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29 January 2012

Friands with Friends


Meeting friends for brunch anywhere in Melbourne is definitely one of my favourite things to do. Melbourne’s café scene is unlike any other I have seen (OK, so I am biased) and the quality and number cafes in Melbourne serving exceptional and varied menu of all day breakfasts is phenomenal. Also, going out for breakfast with little Miss 2 Yrs. is way easier than attempting to tackle dinner out (for now!). Some of my personal faves are Bluebird in Collingwood; The Hardware Société in City; Tom Phat in Brunswick; Fitzrovia in St Kilda and Cumulus Inc. in City. All adored for their diverse menu, attention to quality ingredients; ability to be creative with flavours and interior design, and genuinely friendly yet cool staff. They just tick all the boxes effortlessly. Recently Mr de Burg took us out to one of the mentioned above for brunch and although I had an amazing bircher and poached fruit, I also tucked into a friand and a canelle. (What? My latte was lonely!) again, those Frenchies combined with all things food just get it so spot on. So as I work up to finding the perfect canelle recipe out there, here I share with you a scrumptious friand recipe. These are to die for, feel free to experiment with other fillings such as raspberries, cherries, apple, rhubarb, chocolate etc., and just get the weight measurement the same. our household devoured all 12 within 1 afternoon. If you don’t have a friand pan, you can use any muffin tin. Make batter the night before if you like and impress your friends with friands when they pop over for a cuppa or brunch.

Stuff from kitchen: 12 mould friand/muffin tin (or more if using mini miffin tin); large mixing bowl; food processor; wooden spoon; cling wrap 

Prep time: 1hr 15 min (1hr is batter resting time), cooking time: 15 min

Almost from my vegie patch:
125gm x blueberries. (OK , time to fess up. we do have blueberries and raspberries growing however they aren’t quite ready to harvest yet, so as blueberries are in season and super cheap, these are from someone else’s vegie patch. I just couldn’t wait!)


Other ingredients:
160gm x unsalted butter chopped (plus a bit more for greasing)
160gm x almond meal
160gm x caster sugar
6 x free-range egg whites
60gm x plain flour (plus a bit for dusting)

Lets do it..
1.       Melt butter in small frypan and put aside to cool
2.       Put almonds, sugar, vanilla and eggwhites into food processor and pulse for about 30 sec
3.       Scrape down sides of food processor, and add flour. Give a quick 5 sec pulse to just mix
4.       Transfer to mixing bowl, add cooled butter and mix gently with wooden spoon until just combined.
5.       Cover in cling wrap, and put in a cool dark place for about an hour (I stashed mine in the pantry)
6.       Preheat oven to 220 degrees
7.       Thoroughly grease pan with butter and lightly flour to coat mould. Turn upside down and tap to remove excess flour.
8.       Stir berries into batter mix and scoop spoonfuls’s into pan and fill to 2/3.
9.       Bake for 15 min or until golden brown and the centre springs back when pressed.
10.   Place on cooling rack for a few minutes before turning out.\

Serve immediately (or keep for upto 3 days). I balance out the sweetness by serving with natural Greek yogurt. You’ll enjoy sharing these decadent and graceful little darlings with friends.

Soundtrack for friands and coffee with friends: Rockaferry by Duffy

Pistachio, Prawn & Crispy Prosciutto Pasta


This recipe will make you famous, well amongst your friends and family perhaps. Our perfect Sunday TV dinner in front of YTT. For those outside of Australia, YTT stands for Young Talent Time, it was a really wholesome kid’s variety TV show that my generation grew up watching in the 70’s & 80’s. I guess it’s the Mickey-Mouse Club Down Under... and last week made its comeback to TV last week 20 years later (mmm..Showing my age here!). Some regulars that ‘made it’ from this show include Tina Arena and Dannii Minogue. I remember clearly when they had a siblings segment and Dannii introduced her sister Kylie to Australia. I clearly recall my 9 year old self dancing around the living room to YTT with teased fringe and a drawn-on Madonna beauty spot, wishing one day of fame and fortune just like the YTT’ers. It never did happen just as my childhood fantasy had imagined, but I wouldn’t honestly change a thing! This recipe may just give me my 5 minutes of fame, well, on this website anyway - it’s a simple and speedy and an oh so tasty delight! As our giant basil plants are starting to flower slightly I recently made another big batch of pesto, replacing the pinenuts with toasted pistachios. It gives a slightly sweeter and crunchier pesto. And superstar delicious of course. The other vegie which is a special guest in this dish and about to be in great abundance in our vegie patch is the humble tomato. I’m keen for any imaginative tomato recipes, please send on over and I’ll give them a go from my Vegie Patch to plate. Serves 2 hungry rockstars. 

Our Tomatoes are getting there.
Stuff you need: 1 large saucepan; a large frypan (I use my wok); chopping board; tongs;

Ingredients from my vegie patch
2 x large tomatoes
4 x small cherry tomatoes
2 x large tbsp. pistachio pesto (see Pesto Festo and swap out pinenuts for pistachios)
2 x sm sprigs of basil

Other Ingredients
2 x clove garlic
250gm x green prawns, fully peeled (with our without tails, you choose)
50gm x prosciutto finely sliced
150gm x pasta (I used angel hair spaghetti for this dish)
25gm x shelled pistachios
Olive Oil for cooking
Cracked black pepper to taste

Its showtime (yes, so corny but I felt obliged!!)

1.       Fill a large saucepan ¾ with hot water, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil.
2.       Meanwhile fry Prosciutto on both sides in your frying pan for a few minutes on medium heat with a touch of olive oil until well cooked and starting to shrivel up a bit. (Don’t burn!) Put aside on kitchen paper. Don’t wash frypan; you are going to use the juices.
3.       Chop tomatoes into small pieces and leave to side.
4.       Pop spaghetti (or any pasta) into boiling water for 8 – 10 min or until al dente.
5.       Chop garlic finely, fry in 1 teaspoon of olive oil/prosciutto juice for a min, and add prawns and pesto. Sauté for a min or two until prawns just cooked through
6.       Drain pasta, and the add pasta back into prawn and pesto saucepan. Add chopped tomatoes. Give a good stir through to ensure all flavours are mixed together.
7.       Serve pasta into bowls and sprinkle roasted pistachio’s and top with crispy prosciutto and a sprig of basil.
8.       Give a good crack of black pepper and enjoy the show.

Serve with a big glass of chilled Clare Valley Reisling

Soundtrack for your childhood dreams: Breakfast Club soundtrack.

22 January 2012

Game. Set. Match. Its Pimms O'Clock!


I am very fortunate to have spent most of my 2O-somethings living in London. Summers in London were sensational; the sun didn’t go down some nights until at least 11pm.  Long summer days often meant lounging around communal “commons” and luscious parks with groups of friends, a picnic rug, tasty treats from Borough or Spitalfields markets, a few beers and a jug of Pimms and lemonade. This drink is such an English tradition, you would see even your coolest brit hipster break out their little chopping board and knife and start carefully slicing the cucumber, strawberries, oranges and mint and placing in their plastic jug to ensure they had the right combination of fruity flavours. It’s the official drink of Wimbledon and since my hometown is currently hosting the Australian Open tennis, I see it as fitting to share with you the recipe now. Once you try this, I promise you’ll

Prep time: approx. 10 min.

Kitchen stuff needed: Chopping board, sharp knife, 1.5 – 2 Litre jug, a wooden spoon :: Recipe below makes a few jugs.

Ingredients from the garden:
20 x mint leaves
1 x Cucumber
1 x lemon (thanks SH & MH again)


Other Ingredients
1 x Blood Oranges
6 x big strawberries
Bottle Pimms no. 1 (you can buy in any bottle shop)
2 Ltr x lemonade
Ice

Let’s do it:
1. Slice whole into ½ cm slices strawberries, cucumber, blood oranges
2. Half fill your jug with ice
3. Fill the jug 1/4 with Pimms.
4. Throw in Cucumber, Mint and Fruit
5. Top up to almost brim (slowly) with lemonade.
6. Give a good stir with the spoon and leave in there (you’ll need to spoon out the fruit to add to your guests glasses)
7. Serve immediately.
8. Repeat above asap as the jug above is already finished.

Soundtrack for a British summer circa 2006 : Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys

21 January 2012

Get minted… with Minty lamb & Fab Fatoush salad

Last weekend I had a little gathering at chez moi..(served enough croqueta’s to feed a small country, see recipe below) and was so thrilled to receive from some lovely friends (thanks Mr & Mrs C), Stephanie Alexanders ‘Kitchen Garden Companion’. It’s an absolute must for the keen kitchen gardeners and or anyone that loves cooking seasonally with fresh produce.  Its categorised alphabetically by fruit, vege and herbs, and has about 4 – 5 recipes for each in it. So look out fellow bloggers, I’m now even more inspired to bring you some of these very special recipes.  The front of this beautifully bound book says “Dig, Plant, Water, Grow, Harvest, Chop, Cook”. Although I really am responsible for the latter 2 components, (Mr de Burg to the rescue for the rest!) the book is chock full of gardening tips complete with when to grow/pick/harvest/fertilise etc. Ms Alexander has Kitchen Gardens Foundation bringing food education to children and families all over Australia, so this book also highlights how to get children involved in the entire process. (start them young I say!) So, having looked up mint in said publication, I share with you fatoush salad (thanks S.A!) and minted lamb cutlets. Enjoy and keep cooking, the more you do, the better your life gets. Honestly.

Prep time: approx. 10 min. resting time (at leave 1 hr.) grilling time: about 15 min :: Serves 2 hungry campers for dinner.

Kitchen stuff needed: a grill (we use an electric one endorsed by a once famous boxer!)/ or your ovens grill, Sharp knife, chopping board, salad bowl, another large bowl, cling wrap.

Ingredients from the garden:
2-3 x tomatoes
2 x cucumbers
50 x mint leaves
1 x lemon (thanks SH & MH)


Other Ingredients
2x pita breads
4 x cos lettuce leaves
3 x cloves garlic
6 x lamb cutlets (or chops, you choose. Approx. 2 – 3 pp)
½ tsp. x cinnamon
½ tsp. x coriander powder
¼ tsp. x cayenne pepper
6 tbsp. x Olive Oil
S & P to taste

Let’s do it:
1. Chop finely 2 cloves of garlic and 20 mint leaves and put in bowl.
2. Add lamb cutlets, salt and pepper and 4 tbsp. of olive oil. Get your hands dirty and massage the minty/garlic oil though the lamb until well coated.
3. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate. Leave to rest overnight or a few hours if you have the time.
4. Deseed cucumber and tomatoes (if you want, not essential) and chop into 2 cm chunks and put in new salad bowl.
5. Chop cos lettuce into 2cm strips and add to tomatoes and cucs. Add remaining 30 mint leaves
6. Add cinnamon, coriander power and cayenne pepper.
7. Once grill is hot, start grilling minty lamb cutlets, approx. 4 min on each side (for pink in middle) or to your liking.
8. Back to the salad. Add 2 tbspn olive oil and cut your lemon into quarters, squeeze 2 x quarters into salad mix and get in there with your hands and give a good toss.
9. Just as your lamb is done and sitting aside resting, pop pita bread in toaster and toast about 1 min until crunchy.
10.         Crumble pita into big 2cm chunks and add to salad just before serving (any earlier and it ends up soggy!)Give another toss and serve with your juicy minted lamb and a wedge of lemon.


Enjoy with a large glass of Margaret River Shiraz.

Soundtrack for getting Minted: Daptone Gold by Various Blue & Soul dudes & divas.

18 January 2012

Easy PEAsy MINT, SILVERBEET & FETA TARTE


Last weekend Melbourne hosted its first “So Frenchy, So Chic music festival” at Werribee Mansion just out of the City. SFSC started as a musical soundtrack to the French Film festivals held here, and has had quite a cult following in the past years. It’s fantastic to see music and foreign culture like this make its way down under. It was a magical day in a sensational setting with new French music, French and local wines and wonderful French food stalls.(Special mention to the salted caramel macaroons, Laurent Perrier champagne & the 26 degree cloudless day!)  Like many others we picnicked in style soaking up the diverse music acts, and even made it to the front of the stage for a dance-off (Miss 2 yr. old rocked out too) to Féfé.. A fantastic French/Nigerian hip-hop rapper act with the backing of a soul band. Very cool, in a way that the Frenchies (like so much they do) just make it work.  Other acts of the day were Asa, Moriarty and Nouvelle Vague. So, in the spirit of all this Frenchiness, my mid-week recipe is a scrumptious and fresh tasting Pea, Silver beet, Mint & Feta Tarte. Bon appetite mes amies.

Prep time: approx. 15 min. cooking time: about 45 min

Kitchen stuff needed: Sharp knife, chopping board, Tarte/quiche tin (mine is about 20cm diameter), baking paper, baking beans (not necessary, but good if you have them), mixing bowl, a fork

Ingredients from the garden:
20 x mint leaves
2 x silver beet stalks (or use spinach instead)
4 x small tomatoes
1 x small cucumber

Other Ingredients
1.5 x sheets of shortcrust pastry (defrosted)
5 x eggs
½ cup x frozen peas
50gm x feta cheese (I use marinated goats, but use any)
50gm x grated parmesan cheese
1 x avocado
S & P to taste

Let’s do it:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Remove stalk from silver beet and chop into ½cm strips, do the same for the mint.
3. Put baking paper in tarte tin, and a place sheet of pastry into tin. Use remaining half piece to fill in any gaps. Trim pastry so it’s even around edges
4. Press all pastry in and insert fork multiple times into base of pastry. Add another smaller piece of baking paper on top and add some baking beans (these add some weight to stop the pastry raising too high)
5. Bake pastry base for 15 min
6. Crack all eggs in separate bowl and whisk with fork.
7. Once pastry is out, take out baking beans and top piece of paper. Add chopped greens, peas, feta and parmesan. Arrange evenly.
8. Add egg mixture evening and bake back in oven for 30 – 40 min until egg all cooked through. Take out of oven and rest in tin. How easy was that?
9. Meanwhile, chop tomatoes, cucumber and avocado into small pieces and put in salad bowl.
10.         Cut Tarte into 4 and serve with side salad.

Devour the delicious, healthy and fresh flavours of this light summer dinner/lunch. Makes 4 large pieces of tarte, serves 2 hungry frenchie-wannabes (or 4 if after something really light)  


Enjoy with a large glass of crisp French champagne (of course!)

Soundtrack for a Tarte: So Frenchy So Chic 2012 by Fefe, Moriarty and many other cool French cats...

14 January 2012

Besto Chicken & PESTO Croquetas

Having eaten my way around Spain a bit, I just can’t go past an amazing, slow-grazing tapas feast. Best ingredients of all are when you also add great friends, sunshine, ice cold beers, kids tearing around the place playing happily and lots of laughs. Today we had a little soiree for my birthday, and while we were far far away from Spain (unfortunately! I love that place) I was lucky enough to have all of the other ingredients there. We didn’t put on a big tapas spread, just kept it simple with good bread, cheese, jamon Iberico and these croqueta’s below from a recipe adapted from the Movida cookbook. Made fresh today with the fab Pesto Festo (see previous post) I made last week and froze. Yes, it’s a bit time intensive, but the result is fastastico..mucho mucho fantastico! Impress your friends and yourself and enjoy these little parcels of Spanish utopia.

Prep time: prep: 1 hour, cooking: 20 min. Makes approx. 25 croqueta’s.

Kitchen stuff needed: 2 medium/large saucepans, wooden spoon, chopping board, sharp knife, slice tray/shallow wide cake tin, cling wrap, deep fryer/saucepan (I used a wok) for frying, absorbent paper.

Ingredients from the garden:
3 large tblespn of Pesto Festo

Other Ingredients

1 x small brown onion
2-3 x bay leaves
1.25 litres (5 cups) x  milk
175 gm x butter, coarsely chopped
320 gm x plain flour
75 gm x cornflour
200 gm x Cooked chicken , chopped.
½ tsp x finely grated nutmeg
2 x eggs, lightly beaten
300 gm x fine breadcrumbs (I use Panko breadcrumbs found in Japanese isle)
vegetable oil for deep frying

Let’s get ready to rumble:
1.       Pour all milk into one saucepan, add bay leaves , bring to the boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool to just warm (it must be cool or the following mixture will become lumpy),
2.       Finely chop  onion. Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat, add onion and sauté for 5-10 minutes or until translucent (don’t allow onions or butter to colour).
3.       Add 200gm plain flour, a little at a time, mixing continuously, using a wooden spoon, until smooth, add cornflour and mix until smooth and silky.
4.       Add infused milk, a little at a time, stirring continuously, making sure that the milk is completely amalgamated before adding more.
5.       Continue cooking for 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is the consistency of double cream (resist the temptation to scrape up anything caught in the bottom of the pan that might colour the sauce).
6.       Add nutmeg, chicken, pesto and 1 tsp sea salt. Transfer to a wide tray, cover closely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or pop in freezer for approx. as I did for at least 30 min if you are time short).
 7. Using clean, lightly floured hands, take a heaped tablespoon of chicken pesto mixture, roll in remaining flour, shape into a croqueta, dip in beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs, shaking off excess, and place on a tray. Repeat with remaining mixture. (At this point you can wrap in clingwrap and freeze your uncooked croquetas and deep fry later when you need them)
8. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or deep saucepan to 175C and cook croqueta’s, in batches, for 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden. Drain on absorbent paper, scatter with sea salt.

Watch them disappear fast as you pass around immediately. Enjoy with a cheeky Pimms or Monteiths Crushed Pear Cider as I did today ;)

Tunes of the day: To the Horses by Lanie Lane

13 January 2012

The OMG CHOCOLATE & ZUCCHINI Cake


Thanks to Cousin Dan for the first recipe request.. having realised that I’d already done 3 zucchini dishes in a row (not to mention the zucchini based dishes I don’t blog about!), I guess it’s obvious that there are zucchini’s a plenty growing in our vegie patch, and they seem to double in size daily! However,  this is what eating seasonally is all about. (Warning: Tomatoes-a-plenty season is just around the corner) so here is another zucchini recipe folks, and this one is pretty special. You can’t actually taste the zucchini at all, just a rich, delectable, moist, moreish chocolate cake. And since there’s no butter, and lots of zucchini in this little treasure, it’s incredibly healthy for you, well, sort of. As you can see below, Miss 2 couldn’t wait to get stuck in.. Enjoy this easy and delish recipe. Serves 10

Stuff from the kitchen you will need: 1 medium mixing bowl, food processor (if don’t have, add another mixing bowl), chopping board, sharp chopping knife, spring-form cake tin, wooden spoon, 1 cup & ½ cup measurement, teaspoon, baking paper


From my Vegie Patch
350 gms x (2 cups) unpeeled grated zucchini, from about 1 1/2 medium zucchini

Other ingredients:
2 cups x plain all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup x  unsweetened cocoa powder
1 x teaspoon baking soda
1/2 x teaspoon baking powder
1/2 x teaspoon fine sea salt
180 gms x  brown sugar
1/2 cup x virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon x pure vanilla extract
3 x large eggs
160 gms x  (1 cup) good-quality bittersweet chocolate block chopped roughly into just under 1cm chunks (I Used Whitakers 72% cocoa.)
Confectioner's sugar

1.       Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 25-cm (10-inch) round spring form pan or a 22-cm (8 1/2-inch) square pan.
2.       In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3.       In food processor (or by hand with whisk and big bowl)beat the sugar and oil for 10 sec. Add the vanilla, and eggs, mixing well between each addition.
4.       In a large mixing bowl, combine the zucchini, chocolate chips, and about a third of the flour mixture, making sure the zucchini strands are well coated and not clumping too much.
5.       Add the rest of the flour mixture into the egg batter. Mix until just combined; the batter will be thick.
6.       Fold the zucchini mixture into the batter, and blend with a wooden spoon without over mixing. Pour into the prepared cake pan, and level the surface.
7.       Bake for 40 to 50 minutes for fan force/70 min no fan, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
8.       Transfer onto a rack to cool for 10 minutes, run a knife around the pan to loosen, and unclasp the sides of the pan.
9.       Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with alone or with crème fraise/natural yogurt and berries. If serving as morning/afternoon tea cake you can sprinkle with confectioner's sugar or a chocolate glaze if desired.

Accompany with a glass of Yarra Burn Sparkling, go on, you’ve just made the OMG Cake destined for stardom.

Sound track for OMG Cake: Remixed and Reimagined by Nina Simone

Recipe adaption from Clotilde Dusoulier

11 January 2012

Bloody Orange, Haloumi and Zucchini Salad. Bloody good.

I’m excited to share with you the FIRST contributed recipe! After telling my friend Lizzie about my challenge (and surplus of zucchini’s), she text me through (ahh, got to love this modern world we live in!) a recipe her mother-in-law, Ingrid, shared with her. After devouring this salad (for 4) between just my husband and I, I share it here with you. A really enjoyable and colourful combination of flavours that I have never united together before, until now. Feel free to use normal oranges if you can’t find any blood oranges, but do ask your local green grocer first, you may be surprised to find them in the back corner along with the navels as I did.. (That’s Navel Oranges, not Navel navels...)

Prep time: approx. 20 min. cooking (grilling) time: about 15 min

Kitchen stuff needed: a grill (we use an electric one endorsed by a once famous boxer!).Sharp knife, chopping board, shallow frying pan, fork for mixing dressing, large salad bowl for serving

Ingredients from the garden:
4 x large Zucchini's sliced into planks

Other Ingredients
5 x Blood Oranges
250gm x Green beans
1 x small Spanish onion,
250gm x pkt haloumi cheese
50gm x slithered/flaked almonds
1tblspn x ground cumin
1 tbsp. x red wine vinegar
1 – 2 tblspn x Olive Oil
S & P to taste

Let’s do it:
1. Grill Zucchini’s on/under grill and set aside
2. Slice skin off oranges, cut in half and put ½ an orange aside for later.
3. Slice the remaining halves to create semi-circle slices. Deseed as necessary.
4. Blanch green beans in 2 cm boiling water for 3 min. Remove and set aside.
5. Take outer skin off onion and chop finely
6. In dry saucepan on low heat, throw in almonds and toast gently. These will only take a minute or so. Toss regularly.
7. Salad is almost done. Just need to make a quick dressing. In bottom of salad bowl squeeze juice of ½ Blood orange you set aside, the red wine vinegar, cumin and olive oil. Add S & P to taste.
8. Add all other ingredients to the bowl(except haloumi & almonds) and give a good toss with your hands to unite all the flavours.
9. Lastly slice haloumi into ½ cm squares and grill (this will grill in under 30 sec each side, so stay close.)Once cooked add to salad and give a gentle toss.
10.         Sprinkle the toasted almonds on top and enjoy this middle-eastern fusion of flavours...



Enjoy with a large glass of crisp Chablis.

Soundtrack for a Bloody Good Salad: Wonder by Lisa Mitchell