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April 10, 2007
Donna Hay Inspired Upside Down Apple Chocolate Pudding
As always I was very eager to get my hands on the new Autumn Issue of my favourite Donna Hay magazine. And guess what the central photo spread was about? Apple Picking!!! Yep, the number one thing on my "to do before 35" list. Naturally I was enthralled by the gorgeous photography and page after page of delicious apple recipes. The layout was clean and simple, the emphasis on the fruit and abstract views of the orchard. One recipe in particular caught my eye. It was a simple recipe for "Apple Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce". I had to try it since we were also having a friend over for Easter lunch. So, I decided to tweak it. I ended up road-testing our new oven and eventually left with a few crumbs of the delicious pudding that turned out quite well. Here is the recipe for the "Upside Down Apple & Chocolate Pudding" that I made.
UPSIDE DOWN APPLE AND CHOCOLATE PUDDING
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Serves 6 [or a greedy bunch of 3]
Prep Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 45 mins
Ingredients & Method
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2 red apples, cored and sliced into thin rings
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp butter, melted
Combine the above ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat. Set aside.
125g softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup almond meal
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup milk
Combine butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs in a bowl. Process with an electric beater until creamy. In a separate bowl, sift the flour. Add almond meal, ground cinnamon and chocolate. Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture gently till combined. Stir in the milk.
Line the base of a 6 or 8 inch springform pan with the apple slices. Pour over the pudding batter and bake at 180 deg C in a preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes until golden and springy to touch. Leave in the oven till ready to serve.
Serve warm topped with fresh cream or ice-cream.
Posted by Gel at 10:52 PM | | Comments (0)
April 8, 2007
In search of the perfect Khaman Dhoklas ...
I have been wanting to perfect a Khaman Dhokla recipe for years and have tried out many versions over the years with good and virtually unedible results. But I knew I had hit a pot of gold when I asked my mum to demonstrate her Instant Rawa [Semolina] Dhoklas for me over Christmas last year. I swear by this recipe!! I really do and I make it at least once a week, sometimes twice. It is my saving grace, my backup. And personally I feel these taste much better than the Instant Khaman Dhoklas I make and are healthier too. Absence of baking soda enhances the colour of these dhoklas and the rawa gives it a beautiful light texture. Try these, you won't regret! I have made them with Methi [Fenugreek], with Palak [Spinach], with a medley of spices and condiments [Coriander Seeds, red Chilli Flakes] and they turn out like little delicious morsels of fluff and gold every single time.
Click here for My Mum's Instant Rawa Khaman Dhoklas.
Happy Easter Everyone!!
Posted by Gel at 11:51 AM | | Comments (0)
April 3, 2007
Monday night creative kitchen : Ham And Eggplant Lasagna
After the slow lull of the weekend, spending Monday night slaving in the kitchen is criminal. It's like Monday Kitchen Blues! That is where the mighty lasagna comes in. A delicious lasagna is like kitchen art. An understanding of food tastes and textures is imperative. Throw in some contrasting colours and Voila!! A quick, designer tummy tucker guaranteed everytime.
I love the process of assembling a lasagna. To me, it is akin to kneading dough for a bread ... therapeutic. The best part about it is that I can improvise on the fly. So, last night under a cloud of Monday night blues I trudged to the refrigerator and scanned the contents on the shelves. Just like that, in less than 5 seconds I was heading back to the kitchen [yep my monstrosity of a fridge sits outside the kitchen door, guarding my personal domain] with a recipe formulating in my head. It was going to be "Ham And Eggplant Lasagna" this time. Here is the recipe ....
HAM AND EGGPLANT LASAGNA
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Serves : 4
Prep Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 30 mins
______[ Ingredients ]_______
9 lasagna sheets
1 bottle of your favorite pasta sauce
2 cups lite parmesan cheese shavings
1 cup eggplant, finely diced
1 cup ham, roughly shredded
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 tsp dry peri-peri seasoning
______[ Method ]_______
Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Cover the base of a square lasagna dish with pasta sauce. Sprinkle some eggplant and basil. Layer with 3 lasagna sheets. Scatter some cheese, ham, tomatoes and seasoning. Layer with 3 more lasagna sheets. Repeat layers finishing off the top with pasta sauce and cheese. Bake uncovered in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold with a salad on the side.
Posted by Gel at 10:57 PM | | Comments (0)
April 2, 2007
My new herb patch!
The move is finally over ... thank God! It turned out to be quite hectic with both Nick and I rushing to get things done and organised. It feels good to be home. I love this place, it is a gardener's delight. There are giant conifers, native Australian gum trees, wild lavender shrubs, lemon trees, candy pink hibiscus trees and so much more that still remains to be explored.
Ever since we first saw this house, we knew it would be our home. We saw the potential it had and we visualised adding our touch to it. The first thing I did just before we moved was weed, weed and weed. That was followed by pruning and lopping with my new tree lopper and shears. A day's work made such a huge amount of difference and opened up the front and back yards simultaneously. My mind was buzzing with ideas and choices. What to plant in that empty patch of garden bed under the bedroom window? Which hibiscus plant to graft, the one with the red closed buds or the beautiful pink bloom? Then I decided to slow down and do what have always been doing whenever we moved to a new place, plant a herb!!
This being our very own home, the one of our dreams, I decided that it deserved its very own herb garden, yep you heard me; not A herb, but an entire herb patch. So, I enlisted the help of my three year old and together we set out digging and clearing soil in a long garden bed under our family room bay windows. After preparing the soil, I watered it and sowed seeds for coriander, parsley, basil, rocket, fenugreek and mint in little square patches. After dosing the seeds and soil with a little plant food, our work was done. [My three year old had managed to pick out a little heap of rounded pebbles by then and was on the verge of building a little fort, his desire to help Mummy long gone ... scattered away by the distraction of being just a boy!]
That was yesterday. And even though I know better, I have been out there a million times to see if the first leaf has pushed up the soil and unfluttered. All in good time though. Good things come to those who wait, so I will. And when the herbs blossom, there will be pictures!
Posted by Gel at 11:14 PM | | Comments (0)
