo of the meal had turned out a bit better.
I've also been making Arancini stuffed with mozzarella and peas
and
Rhubard and Cinnamon Cake
This has to be the one of the best cakes I've every made. Straight from the bible (The Cook's Companion) it is a ripper. I've been serving it hot with some freshly made lemon butter and cream. Normally I bake a cake, eat one piece and Luca eats the rest. BUT with this one... I can seriously say I've nearly eaten the whole cake.. This is going on the regular baking list from now on.
and
Labna
fresh milk from the dairy, a bit of yoghurt and some time
plus biscotti (no picture), muffins (no picture)
and last but not least
Fresh sugar snap peas and chorizo... wow what a taste sensation... and no wonder I feel tired... it's been a culinary RUSH...
Zest Fest 2011
This year I got a paid cooking 'gig' at Zest Fest. What a great opportunity for me to showcase my stuff up in the the mountains. I had a ball and it was such a good experience. I cooked Lemon Slice, Lemon and Leek risotto, Lime Curd and Orange and Fennel salad. There was some disastorous hiccups such as total power failure and 3 occassions.. (should have brought the case cooker!) but I soldiered on and enjoyed myself anyway. I decided to donate all proceeds from the day to the ABC Foundation in Thailand http://www.thestrattonabcfoundation.com/ and managed to raise about $300. It was a lot of hard work but definately worth it. A hugh big thanks to Chloe and David for being my unpaid slaves leading up to the Fest.
Sausage City
The boys got down and downright dirty ... poor Gobbler finally got the chop but he yielded a bumper harvest which meant a lot of sausages....
Bonnie's 41st Thai Birthday Feast
Stir fried eggplant with Chilli Jam, Heavenly Beef strips, Stuffed deep fried tofu, Mock Frogs legs salad, Fish and Pumpkin steamed curry and sticky rice... yummmy
It's been a weekend of cooking yummy things:
Thai spring rolls with aniseed basil, bamboo shoots and red curry paste... yummy....
Blinis!.. why have I not made these before????
Stuffed with homemade curd cheese, custard and preserved strawberries from last year. Ummmm!
Let the Feasting Begin....
Tonight Sunisa, Patrick and Cartoon came over for dinner, an impromptu Trumpet lesson and a splash in the pool. Sunisa and I cooked up a storm.
Mock Frogs leg salad with Raw Choko
Sour Orange Fish Curry
Fusilli a Mano
well... a version of it anyway... this year I am determined to make as many types of Pasta as I can and this is my first attempt at Fusilli a Mano. I looked long and hard on the web, I read all of my Italian cookbooks and got detailed instructions from Maria and her Calabrian friend (who also shoved a long skewer at me as I left and said use this use this).... agghh.. it's harder than it looks and then my ever loving friend said ' I don't understand doesn't it just taste like spaghetti?'... my well practised, death look silenced her.
Christmas Fare.....the Aussie Pav... re-invented
I love this chocolate rolled pavlova. I don't know where the recipe originally came from and it has morphed many times in the 15 years I've been making it... it's always a hit. This one is filled with berries, cream and chocolate.
The Christmas table and just a small selection of the ridiculous amount of food we had this year.
Chloe's completely amazing berry trifle!
11th December, 2010
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!
Feijoada, Coconut cakes, stews, pies.. ummm
2nd December, 2010
Turtle Bean Mania
Next week I'm catering for 150 people for a Latin Festival. I'm making Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil so I've ordered many Black Turtle Beans. Can't wait to get started.
30th November, 2010
Just can't help myself
Ohhh I so love 1950's kitchen ware and just couldn't help but treat myself to these two new items for the kitchen.
27th November, 2010
Real Vanilla Ice Cream
Chloe made Vanilla Ice Cream for the first time today. The first batch got 'cooked' and we had very vanilla eggie blobs. Lucky we've got lots of laying hens at the moment so we had another go and the second batch was DEVINE.
21st November, 2010
Pasta Making
Cartoon and William making pasta for lunch.
17th November, 2010
Artichokes lovely Artichokes
We grew many glorious and handsome artichokes this year. Unfortunately, the unbelievable amount of rain we've had meant that they all rotted in the ground before the chokes were ready. Not to worry we harvested what we could and had a huge feast anyway.
16th November, 2010
We are still picking the odd asparagus spear or two. They are so juicy and crisp. We've planted a lot more seedlings this season and hope for the best next year.
10th November, 2010
Lovely Labna
I've been making Labna again. This time I've sourced fresh cow's milk from the local dairy and the Labna is unbelievably creamy. Luca even said that it could pass for Mascaporne.. now that's a compliment. It really is delicious.
6th November, 2010
Glorious Saturday mornings....
This morning was a superbly beautiful Spring morning. We decided to eat in the sunshine with great coffee (made by Miss Chloe) and wonderfully fresh 'huton' (Spring Onion cakes). We read this recipe in Stephanie's new Kitchen garden cookbook. Wow these are a taste sensation.....
23rd October, 2010
Fennel, Silverbeet and Heaven.......
Tonight was a celebration of the glorious days of Silverbeet in our garden. Sauted fennel and silverbeet tossed with our prized Persion Feta in a pie so delicious that although it's gone it's still making my mouth water.... good days in the garden and the kitchen..
17th September
Today was the first harvest of the amazing purple carrots... after 15 years of trying to grow carrots I was pretty excited!!! o.k... I know you are going to say.. they are small... BUT ... this is a big step for BONNIE....
August 15th, 2010
As you know I (Bonnie) just love to cook. I thought I might use this page to share with you my love of cooking. Particularly, those things I can cook straight from my garden.Tonight I am celebrating. We received wonderful news about our son William arriving from Thailand. As the Thai's love pork I thought I would do a pork dish. So tonights menu is Caramelised Pork Belly with fennel and blood orange. Followed by a blood orange tart with salted caramel sauce.... feeling hungry?
