Website Envy & Wholemeal Pancakes

Today it has been raining all day. Not much to do but cook. I whipped up some wholemeal pancakes for my little man, served with homemade plum jam. He thought licking off the jam and sucking the pancakes was the way to go.... cute.

My easy peasy recipe for healthy pancakes are as follows.

1 cup wholemeal organic self raising flour

1 free-range egg beaten

splash of milk.

Mix the egg and enough milk into the flour to make it a thick pouring consistency.

Heat frypan on a medium heat. I use rice bran oil spray.

Then with a dessertspoon dollop mixture into small pancakes into frypan.

You can keep the left over cooked pancakes in the fridge. Great for snacks for the wee tike's.

So after lunch I spent some time on the computer, I'm researching recipes for Quinoa ( a super food grain!!! Its the bomb! )

I stumbled across a fantastic website....   www.101cookbooks.com

The joy I got from searching this truly inspiring website, I felt I needed to share with you.

This woman is the complete package! Cook,designer,photographer..... (sigh)

I don't normally covet but man I cant help it.

So if you get the time to check out this website please do. You cant help but be blown away!

Namaste.

Bring a plate to share...

Well it has been a very busy few weeks.

 I had my two sister's and their husbands and children over on Easter Sunday.Then on Easter Monday I had my husband's family.

 I decided to scale back on the catering and welcome back the 70's tradition of "Bring a plate". I love this style of cooking and eating. It gives you an opportunity to feel less frazzled when entertaining and you also get to experience other treasures people have cooked in the kitchen.

So the Easter celebrations saw marinated octopus, a spectacular pasta salad, creamy potato salad, lemon tarts, and a huge chocolate easter egg cake all brought to the table to be admired and devoured.

My catering business had it's debut on Saturday night and it went off without a hitch. I did forget the duck cold rolls dipping sauce but with a quick mind and a gracious host I was able to raid his pantry and quickly make up a sauce from a mixture of oyster sauce,sugar and crushed peanuts....I pulled it off!!

The feedback from guests was very encouraging, my business cards were being handed out and all the plates were coming back empty.....always a good sign.

The cocktail food served was.....

Chicken,leek and feta tarts

Rare roast beef fillet on rye croutons with horseradish creme

Caramelized onion and goats curd tarts

Hoison duck cold rolls

Porcini and pecorino risotto balls

Sugarcane prawn puffs with a green chili mint dip sauce

Yellow fin tuna sashimi with wasabi soy dip sauce

Red beef curry pies

Vegetarian samosa with raita

Tuscan honey and pinenut tarts

Fresh fruit skewers with a dark bitter chocolate fondue sauce

Dolci Gorgonzola drizzled with orange blossom honey and served with turkish pide crisps

My mouth is watering as I write this.

 It took a good two days cooking in the kitchen, my husband is on holidays so he was able to look after our son. He was very happy to play with the left over pastry dough and stick it up his nose! (my son that is, not my husband...) He is now discovering he can stick things in his nose and ears....make for an interesting day.

Well I will be posting some recipes soon. I have been asked for my Lumberjack cake recipe and my Butter Chicken curry.

Take care and remember to listen to great music whilst cooking, it improves the flavour of the food!!

Chicken pies

Today is one of those days that was meant for cooking....

I had some chicken thighs to use up and decided to make some pies.

This recipe is not to the letter, I tend to improvise as I go. Sometimes the best dishes are created from a mistake.

I really enjoy making pastry but I found this incredible local company who makes the most amazing frozen pastry. I will give them a plug on my blog.

CAREME pastry. Check out there website.  www.caremepastry.com 

Its really cost effective and great for those emergency cook-offs.

I always have some in the freezer.

CHICKEN PIES   (makes 6)

olive oil

4 chicken thigh fillets

1/2 leek diced

1 clove garlic diced

1 carrot diced

6 mushrooms. (any type)

8 green beans diced

splash white wine

1/4 cup cream

knob butter

1 Tbs plain flour.

fresh thyme,tarragon,oregano.

salt'n' pepper to taste

1/2 massel chicken stock cube

1/2 cup boiling water.

Pastry:

Shortcrust pastry for the bases.

Puff pastry for the tops.

Pre-heat your oven to 180c.

-Heat a heavy based saucepan. (I like the french style cookers) splash of olive oil.

-Add your diced chicken and seal the meat. Deglaze the pan with a splash of wine. Stir and scrape all those yummy dark bits off the bottom of the pan.

-Create a slight bit of color on the chicken, then transfer to a bowl.

-Heat up the same saucepan, add more oil, add the leek,garlic,mushrooms,carrot.Sweat off till carrot is soft.

-Add the chicken to the pan and stir into the veggies.Add the stock cube that has been dissolved in the boiling water.

-Add your cream. Turn down heat to simmer. Add your fresh herbs and season to taste.

-If you find the mixture to dry add more cream, if its too wet thicken it up with a roux made from your butter and flour. ( I'm assuming you know what a roux is?? If you don't just leave me a comment and I will post this thickening technique)

Just before the pie mixture is a good consistency add your green beans. By doing this now you will keep your beans green and not a yucky grey color. ;)   Take pie mix off the heat.

 I used a Texas cup muffin tray for my pies. Grease this really well. 

Roll out your shortcrust pastry and cut out larger circles that will fit inside the muffin cup and leave you some hanging over. 

When you have made 6 put the muffin tray into the fridge to chill the pastry while you do the tops.

Roll out or defrost your puff pastry sheets. Use a bowl or cutter that is a bit smaller then the one you used for the pie bases. With your scraps of pastry get creative and make some shapes...stars,leaves,chicken....the kids love doing this part!

Now fill your pie bases with the mixture,not to full about 2/3 rds. Or the tops will separate and you will have a mess on your hands.

With your lids, give them a little egg wash on the part that is going on to the base. This is your glue to stick it together. Using a fork press around the sides so its all sealed. Egg wash the tops and stick your shapes to them and sprinkle with sesame seeds or cumin. Even a little fennel seed would be nice.

Bake for about 25mins. Till its golden brown and puffy on top!  YUM!

If you have any pastry and mixture left. Make tiny baby pies...great for the kids lunchbox or afternoon snacks.

You can freeze these pies also. Just reheat in the oven on a low temp.

I apologise if this recipe has any mistakes in it. I am an extremely sleep deprived mummy at the moment. My wee monkey has decided after a great few weeks of sleeping at night,that he would very much like to wake at least 4 times a night!!  AARRRGGGHH. Its day 4 of this so my nerves are frail. 

So here's to the elusive sleep through! Please let it visit my house tonight. (pleeeeeeese)

Im very proud of the photo of my pies. Taken on my Nikon D40x. My other baby.

Cocktail Menu for Poppyseed Catering

This is the current menu. I will probably have this menu for most of the year and just add a few more seasonal items as I go along.

chicken,leek & fetta tarts

satay chicken skewers

thai chicken balls w/sweet cucumber dippin sauce

grilled chicken,prosciutto,mushroom skewers

sticky bbq chicken drummettes w/ ranch dressing sauce

caramelized onion & goats curd tarts

wild mushroom,garlic & thyme tarts

zucchini & fetta fritters w/ basil pesto

roasted pumpkin & coriander fritters w/ sweet chili sauce

prawn & chorizo skewers w/ saffron aoli

bacon wrapped grilled oysters w/ kirkpatrick sauce

red beef curry petite pies

slow cooked beef,mushroom & red wine petite pies

mixed grill skewers ( beef fillet,bacon,chorizo,capsicum)

baby crumbed veal bites w/ lemon aoli dippin sauce  (like a baby snitzy)

middle eastern lamb skewers w/tahini & honey sauce

moroccan lamb tarts w/ raita

parmesan & olive shortbread biscuits w/basil pesto and danish fetta

white bean & sage dip on baby croutons

baked poppyseed green olive puffs

vegetarian sushi

roasted vegetable frittata w/ olive tapenade

wild mushroom pate on croutons

creamy local brie cheese,pear and quince paste on pumpernickel toasts

smoked salmon & dill caper creme cheese on croutons

prawn cocktail skewers w/ spicy seafood sauce

freshly prepared sashimi tuna, cured and served on asian spoons.

rare roast beef fillet on croutons w/ fresh horseradish creme

vietnamese poached chicken cold rolls w/hoisin sauce

5 spiced roasted duck breast cold rolls.

vanilla bean panacotta shots

lemon brulee shots

mini trifle cups

baby tiramisu in short black cups

mini lemon tarts

dark chocolate tarts

orange blossom honey & pinenut tart

fresh fruit kebabs w/ chocolate fondue sauce

petite organic vanilla bean ice cream in cones,choc dipped and rolled in crushed nuts

chocolate mud truffles rolled in dutch cocoa,pistachios or almonds

Do you think I have enough choices???

Variety is the spice of life.

A picture tells a thousand words

Im truly lucky to have a most lovely friend in my life, who happens to be a rockin' photographer.

Claude and I set out to produce some enticing stylised food shots. He needed to update his portfolio and I was more then happy to help. So the photos you see on this blog are original and the handy work of Claude Raschella and myself.

The best part was eating the props!!

I used to be involved in the advertising industry as a photographers assistant and did many a food shoot. One of my favourite hobbies is collecting cookbooks. I love the photos. My personal belief is you should be able to taste the food before its in your mouth. Vision makes up most of our eating experience. Present your food in various ways, entice your taste buds...its gastronomical foreplay!! 

I was lucky to be asked from an advertising company a while back to cook and style a bacon product. The company wanted to change its packaging. Now when I go shopping and see in the deli department, a local brand of bacon with my photo on it!! Weird.

So next time you flick through a food magazine or a cookbook try some of the presentation ideas on your dinner guests.

P.S  the kiddies love it when you jazz up a dinner plate. Veggies in a little dipping bowl, sandwiches cut into shapes, baked spud in an egg cup....let your imagination run wild.

I will post more yummy pictures soon.